Beach, you do make a good point, one I'll agree with, "they had showed anywhere near the same enthusiasm for the 'Struggle Streets' as they do for gay marriage and the republic. The same applies to the human headlines of the media."

How sincere is that comment, or are you simply using the issues related to 'Struggle Street' as a blind to negate the other debate.

Yes Banjo I understand, my maternal Grandfather was Country Party through and through, being a sheep farmer in the central west of NSW. My mother always voted for Mr Menzies, until he retired, and then she voted Labor. My father was a company boss, but as he had risen through the ranks he never lost his Labor affiliation, I spent many hours discussing politics with the old man, he was very conservative on lots of things, dare say he would not support gay marriage. He knew Jack Lang personally and always claimed Lang was the greatest politician Australia has ever produced, something I find hard to disagree with. Both my grandmothers were very much like your mum, conservative with a heart of gold. My paternal grandmother ran voluntary English classes for Chinese market gardeners (all men) in the front room of her home, a shocking thing to do in Sydney in the 1900's. Chinese were considered awful evil people, not to be trusted.

Paul1405, "How sincere is that comment, or are you simply using the issues related to 'Struggle Street' as a blind to negate the other debate"

That is preposterous.

It is about priorities. As per usual my concern is to get some accountability in government and value for taxpayers' money.

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Dear onthebeach,

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You wrote :

« … I am happy to withdraw if I did read you wrongly as you say. »
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No need to add anything to that but, in future :

• look before you leap

• don’t make “ad hominem” attacks. Criticise ideas not the person who expresses them

• you have the right to love or hate whatever political ideology you wish but don’t let your emotions determine your intellectual judgements. Stick to the facts and logical arguments.

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Banjo Paterson,

It is that is to be your pay-off then so be it I guess.

However you would have done better to try to dispel my argument about priorities for the Australian government and people. The republic pales into insignificance and is in fact a political diversion where the real needs are concerned.

Beach, I can't work you out. You appear time and time again to be hard right, with the corresponding attitude. I took it that you have little or no concern for the plight of people you refer to as being on 'Struggle Street'. As a conservative I would have though a disparaging attitude to such people would have been your line, but maybe you do have some concern for societies disadvantaged.
What I posted is not preposterous, it could well be a legitimate tactic of someone from the conservative right to divert attention from perceived disagreeable issues, like gay marriage and the republic.
I previously refereed to "multi tasking" a popular line these days, why can't you deal with the very important issues, like the ones you put up, whilst also dealing with other issues such as gay marriage, and the republic at the same time.
I don't think any one issue should be the all consuming concern, but all need to be dealt with in turn, sometimes more than the one issue at the same time. That is why we pay politicians a fat salary.

"It is about priorities. As per usual my concern is to get some accountability in government and value for taxpayers' money." I couldn't agree more.

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Dear onthebeach,

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You wrote :

« The republic pales into insignificance and is in fact a political diversion where the real needs are concerned. »
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One does not exclude the other.

Becoming a republic is the final phase of a job that’s already 95% done. It’s neither insignificant nor a political “diversion”. We have to finish building our “house”, our nation.

The foundations are laid, the roof and walls are up, the plumbing and electricity are installed and now the painters are in. That doesn’t prevent us from occupying the “house” and going to work every day to attend to all those important matters that require our attention.

As you say, problems can’t wait. Solutions have to be found, consultations must be carried out, parliamentary procedures must be respected, decisions have to be made, finance has to be allocated, urgent matters have to be dealt with immediately and other important, but less urgent, measures must be implemented in the short, medium and long terms.

That is how democracies work. Unfortunately, they are not always as reactive as we would like them to be. Things happened much faster in dictatorships such as absolute monarchies but they fell out of fashion in the 18th century due to the French Revolution. The perspective of having their heads chopped off tampered the ambitions of many of those who subsequently became invested in the “divine right of kings”.

Our Constitutional Monarchy has been a good transition but transformation to a republic will be the final consecration of the emancipation of Australian citizens from the British Crown, affirming our independent national identity, eliminating the remnants of our colonial past and highlighting the multicultural diversity of our origins as a sovereign people.

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(continued …)

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