Liberal control of the Senate (1 Viewer)

[Sarah]

i didnt get to vote in the ir reforms

i didnt get to vote for vsu

in fact all the petitions that were signed and protests that were marched were brushed off

so how did the people vote for this

Howard's alway's had his eye on IR. True, he may not have stated anything publicly but history shows that he favours 'labour market flexibility' and 'deregulation' (or as I see it re-regulation).

As a sidenote, if you look at Hewson (his predecessor) IR policy, you'll find there are many similarities to the current reforms.

 

[malkin86]

Mums, dads, 'aspirationals' (Has to be the dumbest phase ever) and 4WD owners.

Bah. What's an 'aspirational'?

 

[MoonlightSonata]

Where are these silent majority, these Liberal voters? Who are they?

I voted Liberal last election.

But I didn't give them a Senate vote.

 

[Collin]

Bah. What's an 'aspirational'?

I'm thinking someone who wants to climb a career tree. An example is a professional, such as a lawyer or businessman who is more concerned with issues like the economy and less affected by Liberal legislation such as VSU, anti-terror and IR.

 

[erawamai]

I'm thinking someone who wants to climb a career tree. An example is a professional, such as a lawyer or businessman who is more concerned with issues like the economy and less affected by Liberal legislation such as VSU, anti-terror and IR.

...the problem with the term is that really everyone is an 'aspirational'...everyone aspires to be better.

John Howard's aspirationals are middle class families with mortgages who aspire to own their own home, have a new Ford Territory or other such car. They work hard and value their individual needs over every other persons. They don't like being lectured about what is right. What is right is what is good for them. They are mainstream Australia and they vote John Howard.

 

[Collin]

...the problem with the term is that really everyone is an 'aspirational'...everyone aspires to be better.

I dunno dude, I know alot of dumb shits here in the Northern Beaches who 'aspire' to do nothing but get drunk every weekend and then get back to work at Woolies or whatever the following week earning scraps.. probably for the next few decades. No offence against people who work at award-wages positions at subsidiaries of companies such as Coles Myer Ltd. and Woolworths Ltd. of course, just that I personally believe alot of people don't really have the ambition to go much higher than that (i.e no interest of pursuing further education etc.).

 

[Not-That-Bright]

They don't like being lectured about what is right. What is right is what is good for them. They are mainstream Australia and they vote John Howard.

Can you please explain to me how they are wrong in looking out for themselves?

 

[Generator]

One question you could ask is are they actually looking out for themselves by voting for a Coalition candidate?

Some say yes, some say no. Me, I think that the Coalition's control of the Senate has muddied the waters for many, so I think that it would be more than fair to say that perhaps the Liberal/National Coalition may not be an autmoatic choice for a number of people from this point on. The fact that more has been passed through the Parliament than was suggested at the previous election and that many appear to be worried about this (whether it's just the progressive/whinging commentariat or the wider population, I do not know) suggests that perhaps many may now take the time to become more politically aware. That can only be a good thing, even if they end up voting for the Liberal party.

 

[Not-That-Bright]

I believe the liberals will be hurt by tall-poppy syndrome, and have a reduced majority next election. I also however believe that the public have short attention spans, and the reason these bills are being passed so quickly, so early into having control of the senate is so that everything can be very calm for the next few years.

 

[Generator]

Laws rushed through before a nation notices

No doubt there'll be a similar yet contrasting article in the Aus, so I hope that someone posts the relevant link later today.

 

[Scanorama]

VSU passed today, it will come into affect on 1 July, 2006. Although VSU is probably a good thing for us uni students, but the way the liberial + national clowns handle things lately very disgusted me. The whole senate is now like a fucking joke.

Although the John Howard is an asshole, Kim Bealzey is not much better than him. *Sigh* wish we had a third major party other than the Liberials-Nationals and Labor

 

[erawamai]

No offence against people who work at award-wages positions at subsidiaries of companies such as Coles Myer Ltd. and Woolworths Ltd. of course, just that I personally believe alot of people don't really have the ambition to go much higher than that (i.e no interest of pursuing further education etc.).

Many people are on awards and DO WORK HARD. Some people do not have the ability to aspire to more. Many people do not have the ability to 'pursue further education'...I just hope you are not assuming that anyone out there that works under an award is a lazy and unaspirational person. There are plenty of wanky idiots sitting up there in major sydney towers who would not work as hard as some award workers. In particular some blue collar workers and vice versa.

It's a stupid term because everyone has different aspirations be it to move to Byron Bay and surf for the rest of theirlife or to own your own home, a big shiny new 4WD and be able to afford private school for the kids.

Who is to say one aspiration is better than the other?

Can you please explain to me how they are wrong in looking out for themselves?

I never said they were wrong to look out for themselves. I was point out that the emphasis on 'looking after me' is much greater than it used to be. Consideration of other peoples interests are of little concern thesedays. Whereas 15 to 20 years ago issues that impact on personal financial gain were less on the national agenda. They were there however they didn't dominate the political environment as they do today. Bad or good? Who knows. Everyone has a subjective opinion on whether that is bad or good.

 

[Collin]

Many people are on awards and DO WORK HARD. Some people do not have the ability to aspire to more. Many people do not have the ability to 'pursue further education'...I just hope you are not assuming that anyone out there that works under an award is a lazy and unaspirational person. There are plenty of wanky idiots sitting up there in major sydney towers who would not work as hard as some award workers. In particular some blue collar workers and vice versa.

I never said that, did I say that? Read my post again, I said ALOT of award position workers, not ALL. I'm on award myself, and believe me I have aspirations.

As for 'wanky idiots' inside those CBD towers, I'm sure alot of them worked very hard to get to their 6-7 figure salary jobs, whether it be through studying hard at school/university, moving up the corporate ladder aggressively etc. I admire them.

Who is to say one aspiration is better than the other?

The argument was never about which aspiration was better than another, it's about which aspirations were relevant to the debate of Liberal policies.

 

[Generator]

The argument was never about which aspiration was better than another, it's about which aspirations were relevant to the debate of Liberal policies.

and it's the aspirations of Howard's middle Australia, the suburbanites, that are central to the Liberal party's policy platform.

 

[Henry_Kissinger]

One thing I would point out without reading this thread but skimming the last few posts, is that most workers don't deserve to be earning what they do

 

[Collin]

and it's the aspirations of Howard's middle Australia, the suburbanites, that are central to the Liberal party's policy platform.

Yes. Yay, VSU has passed!

 

[Generator]

Bloody VSU.

Howard's year of living powerfully

 

[erawamai]

I never said that, did I say that? Read my post again, I said ALOT of award position workers, not ALL. I'm on award myself, and believe me I have aspirations.

I read your post as implying that somehow people on awards are not aspirational in a good way. In particular you preface your statement with 'no offence'....below.

No offence against people who work at award-wages positions at subsidiaries of companies such as Coles Myer Ltd. and Woolworths Ltd. of course, just that I personally believe alot of people don't really have the ambition to go much higher than that (i.e no interest of pursuing further education etc.).

As for 'wanky idiots' inside those CBD towers, I'm sure alot of them worked very hard to get to their 6-7 figure salary jobs, whether it be through studying hard at school/university, moving up the corporate ladder aggressively etc. I admire them.

If you had read my post I said vice versa. It is wrong to make judgements on what aspiration is better than the other. Also I use 'plenty' which is not all.

There are plenty of wanky idiots sitting up there in major sydney towers who would not work as hard as some award workers. In particular some blue collar workers and vice versa.

 

[Not-That-Bright]

Well it is true that within the Award system there are some people who are not willing to work over-time etc, and suffer because of it. I mean some people just work 'normal' hours every week and earn what other people earn over the weekend in two days.

 

[Generator]

JKDDragon, I would rephrase that final paragraph... I know that you said many rather than all who work at such jobs have no real ambition (despite the fact that they may well be rather ambitious outside of their job), but that's still not a fair comment.