We made a mistake with Rudd, didn't we? (2 Viewers)

[lychnobity]

The problem with Rudd is he has the grandest intentions, but doesn't follow through, and the actions he takes are ineffective eg fuelwatch, grocerywatch etc

On immigration policy, Howard > Rudd. Howard took a firm stance and stuck by it regardless of public pressure. He kept them out. Rudd not only loosened those laws, but is now making them even tighter than Howard did.

And Rudd ultimately fails as PM with internet censorship.

 

[JohnMcGee]

you know what really pisses me off? he was adamant about whistle blower protection legislation before election, and noone has heard anything of it, afaik, since he was elected

most disappointing

 

[4025808]

Howard was good with his economic plans, but with social issues, he was shit with them, especially on Gay rights...
Howard was discriminatory to Aboriginals. He also supported the Iraq War, which I was not in favor of....

Imo, Rudd's shit. Internet Censorship, tightening immigration laws even further, objectifying the education system especially with NAPLAN and the rankings...

But tbh I dunno who I'd have to vote between Rudd and Abbott because I dislike both of them....
Instead I'll vote for some other candidate...

 

[Riet]

The problem with Rudd is he has the grandest intentions, but doesn't follow through, and the actions he takes are ineffective eg fuelwatch, grocerywatch etc

On immigration policy, Howard > Rudd. Howard took a firm stance and stuck by it regardless of public pressure. He kept them out. Rudd not only loosened those laws, but is now making them even tighter than Howard did.

And Rudd ultimately fails as PM with internet censorship.

Are you mentally deficient or something?

Howard locked up refugees for months on end without even processing them. He didn't stop any boats, nor did Rudd, nor can they. That is dependant on external factors. We shouldn't be punishing people for wanting to escape wars to come to Australia.

Edit: And the laws were never made "looser" they are still all processed off-shore.

 

[lychnobity]

Instead I'll vote for some other candidate...

Keep in mind voting for the Greens is almost the same as voting for Labor.

Another thing:
Rudd is surely trying to sabotage high school education by issuing laptops. As if the majority of the kids would actually use it for academic purposes.

 

[Slidey]

Howard was like the other PM. Robert Menzies, I think that was his name. Very good PMs

Um. Menzies was waaaay better than Howard.

 

[SylviaB]

john mcgee tell me why im an israel apologist

 

[Slidey]

john mcgee tell me why im an israel apologist

Because the Jews started global warming by forcing Hitler to fire up the ovens.

 

[jarkler]

No apologizing needed m8 it's an awesome country.

 

[Slidey]

Keep in mind voting for the Greens is almost the same as voting for Labor.

Except for the fact that, you know, it's nothing like it.

Here's a few areas where the Greens are patently different to Labour off the top of my head:

- Only party to support equal rights for gays with respect to marriage and partnerships
- Staunch support of civil liberties (legal rights in jail, internet freedom, etc)
- Strong, scientifically sound harm minimisation policies policies on drugs, encouraging open public debate
- Compassionate and non-reactionary refugee and immigration polices
- A global warning action scheme which wouldn't actually increase emissions
- Only party not controlled by batshit Christian lobby groups

You only need one of these things to argue strongly that the Greens are different to Labour, though: internet censorship. Fuck you Rudd, fuck you Conroy.

And if you're at all concerned about your vote leaking to Labour, use your fucking brain and vote below the line.

 

[moll.]

Bob Brown 4 PM

I don't really want to live in a cave to save the environment, thx m8.

On a side note, I don't know why everyone is getting worked up over the boat people? It's a non-issue. Each year a few hundred destitute peasants try the most dangerous possible way of getting here. Meanwhile, thousands more illegal immigrants arrive each year by plane, and yet no-one bothers to have a whinge about them. Why? Because there's no video footage of that happenning.
Furthermore, I also don't get why everyone's going on about the NT Intervention being discriminatory and a callback to the protectionist days. It's nothing like that. The Intervention is a genuine, last-ditch humanitarian effort to reduce the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, because the previous policy obviously hasn't worked. Protectionism was about breeding them out and converting them to Christianity. It's not even in the same ballpark.

 

[moll.]

workchoices was possibly economically brilliant but it was socially and ethically cancerous.

To who? And how is having a job, where before you would have been unemployed, "cancerous" to society?

i don't care much about aboriginies but if it makes them happier then it was the right thing to do.

So insincere apologies for things which we had nothing to do with are the way to go? Oh ok then.

the manner in which school halls, or whatever, have been built is not the fault of Rudd in any way, shape, or form, but rather of the bureaucracy below him that he realistically has little control over.

I wasn't actually attacking the shonky building and poor handling of the funds, I was talking more about how school halls are a terrible infrastructure stimulus because they are such a low political priority. But this is a good point anyway. Thank you.

and anyone who opposes economic stimulus (which i admittedly know little about) occuring simultaneously with at least trying to build better educational facilities is a moron.

I don't think you'll find many people who would argue that a stimulus wasn't needed. What most of us disagree with is the size and direction the stimulus took.
And you do realise that it doesn't matter if your child is at a five-century old Gothic manor learning from high-tech holograms if the quality of teachers and the school cirriculum are still utter garbage?

 

[lychnobity]

Except for the fact that, you know, it's nothing like it.

I didn't mean the Greens' policies and stances on key issues, I meant that they lend their support to the Labor party in Parliament.

Are you mentally deficient or something?

Howard locked up refugees for months on end without even processing them. He didn't stop any boats, nor did Rudd, nor can they. That is dependant on external factors. We shouldn't be punishing people for wanting to escape wars to come to Australia.

Edit: And the laws were never made "looser" they are still all processed off-shore.

In making the system more efficient with processing the refugees (ie introducing half yearly and quarterly reviews of detention cases -> more action taken to relieve them) Rudd has made it easier for said refugees to be let into Australia.

 

[Kwayera]

We made a mistake with Rudd, didn't we?

Yeah, you really did.

 

[Riet]

I didn't mean the Greens' policies and stances on key issues, I meant that they lend their support to the Labor party in Parliament.



In making the system more efficient with processing the refugees (ie introducing half yearly and quarterly reviews of detention cases -> more action taken to relieve them) Rudd has made it easier for said refugees to be let into Australia.

Yes this is a good thing... genuine refugees should be welcomed. Howard didn't prevent the boats from coming some how though.

 

[Aquawhite]

I wanted to say No, we needed someone else, not Howard. Independents do well imo.

 

[Lentern]

In making the system more efficient with processing the refugees (ie introducing half yearly and quarterly reviews of detention cases -> more action taken to relieve them) Rudd has made it easier for said refugees to be let into Australia.

Let into Australia? All the liberal party(Not withstanding the Tuckey's and Bernardi's of the world) talks about is combating people smuggling. You don't mean to tell me that this anti boat people rhetoric is just dog whistle rhetoric to justify nationalist notions of keeping asylum seekers out of Australia.

 

[Riet]

yeah fucking refugees m8, who do they think they fucking are? If it's not white it's not right m8

 

[withoutaface]

i don't care much about aboriginies but if it makes them happier then it was the right thing to do.

Has it? That outcomes approach to ethics is questionable at best.

 

[nevery]

Both are idiots in their own ways and context IMO. It's really the lesser of two evils.