21 posts tagged “politics”
I've really wanted to write about my response to last week's apology to the stolen generation, but have been too busy until now. I was so impressed and it drew such an emotional response from me that I couldn't let it go by without getting my feelings down.
It seems Kevin Rudd can do no wrong so far. That he made the apology the first order of business for the new parliament was as symbolic of the way he's going to govern as the apology was symbolic of his commitment to changing the way this country views and treats our indigenous population.
His speech was heartfelt and meaningful but also pointed to his plan for action. He didn't try to justify the past, he commented frankly about the atrocities committed as a way to recognise what these people had been through. Probably most important beyond the actual act of apologising was his outline of how he plans to start to change aboriginal health and education and decrease the 17 year gap between indigenous and non-indigenous life expectancy. He was realistic about timeframes, but didn't look to pass the buck to future leaders.
My workplace stopped to watch the apology, and it was a very moving moment. People were crying. I even found tears welling up in my eyes and had chills through my body for most of it. The top brass were mainly there watching too, which impressed me.
Of course, Nelson's opposition leader speech was a different story, and was in fact largely offensive and inappropriate. I found myself shaking my head at what he was saying. His attempts to justify the past and highlight supposed "good intentions" was plain out of line. As a couple of people have said to me since, Hitler probably had "good intentions" too. The people turning their backs on his speech were justified in my opinion, and I wish that I'd made some kind of stance too -- I think I was too stunned at what I was hearing. As impressed as I was at Rudd asking Nelson to greet those in the gallery with him, and present the gift to the speaker with him, it was a hollow act on Nelson's and the Liberal's part after the sentiment expressed in their speech.
I am excited about the direction of this government and the country at the moment. It is so refreshing to have kindness and social justice on the political agenda for the first time in 12 years, as opposed to greed and fear. Thankyou Kevin Rudd. Please don't let me down.
Dr Nelson, who has already written his speech without seeing the words [of the apology to indigenous Australians], said yesterday that the process had become chaotic.
"If Mr Rudd wants to unify Australia, to bring our nation together, the most important person he should be negotiating with is me," he said. "We're two days away from this, for goodness sake. He should be sitting down with me and saying 'these are the words which we propose, what do you think?"'
taken from SMH
Can you believe he thinks this? To bring our nation together, black and white, past and present, the best way to do this is for the PM to negotiate the wording with an opposition leader that really never wanted to apologise and sees no need to.
How about getting the wording right via negotiations with THE PEOPLE WHO WERE STOLEN FROM THEIR FAMILIES in a wave of government-supported genocide-of-sorts??
Rudd gets it, and must feel like he's dealing with a pack of whining preschoolers:
[Rudd] said the issue was emotional for indigenous Australians and "it's important we get it right".
"Quite frankly, what's important is the people most affected are comfortable with that wording."
Every day I am so very glad that he beat those old-school arseholes at the last election, as must those marginalised groups in our society who may finally stop getting ignored and fucked over.
My workplace is stopping at 9am tomorrow to watch the apology live, which is an impressive gesture on the part of management. I'll try to get some thoughts up afterwards.
UPDATE: Just read this great article by Peter Garrett on why the apology is important, and referencing the 'sorry' t-shirts Midnight Oil wore when they played at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
The Coalition's support for the apology is "in principle" and subject to the final text. Dr Nelson dislikes the term "stolen generation" but Kevin Rudd said this was non-negotiable. The Coalition will not force the issue, but Dr Nelson and others plan to complain about the phrase when they speak on the motion.
taken from SMH
For fucks sake. These pricks are even more insufferable in opposition because they are now completely irrelevant to modern Australia. What are you arguing about and why are you quibbling over semantics? You or your children weren't forcibly removed from your family so as to systematically "cleanse" the country of its native people, so give these people the apology they so sorely deserve and stop watering it down and undercutting it's significance.
What a fantastic night. You did it, Australia. I had my doubts, but you did the right thing and kicked Johnny to the curb. He looks pretty certain to lose his seat too, making him only the second Prime Minister in history to get completely ousted from Parliament in an election. It's quite a message we've sent him! Hard to believe that complete arsehats (to borrow a term from Mikey) like Abbott, Nelson, Downer, Andrews and Turnbull didn't get the boot too, though. I really can't understand how they could be voted back in when Australia has so convincingly sent a message saying we don't like their policies. Oh well, they can say what they like from the opposite side of the house, I guess.
I am so excited about the new Government, it's really a new dawn for this country. As mentioned over on Sarah & Gam's blog, let's just hope that Rudd doesn't get complacent, that the machinery of Government doesn't wear him down, and he stays true to his promises and values. They have so many opportunities to bring back the 'fair go' now, and I think they will.
And to have our first ever female as the Deputy Prime Minister is a great thing -- can't believe it's taken this long. Julia Gillard will be PM one day. It has to be.
To Howard, you have changed the country for the worse these past 11 years, and we have nothing whatsoever to thank you for. I despise your way of thinking and your way of governing. I leave you with this song entitled 'Get Fucked' by The Fauves. Written specifically for you, it says exactly what I'd like to say. Good riddance to you and your cronies, and I hope history treats you unkindly:
When the first punch knocks you down
and you're lying prostrate on the ground
in your sponsored tracksuit
and all your soldiers are disarmed
remember to stay alert but not alarmed
while I hit youcos' you're a liar, and we are tired
we are sick of compromise
diminished by the fucking lies
sick of being patronisedwell you've been power walking now for hours
sickly sweat frosting your brow
your minders don't know how
to tell your their solemn vow to step in.
That was a non core promise
you're mine againcos' you're a liar and we are tired
we are sick of compromise
diminished by the fucking lies
sick of being patronised
With less than a week to the election I think my wife and I have decided to vote Greens. It's something we considered in the past but we were always hesitant to 'waste' our vote -- more important than voting for a minor party whose ideology most closely aligned with our own was ensuring the Coalition were removed. That's more important than ever this time but I think we understand the whole preference thing a little better now. The Greens have a preference deal with the Labor party, so if the Greens candidate for the House of Reps is knocked out then our vote will go at full value to the Labor candidate. As the Greens candidate will definitely be knocked out, then we're in effect voting for Labor. The point is that we're registering a vote for the Greens to send a message to the Government, even if that's Labor, saying we agree with more left-leaning socially inclusive, environmentally friendly policies. Hopefully there'll be a bigger than usual percentage who feel the same way this time around.
I am genuinely excited about a Labor government, and would be happy enough to vote for them. But, as the Greens pamphlet says, we can have our cake and eat it too by voting Green.
In the Senate our vote will be for the Greens candidate as I feel that any Senate majority is a bad thing, even if that's Labor. Greens keep the place honest and aren't as easily swayed by the almighty dollar. It's a no-brainer to vote Green in the Senate.
Three days to go to what must surely be a change of Government and the beginning of a new era for Australia. I can't wait to see those arseholes given the boot, and I especially hope Johnny loses his seat. Roll on Saturday.
|
Finally, some real, proper, socially conscious policy. This, my
friends, is the fundamental difference between the parties. After all
the mee-tooisms that are being flung around during this campaign, here
is where we find a real difference between what you're voting for:
- Do you feel that all people deserve a helping hand and inequity of wealth is an issue that needs addressing? or
- do you subscribe to the social darwinism school of thought where it's survival of the fittest and you see homeless people as nothing more than a blight on civilised society?
The Libs, being out
for big business and the rich, would never announce a policy like this.
I was starting to think Labor never would either, so I'm very glad to
see the socialist side of them emerge regardless of Latham's heavy
defeat in 2004 due, in part, to his "dangerous" social views.
Let's face it though, this one isn't a vote winner. If you think this way, you're either voting Greens, Democrats or Labor. All this might do is pull a few votes from these minor parties. It's symbolic, I guess, but a gesture I'm glad they made.
Ahhh, that 80s sound. A dislike of that watery "digital" sound has plagued me for as long as I've been listening to music. I have never managed to enjoy the wash of keyboards coupled with the plunk plunk or jangle of the 80s pop rock guitarist and that artificial drum machine sound. I may have got a bit better due to my wife's love of 10,000 Maniacs -- their cool socially relevant lyrics have always impressed me, so I've kinda enjoyed some of those songs, but never really the music and certainly not the sound.
I have managed to make an exception, however, for the brooding sounds of The Call. These guys have fantastic politically-charged anti-war socially conscious lyrics that I wanted to hear, so I kept going back and back and braving the synthesised onslaught to the point where I don't even notice it now. Admittedly, their music is darker and moodier than your average 80s pop rock band (is 1983 too late to be called 'post-punk'?), but you wouldn't confuse it as being the product of another decade. Squarely in the 80s. Peter Gabriel thought they were the best band around at the time, though, so they must've been doing something just weird enough to get his stamp of approval.
What I'm hearing is something that should have come out of Thatcherite Britain rather than San Francisco -- a really forceful, angry tirade against all things wrong with the world, set against bleak rock soundscapes. It evokes imagery of urban slums, battlefields and even post-apocalyptic destruction. The overall sentiment reminds me of Roger Waters' desolation and isolation on The Wall, even though the subject matter is unrelated -- perhaps it's just that vibe of madness and despair.
So how could I let a side-dish of 80s keyboards stop me from enjoying all that?
The song titles make their position clear from the outset, such as 'War Weary World', 'Turn A Blind Eye', 'Violent Times' and 'Waiting For The End'. They're backed up with substance too, with some recurring themes being a distrust of government agendas, a feeling of individualism and isolation and a sense that the world is heading in the wrong direction. It's really chilling that nothing has changed much since 1982. Check out how this selection of passages from various tracks fits underneath topics that are completely relevant today:
Empire building
Modern Romans
False Gods
Colonial manouvres
The writing's on the wall
-- Modern Romans
Hegemony & western excess
The judgement is demanding
Push beyond the need
World domination
Runaway greed
-- Modern Romans
Propaganda/fear as population control
We've got terrorist thinking
Playing on fears
-- The Walls Came Down
War propaganda
I don't think there are any Russians
And there ain't no Yanks
Just corporate criminals
Playing with tanks
-- The Walls Came Down
Population compliance and complacency
To methods of disuasion
Turn a blind eye
To masters of evasion
Turn a blind eye
To the science of control
Turn a blind eye
To a world in chains
Turn
-- Turn a Blind Eye
Perhaps one of the strongest and most confronting sentiments is not these overtly political statements that serve as a call to arms against an unjust society, but a simple, fundamental, lone cry for help against an unfeeling world:
Watch your step
There's a heart here
|
The fundamental problem with their environmental outlook is right there in Howard's quote:
In other words, we'll fucking do it for the cash and make sure it meets some kind of minimum 'standard' or other. Who cares if it is the right choice FOR THE FUTURE OF THE FUCKING PLANET...in the end it will be determined by commercial considerations, subject to environmental and safety standards.
As John Lennon once angrily sang to Paul McCartney, "how do you sleep at night ya c@#t". And Paul was only guilty of shit music, not global destruction.
|
Fuckwits. I rate Rudd's stance to not fight dirty through smear campaigns like the Libs, but man, perhaps it's time to ram a few truths home to people. Surely just having an ad that flashed up these words would seal it for the ALP: Hicks, Haneef, AWB, WMD, WorkChoices, Tampa. How many corrupt (morally and administratively) fucking debacles are required before people kick this guys arse to the curb? It's not even smear either, they did these things to themselves!
20 bucks a week though.... Tough choice apparently.
Today is Blog Action Day! Take action by posting about the environment in your own way.
The best thing I can write to help the environment in my own small way during this election campaign is to encourage anyone who reads this to not be fooled by Johnny-come-lately's faux-environmental stance. He doesn't care about the environment or he would have done something about it during the 11 years he's been in power. No, it's suddenly "in" to care about the environment, so now Johnny must appear to.
The amount of money spent on expensive lush blue/green toned TV advertising with spinning wind farms doesn't change the fact that the Liberal Party are the WORST choice for environmental management. Now, Labour's not perfect, the Greens are better in almost every way on environmental issues obviously, but as the only viable alternative in this extremely critical election, the ALP are clearly the better choice -- they have Peter Garrett as their environmental minister, their policies are largely positive and Al Gore says they're OK. The two big differences as far as I see it are:
- The ALP will ratify Kyoto, and the Coalition will follow the Bush stance of some kind of alternate emissions target blah blah wank wank dodge dodge
- The Coalition will push to implement nuclear power like the old school neo-cons they are (even though they're not talking about it during the election) and the ALP will pursue viable alternatives.
So more important than me crapping on about our enviro light bulbs is to ask you to make a choice that will change the way Australia views the environment, and one that will force big business to look at their shithouse practices and do something different if they want to stay relevant. Something the Government cannot claim to be.
