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We need to fire the lot of them in Canberra and start again. Aussie pollies going backwards in the ethics..

crispinb 7y ago
Yet when offered opportunities for change, Aussies nearly always reject it. We have a skittish & ignorant population which is extremely easy to scare with lies. The old truism that populations get the representation they deserve seems particularly apposite of our nation.
- jakecopp 7y ago
  The ignorance and belief everything will turn out alright in Australia is astounding. That 1964 book [1] really did seem to nail a lot: "Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people's ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise." [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lucky_Country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lucky_Country
  - crispinb 7y ago
    Quite - one of the most misunderstood book titles in history! "She'll be right" makes for some attractively (if superficially) easygoing characters, but it's a useless stance to take towards national governance. Unfortunately it's about the only style of thought running through the current mob's empty heads ...
jen729w 7y ago
Let’s try to make this more constructive than the Herald Sun letters page, shall we? For instance, I read a profile of Jacqui Lambie [0] in The Saturday Paper [1] the other week. I’m a Green-voting Fitzroy-dwelling hipster, literally, but I found it gave me a real appreciation of someone who I would have dismissed out of hand the week before [3]. Being a politician is probably a thankless task. I’ve no doubt it’s difficult. They really don’t get paid that much. I wouldn’t want to do it. If you’re generally cynical of politicians as a people, I can’t recommend Ben Rhodes’ book The World as It Is [4] enough. It might not make you any less cynical — spoiler: politics is a shit-fight — but it might give you a little more appreciation for the fact that the people doing this job are just that. They’re mostly just regular people, who thought they could do good. (Rhodes was Obama’s adviser: if anyone has similar recommendations for Australian politics, I’d love to hear them.) [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqui_Lambie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqui_Lambie. [1]: https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2019/09/21/the-lambie-interview-inside-her-power-play/15689880008791 https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2019/09/21... [3]: Actually, a few weeks prior, Jacqui sat beside us in the Qantas lounge at Devonport. We moved — mostly because of the annoying kids clambering all over the furniture and the toxic hellstew that is Sky News blaring from the TV, but we joked that we didn’t want to sit next to her. Now I wish I’d said hello. [4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_as_It_Is_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_as_It_Is_(book)
- Intermernet 7y ago
  Jacqui Lambie has matured so much as a politician. I used to see her as someone flailing around in an inexpert way, but now I actually respect her. I rarely agree with her stance on many things, but she seems to have developed consistency in her messaging, and doesn't toe party lines. She gets respect from me due to being a lot more genuine than most other Australian politicians. I wish we could have more politicians like her, but spread across the political spectrum.
  - dwd 7y ago
    This was an interesting article on her from the weekend: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/20/from-wrecking-ball-to-kingmaker-why-all-eyes-are-on-jacqui-lambie https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/20/from-... She's get my respect as she genuinely seems to want to make a difference, not just make a career out of being a politician.
- thundergolfer 7y ago
  > It might give you a little more appreciation for the fact that the people doing this job are just that. They’re mostly just regular people, who thought they could do good. I'm not comfortable with low standards such as these. We are, for starters, in a climate emergency and cannot afford a "well, they're human, they tried" approach to our politicians. Judge them on their actions, who cares about whether they're "regular". More to the point, "regular" people and business-as-usual neoliberalism is what got us in this mess. I've read that piece about Lambie, did this bit not stand out to you? > But later, when asked about immigration policy, she questioned whether Australia should select people on “moral” grounds. Did she mean Christians should be preferred to Muslims? She replied: “Yeah, I think that would make myself and many other Australians feel more comfortable.” This is blatant bigotry against Muslims given that there's no good reason the prefer Christians to Muslims, all things being equal. The Christian Right is a leading force for destruction and oppression globally; the basic reason Lambie prefers Christians is xenophobia. For the record I think religiosity should count against you on an immigration application because it's bedfellows with conservative politics and straight-out bigotry, but you don't get to pick and choose religions like that without revealing yourself a bigot and a xenophobe. I demand better from public leaders.
nl 7y ago
"Burn it all down" is a terrible, terrible idea put forward by people too lazy to think about fixing specific problems. How about specific suggestions instead of just "start from scratch" with no real reason to think it will improve things and plenty of reasons to think it could be worse.

Yet when offered opportunities for change, Aussies nearly always reject it. We have a skittish & ignorant population which is extremely easy to scare with lies. The old truism that populations get the representation they deserve seems particularly apposite of our nation.

jakecopp 7y ago
The ignorance and belief everything will turn out alright in Australia is astounding. That 1964 book [1] really did seem to nail a lot: "Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people's ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise." [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lucky_Country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lucky_Country
- crispinb 7y ago
  Quite - one of the most misunderstood book titles in history! "She'll be right" makes for some attractively (if superficially) easygoing characters, but it's a useless stance to take towards national governance. Unfortunately it's about the only style of thought running through the current mob's empty heads ...

jen729w 7y ago

Let’s try to make this more constructive than the Herald Sun letters page, shall we? For instance, I read a profile of Jacqui Lambie [0] in The Saturday Paper [1] the other week. I’m a Green-voting Fitzroy-dwelling hipster, literally, but I found it gave me a real appreciation of someone who I would have dismissed out of hand the week before [3]. Being a politician is probably a thankless task. I’ve no doubt it’s difficult. They really don’t get paid that much. I wouldn’t want to do it. If you’re generally cynical of politicians as a people, I can’t recommend Ben Rhodes’ book The World as It Is [4] enough. It might not make you any less cynical — spoiler: politics is a shit-fight — but it might give you a little more appreciation for the fact that the people doing this job are just that. They’re mostly just regular people, who thought they could do good. (Rhodes was Obama’s adviser: if anyone has similar recommendations for Australian politics, I’d love to hear them.) [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqui_Lambie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqui_Lambie. [1]: https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2019/09/21/the-lambie-interview-inside-her-power-play/15689880008791 https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2019/09/21... [3]: Actually, a few weeks prior, Jacqui sat beside us in the Qantas lounge at Devonport. We moved — mostly because of the annoying kids clambering all over the furniture and the toxic hellstew that is Sky News blaring from the TV, but we joked that we didn’t want to sit next to her. Now I wish I’d said hello. [4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_as_It_Is_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_as_It_Is_(book)

Intermernet 7y ago
Jacqui Lambie has matured so much as a politician. I used to see her as someone flailing around in an inexpert way, but now I actually respect her. I rarely agree with her stance on many things, but she seems to have developed consistency in her messaging, and doesn't toe party lines. She gets respect from me due to being a lot more genuine than most other Australian politicians. I wish we could have more politicians like her, but spread across the political spectrum.
- dwd 7y ago
  This was an interesting article on her from the weekend: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/20/from-wrecking-ball-to-kingmaker-why-all-eyes-are-on-jacqui-lambie https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/20/from-... She's get my respect as she genuinely seems to want to make a difference, not just make a career out of being a politician.
thundergolfer 7y ago
> It might give you a little more appreciation for the fact that the people doing this job are just that. They’re mostly just regular people, who thought they could do good. I'm not comfortable with low standards such as these. We are, for starters, in a climate emergency and cannot afford a "well, they're human, they tried" approach to our politicians. Judge them on their actions, who cares about whether they're "regular". More to the point, "regular" people and business-as-usual neoliberalism is what got us in this mess. I've read that piece about Lambie, did this bit not stand out to you? > But later, when asked about immigration policy, she questioned whether Australia should select people on “moral” grounds. Did she mean Christians should be preferred to Muslims? She replied: “Yeah, I think that would make myself and many other Australians feel more comfortable.” This is blatant bigotry against Muslims given that there's no good reason the prefer Christians to Muslims, all things being equal. The Christian Right is a leading force for destruction and oppression globally; the basic reason Lambie prefers Christians is xenophobia. For the record I think religiosity should count against you on an immigration application because it's bedfellows with conservative politics and straight-out bigotry, but you don't get to pick and choose religions like that without revealing yourself a bigot and a xenophobe. I demand better from public leaders.

nl 7y ago

"Burn it all down" is a terrible, terrible idea put forward by people too lazy to think about fixing specific problems. How about specific suggestions instead of just "start from scratch" with no real reason to think it will improve things and plenty of reasons to think it could be worse.