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That's a great question, especially in light of the fact that these laws have unanimous support from Labor. My best guess is that intelligence officials are pus

by sjy 12y ago

That's a great question, especially in light of the fact that these laws have unanimous support from Labor. My best guess is that intelligence officials are pushing for the laws to make their jobs easier, and the politicians are afraid of ignoring their advice.

XorNot 12y ago
It's the old classic: liberals (right-wing) are tough on <something!> and are the only ones who can be. And so Labor (left-wing) are cowed into silence because they're not sure they want to fight that one out in the media (which, isn't unfair - if anything happens it's political suicide). What you do have to remember though is no one really expected the Abbott government to be this insane. A ton of people who voted "not labor" were expecting more along the lines of he tries not to rock the boat too much. Not the "dismantle social welfare, raise fees on everything, screw the healthcare system...what I'm unpopular now? TERRORISM! TERRORISTS EVERYWHERE!"
- dwd 12y ago
  A prominent liberal economist (I believe Dean Baker) once portrayed the difference between "Conservative" and "Liberal" as being paternal vs maternal in regard to Government's relationship to tax payers. The maternal was more nurturing providing a base of services to enable opportunity, where the paternal way was basically "man up" and get out there and help yourself. For corporates however, it was a different story.
  - sjy 12y ago
    That was a great little book (and the ebook is freely available too)! http://deanbaker.net/books/the-conservative-nanny-state.htm http://deanbaker.net/books/the-conservative-nanny-state.htm
    - dwd 12y ago
      Came out during the Bush years...deja vu. His ideas on copyright in that book were quite interesting as well.
dwd 12y ago
I had considered that, which points to some serious issues with what dirt on they have on politicians to give them that leverage. I wish I could ignore traffic laws as it would make the morning commute shorter, but the laws on due process are there for a reason. As for Labor, Bill Shorten may as well be a Liberal, though I would have thought Pilbesek would have been more vocal in questioning whether it was necessary. I suspect the Royal Commission into Union funding plays heavily on the level of Labor opposition. The Greens at least opposed it, but this legislation is a bigger threat to them along with their supporters. It will be interesting if they start branding activists as terrorists and whether it has a chilling effect on groups with serious numbers like GetUp who are a major thorn in the government's side. They portray this as being in response to the latest terrorism news, but I suspect its drafting began at least 12 months ago.
- robryan 12y ago
  Yeah feels like it has been rammed through before there is any time for current situation that they have drummed up with the raids and terror level to die down. Between this and zero debate on whether Australia should be committing forces to yet another Iraq war the major parties power really needs to be cut down. If they just rubber stamp each others policies in these areas and they don't rate highly enough among the public as voting issues it really makes for a scary future.

by sjy 12y ago

XorNot 12y ago

It's the old classic: liberals (right-wing) are tough on <something!> and are the only ones who can be. And so Labor (left-wing) are cowed into silence because they're not sure they want to fight that one out in the media (which, isn't unfair - if anything happens it's political suicide). What you do have to remember though is no one really expected the Abbott government to be this insane. A ton of people who voted "not labor" were expecting more along the lines of he tries not to rock the boat too much. Not the "dismantle social welfare, raise fees on everything, screw the healthcare system...what I'm unpopular now? TERRORISM! TERRORISTS EVERYWHERE!"

dwd 12y ago
A prominent liberal economist (I believe Dean Baker) once portrayed the difference between "Conservative" and "Liberal" as being paternal vs maternal in regard to Government's relationship to tax payers. The maternal was more nurturing providing a base of services to enable opportunity, where the paternal way was basically "man up" and get out there and help yourself. For corporates however, it was a different story.
- sjy 12y ago
  That was a great little book (and the ebook is freely available too)! http://deanbaker.net/books/the-conservative-nanny-state.htm http://deanbaker.net/books/the-conservative-nanny-state.htm
  - dwd 12y ago
    Came out during the Bush years...deja vu. His ideas on copyright in that book were quite interesting as well.

dwd 12y ago

I had considered that, which points to some serious issues with what dirt on they have on politicians to give them that leverage. I wish I could ignore traffic laws as it would make the morning commute shorter, but the laws on due process are there for a reason. As for Labor, Bill Shorten may as well be a Liberal, though I would have thought Pilbesek would have been more vocal in questioning whether it was necessary. I suspect the Royal Commission into Union funding plays heavily on the level of Labor opposition. The Greens at least opposed it, but this legislation is a bigger threat to them along with their supporters. It will be interesting if they start branding activists as terrorists and whether it has a chilling effect on groups with serious numbers like GetUp who are a major thorn in the government's side. They portray this as being in response to the latest terrorism news, but I suspect its drafting began at least 12 months ago.

robryan 12y ago
Yeah feels like it has been rammed through before there is any time for current situation that they have drummed up with the raids and terror level to die down. Between this and zero debate on whether Australia should be committing forces to yet another Iraq war the major parties power really needs to be cut down. If they just rubber stamp each others policies in these areas and they don't rate highly enough among the public as voting issues it really makes for a scary future.