IN the ACT election held last Saturday (with 70% of votes pre-polled), it is clear that Labor have been returned, Greens have gained (they could win 5 seats out of 25 ). Final couple of seats will take a few more days to be decided owing to the complex preference system operating here.
I saw a bit of Rod Sims' address to the National Press Club about the importance of limiting market power as we pull out of Covid (not that we are going to be doing that for a while). I was impressed.
The link is to iview. I wasn't able to find it on youtube.
The Liberals have been on the out of ACT I understand for a while. They seem to have conservative candidates in what I read is a not overly conservative territory.
Meanwhile, a $3,000 Cartier watch could be yours if you were an Australia Post exec. And $97 mill in bonuses seems a lot for a year. I truly wonder what world these people live in.
The Liberals have been on the out of ACT I understand for a while. They seem to have conservative candidates in what I read is a not overly conservative territory.
Meanwhile, a $3,000 Cartier watch could be yours if you were an Australia Post exec. And $97 mill in bonuses seems a lot for a year. I truly wonder what world these people live in.
1. We've had Labor in power in the ACT for 19 years. And yes, these days there's an ongoing conversation about how the more conservative wing of the Liberal party tend to be in control of the party, and how that really doesn't work here. There's a distinct possibility that each wing of the party gets to take a turn at leading and failing...
2. The world of corporations. I do find it slightly amusing that there's all this outrage about Australia Post executives behaving like corporate executives, when the decision has been explicitly made to set it up as a business rather than as a government agency providing a public service. What did they expect?
spot on Orfeo. My solution is to go back to a service, but many ordinary people have put money into Australia Post franchises (if that is the situation), and we can't be ripping them off.
No, she hasn't Gee D. It is a great pity in my view. I viewed her as a safe pair of hands. Mind you, how I wish we had an ICAC like you do. Ours can't investigate politicians...
Having spent four decades in the NSW public education system, my view is that apart from the dubious decision-making, the officers who appeared today have committed offences under the State Records Act [I think that's the right one - 10 years since I finished work]. I would certainly have been disciplined if not charged.
Labor down from 12 seats to 10.
Liberal down from 11 seats to 9.
Greens up from 2 seats to 6!
Really quite a surprise. The Greens vote went up enough to gain them a quota in 4 out of 5 electorates. Suddenly they have a member in every electorate, and 2 in the inner north where they're strongest.
EDIT: The Liberals are going to need to go down a moderate path just so they don't get the situation that happened this time, where for the first time the Greens preemptively ruled out supporting a Liberal government.
EDIT: The Liberals are going to need to go down a moderate path just so they don't get the situation that happened this time, where for the first time the Greens preemptively ruled out supporting a Liberal government.
Indeed. Trying to promote a socially conservative agenda in the most progressive town in Australia won't work. Nor will promoting magic pudding economics in a highly educated town - or stunts that might impress three-year olds. And vetting their candidates better would be a good idea - at least one caused the Libs embarrassment.
Queensland is now trying to change the law so there has to be a by-election to choose the new mayor. Though the experienced mayor, Strelow, made a strange video while wearing a bubble wrap dress, so her opponent, Chris 'Pineapple' Hooper does not seem to be the only eccentric.
Help! A teenage in-law of mine in Oz, I have just heard, is a big Trump supporter (and has apparently become one over the course of the past year - he seemed to be very critical of Trump when I was there a year and a half ago). He even sides with Trump in challenging the election results as tainted. This is hearsay so far and I need to hear it from him before I will fully believe it, but my Australian husband (who is an American citizen and very emphatically voted against Trump) is heartbroken by the news.
Do any of you know of other young Australian Trump supporters? If so, do the ones you know seem to just be rebelling or following some subcultural fad, or do you think they really understand his policies and the effects of his rhetoric and support him anyway? Do you think they understand the historical, cultural, and racial contexts of the US that lead Americans to support or oppose him? (Australians tend to know more about US history and politics than the average American, although I don't know about Australian teenagers.)
Has he also got sucked into any Australian far right groups or adopted far right beliefs he has read online? Or got involved in the Q conspiracy stuff? Generally passionate Trump supporters in Australia also support at least one of those areas. The only people I know who have said they would vote for Trump if they were American are middle aged or older Pentecostals who are nice people but very anti-abortion and would vote for Trump on that issue alone. They don't particularly like Trump though. Also where in Australia does he live?
We live in a very conservative part of Sydney. The Liberal (ie conservative) party candidate has rarely slipped below 60% of the first preference vote at any federal election since the seat was created 70 years ago, and normally gets in the mid-60s upwards. The general attitude of people around here, judging from chats over coffee, in the street and so forth, is that Trump is a joke and it's a good thing for the US that he's gone. We've not heard one person defend him. If that's the opinion of those of voting age, it's hard to see how the following generation would be supporting him. Not at all sure just how serious your relation is.
Has he also got sucked into any Australian far right groups or adopted far right beliefs he has read online? Or got involved in the Q conspiracy stuff? Generally passionate Trump supporters in Australia also support at least one of those areas. The only people I know who have said they would vote for Trump if they were American are middle aged or older Pentecostals who are nice people but very anti-abortion and would vote for Trump on that issue alone. They don't particularly like Trump though. Also where in Australia does he live?
Near Penrith. I don't know about the conspiracy theory stuff as I haven't spoken to him about it yet - I've only heard about it through family. I'm not sure how conservative he is in terms of religion but he is fine with having gay members of the family.
We live in a very conservative part of Sydney. The Liberal (ie conservative) party candidate has rarely slipped below 60% of the first preference vote at any federal election since the seat was created 70 years ago, and normally gets in the mid-60s upwards. The general attitude of people around here, judging from chats over coffee, in the street and so forth, is that Trump is a joke and it's a good thing for the US that he's gone. We've not heard one person defend him. If that's the opinion of those of voting age, it's hard to see how the following generation would be supporting him. Not at all sure just how serious your relation is.
Is the part of Sydney you live in full of university-educated Liberal party supporters who like lower taxes and smaller government? Ie, the type of people who in the US would often be Never Trump Republicans or independents who supported Biden in large numbers? Or are they more like Trump’s stereotypical base in the US (non-college educated whites motivated by cultural issues like immigration, identity politics, and political correctness)?
My wife's cousins down in Tassie are reportedly Trump fanatics. I have that from their parents. They are working class people who live in Launceston, in economically challenged northern Tasmania. I am not sure of what their kids do in terms of work. I don't know them. Their parents are traditional Labor supporters with traditional labor values, and my Uncle-in-Law has the very best shed I have ever seen. It is a freaking paradise in there. Big soft chairs, modest TV, bar fridge, pool table - brilliant! He is also a bird enthusiast so there is a constant tweeting from the adjacent aviary. It really is a wonderful place to have a quiet tin while watching the cricket. We should see them again in January as there is a family wedding on. If I get to meet the cousins I shall report back.
I got the impression that his kids support far right politicians in Australia, so that Trump is right up their political alley.
Stonespring, to take from your choices, I'd say that people here were closer to being university-educated Liberal party supporters who like lower taxes and smaller government? Ie, the type of people who in the US would often be Never Trump Republicans or independents who supported Biden in large numbers rather than the stereotype Trump supporter you posit.
As to your relation-in-law: Penrith used be an unusual combination of a suburb on the outskirts of Sydney surrounded by small farms - market gardens, some dairy and so forth. The suburb was solid working class where unemployment was never a major issue. Children would grow up expecting to have much the same sort of life. These days, much of the farmland has been turned into suburbs of a suburb, quite a bit of unemployment and a pretty grim future for many leaving school. I can understand that many would turn to their image of Trumpism.
Stonespring, to take from your choices, I'd say that people here were closer to being university-educated Liberal party supporters who like lower taxes and smaller government? Ie, the type of people who in the US would often be Never Trump Republicans or independents who supported Biden in large numbers rather than the stereotype Trump supporter you posit.
As to your relation-in-law: Penrith used be an unusual combination of a suburb on the outskirts of Sydney surrounded by small farms - market gardens, some dairy and so forth. The suburb was solid working class where unemployment was never a major issue. Children would grow up expecting to have much the same sort of life. These days, much of the farmland has been turned into suburbs of a suburb, quite a bit of unemployment and a pretty grim future for many leaving school. I can understand that many would turn to their image of Trumpism.
My relative lives in a very nice house in a relatively new development and goes to a private school whose tuition is not cheap. But the area where he lives, like much of Western Sydney, has a certain anti-elitist spirit to it, and a bit of an inferiority complex from being looked down upon by residents of the Western Suburbs, Eastern Suburbs, and North Shore (this is my speaking possibly very inaccurately as an American armchair anthropologist). There are lots of immigrants all over the area, many of whom vote Labor but many of whom are socially conservative so would have voted against the same-sex marriage referendum. I would imagine a good number of the more well-off immigrants might vote Liberal, though, but that's just more wild speculation from me.
My relative's parents earn a good living but come from lower-middle and working class roots. I've heard them criticize Gillard and Turnbull but compliment Abbott (while disagreeing with Abbott on same-sex marriage).
My husband and his siblings grew up in Western Sydney when it was as you describe, pre-suburban sprawl. Their father probably supported Labor back then but probably supports the Liberals now (although he thinks Albanese is not bad). But their father really, really dislikes Trump.
My wife's cousins down in Tassie are reportedly Trump fanatics. I have that from their parents. They are working class people who live in Launceston, in economically challenged northern Tasmania. I am not sure of what their kids do in terms of work. I don't know them. Their parents are traditional Labor supporters with traditional labor values, and my Uncle-in-Law has the very best shed I have ever seen. It is a freaking paradise in there. Big soft chairs, modest TV, bar fridge, pool table - brilliant! He is also a bird enthusiast so there is a constant tweeting from the adjacent aviary. It really is a wonderful place to have a quiet tin while watching the cricket. We should see them again in January as there is a family wedding on. If I get to meet the cousins I shall report back.
I got the impression that his kids support far right politicians in Australia, so that Trump is right up their political alley.
Do Pauline Hanson and her ilk associate themselves with Trump, whether or not they have ever met him?
My Aussie in-laws make distasteful jokes about Tasmanians being inbred, like some Americans make similar jokes about Appalchians and Southerners in general. I've never been to Tasmania but I've heard it's beautiful. Are Tasmanians very different from residents of the other states and territories? In what way?
Tasmania is beautiful. The population is low, and much of the island remains in its wild state. Better not to repeat any of the usual jokes about the inhabitants.
Tasmania is beautiful. The population is low, and much of the island remains in its wild state. Better not to repeat any of the usual jokes about the inhabitants.
The American equivalent of those jokes (which of course are not true) comes not only from city/country elitism but also from a history of discrimination against the often desperately poor and undereducated descendants of Scotch-Irish immigrants to the Appalachian region. I was wondering whether or not Tasmania had a similar history - or parts of it, since @Simon Toad mentioned that northern Tasmania is known for poverty. I'm just wondering why that one state is being picked on by the others when (to a not-very informed American observer), the Australian states and territories are all so huge (except for the ACT) that all of them have very poor, rural, and isolated areas.
Abbot is about the closest PM we have had to Trump. I wonder if your relative is influenced by certain media personalities such as Andrew Bolt or Alan Jones or former Labor politician turned One Nation, Mark Latham.
A lot of Tasmanians move to Melbourne to study or work, and they are not really culturally different to us. There are various state and city rivalries, but I think urban/city divides are the biggest cultural differences.
Mili is right. Tasmania is known for jokes about inbreeding, but I certainly hold prejudices against Australians from all other states I shan't go into them in detail, they are all combative, purile things mainly designed to start fights in pubs.
You should absolutely make the effort to go to Tassie. It is truly beautiful. You could throw a dart at a map of the place and as long as you could get there, it would make you weep. Tassie has always been economically problematic, I'm not sure why. I hope to talk my wife into buying a little bit of land with a house on it once she decides to retire. The value for money down there is really great.
The far right in Australia loves Trump. He ticks all their boxes. He's aggressive, sexist and racist, just like they are. One Nation pretty much ran on a pro-covid ticket in Queensland last month and got smashed. I mean they were anti-border closures and skeptical about the whole thing.
Comments
These people really treat us voters like mugs...
The link is to iview. I wasn't able to find it on youtube.
Meanwhile, a $3,000 Cartier watch could be yours if you were an Australia Post exec. And $97 mill in bonuses seems a lot for a year. I truly wonder what world these people live in.
1. We've had Labor in power in the ACT for 19 years. And yes, these days there's an ongoing conversation about how the more conservative wing of the Liberal party tend to be in control of the party, and how that really doesn't work here. There's a distinct possibility that each wing of the party gets to take a turn at leading and failing...
2. The world of corporations. I do find it slightly amusing that there's all this outrage about Australia Post executives behaving like corporate executives, when the decision has been explicitly made to set it up as a business rather than as a government agency providing a public service. What did they expect?
And good point.
Meanwhile, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian's documents approving of council grants were shredded by her office. The mind, or at least mine, boggles.
Labor down from 12 seats to 10.
Liberal down from 11 seats to 9.
Greens up from 2 seats to 6!
Really quite a surprise. The Greens vote went up enough to gain them a quota in 4 out of 5 electorates. Suddenly they have a member in every electorate, and 2 in the inner north where they're strongest.
EDIT: The Liberals are going to need to go down a moderate path just so they don't get the situation that happened this time, where for the first time the Greens preemptively ruled out supporting a Liberal government.
Indeed. Trying to promote a socially conservative agenda in the most progressive town in Australia won't work. Nor will promoting magic pudding economics in a highly educated town - or stunts that might impress three-year olds. And vetting their candidates better would be a good idea - at least one caused the Libs embarrassment.
And ASIC. ASIC! Is there to be no end of this...
Am I just not remembering past years or is this year particularly terrible?
Clive Palmer is having a good week
Fixed broken URL. BroJames, Purgatory Host
That link needs fixing. It has a double-up on http/https.
Fixed! BroJames, Purgatory Host
All you need is a gumboot & a pocket knife....
Nope. I’ve checked the manual. I can’t fix businessmen either.
You'd never get all of Palmer into a gum boot.
Queensland is now trying to change the law so there has to be a by-election to choose the new mayor. Though the experienced mayor, Strelow, made a strange video while wearing a bubble wrap dress, so her opponent, Chris 'Pineapple' Hooper does not seem to be the only eccentric.
Do any of you know of other young Australian Trump supporters? If so, do the ones you know seem to just be rebelling or following some subcultural fad, or do you think they really understand his policies and the effects of his rhetoric and support him anyway? Do you think they understand the historical, cultural, and racial contexts of the US that lead Americans to support or oppose him? (Australians tend to know more about US history and politics than the average American, although I don't know about Australian teenagers.)
Near Penrith. I don't know about the conspiracy theory stuff as I haven't spoken to him about it yet - I've only heard about it through family. I'm not sure how conservative he is in terms of religion but he is fine with having gay members of the family.
Is the part of Sydney you live in full of university-educated Liberal party supporters who like lower taxes and smaller government? Ie, the type of people who in the US would often be Never Trump Republicans or independents who supported Biden in large numbers? Or are they more like Trump’s stereotypical base in the US (non-college educated whites motivated by cultural issues like immigration, identity politics, and political correctness)?
I got the impression that his kids support far right politicians in Australia, so that Trump is right up their political alley.
As to your relation-in-law: Penrith used be an unusual combination of a suburb on the outskirts of Sydney surrounded by small farms - market gardens, some dairy and so forth. The suburb was solid working class where unemployment was never a major issue. Children would grow up expecting to have much the same sort of life. These days, much of the farmland has been turned into suburbs of a suburb, quite a bit of unemployment and a pretty grim future for many leaving school. I can understand that many would turn to their image of Trumpism.
My relative lives in a very nice house in a relatively new development and goes to a private school whose tuition is not cheap. But the area where he lives, like much of Western Sydney, has a certain anti-elitist spirit to it, and a bit of an inferiority complex from being looked down upon by residents of the Western Suburbs, Eastern Suburbs, and North Shore (this is my speaking possibly very inaccurately as an American armchair anthropologist). There are lots of immigrants all over the area, many of whom vote Labor but many of whom are socially conservative so would have voted against the same-sex marriage referendum. I would imagine a good number of the more well-off immigrants might vote Liberal, though, but that's just more wild speculation from me.
My relative's parents earn a good living but come from lower-middle and working class roots. I've heard them criticize Gillard and Turnbull but compliment Abbott (while disagreeing with Abbott on same-sex marriage).
My husband and his siblings grew up in Western Sydney when it was as you describe, pre-suburban sprawl. Their father probably supported Labor back then but probably supports the Liberals now (although he thinks Albanese is not bad). But their father really, really dislikes Trump.
Do Pauline Hanson and her ilk associate themselves with Trump, whether or not they have ever met him?
My Aussie in-laws make distasteful jokes about Tasmanians being inbred, like some Americans make similar jokes about Appalchians and Southerners in general. I've never been to Tasmania but I've heard it's beautiful. Are Tasmanians very different from residents of the other states and territories? In what way?
The American equivalent of those jokes (which of course are not true) comes not only from city/country elitism but also from a history of discrimination against the often desperately poor and undereducated descendants of Scotch-Irish immigrants to the Appalachian region. I was wondering whether or not Tasmania had a similar history - or parts of it, since @Simon Toad mentioned that northern Tasmania is known for poverty. I'm just wondering why that one state is being picked on by the others when (to a not-very informed American observer), the Australian states and territories are all so huge (except for the ACT) that all of them have very poor, rural, and isolated areas.
A lot of Tasmanians move to Melbourne to study or work, and they are not really culturally different to us. There are various state and city rivalries, but I think urban/city divides are the biggest cultural differences.
You should absolutely make the effort to go to Tassie. It is truly beautiful. You could throw a dart at a map of the place and as long as you could get there, it would make you weep. Tassie has always been economically problematic, I'm not sure why. I hope to talk my wife into buying a little bit of land with a house on it once she decides to retire. The value for money down there is really great.
The far right in Australia loves Trump. He ticks all their boxes. He's aggressive, sexist and racist, just like they are. One Nation pretty much ran on a pro-covid ticket in Queensland last month and got smashed. I mean they were anti-border closures and skeptical about the whole thing.