Australian Democracy Is A Farce. Kate Ellis For PM.

No. no. no

Nick Xenophon for PM

Originally posted by daaskapital
No. no. no

Nick Xenophon for PM

Hell yeah.

That guy is for the people.

reply to post by theubermensch


I have to say, you're in the minority with your opinions, but that's fine.

Australians hate elections and the less we have the happier we are.

What you're proposing would probably create situations for a federal election 1-2 times a year.

Way, way, way too much.

Besides that, nothing would happen and if it does, someone would oppose it, force an election, get the vote and change it.

At least with the current system, we have a few years to see if whatever was changed worked or not...

GST could be a good example of that.

Can you imagine the costs, head f%^ks and stress involved in introducing it, then getting rid of it a few months later??

reply to post by theubermensch


Yep, also has some pretty good policies.

Plus he has balls (Something Gillard doesn't have)

reply to post by Chadwickus


I agree with not wanting more elections

What a waste of time they are anyway. And sorry about the name calling. Im defensive

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by theubermensch

 

I have to say, you're in the minority with your opinions, but that's fine.

Australians hate elections and the less we have the happier we are.

What you're proposing would probably create situations for a federal election 1-2 times a year.

Way, way, way too much.

Besides that, nothing would happen and if it does, someone would oppose it, force an election, get the vote and change it.

At least with the current system, we have a few years to see if whatever was changed worked or not...

GST could be a good example of that.

Can you imagine the costs, head f%^ks and stress involved in introducing it, then getting rid of it a few months later??

edit on 26/2/12 by Chadwickus because: (no reason given)

In theory, a good idea, not such a good idea in practice.

You are right about people not wanting more elections, but with the current state of affairs in Australia, would it neccessarily be a bad thing? We should have the power to choose our leaders, not the party at hand at the time. The public should be allowed to vote on changes within the laws and policies of Australia also, such as GST, The Carbon Tax and Republic issues. Politicians should also be held accountable to their promises, and if found not to be fulfilling their promises, they should be at the mercy of the people who have the right to vote them out.
Four years is a long time to do a lot of damage as this labour govt has proven, and I really think this is just the beginning of a very rapid slide down the tubes.

The problem is too many people are uninformed, lazy and uninterested, excpet when the government rears up and starts hitting us in the pocket. In general, people are happy in their little bubbles, which will be their ultimate undoing when the government strips away our last few freedoms and we applaud them for doing so.

ETA: Agree with Nick "Mr X" Xenophon for PM. The man has a cast iron set and is not afraid to go against the popular opinion

We should have the power to choose our leaders, not the party at hand at the time. The public should be allowed to vote on changes within the laws and policies of Australia also, such as GST, The Carbon Tax and Republic issues.

reply to post by 74Templar


I agree. They let us have a referendum on stuff that nobody cares about but when they want to pass a carbon tax they use taxpayer money on propaganda tryingto sell the broken promise to us. They pass 'covered bond legislation' while all the morons argue about boat people. Bob Hawke wasnt perfect but he ran things by consensus for the most part. These politicians now days expext us to bend over for them and then say thankyou while they laugh at us. They treat us like idiots and tell us how things will be.

More frequent elections would make them more accountable. More productive too I would say. It would also be harder for them to distance themselves from their failures.

Maybe every 2 years would be better.

reply to post by theubermensch


I forgot to add in that last post, in regards to the accountability factor, anyone in any position that doesn't fulfill their duties, in ANY job, is held accountable, except politics. I think these politicians see us as fodder anytime except for the elections, and pull all these BS promises, then backflip on them once theyre installed.

If we did the same in our day to day jobs, we would be sacked, not allowed four years to keep screwing things up before our co-workers decided it was time to get rid of us.

The politicians rely on the laziness of the general populace, and keep them in the dark about what they are really doing, and it is the same way with corporations. If we needed to go to the polls to keep these leaders in line each time they veered to far to the left or right, the I would be all for it.

All this fiasco has done is ruin the faith the Australian people have in firstly the labour govt, and secondly, any government, as a real eye opener to just how little we the people actually mean to them.

All I can hope is something like this will be the turning point for people to wake up and get active.

reply to post by theubermensch

Maybe every 2 years would be better.

It sounds good at first but there are major problems with short term leadership.

The shorter the term, the less incentive for the government in power to invest on infrastructure.

The longer the term of government, the more likely the politicians are to invest in infrastructure.

A classic example of this (in the extreme) is the USSR. So much of the infrastructure from the cold war is still in use today and working perfectly. I know there will be more than one 'septic' that will disagree, but anyone who has worked on Russian made tech/engineering will confirm that the stuff built in USSR after WWII is solid and reliable.

Take the other end of the extreme, and look at the UK. Democratic politics has allowed the Brits to turn a blind eye to major infrastructure concerns. An example of this is the Thorp plant leak in Sellafield Link. The Brits have duck-shoved responsibility over environmental concerns at Sellafield and have only used band-aid remedies to address problems that require major infrastructure investment. None of the political parties in Britain have ever made any real effort to do anything about Sellafield.

Originally posted by OccamAssassin
Bring on an election so we can oust this incompetent government.

But on top of this incompetent government is... Tony Rabbit. So you're kinda saying pour this fetid water out, and pour in that fetid water in budgie smugglers.

No one in our political environment is any good, if you ask me. They're all in it for themselves.

And please no one say Katter... He'd drive me up a wall before long and do my head in.. lol..



"I would walk to Bourke backwards if the gay population of North Queensland is any more than 0.001 per cent."

Lmao

Originally posted by mainidh

Originally posted by OccamAssassin
Bring on an election so we can oust this incompetent government.

But on top of this incompetent government is... Tony Rabbit. So you're kinda saying pour this fetid water out, and pour in that fetid water in budgie smugglers.

No one in our political environment is any good, if you ask me. They're all in it for themselves.

And please no one say Katter... He'd drive me up a wall before long and do my head in.. lol..

"I would walk to Bourke backwards if the gay population of North Queensland is any more than 0.001 per cent."

Lmao

Dont be talking trash about Katter now Buster Brown.

Originally posted by theubermensch
Ha!
Im going with Katter. Limiting the market share of Coles and Woolies is an awesome idea. So is protecting public utilities. I think a crazy old farmer is more for the people than any of the corporatist jerks in labor or liberal. Except Kate Ellis,Id vote for her

I agree I'm going the same.
Too bad he doesn't agree with same sex marriage though ;-/

Originally posted by DaRAGE

Originally posted by theubermensch
Ha!
Im going with Katter. Limiting the market share of Coles and Woolies is an awesome idea. So is protecting public utilities. I think a crazy old farmer is more for the people than any of the corporatist jerks in labor or liberal. Except Kate Ellis,Id vote for her

I agree I'm going the same.
Too bad he doesn't agree with same sex marriage though ;-/

I laughed my ass off when I saw his gay brother on Mamma Mia being interviewed by Mia Freedman. I bet we see more of his brother. I dont like everything about Katter but I think we need to send the major parties a message. They take their power for granted.

Labor and Liberal dont seem to keen on the same sex thing either but I get what you mean. Katter is far from perfect thats for sure.

You guys ALL disappoint me. Although the ones praising the independents only slightly.

Aren't you meant to be conspiracy nuts on this board?

KRudd launches his attack while in Washington?

Senator Abib, the guy named as a spy for the US by Wikileaks cables resigns?

Make something of it. Tell us all about how the Labor party has been sabotaged by the CIA since they took out Whitlam over his enquiry. Either that or IMO have this discussion on another forum.

/edit my ideal Parliament including modern members:

Gillard; education minister
Oakeshot; speech writer
Katter; Trade minister
Green & Wong; married to protest gay marraige
Garret; mining minister
Wilkie; Either defence or 'secretary of the interior' or whatever we call our top spook
Xenophon; Gaming Tsar
Turnbull; PR
KRudd; Opposition leader
Windsor; Minister for Regional Affairs
Lundy & Ludlam; Technology & Broadband
Petraeus; Foreign Minister
Murdoch; Prime Minister

Just trying to rational and balanced with my last 2 choices.