POWER WITHOUT GLORY
Last Saturday's federal election has proven to be a triumph of political expediency over genuine principle. Not that the ALP is necessarily a party of principle - it is almost as expedient as the Coalition. However, John Howard has again demonstrated that the need to be re-elected has over-ridden the deeper and more urgent need to act for the long-term benefit of Australia.
What we have seen is a cynical exploitation of a "better the devil you know that the devil you don't know" view in the electorate. This has been reinforced by manifestly false claims such as that the Coalition is the only party that can control interest rates. That this is an obvious and flagrant lie has been masked by Howard's attempt at a warm and fuzzy "trust me - I've been successful for eight years" line. And, as a result, we're stuck with another three years of Liberal/National coalition government - whether we like it or not.
What is worse, it looks almost certain that Howard will also have effective control of the Senate - perhaps not in his own right but almost certainly through a deal with Family First, which are even more conservative than the Coalition. My views on Family First are a separate subject, but suffice it to say, I don't agree with political parties that are based on, and draw their policies from, church groups. In this case, the Assemblies of God.
The only hint of a silver lining among all these clouds is that Howard will have no-one but himself to blame if (when) things go wrong. No doubt he will attempt to blame the ALP state governments (all of them), but hopefully, this will be seen for what it is - an attempt to pass the buck. The Coalition, effectively one man, John Howard, now has what he will claim to be a mandate to continue to push Australia in the direction of so-called economic rationalist, "free" market, user-pays conservatism , and away from any real concern for people. Particularly people who have been hurt by eight years of "me first" and to hell with anyone else; Aboriginal Australians, asylum seekers, mandatory detainees, people with mental health problems, pensioners - all the disadvantaged and socially excluded.
John Howard had better remember that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely".
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Last Saturday's federal election has proven to be a triumph of political expediency over genuine principle. Not that the ALP is necessarily a party of principle - it is almost as expedient as the Coalition. However, John Howard has again demonstrated that the need to be re-elected has over-ridden the deeper and more urgent need to act for the long-term benefit of Australia.
What we have seen is a cynical exploitation of a "better the devil you know that the devil you don't know" view in the electorate. This has been reinforced by manifestly false claims such as that the Coalition is the only party that can control interest rates. That this is an obvious and flagrant lie has been masked by Howard's attempt at a warm and fuzzy "trust me - I've been successful for eight years" line. And, as a result, we're stuck with another three years of Liberal/National coalition government - whether we like it or not.
What is worse, it looks almost certain that Howard will also have effective control of the Senate - perhaps not in his own right but almost certainly through a deal with Family First, which are even more conservative than the Coalition. My views on Family First are a separate subject, but suffice it to say, I don't agree with political parties that are based on, and draw their policies from, church groups. In this case, the Assemblies of God.
The only hint of a silver lining among all these clouds is that Howard will have no-one but himself to blame if (when) things go wrong. No doubt he will attempt to blame the ALP state governments (all of them), but hopefully, this will be seen for what it is - an attempt to pass the buck. The Coalition, effectively one man, John Howard, now has what he will claim to be a mandate to continue to push Australia in the direction of so-called economic rationalist, "free" market, user-pays conservatism , and away from any real concern for people. Particularly people who have been hurt by eight years of "me first" and to hell with anyone else; Aboriginal Australians, asylum seekers, mandatory detainees, people with mental health problems, pensioners - all the disadvantaged and socially excluded.
John Howard had better remember that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely".
Link
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