HalfEarthMedic
@HalfEarthMedic@slrpnk.net
GP, Gardener, Radical Progressive
- Submitted 17 hours ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 0 comments
- Submitted 2 days ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 0 comments
- Submitted 1 week ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 0 comments
- Comment on South African man’s visa cancelled after neo-Nazi rally outside NSW parliament 1 week ago:
1000 apologies, I read this, then read about the Pauline Hanson discrimination act stuff, then came back and got them confused. The cancellation of visas is always an option for any reason for the minister, I kind of think a committee or something would be better. I still think it’s worth throwing the book at Nazis in every instance where they can’t be ignored.
- Comment on South African man’s visa cancelled after neo-Nazi rally outside NSW parliament 1 week ago:
Let’s deconstruct this.
This fellow was behaving in a way that is against our stated national values, is threatening to citizens and other residents of this country, and is against the law.
He is now facing the predictable legal consequences of breaking the law, ie had he consulted a lawyer or even looked into it himself beforehand he would’ve known that this would be the likely outcome.
You’re now inferring from this that legitimate political speech may be curtailed in the future despite there being no legal mechanism for this to happen.
Many on the far left like to claim that liberals will always defend the rights of fascists to be fascists, that’s sometimes unfair but this kind of nonsense is how liberals get that reputation. (‘Small l’ liberals of course)
- 'Gets under the skin': The disadvantage shaping the future of 950,000 Australian kidswww.sbs.com.au ↗Submitted 1 week ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 1 comment
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 3 comments
- Submitted 3 weeks ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 2 comments
- Submitted 3 weeks ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 0 comments
- Comment on Most Australians think politicians’ secret cash-for-access payments are corrupt 3 weeks ago:
Yeah, the headline should’ve been “1/3 of Australians don’t understand what corruption is”
- Most Australians think politicians’ secret cash-for-access payments are corruptaustraliainstitute.org.au ↗Submitted 3 weeks ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 4 comments
- Buried detail in Labor's bill reveals how the government wants to override laws — and never tell you whywww.crikey.com.au ↗Submitted 4 weeks ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 0 comments
- Weaponising media. National Press Club and its arms industry sponsors - Michael Westmichaelwest.com.au ↗Submitted 4 weeks ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 0 comments
- Submitted 5 weeks ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 0 comments
- Comment on 'Fit for purpose': How a Labor veteran helped create Fraser's vision of a new political party 5 weeks ago:
“Ian Macphee told me stories of how, as immigration minister, he’d ring Fraser to tell him another Vietnamese boat had arrived at Christmas Island. ‘Let them in,’ Fraser said. Macphee rang Fraser to tell him a boat had made it to Darwin carrying Vietnamese people with no papers. ‘Let them in.’”
Can you imagine any Labor or Liberal politician being so humane.
- 'Fit for purpose': How a Labor veteran helped create Fraser's vision of a new political partywww.crikey.com.au ↗Submitted 5 weeks ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 3 comments
- Comment on Barnaby Joyce in advanced talks with Pauline Hanson to join One Nation 5 weeks ago:
FWIW I don’t think anyone actually moves to the right as they age. I think that a certain type of person is unwilling to move forward as the world does.
Someone who came of age in the 90s lived in a world where casual racism and sexism was more acceptable, being suspicious of the gays was fairly normal, transgender rights were unheard of, and the people with solar panels and electric cars really were eccentric cranks. If you were a fairly unenlightened but middle of the road person then and are offended by having your fixed views challenged then you’re a right wing crank now.
If you have even a remotely open mind then you’ll be okay.
- Comment on Barnaby Joyce in advanced talks with Pauline Hanson to join One Nation 1 month ago:
That’s interesting and counterintuitive to me, although it fits with a lot of the commentary around right wing politics. I have quite a few Gen X male friends.
As I’m laying in bed a bit tired and trying to organize my thoughts about this I have to remind myself that it can both be true that the biggest shift to One Nation is Gen X men, and that most Gen X men are kind and reasonable people who don’t vote for One Nation.
I wonder how much is a conservative shift with age as that group enters their 50s.
- Comment on Barnaby Joyce in advanced talks with Pauline Hanson to join One Nation 1 month ago:
This is exactly the point that a lot of the mainstream media are missing in their coverage.
There are exactly as many weird racist cranks voting as there always was but they are abandoning the Liberal party party for One Nation. At the same time centrist voters are abandoning the Liberals for Labor. The overall political shift is to the left, not the right and what remains of the right is more extreme and less credible.
- Comment on Barnaby Joyce in advanced talks with Pauline Hanson to join One Nation 1 month ago:
Obviously I have a little schadenfreude tingle as the political right in this country continues to crumble.
I’ve always had a kind of grudging respect for the Nationals in that they fairly earnestly and accurately represent the views of the rural conservative voting block.
In contrast the “Liberal” party is about as illiberal as they come and function mostly as class warriors on the side of the wealthy. The “Labor” party, who are supposed to be class warriors on the side of working Australians, are so up to their noses in Neoliberalism that they can’t do the most basic things to help with cost of living.
If Barnaby wants to jump over to PHON he’ll probably hold New England for them for a few election cycles but I’m not the first to observe that PHON are kind of de-facto part of the coalition already. It is interesting thought and I’m keen to see what others make of it.
Finally:
There has been speculation inside the Coalition about the prospect of a populist movement in the mould of the UK’s Reform, led by Nigel Farage, although most MPs believe such a party would fail because of Australia’s preferential and compulsory voting system.
This is obvious rot, preferential and compulsory voting allows votes to go to smaller parties, not the other way round. Just a random jab at one of the more democratic features of our system.
- Submitted 1 month ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 2 comments
- Submitted 1 month ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 0 comments
- Comment on Grattan on Friday: believe it or not, there would be a case for more federal politicians 1 month ago:
What about New Zealand?
- Comment on Grattan on Friday: believe it or not, there would be a case for more federal politicians 1 month ago:
I totally agree, that’s a much better system but it requires the dreaded referendum
- Comment on Grattan on Friday: believe it or not, there would be a case for more federal politicians 1 month ago:
I totally agree, that’s a much better system but it requires the dreaded referendum
- Comment on Grattan on Friday: believe it or not, there would be a case for more federal politicians 1 month ago:
Kind of, think if blue team got 40% of the vote and red team got 60% of the vote. If there were 4 MPs you’d think they’d get 2 each, if you add another seat red team would have 3 and blue team would still only have 2.
Adding seats in the lower house would necessarily mean adding more inner city seats which is to Labor’s advantage. Adding seats to the Senate would mean the Greens would likely have proportionally more seats.
The point I was trying to make is that the argument being made by George Brandis essentially boils down to wanting to maintain a less democratic system because it advantages his party.
- Comment on Grattan on Friday: believe it or not, there would be a case for more federal politicians 1 month ago:
Former Liberal Attorney-General George Brandis, writing in the Nine media this week, argues Labor would gain from a larger House (because the population growth would be greatest in the cities where the Liberals are weak), while the Greens would be advantaged by a bigger Senate.
ie. The current system gives disproportionate representation to the Liberals. A larger parliament would be more representative?
- Grattan on Friday: believe it or not, there would be a case for more federal politicianstheconversation.com ↗Submitted 1 month ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 9 comments
- Submitted 2 months ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 2 comments
- Submitted 2 months ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 0 comments