Public post, because I've really got nothing to hide.

[bewarethespork]

Let's clear the air here, shall we?

Things I am:

• A political conservative
• A believer in private education and healthcare as part of a mixed private/public system, where people with the means to do so can invest in private education and healthcare to free up places in the public systems for people who can't afford to do so
• A strong supporter of a

Comments

[avarill]

Good for you!

[angelmaple]

Don't have anything constructive to say, but... you're made of win. That's all.

[bewarethespork]

Awww, thanks. :)

[wrongly_amused]

If it makes you feel any better, being a centrist isn't a whole lot of fun either. Everybody just thinks you're a fence sitter. :P (I don't know how politics run in Australia, but it's pretty brutally polarized over here.)

[bewarethespork]

Australia's two major parties are honestly so close together, policy-wise, that being a centrist isn't really a big deal. Most people are far more right- or left-wing than their respective parties, actually, now that I think about it. Both major parties are fairly centrist themselves.

[wrongly_amused]

Tony Abbott is certainly not centrist?

"I think it would be folly to expect that women will ever dominate or even approach equal representation in a number of areas, simply because their aptitudes, abilities, and interests are different for physiological reasons."

"There may not be a great job for Indigenous people, but whatever there is, they just have to do it!"

https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/campaign.php?alias=Australia_GetsUp_2010&id=1251

[bewarethespork]

Hey there again, anon. I'm going to say this again - everyone who plays in my sandbox does so under their own name. If you can't do that, then I'm afraid you don't get to play here. Simple as that.

Thought you might find this interesting

[anonymous]

http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/05/10/here-come-the-towelheads-abbott-hits-his-stride/

Isn't this ad disgusting? This appeals to the base instincts on xenophobia which are, sadly, pervasive in Australian identity. And as a Muslim yourself, how do you feel about this?

If it weren't serious, this tv ad would be quite funny :) Oh the irony - Iraqis invading Australia? Haha.

Re: Thought you might find this interesting

[bewarethespork]

Hey, anon - mind signing your name to your comment? I'm happy to have LJ-less people playing in my sandbox, but I'd like them to make themselves known first.

As for the racism - the day the left side of politics stops being just as (albeit subtly) racist as the right, I'll be willing to entertain that particular discussion. For now - if you think that the only people who've ever yelled racist insults at me in the street or told me to "go back to where I came from" voted Liberal, then...

Re: Thought you might find this interesting

[anonymous]

I'm not saying there aren't Labor people who aren't racist - I'm just pointing out that the Coalition are all too happy to appeal to these swinging voters in marginal seats who are pretty politically apathetic, and nothing works better than fear mongering.

Who refused to apologize to the Stolen Generations? Which MPs boycotted that day in parliament? Tampa affair? Supporting Allan Jones in the Cronulla race riots?

Re: Thought you might find this interesting

[bewarethespork]

One more time, anon: sign your name, or get out.