So we have a new PM
I think it's wonderful Julia Gillard is being recognised as the first female PM and being sworn in by the first female Governor General. What isn't wonderful is what I've been hearing about how and why it happened.
The Labor Party has a split and it's slightly Right-dominated by the Unity faction. Julia Gillard isn't from this faction, she's from the left-wing Socialist Left faction which is traditionally backed by the Unions and other representatives of workers. It may be she's simply the best qualified candidate and the obvious popular choice to hand leadership too and she is both politically savvy and tough, having worked hard to get into Federal Parliament in the first place.
However, this deal is largely backed by the Right-wing faction leaders from Victoria and New South Wales as the power-brokers and it makes me wonder if we're really getting a change in leadership or if in exchange for her new position we're going to be pushed even further to the right and away from some of the potentially good policy Rudd was proposing (then putting off).
The Mining Tax - While advertisements loudly lambast this as being bad for the mining companies which in turn are bad for older Australians because Super funds are heavily invested in mining, it doesn't recognise the extra revenue being taken in will probably lead to increases in pensions to compensate and increases in the health system which will be grossly underfunded and understaffed in about 10 years' time when the full weight of the Baby Boomers reach retirement. I do not envy whichever government has to bear that cost, because it's going to be enormous. We also desperately need that money to build a future in renewable energy so when the Mineral wealth does run out, we can still function as a country.
Emissions Trading Scheme - This is an idea which needs to be done thoroughly or not at all, frankly. The current plan (like so many) is to wait and see if the Americans can be successful with it, then we'll make our own version, because then it'll be popular. 5-15% of emissions being covered is frankly rubbish, I realise not all emissions can be realistically covered, but I hope when the Chicago Carbon futures really get underway, we see it for the success it will become as a wealth generator and finally get a second reason to look into renewable resources as an asset rather than a disadvantage.
The Internet Filter - This, for many of us is the big storm brewing. If Labor are reelected, the Unity faction will be strong and Conroy is a big Unity man in Victoria, part of the group both encouraging Gillard to challenge and getting it through. He'll have been putting heavy pressure on her and if she's elected we can look forward definitely to slower more obtrusive internet, sites being blocked and potentially everything we do online being part of an official record. This last bit bseems to be the most needless to me, since police could potentially already request that information from an ISP and must have to so court cases could be started against ISPs liek iinet for bittorrent downloads.
This whole thing stinks of political dealing to me and I have to wonder which policies left-wing people are being made to agree to in order to get one of their members into the big chair, since it hasn't happened in at least the last 20 years. Something is very, very rotten here and it's not just that Kev's polling numbers were starting to stink. It may be as simple as people not liking how he was trying to run the show himself without the usual cabinet consultation, which is a simple one, but all political gains come at a price and when I don't understand what that price is, it makes me think it's going to be a heavier one than people are expecting.
Me, I'm voting Green at the next election in both houses, not just because of my belief in a renewable energy-based future, but to try and get some balancing to happen with the laws. People need to be asked questions about laws rather than being able to slide them straight through. There's a few Lower House seats in Melbourne particularly which were perilously close to going Green last election, perhaps this is simply a plan to save those seats from people seeing a legitimate third option, rather than playing pick whichever lizard you hate the least. Frankly, neither major party in Australia has held up its end of the political bargain for some time. Kev's Labor has come the closest, but only within about its first 6 months, after that it faltered and has been losing momentum ever since. Whether that turns around now, I have my doubts and I'm more suspicious than ever we're going to be flat out lied to on major policy decisions.
The Labor Party has a split and it's slightly Right-dominated by the Unity faction. Julia Gillard isn't from this faction, she's from the left-wing Socialist Left faction which is traditionally backed by the Unions and other representatives of workers. It may be she's simply the best qualified candidate and the obvious popular choice to hand leadership too and she is both politically savvy and tough, having worked hard to get into Federal Parliament in the first place.
However, this deal is largely backed by the Right-wing faction leaders from Victoria and New South Wales as the power-brokers and it makes me wonder if we're really getting a change in leadership or if in exchange for her new position we're going to be pushed even further to the right and away from some of the potentially good policy Rudd was proposing (then putting off).
The Mining Tax - While advertisements loudly lambast this as being bad for the mining companies which in turn are bad for older Australians because Super funds are heavily invested in mining, it doesn't recognise the extra revenue being taken in will probably lead to increases in pensions to compensate and increases in the health system which will be grossly underfunded and understaffed in about 10 years' time when the full weight of the Baby Boomers reach retirement. I do not envy whichever government has to bear that cost, because it's going to be enormous. We also desperately need that money to build a future in renewable energy so when the Mineral wealth does run out, we can still function as a country.
Emissions Trading Scheme - This is an idea which needs to be done thoroughly or not at all, frankly. The current plan (like so many) is to wait and see if the Americans can be successful with it, then we'll make our own version, because then it'll be popular. 5-15% of emissions being covered is frankly rubbish, I realise not all emissions can be realistically covered, but I hope when the Chicago Carbon futures really get underway, we see it for the success it will become as a wealth generator and finally get a second reason to look into renewable resources as an asset rather than a disadvantage.
The Internet Filter - This, for many of us is the big storm brewing. If Labor are reelected, the Unity faction will be strong and Conroy is a big Unity man in Victoria, part of the group both encouraging Gillard to challenge and getting it through. He'll have been putting heavy pressure on her and if she's elected we can look forward definitely to slower more obtrusive internet, sites being blocked and potentially everything we do online being part of an official record. This last bit bseems to be the most needless to me, since police could potentially already request that information from an ISP and must have to so court cases could be started against ISPs liek iinet for bittorrent downloads.
This whole thing stinks of political dealing to me and I have to wonder which policies left-wing people are being made to agree to in order to get one of their members into the big chair, since it hasn't happened in at least the last 20 years. Something is very, very rotten here and it's not just that Kev's polling numbers were starting to stink. It may be as simple as people not liking how he was trying to run the show himself without the usual cabinet consultation, which is a simple one, but all political gains come at a price and when I don't understand what that price is, it makes me think it's going to be a heavier one than people are expecting.
Me, I'm voting Green at the next election in both houses, not just because of my belief in a renewable energy-based future, but to try and get some balancing to happen with the laws. People need to be asked questions about laws rather than being able to slide them straight through. There's a few Lower House seats in Melbourne particularly which were perilously close to going Green last election, perhaps this is simply a plan to save those seats from people seeing a legitimate third option, rather than playing pick whichever lizard you hate the least. Frankly, neither major party in Australia has held up its end of the political bargain for some time. Kev's Labor has come the closest, but only within about its first 6 months, after that it faltered and has been losing momentum ever since. Whether that turns around now, I have my doubts and I'm more suspicious than ever we're going to be flat out lied to on major policy decisions.