The Australian Elections
Australia is having a cliffhanger of an election. While the question of who will win a majority is still hanging in the balance, whatever happens the Left will have suffered a considerable setback. Here’s how it happened.
Until recently Kevin Rudd was the Prime Minister of Australia but because his party’s policies were becoming so unpopular with the voters the backroom foresaw disaster in the next election if it didn’t have a makeover. Rather than make any real changes to their policies the Labor backroom decided to alter appearances. It was time for a new mask over the old mug. That meant Rudd had to go.
This proved tricky to rig because Labor came to power by slipstreaming behind the then-popular Kevin Rudd who pulled the rest of them along on their coat-tails. Rudd’s strong suit was his distance from the Labor power base. Thus he was “fresh”. When he had become stale the same power base that had advanced in shadow decided he had to go for the sake of the many. Their chosen front person was Julia Gillard, who depending on who you believe, either signed on at the last minute or was in on the plot from the start. Her Faustian bargain was to round on Kevin Rudd in exchange for the Prime Ministership.
With Gillard at the head of the party, and with her “historic”status as Australia’s first woman prime minister, the political consultants figured an election could be safely called in which she was expected to prevail against a stolid but unspectacular conservative leader Tony Abbott. The MSM subtly portrayed Abbott as a “mad monk” in reference to the fact that he studied for the ministry in his youth and, with so many PR advantages behind them, he was expected to disappear under the steam roller, the John McCain to Gillard’s Obama.
But a strange thing happened. The Labor Plan did not survive contact with reality As the polling date neared, Abbott’s party began to edge alarmingly close to the historic Prime Minister’s until it became clear it would be a real contest. The Mad Monk, photographed and portrayed in the most sinister angles was inexplicably overhauling the historic Prime Minister. All the same the Australian MSM gave Labor a slight edge in the polls and in exit-polling. Even on election night Abbott’s supporters believed, until halfway into the evening of the count that Labor would squeak through. But from the beginning of the tally it was clear that a “freakish” groundswell was coming from nowhere. Abbott’s party was doing “unexpectedly” well. Star Labor candidates went down in flames. A 20-year old conservative was elected MP. By the end of the count the Liberals (which is Abbott’s party and is the equivalent, roughly speaking of the GOP) had outlogged Labor, which was now forced to consider coalition with the Greens to stay in power. It’s not clear whether it will be enough to get Labor through.
As this is written there is no clear winner. It may come down to the postal votes in a situation that recalls Florida in 2000. But the celebrations are all on the Abbott side. They did better than they had hoped. In contrast the Labor election parties had the atmosphere of a wake. It was theirs to lose and they may have done. The postmortems are already starting. Why did did Labor fail so badly?
One obvious explanation was a significant resentment of Gillard’s manner of accession. Even though the Prime Minister is selected by the party in power in a Parliamentary system, many Australian voters believed they had “elected” Kevin Rudd. He had a mandate. And even though he might have turned out to be a dud, he was an elected dud and there was something underhand about his replacement by faceless Labor appratchiks who acted as if they could do so with impunity. And of course they could. But it demonstrated, not for the last time that while a course of action might be technically legal, it is not always wise. Voters hate to be told they are too stupid to elect their leaders. Gillard therefore mounted to power with the made-in-the-backroom mantle of Judas. And now she is facing the ultimate in humiliation. It would have been one thing if she had turned on her party leader for gain. Then she would have had office as a consolation. Now it turns out she may have rounded on her party leader for nothing.
All that betrayal and intrigue have essentially bought the Labor party to a point a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Even a possible victory over the conservatives will be purchased at the price of a coalition with the Greens. That will drag Labor to the Left, which can only mean it will have more of what made it unpopular in the first place. A coalition with the Greens is a like being handed an icepick to put out the fire in your hair.
The influence of the MSM in Australian politics is probably at the level of America’s in 2006. The “names” still rule the roost and the networks play games which are by now old hat in the USA. But it is changing. With this election the “Sydney and Melbourne” elites, as some have described them, have experienced an intimation of mortality. Their authority doesn’t go quite as far as it used to, but a new order has not yet developed to take its place.
What seems clear on this definitive, yet inconclusive night, is that the same forces that are driving American politics are present, in one way or the other, in the southern hemisphere. The impact of globalization and its crisis; immigration; the sharpening conflict between left and right; and the widespread dissatisfaction with a distant elite are not the inventions of a crazed group of people clinging to Bibles and to guns. They are part of the signs of the times. The count continues and the times they are changing.
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Unfortunately it appears that the Greens (a far left party) have grown in strength.
Well the Liberals (the equivalent of the GOP) have finished up with 74 seats, two short of outright majority. They can play the coalition game too, with 4 Independents whose focus is on rural Australia. So as Andrew Bolt put it: “With Hasluck in WA swinging to the Liberals – and the first Aboriginal to be elected to the House of Reps – Tony Abbott might just become Prime Minister, if an Independent agrees to become Speaker.”
Gillard (Labor)
Closing speech tonight, conceding that she will now have to negotiate with independents to have any possibility of governing:
“Positive plan.. best days are ahead of us.. don’t be afraid of climate change.. all who fought with me.. acknoweldge the Campaign Reference Group’s contribution… gain trust of fellow Australians.. I’ll keep fighting for our positive plan.. deliver to working men and women of this great nation.. Medicare will meant that Australiand will never have to experience illness on their own…blah blah blad
Shite, i’nit?
But you’ve heard it before.
ADE
Tony Abbot, potential conservative Prime Minister of Australia:
Night for satisfaction, but measures the size of the task ahead. I thank the Austrlian people for their committment to this democracy…I feel humbled by the responibilities that could lie ahead..has been a team effort..parliament may for the first time have an indidenous member who is a Liberal member..I acknowledge my opponent Julia Gillard…Australian people are abiters of all policy and we must respect their judgment..clear that Labor party has lost its majority..means Govt has lost its legitimacy…pretty clear that Aussies want to end waste, repay the debt, no new taxes, stop illegal immigration…rejected factionalism on all its forms..our politacal culture should not be chacterised by the ‘midnight knock on the door’ of the political hacks of the Labor heavies…every member of Parliament serves with the permission to the members of their family..wife handed out sandwiches..spare a thought for those who do not feel victorious..tonight not about us..about Australians.
Kinda Tea Partyish, really.
ADE
Interesting. But not quite a victory for the conservatives.
It was theirs to lose and they may have done.
Love the Britishisms!
Now, … why this common trend? Well, the US has influence everywhere, but that’s too facile. Globalism, the disintermediations of the Internet, sure, but isn’t the left just more like it’s always been than it ever was? For me, that’s the question. The Internet has lead to a rise in the conservative blogosphere, and it has lead to the left going lefter.
Y’know, maybe this is no great surprise. It’s the Delphi effect. In semi-anonymous communications, groups do get a bit more radical. Radical for a conservative is – more rooted! Radical for a progressive is – arrogant and sanctimonious. And there ya have it.
I find it charming. As I watched the brief interviews with the likely winning candidates it became quite clear that seats had been campaigned for and were being decided on state-level issues: water management, the mining tax and mining jobs, fishing restrictions and rail freight among them. But no ideology; left-right antler-butting rhetoric was all but absent on the hustings.
As if, and I won’t say this is exactly the case, we had all gotten tired of leadership tussles in the back room and would rather turn the show over to independent ex-National-Party members with parochial concerns and, indeed, to back-bench members who spend their time asking constituents what they think.
The level of courtesy and open-mindedness, on the three channels I watched, was restful beyond belief.
Great summation and analysis, W. I have visited Oz and noticed Abbott as a comer (I liked his candor on the BS of global warming ). And I also saw how Rudd and Gillard lectured the people on what was good for them. I guess the voters noticed too.
I think this underlines the commonality of the peoples of the Anglosphere. We share the same beliefs and struggles and respect the same solutions. We are also subject to the same delusions. I note that Oz dipped its toe into the left and wasnt happy with the resulting solutions to the problems Abbot listed in his comments that ADE.
Australia’s system is more nimble than ours, not better, just more nimble.
“a few sandwiches short of a picnic”
One brick short of a shit-house is more appropriate.
Thanks for the post Wretchard. I voted about an hour before polls closed. My observations:
* The first indigeneous House member will be a Liberal. Who has a doctorate, incidentally.
* Turnbull seems to have gained a colossal 12% in Wentworth. I was guessing that’s because of his elite green pretensions, but the other blue-ribbon seats in Sydney (Warringah, North Sydney) and non-blue-ribbon-seats (Kingsford-Smith, Banks) seem to be showing biggish (although not 12%) swings, so it might be the effect of an unpopular state government.
* SA swung to the ALP very slightly, no seats in it though. Some SA seats swung solidly to the Coalition, some swung solidly to the ALP. Keep an eye on Boothby (Southcott’s seat). Pyne did well in Stury.
* Postal votes normally favour the Coalition (people who postal vote are normally old and/or going away on holiday or business, which makes them more likely to be Coalition voters).
* One of the Liberals handing out how-to-votes (I took one from him) at my booth had an American accent. As I left I overheard him saying something about “be here to study”.
The installation of Gillard was, inter alia, an attempt to renew Rudd’s 2007 celebrity politics approach by using another gimmick (the first female PM). They may or may not succeed, but the era of celebrity politics (which began with Rudd’s elevation in 2006 and continued in the US with Obama in 2008) may be finally drawing to a close.
Well done to Wyatt Roy in Longman (Mal Brough’s old seat, incidentally). The Australian, in an editorial a few months ago, told the LNP in Queensland to can the kid and for him to come back when he was older. I look forward to Roy force-feeding the paper some humble pie, preferably on the floor of the House.
Here in the States, almost nothing has been said about this election by any part of the MSM. I believe they are terrified of the storyline, because Rudd is very analogous to Obama and the story of Rudd, and Labour’s fall is thus very dangerous.
I have figured that the less I hear about this in the American press, the better the conservatives have done.
Where ever Australia may land this year, it’s future has been made certain by compulsory voting.
The Australian mainline media, like their American counterparts, have found that their credibility has eroded to the point where they can no longer lie their favored candidates into office.
Slightly off-topic but it appears that Gillard and Rudd are not the only Australian leftists who are having a very bad week:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange#Rape_accusations
“An arrest warrant for Julian Assange was issued by Swedish police in the evening of 20 August 2010. According to the prosecutor, Assange is sought on suspicion of one count of rape in Enköping and one count of sexual assault in Södermalm, Stockholm. The arrest warrant was issued following reports to the Stockholm police by two women, one between 20 and 30 years of age and the other in her 30s, who had both met Assange in connection with his mission. According to Expressen’s report, the sexual assault had taken place between Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 August in Stockholm and the rape on Tuesday in Enköping.”
Apparently the rape charges may have been dismissed.
There WAS a link to a Telegraph article that state such. Within minutes that page no longer existed.
Guess we wait and see!
Aristide #15
The charges were dropped. Now the little [fill in with deleted expletive of your choice] gets to play the martyr as a victim of “dirty tricks”:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/21/wikileaks-decries-dirty-tricks-report-founder-suspected-rape-sweden/
Sounds like this “consent of the governed” business is getting more popular all over, good to see it way down there in the Antipodes.
As for immigration in Oz, I remember its enforcement as pretty severe. When I went there, back in the Dreamtime almost, I had a tourist visa and I got a job. Thinking I should go down to Immigration and ask for a work visa to get legal, I met a guy who took my passport and said “Here, mate, I’ll fix that up for you.” He came back about twenty minutes later and my lovely four year, multiple entry tourist visa had CANCELLED stamped all over it, and my passport had a new entry – Leave the country in 48 hours. Such behavior in America would be considered a Hate Crime these days.
God bless Australia.
W’s money quote:
Dynamite! By Jove, that butterfly in China everyone’s always talking about may have just flapped its wings. Tipping point confirmation, anyone? I pray so.
Josh:
>Interesting. But not quite a victory for the conservatives.
Yes and no. The conservative parties haven’t been much different in practice. It think it is the electorate saying no. Diminishing power of politicians as opposed to giving it to one.
I suspect the US will see divided government for a while.
Derek
We love our Oz, for Oz, it gives
Such lovely vibes, all positives
The stations, sheep, the racing horse
The stalwart men, the girls of course
The land of law and honor codes
The bright star of the Antipodes
Fascinating churning going on in the West lately. Last night I couldn’t sleep, and at about 3AM I noticed a new post by Ron Radosh at PJM. It seems the GZ Victory Mosque has become a clarifying wedge issue which cleaves and separates within both Left and Right.
Ever since 9/11, an event which resoundingly instructed me as to which side I am on, I have wondered why so many in the West have failed to see it so, especially among the chattering classes. I have wondered how could such a shattering event fail to shake the fundamental precepts which went before. As Bush in one of his rare moments of articulate clarity put it: “You’re either with us or against us.”
I am against anyone who would do 9/11.
I am against anyone who would look for “context” on 9/11.
I am against anyone who would attempt to blame the victims of 9/11 for the actions of the myriad Muslims, whether the dancing Palestinians, Egyptians, Pakistanis and Indonesians handing out candy, or the Saudi Kings and other Arab Princes and Tyrants who perpetrated 9/11.
I am against any religion that holds within it’s ranks hundreds of thousands of clerics across the planet who embrace the genocidal tenets of the 9/11 terrorists.
I am against any religion which boasts at least tens of millions, and most likely hundreds of millions of adherents who also support what their fellow Muslims perpetrated on 9/11.
Further:
I do not care if some Muslims are “moderate” because I do not believe they have the slightest chance of deflecting their less “moderate” brethren from their goal of exterminating us. While we wait for them to gain traction, the pace of Jihad accelerates. Just how different would it look if “moderates” were simply running interference so Jihad can continue? I argue it would look exactly the same. These “moderates” spend inordinate time asserting that we are wrong to link Islam with terror.
And where is the evidence they are delivering that message to their fellow Muslims? It is missing – instead we see myriad Muslims lecturing us in the West about religious tolerance, while not practicing it themselves.
I see a lot of Westerners asserting that a moderate Islam exists, but I see them mainly using this argument in order to attack and defame those of us in the West who are convinced that Islam is a doctrine of genocide, terror, and mayhem. I do not see them wading into the a muslim world to promote their views. Is this because they know they’ll be instantly beheaded? Their determination to scold and defame only those whom they know won’t murder them positively reeks of cowardice and hypocrisy.
For me this issue is the great divide. I’m not waiting for that inevitable Muslim nuke vaporizing America before I decide which side I’m on. All else is incidental. But I find it extremely fascinating to find that those who feel differently on the subject of Islam almost always espouse other political and philosophical views which I increasingly find utterly bankrupt.
A great winnowing is afoot, wheat from chaff.
Gosh darn the “unexpectedness” of it all!
The new mantra of the establishment/elite/ruling class/ninnytwits: “unexpectedly.”
Maybe they should stop expecting, so as to look less foolish. And speaking of “expecting,” aren’t these the people that are dying off from their abysmal birthrates?
md @ 21: I am against anyone who would look for “context” on 9/11.
I have nothing against context. I like context. Context is my friend. Context is what we know about Islam, that their liturgy preaches hate and violence, that they have a historical record of hate and violence, and that on analysis, their history is one of being directed by the most hateful and violent among them. That, my friend, is context.
Some more context is that they will never give up, are not allowed to give up, but will declare a “hudna” if they are convinced they cannot win, or rather that they will lose too much if they try. Context then behooves us to make this demonstration manifest on convenient occassions.
Then they will not be our friends, but may lie to us about it while they attempt to convert (revert) us peacefully – while continuing to act hatefully and violently against their co-religionists in a different sect, or who seek to leave Islam. Context, context, context.
I know what you’re saying, Josh, but for me the fatal word “context” as aplied to 9/11 can be summed up with “the damning but.” Anyone who attaches a “but” to decrying the death toll and destruction I immediately categorize as a fool and Quisling.
But back to topic – only in Australia could a ruling elite so anger and alienate their constituency as to face being turned out of power. Things are so bizarre in that corner of the world. No lessons to be drawn fron it, of course. It isn’t a trend, it’s not a rejection of policies, it’s um… oh look, squirrels!
Josh @23
Your “context” brings up an interesting question. For a muslim, what is the difference between “Hudna” and “Surrender”?
There must be some point where the Hudna price becomes too high, and Islam is essentially lost. I imagine declared conversion to Christianity would cross the line. As would renouncing of dietary and prayer practices.
But in the middle is the subject of democracy. If the Muslim world is completely democratized, and the oil states no longer have enough money to drive ideology outside of their own people, then does Islam fall apart? That is, is Islam completely incompatible with the modern world without artificial sources?
A lot of African are converting to Christianty – the Muslims are obviously concerned about it. Can Islam survive beyond oil money? I’m guessing they can’t survive. So despite the fact that the mosque is really a war memorial, I’m fairly ambivalent about it in the broader world.
Is that context?
Close Result Seen in Australian Election
CANBERRA, Australia — It could take more than a week to learn who will govern Australia after a cliffhanger election — the closest in nearly 50 years. Above, a polling official counted ballots in Melbourne on Saturday.
—
Pundits said Australia’s major foreign policy positions, including its deployment of 1,550 troops to Afghanistan, would be unaffected by whichever party wins because both hold similar views. Domestic issues vary across the large and diverse country, including hot topics such as asylum seekers, health care and climate change.
An Australian government has not relied on the support of independent lawmakers to rule since 1942, however, that may change after the extremely tight vote. The ranks of the independents in the 150-seat lower house rose from two at the last election to three, possibly four, this time around.
WRT Saying No:
The only reminder we need.
http://www.keepamericasafe.com
I haven’t paid a lot of attention to politics since landing here in 2000 because it isn’t as big a deal (thankfully) as it is in the US. Not because of lack of interest/conviction/etc by Aussies but simply because as a smaller economy it can’t afford the $$$ induced delusions that big govt makes possible. People here don’t go into govt. hoping to make millions; they go into real work. Voters (outside of the supercilious ABC crowd– the NPR equivalent culturati types–what a treat to see that twit Maxine McKew booted last night! would be like a dan rather getting his butt handed to him in a real election!) care about low interest rates and keeping Australia free from illegal immigration. They want job creating businesses like mining left alone. In return they’ll put up with the lefty fetishes like global warming and reconciliation (with Aboriginals). When the left starts tampering with the key pressure points, Aussies react strongly—as they did last night. I don’t think Rudd did anywhere near as much damage as Obama has wrought. And Gillard was smart in that she has been desperately trying to swing to the middle. It was just all too late in the cycle.
I’m a bit surprised that the Liberals have done as well as they have. And not surprised. A lot of 20somethings long for the days of evil old john howard… they are buying homes, starting families and the issues of their youth, primarily Iraq, now seem utterly inconsequential. I think the thing that killed Rudd was share the wealth mining supertax he wanted to roll out. Aussies know they are damn lucky to have been barely brushed by the GFC and they rightly saw this tax as killing a key sector without any benefit other than putting more oney into useless govt. programs. At the same time there was a “cash for clunkers” like moron program whereby you would get subsidised if you got your house insulated so as to make it more “green efficient”. Lots of schonky operators glommed on to the scam, set up dodgy companies and did terrible work that led to house fires and, as has been pointed out, caused more deaths than the total of Aussies lost in Iraq. Well done, social engineers!
Australians are extraordinarily blessed with common sense in a way Americans used to be. They have less margin for failure and therefore tend to be much more pragmatic. That’s why I love ‘em so much.
And I do see a linkage to US trends. There’s soemthing in the air… the Libs were old, used up, sour, war-obessed, etc. After many years in the wildernes, it was Labor’s time to shine. Rudd was the Obama precursor… a global elitist more interested in jetting around and hanging w/the cool kids (Kevin 747 was his nickname for constatntly attending superfluous overseas affairs)… it is easy to see his fall (and Labor’s) as a herald of a Great Shift in ths US…
November! Faster pussycat, kill, kill!
It’s also interesting that the Aussie results resemble the recent British electoral debacle as well. Darn these unexpected trends once again!
I think we get caught in an examination of slam in the abstract.
1. I’s a religion. NO it isn’t.
2 It’s a religion of “peace” .
Really? peace? For whom? For men? Well it’s most certainly isn’t peace for women or female of any age. It’s not any kind of “peace” for men either, but that’s beside the point. It means either huda, taqqiyah, and endless hectoring on the “soft” front to get far more out of the “non-believer” tan tey get through the simultaneous use of terror attacks, somewhere else. And it promises war and murder of non-believers” anywhere they can get the chance or opportunity to do so.
Stick to it’s barbarity perpetrated on women, in your arguments. It points out the cognative dissonance of the lefts phony stance regarding “women’s right”, and nary a peep out of the womenists in light of all the honor killings, stonings, child brides, rape/adultery charges against the female raped/her executiuon/ via stoning or having her throat cut, or hanging. Exceptions to that are the exhaustive work of Phylis Chesler (of pajamas media) and Ayan Hirsi Ali, among others. All women I might add.
Islam promises “peace” to the believer. but promises war, negotiation, fitna, hudna, subjugation, death, or dhimmitude to the elites, such as democrat party people, and leftist europe.
And it brings no peace to anyone, only what satisfaction that comes through avarice, thievery, bloodlust, and being master to ones slaves.
It’s not a religion, but an anti-religion for the reason’s blert elucidated in his comparison of islam and shinto, at #106 on the “Concerted” thread
http://pajamasmedia.com/richardfernandez/2010/08/18/concerted/#comments-106
Tim Blair cataloged the change that came over the Party spokesmen as the voting results came in. Nothing short the transformation into a werewolf could be more dramatic than the face of politicians who see their political fortunes crumble.
In the early part of the evening the Labor spokesmen exuded confidence. As the bad news began to trickle in, they first put a good face on it; then constructed scenarios under which some kind of victory was possible. As those became ever more fanciful and it became clear that Labor had essentially gone from a firm grip on power to waiting for the toss of a coin, from 100% to less than 50% — if that — the self-control of certain prominent politicians collapsed completely. Some were visibly at the edge of tears, others raged at anything within’s arms reach. Then finally they started pointing fingers at each other.
Maxine McKew for example, now says the fatal mistake was to stab Kevin Rudd in the back. Reading Blair’s site, I was instantly reminded of those scenes back in the day when the police would round up a gang of pickpockets and group them in a room and ask who done the crime? Instantly the fingers would fly up until everyone was pointing at everybody else. There’s nothing like adversity to turn best buddies into mortal enemies.
But that’s the way it is. Victory has a thousand fathers. Defeat is an orphan.
Wretchard, we are seeing reports that are saying 73 liberal, 72 labour, 4 independant, and 1 green. Does that match with what you are seeing?
The green should go with labour, making this 73 – 73. What will the independants do? Who are they more likely to favor?
I’ve only been following out of the corner of my eye, but it seems the liberals and labor are now in talks with the independents. How that will work out, I can’t say. But two things are unfolding. First the liberals make pick up some more seats if the postal votes go in their favor. The biggest factor, however is the political perception that Labor has been rejected, something Abbott was at pains to emphasize.
So if the Labor guys sneak in by cutting desperate deals they will be perceived as being less than legitimate. The real driver behind the Liberals is the fact that many voters are sick of the NSW Labor crowd who are perceived as mobbed up. Gillard took their suggestions at her political peril. And for them to hang on and pull the strings through some deal will buy Labor time, but it won’t quell the underlying disquiet.
australian version of gore v. bush
@17. Tony
Funny story. My own is this. I ran a Fortune 5 company’s mining operations in Oz for four years. Back in the ’48 I was awarded a prize of a case of very expensive California CabSav for having been the first to develop a mine in a given period. I carried the case as part of my baggage. When I landed in Sydney, I had to go through Customs. The Officer said: “What’s in the box mate?” I replied: “Wine.”
“Oh, yer? Is it good wine?”
“Yeah, it’s great. I won it in a bet.”
“Well then, go on through.”
Aussies loved betting, at least in those days. Any other answer would have fetched me about $200 in tariffs. Wonderful place, Perth, and my true fortune to have lived there with my family and to have worked with some great people.
Been to Oz once. On my 90 day survivor leave after the PBR I was on got blown up. It sank which entitled me to 90 days FREE leave.
The only word I learned in OZ was Foster, which means ‘beer’ or beir is German.
So I looked up ‘hustings’ and found this;
hust·ings (hstngz)
pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)
1.
a. A place where political campaign speeches are made: a candidate out on the hustings in the farm belt.
b. The activities involved in political campaigning: a veteran of the hustings.
2. Chiefly British A court formerly held in some English cities and still held infrequently in London.
3. Chiefly British
a. A platform on which candidates for Parliament formerly stood to address the electors.
b. The proceedings of a parliamentary election.
So can I think ‘soap box’ when I see that word?
Jafco, heh – yes, lovely, mate, good on ya. I did get back in and have the pleasure of living in North Sydney, down at the bottom of Blues Point Road where I could see the Harbor Bridge and the prettiest city in the world out my front window, for a couple of years. I always felt that of all the countries I’ve been to, the Aussies are most the like us Septics, egalitarian, no airs, love a laugh. The only problem I had with Oz is that the girls don’t wear the tops of their swimming costumes. Scandalous!
29. Gaffe Price
re: 2. It’s a religion of “peace”.
The problem you, and almost everyone else, is having with this is definitional. Islam most assuredly IS a religion of peace. When Muslims say it they are telling the truth. The problem is that the word does not mean the same thing to them that it does to you and I and most of the rest of Western civilization. Here’s how it goes:
In Islam, the definition of “peace” is the absence of all opposition to Islam. Islam divides the world into two parts: the Dar al Islam (the House of Islam), and the Dar al Harb (the House of War – notice that it’s not the House of non-Islam; Islam is commanded to be at war with anything not in the Dar al Islam). Thus, when Muslims proclaim they want “peace” what that means is that when the entire world is brought into the Dar al Islam (IOW, when Islam conquers the world) then the world will be at “peace”.
The Muslim definition of peace has nothing to do with tolerance, understanding, negotiation, compromise, “getting along” with others, or any of the common connotations Westerners associate with the term. To Muslims, the only way they can ever be at peace with these “others” is for them to submit to Islam.
An interesting parallel to this definitional problem is found in socialist/marxist theory. In socialism, the definition of “peace” is the absence of opposition to socialism. IOW once the whole world is brought under the rule of socialism it will be at “peace”. Sound familiar? What it boils down to is that to Islam and socialism are both totalitarian ideologies and to them the term “peace” describes the state of being that exists when they have triumphed.
As long as the rest of us refuse to understand and acknowledge that we and they aren’t even talking about the same thing when we “engage” them in “peace negotiations”, and that they are perfectly willing to let us continue deceiving ourselves because it gives them a tremendous advantage, then we’ll continue to lose. The sad irony is that while the totalitarian left and totalitarian Islam both present real and powerful existential threats to Western civilization and the entire world, perhaps our greatest weakness and threat to our survival are our own misconceptions and delusions.
Could someone explain to me when and how the Liberals turned into the Coalition?
MoMo– the coalition refers to the Nationals (mostly in Queensland) and Liberals everywhere else— sort of like the CDS+CDU in Germany
Michael Barone’s take on the Australian election:
“Australia becomes the second Anglosphere democracy to reject a Labour government and replace it with a coalition (though which party will head it is unclear) this year; British voters ousted the Labour party and elected a hung Parliament which produced the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition headed by Conservative party leader David Cameron in May. Canada has had a minority Conservative government headed by Conservative party leader Stephen Harper since February 2006; his party increased its strength in Parliament in the October 2008 election. If Tony Abbott becomes Prime Minister of Australia, that would leave the United States as the odd man out in the major Anglosphere democracies . . . ”
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/australia-votes-rightward-trend-in-anglosphere-democracies-101232369.html
MoMo,
Australian politics has been mainly a contest between the Australian Labor Party and a Coalition of the Liberal Party of Australia and the former Country Party. The Country party became the National Party, and in some places the Coalition parties merged to form the Liberal National Party (Queensland) or the County Liberal Party (Northern Territory). (Oz has the six original States of Federation, and a couple of mainland Territories.)
The Labor Party was formed by the trade unions just before Australian Federation (1900). Their policies have ranged from outright socialism in the early days, to the kind of “soft” statism represented by Tony Blair in the, and, from my perspective, by Obama and Co in the US.
The Liberal Party was formed by a former Prime Minister, Bob Menzies, after the second world war, and first won power, with the Country Party, in 1949. He remained Prime Minister until his retirement in 1966. The word “liberal” has completely different connotations in Oz. The 1949 election was fought primarily over the Labour (with the “u” in those days) Party’s proposal to nationalise the banks. The Liberals and County Party favoured free enterprise.
Guys, by my read, Australia has preempted another one of the ills of globalization. That is the UN’s “Right of Migration” decree.
Not just anybody can buy “Australian Real-Estate.” Seems no one has a god-given right to live next door to Dame Edna, no matter what your imam tells you.
[Here's a Link to an "Australian Migration" summary of the restrictions.]
When the US government decides to get serious about our own illegal immigration problem, after addressing the “anchor baby” issue, I’d like it to enact a similar restriction on our side of the pond. Right now, the US real estate industry is a global cess-pool. And its tentacles manipulate everything from Santa Barbara city council elections to Washington state freeway design committees, and everything paved, permitted, titled or lent that falls below. The potential for deliberate hijacking of these corrupted markets’ political interfaces is enormous, and it’s evident in such serial maneuvers as the GZM permits, Boxer/Feinstein’s Cosco port deal in CA, and the “flipping” we see in rural Western developments among foreign speculators, that the goodwill lent by Americans to their new international “neighbors” is being serially abused.
Whether she’s basking in a sauna with Mel Gibson in her chalet in the Swiss Alps, or troubling herself with teaching poise and glamour to Arsenio Hall in some locked down studio in LA, Dame Edna, Australia’s immortal beacon of charm and good taste, can rest assured that her beloved beaches, mounts, ports and peaches sleep safely under the watchful eye of her Australian government. Us American landowners…not so much.
Left-liberal MSM is stunned/shocked/bleeding.
The veil of the left-liberal MSM Temple has been rent.
Who holds “the keys to power”?
…-
“Shock of election outcome felt around the world
The Australian – Simon Canning – 1 hour ago
THE world’s media has reacted with shock over Australia’s failure to elect a government outright. Newspapers reported that the nation was facing the prospect of being ruled by a minority government for the first time since World War II, …”
“Newspapers reported that the nation was facing the prospect of being ruled by a minority government for the first time since World War II, a state that could unleash uncertainty on Australia’s financial markets as Labor and the Liberals jockeyed to form a ruling coalition.
The Wall Street Journal
Australia, normally one of the most stable democracies in the region, faces its most uncertain period in recent political history after a national poll on Saturday failed to deliver a clear result.
The country’s two major parties, the centre-left Labor administration of Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Liberal-National conservative bloc of Tony Abbott, said a new government likely won’t be formed for a number of days, as negotiations begin with non-party lawmakers who hold the keys to power in the first hung parliament in 70 years.
The stunning outcome — the first time since the 1930s a first-term government has failed to clearly win re-election — will likely fuel a bout of uncertainty as markets weigh the demands of independent lawmakers who range from rural-based conservatives to environmentalists.
The Guardian
After five weeks of bitter, negative campaigning, neither Labor, the current government, nor the conservative opposition Liberal party looked like they would be able to form a government in their own right. It appeared that both parties would have to rely on others in the lower house of parliament.
Labor can expect the support of the first-ever Greens member, and probably also a former Green turned independent, who seemed likely to win a seat.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/shock-of-election-outcome-felt-around-the-world/story-e6frg996-1225908598772
In the context of how much joy to allow yourself in the apparent smiting of the Left in any election… I suppose this is to remind us of just what stinkers they really are. Though there is among the Leftward Scuttlers some encouraging evidence of loss of nerve, loss of confidence, loss of agility, and actual loss of power here and there, we must press on with greater resolve.
My brother has reminded me of one of the great outrages of the modern era. It’s the betrayal of the people of the United Kingdom by Gordon Brown within a few months after he was elevated to the Prime Ministry. That is, Brown and his Labor Party had campaigned with repeated promises to consult MORE with the British people – most specifically to run a referendum (yes or no plebiscite) on whether to accept the imposition of the European Union Constitution by signing the Lisbon Treaty, which would effectively end a thousand years of British self-rule.
Instead, the referendum was put off, with Brown condescendingly claiming that the issues were far too complex for the public to understand. Stifling the referendum, he agreed to sign the LISBON TREATY, which committed the U.K. to the terms of the European Union Constitution merely by the decision of the government, regardless of the will of the people.
This was an act of supreme arrogance by a Progressivist, Leftist, Socialist elite, who clearly don’t give a rat’s ass about the preferences of the people they rule. Evidently the Treaty of Lisbon was designed from the beginning as an end run around the popular referenda that in a number of countries had already rejected the European Union Constitution. The Constitutional documents effectively give power to a faceless bureaucracy in Brussels which has the authority to over-rule and supersede the desires or actions of any merely national legislative or regulatory body. The Lisbon Treaty was SOLD (i.e., “advertised”) to the public as offering terms “substantially different” from the obnoxious rules that prompted France and Holland to reject the original Constitution in their referenda in 2005.
In fact, according to an article in the UK Daily Mail (Online) originally published 13 December 2007:
“…a string of other EU leaders have admitted it is almost identical to the proposed 2005 constitution…[my bolding]
….
Buried in the Treaty’s small print is a ruling that gives new rights to EU leaders to overturn decisions made by Britain’s Immigration and Asylum Tribunal.
…
Giving failed asylum seekers powers to take their cases to Europe will cost the taxpayer millions of extra pounds as each case now already costs an average of £18,000.”
We need to remember each and every one of the thousands and thousands of BETRAYALS by these worthless bastards.
Let the memories burn hot, and spur us on in the quest to kick the lot of sorry rascals into permanent retirement.
Pretty much OT (except that it mentions Australia), fascinating article on forward osmosis for desalinization!
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727731.400-add-salt-as-required-the-recipe-for-fresh-water.html
Charles, you still hanging around here?
There’s another way to do the math. The Greens jumped and claimed 10 seats, ripped out from under Labor. So even though the numbers for the Liberals, (similar to GOP), is to notice how close Labor got 70 to 72 seats. (But the 10 missing? A punishment specifically meted out to Labor!)
People can flee one party, and still not want to jump on board another one. And, being cleaved in the middle is one GOOD WAY to give government LESS POWERS! (Horse trading? Popularity, these days, tanks in an awful hurry.) Worse than honeymoons.
The underlying point of my earlier post #44 – again, hat tip to my sibling – is that our leaders can commit us to treaties which can supersede the laws passed by our state and even Federal legislatures.
Sure, our Constitution requires Senate ratification of any TREATY negotiated and signed by the the Executive Branch.
But look at the sneering, spitting contempt our present Government has repeatedly shown for the Constitution they swore to uphold and protect. The perpetraitors-in-chief are the petty-corrupt Speakatrix of the House and Mo-jority Leader of the Senate along with the Bumbling Apostate. And they are in turn enabled by hundreds of corrupt and vicious legislators, Marxist and Socialist appointed regulators and agency officials who work every day to turn back the progress that Americans of all backgrounds have sacrificed to accomplish.
How many times have we seen a single perverse judge cast down the studied decision of millions of citizens, citing some vague personal sense that has no basis in precedent, law, or the Constitution? And how consistently has it been that such perversely willful judges prove to have been appointed following a career of obsequious political correctness in the service of the Statist wet dream?
I’m listening just now to the PBS broadcast biographical sketch of the sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens, which devotes a big chunk to his Robert Gould Shaw Memorial. That’s his monument to the 54th Regiment depicted in the film “Glory.” It’s one of those PBS productions that is thankfully devoid of political condescension. The passages describing the faces of the black soldiers in the Shaw Memorial eloquently convey their bravery and determination.
At this point we aren’t facing shot and shell from a brave and resolute foe, but more of a continuous barrage of stones and garbage from a crowd of small time hoods. We are thigh-deep in a low-level “civil war” mostly of their making.
ACORN receives tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, and uses the money to subvert the voting process, and erode rather than promote lawful citizenship.
The President deliberately sabotages all efforts to mitigate an oil spill, then brazenly restricts news coverage in international waters, with barely a peep from the slavish MSM. Then he uses the unproven claim of unprecedented damage (most of which result anyway from his own sabotage) as justification for punishing and dismantling the U.S. oil industry.
SEIU purple-shirts arrive in chartered buses as organized phalanxes to intimidate and assault private citizen attending public “Town Hall” meetings which are supposed to be opportunity to question their Congressional Reps. Those SEIU THUGS specifically targeted citizens who were older, smaller and less vigorous than their own cadres of corpulent cowards.
I will refrain from listing another hundred of the lamentably familiar Marxist, Socialist, Progressivist, Elitist outrages of school boards, school administrators, the EPA, OSHA, the ACLU, the courts, etc., etc., etc.
Remember the Alamo, The Maine, and the miraculous discovery of uncounted boxes of Democrat Votes in Michigan.
No one has mentioned the biggest issue that the Liberals campaigned on: government debt. The level of debt per citizen is relatively low by US standards, but still high enough to concern many voters. The entire debt was borrowed in the previous three years of Labor government, the previous Coalition having completely cleared the government’s tab.
If our modest debt can play such an outsized role in our election, I imagine that there will be some concerns amongst Democrat strategists, especially as the politics of our two countries often track remarkably closely together!
Labour got lucky. When the Progressive Conservatives tried the exact same trick here in Canada back in 1993 they ended up reduced to two seats in Parliament and it eventually resulted in the PC party completely disappearing (Today’s Conservatives are actually the 1993-era Reform Party plus some of the leftover PC’s). Kim Campbell, our history-making first female PM was sent packing quite dramatically and we ended up with a corrupt PM who spoke one official language badly (English) and the other not at all (French, as Chretien speaks the French equivalent of Ebonics).
45. Josh
Yeah I saw that article a couple weeks ago.
Co generation plants have been around for years especially in the Persian gulf where energy is plentiful.
However, the newest variations on using waste heat will have major league effects outside the Gulf.The next couple years are going to be very big for water desalination. There’s some real game changers in the works. Forward osmosis is one of them.
I wrote about the forward osmosis plants in December last year here. They’re promising to drop the cost of water desalination to 1/10th current desalination costs or under 100@acre foot. That’s cheap enough for agriculture.
The way they’ll do it is to co locate the desal facilities at coastal electical power generation plants. There’s about 19 of these in california. Costs for desalintion break down to roughly 1/3 capital costs, 1/3 energy costs and 1/3 maintenance costs. These plants draw salt water from the ocean for cooling. So much of the infrastructure for the desalination plant is already installed. That chops down the capital costs. And significantly chops back maintenance costs–because these are already folded into the costs of the power plant. They eliminate the energy costs by using the waste heat from the power plant. Its a pretty neat solution. Though its currently unclear as to how much of the cost savings is a matter of gerrymandering costs over to the power plant. But even with considerable gerrymandering–its clear the cost savings will be considerable. For more details go here
There’s a couple years of trials yet to go before this tech is ready for prime time.
The countries with the cheapest free standing (not cogeneration plants) are Israel & Singapore. According to Wikipedia Israel is now desalinating water at a cost of US$0.53 per cubic meter (653@ acre foot).[17] Singapore is desalinating water for US$0.49 per cubic meter (604@acre foot).
The Aussies have much to teach the USA about building desalination plants. Currently the poisiden plant in sothern california is 16 years and counting in development. By comparison the aussies have been knocking out desalination plants amazingly fast. It takes them three years from conception to completion. I write about that in a little more detail here.
I just dropped by to leave a link to a link I left a couple of threads ago that I don’t want people to miss.
I’m having a restful Sunday here with my girls and dog and these dang kitties. Ah well, I suppose that they might grow on me and my dog after awhile. But they [the kittens] better not count on it too much.
Take care, take charge and get on the line.
Papa Ray
Papa Ray #51
If you haven’t seen VDH’s latest, he has another excellent post up:
http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/american%E2%80%94compared-to-what/#comments
Apropos of the dang kitties, don’t underestimate their usefulness as conversation starters when you’re out talking to people about the current political mess. One of the pocketbook issues that is really hitting people hard where I’m located is having to give up their pets because of losing their house or other increases in their cost of living. I have found that many people are very receptive to conservative messages when I bring up the effects of Obummer’s economy and rising unemployment on keeping their much-loved dogs and cats. We all have different strategies for challenging people to think harder than they have in the past about where the country is headed– but this is one topic that is working well for me in a very “blue” area.
Fate of Australian parliament rests in hands of ‘haystack amigos’
PACat @ 52: Thanks for the VDH link, I think that’s the best he’s done in the last couple of years, and oh so on target here in the Obamanation. I think VDH has finally got his dander up, found the handles, something.
Yeah, VDH sounds pissed.*
Good. As the bumper sticker says, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”
(* That means ‘angry’ in American. I figure I should clarify it, since this is an Australian election thread, after all.)
21. Morton Doodslag
…..Brilliant….
Yea – VDH has definitely entered the fray and here he examines – “The Enigma of Our Age”.
Here is a snippet:
How indeed.
Papa Ray