Election 2016: Is It Time To Call A Truce?

We are a little less than two weeks away from the election. Many people are still making up their minds who they will vote for. For those who have, the polls are close. A hung parliament is looking like a real possibility. Fantastic I say, another three years of chaos. 

From the liberal/conservative side of politics the lead up to this election has been like no other I’ve experienced. Conservatives attacking conservatives. The far right beating the c##p out middle to left conservatives. Abbott supporters attacking Turnbull and party supporters. Labor supporters haven’t had to do anything. They must be in hysterics over the land mining that has gone on within the conservative supporters groups. 

I will ask the liberals and conservatives who support the conservative side of politics to call a truce. These are my reasons. I believe we have stuffed up the last three elections. Wait! Yes we did vote the LNP into Govt but it wasn’t a parliament that enabled the Govt to do their job properly. So let's drop the, it was an overwhelming victory for the Abbott Govt. It wasn’t. It was the worst senate result for the LNP for many years. That is fact.

So what are those choices? 

We return the LNP to Govt. This allows them to continue on their path of economic reform, and debt repair. To make sure our borders are protected and to deal with climate in a responsible way. Plus, deliver on the rest of the initiatives in the policy plan. But to do that they must be given a parliament that works. Not one based on ‘hedging bets’ which will deliver an unworkable senate controlled by Labor/Greens, single issue parties and untested and untried new comers. 

The electorate DID NOT give Tony Abbott a workable parliament in both houses. Instead, they delivered a senate controlled by Green's and cross-benchers. I use the word “they” because I voted for the Liberals in the upper house. I marked one above the line because I did not want to preference any party. I will be doing the same thing again this election.

People can continue with their ‘strop’ over Malcolm Turnbull and vote informal. Or vote for new parties like Xenophon, ALA etc. Palmer is back running candidates in the senate. We have dozens of opportunists running. There are choices but I urge people to think about that and the likely outcomes of voting for these people. It's important to check policies. I know for a fact many people don’t. They protest vote. Not smart people. There are nasties hidden in many of the policies dependent on your views. I've discovered a few. Policies that true LNP supporters would not support. Check who they are giving their preferences to and who they will favour out of the major parties. I’ve been surprised by a couple when I’ve checked. Although with Xenophon who would know. He won’t give us that information. But from Xenophon’s own policies we find this.

I read an interesting comment to a column by Paul Kelley in the Australian. It was from one of the ALA supporters. His sole argument for recommending the ALA was the candidates had real jobs. Any job is a real job? It's a stupid term. Anyway, how does a ‘real’ job translate into a good politician. There was no mention of policies. There was no mention of who the ALA will preference. It's a worry. There are some concerning policies within the ALA suite. Their senate preferences in NSW are enlightening to say the least.

Another example I recently read. “I want to protect what is left of the Liberals, so I’m voting for Bill Shorten.” It's not the only comment I’ve read along those lines. Beggars belief and graphically highlights the lack of intelligent thought applied by this voter. He isn’t a lone wolf. 

Ex Libs you can vote for Labor or the Greens. But let's get serious. We are talking politics so let’s dispense with the I couldn’t live with myself if I voted for Turnbull BS. It’s a choice between communism/socialism or capitalism. It's that simple. The electorate has already tested six years of Labor. Let's not forget how painful that was. Apart from new leaders, it's the same bunch you are voting back in. You are placing a lot of trust in their ability to have ‘gone to Jesus’ in three short years. I belief we've had a glimpse of what the next Labor Govt will look like thanks to Daniel Andrews and Victoria. The unions control the puppet Shorten and the left are poised for a take-over. 

I have read many comments urging people to destroy the Libs in a vain hope Labor will be defeated in three years. Well, they weren’t last time. Labor carried on with another three years of destruction and chaos. Regardless, they can do a lot more damage in three years. As for a new conservative party rising from the ashes that could take years and years. I don't hold out much hope for that.

Whilst many cannot stand Malcolm Turnbull he is but one man. If conservatives do the right thing, we will have a good mix of liberals and conservatives in a new Govt. I’ve said before I am not a big fan of Malcolm Turnbull. I wasn’t a big fan of Tony Abbott either. I vote for the party. It’s very important that Barnaby Joyce retains his seat. He brings balance. I would much prefer a Turnbull led Govt over the possible alternatives any day. We can deal with Turnbull. It will take three years perhaps more to remove what replaces the LNP if it comes to that.

Malcolm Turnbull has shown a lot of courage. He could have called an election earlier when his stocks were significantly higher than they are now. He didn’t. Anyone who believed Turnbull’s approval rating would stay in the 60’s plus for any length of time has rocks in their head. Malcolm Turnbull knew that and his advisors encouraged him to go earlier. He ignored that advice. Gutsy decision. 

Kitchen Cabinet this week with Senator Cash was interesting. Her comment to the question about Malcolm Turnbull just implementing Tony Abbott’s policies was spot on. Michaelia Cash pointed out, they are the policies of the party. It was a fair point. They are the policies of the party.

So to summarise the choice is:

A Liberal National Government.

A Labor / Greens Government. 

A hung parliament controlled by who knows who. It could be the Greens or Xenophon or a combo. It's the walking the plank solution.

I’ve said before when I asked the question, can we afford to gamble in this current climate with so much uncertainties. I believe the answer is a resounding no. I want no part in delivering chaos.

What the rest of you do is your decision and your business. But, I sincerely hope we can unite and call a truce until after the election when the LNP is hopefully returned? 

History teaches us that unity is strength, and cautions us to submerge and overcome our differences in the quest for common goals, to strive, with all our combined strength to make our nation stronger. That’s what is really important. What is in the best interests of the country and therefore our future.

Gerard Is Right: Leave Turnbull Be .. What We Need Him To Be

Gerard Henderson wrote a piece published in The Australian on the 28 May  titled, “election 2016: Media should just let Turnbull be.” As you would expect there has been a lot of comments. Most of it seems to be negative anti-Turnbull. 

It was an interesting piece. Much of what G Henderson said was in my opinion true.  But there were contradictions. There was one statement in particular I thought was a contradiction. It also generated most of the negative comment from those who state they are conservatives. Honestly, who would know if they are or aren’t. But the statement was this, “If Turnbull wins on July 2, then he will have a greater opportunity to fashion the Coalition’s policy with reference to his own policy vision.” 

The point made related to SSM and the Nationals. The point escaped most of those commenting. They see it as a broader issue. But, it plays to the fear many people on the liberal/conservative side of politics express. If Malcolm wins he’ll take the party down the left channel. 

The statement conflicted for me because it clashed with other points made by G Henderson. 

“Some of those who want Turnbull to be Turnbull overlook the fact he is the leader of a right-of-centre Coalition administration. No Liberal Party leader can ignore the views of party operatives, parliamentarians and the rank-and-file members who keep the organisation together and do most of the work at election time.” 

Correct  and it  won’t change if he is elected. So why would he be stupid enough to revert to the ‘stereo-type’ Malcolm the leftie? He remembers what happened last time. He’s been warned what will happen if he tries it again. 

G Henderson stated, “And then there are the Nationals. When Turnbull led the Liberal Party in opposition in 2009, he was close to presiding over a situation where the Nationals dumped the Coalition agreement. The issue turned on Turnbull’s support for an ETS.” 

Do you honestly believe the Nationals wouldn’t threaten this again should Malcolm stray from the path of the straight and narrow? Perhaps the not so happy Libs who are championing a vote for Barnaby might like to consider that and insist on an agreement to be sure. I think it makes sense to have one.

Our elected representatives have shown they are prepared to remove a leader. They have done that twice in recent times. Malcolm as opposition leader and Abbott as PM. Why would Malcolm or indeed us think they wouldn’t do it? If the LNP with Malcolm as leader are elected. If he strays too far to the left changing agreements we vote for, I’ll be one of the loudest voices calling for his head.

Tony Abbott broke promises. That didn’t sit well with many centre moderate Libs. If (and it’s a big if) Malcolm was to break promises after being elected there would be a monumental revolt. I’m in doubt it would be the case. 

Malcolm Turnbull is many things but a fool he is not. He knows the score and I doubt he wants to be turfed for a second time assuming the LNP gain government and he remains leader. 

I will refer to one comment to G Henderson’s column. It was this from someone named Andrew.  

“I agree with the very many right wing Abbott supporters who attack Turnbull.

Not because Abbott was deposed as he was hopeless and had to go.

(I concede border protection etc)

Turnbull has turned out to be a socialist and bereft of ideas, and more hopeless than Abbott.

I'm very sorry that Costello left Parliament he would have been an even better PM than Howard.

Unfortunately I'm voting for the truly awful Labor lot in the hope that a new liberal-conservative party will arise from the ashes.

The Other Andrew.” 

I have no idea who The Other Andrew is. Or whether he is genuine. But if he is, there's not a lot you can say about comments like that except HELP!!!!! No self respecting, genuine conservative would ever vote Labor. Ever advocate voting for Labor. I don't often reply to media comment but I did to this one.  

“To reward Labor after they almost led this country to the point of ruin, on the off chance a new conservative Phoenix will rise from the ashes of a decimated LNP I find astounding. Even more so given Labor are promising to spend more, tax more and weaken our borders in removing TPV's that's just for starters.

There's also the very real likelihood you could be waiting 20-years for the 'saviour' to reach maturity. There is no guarantee it will happen. 

So good luck with your gamble. I just hope the rest of us don't end up paying for the bet.”

So back to G Henderson’s headline. Yes. Let Turnbull be. Let him be the leader he has committed to being in leading a right-of-centre Coalition party. Not the leftie, republic pushing, social engineer so many would will him or wish him to be.  Hold to account on that commitment.

People do change and they do modify their opinions. It's called maturity and taking into account team and voter expectations. Turnbull knows the score. Time will be the judge of his conviction. He may never completely give up his attachment to a republic. I’ve little doubt that we will traverse that path one day. When the time is right. The same goes for SSM. He has stated he supports the party’s plebiscite decision. The will of the people will decide. As it should. Turnbull will stand firm on border protection. As PM he knows more about the inherent risks of weakening our policy that the armchair experts.  Turnbull will hold the line on the economy. As he absolutely must. He's no fool. We must not forget; there are still people waiting in the wings to topple him (that isn't a dig at Tony Abbott). There are others.  He knows it and so do we. 

Back to focusing on what is really important. Bill Shorten and Labor. Keeping them OUT. If they get in as conservatives we can't control them. We can control Turnbull.

The Greens Peril

Politics have become very poll driven over recent years. I, like so many eagerly await the poll results and then accept or dismiss the results depending on how our political party fares. When we are ahead, great. When we are behind, they are rigged. 

But, and there is a but, if we spend time analyzing the answers to specific questions or look closer at the detail, they do tell a story. I've commented before on social media, that the answers to specific questions (Essential Poll in particular) often don't correlate with the overall results on voting intention. 

Using a recent Essential Poll as an example. The poll asked a specific question ‘ who do you trust the most’  out of the two major parties. The results rated the Conservative Government as more trustworthy than the Labor opposition on the bulk of questions but, the Government was still behind in the overall poll. Now there are reasons why that might be so.

1. On primary votes Labor still trails behind the LNP in most polls but win the two, party based on preferences. The Greens preferences are making a big difference to the overall result.
2.  The 'don't know' percentage was high which indicates people are still waiting or are unsure. With all the rubbish printed in newspapers and promoted via radio and TV I can understand the confusion.
3. Or perhaps people trust the policies and are comfortable with the results the government is achieving but are unsure about or don’t trust the LNP Leadership. That said, in many polls the LNP are rated more highly on leadership but it's fair to say the Prime Minister isn't popular. 

Which brings me to the point of this update. As a conservative, there is an even more troublesome trend emerging and that is the rise in Green support. It's no secret Labor and the Greens are welded at the hip. In a move that defies logic, even the so called staunch conservative Clive Palmer has given preferences to the Greens. So the Greens are effectively the game changers at the next election.

The Morgan Poll of this week really set the alarm bells ringing for me and reminded me that as conservative 'political' social media activists we have to start paying a lot more attention to this group. Whilst we have been spending all of our time focusing on Labor and the Unions, the Greens are working away in the background slowly but surely picking up 'the vote'; both Labor and Liberal swinging voters. Whilst the numbers highlighted in the detail are state based, they are an indication that can't be ignored. 

Greens Leader, Richard Di Natale appeared on the Bolt Report on Sunday. It was intiguing viewing. 

Mr Di Natale's Greens party has benefited to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars Union money. Mr Di Natale himself benefited to the tune of $200,000 of Union money in his election bid. When quizzed on what did his Union benefactors expect in return, he stated nothing other than support jobs. Why? Because Greens support jobs? Really!!! If they supported jobs, why are they supporting Labor's 50/50 climate plan that will result in the loss of thousands of Australian jobs? The same plan the CFMEU backs!!! 

Richard Di Natale nailed his flag to the pole last week, with his confirmation that Greens senators will support a petition to the Governor General, to ask him to remove Royal Commissioner Heydon, if it is tabled by Labor on Monday. This is a massive waste of time. The Governor General does not have the power under his reserve powers to remove the Commissioner. This petition, if tabled, is nothing more than a cynical political power play and no sensible Senator would entertain it. 

Mr Di Natale made a good point when he stated Unions protect employees. Yes, some do. Just not the ones who are being exposed as a result of TURC. Those Unions, clearly put themselves and their Labor mates first. So if Mr Di Natalie really cared about employees and jobs, why wouldn’t he be supporting Commissioner Heydon against the cynical, politically motivated self-protectionist game Labor and the major Unions are playing?  It's appears obvious that by his very actions money buys support. Why else would Unions be adding to the Greens 'war chest' and Mr Di Natalie be supporting them and throwing unfounded accusations at the Commissioner? 

Mr Di Natale highlighted his naivety in stating, “If you find a few bad apples get rid of them.” Seriously, half the stuff that is materialising from TURC would have remained buried, so how do you get rid of what you don’t know? Or, is it a case of out of sight, out of mind. Mr Di Natale even went as far as to accuse Commissioner Heydon of being of a ‘clear political persuasion’ and having a clear agenda!! The same Judge that NSW Labor appointed to the NSW Court of Appeal. Grubby stuff Mr Di Natale, grubby stuff. 

So if the Greens cared about jobs, as referenced earlier, why are they supporting a Labor plan that will wipe out thousands of Australian jobs? Why are opposing ChAFTA & why is Peter Whish-Wilson calling on Labor to refuse to pass the agreement because of ISDS? And why are they demanding the Government send the agreement back to the negotiating table?  For heaven's sake, even Labor's Shadow Treasurer, Chris Bowen, said on September 3rd, “We want to see the China Free Trade Agreement implemented. Those concerns can be dealt with by the Government. They don't need to go back to Beijing and renegotiate.” 

The China Free Trade agreement has been 10-years in the making. This agreement will deliver an increase in beef exports, dairy products and even insurance and healthcare services which means desperately needed jobs growth and the Greens play games.

The Greens agenda is very clear, they are about supporting Agenda 21 and driving green plans that will result in thousands losing their jobs. They will open up our borders, they will bankrupt the country, they will oppose anything Tony Abbott tries to do on climate, border protection and trade deals that deliver economic recovery and jobs growth. They will take Union money and side with Labor (so they can control the agenda behind the scenes). Whilst Labor play at being ‘light green’ and betray their heartland the Greens are increasing their support and using any ploy they can to do it. 

If you think you can’t trust Labor then you certainly can’t trust the Greens. And Labor and Conservatives should be uniting to destroy this Green Peril before it takes a greater foothold. If they don’t, both parties pay the price and Australia pays the price. The question is, can we AFFORD to pay the price? That’s a question every thinking Australian has to ask themselves. I think you know my answer, it is a resounding NO, we can’t.  

The Electorate: Misogynistic : Double-Standards

Questions:

• Is the electorate becoming increasingly misogynistic? 
• Or do people on all sides of the political divide simply treat Conservatives significantly harsher than Labor or Greens? 

I'm struggling to work out which one it is. Or, perhaps both apply.

I expected the polls to reflect the electorate's anger over the travel expenses scandals. 

What I didn't expect, was for them to unleash their anger on PM Tony Abbott and to reward Bill Shorten. The latest Newspoll was the final straw for me. So consider this. 

The argument that the electorate is increasingly misogynistic. 

Examples of two women; Julia Gillard and Bronwyn Bishop, hounded, attacked and abused over the same issues as men who survive.

Julia Gillard was not a very good PM and she certainly was not to be trusted, but people hounded her over a $5000 brown bag payment. The combination of that and her performance finally cost her, her job. 

In comparison, we have Bill Shorten. With a far, far worse footprint. Unions bully, adulterer, accused rapist and he has demonstrated vicious behaviour toward an innocent female shop owner. He has taken money, at the expense of workers, for self gain and only disclosed it when 'forced' to do so. There are very serious questions arising in the Royal Commission about his conduct and honesty. Yet, in the latest Newspoll taken over the weekend, Shorten's stock rise against a PM who has none of those shadows hanging over his head.

Bronwyn Bishop.  Foolishly took a $5000 helicopter ride. She was attacked unmercifully. She has been humiliated, abused and finally hounded out of office. Hounded out for excessive spends that pales into insignificance to Labor's Tony Burke her chief assassin. Burke is even given a free pass by none other than Christopher Pyne (who himself we discover has pushed the expense envelope) 

Tony Burke, is a serial expense abuse offender. He was Labor's attack dog, ripping into Mrs Bishop daily. However, over the past week, Mr Burke's own gross abuse has been highlighted. Flying girlfriends 1st class, business class holiday flights for his children, holidays for himself, $10,000 a day jaunts in Europe, lavish parties and $20,000 drinks bills. He's accepted free gifts; travel, entertainment, accommodation.  Fifteen times he had paid back travel claims. The list goes on and on and on. But, Burke  is considered to be operating within the rules, but Mrs Bishop isn't.

Mrs Bishop paid back the $5000 plus a fine. Burke under pressure is reimbursing one lousy ComCar bill. So why was Mrs Bishop treated so harshly when a serial abuser of expenses like Burke survives? Could it be because she is a woman. I'm rapidly reaching the conclusion that is the reason.  

Are Conservatives held to a significantly higher level of professional standards than Labor. 

Tony Abbott's personal ratings are down Bill Shorten's go up. That is almost inconceivable when you think about it. Now, there are those who are very suspicious of polls. Funnily enough, that usually only applies when they go against their preferred party, yes I am guilty as well. There are those who will say; but they only target Labor electorates.  I suspect in some cases pollsters pick and choose BUT surely decency and personal standards should be above political preferences when it comes to people.

Tony Abbott has worn the wrath of the electorate over Bronwyn Bishop. His ratings went down. 

Bill Shorten was unscathed over Burke. Shorten's ratings went up, astounding. This is despite the very serious accusations levelled at Mr Shorten at TURC. This is despite Mr Shorten's disclosure that he took a $40,000 payment from an employer and used that money to fund his political campaign. AND, kept it quiet for years. Let's face it, if it hadn't been for TURC that payment would never have been disclosed. None of these serious failures of personal conduct have been levelled at Mr Abbott, yet his ratings go down. 

So, as I've been committing my thoughts to paper I've now reached my conclusion that as an electorate, we are collectively guilty of both: 

1. We are becoming more misogynistic although many will dispute that 

2. We most certainly hold the Conservatives to much higher standards than Labor 

I will confess, I’m becoming increasingly disillusioned with society. We appear to be losing all sense of fairness. We punish people for other people's misdemeanours and we are inconsistent in our judgement. In Tony Abbott's case, the achievements of his Govt are ignored and he is attacked based on personality.  That is grossly unfair in my opinion.   

Our Reasoning Ability Is Rapidly Diminishing

I’m becoming increasingly fed up with people labelling me in their pathetic attempts to justify their own bias. We see this a lot on social media. It isn’t the domain of one group or another. People from all groups are doing it. Hence my lament that mankind’s ability to reason is rapidly diminishing.

Like many,  I was horrified by the number of attacks carried out in the preceding 24-hours by Islamist extremists. I posted a comment on twitter attaching a clip from the BBC website. Out of the 10 most recent updates 8 related to events, highlighting 5 different attacks.

Number two on the recent update list mentioned Gay Marriage to which someone replied “Gay marriage is more important than 165,000 Christians being murdered every year”. In the context of the BBC updates I replied it’s just detailing the most recent updates, nothing sinister in that. Well from there I was accused of being young (I’m not) and weak (I’m certainly not) and that Jones (assume he meant Alan Jones) and Paul Murray are wrecking a 1000 years of the conservative tradition. WT!!!

As it happens, I don’t listen to Jones or watch Paul Murray, but I digress. Now I did suggest the reply was the dumbest reply of the week. This was followed by an assault (using the latest weapon of choice of the social media crusaders)….. You are a Leftist!!!! Well, actually I’m not. In  fact, I’m a dedicated middle of the road conservative who thankfully was born with a brain and the ability to reason based on good old common sense.

You will recall the recent issues in Asia with thousands of asylum seekers stranded on boats. A number of us were discussing the problem there, as well as the problems in Europe. I had made a number of comments about the size and the potential scale of the problem given there are over 50million displaced persons. And the the fact that many  of those people are escaping on boats heading for Europe. Hundreds had drowned. I also mentioned countries like Italy & Greece can not be expected to keep absorbing thousands of asylum seekers. And voiced my frustration over the fact that groups like the UN are quick to condemn receiving countries, but do little to address the issues in the asylum seekers own countries.

One of our  ‘conservative brethren’ posted  a comment “give them life jackets that way they won’t drown  can just freeze to death”. Now any reasonable person would consider that a dreadful thing to say (unless of course you have an irrational hatred of Muslims). As a reasonable person, I said as much. What followed, once again was bizarre.  Judge for yourself.

Poster: “Maybe we should give them Lifejackets, won’t drown just freeze to death ”

Me: “That’s a dreadful thing to say. Something has to be done to fix problems on their home soil so they don’t leave”

Poster: “Start with smugglers, but living in corrupt countries will never happen. Can’t solve the worlds problems”

Me: “Never say never, never say can’t. There are 50million plus wanting to escape doing nothing isn’t an option”

At this point someone else joined the discussion & asked what I thought needed to happen. My reply.

Me: “Apart from removing despotic leaders, educating people and stop funding terrorists, I have no idea”

My poster chimed in:

Poster:  “What are you doing for them apart from twitter”

Me: “Apart from sponsoring children nothing. What are you doing?”

Poster: Ignored question, but came back with “What leader would you have, you seem to have all the answers”

Me: I don’t have all the answers and I will admit my patience was waning. Hence reply “Don’t be so stupid” By this time I could almost sense where we were heading. I know the poster form.  

Poster: “You’re the one performing either do something or go away. I’m blinking you. I don’t tolerate idiots. I’m blocking you”

How is that for intolerance and a lack of reasoning ability? The person in question hates Muslims and thinks the answer is let asylum seekers freeze in the ocean and she labels me an idiot.

Conservatives, rightly or wrongly have considered themselves to be above liberal progressives. That was always a bit smug in my opinion, even though I’m a conservative and I do consider myself above the rabble. Conservatives are just as capable of being as intolerant and abusive as anyone else. They prove that over and over again and often over the most mundane issues as per my recent exchanges. If you dare to question, regardless of what you have stood up for, condemned and defended previously, you are automatically labelled; you are not one of us, you are one of them. One of the evil lot. Of course, that is merely a bullying  tactic to attack based on the attackers own bias. “If you don’t agree with me, you are a traitor”.

Equally idiotic are statements such as “All Leftist Are Scum”.. Well, they aren’t. “All Conservatives Are Nut Jobs”.. Wrong again. Granted, some people on both sides are indeed scum. We certainly have our fair share of nut jobs of all persuasions but to brand whole groups highlights once again the inability to reason. It saddens me, but all I can do is continue to call out the behaviour for what it is.

Bullying by people based on their prejudices toward opposing or differing views and their inability to reason based on sound judgement.  In its place we have the  “If you don’t agree with me, you are a traitor” mentality and the world is a less tolerant and intelligent place as a result.