Month: August 2010

Deadlocked election in Australia

liligans Politics, So you think you're cultured?, totally absurd

As I suspected, and I wasn’t the only one, the election is deadlocked. There is no winner except for the protest voters. Some voters decided that neither party was worthwhile, so they either voted for one of the minor parties or they decided to sabotage their votes. They left it up to others to decide for them.

In my opinion, it is perfectly legitimate to vote for a minor party like the Greens, for example, even though they weren’t my choice. That’s what democracy is all about. But to go further and vote informal just because you want to sit on the fence seems like an insult to the democratic process. I guess these informal voters have the democratic right to not vote, but what a waste of a hard fought-for privilege!

Apparently, half a million non-voters, and that’s how I describe them, didn’t even have the brains to weigh up policies and choose the party which offended them the least. It was so much easier to pack up their toys, stick their thumbs in their mouths and leave the sandbox.

We are probably better off without those fence sitters. Democracy is wasted on them, anyhow.

So now we are stuck with having to persuade three or four independents to side with one of the parties so that parliament can resume. If we thought that electioneering was over last Saturday, well, we are about to see so much horse trading, grandstanding and back room dealing, that it will make the actual election look like a prelude to the three-ring circus.

Can’t help wondering what would have happened if those informal twits had taken the time to reflect on the importance of voting. Too late now.

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Election Day in Australia. I luv it!

liligans So you think you're cultured?

Listening to the complaints from fellow Aussies that the election is boring, the media circus is ridiculous and the government is hopeless anyway, I wonder how many of us would give up the right to vote. Would they really want other people to choose for them?

I suspect not. The same people who claim the government is useless would be outraged if they were not allowed to have a say in who represents them. They would claim that it is their democratic right to vote.

Everyday, people in other countries die for that privilege. Women and minority groups have fought for that right and we should cherish it.

This is indeed a lucky country because we live in a real democracy. We don’t have the sham elections that Iraq had in the past where 100% of the “voters” chose Saddam Hussein. We don’t suffer the military juntas of South America or the tyranny of some African states.

We can select our political reps without fear of repercussions. They actually have to court us for our vote. How great is that!

Whatever we think of politicians, in this country we can vote them in and we can vote them out. And that is a privilege we should respect.

So bring on the election today. I look forward to casting my vote and I look forward to watching the election results on TV tonight … which will probably be deadlocked, anyway.

Wind Farms are a noisance

liligans So you think you're cultured?

When we travelled throughout Belgium and parts of Holland a few years ago we were confronted by a terrible noise. It sounded like hundreds of engines reving up and piercing the otherwise pristine countryside. The beauty of the landscape was drowned out by the constant drone of some prehistoric monsters. “What in the world is that?” we asked the bus driver.

“Look over there!” he shouted and pointed to his right. It was a row of wind turbines in the distance. There they stood, several kilometres away on a row of hills. They were gargantuan and they were loud.

Not only were they ugly to look at but we could not imagine that anybody would want to live near them. Talk about noise pollution!

So why am I writing about them now? Well, it appears that AGL has been given the go-ahead to build wind turbines on farms in Victoria. Farmers are being paid for the use of their land and money talks loudly, but not as loudly as the wind turbines, in my opinion.

Can’t wait for election day in Australia

liligans Politics, So you think you're cultured?

I haven’t written for the past ten days because the will to live has been crushed out of me. I am bored silly by the electioneering. Enough baby kissing, digging up bits of Australia, riding on tractors, sailing with the Coast Guard and squatting down in front of toddlers for a photo shoot.

It’s a circus out there and it’s extremely annoying. I would vote for a politician who declares he is not going to kiss and hug other people’s children. Think of the germs that he is spreading as he moves from one babe to another!

How absolutely ridiculous is the sight of a grown woman clambering up into a tractor in all her glam clothes, and jewels with that construction hat on her head and posing for a pix. Are we supposed to be impressed by that?

There is little dignity in the hustings. The media are hungry and want something to whinge about. The politician is catering to the lowest possible denominator of human intellect. And by that I mean the political machine and the journalists who have to fill the news reports with the most trivial and often inaccurate waste of newsprint.

Every action is assessed and analysed. Whom did the politician offend today with a slip of the tongue? Great! We have a headline. Abbott hates women! Julia Gillard is a heretic and so no Christian should vote for her!

None of this is true and yet it is written.

In other countries one has to pretend to be religious to even have a chance of being voted in. This is sadly the case in the U.S. And yet Church and State are supposed to be separate. This confuses me totally.

How refreshing it is to be able to say that one is not religious without having to face The Inquisition.

This circus of running around the country and performing like a seal is very degrading, in my opinion. I just want to hear what the parties and the leaders are intending to do. Forget the silly hats, the safety vests, the shovels, and the farce of being bowled over by the cuteness of Baby Raylene.

And please forget about appearing on some stupid panel and trying to be one of the fellas. Or filleting fish with a rather menacing machete. Reserve that delight for a fishmonger. What has any of this got to do with being a suitable Prime Minister, anyway?

I wouldn’t be surprised to see both candidates scrubbing up and performing surgery in a dinkum operating theatre just to announce more funds for Health. Blood and guts everywhere. Julia and Tony brandishing scalpels. What a photo opportunity that would be!

Why Kevin Rudd is Julia Gillard’s nemesis

liligans Politics, So you think you're cultured?

Picture this. Your wife comes up to you and tells you that she no longer wants you. She explains to you that you are no longer the kind of husband she needs. Therefore, you should leave.

Pretty devastating news…but wait there’s more. She’s found somebody else more suited to her needs whom she’s going to marry. Painfully devastating news… but wait there’s even more.

She wants you to arrange the wedding for old time’s sake How about organising the flower arrangements, or even the catering? There’s so much to do, so how about lending a hand? In other words, help her “move forward.”

In essence, this is what Julia Gillard is demanding from Kevin Rudd. Never mind that he’s no longer wanted by the Labor Party and the unions as Prime Minister, but hey, how about helping out with the elections so that the party which stabbed him in the back can remain in government?

It’s a bit much to expect heartfelt loyalty from the ousted Prime Minister, isn’t it? Why, it’s only natural that Rudd should feel resentful towards the Labor Party.

So, is he going to jump out of his post-op bed to do his bit for Labor?

Of course he will, because there’s no better way to get back at Gillard and Co. than by being completely visible during the election. His omnipresence will act as a reminder of what they have done to him.

As Rudd himself has told us, he has a long memory…