Failed to vote the bastards out. Damn.

[thorfinn]

Well. There goes nothin'. Family First dude gave me a How To Vote card, saying "Family First?" I snorted, and said, "Yeah, right." Not quite as amusing as esso's response of "I don't know, would you like to burn me at the stake?" though.

Looks like the bloody Coalition wins again. And a whole bunch of Christian Right parties have come out of the woodwork. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Rise of the right, indeed. My firm hope is that we have a nice big chunky interest rates rise in about 2 years time. At this point, that's about the only thing I can see that'll sort it out.

And, to all those people talking about running away to new zeeland or canadia... Please, don't. Fight the bastards. Stay, and be out and proud. Keep pushing the message.

Comments

[catsidhe.livejournal.com]

So, when are we running for parliament?

Liberals we know about, and now we know that they are really good at making their lies stick.
Labor we have less of an idea about, but judging on past and OS experience they usually turn out to be Liberal Lite these days, just with more 'fairness' rhetoric.
Democrats made a deal with FFP. If they are desperate enough to deal with the Devil so blatantly, fsck'em.
Family First Party. Well. Yeah. Fred Nile with a smilyface.
Citizen's Electoral Council Seig Heil!
Socialist Alliance are just jokes.

So what is left? Greens, yeah, OK, but much more of this political wilderness, and both the real Wilderness and their idealism will be whittled away forever.

Then there's us. We're (more-or-less) articulate. We're (more-or-less) intelligent. We're definitely cynical enough. Shall we re-invigorate the Australian branch of the Monster Raving Loony Party? Or the British Imperialist Party (beloved of David Greagg, aka Daffydd the Wizard)? Or shall we start up the Holy Erisian Laboral Party (H.E.L.P), dedicated to liberatarianism, economic conservatism (as opposed to Everyone Else) and organised anarchy Encouraging people to THINK FOR THEMSELVES, GODDESS DAMMIT!?

Complaining bitterly on LJ obviously did squat. What then?

[drjon.livejournal.com]

The British Imperialist Party. Definitely.

Although I'm for storming the Labor Caucus and slapping them silly with fish.

[sly-girl.livejournal.com]

The Ass Party. Pick up the donkey vote.

[damien-wise.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering how best to Maintain the Rage.
At the moment, I'm too low to think about it much. The next three years are going to be very, very long. In a way, it reminds me of the last time Bloody Jeff got voted-in despite the massive amounts of hatred he'd earned from the public. As with Jeoff's reign, Howard's too will pass.

Looking at the results of yesterday's poll, it's difficult not to be cynical.
It shows me that you can never underestimate the gullibility of the public, nor the greed of the common man, nor the willful ignorance and detachment from their surroundings, environment or society.

Here's a couple of important issues which didn't raise a squeak in the campaign...
(1) No Kyoto Summit agreement (Russia finally signed-up the other day, leaving Australia and the USA the only countries in the world off the list) for another few years. Figuratively, we are collectively pissing in the only well supplying drinking-water to this global village.
(2) No "Sorry" to the stolen generation of Australian Aboriginals.

Bring on the "non-core" promises, feh!

[l-o-u.livejournal.com]

Looking at the results of yesterday's poll, it's difficult not to be cynical.
It shows me that you can never underestimate the gullibility of the public, nor the greed of the common man, nor the willful ignorance and detachment from their surroundings, environment or society.

Amen to that.

[morganjaffit.livejournal.com]

Thorf, you're desperately misrepresenting Family First. Stop it. We can do better. If we can't, then we've got nothing. Remember the whole lefty ethos of "we do it cos it's the RIGHT thing to do" - not because we can score cheap political points.

It was a volunteer, not a rep, who made the comment. FF has been pretty quick to reprimand and clarify that is not their stance. What more should a political party have done, when one of the VOLUNTEERS (and you know where the volunteers stand in terms of political clout, which is no where) oversteps their authority and acts like a dick?

[thorfinn]

There's this little game-theory study... the best long run strategy is tit-for-tat. Sorry, but I'm tired of being titted, with no ability to tat. We clearly can't win against lies by telling the full and proper truth, and I've had enough of being lied at and not being able to shit in their pond the same way.

And no, there's nothing more they could have done... But, I'm also completely unconvinced that they aren't all acting like dicks. These people want to ban me and my friends from going on with life. That's not acceptable to me.

[thorfinn]

Oh, and besides, I didn't make the comment in the first place... Nor have I said that that's what FF actually believe. What they believe is bad enough, however, and I happen to strongly suspect the attitude represented by that volunteer is pretty close to what their real attitude is.

[sly-girl.livejournal.com]

This is a party that gave its preferences to the Liberals across the board, except in Brisbane because the Liberal candidate was a lesbian. The FFP person handing out the how-to-votes at out nearest booth verbally abused Renee and Nigel for handing out Green how-to-votes, along with the people handing out those for other parties. Yes, that's another volunteer but there seems to be a trend. A Family First senate candidate called upon Australians to "pull down Satan's strongholds", such as mosques, Masonic temples, brothels and bottle shops. These guys are arseholes.

[severina-242.livejournal.com]

I'd like to stay, but Australia is no longer a place I want to live and not merely because of John Howard. He's less problematic than the people who vote for him. People who can't see past their own backyards. Over half the people in Australia voted for a lying weasel who would fuck the corpses of dying kids to further his agenda. Some of them I accept are brainwashed by popular media or merely stupid or ill informed, but then there is still a percentage that believes *he's doing a good job*.

I've been threatening to leave for the last three terms of the Liberal government. *This is not my Australia*. All my hopes for the future of this country, and my future in it have dried up. There are limited possibilities for me, and they get more limited every year the Libs are in power, and it's also a place where I wouldn't want to have and raise a child. Like Salvador Dali, I feel like making prosthetic ovaries and throwing them at Howard in a spray of fake blood and saying 'Here! I won't be needing these anymore!"

[mireille21.livejournal.com]

Amen. And family first my arse! only if it's *their* kind of family. They certainly don't want the likes of us to breed. Grrr (still).

[jeshyr]

I'd love to leave, too. I don't have the energy to "stay and fight". I'm sorry, but I just don't. What's happening scares me shitless.

But where can a cripple dependant on state aid for every cent I get (except those dollars kindly donated my several of my better-off friends) go TO? If I leave the country for more than 13 weeks (might be less, it's a small number, anyway) then they cut off my pension and all my benefits. I sure don't see any other countries jumping up and down trying to attract "economically helpless cripples". I'm not a voting block that counts, no matter how loud we triied to scream, and I can't leave.

I feel like I'm screwed. I can't fight and I can't run. What do I do?

To be honest, my instinct is to run as far as I can run, which means leaving the city and going to live in a friendly little country town up in the Dandenongs where I can get my benefits, hopefully make new friends, be in a place which runs at a slower pace that bloody St Kilda which I can't keep up with, and where I'm surrounded by the trees and bush that nourishes my soul. That's my 3-5 year plan, at the moment. The only thing keeping me here is people like thorfinn, seedy_girl, and others - you know who you are. I'd miss them like crazy and I doubt many (any?) would be able to visit me more up there. How do you decide between feeding your need for special and good friends, and feeding your soul with a healthy surroundings? It's insoluble :(

Anyway, I'm way off topic and rambling. Sorry.


*waves*
Ricky

What this country needs is a good recession.

[longi.livejournal.com]

This is precisely why I refuse to enroll to vote. The system doesn't work and there's nobody worth voting for.

And, there's nothing they can do about it. Dodging the electoral role (and the census for that matter) is my way of protesting against a system that doesn't work. I could go on all day about the plethora of reasons not to be on the electoral role, but that's a rant best enjoyed with a home brewed beer.

All this will change once I declare myself Ayatollah Longi the 1st of Mars. This planet is doomed anyway :)

Re: What this country needs is a good recession.

[jeshyr]

You'll have to BYO home-brewed beer, but you're hereby invited to come over and have a good chat and explain said reasons to me.

When are you next gonna be in the vicinity of St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria?


Ricky Buchanan
--
ricky@notdoneliving.net

[catbiscuit.livejournal.com]

There's an element of being a rat deserting a sinking ship in my recent musings about NZ, I know.

I'm feeling very vulnerable at the moment though, facing possible changes that will directly effect my basic needs, let alone quality of life. I have to gather a lot more information to see whether my fears are warranted and to what degree, but it looks as though I'm looking at a future here where medication and health care will be even more difficult to afford and I'm already struggling. I've heard the term 'Work for the Disability Pension' bandied around and it terrifies me.

All of the above are very much self-interest related, I realise.. and only a handful of issues from a broad range of things that scare me.

I won't be taking it too lightly if I do end up emmigrating some time, but if my basic functionality is threatened here and would be improved by going elsewhere, I'm more than open to the idea, selfish or not.

It's difficult to feel national pride and a sense of responsibility to Australia when I've just been hit with this choice that it's population has made. It's an immediate emotional response.

[gudriba.livejournal.com]

Ugh. The medication and health care costs worry me, too. I recently looked up some medications that I'll likely be having to start taking soonish, and mostly the ones that are best for my particular condition aren't even on the PBS list. Hooray for $25 prescriptions instead of $4. Go Johnny! The PBS list is years behind in most areas of treatment.

I'm lucky to have a GP who will bulk bill me when she normally charges about $40 over the standard rate (though recent incidents with her scrag receptionist are having me reconsider), but specialists sure ain't cheap. Even if they don't charge over the Medicare rebate, usually you still have to come up with the cash to pay them in the first place to get your refund.

'Work for the Disability Pension', even just the very concept, is just Wrong. It's pretty obvious the people devising such schemes have no clue about anything, least of all living with a chronic illness. I get to go to a "Work Capacity Assessment" with Health Services Australia at the end of the month - a psychologist who's only just met me gets 30 minutes to assess how much work I'm capable of. HSA is meant to be impartial, but they're funded and run by the government. Yay. I checked out their website and could only find one paragraph of information about their assessments for Centrelink, but in other areas of the site it looks like they're big fans of personality and cognitive ability "testing"...again, yay.

I'm pissed off and disappointed, but not surprised that the Australian public allowed themselves to be led along and distracted by "OMG!!! LOOK at TEH TERRORISTRS!!1!!" and interest rate scare tactics.

[faemortel.livejournal.com]

when is the next election??? I need to get a right to vote in australia by then to help take him down....

[thebaronmk1.livejournal.com]

That's the spirit :-)

That is exactly what I am doing - contacted the Consulate this morning to try for dual citizenship and get a vote in a 1000 days time.

[purples.livejournal.com]

I am so depressed I dont even want to walk outside.

We have lost our social conscience.

Interest rates are going to go up by a few % in the next 6 months and by then it will be too late to go - oh yeah, maybe it isnt the government that control them.

I cant believe it - we have a war that we didnt need to have, we have hospitals in a terrible state, we have more taxes than most other nations and now we also live in fear because of this stupid "terrorist" propaganda - but hey, what if interest rates go up? pfft.

I am off to cry now

[thebaronmk1.livejournal.com]

I agree whole heartedly with your sentiment - but we need to stay positive even in these days.

Hang in there - let's harness this grief and rage and promise ourselves and the future generations that this was the turning point - this is when we will all turn our energies to making sure this will not happen again.

[grey-evil-twin.livejournal.com]

Costello is a pussy. Once the evil Howard leaves, Latho will be all over Costello like shit from a goose. It will be no contest.

This is the only thought that is helping this morning. That, and looking at kitten photos, strong coffee, and mercyndol.

These are dark days but it also means that lots of Australians don't understand just how awful the Libs and their god bothering buddies are. I think we need to show them. Leaving the country means less of us here to poke them and educate them.

I'd like to say "It's been worse" but after voting for 23 years, I can't remember when it has been. Buck up, maties, and save that righteous anger for next time.

[catbiscuit.livejournal.com]

Coping mechanism buddy! I wholeheartedly recommend http://www.catster.com/

Natural Capitalism party anyone?

[orethule.livejournal.com]

Thorp, the disaster yesterday was that no votes were drawn away from the right. We need to establish a party on principles that direcly challenge the corporate disaster on its own turf. Have you come across Amory Lovins Natural Capitalism philosophy? It could easily appeal to the right wing, whilst also addressing the concerns of the greens.

Re: Natural Capitalism party anyone?

[usuakari.livejournal.com]

I have. Briefly. Say on...

May I suggest an alternative...

[tefkin.livejournal.com]

I expect to be flamed as I may be in the wrong camp here but I like thorf's journal so let me make a small contribution not with the intent of pissing any one off (and I can certainly feel a lot of anger in the posts) but of giving you a thought alternative:

When you are tested and fail do you:
i) Get angry and blame the examiner, or
ii) Reassess the answers you gave as possibly lacking

Re: May I suggest an alternative...

[puzzlement.livejournal.com]

It seems like about 60% of comments on this entry are doing the latter (assessing what went wrong and whether being more active in the political process is a good step), so I don't quite understand your point.

And besides, it sounds like some people here feel like their test came back with "you are a sinner and a pervert" written across the top. Rage is going to be part of the response to that.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I hear what you say Thorfy...

However, I have New Zealand citizenship and I've never used it.

I have to think carefully about where I spend my political energy.

Sure, NZ is poorer in real terms, and has less infrastructure. The Labor party is only there on the skin of its teeth and mainly because the conservative parties are so splintered.

But the prospect of establishing lasting social change there may be greater than trying to stem the tide of madness here.

Appropriate music :)

[fizit.livejournal.com]

I deliberately listened to Ani, Bob Dylan and John Lennon for the entirety of yesterday :)

It would never work

[fraerie.livejournal.com]

I was talking crap yesterday while in line to vote -it basically came down to between now and next Federal Election there needs to be formed "The Truely Independant Party". Part of the party platform is that there is no party except on paper. Members agee that if elected they must at all times act purely to their own conscience as regards to whatever matter is being discussed. The party exists soley to alow for the possibility of a majority.

The True Independants would need to field a candidate in every electorate, and it is their responsibility to become familiar with the issues of their electorate and make that electorate aware of what they plan to make their issues of choice.

Part of the problem of this last election was it was pretty much fought at a campaign of personality with little or no real discussion of issues - just John vs. Mark, with no indication thst there was anyone else on the ballot. Is a cult of personality and some dweeb with none won - what does that say about Mark?

Re: It would never work

[orethule.livejournal.com]

'nee, a 'party' of individuals would not work. The sheer volume of papers that go through parliament require a team effort to filter and respond to. That is why the major parties retain so much influence, because they have a large team of people behind them, and only one of them needs to turn up at any one time to act as a proxy for the others. The simplest way to defeat a bunch of individuals is to hold a closed parliamentary session that has to reach consensus before finishing, and push the session duration on until four in the morning.
And moral principles don't appear to work either - the only reward you earn for being forthright, transparent and predictable is checkmate.

[brahe.livejournal.com]

The results scare me... *sigh*
Especially as a parent as well

[kowari.livejournal.com]

YE GODS! Dont wish me horrible interest rates!
Pretty please with sugar on top? I like my house. I dont want to move.

[thorfinn]

Hey, I'm a landowning capitalist pigdog too. At this point, if high interest rates is what it takes (and it will), that's what I want to happen, even if it means sacrifices. Sorry about that.

[thebaronmk1.livejournal.com]

I agree. "All it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing" seems to ring very true.
Well i'm prepared to do my bit next time - starting with becoming a citizen of this wretched place and then putting my effort to the wheel (probably for the Greens - they need some sense to explain their idealism ;-)
But until then there is 1000 days of darkness where we have to keep the flame of truth burning (it's not like the Senate will be able to call any more enquiries after all).
So let's keep posting and talking and ranting so that we are not swallowed up by the darkness

[thorfinn]

*nodnod* Love to have you on board as a citizen. :-) And yeah, I think I might be coming round to the concept of heading over to the Greens to see how they stack up from the inside, rather than fiddling with other possibilities.