Hi, On 7/12/19 11:39 am, Paul Dwerryhouse via luv-talk wrote:
On 6/12/19 3:43 pm, Trent W. Buck wrote:
Paul Dwerryhouse via luv-talk wrote:
Combine this with a far stricter party discipline system than either the UK or the US have, and we get a democracy that really isn't serving its people well at all.
Can you expand on this?
US and UK politicians cross the floor to vote against their party's wishes regularly.
In Australia, the ALP will kick members out of the party if they cross the floor (excluding "conscience votes"). The Liberals claim to allow their MPs to vote freely, but over the last decade, members who have threatened to do so have been harassed.
A serious problem with politics in AU is that you don't get in unless you are well sponsored by the party and then you are expected to tow the party line as a measure of "appreciation" for becoming a member of the political class -- you enjoy those massive benefits and privileges due to your association with the party, so even if you wish to go in being very fair minded, you actually go in being very obligated to the political party rather than the AU people that you should be serving. We need 100% independent politicians, no parties; everything that is important to vote on should be with conscience, EVERY TIME. The next problem, with the S44 issues, why are there so few "real" Australian's in our parliament? Is it just another job that no Aussie wants? It's easy for "new" Australians to decide how badly we "owe" our country to the "original or first" Australians... so much so, that non-racist people are becoming racist. I say that every single person born in AU should be 100% equal, none of this "first people" rubbish, every single one of the Aboriginal people alive today has been born in "modern" times ... and for better or worse, we need equity, but we do not need reverse discrimination. Every single Aussie, including Aboriginals, should share exactly the same rights and privileges as Aussies and in those areas where any part of the AU population needs some equitable adjustment, it should be done as fairly as possible. If Aboriginals have a shorter life span, it could easily be due to their own lifestyle choices and where it is not that simple, then money should be spent to improve that situation. A.