The election:

Kenya Lowther writes: Re. “It’s your fault (part two): politics sucks because you outsourced it” (3 August, item 1). One way or another, I have closely followed the political scene in Australia all of my life. One of the most disappointing and worrying trends that have developed into the “status quo” is that nowhere, in print or on air/television, can a person who cares deeply about the future of their country find balanced and intelligent political comment.

No real information reaches the public, informed or otherwise, it is all “spin” designed to alter people’s perceptions, and give media the real power. Journalists seem to be saying: “Doesn’t matter who you cast your vote for on polling day, WE get to determine the Governments of this, and every other, country on earth.”

We don’t get information about what the platform of various political organizations happens to be, and because of that, people start to feel that their vote doesn’t count, and they lose interest. They are busy but they do not join organizations, or political parties, in their spare time, because they “are all the same” and “no-one listens to people like us” and democracy goes out with the garbage!

That is why I felt a surge of real hope for the future when I read Bernard Keane’s articles about the modern political scene in Australia today. Ordinarily, I would have given anything going by the name of “Crikey” a wide berth, as yet another “leftie rag”. I like to know the arguments being presented on all points of the political spectrum, but there is a plethora of “newsies” who are only prepared to lampoon anything approaching the right of any argument and to heap scorn on the people naive enough to offer them.

I have to apologise.

Bernard’s two pieces on why politics has turned “beige” because of our apathy really hit home. It was real and it was incredibly accurate!

Like the “lotus-eaters”, we have been lured into a state of ennui, which will mean our demise as a nation, if we don’t ‘snap out of it’ and say “Crikey”! We nearly lost our democracy because of our apathy, and our forebears, many thousands of whom were willing to travel halfway around the world and put their lives on the line in several terrible wars, so that we would inherit a world where freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of the press and the freedom to choose our own government — the one we had decided, after considering all of the facts and the policies on offer — to advance our society and its values and maximise the potential of its citizens, would have given their lives fought the oppressor in vain!

I only chanced to read your publication by sheer chance — one of my Facebook Friends recommended that I read one of your articles — not this one, strangely enough — and because I respect their views, I did. It was like discovering a rich seam of gold in what I had believed was a wasteland!

Niall Clugston writes: Re. “Labor’s panic — a disease acquired in NSW” (Friday, item 1). I’m not sure that the Federal Government’s panicky re-election strategy can be blamed on NSW Labor.  Obviously there’s a parallel between the dumping of Rudd and the bloody game of musical chairs played in Sydney’s Bearpit. But let’s not forget we have also seen three Federal Opposition Leaders in this term. There just seems to be a very superficial and fickle political culture at the moment.

Federal Labor is clearly different to NSW Labor in its reluctance to defend itself.  Instead it’s been apologising for the insulation scheme, the mining tax, Rudd’s performance, the removal of Rudd, and even the stilted start of its election campaign.

An important point to remember here is that the deathblow to the Howard Government was actually delivered by the unions.  The Sunrise Kid surfed into office on a groundswell of opposition to WorkChoices. When his honeymoon waned, Rudd and his colleagues proved incapable of fighting back.  They’d never really had to in the past.

Kees Hulsman writes: This election is not boring from the perspective of the personalities: Gillard, Abbott and now Rudd. However, it is boring in the sense that there is NO vision that resonates with voters. It is all very piecemeal. Issues of paid parental leave, pensioners, education and health are important, but they need to be set within the larger framework. What sort of society do we want to be/have in 2011, 2015,2030 etc.? Then people can be inspired to share in that vision.

At present, I am disappointed that there is NO leadership being shown by any of our political leaders. The leadership is going to come from the community. Australia should transform itself into a real democracy where large companies, including the mining companies answer to the society of which they are a part and not just to shareholders.

The government should be placing the tax and royalty revenue obtained from our natural resources into an investment fund, just like Norway has done with its oil revenue. Invest it overseas so it does not add to inflation in Australia and then use the interest to subsidise education, health etc. that will take some upward pressure off inflation and also stimulate the economy because people will have more disposable income to use.

Debora Campbell writes: Most of the electorate are NOT watching the news, reading the papers, listening to the wireless OR twittering or whatever else they can do.  Most are ducking for cover — embarrassed that these two parties dare show their faces.

I hope most are, like me, relying for their election coverage on Gruen Nation and Yes We Canberra …

Clearly I am currently a Crikey subscriber but not for long. Bernard’s attempts to pass the buck to us for the lamentable performances by politicians and media alike left me amazed at his audacity if not his intelligence….

Stephen Woods writes: I AM BLOODY ANGRY! I am so over this bloody election! I was over this bloody election earlier this year when the Labor Party finally gave up on any societal reform at all! No more bloody voting for them until they extract the cranium from their nether regions!

I wanted change from Howard and his terrible years of blinding people with debt fuelled materialism and dog-whistle-politics. But what do we get? A fearful waste of time and space from both Rudd and Gillard. If I didn’t believe so much in the ability of the voter to change things, then I would be voting informal. But, no, I’ll be going Green this year. And most likely for a long time after this.

What a waste of potential these politicians have been. And don’t get me started on how terrible and inefficient the media have been with their lack of detailed policy analysis. Even ABC News 24 should have been better. But they are mostly following News Limited in what gets covered.

Unfortunately, I have to teach media analysis in school to lots of students, so I think I’ll just have to be more honest about how f****d the system can get with these sort of people in charge.

Gay marriage:

Blair Martin writes: Marcus Vernon (Friday, comments), just what is your problem? Are you writing in the hope that your sour, almost poisonous diatribes will spur the entirety of Australia’s queer community into action on the “gay marriage” issue or are you just amusing yourself with the nasty little remarks you sling into the debate?

Ok, you wanted a debate — you can have it. I am writing from what is probably the gayest city in Europe (if not the world) currently — Cologne, Germany — the host of the VIIIth Gay Games. Nearly 10,000 men and women have joined in a week long sports, culture and human rights festival and it is disappointing that as we approach the final days here to read your further disagreeable outbursts. I would like the chance to correct some of your blinding mistakes and downright fallacies.

The rallies that are to be held on Saturday 14th August around Australia are not some last minute “pathetic” rabble rousing coat-tailing the current election campaign (as you intimate). These rallies have been going on since the days of the egregious Howard regime and this coming rally was planned long before the PM rushed off to Yarralumla. Each rally does take to the streets, each rally grows in size, each rally empowers more people to make their voices heard and to influence the opinion of the rest of society. If they didn’t Marcus, then why do 60% of Australians approve of allowing same-sex attracted couples the right to make a formal commitment to one another?

As far as asking gay activists to hog the media like some demented political hopeful, as you would no doubt be aware (and as has been brilliantly outlined by Crikey over the past months) the bulk of the population do NOT listen to the news, watch the news, read newspapers… they get their information from online, from social media and from word of mouth discussions (most driven by online, social media etc.) If you read the wrath of the Twitterverse and the blogospheres over the remarks by the PM and Penny Wong, you might have some understanding of the anger in our community.

The recent ABC1 Australian Story program on PFLAG leader Shelley Argent generated a phenomenal wave of interest, comment and support. That is the type of message that gets results. Not hackneyed sit-ins, interminable speeches at poorly attended rallies and the “every Friday afternoon march” marches. I am not saying that the rallies planned for August 14th are pointless; they are just one part of making this campaign visible and viable. We have to reach people on MANY levels in order to put our case and to influence their opinion.

Finally, your childish “Mickey Mouse country” jibe is beneath contempt — would you like me to walk outside my hotel door here in Cologne and go over to the Neumarkt or Rudolfplatz and tell the Spanish, Belgians, Dutch, Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders, English, Scots, Welsh, Canadians, New Zealanders, Massachusettians, South Africans, Vermontians, even the Argentines (Argentina for god’s sake!) etc that their country is of little consequence? Just what is not a “Mickey Mouse” country to you Marcus?

And… I want my right to equal marriage delivered on something genuine and homemade (not one of your “…hand-crafted, antique, European, probably French…silver platter”), a piece of paper-bark from the greatest island continent on Earth.

Never say never Marcus — it will make you look like a fool when it does happen. And, I am happy to debate you anywhere, anytime provided you can leave all your kindergarten level insults behind inside the playpen.

Climate change:

Kieren Diment writes: I noticed that nobody bothered to reply to Tamas Calderwood (5 August, comments).  Although this is to be applauded, his misinformation needs to be dealt with properly.  There were three main things of note:

  1. The climate models predict that global warming will be precocious in the Arctic and nearby. This is clearly observed in the Arctic circle, and the unprecedented Russian heatwave is yet more evidence for this precocious warming.  Given that a third of their farming land has gone up in smoke, this is genuinely terrifying in terms of implications for future extreme weather events elsewhere.
  2. ENSO has nothing directly to do with global warming, it’s merely about redistributing heat around the planet’s surface.  See the law of conservation of energy for details.
  3. The mythical 12 year temperature plateau is a fiction, although, I note that Tamas has changed his position here, in that previously he claimed that the temperature was cooling.  For further details see this excellent link.

In fact, almost all the scientific arguments dished out by our usual climate change delusionals are handily rebutted in nice tweet-sized chunks on this page, including links to a more detailed explanation with full citations to the literature.