Australia, beautiful one day… Fascist the next!

Australia, beautiful one day… Fascist the next!

Campbell Newman and Tony Abbott. The Australian faces of Austerity

With Newman’s new approach to law and order making  “QLD, the police state”, and Abbott fully supportive of his style of government (?), while the ALP opposition are MIA, we are facing a bleak three years.

With the “right” of both major parties seemingly subverting the political and democratic processes, the question is what are the options for good governance in this country?

This was the the front page that caused so much anger.

We have just witnessed the rabid right of American Politics, The Tea Party, fail in their attempt to hold their country to ransom, for their own ideological agenda, as we have also witnessed first hand, the power of propaganda to help sell the incompetent and arguably unbalanced political thug, Abbott, to the Australian voting public as a viable option for PM.

We have also witnessed, what has been lauded as, a new era of political transparency, in the election of a Labor LOTO, who gained only 40% of the R & F vote, but won on a majority of caucus votes which, in the minds of many, only reinforced the old adage that; “The more things change, the more they stay the same”, as the “right” faction got what they wanted in spite of the wishes of 60% of the said R & F.

And since that election, the truth is that you can count on one hand the number of ALP shadow ministers that have been seen out and about trying to hold this alleged government to account, with the new LOTO nowhere to be seen, except for his Buddy Buddy appearance, visiting the troops with Abbott in Afghanistan.

So it looks very much like the answer to the question posed is:

With a rabid right government apparently locked in election mode, and an opposition also MIA, options for good governance, it appears,  are now severely limited.   😦

Now with nothing much changed with the Murdoch media also apparently still in election mode, and newspoll playing the same old games, it would be difficult, but not impossible for the opposition to do to Abbott what he did to Gillard and Rudd, as there is at least some evidence of a will within certain elements of the MSM to hold this (and I use the term loosely) government, to account.   😯

So why aren’t the ALP taking every opportunity to beat the LNP around the head, over the rorts scandal, broken promises, the 67% increase in the debt ceiling, the diplomatic gaffes etc etc?

Well, like Abbott, the ALP have to engage in the same tactics that Abbott did, with one major exception… They don’t have to tell lies!

Imagine an Abbott style blitz of the media, calling a presser for the opening of every envelope, cereal packet and toilet door, backed up with facts and truth, instead of the spin, lies and meaningless slogans that worked so well for the Abbott?   😯

Now I know that it was made easy for Abbott because the Murdoch media machine would faithfully reproduce every lie that dribbled from his pie hole, ad infinitum, as well as throwing honesty, integrity and ethics to the wind, to come up with plenty of their own.

But Abbott was consistent, and totally shameless in his efforts to brainwash the public, by refusing to be distracted by those minor inconveniences of facts and truth.

And despite him being called out on his lies, he just stuck to his message relentlessly, and successfully persuaded enough of the voting public that his lies were actually truth   😯

How much more effective would that strategy have  been if he had been telling the truth?

So why hasn’t the ALP taken up the challenge?

Some have suggested that they are giving  Abbott enough rope to hang himself, and I hope that that is what they’re up to, but I have serious doubts.

THE HON BILL SHORTEN MP (Photo credit: RubyGoes)

Some believe that Shorten, with the amount of baggage that he carries, over the Gillard/Rudd backflip, is going for the small target approach that Abbott adopted, and is, as a result,  simply the wrong man for the job, and I have to admit to being one who thinks that that might be the case.

Some believe that the “right” factions  of the ALP are so bound up with maintaining their power base, that they have lost sight of the main game, to the detriment of the party?

The truth may be one, or a combination of all of those possibilities, or something completely different,  but the upshot for us is that if the ALP don’t get their act together, in short order, and put aside their own petty pay backs and in fighting, we will be stuck with;

Australia, beautiful one day… Fascist the next!

PANTS ON FIRE!