Politicians these days, all mouth, no substance. I've said so before, were these guys ever to be employed by a large multinational company, bets are, they would be terminated on their probationary period completion due to not getting the job done which they promised. Total unprofessional behaviour is what we see time and again from politicians.
You sound like a bit of a bulldozer’: Morrison turns the table on questioning journalists By Latika Bourke (today) The prime minister is jousting with reporters and after a steady back-and-forth accuses the questioning journalist of being a bulldozer. The journalist asked Morrison how his promised post-election conversion could be taken credibly, given the prime minister said in earlier interviews that he would “change gears” rather than change the sort of vehicle. “There have been no changes of policy or substance,” the journalist said. “I just don’t agree with your assertion,” Morrison. “What have you changed then?” the journalist asked. “I don’t agree with how you’ve conceived the whole point I’ve been making,” he said. “What have you changed in substance, what policy?” the journalist interrupted. “You’ve sought to repackage it for your own purposes,” Morrison continued. “And so, I just don’t accept your argument.” At this point the prime minister gestured to another journalist, signalling that he wanted to take their question when the journalist continued to ask his same question. “I’m sorry you’ve had your question,” the prime minister said. “No, no, you didn’t answer it,” the journalist complained. “I have, that’s the answer you’re getting,” the prime minister said as the journalist continued to ask what policy had been changed. After this shouty back-and-forth the prime minister told the journalist not to talk over other people and said: “You’re sounding like a bit of a bulldozer.” Takes one to know one?
Thank God for elections tomorrow, I'm praying for a miracle. Morrison helter-skeltering for the exit gate.
Are all these stressed mortgages because adjustable rates? Or is the employment deteriorating? Its a good article describing the political problem well but there are no easy solutions. The obvious solution is more housing but governments are not interested for whatever reason (I assume since the voting public is part of the owner class). Probably the easiest solution is the Singapore model of ownership of non-living real estate rationing. But that would end real estate as an investable class. In California here the public pension plans own real estate as an investment.
News|Elections Can the independents upset Australia’s political status quo? As trust in the major parties declines, independents hope to win over voters in Saturday’s election. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022...en-change-for-australias-political-status-quo Kylea Tink poses with some of her team while campaigning in North Sydney [Courtesy of Kylea Tink] By Zoe Osborne Published On 19 May 2022 Sydney, Australia – With Australia’s 2022 federal election just days away, attention is focused on independent candidates standing in constituencies across the country who could emerge as key players in the formation of a future government, particularly if the result is close. Opinion polls show the gap between Scott Morrison’s incumbent Liberal National coalition and its Labor rivals under Anthony Albanese is narrowing as more than 17 million Australians get set to vote on May 21. Morrison is defending a one-seat majority, and fading confidence in institutions, higher expectations of those in government and generational change mean Australians are less politically loyal than ever before. “People are less rusted onto the major political parties,” said Ian McAllister, an expert in Australian politics from the Australian National University (ANU), because of “declining party identification and party loyalty” and “declining trust in politicians [and] declining satisfaction with democracy”. Just 39 percent of people in Australia now vote for the same party throughout their lives, according to McAllister, compared with 72 percent in 1967. At the same time, he says the “rise of career politicians” in Australia – politicians who are motivated by their own career ambitions rather than a commitment to public service – has contributed to undermining trust in government. “There seems to be a disillusionment with politics and even democracy around the world,” said Ben Oquist, executive director of the Australia Institute. “It’s a realignment of politics, its post-materialist values.” Changing the game It was the perceived lack of political leadership that prompted Kate Chaney, an independent candidate for Curtin in West Australia, to take the step into politics in January. She argues that Liberal and Labor are focused on “winning rather than actually leading. “I think both parties suffer from a lot of the same problems in terms of being short term, and reactive and driven by polls,” she said. Kate Chaney entered the political fray in January because she says existing politicians are too focused on the short term and fail to show leadership [Courtesy of Kate Chaney] Another independent, Kylea Tink for North Sydney, one of the city’s wealthiest areas, argues that there has been “little to no commitment” from the government on some of Australia’s most urgent issues. “In terms of faster action on climate … bringing integrity into the federal government … regearing our economy to be forward-focused, and … addressing the systemic inequality issues we have as a nation,” she said. Chaney and Tink are among a group of mostly female independent candidates who have become known as the ‘Teal Independents’, taking on mainly male Liberal candidates in some of Australia’s wealthiest electorates. They are “reacting against a lack of action on climate change from centre-right politics in Australia, and the lack of action on integrity issues,” Oquist said, “and also … concern about how women have been treated in politics”. Because of these shortcomings, says Chaney, Australians are also “standing up and saying ‘We actually think that we can do better than the representation that we’re getting’”. “There’s momentum here, and there is a deep sense of disillusionment and desire for change,” she said. What Australians want ANU’s McAllister says people have traditionally decided their vote based on policies towards health and education, as well as issues unique to their own area. However, he says motivations are changing with voters increasingly concerned about “cost of living management, [the] economy, government debt, that type of thing,” as well as integrity in federal politics and climate change. Many independents have latched onto such issues. In Curtin, Chaney is focusing on long-term policies for the economy and climate change. “We’ve lost 10 years [on climate change] to politics because it has become a political hot potato and neither party is really prepared to take any action,” she said. “We should be a renewable energy powerhouse. We’ve got endless sun and wind … and we’re not thinking of it in those terms at the moment.” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, right, and leader of the Labor Party Anthony Albanese share a laugh during a debate in Brisbane, Wednesday, April 20, 2022. Australia will have a national election on May 21 (Jason Edwards/Pool Photo via AP) Tink has noticed her constituents want their politicians to have more integrity. A bill was introduced into parliament in 2020 for a Federal Integrity Commission, which would serve as an anti-corruption tool for federal politics. It has been a significant point of debate in the 2022 election. For Tink, federal politics has long fallen short in terms of accountability and transparency. “What we’ve seen is a series of what can only be described as rorts,” she said, “and … pork barrelling......
I'm not sure, I doubt it, there may be in Sydney, but in Western Australia not many. I think I've seen a couple here and there driving taxis, but no, can't recall seeing many Sikhs about. Today we go to the polls, fine weather day in Perth, sunny, no wind, not hot or cold. I'll walk to the booth, about 15 minutes one way.
Polls have closed over East NSW, still open in west WA. 6.34pm ‘Worst I’d ever seen’: Liberal says mood was horrendous By Latika Bourke I’ve just been speaking to a Liberal (Morrison Party) source who spent their morning handing out how-to-vote cards in a marginal Liberal seat. They told me they are expecting a loss as the mood on the ground was “horrendous” and all about voters’ dislike of Prime Minister Scott Morrison. “The reception was horrendous,” the source told me. “It was the worst I’d ever seen.” Make of that what you will.