Following any election campaign is an arduous task and trying to follow who is doing what is even harder. The election really isn't what is being promoted (some would dare say reported) by the general media, in fact it could be argued they are more interested in selling advertising than actually conveying anything remotely
pollitical.
But still, as a people we have a choice to make in a week and a bit and it isn't an easy one. Much has been made over and over again about the stimulus packages the Labor party instuigated to stave off a recession. The Liberal Party and even parts of the media coverage are claiming the stimulus was just wasteful spending. The sad point that seem to be constantly missed is that if Labor did not spend the money and spend it quickly we would not have only dropped into a recession we could still be in it and struggling as a country. When the Liberal Party was questioned on what it would have done if in power they said 'We would have put up interest rates'
It is easy to critcis a government after it has saved the country, it is easier still to blame that government for debt because you were not in power to make that hard call. Future governments will benefit from the undertaking and at the moment the idea the Liberal Government will step in and state how it saved the country give me, and perhaps many others a sense of frustration.
Given the emphasis on the economy it is surprising the Liberal Party has steered away from any debate on the issue, rather hiding behind add campaigns about debt and spending rather than stepping up to the microphone and stating quite clearly how they would have treated the Global Financial Crisis. This isn't a question isolated to me, but to many millions of Australians just wondering would the Liberal Party really have plunged us into a depression just to save money? Their percieved actions were what created the world's great depression and is probably what will also lead to a deep recession in the UK.
Natuarlly there are other matters, all just as valid and complex as the economy; one being immigration, which is now a choice between acting humanely or acting bastardly. It is on this issue we see racism bubble up and a very real thought bubble of the White Australia Policy. Ms Gillard's plan of negotiating with East Timor in the immediate and possibly Nauru later if they sign the UN Refugee charter (something which the Liberal Party don't seem to care about) does have the strongest humane merits, it processing stations can be called humane. The concept of turning boats back isn't one that sits well with refugee groups, nore does it sit well with most reasonable Australians. These boats on the whole are unseaworthy and on the verge of sinking by the times they reach our waters, to send them back, to turn them around would mean certain death for those people onboard. The Liberal Party policy makers may feel comfortable with that, but personally it sickens me.
These are all contentious issues that help us decide on the vote, I have a leaning and this is obvious - I make no apology for that but at least you are aware I have that leaning and I am not trying to lie to you.
At present I am not confident at all in Mr Abbott and the Liberal Party; their policies are awkward at best and under questioning they crumble - it is just at this time not too many real questions are being asked of them. Counter this with the intense scrutiny all Labor Policies have come under, and despite some stumbles and some inperfections a certain robustness has formed about them; but they had to be robust, as they have been challenged daily since announcements.
Popularity polls are being foisted upon us at the moment, and unfortunately being presented as what people thing on a popularity consnsus rather than what is best for the country. I did see one poll on the Sydney Morning Heral website the stated Mr Abbott won a town hall discussion by 74%. I have seen other polls on news media web site tta show the Liberal Party leading the election polls with over 60%. This would therefore give the impression that Labor would lsoe the election and the reporting is all geared in this fashion; yet most real polls show the Labor Party actually leading this questionable pre election guessing.
So for you, the voter it becomes difficult to know what to believe. Yes, trusting a politician is a difficult thing to do but when you have lost the trust of the media networks supposedly reporting where can you turn? Sadly there is nowhere to turn in Australia and if you read any of my blogs you would understand why.
At present we have a man presented as someone fit to be the future leader of the country who has shrugged and said, 'Don't ask me, I don't know' often and who has presented the country with such quotes as 'Nauru's detension centre is like a boarding school', 'broadband is only used for sending email and getting emaail,'. True, Ms Gillard is not perfect but she does not stumble over things, she understand the policies she is giving and understand what being a Prime Minister means - she knows you cannot just shrug away from a question with an 'I don't know.'
Well, not long now and it will all be over and the shouting and cursing in the office place can finally be at an end. Australia will naturally make its choice and I have my sellections written down.
I still have this prediction that Labor will win by 5 seats, maybe 7 and the man the Liberal party says is home and hosed, Mr Pyne of Sturt in South Australia will lose in a close one. Of all the Liberal candidates he is the only one I have an issue with. The only reason he is a LIberal is because Labor wouldn't gift him the seat. With committment like that what can you trust from him.
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