The Australian politics/election/whatever thread

His smile is also seriously creepy.... :hides under desk:

Yeah, I just noticed this. :glare:

and Julia's got the most awful voice known to man, it's stupid that our political system has come to this - people need to realise they vote for a party not a person
 
Why does it need to be done as soon as possible? As much as I'd love fast internet we've got other issues that take priority

Because a high speed internet isn't just about how quickly some retard can download a movie, but rather the services attached to it which are already pushing the capacity of the current networks. Credit card transcations, international trade, information network/communications between hospitals, government data records, they're all networked and as demand for these services continues to increase there needs to be something to meet that need. The current system is ancient, and continually delaying what should've been done a long time ago isn't going to make it any cheaper in the long run.

And I still want to punch Julia Gillard in the face. Quiet a number of people I've spoken to are saying they'll vote liberal....
 
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Like most people who have worked for what they now have, I have always voted Liberal. I am all for government supported education, health and law and order and am happy that some of my tax dollars go to these services. What I am not happy about are ill-planned government-supported opportunities for criminals to rip off the tax-payer. These are a Labour speciality, and the insulation fiasco and computers for children initiatives of the current government are classic Labour playing to form.

Having said that, I am strangely attracted to Julia Gillard. As far as I know, she is our first unmarried Prime Minister and she has no children. I'm sick of political parties pushing the "families first" barrow. Shoving buckets of money at people for nothing more than pushing out sprog. What about single people and those couples who don't want to put further stress on overburdened education and juvenile justice systems? Maybe, in Julia, we have a Prime Minister who will rein in mum and dad policies?

Oh hang on ... there is always the faceless men of the Labour Caucus that really pull the strings. Guess it'll be Joe Hockey again for me then.

Side track: Since Julia Gillard is ginger and welsh, does she also drive like Neil Kinnock?
 
Because a high speed internet isn't just about how quickly some retard can download a movie, but rather the services attached to it which are already pushing the capacity of the current networks. Credit card transcations, international trade, information network/communications between hospitals, government data records, they're all networked and as demand for these services continues to increase there needs to be something to meet that need. The current system is ancient, and continually delaying what should've been done a long time ago isn't going to make it any cheaper in the long run.

And I still want to punch Julia Gillard in the face. Quiet a number of people I've spoken to are saying they'll vote liberal....

Most government sites already have fiber so bandwidth between them isn't really that much of an issue. I'm wary of spinning up Telstra Mk2


This election feels like Melbourne has largely been ignored by all parties because all of the marginal seats are in growth areas in New South Wales and Queensland
 
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Having said that, I am strangely attracted to Julia Gillard. As far as I know, she is our first unmarried Prime Minister and she has no children. I'm sick of political parties pushing the "families first" barrow. Shoving buckets of money at people for nothing more than pushing out sprog. What about single people and those couples who don't want to put further stress on overburdened education and juvenile justice systems? Maybe, in Julia, we have a Prime Minister who will rein in mum and dad policies?

Doesn't her partner have a daughter? And besides, she's just the face representing those behind who are really pulling the strings.
 
Because a high speed internet isn't just about how quickly some retard can download a movie, but rather the services attached to it which are already pushing the capacity of the current networks. Credit card transcations, international trade, information network/communications between hospitals, government data records, they're all networked and as demand for these services continues to increase there needs to be something to meet that need. The current system is ancient, and continually delaying what should've been done a long time ago isn't going to make it any cheaper in the long run.

And I still want to punch Julia Gillard in the face. Quiet a number of people I've spoken to are saying they'll vote liberal....

Also, a lot of the "next generation" policies will require a decent broadband network (eg the doctors over webcams service, "smart houses", etc). And no, for a lot of people, their "normal" broadband that they get at the moment won't cut it for stuff like that (mine included- I can't do any sort of decent video conversation over the internet as my speeds are too slow).

And I've actually found the opposite with quite a lot of people I know. We had an economic debate in our macroeconomics tutorial yesterday about Labor's handling of the economy over the past 3 years (and specifically the stimulus packages). Nobody in the tutorial stood up for Abbott's criticism of Labor's handling and his plans for the economy in the future. Everybody also said they plan to vote Labor because they agree with how the economy was handled and with how Gillard and Swan plan to bring it back to surplus (mining tax as opposed to spending cuts and big business tax, which will hurt the "average Aussie" more than a tax on the miner's profits will as we all agreed).

It's really basic economics to go into defecit during a recession anyway, I don't get why people are so freaked out about it. And our debt is much lower than many other OECD countries as well- only projected to be 8% of our real GDP for 2010-2011. We are going pretty well economically as a nation, IMO. Don't see any reaso for the drasitc panic and calls for change.
 
Labor better completely scrap that internet filter scheme.

And I've been seeing quiet a few Australian sex part posters around :lol:
 
And I've actually found the opposite with quite a lot of people I know. We had an economic debate in our macroeconomics tutorial yesterday about Labor's handling of the economy over the past 3 years (and specifically the stimulus packages). Nobody in the tutorial stood up for Abbott's criticism of Labor's handling and his plans for the economy in the future. Everybody also said they plan to vote Labor because they agree with how the economy was handled and with how Gillard and Swan plan to bring it back to surplus (mining tax as opposed to spending cuts and big business tax, which will hurt the "average Aussie" more than a tax on the miner's profits will as we all agreed).

No offense, but you go to university in Newcastle which comprises of three of the safest labor held seats so I wouldn't really call that a balanced view
 
No offense, but you go to university in Newcastle which comprises of three of the safest labor held seats so I wouldn't really call that a balanced view

That doesn't necessarily invalidate the discussion. Living in a safe Labor-, Liberal- or National-held electorate doesn't mean that you won't disagree with the policies of that party. True, it may not be perfectly balanced but it would be nearly impossible to find an electorate that is.
 
That doesn't necessarily invalidate the discussion. Living in a safe Labor-, Liberal- or National-held electorate doesn't mean that you won't disagree with the policies of that party. True, it may not be perfectly balanced but it would be nearly impossible to find an electorate that is.

I think if anything this campaign has shown that if you're in a safe seat no parties give a shit
 
I think if anything this campaign has shown that if you're in a safe seat no parties give a shit

I don't think that's new - that sort of thing has been happening since time immemorial.

What this election has shown is a profound lack of vision or foresight from both major parties. Labor's policies are so poll-driven that you can actually see them flap around in the breeze, and the Coalition's "Action Contract" consists of stopping things: stop spending, stop the boats, stop governing, stop being human.
 
What I have found in this election is that there are too many problems to sort out. The reason why none of the major parties have a main focus is because there's too much to focus on. One minute, they're talking about boat people and then the next they're talking about taxes and then the next day it's workchoices. Which is why my decision is still hazy.
 
I think if anything this campaign has shown that if you're in a safe seat no parties give a shit

Yup. Someone said we should simply vote to marginalise our electorate so the parties will have to take notice of us later :p

I wont vote Labor. They've been the worst Government we've had, probably ever. All we've had are broken promises and billions spent to fix issues that they fucked up in the first place. Kevin Rudd was a total failure and Gillard was the person behind him. The ship is still sinking and changing the captain wont stop that.
 
It's really basic economics to go into defecit during a recession anyway, I don't get why people are so freaked out about it. And our debt is much lower than many other OECD countries as well- only projected to be 8% of our real GDP for 2010-2011. We are going pretty well economically as a nation, IMO. Don't see any reaso for the drasitc panic and calls for change.

QFT.
 
No offense, but you go to university in Newcastle which comprises of three of the safest labor held seats so I wouldn't really call that a balanced view

I fail to see how that has any impact on a class full of free thinking 18 and 19 year olds.
 
The whole campaign has just been gillard and Abbott taking pot-shots at each other, and basically proves my theory that we're fucked whichever way we go.
 
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