Oz Politics Archive
Quadrant Online – Our Trite and Tawdry Political Class
I have a new piece up at Quadrant Online on how the emptiness of political communication is driving a mutual contempt between the political class and the electorate it is trying to reach. Read it here.
24/10/2012
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Evidence of the New Divide
So the Queensland ALP and media go in hard on Premier Newman over token public sector cuts. Net result: zero. Two party preferred remains around 60-40. That the Qld LNP have held their vote in the face of such an attack augurs well. Token cuts they have been too. As Judith Sloan points out regarding […]
1/10/2012
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Return of The Prince
Janet Daley calls out UK PM David Cameron on what seems to be a ubiquitous political failing: the belief that being likeable constitutes political leadership. OK, the UK Conservatives had to rebrand after Maggie and after years of artsy scribblers swallowing the Left’s characterisation of what conservatism is about. But there’s no point in prime […]
30/9/2012
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Leichhardt Chamber Follies
Chamber-time in Leichhardt Council was interesting on Tuesday night. I’ve already written about the ALP-Greens deal and Cr Byrne. But the speeches, tone and behaviours on the night were, well, entertaining if intellectually depressing. First, we had continual rank politicking in every speech from the Greens. The opening address from Councillor 11%, aside from a […]
29/9/2012
1
Fear, Loathing and Bigotry at Leichhardt
So Leichhardt was spared the ignominy of following Julia Gillard and Bob Brown into the cesspit of signed ALP-Green agreements. Thus Rochelle Porteous’ last act as Mayor was her best. Her intransigence and undergraduate politicking ensured her own demise. Seriously, read the email chain Darcy Byrne has distributed and you’d swear Councillor 11% was a […]
29/9/2012
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For What?
Many candidates simply have a desperate desire to be an MP. Any sort of MP. They don't have to compromise anything, because they don't have anything to compromise.
19/9/2012
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Everyone’s Elite But Me
I don’t know Mark Textor but I do know a lot of people who do. By all accounts a very nice and very smart fellow. And I enjoyed and agreed with his article in the Fin Review, calling for a backboned response to Islamist extremists in Australia. The only problem is his third-person excoriation of […]
17/9/2012
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In Praise Of Ridicule Repost
After the attacks on US embassies on September 11 – purportedly in response to a video, but apparently pre-organised – and the following blasphemy riots across the West, I’m reposting this meditation on Molly Norris from earlier this year. Free speech, comedy, parody, ridicule and even error need defending more than ever. September and November […]
16/9/2012
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Again, PolComms After The Fact
We have the argument on education spending we needed 2 years ago, one week after announcement of cuts. In an op-ed, in a Sunday paper, that the mainstream media will almost certainly ignore. Primacy and recency people. First media message, last media message is what is remembered. Ask people now what they know of the […]
16/9/2012
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Sell Your Ideas? Groundbreaking!
Julie Novak has a piece up at Catallaxy Files that highlights the continuing failure of classical liberals, libertarians and similar to engage with the essence of politics: sales and marketing. This isn’t a repeat of yesterday’s post, but a supplement. Make a case on policy issues, yes, but make it in a way that is […]
14/9/2012
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Make a Damn Case
What any reforming government needs is an electorate that has been shaped to be more likely to accept reform. Maybe not for any specific change; sometimes you just have to spring-it-on-them. No, what is needed are voters with a feeling for the broad issue, and that some action is warranted, even if they aren’t sure […]
13/9/2012
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Councillor 11% Stays Very Quiet
Leichhardt’s Councillor 11% – vote-losing machine Mayor Rochelle Porteous – hasn’t popped up yet to discuss Saturday’s election. When your most notable achievement in a couple of years of Mayoralty is to lose your party more than 10% of the vote, it’s understandable if you take your time. Nothing on the Greens site. Nothing […]
10/9/2012
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So, Hope For Councils
Big day for local Liberals across NSW yesterday. Some notable results in Waverley, Parramatta, Strathfield and elsewhere. Marrickville may well have voted in its first Liberal councillor. THE Greens suffered a voter backlash across the state yesterday, with swings of between 10 and 15 per cent against the party in most parts of NSW. But […]
9/9/2012
8
Excise The Tumour
Encouraging sounds from the Federal seat of Melbourne. It may not be ‘good politics’ in every electorate, but it’s time the Liberals deliberately put The Greens last on every How-to-Vote. Across the board, from local to state to federal. At every election, every time. Preferencing the Greens in seats like Melbourne or Grayndler may damage […]
7/9/2012
1
Media Conflicts of Interest – Quadrant Online
Undeclared bias is a problem in reporting, but the answer isn’t the limitation on speech the Left is demanding. The solution is to help media consumers choose between outlets by requiring the same transparency of journalists that journalists demand of politicians. Recent attacks on media freedom from the Left – Finkelstein, Bendigo MP Steve Gibbons, fellow Labor […]
5/9/2012
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