Federal Politics

Adrian Schrinner was touted as a future premier for QLD wasn’t he?

Not to my knowledge, but it wouldn’t be the first time a Liberal Lord Mayor of Brisbane jumped to State politics and became premier - Campbell Newman did it. Personally I would rate Schrinner above Newman.

Probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise but the entire Coalition is now opposing the voice to parliament.

Potentially we could be seeing the likes of Bridget Archer (who IIRC supports the voice) and some other moderates defect to the crossbench Andrew Gee style.

I mean, this is just a moronic move overall from the Coalition. Oppose as much as they want but what recommendations/better solutions do they have to recognise our First Nations people more than just a ‘recognition in the constitution by word’? Or do they just want to keep the historical atrocities they have done to the First Nations people under the doona and pretend that no one remembers?

Clearly they haven’t learnt from the recent bloodbaths at elections/by-elections that Australians want to socially progressive nation.

EDIT: Bridget Archer has confirmed she will support the voice against the party position.

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i’d be very surprised if Bridget Archer gets to the end of this term inside the liberal party. The liberal platform is a minefield of reasons to become a Teal. A loss to the libs, she is what the new generation should look like.

Wasn’t the general consensus on the Teal candidates that they would’ve all been prime small-l liberal candidates with high education, good wealth, strong profiles and progressive social views combined with conservative economic ideologies?

Maybe we need the Teals to become the new (and proper) liberal party whilst the coalition lurch further towards (or going back to) becoming the new UAP or One Nation.

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To expand on what I touched on here (in a more appropriate topic), as far as the Housing Australia Fund goes I do find that while it is an OK start, it’s still quite underwhelming overall in my view.

I’d love to see something like the Million Programme that Sweden rolled out in the '60s introduced here, especially being targeted to a mix of income levels.

I think it’s a case of getting it started. No doubt the Albanese government is going to work slowly to repair this problem and address it in a reasonable manner that doesn’t blow the budget. Though I question whether that’s the case when they’ve spent a what seems like an infinite amount of money on nuclear submarines just to counter the rise of China which is a not something that I support though that’s another issue.

The Coalition have had nine years to deal with the housing crisis yet they’ve done the square root of f all. All they did was supposedly ‘stand up for jobs and workers’ and appeal to the coal loving bogans.

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Fully agree, I do question their priorities with having spent so much on submarines when there are so many other things that should take precedence. Putting some of that money to housing for example could have built an awful lot of homes.

Even then, I’d argue that the relative economic success (that they claim as ‘standing up for jobs and workers’ in their period was despite their leadership, not because of it. Just like in 2007, Labor has come in right at the moment the global economy turns to crap again.

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Hence my use of ‘supposedly’ and having quotation marks :shushing_face:

At the end of the day, the Coalition are a bunch of narrow minded fools who keeps blowing up their own tires at their supposedly perfect economic record but have got nothing done when the economy was good anyway.

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Just following up on this. This morning Archer savaged her party by calling the Liberals not suitable as an alternative government.

Defection to the cross bench incoming?

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Probably not and I can understand and respect her reasoning.

She’s probably the only hope in that party remaining. All the remaining moderates are toeing the party line word in word out. If the Liberals lose her then they’ll be consigned to the political sin bin.

I feel like the Liberals are now deliberately sputtering out pure misinformation about the voice to mislead the Australian public. It’s not even a reasonable and healthy debate about the pros and cons. They just don’t care about reconciliation and would prefer the incumbent to continue which is a farce on our nation.

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Will it happen?

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If they’re determined to stay down the right wing, socially conservative path, I really see no reason for them not to merge with the Nationals at this point. Especially since the Nationals pretty much fall in line with the Liberals economic policy these days, they are increasingly indistinguishable.

Ideally, this would then open up a space for a potential new party that is geared back towards the centre, at least from a social policy perspective.

The Teals.

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As someone, like just about everyone else in this country, directly benefiting from colonisation which has turned the country into a Western nation and society with high standard of living, and the availability of technology and science which you champion, I find this comment very peculiar. You are a part of “they” whether you like it or not.

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Regardless of that particular issue, your nation should be able to defend itself against any enemy, you cannot tell what the circumstances will be in 10 or 20 years time. It is a furphy having to rely on the US all the time, then complaining when we get lumped into their conflicts.

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I hope you’re not implying that we as part of ‘they’ shouldn’t continue the process of reconciliation? Are you happy with the way things are? I’m not and it’s important that we take steps towards more than just recognising our indigenous people as part of this nation. If it is the voice then so be it.

The past is the past, no one can change that but recognition and action goes a long way to better this country. Just because people say that status quo is fine because of how advanced we are right thanks to colonisation now doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work to improve our relationship with our First Nations people.

If they initially framed it that way then there would be less concerns about the intentions and it’s purpose would be more justified. I don’t see how spending billions of dollars purely to counter an authoritarian dictatorship that is going to increase its capabilities anyway is a good reason to spend all that money. If I the government argued that it’s for the sake of improving Australia’s military capability and providing jobs and boost the economy, it would be much more justifiable.

Plus we should be doing everything to avoid conflict with anyone, at all costs. Buying weapons is good preparation but we really should be stamping out any fires before it gets out of hand anyway which I commend this government for doing.

I actually don’t think true reconciliation is possible. As you said you cannot undo the past, which was bound to happen IMO if not the Brits then another progressive nation. As a society, we need to stop imposing 21st century logic on 18th century happenings. If far lefties don’t want to move forward that is their problem as far as I’m concerned.

People with indigenous heritage already have recognition as part of our society, like everyone else, in what @cmo calls a secular country, I find this movement to Voice which will be undoubtedly be followed by so-called treaty very odd indeed. There is no real need for constitutional amendment, just do it and make sure they do their jobs properly and don’t become another vehicle for corruption like last time. Everyone also has parliamentary representation through their MPs, if those members are not doing their jobs properly in representing their constituents, then fix it.

Voice will not be the end for the Greens and far left Labor, there is always a next level for the radicals as they are never happy.

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Can agree to a certain extent for as long as the likes of Mehreen Faruqi and Lidia Thorpe stay in parliament we’ll keep seeing a lot of over-the-top antics that cover any substance of actual genuine movements.

Reconciliation is hard no doubt, and you won’t get a turn out of 100% in society to come to terms with everything. But I’m a believer that if the government is willing to use the voice to work with First Nations people and legislate policies that will have a direct positive impact on their living standards and prospects, then it will be a productive body in parliament.

From my experience, a lot of First Nations people do not trust the government (understandably). If the concerns of the people represented by the voice can play a role in closing the gap then it will undoubtedly improve relationships between the two sides and show that the government genuinely cares about First Nations people.

The Coalition keeps bleating on about regional and local voices. Great! But has there been any proper progress or issues resolved through the incumbent? Very minimal if anything.

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