Malcolm Turnbull
News has come out today that Macolm Turnbull has just won the vote to be the leader of Australia's opposition party, the Liberal Party of Australia. Now, just to set aside some confusion, here in Australia, our Liberal's are actually our conservatives. Fun huh :P
Turnbull is what we call a wet liberal. This comes from the group of Tory's opposed to Maggie Thatcher's reforms in the 80s. From wiki:
"These dry policies included: reducing public spending, cutting taxes, especially for the wealthy; keeping down inflation; lowering interest rates; tightly controlling the money supply; and reducing the regulatory power of the state - all policies associated with Margaret Thatcher."
What this means is that it's possible we'll see a return to proper liberal policies; individual rights and freedoms, along with a "civilised capitalism" that invests in human capital. This means we get to speak about gay rights, drug policies, education, welfare, health care, immigration and the economy all on terms that are much closer to my sensibilities (contrary to common belief, I am not against the free market or capitalism, I just define them differently and expect more out of them than some others).
The dries followed Regan and Thatcher, and included our last PM John Howard and the neo-cons currently ruling in the US. So, this is pretty huge. It marks a shift away from one side of the right to the other in a medium sized liberal, anglophone, Western democracy.
What does this mean for people? Well, I think the right has scared off many in the last two decades with needless heartlessness, over-deregulation and by being too socially conservative. This isn't necessarily the domain of the right. The crazy fundy wing is not too big here (and they have their own party represented in the senate now), and the old racist wing isn't faring too well either (they're all dying, thank god). Add to that that the country side of the party (the nationals) are pretty pissed off with the city side (the Liberals, they govern/campaign together as a coalition). The coalition is rocky to say the least (there's been a merger in QLD and a separation in WA, their two biggest states); things like the AWB Scandal (our government looked the other way whilst our sole wheat exporter sold wheat to Saddam in violation of UN sanctions, leading to the dissolution of the single desk, not too popular with farmers who like guaranteed prices), plus the massive deregulation and reduction in tariffs has hit farmers worse than most.
On the other hand, we've got a left-wing Labor Party (who are actually more centrist), running the show now. They got voted in pretty much out of spite for the previous dry Liberal policies (aboriginal policy, refugees, global warming and job market deregulation), so they don't have a really unshakable support. The economy is struggling a little (we're getting dragged down by the US, but China is still keeping us afloat), and the calls of "Labor can't run the economy" are starting up.
We're still 2 years out (plus some) from the next election, so there's lots of time for things to happen. Not the least the US election. If McCain really struggles, expect the right in the US to pay careful attention to the next Australian (and UK) elections. If a more liberal right gets elected over here, expect to see a shift away from the neo-cons. Personally, I predict there will be some very vocal libertarian voices arise in US politics over the next decade, which I think will make a great opposition to an increasingly socialist (or at least welfare orientated) left wing. With opposing sides like this, I don't think it will matter too much who is in power in the US, as either would be better than what we have today (from the perspective of the rest of the world that is).
Ooh, also, this means we'll be a republic within 7 years :) BYE BYE QUEENY!
EDIT: Looks like the Republic is on for the next election.
"Speaking shortly after Mr Turnbull was narrowly elected the Liberal Party's new leader, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd challenged him to stay true to his word and create a bi-partisan push to cut ties with the British Monarchy."
XPosted PoliticsForum
Turnbull is what we call a wet liberal. This comes from the group of Tory's opposed to Maggie Thatcher's reforms in the 80s. From wiki:
"These dry policies included: reducing public spending, cutting taxes, especially for the wealthy; keeping down inflation; lowering interest rates; tightly controlling the money supply; and reducing the regulatory power of the state - all policies associated with Margaret Thatcher."
What this means is that it's possible we'll see a return to proper liberal policies; individual rights and freedoms, along with a "civilised capitalism" that invests in human capital. This means we get to speak about gay rights, drug policies, education, welfare, health care, immigration and the economy all on terms that are much closer to my sensibilities (contrary to common belief, I am not against the free market or capitalism, I just define them differently and expect more out of them than some others).
The dries followed Regan and Thatcher, and included our last PM John Howard and the neo-cons currently ruling in the US. So, this is pretty huge. It marks a shift away from one side of the right to the other in a medium sized liberal, anglophone, Western democracy.
What does this mean for people? Well, I think the right has scared off many in the last two decades with needless heartlessness, over-deregulation and by being too socially conservative. This isn't necessarily the domain of the right. The crazy fundy wing is not too big here (and they have their own party represented in the senate now), and the old racist wing isn't faring too well either (they're all dying, thank god). Add to that that the country side of the party (the nationals) are pretty pissed off with the city side (the Liberals, they govern/campaign together as a coalition). The coalition is rocky to say the least (there's been a merger in QLD and a separation in WA, their two biggest states); things like the AWB Scandal (our government looked the other way whilst our sole wheat exporter sold wheat to Saddam in violation of UN sanctions, leading to the dissolution of the single desk, not too popular with farmers who like guaranteed prices), plus the massive deregulation and reduction in tariffs has hit farmers worse than most.
On the other hand, we've got a left-wing Labor Party (who are actually more centrist), running the show now. They got voted in pretty much out of spite for the previous dry Liberal policies (aboriginal policy, refugees, global warming and job market deregulation), so they don't have a really unshakable support. The economy is struggling a little (we're getting dragged down by the US, but China is still keeping us afloat), and the calls of "Labor can't run the economy" are starting up.
We're still 2 years out (plus some) from the next election, so there's lots of time for things to happen. Not the least the US election. If McCain really struggles, expect the right in the US to pay careful attention to the next Australian (and UK) elections. If a more liberal right gets elected over here, expect to see a shift away from the neo-cons. Personally, I predict there will be some very vocal libertarian voices arise in US politics over the next decade, which I think will make a great opposition to an increasingly socialist (or at least welfare orientated) left wing. With opposing sides like this, I don't think it will matter too much who is in power in the US, as either would be better than what we have today (from the perspective of the rest of the world that is).
Ooh, also, this means we'll be a republic within 7 years :) BYE BYE QUEENY!
EDIT: Looks like the Republic is on for the next election.
"Speaking shortly after Mr Turnbull was narrowly elected the Liberal Party's new leader, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd challenged him to stay true to his word and create a bi-partisan push to cut ties with the British Monarchy."
XPosted PoliticsForum