Elections
It's election day tomorrow.
I'm incredibly terrified that the Liberal Party* is going to win.
So, I'm not intending this to be an open slagfest against the Liberal Party and their supporters. Most of my friends and family who are Liberal voters are voting that way because they really believe and support the traditional Liberal Party approach to the economy, to the market and to society. They know things about how Liberal policy works and they know things about how Labor policy work. They make an educated decision about who they think is better equipped to run the country.
The thing is that if Liberal win the election tomorrow, it won't be because most of Australia has made an educated decision. Tony Abbott has not been basing his campaigning on classic Liberal policy. Of all of Tony Abbott's campaigning, the loudest message that has come across is: "The Labor Government has let boat people in. We will stop the boats". This campaigning has inflamed a really disgusting sentiment among people in Australia who don't use their brain: that Australia is full, that asylum seekers are evil people who "jump the queue" and that they willl steal everyone's jobs. Ugh.
And that's not to say that Labor has had an awesome campaign. This has been the most negative, most depressing election campaign I have ever seen, on both sides - a race to the bottom.
But still, if Liberal wins and Tony Abbott becomes PM on Saturday, it will be shocking proof that Australia is a horribly racist country. I don't think I will be able to handle it very well. The knowledge that there are some disgustingly racist Australians makes me sad. I don't know what I'll do if this groups turns out to be a majority.
*For overseas readers who are not up to scratch with Australian politics: The Liberal Party is, confusingly, the more conservative party.
I'm incredibly terrified that the Liberal Party* is going to win.
So, I'm not intending this to be an open slagfest against the Liberal Party and their supporters. Most of my friends and family who are Liberal voters are voting that way because they really believe and support the traditional Liberal Party approach to the economy, to the market and to society. They know things about how Liberal policy works and they know things about how Labor policy work. They make an educated decision about who they think is better equipped to run the country.
The thing is that if Liberal win the election tomorrow, it won't be because most of Australia has made an educated decision. Tony Abbott has not been basing his campaigning on classic Liberal policy. Of all of Tony Abbott's campaigning, the loudest message that has come across is: "The Labor Government has let boat people in. We will stop the boats". This campaigning has inflamed a really disgusting sentiment among people in Australia who don't use their brain: that Australia is full, that asylum seekers are evil people who "jump the queue" and that they willl steal everyone's jobs. Ugh.
And that's not to say that Labor has had an awesome campaign. This has been the most negative, most depressing election campaign I have ever seen, on both sides - a race to the bottom.
But still, if Liberal wins and Tony Abbott becomes PM on Saturday, it will be shocking proof that Australia is a horribly racist country. I don't think I will be able to handle it very well. The knowledge that there are some disgustingly racist Australians makes me sad. I don't know what I'll do if this groups turns out to be a majority.
*For overseas readers who are not up to scratch with Australian politics: The Liberal Party is, confusingly, the more conservative party.