A shift to economic focus in Australian politics, a welcoming move. There are some whom, remain redundant in a progressive approach
Seems some enjoyed the political commentary so I'll maintain some.
Finally, after almost a decade it appears the Labor party is beginning to shift campaign focus. This doesn't mean that important issues are pushed to the side, it ensures other important topics are included in the political narrative such as employment and living standards.
I wrote a post the other day about good politicians sell lies, this is what I had in mind. For close to a decade Adam Bandt has chugged along at the beat of his own drum constantly perpetrating these lies.
Labor, to date remains the only political party that has invested in job creating renewable energy. Much of the projects delivered by Labor reduce our reliance on coal and provide economic development in communities that need it most.
2020 was a year of hardship for many, people like Bandt become irrelevant. Their skills and knowledge limited while the Libs and Labor battled it out on what needed to be done to address the pandemic. Focusing on what was important.
Now that the pandemic has ended, Bandt who is in no doubt lower in the polls needs to turn to the one thing that has made him relevant for almost a decade. Telling environmental lies.
Labor and Liberal need not focus on this, Libs have caught on early where Labor slow to the move. Environmental issues ARE being addressed and Bandt should be challenged on his stance. Because he is misleading the public.
Labor needs to Lead national debate and steer the direction, not succumb to trying to rebut a non-existent out of touch political opponent.
I'm glad Labor is now shifting focus, we can all start addressing issues that impact our lives like excessive utility costs, educational costs for kids, housing, town planning, roads, public transport and other important social issues. With more time to focus on talking to each other and resolving matters.
Australia is already in consensus around environmental issues. We want it addressed but in a way that doesn't cost jobs and creates new opportunities. That's the stage we are at, not this ad hoc mud slinging "shit no one has heard from me in over a year I better make myself relevant" tweets.
Well done Labor, welcome back.
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To call Adam Bandt irrelevant is harsh - The Greens role is to push Labor to be more progressive although addressing climate change, and dependence on coal mining isn't so much progressive as just not closely out of touch like the Libs. When you hold a single seat in the lower house and don't have the balance of power in the upper there ain't much more they can do.
As for Federal Labor, well they just don't seem to stand for anything....other than a non-progressive, non-threatening alternative to the whack jobs in the Coalition.
The strange thing is they, along with the unions had the perfect opportunity to reinforce what their actual purpose is meant to be - a party for the workers. How Sally McManus and Anthony Albanese didn't come out swinging the the middle of the pandemic is beyond me. What we found out, particularly in Victoria is the insecure work, the gig economy, the casualisation of the workforce and working conditions are not just against common decency but are also a public health problem as people continued to go to work when sick because they had no sick leave and had to pay rent/bills etc. Combine that with the what we should now understand is the importance of a health system, and a welfare safety net and if Labor could get over themselves and stop throwing stones at the inner city elites in the Greens and actually reframe that they are for people who want a fairer system which should be all people then they might actually have a chance of winning federally again.
Thanks for dropping by, I would like to apologise in advance and declare that I am politically active.
The adage or campaign slogan that Greens used as "keeping Labor Honest" is about as accurate as if one was to say One Nation is there to keep Labor honest. Make no mistake, Greens are a political party with their own agenda which is getting elected.
It's also important to note that Labor consistently and in each elections secures the majority of votes across the nation as a whole.
In your response you suggest unions, while completely forgetting that a unions primary role is to advocate for the workers they represent. Which in this nation are large chunk are miners.
Mining is Australia's primary export and the backbone of this nation, Australia can not end the globes reliance on coal in an instant. Especially when if we stopped exporting coal, the very next day we'd start shutting hospitals.
It is the lack of economic structure that the Greens and "inner city elites" can't comprehend as their own personal finances aren't reliant on mining. But the working class is reliant on it.
Labor only lost the election due to a few seats in QLD because of their stance of anti coal. Labor is very much at the forefront.
Labor states such as Victoria have implemented VRETS so Bandts comments are redundant.
Leaving the city which many folks don't do you will see entire kms filled with wind turbines and solar panels.
The challenge is ensuring the workers aren't sent to welfare but transition is enacted.
This is what Labor is focusing on.
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Coal Mining (which is what would be most affected by a zero emissions goal, and dare I say it a carbon tax, which of course was a Labor policy, amongst many good Labor policies) employs 261K people in Australia, and yeah those people will need to be transitioned out of the industry but to call it 'the backbone on Australia' is incorrect. For comparison there are 750K people employed in Tourism (in non COVID times), 1.1 million in construction, There are 450K people in financial services, hell there is even 102K people in craft beer and as much as I would like it to be it's the backbone of Australia. And all those wind farms and solar arrays have employed a bit over 26K people, and growing and that is absolutely what we should be supporting.
Yes mining (which is much broader than coal) is important, but the margins are high and those profits many benefit the extremely rich (remember Gina and Twiggy are worth $50 billion between them) and the mining industry is 86% foreign owned so most of the profits from digging up our land is also exported so they could certainly cop a carbon tax, or a super profits tax (another proposed Labor policy that made a good deal of sense but was shouted down on the 'mining is the backbone of Australia and the mum and pop sandwich shop is under threat if Hancock prospecting makes a $3.5 billion profit instead of a $4.0 billion)
Don't get me wrong I understand that we are not going to have a Green held state or federal government anytime soon, so my hope for a fairer Australia rests with the ALP, And yeah I know you are politically active, which is why I commented - I wouldn't bother conversing with someone who didn't understand politics less we stray into crazy 'they are injecting us with chips to track us' town.
I guess I just wish the ALP were a little more ambitious and lot better at convincing the masses, including the people of QLD that coalition is doing nothing but increasing inequality, destroying the environment and alienating the marginalised in society.
Great responses and I can see you're engaged in politics, we may differ on some points but that's ok. No one agrees with each other 100% of the time. If we did, we wouldn't need politics or government.
Important to note Labor brought in a Carbon tax only for it to be removed by Liberals with the support of the Greens, we also took an ETS to the polls last election which is what lost us the nation. Lets not forget the mining tax that cost Rudd the leadership.
Gina, Twiggy, Rio Tinto et el, put together the largest political campaign in the history of the nation to scare and defeat it.
It's good you know the employment figures and that's where things get complicated, I've had this discussion with people in the past. Those figures are only a snapshot and through it, it looks small.
But now, you need to include income, location, supporting industries and electoral dispersion.
You will quickly see a broader picture than just 201k.
The industry that supports miners is greater again with catering, education, finance, health, local traders etc. Mining wages are quite significant. They are also able to support a family and live a quality of life as well as bolster up local economies on a mining wage.
Something that can't be done on those other wages. Somsthing that those supporting industries are aware of. So when you talk about cutting mining jobs (noting voters don't distinguish between coal miners and iron ore miners or any other miners) and entire community rallies behind them.
Furthermore, the electoral dispersion is that great that Labor lost the Federal election due to QLD. The electorates that were reliant on miners.
I'll go back to my original comment where I called Adam Bandt Redundant, Labor states have been building and implementing targets. I was amongst Friends of the Earth (FoE) when we pushed for a VRET and won. Leigh (Vegemite man) led a wonderful campaign. We went across the state engaging and speaking to communities to make it happen.
The issue isn't Labor not telling people, they are. There are plenty of announcements and driving around the state and many other Labor held states you will see it with your own eyes.
People, listen more to divisive and incorrect information in a phenomenon called identity politics.
Adam has never once promoted of even shown the electorate the renewable energy farms. If he did, people would leave him in flocks and go to Labor.
Labor's issue is that they didn't focus strong enough on bread and butter issues. We have the worst financial situation since WW2.
We have the highest qualified barristers who studied fields in uni but with no work to go onto or the ability to even afford to pay rent. Much like all those other industries you mentioned.
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The following statement you made is incorrect "Important to note Labor brought in a Carbon tax only for it to be removed by Liberals with the support of the Greens"
"The Greens DID NOT vote to repeal the Carbon tax. I quote the following from the Guardian
Yes, but the events that led to that did not go that way. The game Abbot the power to get to that position. Do you recall Christine negotiating with Abbott on "Direct Action".
It cost her the Greens leadership in the end.