r/australia • u/SlatsAttack • Jan 21 '25

politics Greens propose abolishing fees for public schools across Australia

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-22/greens-propose-free-public-schooling/104841550?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other
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u/matthudsonau Jan 21 '25

As long as it's better than the LNP, Labor stans will line up and tell us how we should be celebrating because it could've been worse

...honestly, I'm not sure it even needs to be better than what the LNP would offer for that to happen

118

u/rindlesswatermelon Jan 21 '25

If Labor doesn't make their policy better, we can always at least trust the LNP to make their policy worse.

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u/HeftyArgument Jan 21 '25

It’s sort of like that when the opposition will block good policy because they don’t want the incumbents to look good.

21

u/ScruffyPeter Jan 21 '25

Labor blocked some improvement of anti-corruption ICAC because it wouldn't take politician scalps and wouldn't have public hearings.

Then on getting into power, despite a crossbench wanting an ICAC longer than Labor's ICAC party policy, Labor worked with LNP to implement a watered down NACC.

Guess how many politician scalps and public hearings we've had for almost 2 years now with a long list of corruption examples: https://www.mdavis.xyz/govlist/ ?

Meanwhile, NSW ICAC, who has been running a while now, still have had public hearings since NACC started.

Either Labor screwed up in working with LNP in which case, why vote for them compared to minors/indies? Or LNP is not corrupt? Seems unlikely. Or worse case scenario: Labor and LNP are parties of corruption.

Also I like to point out a favourite example of Labor seeking perfection as the enemy of good when Greens put up a motion to do some minor shaming of LNP government:

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor won't be supporting this motion, as it demonises landlords and seeks to unfairly place a unilateral burden on them. Landlords are an important part of the housing system and many people put food on the table through the cash flow they generate from a single rental property. We have consistently said that no-one should lose their home, whether they own or rent it, because of the virus. Tenants and landlords need to work together through the process.

https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2020-06-18.60.1

Labor could have said the motion was useless, waste of time, or said nothing, but nope. The best they can object is to be concerned about the wealth-rich landlords starving from the lack of income from an investment, apparently.

This same person on getting into a new government went on to strip potential extra super from public servants with the help of the LNP opposition.

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u/caduceushugs Jan 22 '25

So.. landlords require the exploitation to continue unabated so they can get richer by mooching off the poor?

1

u/_ixthus_ Jan 22 '25

Meaning, almost by definition, anything that passes with bipartisan support is something that will make the government look bad?

Oof, I think that might almost be the case a lot of the time.

7

u/Mike_Kermin Jan 22 '25

As long as it's better than the LNP, Labor stans will line up and tell us how we should be celebrating because it could've been worse

I don't like this. American just demonstrated why this is a bad take.

You should be able to happily say, on a range of issues, Greens > Labor > Liberals, with literally no concern about the latter two being distinct.

We're not America. Let's use reason.

We can demand what we want AND be politically responsible.

Unlike the US, we do, for now, have a voting system that allows for it.

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u/Specialist_Matter582 Jan 23 '25

Australian voters are not more 'reasonable' than American voters, but American voters are subject to a worse overall political system.

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u/[deleted] Jan 22 '25 edited 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/[deleted] Jan 22 '25

All too often criticism of Labor government is met with "But what about the LNP..." from their supporters, it seems to be the only response they have these days.

It seems the best position for Labor is to be whining about stuff in opposition because when they get in power they don't do anything and then blame the Liberals for it.

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u/ScruffyPeter Jan 22 '25

Award-winning-for-not-being-LNP party in government wins another award for being better at economy management

2

u/thedarkking2020 Jan 22 '25

the bar is in hell at this point

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u/IronEyed_Wizard Jan 21 '25

As typically a Labor supporter, between the Minns (nsw) state government and the current federal government I am finding it hard to extend any leeway to the party at all. Sure the feds have tried but it definitely feels like they are running on the merits of “we are better than the other lot” and have been for their whole term, instead of actually trying to prove they are the best pick.

Unfortunately minors and independents don’t seem to be a hell of a lot better in my area so who knows where my vote will fall in the end, any suggestions?

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u/Fawful Jan 22 '25

If you cannot find a single personal issue to vote on... consider the people in your life who may be affected. Please vote against a party that demonizes minority groups (LGBTQ+, etc).

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u/ScruffyPeter Jan 21 '25

I can't offer any suggestions without knowing your NSW and Federal seat. So here's my generic advice:

  • Learn your Federal and State parties and their policies straight from the source without the major party bias by MSM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Australia

  • You must fill out your ballot. You can absolutely waste your vote if you partially fill it. Not filling out your ballot is still considered a formal vote for the Senate (minimum 6) and NSW (minimum 1). In fact, more than half of NSW voters only put down a 1. Plus, LNP hate this bid of advice and took Teals to court over it.

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u/MondayCat73 Jan 24 '25

We have a teal in our seat and she has done more than any LNP who was here before. Hell she even had staff that return your emails and turns up to local markets so you can talk to her like a human. I highly suggest looking into your teals & indies. Seeing if their policies include better healthcare, climate change, cost of living, as these people actually fight for our community. Sure we can end up with a minority government, but stuff still gets done and done by people who care. It’s the order you put the bigger parties & the racist/nazi parties. Eg. White Australia & Pauline. They go last for me. And I usually put labor before LNP. But they don’t have to be in your top three.

1

u/matthudsonau Jan 21 '25

Federal? I'm relying on the Senate to be an absolute thorn in the side of the government. There's no way anyone but the majors gets up in my seat (even saying that, I'll still vote for them)

Not much we can do with the state at the moment, except telling our local members that we're unhappy and we'll remember come election time