who cares anyway?
And the award for the most predictable result ever goes to the recent poll indicating that the children overboard lies will not sway voters:
The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported a Galaxy Poll found 47 per cent of voters believe Mr Howard lied about the issue before the 2001 election.
It also found 31 per cent did not believe he lied while 22 per cent were uncommitted.
However, almost 60 per cent of those polled said Mr Howard’s handling of the issue would not influence the way they voted at the next election.
Surely this is not surprising. Do we really imagine that there were people who after hearing the statements of Scrafton and others said “He lied? You are kidding! There was absolutely nothing to suggest this before. I… well.. I can’t believe that John Howard would lie. It seems so unlike him, I feel so dirty.”
Anyone who was open to the idea that the PM lied surely decided this ages ago. It is the worst kept secret in Australian politics that John Howard isn’t straight with the Australian people. This is why Labor will never make substantial gains by attacking Howard’s truthfulness.
Because the fact is, people either know that he has lied about significant issues, they don’t care, or they will never believe it. And even at his worst moments, it has not really affected the polls.
So, dead issue. The only way Labor can make hay from these sorts of observations is either to show that things will be different under Labor (a very risky strategy) or that there was some very calculated conspiracy type arrangement as opposed to typical Howard political spin bulldust.
What they need to be doing is focussing not on what Howard has said, but on what he has done that has turned out badly for Australians. Don’t just show that the GST broke a “never ever” promise, but show that it is an unfair burden on small business and a nightmare in implementation.
Don’t just say that he lied about children overboard, show the amount of money that Howard put into the Pacific solution at the expense of education and health.
Don’t just say that he has developed core and non-core promises - show that his selective implementation of policy has perverted the ideals of the Liberal party.
Don’t just say that he has wiggled on industrial relations - show that the employment statistics mask an epidemic in casual employment, particularly of women and young people.
August 24th, 2004 at 8:18 pm
The lies and obfuscations are the core of the issue. No Aussie likes to be lied to and worse, hate being the victim of a conman’s lie. With the baser emotions, one cannot afford to become too cerebral, especially with the marginals. Slap it on thick, serve it up hot, fresh & under their noses and they might take notice. Get long-winded and thoughtful and you’ve already lost.
August 24th, 2004 at 11:35 pm
Man, I love it when you folks talk Aussie Politics. I have no idea what all these terms mean, so it’s somewhat exotic, as over against hearing another round of vietnam arguments over here.
August 25th, 2004 at 9:18 am
Bryan, you gave me my morning chuckle
Calling signposts exotic - hehe - I bet Dan takes that as a compliment.
August 25th, 2004 at 1:49 pm
Can I suggest we aproach this in a different perspective.
If john howard is the christian he says he is what should he do?
Public repentance like King David,
A need for someone to be a prayer partner, a need for someone to be a Nathan ie tell him what God says but above all a need to recognise his first duty is to God not to all Australians, not to the Liberal party.
August 26th, 2004 at 1:23 pm
Maybe Howard’s biggest “lie” is his emphasis on “family values”. As reported recently in the SMH the Liberal Party does not list the status of party members that are divorced or separated, and certainly not those with same sex partners.
His recent support of Ross Cameron in the Parramatta seat seemed too sympathetic. This tolerance for deceit at the home level indicates perhaps that he is tolerant of deceit at the public level.
I wish I was important enough to be asked to join the gang of 43 who asked publicly for truth in government. Voting is just not enough, I need to say why I voted the way I did, but that is not allowed on the ballot paper.
August 27th, 2004 at 12:10 pm
Isn’t that the point of the conservative political “family values” conversation? The goal is not to clean up your own backyard, but to point the finger at all the bad people who are doing it wrong.
August 27th, 2004 at 12:32 pm
No Dan, it is to point to standards that most of us fail to satisfy.
Ross should have repented earlier but repent he certainly has.
He may turn out to be a better person for this.
We all fall short that is the point. A sinful person by defintion can’t be a better than a sinful person.
August 27th, 2004 at 12:38 pm
My issue is not the sinful/sinless agenda, that is another question altogether. What I don’t like is the politicisation of the family, of moral values and those aspects of the campaign (which I understood jim to be referring to).
August 30th, 2004 at 8:17 am
I think Dan is right, saying that these thoughts are not about sin, remembering that we can’t throw the first stone. Sin is a concept that varies with personal conscience, beliefs and expectations of family and the wider community. Some sins are lawful and some are not. For instance it is unlawful for a company director to mislead the shareholders or the stock market, while a member of parliament may be censured for misleading parliament. A election promise need not be honoured and there is no obvious penalty.
Strangely enough the PM has announced that the theme for this election will be “trust”. We are expected to trust them on the basis of what we are told. This becomes meaningless if their past is clouded with deceit, both public and private. By deceit,I mean not just lies, but the evasion of truth and attempts to prevent the truth being known. Sometimes this consists of selective release of items from a longer and comprehensive report, which is not a lie, but it is deceit.
Perhaps the PM has picked up the “trust” thing while in the USA, from their motto “in God we trust”. A good motto for myself.
August 30th, 2004 at 9:47 am
We were told by Jesus to forgive people an unlimited number of times if they repent.
Thus I have no problem with Mr howard continuing to support Ross Cameron.
I see no problem with a political party seeking to uphold family values re the bible.
People don’t seem to understand that the Labour Party in the UK was started by Methodists with a particulalry biblical view of the world.
In Australia it was a similar story with a few evangelical anglicans thrown in.
such a shame that the ALP has become the party for atheists!
September 21st, 2004 at 2:17 pm
Maybe the Labour party has become a party that recognises that a free Australia is made up of many different religious and non religious people and each of them has a valid right to be protected and recognised by our government
October 19th, 2004 at 5:43 pm
Hi all,
I am a researcher at Insight, SBS TV. I am researching a show on ‘Family Values’. I would like to hear from people on what ‘family values’ mean to people.
What are “family values”? What do they mean, and how are they going to influence our political and policy decision making over the next few years?
In the election campaign just ended, the topic of FAMILY VALUES was crucial. A new political party, called “Family First”, came from virtually nowhere to win vital votes in the Senate by proposing a return to traditional family values in Australian public life.
Family First directed its preferences in most seats to the Coalition, and in return, the Coalition undertook to subject all of its key policies and initiatives in Government to a family “test”, to ensure that they were in the best interests of Australian families.
Given the importance of this agenda, it’s worth asking the obvious question: what exactly are “family values”?
When Family First and others on the conservative side of politics talk about family values, they talk about family taxation reform, a return to traditional values, opposition to pornography and gay marriage, etc…
Is this what most Australian families identify with?
If you would like to speak to me about this issue, please email me: carolia@sbs.com.au