So, I've broken this into three parts: Part One, Tony Abbott is Dangerous, Part Two, The ALP Only Care About Keeping Their Seats, and Part Three, Why Vote Green?
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This Saturday I'm Voting Green
Part One: Tony Abbott is a Dangerous Man
I'm not going to make jokes about swimwear. I'm not going to cast (many) character aspersions. I'm not even going to speculate over the ability to manage the economy, military or foreign affairs.
I don't need to. The reasons I don't like Tony Abbott can be found on his own website, www.tonyabbott.com, and that's the only source I'll use.
Below are just some of the areas where I have trouble with his views, and some quotes to highlight my concerns. Make up your own mind.
Climate Change
The following extract of an interview with Laurie Oaks sums it up for me. Abbott's position changes based on what he thinks we want to hear, but he doesn't have a firm belief in the need for action, and he doesn't believe that Australian action makes a difference.
LAURIE OAKES: Ok. Well, you told Malcolm Turnbull once that you were a weathervane. Does Australia need a weathervane as a Prime Minister?
TONY ABBOTT: It was a bit of light-hearted banter.
LAURIE OAKES: It was followed by the word ‘mate.’
TONY ABBOTT: Yeah, and it was light-hearted banter, and obviously I want to do what I’m saying I’m going to do. And that is, as we said earlier, it’s to end the waste, it’s to repay the debt, it’s to stop the new taxes and stop the boats, Laurie.
LAURIE OAKES:That was specifically about your attitude to climate change and an emissions trading scheme. You’ve had more positions on that than the kama sutra, haven’t you?
TONY ABBOTT: That’s an old joke, Laurie.
LAURIE OAKES:But it’s true.
TONY ABBOTT: Look, I have always thought that climate change happens. The important thing, though, is how do you deal with it, and I think that the best way to deal with it is to take practical action that will achieve the 5 per cent emissions reduction target by 2020.
LAURIE OAKES:That’s now. But last year you wrote an op ed piece in a newspaper saying the best thing for the Coalition to do was to pass the emissions trading legislation, get it out of the way.
TONY ABBOTT: I was trying to support the leader. And, obviously, the leader then had a rather different position to me on this.
LAURIE OAKES:Then you said climate change was crap.
TONY ABBOTT: I think what I actually said was the idea of the settled science of climate change is a bit aromatic.
LAURIE OAKES:And then you said you only said that, in fact on this programme you said you only said climate change was crap, because you were trying to persuade a group of Liberals in Beaufort, Victoria that negotiating an improved ETS scheme would be the best thing to do.
TONY ABBOTT: Sure, Laurie. Look, we can go over all the history. But the important thing -
LAURIE OAKES:Then you had another position when Malcolm Turnbull did negotiate a compromise, you pulled the rug out from under him, and you became leader and said no ETS now or ever.
TONY ABBOTT: The important thing, Laurie, is what will happen if the Coalition wins. We will achieve our 5 per cent reduction through some direct action measures. What will happen if Labor wins? If Labor wins, we’ll have a carbon tax, simple as that. And that will put up the price of everything. A $40 a tonne carbon tax will double the price of electricity.
LAURIE OAKES:But isn’t it important if you become Prime Minister that Australians can believe what their Prime Minister says?
In response to a question on his website, in 2008, Tony said:
"I don’t like excess but I don’t like over-reacting to excess either. My problem with the wilder side of the Green movement is the religious conviction they bring to matters which are basically issues for prudent and balanced judgment. Even if global warming is as bad as the doomsayers claim, it’s better to respond correctly than to respond tomorrow. Man-made CO2 emission have been happening for centuries and I daresay the planet could cope if we respond intelligently in 2012 rather than foolishly in 2010. "
What do we know about Tony when it comes to feminism and womens rights?
Well we know he is anti-choice, that alsmost goes without saying. But did you know he's into blaming women for "failing" to cope with difficult situations?
" To a pregnant 14-year-old struggling to grasp what’s happening, for example, example, a senior student with a whole life mapped out or a mother already failing to cope under difficult circumstances, abortion is the easy way out."
From the same article comes this gem:
" When it comes to lobbying local politicians, there seems to be far more interest in the treatment of boatpeople, which is not morally black and white, than in the question of abortion, which is. "
We also know that he thinks he understands the implications of a medicine better than the medical experts:
"We deserve to have parliamentary scrutiny of decisions We deserve lo have a voice on issues and not simply leave them to boards of experts."
And we know he likes to get on his high horse and tell feminists they aren't being feminist enough when they express concerns over the positions of women in politics, such as Sarah Palin:
"She may not know the name of the Polish president but seems to have the right stuff for high office. Pity the feminists who prefer a left-wing man to a conservative woman who’s beaten men on their own terms. "
I think one of the respondents on the website rebuts this argument best when he says,
"Tony, I actually think that it is her stance on Abortion that would be turning the feminists away. Most people don’t take kindly to governments telling people what they can and cant do with their own bodies."
This also sums it up well for me:
"Ok, but it’s hard to credibly be a “women’s activist” if it’s only certain women that you support. The sisterhood doesn’t like being shown up as selective. For myself, I don’t support “women’s” causes. I support conservative causes."
Gay Marriage
He's nothing if not clear on this issue.
"it is our absolutely crystal clear policy that marriage is between a man and a woman."
In this speech, he proudly proclaims:
"Since 1996, the Government has made it easier for religious schools to expand, banned gay marriage, allowed a private members bill to overturn the Northern Territory’s euthanasia law, and stopped the ACT’s heroin trial. "
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
"The Coalition will also reintroduce temporary protection visas and require those on these visas who receive benefits to make a contribution through a ‘work for benefits’ scheme, as is required of Australian citizens."
"We will turn back boats where circumstances allow."
"These increased penalties will complement the Coalition’s other border protection measures, and help to stop the boats."Race and Religion
It was hard to decide where to put this quote. I can't quite figure out what makes me angrier: his assumption that Muslim men find it harder to respect women than other men, his assertion of an excuse for not respecting women, or his attempt to be a feminist.
"How can alienated Muslim males be expected to respect women, for instance, when this city's bookstands, billboards and TV shows proclaim that women are sex objects?"
Ok, I cheated, this one is from the WA Times:
"The Opposition Leader labelled the burqa a "particularly confronting" piece of clothing.
"I find the burqa a particularly confronting form of attire and I would very much wish that fewer Australians would choose it," Mr Abbott told reporters when asked about the case."
Industrial Relations
Work choices said it all, really.
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