Julia Gillard

[Hamish MacWolf]

Does anyone outside of Australia even know who she is?

If so, what do you know, and what do you think?

[Boingo]

Honestly had never heard of her before.  What do people inside Australia think?

[Hamish MacWolf]

Well, that's an open ended question. That's like asking, what do people in the US think of Barack Obama?

That answer will wildly depend on if they lean towards Democrat, Republican, or Tea Party.

I was just curious about the international perspective.

If there was one... I think that most of the time, despite the vain hopes of Australian politicians, the rest of the world doesn't really know or care about the internal machinations of the Down Under Banana Republic.

[Belthus]

If there was one... I think that most of the time, despite the vain hopes of Australian politicians, the rest of the world doesn't really know or care about the internal machinations of the Down Under Banana Republic.

For me, you are half right. I am ignorant of Australian politics, but I am curious to learn from someone who is interested. What is your general political perspective, and what do you think of Gillard?

[ddevans96]

Well, I live in the States, but I do know she's the Prime Minister of Australia, she's a member of the Australian Labor Party, and she was born in Wales. What do you think about her, and what else can you tell us?

[Hamish MacWolf]

Well, since you ask - and I didn't start this post as an excuse to have a Julia rant - I don't think much of her. I don't vote Labor, as I tend to disagree on almost every issue they stand for. Interestingly, I find almost the same scenario with British Labour, except that British Labour are better than Australian Labor, because the Brits remember to put in the "u".

But Australian politics at the moment is rather uninspiring, with the two main parties, Liberal and Labor, being fairly indistinguishable, pinching each other's policies and spending more time complaining about the other than having good ides for themselves.

The other thing about Julia is that a great deal has been made of the fact the she's Australia's first female PM. I am also unimpressed with this because:

a) I'm not going to shout hurrah over something as token as gender. I'm far more concerned about her inherent strengths than her reproductive organs
b) She was not elected as Australia's first female PM, she got in after politically assassinating her predecessor
c) Britain heard the news and said, "First female PM? Hah! We did that in the 80s! Get with the programme, you ramshackle colonists!"

What do you think of your head of state?

[ddevans96]

Well, since you ask - and I didn't start this post as an excuse to have a Julia rant - I don't think much of her. I don't vote Labor, as I tend to disagree on almost every issue they stand for. Interestingly, I find almost the same scenario with British Labour, except that British Labour are better than Australian Labor, because the Brits remember to put in the "u".

But Australian politics at the moment is rather uninspiring, with the two main parties, Liberal and Labor, being fairly indistinguishable, pinching each other's policies and spending more time complaining about the other than having good ides for themselves.

The other thing about Julia is that a great deal has been made of the fact the she's Australia's first female PM. I am also unimpressed with this because:

a) I'm not going to shout hurrah over something as token as gender. I'm far more concerned about her inherent strengths than her reproductive organs
b) She was not elected as Australia's first female PM, she got in after politically assassinating her predecessor
c) Britain heard the news and said, "First female PM? Hah! We did that in the 80s! Get with the programme, you ramshackle colonists!"

What do you think of your head of state?

I normally prefer to stay away from talk about politics, but I really don't like the way our President is handling our affairs. He could be doing a better job in my opinion, especially considering all he's gone through in this past year, and the knowledge he should have gained from it.

[Xelax]

Is she the one they're making a big deal over for being Atheist? Or have I got that mixed up?

[Hamish MacWolf]

I may be wrong, but I do think Julia is an atheist. Australian PMs have historically been at least token Christian - though you'd never know to look at them - so this is a departure from tradition.

[Belthus]

[I think one of my posts here was deleted, and I have no idea why. It wasn't inflammatory, it was on topic, and it replied to another post.]

Anyway, what I wrote was that I agree about a politician's identity (gender, race, etc.) being much less important to me than the policies advocated. However, milestones such as the first female PM (or first Black President in the US) can be indicators of social progress. People often don't come right out and express their prejudices publicly, but they are more likely to vote according to their prejudices. So if a barrier is overcome, the level of prejudice has probably gone down.

Hamish, what policies would you prefer beyond the spectrum between Labor and Liberal? Is there a minor party out there, or a party in another country perhaps, that is more to your liking?

[Hamish MacWolf]

I'd like to see one of the parties actually stand for something beyond simple nay-saying whatever the other has done, trying to scoop up disenfranchised votes.

Also, politics in Australia is often dumbed-down, which I believe is a consequence of compulsory voting. A phrase never used in this country is "voter turnout" because EVERYBODY turns out. Or they get fined.

By forcing everyone to vote, you inherently include those too lazy, too disconnected, or just plain too stupid to be involved. Consequently, there is a very large pool of "lowest common denominators" which the politicians attempt to woo.

Thus, the latest effort to combat climate change, a carbon tax, was shouted down by politicians touring the country, shouting out, "We don't need a great big new tax! Great big new tax!" It honestly wasn't far removed from Citizen Zog.

"Tax bad. Zog good. Vote Zog."

I've seen quite a bit of British politics, working for the BBC, and I am very interested in the current Tory-Lib Dem coalition. Firstly, it seems to be working, which has me astonished; coalitions tend to be rather shambolic. And secondly, to get the best from a right leaning party while using some very liberal members to keep them in check seems quite a good idea.

Sadly, in Australia, it is much like the US. We have a two-party system, and even the next contender is so far behind, they have about as much chance of making a difference as a civil libertarian would have in convincing the Taliban to grant women equal rights.

[Helios]

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition may have proven to be functional, but it is not exactly working well.