Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey kisses a puppy at Kew Guide Dogs on September 6, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. With just one day left in the campaign, the Liberal-National Party coalition had one of their first stumbles, by releasing a policy to implement an opt-out Internet filter but then abandoning it within hours. The conservative Liberal-National Party coalition looks set to form government in tomorrow’s federal election. By Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images. A reader recently wrote:
I love the coverage you give to right-wing parties that are not Republicans, contrasting British and Canadian Conservatives with American Reactionaries. However, I’m Australian, and I don’t see any comparisons made with the Australian Liberal and National parties. On the GOP, you wrote the following in a post last year called “America’s Tory President“:
Of which other Western right of center party could the following be said: it holds that man-made climate change is a hoax and that more carbon energy is harmless and indeed vital. On immigration, the party supports a vast wall across the Southern border, and eventual deportation by attrition of 11 million illegal immigrants. On the deficit and debt, the GOP is the only party in the West that refuses to raise any revenues to close the gap, even as revenues are at 60 year lows. On social issues, the GOP would ban any recognition for gay couples, including civil unions and would criminalize abortion in every state by constitutional amendment.
In the last three years the Australian Liberal/National coalition has been a shadow of the GOP.
The Liberal leader, Tony Abbott, has called climate change “crap” and vowed to repeal the government’s tax on greenhouse emissions. The Liberal/Nationals have nourished xenophobia by branding migrants who seek refugee status in Australia “illegal” (despite Australia being signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees, which explicates that seeking refugee status is not illegal), and it has constructed a tortuous immigration processing network outside the jurisdiction of Australian courts with the intent of deterring refugees. Although Australia has very healthy levels of public debt (only 11.6% of GDP), the Liberals have promised large cuts to taxes and spending. The Australian News Ltd press is a Fox-lite spokesman for Liberal/National politics. On social views, a couple weeks ago a bill to recognise same-sex marriage was defeated by the Liberals and Nationals; a Liberal senator likened same-sex marriage to bestiality and polyamory; and, the Liberal Opposition leader has called a woman’s virginity ”the greatest gift you can give someone”.
Although it’s great to see conservative parties in Canada, New Zealand and the UK bucking the GOP’s reactionary trend, right-wing parties like the Australian Liberals and Nationals are following the GOP’s lead. I can only hope that exposing this madness to the scrutiny it deserves will restore pragmatism and sanity to the American and Australian polities.
The Dish 