Ten steps forward, twenty steps back
A recent post by conservative blogger, Iain Hall on the AIMN, outlines what it is to be a conservative. Hall explains:
“conservatives like me don’t totally disavow social change but we do want any changes to be slow considered and incremental.”
There is no doubt that Abbott is the most conservative Opposition leader Australia has ever seen. But I don’t think Hall’s description does justice to just how right-wing Abbott really is. Instead of promoting beneficial social change in a ‘slow and incremental’ fashion, Abbott is instead going after anything that looks like a progressive social reform, and taking to it with a chainsaw. It’s as if he decided from the outset of Gillard’s 2010 election win that her time as Prime Minister would be totally erased if he were to gain power in 2013, or earlier. As if to accentuate his view that the Labor government has been illegitimate, he’s promising to ‘axe’, ‘repeal’ or ‘turn back’ every beneficial policy that Labor has, against the odds, delivered, or is working to deliver. The Carbon Tax. The National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The National Broadband Network. The Mining Tax. The rise in the tax free threshold.  The Gonski education funding reforms. I could go on.
I must admit that I’ve never met a true conservative, as Hall describes, who is even willing to entertain the notion that social change needs to happen at all, incrementally or not. In my experience, conservative right-wingers are hand-breaks. They have either been born at the top of the social ladder and feel it’s therefore their right to kick the ladder down to stop anyone below climbing up it. Or they’ve managed to climb someway up the ladder and are sabotaging the rungs as they ascend. Either way, their main objective is status quo – keeping things pretty for themselves and ensuring no one else can come up to meet them. But Abbott isn’t just content with status quo. The hard fought progressive wins of the Gillard government, in Abbott’s ideal scenario, will be nothing but dead, buried and cremated.
It’s quite obvious that I am appalled by Abbott’s plans to put the country into reverse gear, but what does everyone else think? I know it’s unorthodox to report on polls that have anything to do with policy. It’s just that I figure policy is kind of important when it comes to an election. Crazy, I know. This Essential Vision poll from this week, which again, I have not seen reported in the mainstream media, shows that 55% of those polled approve of the Mining Tax. In this poll from November last year, 69% of those polled support the NBN. And in this poll from October, 58% support the NDIS. So with all this democratic support for policies that Abbott promises to get rid of, it will be very interesting to see how voters’ policy opinions influence their decisions come September.

And what about the policy which is supposedly the most ‘toxic’ for Labor: the Carbon Price? Again, the not much heard of Essential Vision poll from January 29 shows that 50% of people oppose this tax. This obviously still does not put the policy in a winning position. But when you consider the millions of dollars spent by vested interests to fight the ‘Carbon Tax’, the bullshit biased reporting of the policy by the mainstream press and Abbott’s permanent stunt-inspired and fear-inducing strategy of spreading negativity and mistruths across every corner of the country, this poll shows the Carbon Price is nowhere near as unpopular as most would believe.

has anyone looked at the essentialvision website and see who works there?

fantastic reference unwise one - NOT!!

Quote:


So how does AIMN take up the cudgels and fight the good fight? We get ALP friendly tosh thrown at us. AIMN is just as bad and bias as the MSM.

Good morning all.

This is just a quick update on The AIMN’s direction.

You may have noticed that we have become an outlet for left-wing opinion. This is not so unsurprising in the environment of independent or social media as it is generally the case that those with a lean to the right have safe haven within the shrines of the mainstream media (MSM). The rule of thumb in the MSM is simple: no lefties allowed. Hence we gather elsewhere. Such as here and similar abodes.

However, that is not to say that we don’t want people with alternate views to be shared with us. Actually, we do, and all here would like to encourage it. So the call goes out: are there any non-left readers out there who think we need more balance politically and who is chaffing at the bit to have their say by way of writing for us? If there are none, then we’re more than happy to keep doing what we’re doing.

We cop a bit of criticism for having a left-wing bias but if we can’t find someone amongst those critics to balance the scales then life will still go on regardless. We’ll still be left-wing and they’ll still be complaining about it.

I’m of the opinion that those who do write for us are doing a fantastic job and I find their enthusiasm inspiring.

In other ‘news’, we will soon be providing some science topics and I am excited about those. It adds a new dimension, as do John Lord’s discussions on society (or even mine on Aboriginal Australia).

But there’s more! We’re in the process of shoring up interviews with politicians, public identities or people of interest and we’re hoping to bring these to you on a weekly basis. We aim to be more than just a political blog, which is what we have become but which is something we will always retain regardless. In an election year especially, there is a large demand for blogs.

For those who have been supporting us since we opened our doors five weeks ago, we extend our appreciation.

So maqqa you are happy with all the bullshyte about the labor party and Julia Gillard that Rupert and Gina puts into Fairfax and News Limited papers.

But as soon as someone tells the truth about Abbott you attack the site and can't comment on what they are saying.

Do we have to wait until Monday for Liberal Party HQ to open so you can get your instructions on what to say

Maqqa wrote on Feb 24^th, 2013 at 4:35pm:


Which suggests their methodology might be working.

Unlikely, Maqqa.