{"id":3312,"date":"2010-05-24T18:29:19","date_gmt":"2010-05-24T10:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nick.onetwenty.org\/?p=3312"},"modified":"2010-05-24T20:03:00","modified_gmt":"2010-05-24T12:03:00","slug":"thesad-state-of-australian-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nick.onetwenty.org\/index.php\/2010\/05\/24\/thesad-state-of-australian-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"The sad state of Australian politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

I always thought that the purpose of a democratic political system was to give people choice. Unfortunately, that choice is grossly compromised when the two major<\/a> parties<\/a> are, in practise, eerily similar.<\/p>\n

Here’s a quick check-list of party characteristics:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. No plans for any significant action in response to climate change<\/li>\n
  2. Supports centralised Internet filtering with a secret blacklist<\/li>\n
  3. Unwilling to pursue meaningful tax reform<\/li>\n
  4. Supports mandatory detention and stricter immigration control<\/li>\n
  5. Supports distortion of the real estate market to produce high housing prices<\/li>\n
  6. Against the introduction of an R18+ rating for videogames<\/li>\n
  7. Against equal marriage rights for all Australians<\/li>\n
  8. Against free tertiary education<\/li>\n
  9. Supports private health insurance<\/li>\n
  10. Supports private primary, secondary, and tertiary education<\/li>\n
  11. Supported invasion of Iraq and military action in Afghanistan<\/li>\n
  12. Supported government funding of school chaplains<\/li>\n
  13. Led by a devout Christian man (interesting, but not substantial)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Here are a few questions worth researching and considering:<\/p>\n