Ideologies.

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Gough

Gough

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Is this the first time for a number of years in Australian politics that some distinct ideological differences are appearing between the two major parties? For so long now we have heard a common complaint from voters that both the ALP and the Coalition are too alike, but with the direction the government appears to be heading in that moment, this may no longer be the case. Is this a good thing for Australia?
Personally, while not agreeing with the government's policy direction I do like that we are seeing some real differences in ethos' as it will give the voter a more clear vision as to the sort of country that either party is envisaging for the future.
 
Left this left that is what I hear from a number of perceived left leaning forum users who dislike the comments of someone if they are right winged.
 

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I seriously doubt that many who voted for the coalition this time expected a shift THIS far to the right.

I enjoy that we finally have some real division between the two parties, however I worry how divisive it will actually be if we continue along this current path.


Floor Pie said:
Did you even read the OP?...
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Does he ever?
 
slicedndiced said:
I seriously doubt that many who voted for the coalition this time expected a shift THIS far to the right.

I enjoy that we finally have some real division between the two parties, however I worry how divisive it will actually be if we continue along this current path.




Does he ever?
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A lot of stuff/policies is just the same as under Howard.
 
Not completely sure about the OP.

Arguably there are loony Christians on both sides, except that the former govt kept them in check. Conroy's internet filter isn't a million miles away from this current data collection. Life for unemployed and disability pension people was made much harder under Gillard and Rudd. Rudd was going to send refugees to PNG.

They are both rooted and maybe not that far from each other still.
 
Gough said:
Is this the first time for a number of years in Australian politics that some distinct ideological differences are appearing between the two major parties? For so long now we have heard a common complaint from voters that both the ALP and the Coalition are too alike, but with the direction the government appears to be heading in that moment, this may no longer be the case. Is this a good thing for Australia?
Personally, while not agreeing with the government's policy direction I do like that we are seeing some real differences in ethos' as it will give the voter a more clear vision as to the sort of country that either party is envisaging for the future.
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Totally agree. But wait two years when the electioneering begins and the bullshit resurfaces. Will Australians have goldfish memories?
 
I'm not surprised that conservatives keep their cards close to their chest when in opposition, preferring to talk down the government and the left leaning parties proposing policy that suits their agenda of evening out the lifestyle of the community.

Ultimately it's populist politics. Clive Palmer can promise $10,000 in extra bonus cash to every person over 18 without fear of having to go through with it, it's the same situation for an opposition party.
 

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Gough said:
Is this the first time for a number of years in Australian politics that some distinct ideological differences are appearing between the two major parties? For so long now we have heard a common complaint from voters that both the ALP and the Coalition are too alike, but with the direction the government appears to be heading in that moment, this may no longer be the case. Is this a good thing for Australia?
Personally, while not agreeing with the government's policy direction I do like that we are seeing some real differences in ethos' as it will give the voter a more clear vision as to the sort of country that either party is envisaging for the future.
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Which ideological differences are you talking about?
 
Lester Burnham said:
I don't think the results support the Grauniad's headline. Their analysis is based on one question which is a self assessment of whether someone sees themselves as right or left. But it doesn't indicate whether voters are moving to the left or right in absolute terms.
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An assessment of whether individuals are left or right is always going to be subjective - to measure it in 'absolute terms', what are you measuring? Election votes in this regard are a crude measurement as there's always plenty of noise in the data (e.g. ALP voters may have seen themselves as moving further left but rejected Gillard for governance reasons or for not being left enough).
 
Gough said:
UN votes largely, under the ALP abstained from voting on issues regarding Israel in the UN while under the Coaltion they support resolutions. It's a notable shift in policy.
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That was one vote orchestrated by Bob Carr. He's not there any more.

(btw I think it's a good thread)
 
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swingdog said:
An assessment of whether individuals are left or right is always going to be subjective - to measure it in 'absolute terms', what are you measuring? Election votes in this regard are a crude measurement as there's always plenty of noise in the data (e.g. ALP voters may have seen themselves as moving further left but rejected Gillard for governance reasons or for not being left enough).
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The rest of the survey asks a series of questions that would indicate people's actual views on issues rather than the undefined notion of left and right from the single question that the Guardian used.
 
Lester Burnham said:
The rest of the survey asks a series of questions that would indicate people's actual views on issues rather than the undefined notion of left and right from the single question that the Guardian used.
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It's not just the Guardian that comes to that conclusion - the Australian Electoral Survey measures and finds the same result (see page 41 of the survey report). You might be comforted to know that although there has been a shift left, it's from an original position that was further right and still sits just right of the mean.

Measuring political positions is always messy, whether you're using self-assessment or proxy questions. This one is as good as any other.
 
Huh?

The Guardian's analysis was based on Australian Electoral Survey data. So that is just a repetition of the same result rather than a verification by an alternative method.
 
Lester Burnham said:
Huh?

The Guardian's analysis was based on Australian Electoral Survey data. So that is just a repetition of the same result rather than a verification by an alternative method.
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Correct - I'm saying that the other questions the survey asks on the left-right divide are as good or as bad as the self-assessment one.

The other interesting point from the survey (page 18), is that people don't seem to be as increasingly partisan as some may think. Been hardly any movement from voters from either sets of major parties over the past few elections.
 
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