medusala said:
Social Justice:
A complet load of gibberish formerly quoted ad nauseum by Australia's worst ever premier Joan Kirner.
-Has brought a reality back into Aboriginal affairs
-Has revamped and significantly improved immigration (note story last week that unemployment rate for migrants after 18 mths had halved under the recent changes).
- didnt cut the top rate of tax even though the GST was bought it, a large sop in the name of "social justice"
- the poorest in society have increased their wealth at almost the same rate as the richest, almost unheard of and glibly ignored by lefty media types
- real wages have grown more under Howard than under Hawke and Keating
etc etc
International Relations:
- stopped sucking up to a murdering dictator in Indonesia and helped free the East Timorese
- FTA's with Singapore, Thailand and the USA.
- Australia is a leader of the Cairns group in WTO trade negotiations
- negotiations opened with China and Japan
- a seat at the table with ASEAN (which Keating tried to do for years with complete and utter failure)
- visited China more times than Hawke and Keating ever did
- massive LNG deal with China against fierce opposition from heaps of other countries
- protected Australias national interest in not caving in to lefty demands over Timor Gap.
If Howard is such an embarrassment internationally then why are all these Asian leaders falling over themselves to sign FTA's with Australia.
I agree with you entirely when you talk about all the billions of wasted spending and the high taxes but you have to realise that the vast majority of people agree with him re "reconciliation", refugees etc.

The Cairns group was established by Hawke and Keating, you are aware of that aren't you? (It was set up by Australia in 1986 in order for other small/medium economies reliant on agriculture to have some influence/affect against/over the EU and USA. Had a useful but modest role in keeping agriculture on the WTO’s agenda)
And aboriginal rights
Why does everything have to be about the left and right with you? It's irrelevant both parties have moved right and often stand for the same things, its about the nations prosperity and thats what people often forget and has been illustrated on this board very very clearly.
I shouldnt do this because it will result in you responding but although this has been done, which is in some respects better than the ALP, how do you explain Australia as excelling in social justice when:
- We refuse to ratify Kyoto
- Will not liberate West Papua (to quote you, "still sucking up to Indonesia")
- Won't confront China over Human Rights, rather holding dialogues as it may jeopardise a trade deal
- Howard refusing to meet the Dalai Lama because it would upset Chinese govt.
-Voted against UN resolution calling on Israel to tear down barrier and West Bank, which was backed by the world court. We were one of 6 nations out of 150.
- Ignored human rights issues in China and Indonesia
o Govt. prefers dialogues to confrontation (soft option – don’t want to offend).
-Supports One china policy – didn’t vote for UN resolution for Taiwan’s independence (this one is up for conjecture)
-Refused to go to International Court over the so-called theft of East Timor’s oil (one field – sunrise, is worth $30bn.)
-Criticised by UN relating to the elimination of Racial Discrimination. (we didn’t apologize to the indigenous people in 2000 for the stolen generation and mandatory sentencing in which Aboriginals are 15x more likely to be placed in jail than an Anglo-Saxon person (white)).
-Criticised by UN for condition of detention centres and treatment of refugees (length of time spent there).