How would you describe your self politically?

Where do you fit on the scale

  • Communist

    Votes: 1 1.9%
  • Socialist

    Votes: 6 11.3%
  • Greens

    Votes: 5 9.4%
  • Labor left

    Votes: 13 24.5%
  • labor right

    Votes: 8 15.1%
  • Small l liberal

    Votes: 5 9.4%
  • Liberal right

    Votes: 4 7.5%
  • Libertarian

    Votes: 2 3.8%
  • Hard right

    Votes: 1 1.9%
  • Fascist

    Votes: 2 3.8%
  • Jack watts

    Votes: 6 11.3%

  • Total voters
    53

Blue1980

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+1 for this... Have definitely become more progressive socially over the year...

And yes, very depressed at present. I feel like a voter of no nation...

Historically I was that, my deserting of the libs coincided with the rise of Abbott.

Now I can’t envision a time I wouldn’t vote labor, and I have probably lurched further left as I’ve gotten older, but I still tend to hate bleeding heart leftists who seem upset no matter what (basically flip side of the far right). I’m also aware stuff has to be paid for somehow, and you can’t just spend spend spend.

If labor can remain economically responsible I’ll be happy, higher taxes/rates is an ok balance for a lot of good s**t getting done. Like everything it’s a balance, I’ve never been a fan of the selling off of public assets though.

Now in saying all this I’m sure many hard libs would tell me they wouldn’t want some dirty lefty like me anyway, which is exactly their problem.
 

DaRick

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Historically I was that, my deserting of the libs coincided with the rise of Abbott.

Now I can’t envision a time I wouldn’t vote labor, and I have probably lurched further left as I’ve gotten older, but I still tend to hate bleeding heart leftists who seem upset no matter what (basically flip side of the far right). I’m also aware stuff has to be paid for somehow, and you can’t just spend spend spend.

If labor can remain economically responsible I’ll be happy, higher taxes/rates is an ok balance for a lot of good s**t getting done. Like everything it’s a balance, I’ve never been a fan of the selling off of public assets though.

Now in saying all this I’m sure many hard libs would tell me they wouldn’t want some dirty lefty like me anyway, which is exactly their problem.

Yes I don't care for the SJW-left. My perception is that they too often jump upon trendy but relatively insubstantial causes (video gamers) while not giving genuine social causes (poverty, homelessness) due attention. They also divide people by engaging in identity politics, so people are less likely to see each other as fellow citizens and look out for them accordingly, both politically and in any given local community. You see this in so many areas of the contemporary US.

To be fair, there is an SJW-right and it is epitomised by Cory Bernardi and his obsession with 'holiday eggs'.
 
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Badesumofu

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I went with Labor Left because I'm an ALP member and associate with the left faction. But it's worth pointing out that our left faction is actually called 'the socialist left'. So dropping The Greens (many of whom are really small 'l' liberals who care deeply about the environment) in between Labor Left and Socialist is a little jarring.
 
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I went with Labor Left because I'm an ALP member and associate with the left faction. But it's worth pointing out that our left faction is actually called 'the socialist left'. So dropping The Greens (many of whom are really small 'l' liberals who care deeply about the environment) in between Labor Left and Socialist is a little jarring.
It is.

This is a temporary thing i think.

Im utterly surprised that noone has started a liberal greens party - you could make a fine political career out of it in upper class inner city electorates on a simple platform of voting mostly with the libs but leveraging your vote for green issues.
 

Chameleon75

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It is.

This is a temporary thing i think.

Im utterly surprised that noone has started a liberal greens party - you could make a fine political career out of it in upper class inner city electorates on a simple platform of voting mostly with the libs but leveraging your vote for green issues.

So pretty much what the greens do now, talk left then vote with the coalition
 
Economically centre-left and socially centre-left, but environmentally quite left.

In practice this has meant mostly ALP voting with one or two Greens or independents thrown in over the years.

I judge parties on their merits and will vote for them if their views align with my own, so in that sense I don’t consider myself a voter who votes strictly on party lines. Having said that, not once in 12 years of voting have I found myself aligned enough with a LNP platform to consider voting that way.

My environmentalist bent tends to play itself out in contributing financially to causes (an example being the Save the Devils programme in Tasmania) more than in my voting behaviour in practice, I suppose.
 

Fire

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Mar 12, 2003
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Whatever lane describes someone who:

- Values personal freedoms such as speech and the right to chose what to put in their body and how to end their life etc.

- Values strong government regulation in the corporate sector to protect the environment and those most vulnerable

- thinks the government should own natural monopolies such as telecomunication, public transport infrastructure (including roads), electricity etc.

- thinks the government should have a dominant presence in every industry that can be considered an essential service, such as healthcare, post, education, etc.

- thinks the government should own natural resources and charge mining companies a appropriate royalties for extracting them.

I typically vote greens then labour.
 

Moody Blue

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Definately Labor Left. Can not stand the Greens, as they are too rigid in their views and refuse to compromise because of their idealogical purity.

Labor left, the Greens and Independents governed together for 3 years. We ended up with a carbon tax we were promised we would never have, and a very sizeable debt, which has continued to grow.
The Left are the flavour of the month and will remain that way for the immediate future. Let's wait and see what comes out of Labor's conference in December. The left are pushing for open borders and Shorten is fighting a losing battle. When another 50,000 immigrants come in, and our budget blows out by 10 or 20 billion, then people will stop and ponder. Even then anyone who says anything will be labeled a racist.
Since 2007 (11 years) Aust has gone from +50 billion in the bank and the credit card was paid off. Now the Federal Govt owes 550 billion.
Not interested in allocating blame, as both Parties are too blame.
The States owe:
WA:45 billion (under Labor/LNP)
SA:15 billion (under Labor)
NSW: projected to reach 120 billion (under LNP)
VIC: Will reach 60 billion based on Govt spending promises. (under Labor)

The problem with the left is that they suffer a form of dyslexia when it comes to numbers. They never address the debt, and just believe it will miraculously disappear. Tax the rich and Corporations. All they know is that they want something and the Govt should pay for it.

At some stage we are going to have to pay this debt back. If we don't, one day then a slick politician will stand up and tell us to decide what we can live without? Medicare or Social security including pensions, the dole and family payments. Who knows they may just even just grab our Super and promise to pay it back someday.

Then we have technology and the pressure this will place on employment. Less people employed, less tax $$ for the Govt, more demands on social welfare. The rich are always going to be rich. They may occasionally re-arrange the deck chairs, but they will always stay one step ahead. If necessary they will move out and take their business to somewhere where they will be welcomed.

I feel sorry for anyone under 30...They are going to have a very tough 40 or so years.
 
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Labor left, the Greens and Independents governed together for 3 years. We ended up with a carbon tax we were promised we would never have, and a very sizeable debt, which has continued to grow.
The Left are the flavour of the month and will remain that way for the immediate future. Let's wait and see what comes out of Labor's conference in December. The left are pushing for open borders and Shorten is fighting a losing battle. When another 50,000 immigrants come in, and our budget blows out by 10 or 20 billion, then people will stop and ponder. Even then anyone who says anything will be labeled a racist.
Since 2007 (11 years) Aust has gone from +50 billion in the bank and the credit card was paid off. Now the Federal Govt owes 550 billion.
Not interested in allocating blame, as both Parties are too blame.
The States owe:
WA:45 billion (under Labor/LNP)
SA:15 billion (under Labor)
NSW: projected to reach 120 billion (under LNP)
VIC: Will reach 60 billion based on Govt spending promises. (under Labor)

The problem with the left is that they suffer a form of dyslexia when it comes to numbers. They never address the debt, and just believe it will miraculously disappear. Tax the rich and Corporations. All they know is that they want something and the Govt should pay for it.

At some stage we are going to have to pay this debt back. If we don't, one day then a slick politician will stand up and tell us to decide what we can live without? Medicare or Social security including pensions, the dole and family payments. Who knows they may just even just grab our Super and promise to pay it back someday.

Then we have technology and the pressure this will place on employment. Less people employed, less tax $$ for the Govt, more demands on social welfare. The rich are always going to be rich. They may occasionally re-arrange the deck chairs, but they will always stay one step ahead. If necessary they will move out and take their business to somewhere where they will be welcomed.

I feel sorry for anyone under 30...They are going to have a very tough 40 or so years.
Have to take issue with wa

That was almost all under the libs - and in their defence we faced a crippling recession with no help from the rest of the country - we were on our own. The libs went on a spending spree that was in hindsight excessive - but when you consider that in country wa we still have big 100 year old businesses going broke weekly and small businesses going broke daily - thousands of people deserting towns etc etc - you ask what else were they to do - if they hadnt spent that money the recession would have been worse.
 

Chameleon75

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Labors political roots suggest that they should

It’s a romantic notion, but they are an opposition they can take a principled position and refuse to negotiate and deal themselves out of decision making and watch the legislation pass which is contrary with their political roots with crossbenchers and independents support, or they can negotiate and try and have it amended to bring it closer to their political roots. Protesting and allowing your supporters to be saddled with legislation harsher than it needs to be is not a victory.
 
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It’s a romantic notion, but they are an opposition they can take a principled position and refuse to negotiate and deal themselves out of decision making and watch the legislation pass which is contrary with their political roots with crossbenchers and independents support, or they can negotiate and try and have it amended to bring it closer to their political roots. Protesting and allowing your supporters to be saddled with legislation harsher than it needs to be is not a victory.
Make no mistake - i agree with you

Ffs wa labor just approved fracking in the state - what further evidence does one need :(
 

DaRick

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The problem with the left is that they suffer a form of dyslexia when it comes to numbers. They never address the debt, and just believe it will miraculously disappear. Tax the rich and Corporations. All they know is that they want something and the Govt should pay for it.

Debt is a worry, but its private debt Australia should be worrying about, much more than government debt. Our government debt is quite low by OECD standards; our household debt is very high. If Australia ever suffers a genuine recession, it will hit us hard because people will be focusing more on paying down debt rather than spending money (Rudd's stimulus helped to avert this).

At some stage we are going to have to pay this debt back. If we don't, one day then a slick politician will stand up and tell us to decide what we can live without? Medicare or Social security including pensions, the dole and family payments. Who knows they may just even just grab our Super and promise to pay it back someday.

I agree that the government could certainly tamper with super, which is why I would be reluctant to place much in it if I was a Gen Z/Millennial/Gen X (if you're a Boomer knock yourself out).

This idea that Australia needs to pay its debt back is misconceived because 1) it is not excessive and 2) governments are not households because they have far more latitude to increase revenue if necessary. Additionally, unlike households (and EU member states) our government can print money when required to finance expenditure, so it cannot simply 'run out of money'. It just has to be careful not to print too much too quickly ala Zimbabwe/Weimar Germany, otherwise serious inflation (or even hyperinflation) might result.

Then we have technology and the pressure this will place on employment. Less people employed, less tax $$ for the Govt, more demands on social welfare.

Yeah, this is a problem. You have no choice but to tax the people who own the machines/robots. Raiding tax havens and instituting a stronger mining tax would also help.

The rich are always going to be rich. They may occasionally re-arrange the deck chairs, but they will always stay one step ahead. If necessary they will move out and take their business to somewhere where they will be welcomed.

What do you mean by 'leave'? Not do business here?

Australia is a regional power and a G20 member - by not doing business here businesses will lose an important market and I doubt they want to do that.

Most of the wealthy will also not leave - they are still human beings with family ties, rather than entirely cold-blooded reptilians (maybe Gina/Rupert are an exception).

I feel sorry for anyone under 30...They are going to have a very tough 40 or so years.

Yeah, I do feel that the direction we've been heading in over the past 20 years is not the best.
 

Badesumofu

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Debt is a worry, but its private debt Australia should be worrying about, much more than government debt. Our government debt is quite low by OECD standards; our household debt is very high.

This is too often overlooked. The Liberals keep going on about a great big new debt and people just sort of accept it. Rudd Government put us into debt in order to avoid a recession. It was worth it. Even then - the problem isn't what Labor spent, it's what Hoawrd and Costello squandered. We should have been flush when the GFC hit, should have been able to stimulate the economy without going into debt in the first place.

But despite that, and despite that most of the key financial reforms of the past 35 years were actually made by Labor (like floating the dollar for example) people still believe the furphy that the Libs are 'better with the economy'. They aren't. They've generated just as much debt in their 5 years as Labor did in its six, only without the excuse of avoiding a recession.
 

Badesumofu

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Some of you seem to believe the Greens should pass whatever Labor Right want. Bzzt, wrong.

I don't think the Greens 'should' do anything. They're an entirely separate party and what they do is a matter for them. I do find that attitude a little funny given how hurt the Greens have been acting that Victorian Labor 'turned their guns on us', though.

What people should not do is vote for the Greens if they want to see Labor's policies implemented.
 

Chameleon75

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I don't think the Greens 'should' do anything. They're an entirely separate party and what they do is a matter for them. I do find that attitude a little funny given how hurt the Greens have been acting that Victorian Labor 'turned their guns on us', though.

What people should not do is vote for the Greens if they want to see Labor's policies implemented.

They even vote against their own policies, such as social housing, can’t have peasants in the newly gentrified suburbs.
 
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