Opinion Politics (warning, may contain political views you disagree with)

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Belnakor said:
McGowan was struggling prior to COVID. There is no doubt about that. Very middle of the road. He'd have got re-elected but probably have lost a few seats.
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I'm not so sure. He obviously wasn't anywhere near as popular as he is now but you still have to look at it in the context of the two options for leadership. And not just the Premier and Opposition Leader roles but the teams underneath them as well.

Mike Nahan was only put in there as a seat warmer. Liza Harvey made no ground in her time. And although I'm all for young candidates Zak has unfortunately done more damage than good in his honeymoon period so far. And it doesn't get any better when you look deeper at the dearth of talent underneath them over the past 4 or so years.

The problem is they've never really proved they've moved past the dire cultural issues and controversies (like Buswell) beyond some weak lip service and actions without any real substance. It's one thing to appoint a non-typical Liberal leader - Nahan (an American), Harvey (a women) and Kirkup (young) but if your party continues to white-ant them then it becomes pretty clear the party itself hasn't really changed, they've just freshened up the home page hoping voters think it looks new.

The WA Young Libs are still chock full of nothing but 'silver spoon' boys from privileged white families. I have several friends who are members of the Liberal Party who tell me it is very much still as old, crusty and out of date as it always has been. Some of them are trying to change it but it is like trying to convince a West Coast supporter that the team they support winning a premiership doesn't make them any smarter about football.

I personally wanted Ben Wyatt to become Labor's leader rather than McGowan because I think he is arguably the most talented politician out of WA, along with being an incredibly ethical person but unfortunately that didn't (and isn't going to) happen. I'm not a huge fan of McGowan but he's still a mile ahead of the recent Lib would-be Premier candidates. Is it perfect, no. But can anyone keep a straight face and simultaneously say that the current Libs gaining power would be anything but an unmitigated disaster? We can (and should) complain but the alternative makes me shudder just thinking about it.
 
There’s nothing special about McGowan, he’s just played the game of politics well.
When you make ‘tough’ decisions, they’re not that tough when 85% of the polling public agree with you. It allows you to say we did this & we did that & even ‘I’ on occasion & the voters think, ooh isn’t he strong.
When there is a decision to be made that may not please most of the voters, he pulls the “we’ll take our advice from the chief medical officer” card, no we or I will do this.
He’s pulled the right strings & good luck to him, with the added bonus of a non existent opposition.
 

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Purple_Turtle said:
The West's coverage of McGowan for at least the past year has been straight-up sycophantic. One opinion piece criticising McGowan's record isn't a conspiracy to remove Labor.
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The point I was trying to make ( I’m not very eloquent ), was that pre Covid, both parties had their problems. Libs were practically rudderless with internal party grumbles, and Labor was feeling it’s way.

A balanced well written article, would have painted the whole picture.

Really it was the kindergarten level journalism that got me. I was always told to thouroughly research your topic, before putting pen to paper.
 
Spitty_the_alpaca said:
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Can we get all of Caroline Di Russi's posts on here. I'd like to have another look at the one where she's dressed up for the Young Liberals Gala Ball or the one where she thought her skills as a commercial litigator gave her the know-how to explain why Clive Palmer would win his court case against the WA govt.

You may as well just post stuff from Liberal Party press releases. Its hardly the point of the forum to just post propaganda without adding anything of your own.
 
Taylor said:
I think we can discuss points on their own merits without discounting who said them and who they are associated with.

Yes, that means some bad people will have good ideas occasionally.
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Is there any discussion here? Its just someone posting a party line without having anything to contribute. Is there any point to it, other than saying I've read this, which is only an assumption I'm making?
 
masai said:
The point I was trying to make ( I’m not very eloquent ), was that pre Covid, both parties had their problems. Libs were practically rudderless with internal party grumbles, and Labor was feeling it’s way.

A balanced well written article, would have painted the whole picture.

Really it was the kindergarten level journalism that got me. I was always told to thouroughly research your topic, before putting pen to paper.
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Yeah, but only one party is government. The ambulance ramping "crisis" worsening on Labor's watch, failure to keep election promises to create 50,000 jobs, failure to keep promises to not put up power bills and other fees, trying to permanently delete vital planned pieces of infrastructure like Roe and delays and cost blow-outs to Metronet aren't equivalent to an uninspiring opposition leader.

An opinion article is there to give the writers opinion on an issue (in this case the performance of the Labor government prior to Covid and whether they deserve the level of power they'll likely have after the election.) It's a bit silly to complain that the writer should be constantly going off on tangents that have nothing to do with his point (the performance of the opposition.)
 
stax on the mull said:
Is there any discussion here? Its just someone posting a party line without having anything to contribute. Is there any point to it, other than saying I've read this, which is only an assumption I'm making?
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I agree that whenever someone posts something external it should be expected that they provide a comment on it that builds on the content.

I'm not sure it's such a bad thing for points of view to be introduced to people here but I think we should expect a comment from someone when they do it.
 

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Bicco said:
If the COVID restrictions go, how are citizens being restricted?
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He's been in talks with the police commissioner to make compulsory registration with the police when you move across the border permanent. That's a police state. It's possibly the most alarming statement from an incumbent political leader in this country since the days of Joh Bjelke
 
Clems Knee said:
This is a beat up, by people who should, but will never, know better. Rather than post crap from Eagles fans and Twitter feeds, post the whole conversation:
www.abc.net.au

WA Premier walks back border declaration, commits to removing G2G passes

Hours after flagging an extension of the state's "controlled border" following a decline in methamphetamine imports during the COVID-19 pandemic, West Australian Premier Mark McGowan now says the COVID-era G2G application system will cease with the pandemic.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au


"Our border at Eucla has slowed drug importation.

"On the border, we have staff that check for bananas and avocados, surely we can have people there checking for meth as well.

"And if civil libertarians or the like don't like that, my argument would be that keeping meth out of WA is very important.

"Obviously, if staff are there checking for bananas, tomatoes and avocados, I don't think it is unreasonable to have other staff there checking for meth, heroin and cocaine."
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I’m just reposting this so that the people who are repeating the lie that somehow McGowan wants to keep the borders close forever or act as Joh Bjieke-Peterson can be made aware (again) that this is a beat up by desperate Liberal supporters.
 
Clems Knee said:
I’m just reposting this so that the people who are repeating the lie that somehow McGowan wants to keep the borders close forever or act as Joh Bjieke-Peterson can be made aware (again) that this is a beat up by desperate Liberal supporters.
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It's not a beat up. He was in talks to make it compulsory to register with police every time you cross a border. Forever. The fact he has backpedalled doesn't mean his authoritarian tendencies haven't been exposed
 
Square Peg said:
He's been in talks with the police commissioner to make compulsory registration with the police when you move across the border permanent. That's a police state. It's possibly the most alarming statement from an incumbent political leader in this country since the days of Joh Bjelke
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What happens at the moment when you cross the border?
I live in Tasmania so the police or government could easily track of I ever leave. I get we're an island.
 
Square Peg said:
It's not a beat up. He was in talks to make it compulsory to register with police every time you cross a border. Forever. The fact he has backpedalled doesn't mean his authoritarian tendencies haven't been exposed
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No. You are repeating a lie. The quote I gave was from midday, before he was claimed to backpedal. There was no plan to maintain the G2G. The plan was to keep manning the borders, as Agriculture officers have been doing for decades, so as to check for drugs crossing in to WA.

Authoritarian tendencies? Lol.
 
Taylor said:
I look forward to McGowan setting up a checkpoint up north where a significant amount of drugs enter the country around a particular set of islands.
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Like quarantine of international arrivals, that would be a federal government responsibility. Now if Dutton could just do his job instead of incarcerating families on Christmas Island for years...
 
Clems Knee said:
No. You are repeating a lie. The quote I gave was from midday, before he was claimed to backpedal. There was no plan to maintain the G2G. The plan was to keep manning the borders, as Agriculture officers have been doing for decades, so as to check for drugs crossing in to WA.

Authoritarian tendencies? Lol.
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Are you intentionally ignoring my quote of your post where I posted an actual quote from McGowan saying he wanted to keep the GTG pass after Covid?
 
Clems Knee said:
No. You are repeating a lie. The quote I gave was from midday, before he was claimed to backpedal. There was no plan to maintain the G2G. The plan was to keep manning the borders, as Agriculture officers have been doing for decades, so as to check for drugs crossing in to WA.

Authoritarian tendencies? Lol.
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You're the one that's lying. This doesn't sound authoritarian to you? Note the timing - on Tuesday MORNING.


Just 11 days out from the WA election, Mr McGowan — who enjoys an enormous lead in opinion polls — on Tuesday morning revealed he was in discussions with WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson over how the state could maintain border controls into the future, citing their effectiveness in curtailing the flow of illegal drugs.
That would include examining whether the G2G system — under which the entry of visitors into the state from states deemed to be “very low risk” of spreading coronavirus is approved by police and logged — could remain indefinitely. Drug use in WA had reduced by about 25 per cent over the course of the pandemic due to disruptions of supply, Mr McGowan said, and expanding the border restrictions could help maintain that progress.
“If civil libertarians and the like don’t like that, my argument would be that keeping meth out of Western Australia is very, very important,” he said.
 
Bicco said:
What happens at the moment when you cross the border?
I live in Tasmania so the police or government could easily track of I ever leave. I get we're an island.
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Yes pre COVID police could work out if you had left Tasmania - they would need to go to a court and convince the judge your threat to the public was such that they could subpoena airlines to reveal your travel. So targeting you with reasonable suspicion that you've done wrong, and judicial oversight.
Slightly different don't you think to have every citizen up front being forced to register personal details with police , who then at their sole discretion give you permission in the form of a permit., to cross a border?
One is a police state, and what McGowan was exploring with the police commissioner
 
Square Peg said:
You're the one that's lying. This doesn't sound authoritarian to you? Note the timing - on Tuesday MORNING.


Just 11 days out from the WA election, Mr McGowan — who enjoys an enormous lead in opinion polls — on Tuesday morning revealed he was in discussions with WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson over how the state could maintain border controls into the future, citing their effectiveness in curtailing the flow of illegal drugs.
That would include examining whether the G2G system — under which the entry of visitors into the state from states deemed to be “very low risk” of spreading coronavirus is approved by police and logged — could remain indefinitely. Drug use in WA had reduced by about 25 per cent over the course of the pandemic due to disruptions of supply, Mr McGowan said, and expanding the border restrictions could help maintain that progress.
“If civil libertarians and the like don’t like that, my argument would be that keeping meth out of Western Australia is very, very important,” he said.
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Your McGovern quote is a small subset of the quote that I posted.
The bit you left out was that it was talking about having staff checking for drugs as well as bananas and avocados.

He was clear that this is what he was talking about at the time. He further clarified because the scare mongering llamas among us started spreading utter bullshit.
 
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