"We are a society, not an economy..."

[Bob]

Hi Guys,

Watching the Election Report and TV and it looks very RED! Not sure if that's neccessarily good!

What you say Bob?

N

Nilo,

It does look quite red indeed.

It's the biggest landslide to Labor in 50 years and John Howard is only the second PM in Australia's history since Federation in 1901 to lose his seat.

I noticed a generational shift last night.

All John Howard's supporters were older . . . middle aged and pensioners . . . while Kevin Rudd's supporters were younger . . . thirty somethings down to teenagers.

Just as South Africa changed slowly over the years, so Australia will now morph slowly over the next few years into a different society.

We'll see some changes for the better, some for the worse.

The better changes will be more money for public health, making the waiting lists shorter in accessing some procedures, but this may well be at the expense of private health. At the moment, the Australian gov't subsidises private health premiums 30% to keep them affordable. That may change under Labor, pushing more Australians into the public health system overloading it more. Back to square One!

Private education may become a thing for only the elite in Australia. At the moment, the States are responsible for their own State education systems and support these. The States and Territories around Australia give no money to private schools. The only money going to private schools is from the Australian Federal gov't and now that is also in Labor hands, they may turn the tap off or turn the tap down to lessen money for private schools amking it less affordable for the man in the street to send his or her kid to private school. It may be only for those who can afford it in future years.

Australia's economy is going flat out at the moment.

There are noises about bringing in masses of Asian workers into Australia to do the jobs that Australians don't want to do anymore. They will work for the minimum wage in picking lettuces and strawberries or grapes, driving buses and trucks, and doing most of the low paid jobs that British and European workers won't do for the low pay any longer.

In the 50s and 60s there were the 10 Pound Poms who came by the boatload from Britain to man the factories and fields throughout Australia in its last economic boom period . . . (also under a Liberal gov't)

Nowadays, Poms won't work for the low wages while Asians from China, Phillipines and Thailand will.

This will change the complexion of Australian society over time, probably not so much in my lifetime but certainly in my kid's and my grandchildren's lifetime.

Whether it's a good thing, I leave you to decide. Poms were the same culture, same language, same outlook, same people as Australians in general back in the 50s and 60s so there has been no change in many ways in Australia as a result. Massive Asian immigration will have different dynamics that future generations will have to tackle and accomodate as they arise.

We'll see a push over the next few years for Australia to become a republic and shift away from British institutions that have shaped Australia since its modern beginnings in 1788. A new Australian flag? Maybe, also, just like the new South Africa has a new flag to reflect the change.

I don't know how the hell Labor can do any changes in tackling the global warming crisis.

It will ratify the Kyoto Protocol, yet still keep shipping its coal to India and China for them to keep polluting Earth's atmosphere and add to CO2 amounts.

Their outlook on nuclear power . . . or resistance to it . . . over the past 30 years, has caused Australia to be way behind in nuclear technology. Sweden has a number of nuclear reactors and is a much "cleaner" nation as a result. In the meantime we can experiment on solar power and wind power, hot rocks from deep down generating power, but if we rely on this power today, we'll only produce enough electricity to turn our lights on one day of the week. The other six days will be in darkness if the Greens had their way!

Anyhow . . . . interesting times.

It will be a time when the Labor party starts off implementing its policies with a big bucket of money. The Liberal gov't in Canberra owes no money and is debt-free. The State and Territory gov'ts around Australia and run by Labor have about 70 or 80 billion in debt . . . . typical for a Labour administration that is into spending big.

In time, I anticipate the bucket of cash that Labor has inherited to run dry and taxes will inevitably ahve to rise. Interest rates will creep up and up and up with the big spending pumping money into Australia's bloated economy.

I own my house. I am debt free.

My kids will have to live thro these times.

I hand the baton onto the next generation to solve its own problems.

That was the generational shift I witnessed in Australia last night.

[Nilo]

Hi Bob

Thanks for your reply. I think a lot of us "newbies" feel very uneducated about Australian Politics, but give us time and I'm sure that will change.

I really felt very sorry for Mr Howard last night. He does however seem like someone that takes no nonsense and might be difficult to work with but that is what a Country needs isn't it? A strong leader!

I am affraid that with the Labor Gov now in power salaries will go up but to balance that everything else will go up too so we'll sit where we are right now any how.

At the end of the day it's the willy nilly spending on credit that's eating people's salaries, and the excessive drinking, I can't believe people can afford it!!

Well lets give Mr Rudd a chance and hope he does well and that history doesn't repeat it self and at the next ellection the Libs has to come and fix up Labor's mess!

Lets wait and see!?!

N

Edited November 25, 2007 by Nilo

[Gizmo]

AndreS and Alanb I agree with you 100%!

Not being the most tactful or diplomatic person around, it is probably safer that I should sit on my hands at this point.

However, I will say that I don't believe that I have the right to arrogantly dictate somebody elses chosen path in life. Each to his/her own - remember right vs wrong can be a very grey area.

[Bob]

Nilo,

you don't have to much to worry about, not in the first term of office at least (3 years in Australia's national Parliament)

It will be in successive terms that the real Labor policies will begin to be implemented.

At first, it will be "gently as she goes and don't rock the boat too much"

The new Labor PM is a fairly conservative "Labour" man . . .. he even mentions the words "conservative" to calm people's worries . . . . but the dynamics within the Australian Labor Party that the public don't see is one of factional wheeling and dealing.

Within the A.L.P., we have the right wing "Labor Unity" group (or faction), the Centre-Left faction and the Socialist Left faction with independents that sit in between all over the place.

Kevin Rudd would be to the right of the Labor Party.

He is the "front man" that the Party has put up to win this election. However, he is only one of a number of heavyweights behind the closed doors that make up the "Caucus".

The Caucus dictates policy and there is an "Inner" Caucus of half a dozen blokes that sit around the table and dictate policy on a day-to-day basis and deal with running the government.

Kevin Rudd is just one of these and his weight is in proportion to the clout he can bring.

If the Caucus is made up more of Union people, then we can see Labor Party policy leaning heavily towards that direction over time.

I don't think there will be a wages explosion because the Unions have learnt that this will hurt their members and lower membership as a result.

The Labour Movement learnt that lesson in the mid 1970s under the Prime Ministership of Gough Whitlam when the Airline Pilots struck for a 61% pay rise and all the other unions followed with outrageous wage claims only to usher in, within months, massive unemployment for the next 25 years as the cost of Australian labour went thro the roof.

Labor has brought in some good things into Australia in recent years . . . . . Medicare being only one of them. . . . so I look forward to a change or two in the years to come. Hopefully, now that the economy is going well, we can bring back free University education again for our Australian students

I know that he's got a big bucket of money to implement any of his policies, since the Australian gov't isn't running any debt . . . . . it paid off its last remaining bit of debt a couple of years ago, to much publicity! . . . but the Labor Party isn't beyond flashing the credit card and booking everything up to pay for its policies. It's not the best Party, that I know, that lives within its means.

Time will indeed tell. . . . . especially if it starts to run up lots of debt that will have to be paid off by the Australian tax-payer.

I, for one, have a memory.

Edited November 25, 2007 by Bob

[Guest nc74]

Hi Bob, do you think if the Aussies see things going south with the labour party they will "boot" him out in the next election? Or will they keep him there for keeps sake?

[Bob]

Invariably throughout Australia's history since Federation in 1901, governments have been given two terms of office, each term of office being 3 years.

Aussies don't like to know they made a dumb choice last time, so vote at least a second time to see if they will improve or rectify the situation if it all goes badly in the first term of office.

So, we can assume with that outlook that the Labor Party will be in for at least the next two terms.