Positive Signs
While I have been trying to decide lately whether Beazley and his ALP homiez are as totally adrift and clueless as ruthlessly described by Mark Latham, or merely snookered by far more wily political opponents, my attention has been drawn to the conservative side of politics. In addition to the usual nonsense there have been some very positive signs of late.
Possibly the most encouraging development is Petro Georgiou, George Brandis, Malcolm Turnbull and friends opposing the proposed sedition laws. While Labor’s response has been too weak and too late, we can thank these Liberal party backbenchers for standing up for all of us who value freedom of speech. Petro Georgiou has been particularly impressive because of his ability to peer past the obviously wrong sedition laws and into the more subtle matters of judicial and procedural oversight which are severely lacking in the Anti-Terror laws, as I understand them anyway.
Liberal member Steve Ciobo went further in a rather impassioned call for a Bill of Rights. Steve, speaking as someone who will probably never vote for you (because you represent a Queensland electorate I am unlikely to live in), I thank you anyway. If ever there is a time for a Bill of Rights in Australia, it is now.
Meanwhile the treasurer Mr Costello has been providing the light relief. First we had Miranda Devine outing him as a wrestling fan. Then there was this amazing avian-themed exchange in parliament (pg 22). What a democracy we live in; bet you wouldn’t hear things like that in the United States Congress.
[All these links courtesy of Crikey who have apparently mistaken me for an Influential Australian Blogger and bestowed onto me a subscription to their email service. As you can tell, I’m enjoying it so far.]
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