It's time for a new Australian political party

Comments made at the launch today of Mark Latham's biography confirms that Australians made the right decision last October. Latham, the guy who lead the Labor Party into the last federal election, the guy who tried to convince Australians that they were the right party to lead the country, today came out and said:

He called the current leader Mr Beazley as a "stand-for-nothing" leader. He also blasts three of Labor's state premiers - Bob Carr, Peter Beattie and Geoff Gallop - as "A-grade arseholes".

Less than a year after asking the electorate to vote the party and himself into government, he now says Labor is "beyond repair, beyond reform".

"It is not an organisation I can be optimistic about," he says.

Mr Latham says the party has become a "very conservative institution, run by conservative machine men (from all factions) so it is well suited to a conservative, stand-for-nothing type of leader".

Peter Beattie, the Queensland Premier, introduced Latham last year with these words:

John Howard asks us to trust him.

Trust?

Look up the words "John Howard non core promises" on Google -- and you get 33,400 entries.

John Howard's policies have widened the gap between rich and poor.

We need a leader who will unite us as a Nation so that we all prosper....

...instead of a leader dividing us for his own profit through wedge politics.

In Mark Latham, Labor is offering a fresh face, with new ideas and a commitment to a future for everyone in this country.

Unite the country? What about uniting the ALP?

Michelle Grattan tries to sweep it all under the carpet by saying Latham is "selfish". That may be true, but the ALP thought he was the best guy they had to lead the party to the election. What does that say about them as a party? This bloke is the best they had to offer? And they tried to pitch him to Australians as the right guy to be our PM??

So... where does that leave us. The ALP are stuffed. The Coalition lied to us, invaded Iraq for no good reason other than "George wants us to", but at least they haven't screwed up the economy. The Democrats are pretty much finished. We've got a bunch of fundamentalist homophobic Christians winning seats. Our political options are a mess.

I think it's time we set up a new party. A party for the 21st century. The pro-technology, pro-transparency, pro-euthanasia, pro-republic party. A party that isn't in the pockets of corporate interests, the unions, or right-wing Christians. A party for the 18 - 40 demographic.

The Blogger Party.

Comments

[Tony]

Cam for PM

I agree with just about all that you said about how bad our political situation is at. We are basically a 2nd class America doing whatever Bush wants us to do. I bet if the situation was reversed he wouldn't be so willing to help us unless he knew he oculd gain something from it.

I am not a huge follower of politics but I don't like Howard and I can't believe Costello can imagine being Prime Minister. I hate him even more than I do Howard and I am sure a lot would agree with that.

Politics aren't moving with the times I don't think. They are still governed by how things were 30-40 years ago and not moving with the future and are becoming dinosaurs in some of the things they say and do. I think they are just too old and we need a younger generation to come in make their way to the top.

I don't know. I know that Governments are needed to make countries run smoothly but I think too many governments are in not for the people they supposedly serve but for themselves and their egos.

I probably don't make much sense, except for my first line, but then again politics isn't my strong area.

[Rob Barac]

Funny,

At the time of the last election I saw Latham as an interim leader for the ALP, someone that they could burn against a seemingly unbeatable John Howard and then eject from the role.

Dismayed when Beazley was prematurely elected to replace Latham, I still see Beazly as an interim sacrificial lamb... hopefully to make way for Simon Crean.

The unfortunate thing that has happened in Australia (like the USA); is that you have a leader with strong convictions about a polarising issue campaigning on the strength of his actions, and another leader campaigning with a platform that recriminates the countries involvement in that same issue.

Bottom line: No one likes to be told that their country is a nation of jingoistic resource whores. Even if that is mostly true only of it's leaders.

[Paul]

It's funny how much the political situation in the UK is similar to that in Australia. We have a leader who has lied to us countless times and a political base that is concerned about their next pay check rather than getting down to solve problems. Whenever something goes wrong and hits a media frenzy, the government reacts with one of their 'inquiries' that last for months, maybe even years and release the findings once the media interest has died down. So they manage to dodge the important issues in this way, usually leaving the problems for 'the next guy/next government'. I agree with Tony in that government is really working with the mindset of the 1970s, afraid of technology and the public. Government really needs an overhaul, communication should be at the heart, not lies and mis-information.

I find the biggest problem in the UK is that Blair is really an idealistic dictator, once he has made his mind up, no matter how erroneous he is, he will pursue conclusion to a fault. He convinces himself that he is right, rarely listens to the public, and even if he does, he gets the message wrong. If there's anyone in I've ever known in desperate need of a blog, it's him :)
I'm not sure what Howard is like, but if he's anything like Blair, I feel very sympathetic to all Australians.

[Raduza]

Oh great, here we go. Remember when some guy said 'Hey let's start a podcast' last year?

Now look where that got him.

And now he's all 'Let's start a political party'... ;)