Australian Politics , Labor is back with a New Look

Labor is back, it is a New Labor
by GDL
9 May 2016

It was predictable that for the last general elections the ALP (Australian Labor Party) was going towards a catastrophic defeat because of the divisions, poor leadership and cheap politics carried out by Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. The wave of disconted so so much against the ALP that the unpopular, conservative and controversial Tony Abbott ( Mikey Mouse gran zoreil) won the elections with a large majority where the ALP lost 21 Seats.
The polls today showed that the table has turned and Labor is in a winning position. This looks like a miracle when looking back as the results of 2013 general elections and considering that Bill Shorten, the new Labor leader, has never been more popular that the sitting Prime Ministers. What are the factors that have turned the voters against the conservative government even though the have a new popular leader, Malcolm Turnbull ? To answer this question we have to go back and look at the past three years of the Liberal-National records in government.

The conservative right wing government of Tony Abbott, as soon in power, showed their true colours and in their 2014 budget presented by Joe Hockey (Donald Duck also known as the fat man) smashed the working class, the families, the pensioners, the students, the mums and dads. They make big cuts to Education and Health and proclaimed that from now on Australians have to live within their means, The coalition had campaign hard and loud on the ALP economic mismanagement, that the budget deficit was unprecedented, the level of debt as a percentage of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) was too high and there is urgent need to cut spending and bring the budget back to surplus as soon as possible. The way to achieve this for Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse was to cut welfare and the socials services as declared that the age of entitlement is over otherwise we will end up like Greece. Australians are no fools, We can never be compared to Greece or any of the PIGS as we have a solid economy which keeps growing. We have  unlimited  mineral resources (including uranium), we have a healthy Agro Industry and we are a net exporter of energy.We have strong commercial ties with our Asian partners: China, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia among others.

Budget deficit is not a cancer, we have been living with it for years and not many countries have a budget surplus these days. Deficit or surplus is just an accounting exercise and a temporary situation which does not mean that our country is bankrupt and that soon the IMF will come in tell us what to do. The way to surplus is a gradual path which should not be done by hard and drastic measures and surely not at the expense of poor, the working class and pensioners and this is what the coalition government wanted to do with the 2014 budget. The irony or paradox is that the same people who was crying foul and scaring the voters about budget deficit, have themselves blown out the deficit.When they took office it was $36 billion and today it is $39.9 billion !!!! Suddenly there is no budget emergency and no surplus in sight.
Even though Abbott and Hockey had to back off and eat their humble pies, the Australia voters have not forgotten their threats and their true colours. The government led by Mikey Mouse and Donald Duck never recovered from that blunder and since then the polls were showing that the government was in trouble. The polls were so bad that the Liberals removed their sitting PM and their Treasurer, the same thing for which they have nailed the coffin of the ALP at the last elections.
So, to be in a better position the Liberals chose a new leader, Malcolm Turnbull, a popular figure even among the Labor voters as he looks a nice guy, not arrogant, not a conservative and he presented himself like a social democrat or a centrist. He believes in climate change and is for marriage equality. Immediately after the change of leadership and PM, the polls bounced back in favour of the government. But there started the trouble for the Liberals, the ex-PM and the die hard conservatives and far right wingers of the party, like Cory Bernardy, Kevin Andrews, Eric Abbett joined by the conservative right wingers journalists and commentators like Andrew Bolt, Alan Jones, Chris Kenny and Rohan Dean, Miranda Devine, Ray Adley, etc... started to undermine the leadership of Malcolm Turnbull. The worm is already in the fruit and division within the Liberals was obvious.
Under pressure from the conservative wing, Malcolm Turnbull backed off from all his progressive ideas and became Mr Do Nothing. Indeed for the past six months that he has been leader he did NOTHING to upset the conservatives. He was going in circle with some policies without implementing any. His excuse was that people should wait for the May 2016 where all will be revealed. Meanwhile Malcolm's popularity was melting like snow in the sun.
The famous and long awaited budget was presented by the new Treasurer Scott Morrison last Tuesday and the most striking part of it was tax cuts to small and big business and tax cuts for those who earn $80 K and more. This tax  cut was damming as it again showed the true colours of the Liberal i.e protecting the big end of town, the  rich, the wealthy. Those earning one million dollars or more got a tax cut of some $17,000 while the working class and the middle class, the battlers, the teachers, nurses, council workers, shift workers, got nothing from the budget.
On the other hand the taxpayers will continue to pay for the BMWs, the Mercedes and travels of the business owners and whatever they use to offset the tax not to mention how the taxpayers will continue to pay for the negative gearing of those who own up to 49 houses!!!!

So this is the backdrop. These are only some factors that enraged the voters and made them come back to New Labor who meanwhile is united and has had the courage to put forward some brave policies and continues to fight for the working and middle class  and  for more funding to the schools and hospitals, putting people first.

The elections are still far away (on the 2nd July) the campaign has started. It is not to say that the ALP will win but according to the recent polls, the government is not sure neither  of retaining government. The bets are open, there is no favourite at the time of writing.

The morale; You cannot take the voters fore-granted or take them for a ride. They know how to react.