HOT OFF THE PRESS. Some 5 minutes ago I sent through my resignation letter to the Liberal Party of Australia, WA Division, and strangely enough it feels good. I’m not going to go into all the details of why I’ve finally decided, after 14 dedicated years of service I decided to quit (like anyone in the Liberal Party could really give a shit about me anyway), but after a long time in the Blogosphere it means I can finally talk about any issue I want to without having to worry about it. As I wrote at the Blog Herald yesterday the bastard also went through a bullshit process of office restructure to get rid of me, and finally made me “redundant” on Wednesday, some 4 days before Christmas. Now, I’m not going to run around the garden naked shouting words of joy (my wife won’t let me drink at the momemt….wonder why) but it means 1. No employee to worry about 2. No party to worry about. FREEDOM!
So now what….bugger, I hate politics so much at this point in time that despite fantising about writing a political blog for many years I’m not all that keen at this point in time…maybe in the new year.
Why I was a Liberal, and one of the reasons I’m happy I left
I can see a couple of my Australian blogging friends being shocked if they ever read this, because my role as a staffer (see propogandist in the dictionary, if you live in the South West of Western Australia and have had Liberal Party shit in your letterbox or crap in the paper, chances are I wrote it) and member of the Liberal Party has for a long time been my little blogosphere secret. But I feel its necessary to make an explanation as to why I was a Liberal.
I was a Liberal because I don’t believe in big government.
Of course, in retrospect this is a joke. Under the Federal Liberal Government, government is bigger than its ever been. FTA, FTB, Childcare rebate, blah, blah, blah….I celebrated when Howard was elected in 96 and reduced the public service. The real truth today of course is that its bigger than its ever been and the Howard Government spends more on social security benefits as a percentage of GDP than big red Gough Whitlam ever did. Remember the baby bonus? I was working at a Credit Union at the time and I’ve never seen a bigger crowd of white trash mothers lined up with their trollies at Woolworths Liquor in my life to spend the $600 on grog. It was nothing more than a vote buying bribe.
The Liberal Party has lost its way. It no longer believes in small government and individual liberties. Take a look at my local division for example. The WA Liberal Party campaigned against Sunday Trading nto because it fundementaly believed that Sunday trading was evil but because the Independent Grocers Association, the body representing the only people allowed to open on a Sunday, gave a bloody great big donation to marginal seats campaigns.
On social issues I was also probably a bit more conservative when I was younger but as I’ve grown older I’ve become less so. Sure, I’m against boat people, illegal fishing and people rorting the dole like everyone else is. But things like Gay Marriage I diverge. Put it this way, if marriage is so special in religous terms why does the state allow civil marriage ceremonies? Surely if it is such an important religous institution we’d restrict it to Churches only. If two blokes want to get married, or civil unionised, what ever you want to call it, and the state will recognise it, it makes no difference to me. The problem is, is that the Liberal Party has moved away from its core concepts of individual liberty and has adopted the agrarian socialism of the Nation Party and the big Goverment concept of the US Republican Party.
On policies, the fun part….
OK, this might be my only say for a while, but at last I can talk about Government policy.
Regional Partnerships
Regional Partnerships is the biggest rort out there. It’s Corporate socialism. I don’t begrude any not-for-profit group in Regional Australia getting grants to help them out, indeed I’ve seen many deserving groups get a helping hand, but when private companies get hundreds of thousands of taxpayer money for projects that compete directly with other businesses the Government plays favourites. I laugh everytime I think about that idiot Barnaby Joyce, because the Nats get the most out of this and the Liberal Party room is pretty much against it, however they have to let them have it under the Coalition agreement. Joyce wants everything and won’t recognise all the shit the Liberal Party has allowed the c*nts to get away with.
Industrial Relations
I still agree with the concept that there should be more freedom in the Labor market, but the IR reforms went to far. You’ve got no idea how hard it was lying to people on the phone with the official party line that we’ve been trying to implement these reforms since 96 and everyone knew about them when they were never this harsh. In particular, the unfair dismissial laws go to far. I’ve worked for c*nts before, indeed until a couple of days ago. Letting these people sack people at will isn’t just. Really small businesses (say 10 or under) yes, because its hard for these folks when you get a bad employee, but for the rest…too much.
more soon 🙂
