Doug PollardGoing into Labor
The Labor party has come calling. Do we have any suggestions for their party platform Really Long Link ?
Only problem is, they want you to sign up first. Well bugger that. I want to see them show some spine first. But how to let them know?
After a bit of experimenting with the website, here’s a tip: just enter a string of zeroes as your membership number and your submission goes through anyway!
And away we go! Here’s what I want in their platform.
Let’s start with abandoning this race to the bottom of refugees, as I wrote last week.
Then will you please politely tell Archbishop Jensen and Cardinal Pell to go boil their heads, and then legislate equal marriage and civil unions.
What else would I like? Well, if religions are going to run businesses (like schools, hospitals, clinics, aged-care homes etc.) then they shouldn’t be tax exempt, or have blanket exemptions to rights laws. If they need a specific one-off get-out they can ask the Human Rights Commission. Nicely. Very, very nicely.
Let’s have a uniform national curriculum in ALL schools, including comparative religion and ethics, comprehensive sex and relationship education (including diversity), and domestic management – especially for boys.
If you want to teach other stuff: not in school hours and not with taxpayer dollars.
Then we can get started on cleaning up the place. Water and air leaving any business should be pristine. And any rubbish, or so-called by/waste products they should take care of themselves, not dump off on public services.
In fact, businesses should have whole-of-cycle responsibility for their products and the packaging, as they are starting to do in Germany.
At at the end of their useful life, vehicles, appliances and so on should go back to the manufacturer or importer to be dealt with by them at their expense, via collection depots at local retailers.
And let’s stop digging up our riches and selling them off, and start encouraging Australian manufacture. Tax raw materials and half-finished exports but leave fully manufactured exports tax-free. And vice versa with imports: let raw material in free and tax finished imports.
And don’t get me started on road-pricing and city congestion taxes and long-distance railway building and free public transport and solar panels and water tanks. . . . . .
Hell, I may as well start my own party! Don’t know whether I’m left or right, though. Both, if Joy listeners are to be believed.
Manning – sorry, staffing the phones during the Joy 94.9 annual fundraising radiothon I heard:
“Oh you’re the only show I never listen to, you’re far too leftie,” says one – but renews his membership anyway.
And “No,” said another, flatly declining to do so, “you’re too much in bed with them Liberals.”
Politics, politics. It’s like going into labour. For ever..
PS Thanks to everyone who joined/renewed/donated. And don’t forget that outside Melbourne you can now get Joy 94.9 via the iPhone/iPad app worldwide!
