Culture of Fear bites Howard back
Well well well, apparently Mr. Howard is reeling somewhat from the successful Union/Labor campaign against his IR legislation. Check out The Age article here. Mr. Howard is making some changes to his ministry to counteract the damaging slump in public opinion, relating to the IR Laws. Apparently 60% of people are against them and only 1 in 5 support them...Mr. Howard is blaming "a campaign of fear and misinformation" run by Labor and the unions. Well, I have to admit that the campaign is quite fear-inducing, I'm not sure about misinformation though, it appears to be pretty correct. Otherwise, I'm sure Johnny would be pointing the specific holes and exploiting them.
One can't help but laugh at the irony of it all. We are talking about a Government that has thrived in the post-9/11 world, using the platform of national security to usher through questionable terrorist legislation, bizarre sedition laws and participation in a war totally irrelevant to us. This Government is, as we speak, trying to push through legislation that will require all asylum seekers to be processed offshore, which is against international law (and their own people are crossing the floor over it and voting with Labor). All of these laws were passed through the politics of fear.
Lest we forget "be alert but not alarmed" and constant warnings of Iraq's "Weapons of Mass Destruction" that never materialised. So they used fear about national security as a platform to gather support. Now Labor and the Unions are doing just that, in relation to job security.
Good on 'em, I say. At least the Labor campaign has some merit.
Alex
posted by LX @ 3:21 AM
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