(Australian) PM offers no hope to social Left

The Australian ^ | 21st March 2011 | Paul Kelly

[naturalman1975]

MORE of the "real" Julia Gillard is now displayed, with the Prime Minister offering her fullest exposition for rejecting both euthanasia and same-sex marriage.

Ms Gillard, in fact, is not the social progressive many Labor backers and politicians have wrongly assumed. On the contrary, she has deep roots as a cultural conservative and traditionalist.

This is obvious across a range of issues - her belief in personal responsibility, rejection of the option of state-sanctioned killing, support for biblical and cultural dimensions of the Western canon and the belief that social heritage should keep marriage to an institution between a man and a woman.

Indeed, on such issues she seems aligned with John Howard.

Ms Gillard signalled on the Sky News Australian Agenda program yesterday that her views on same-sex marriage and euthanasia were deeply held. This puts her in direct conflict with the social agenda pursued this term by the Greens and much of the Labor Party.

On same-sex marriage, Ms Gillard said: "I find myself on the conservative side because of the way our society is and how we got here. There are some important things from our past that need to continue to be part of our present and part of our future."

This allows for no compromise. For social progressives, the news on Ms Gillard just gets worse. She is an atheist who likes the Bible.

She said: "I think it's important for people to understand their Bible stories, not because I'm an advocate of religion - clearly, I'm not - but once again, what comes from the Bible has formed such an important part of our culture.

[naturalman1975]

She's still very much a socialist - but maybe not quite as bad on some issues as I feared.

Maybe.

[scorchedearther]

I think and believe all liberal social policies, programs and philosophies are based on false premises and theories and that governments the world over are starting to realize that important fact.

The complete utter and abject failure of communist and socialist policies in such diverse places as Cuba, the former Soviet Union, and more recently Greece and Spain among others are proof that such liberal social policies are unsustainable.

That is why we are seeing the decline of unions in the US.

[freedumb2003]

>>That is why we are seeing the decline of unions in the US.<<

We will have to see what happens in WI to see if we have, indeed, slowed down, much less ended, Union rule in the USA.

[GeronL]

So on some issues she seems to make sense.

Then again, remember when Obama said he opposed gay marriage? He was lying.

[PGalt]

Thanks for posting. Good news.

[RushingWater]

This is shocking. Isn’t she an agnostic or something professed like that?

[naturalman1975]

A declared atheist.

[melsec]

It’s no coincidence that just at the time she is being accused of kowtowing to the Greens on Climate Change and Carbon Tax she comes out with a statement like this.

You ain’t conservative Julia and we all know it!

Mel

[Nipfan]

What you have to bear in mind in repeating anything she says is that she’s pathological liar. I am not exaggerating. She is also a Fabian and wrote years ago that sometimes you have to accept unpleasant compromises to eventually prevail with your agenda.

The reason for 180 deg. turnaround is simple. She has announced a carbon tax which the voters are revolving against and is seen as being unduly under the influence of the Green. Ergo, she is suddenly a social conservative (about as much as Rudd was an economic conservative) to differentiate herself from the Green and try to hold onto the more conservative parts of the Labor vote, which is deservedly collapsing.

Or, put simply, don’t believe a word she says.

[Nipfan]

Here is the actual quote from a paper by Gillard I referred to above -

“For the Left to make any real advance all these perspectives on the relationship to Labor in government need to be rejected in favour of a concept of strategic support for Labor governments. We need to recognise the only possibility for major social change is under a long period of Labor administration. Within that administration the Left needs to be willing to participate to shape political outcomes, recognising the need to except (sic) often unpalatable compromises in the short term to bolster the prospect of future advance. The task of pushing back the current political constraints by changing public opinion would need to be tackled by the Left through government, social movements and trade unions.”

Now what do you think of her turnaround? It is purely strategic.

[iopscusa]

Any comments on this AU election as it appears that the Left will be thrown from office after 100 years of control of the NSW? “THIS is it. The big day has finally arrived. The first day of the rest of NSW’s life. Our state has endured years of corrosive inertia at the hands of a Government and party that lost its way. As the Government went, so did NSW”, http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/at-last-the-day-of-reckoning-dawns/story-e6frezz0-1226028283004

[CT]

Hey, people. Australia’s state of New South Wales, just had a huge election. Labor (socialists) were crushed, as were also their allies, the (reds) Greens. Somebody with better posting ability than I should get this out. Best guy, kind of a Mark Steyn in Australia, is Andrew Bolt. Also Tim Blair. They have it covered.