International Politics Thread

[Archaic]

ScoMo gives a bad name to marketers everywhere. People like him are the reason I focused so much on marketing ethics when I was teaching undergrads.

I suppose Morrison being a close contact to a confirmed COVID case won't do anything to change how the Liberals conduct their campaign. After all, it's not like Morrison wasn't already isolating himself from regular voters before now anyway.

With Albo sick with COVID, will we suddenly start to see a lot of Richard Marles on the campaign trail? The claims about voters not knowing Albo didn't really hold water, but how many regular voters know Richard, his deputy? What happens if Albo's case is serious? For that matter, how did he get it anyway? He's actually been out with voters, so how many possible contacts is that? Though I can't help but wonder, what are the odds that Albo caught COVID at the leader's debate? Too recent for him to be starting to show positive on a RAT?

 

[Volphied]

Russia still doesn't understand that the reason why countries join NATO is precisely because of these kinds of threats of invasion.

 

[zoroarctic]

France re-elects Macron with a little more than 58% of the vote. Evil has been vanquished, for now.

 

[Sheep40]

I don't think it's ever coming back. That kind of identitarianism has been unpopular in Europe for decades, and what little popularity it had left was flushed down the drain when the Yatsdzdziapdz got back to their imperialist shenanigans.

 

[Archaic]

Slovenia also had their own elections over the weekend, where the far-right government has been turfed out in favour of the green-liberal Freedom Movement.
It does thankfully seem like Europe is starting to throughly reject the ultra-nationalists.

 

[There Is No Arceus]

Slovenia also had their own elections over the weekend, where the far-right government has been turfed out in favour of the green-liberal Freedom Movement.
It does thankfully seem like Europe is starting to throughly reject the ultra-nationalists.

i hope you're right, but it's too early to cry victory just yet. Le Pen was still the 2nd most popular presidential candidate. things can still go sour very easily.

 

[Volphied]

Slovenia also had their own elections over the weekend, where the far-right government has been turfed out in favour of the green-liberal Freedom Movement.
It does thankfully seem like Europe is starting to throughly reject the ultra-nationalists.

This is actually the third time their populist prime minister lost his position. He was PM already back between 2004-2008 and 2012-2013. So celebrating this as some definitive victory is way too premature. The same also applies to Le Pen. Yes, she lost, but this was her third attempt to win the presidency and her best result so far.

Anyhow, in other news, things are getting spicy in Russia. Seems that the Russian arrogantly thought that their little war would be entirely localized inside Ukraine and did not imagine it ever crossing borders back home:

 

[indigohex3]

We head to the polls on Saturday. Sadly, that jackass Scotty From Marketing is making a comeback and could tragically have another miracle win on Saturday. And there is United Australia Party propaganda on 10 tonight, which I naturally WILL NOT WATCH. And speaking of UAP, there is a new policy ad on the radio that just came out of thin air, and I think the UAP is great...at creating policies on the run. And they won't talk about how Clive Palmer never paid his own workers. And he talks about saving the homes of Australians by placing a limit on interest rates to 3 per cent, yet how many Australians lost their home because of Clive Palmer not paying them? If he (Palmer) can't afford to pay his workers, how come he has money to spend on his political vehicle?

And in addition, some of the candidates are only running for the "Resettlement Allowance" in which if you defect from the party you were elected for at the previous election and lose the subsequent election for your new party, then you will hit the jackpot with more than $100 000, courtesy of the Australian taxpayer. People like Craig Kelly (running for United Australia Party) and George Christiansen (who is running for One Nation after defecting from the Liberal-National Coalition) are only running so they lose and hit the jackpot. If this is not corruption, I don't know what is. They are in the trough even though they claim to be against corruption. Hypocrites.

 

[NMLewis]

Yeah I have a bad feeling about Saturday too. :|

On the topic of the UAP's ads, seriously, you'd think with that much funding they'd have far better production value. Every single one looks like it's been put together in less than an hour (... and most of the time they probably have). And they make little to no sense.

 

[indigohex3]

Yeah I have a bad feeling about Saturday too. :|

On the topic of the UAP's ads, seriously, you'd think with that much funding they'd have far better production value. Every single one looks like it's been put together in less than an hour (... and most of the time they probably have). And they make little to no sense.

And just remember that back in 2019, Dee Snider from Twisted Sister sued Clive Palmer for his (Palmer's) campaign song for Palmer's parody of the Twisted Sister song We Ain't Gonna Take It (thanks for trigger that event from my memory). I was listening to The Globalist podcast on Saturday, and apparently, Palmer got his own campaign song in 2022 (I am familiar with the "There's a Hole In Your Budget Dear Labor" song from the Liberals).

I am beginning to fear for Australia's future if that jackass Scotty from Marketing gets reelected on Saturday. But I also fear that if Scotty from Marketing loses, the Coalition would be worse because Mrs. Potato Head (Peter Dutton, people online refer to him as Mr. Potato Head because he looks like a potato, but I prefer to call him Mrs. Potato Head because it's a bigger insult to him). And in many parts of Australia, its mostly one-paper towns with many areas having papers owned by Rupert Murdoch (especially in Queensland where almost every local paper and the Courier-Mail) are owned by Murdoch (same as South Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania) and combined with the influence of Palmer, the worst will happen on Saturday and LNP/UAP coalition (I am referring them as a coalition because in 2019, UAP handed victory to Scotty from Marketing in that "miracle", which was nothing short of a disaster for our country).

 

[Archaic]

Thankfully, the semi-sentient potato is looking like he's going to lose his own seat in the event that the coalition lose. Pretty much any scenario where the coalition lose will see them without either ScumMo, Fridenberg, or Dutton, so they're likely to be in a lot of confusion there post-election.

 

[There Is No Arceus]

i know precisely fuckall about australian politics, but judging from the comments here, this potato person isn't particularly popular. i'm guessing this person is mainly popular among the elderly/conservatives?

 

[indigohex3]

i know precisely fuckall about australian politics, but judging from the comments here, this potato person isn't particularly popular. i'm guessing this person is mainly popular among the elderly/conservatives?

Sadly, it's true. He is popular among conservatives, especially with his tough stance on China (Dutton even said that we should be prepared for war with China, a war that his children will not have to fight, but ordinary people would be forced to fight for his own interests, even though most Australians support a diplomatic solution to the tensions between Canberra and Beijing). However, he is pretty much as popular as the Mafia, and they are not that popular. A lot of this talk on China is basically to distract the public from failure when it came to the Federal Government's response to coronavirus and the bushfires that ravaged eastern Australia a couple of years ago while Scotty from Marketing was on holidays in Hawaii. And I remember Scotty from Marketing going to a pub in England to trace his family's history at a time Australians were not allowed to leave Australia. I think people like Dutton would rather Australians forget the stuff ups from Morrison and focus on this distraction (and remember that most of the media in Australia is owned by a US citizen named Keith Rupert Murdoch, and he has interfered in Australian politics more than the Chinese Communist Party, but you won't hear about that from Clive Palmer and Craig Kelly).

And speaking of UAP, in the "advertising" for the UAP today in the newspapers (he is banned from free-to-air television because political advertising for the election is banned in the last days before an election), a new conspiracy theory, this time whoever forms government will hand over Australia's health care system to the "Chinese-controlled" World Health Organization. I think that this propaganda from the UAP is just a scare tactic because Clive Palmer, Craig Kelly and co. are being exposed as fraudsters and that Clive Palmer is basically the Emperor who is wearing new clothes (note the reference to The Emperor's New Clothes), exposing himself and his entire party of fraudsters. Remember that many of these anti-vaxxers and anti-lockdown activists were enriching themselves while scaring ordinary people to go against their own interests.

Fortunately, I voted early and I was torn between several parties to put last (Great Australian Party, Federation Party, One Nation and United Australia Party all had candidates in my electorate) because many of these parties will force people to vote against their own interests and enrich the con-artists who run these "political parties" (I'm looking at you Clive Palmer and Pauline Hanson). And there was a group called "Reignite Democracy Australia" that was basically a for-profit company run by con artist Monica Smit who basically conned people out of their hard earned money to enrich herself. And no doubt that a lot of these fringe parties will be about enriching themselves while ordinary people suffer.

And did Clive Palmer pay his own workers? No, he didn't, yet he was able to afford to run a political campaign (and remember that when he was in Parliament last, he spent most of the time asleep and not interested in anything) as well as funding to build a Titanic II and a clone of Jurassic Park. But I think he is relying on Australians having short memories, and because no one will vote for him (or his cult), he is now resorting to fear and conspiracy theories because there is no policies. And the same with the other fringe parties because they have nothing.

Just a bit over 24 hours before polls close (it will close at 1800 local time tomorrow in your area, so in Western Australia, it will close at 1800 AWST, 2000 AEST). As for me, I got another election in November, this time a State Election, so no break in elections for me here in Victoria.

EDIT: If you are interested, here is a story from Crikey about the unfounded conspiracy that the UAP is peddling (A 'WHO Pandemic Treaty' conspiracy theory is the freedom movement’s last-minute scare campaign) to people who in my honest opinion has no knowledge of how international relations work. Remember that at the WHO, it is one country, one vote, so actually NO ONE COUNTRY controls the WHO (i.e. China has as much control over the WHO as, lets say...Kiribati), so what UAP is saying is just propaganda designed to scare us and enrich Palmer himself. And here is an article from the Australian Associated Press busting this myth (Claims of a WHO globalist takeover are out of this world - Australian Associated Press).

 

[Archaic]

The best sausage sizzle in the nation today. Full marks on The Barnaby and The Pauline.

 

[indigohex3]

The best sausage sizzle in the nation today. Full marks on The Barnaby and The Pauline.

I was working today at a polling booth and had a democracy sausage. And the twitter post is great political satire, not sure if a certain Keith Rupert Murdoch will be happy (in fact, he would be outraged as it mocks the LNP). I am outraged though that they are selling a toilet block for $100k, when not many people can afford it, as well as the Barnaby (I was expecting it was just a beetroot). And speaking of Keith Rupert Murdoch, I am currently watching him humiliated by a country of 30 million people, wanting to buy an election to get his ultimate goal of controlling all the media in Australia. If I get up early tomorrow, I'll watch Outsiders on Sky News...and laugh at the Outsiders (Rowan Dean's worst nightmare is coming true, his beloved LNP is gone. Oh, and by the way, I can't get Sky News via free-to-air, and remember Rowan, we are laughing at you not with you).

Seriously, it is almost certain that Labor has won in a landslide (as of 2205 AEST, L/NP is on 51, ALP on 71, Others - mostly Teal independent - 10 and 19 in doubt). The latest: Josh Frydenberg has basically conceded Kooyong to Zoe Daniels.

.

 

[Archaic]

This is a landslide, but not one for Labor. Indeed, this doesn't feel like a Labor victory over the Liberal/National coalition at all. Rather, it feels like a landslide victory for 3rd party and independent candidates who wanted strong and immediate action on climate change.

Hopefully now Queensland can shake it's reputation as Australia's Florida. 10 years ago, I would've never thought that Queensland would elect more Green representatives than all other states combined. Greenslander!

 

[indigohex3]

I wish to make an apology for my previous post. It was Monique Ryan who won Kooyong, but I stand by my comments that Zoe Daniels has won (in Goldstein not Kooyong as I said in my previous post). And it looks like Craig Kelly will hit the jackpot, expected to lose Hughes (and as a result get a golden parachute in the form of a "resettlement allowance" of more than $100 000, courtesy of the Australian taxpayers). And could we be seeing the last of Mrs. Potato Head himself Peter Dutton (no apologies if he is offended) who could be on the verge of losing Dickson?

BREAKING NEWS: Outgoing Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called now incoming-Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to concede defeat, and Scott Morrison is stepping down as Liberal Leader, with the new Opposition Leader to be decided at the next Liberal/National party room.

And here's a post from Twitter (WARNING: The following post may excite many of my fellow Australians, such as Yours Truly):

https://twitter.com/sallymcmanus/status/1527974621752217601?s=20&t=YiTHoETiCVvdZAze5DZxNA

 

[Archaic]

Dutton's currently looking like he'll win his seat, sadly. Though that could easily come down to postal votes.

 

[NMLewis]

I'm so stoked with Western Australia swinging so hard against the Liberal Party.
This is the first time my federal electorate has been won by the candidate I voted for, so extra happy for that.
As above, not a comprehensive victory for Labor, but certainly a comprehensive loss for the Coalition!!
I liked Albo's speech.

 

[Volphied]