Should / can Labor distance itself from unions?

All they need to differentiate themselves from is the Abbott mob, who have done pages of stuff like this....

Confiscated medication from asylum seeker detainees. source
Deliberately hid the cost of the $4.45 million renovations on the Lodge. source
Introduced a $7 fee for each time you go to see a GP. source source source
Spent $50,000 on one dinner for 60 G20 guests, including food specially flown to Washington from all over Australia. source
Lied about the presence of a full time psychiatrist on Manus Island. source
Cut over $900 million from local council funding. source
Scrapped tax breaks for people with a dependent spouse. source
Voted against the creation of a federal anti-corruption body. source
Called Bill Shorten a "(*)(*)(*)(*)" in parliament, on camera. source source
Scrapped The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. source
Cut $170 million from the Research Training Scheme, which supported research students. source
Spent $12 million to investigate whether to sell a department which makes $0.538 billion per year for only $6 billion. source
Cut $15 million from Charles Sturt University's dental health program and oral clinic. source
Cut $2.5 billion from aged care programs, such as Meals On Wheels. source

http://thesauce.co/achievements-of-the-abbott-government/

 

This is where the majority of our tax money has been squandered by scum-bag politicians, who create department to investigate the selling of another department. You will not hear the Unions or the ALP talk about the squandering of this money, because they have the same long list as the coalition does. They are scared if they start pointing fingers, the coalition will point fingers back - and the vicious cycle continues. Its time the people woke-up and realised that politicians are completely incompetent to manage this country anymore. Politicians have squandered the massive wealth of our countries mining resources - just to name one industry, so how much more time, and how many more of the countries resources are we going to give them to squander, before the people finally wake-up that politicians ARE the ones wasting our money, not us.

 

So vote for someone who more closely resembles your opinions on policy. There's now 4 parties and countless individuals/micros. If the ALP drops to 10% of the primary vote, then so be it. If they re-invent themselves to retain ~40% of the vote then what/who are they? I mean, a party can change in small degrees, but when they flip completely like the Democrats and Republicans did, what, 100 years ago (? don't remember when) it makes no sense.

If it were up to me i'd ban parties all together. Each individual should vote according to what they presented to the electorate and not be hemmed in by party politics.

 

But how should that reform occur? The ALP is a Union party, always (?) has been. Reform how they elect, how they represent - sure. But change (or remove) who they represent? Like i said, it's like asking the Greens to remove the environmental charter from their purpose.

Yeah, so maybe Labor should seek to reform the union movement instead of pretending to dump it. Unions are incredibly valuable - we've seen what happens when they decline in western countries - like the USA. Problem is, they seem to be incredibly stupid, short sighted and they act locally - not globally. They need to establish a baseline and stop trying to just keep making us richer. They need to focus on inequity, corporate excess, executive salaries and the like. The problem isn't how much "we" earn - it's how much "they" make.

 

Dude, Palmer is not an alternative, why should he try to act like one? He's a sh!tstirrer who was elected to stir sh!t. The major parties ignored him at their peril.

I don't agree with him on quite a few things, yet there are other things that i am pleasantly surprised about. The thing that makes him different is he says it how he sees it - like Barnaby Joyce did before he became a party b!tch. Talking with people, they like that, even if they don't like him/what he believes.

 

yeap,
Politicians talking their own mind are as rare as hens teeth or a lotto win,
regards

 

I`d like to see the end of party politics, but this is impossible while human nature prevails. Party politics is the Achilles heel of democracy to a large extent, but banning it would effectively only rename it, human nature would prevail. As an aside, I firmly believe that people who most vigorously seek power, are invariably the least suited for positions of responsibility.

As for the unions. They have continuously gained political power, to the point where they can make or break a Prime Minister by use of back room deals. Not a good look for the ALP, knowing that their MPs are nothing more than puppets, controlled by the invisible strings of union power brokers. The ALP should have some integrity of it`s own. The unions should represent their members in the work place, and remember that they work for their members, not the other way around.

 

Agreed, Clive Palmer is definitely NOT an alternative. Clive`s body was too small to carry his huge ego, so he had to enlarge it. His body, that is.

 

Barnaby was the people's man, before his wings got clipped and he became the parties b!tch. Clive on the other hand, has demonstrated he is not going to roll over for any party or the media, and I get the impression that some media is starting to admire and respect him for his honesty and ability "not" to be a party convert. I think Clive only needs a few big-hitters to come on board to make him a serious political candidate. Not sure if this is just a rumour, but heard something about him having a few meeting with Natasha Stott Despoja