Doug PollardLetter to the ALP campaign bunker
July 30th 2010 21:43
Poll!! Incoming!!!
Dear ALP Campaign HQ,
Well, I suspect the view from the bunker is rather different this morning, after the Neilsen poll Really Long Link ?
The more like Liberals you make yourselves look, the less reason anyone has to vote for you. Why buy a suspect copy when you can have the real thing?
I do not understand how you keep failing to read the signs: when Kevin was elected he was popular because he promised to be more humane to people fleeing violence and persecution, to tackle climate change, etc etc. His popularity slumped when he abandoned this small l liberal agenda.
Labor popularity soared again when Julia took over, because she looked as if she would get back to that earlier agenda. But she tacked right instead of left, where the polls were pointing, and now look what’s happened.
Anyway, you now need every vote you can get. And [a lot of] the GLBTI community would love to vote or you, we really would, but you have to ask. You have to come courting, not take us for granted, or toss our concerns aside to pander to the people who hate us, as you did in the Wong debacle.
I am offering you the opportunity to mend your fences with the gay community. You saw what an impact it made when Tony Abbott appeared on
Assuming the PM, McClelland and Roxon remain unavailable, and the silence on the subject of Wong continues (I hear she was contemplating coming on the show next week till I publicly disagreed with her stance on same-sex equality?), how about some answers from the following ministers on the following topics, preferably in interview on Joy or, if they’re too pressed for time to even manage a ten minute phone call, a written response?
See, I'm even being so nice as to do what I normally never do, and flagging the issues in advance.
And please – I don’t wish to be rude, but from the minister him/her self, NOT a staffer or junior. Thank you.
Stephen Smith: a ‘kill the gays’ bill is mooted in Uganda, they’re still hanging gays in Iran and murdering them in Iraq. The community would like to know what the government intends to do to help these people
Chris Evans: How will the govt. assist those who flee to Australia to escape such violence and persecution? Fast-track asylum applications? Set up application centres in their home countries?
Stephen Conroy: the internet filter is likely to have a significant impact on glbti people, especially those in rural and regional Australia. Unless very carefully designed it could cut the possibilities for social networking and block vital sexual health information. How will you get round this?
Nicola Roxon: good to see a mention of GLBTI mental health but why is the government tipping money to a failed organization like beyondble, which consumes vast resources but produces little of practical value? Especially for GLBTI folk? Couldn’t you do better than this?
Robert McClelland: the piecemeal approach sort of worked when it came to removing some GLBTI inequalities, but it left a flawed, incomplete result and meant some aspects hurt rather than helped vulnerable GLBTI people, e.g., the refusal to grandfather benefits for existing welfare recipients, the failure to remove the inequality in marriage. When and how will you be addressing these unfinished aspects of legal reform? And how can you guarantee that a piecemeal approach on anti-discrimination won’t result in worse outcomes for some GLBTI folk?
Julia Gillard: you have been minister for social inclusion, yet GLBTI were not included. Unlike seniors, rural & regional Australians, Aborigines, youth, there is no peak body for the GLBTI community. Will you commit to rectifying this if elected? Will you nominate a minister for GLBTI affairs on a par with the ones you already have for e.g. Aboriginal Affairs?
Yours in hope
Doug
--
Doug Pollard, Writer & Broadcaster
Exec. Producer / Presenter 'Freshly Doug' Joy 94.9
Streaming live Thursday Nine to Noon Really Long Link
Prog. blog: Really Long Link
'Grumpy Old Pouf' column, Southern Star Observer http://sstar.net.au
Op eds: http://www.rainbowreporter.com
Australian correspondent, Sirius OutQ News, New
York http://www.siriusoutq.com/
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Comment by Anonymous
Our only hope is for the greens to get balance of power and I very much doubt they will get the support the polls show.
Labor was all about spin with very little substance - to get turfed out after one term when they should have been cruising and increasing there vote shows that the Australian public wants some substance.
That is something the ALP didn't have with Rudd and certainly doesn't have with Gillard.