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Liberals making Labor look good

By Mike Carey - posted Wednesday, 25 May 2011


At a fundraiser about this time four years ago, I was sat next to Virginia Judge, a minister in the Iemma Labor government which had just won the un-winnable election. On the eve of the polls, Premier Morris Iemma guaranteed the NSW power system would not be privatized after the vote. That made sense, 80 percent of those polled supported the maintenance of electricity assets in state hands and it was NSW Labor Party policy confirmed at State Conference.

So after the election, Premier Iemma and his ratbag Treasurer, Michael Costa soon set about putting it all up for sale! Virginia Judge seemed genuinely shocked that I, as a voter was so upset by this betrayal of trust. The Liberals have learnt everything and nothing from the previous Labor state government. Perhaps Barry O'Farrell is surprised by the vehement reaction to his betrayal of trust but he shouldn't be!

 

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In the case of the Gillard Labor Government it's hard to know where to begin, there are so many betrayals of the voters: attacks on asylum seekers, single mums and the unemployed, while not having the courage to really go after upper-class welfare. Combine that with its half-hearted attempts at the mining tax, a carbon tax after saying it wouldn't introduce one and its going to water on the Murray-Darling and you're left with a wishy washy dish of dashed hopes. To prove how tough it is the Gillard government wants to expand ASIO's powers, has declared Julian Assange guilty and looks set to go after David Hicks using the proceeds of crime legislation.

If Barcaldine's 'Tree of Knowledge' wasn't dead already …..

About the only bright spot is the National Broadband Network, a true nation building initiative. It nauseates me to think the Coalition would sacrifice the NBN to rule again.

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About the Author

Mike Carey was Executive producer of SBS 's Dateline from 1999 to 2007, a foreign correspondent in Brazil and South East Asia and now a freelance TV producer.

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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