[Politics]The Imagery is Delicious

[Sunday8pm]

Here's an Australian election teaser: What's hard and green on the outside, spongy on the inside with a brown nut in the middle?

An avocado... or, to the party's critics, the Australian Greens, led by Tasmanian Senator Bob Brown.

"They are watermelons," Mr Anderson insisted. "Green on the outside and very, very, very red on the inside."

Jenny Leong, a Greens candidate, told BBC News Online she was disappointed in her rivals.

"It is upsetting," she said as she campaigned in Sydney. "Sure, there's a need for people to have the freedom to believe what they believe but it's unfair when you start getting ads saying the Greens are supporting paedophiles."

Australia's electoral system in the lower house - the House of Representatives - could mean that the Greens have an important say in some marginal constituencies.

The system is called preferential voting, and means if the front-running candidate gets less than 50% of the vote on the first count, votes for other candidates are redistributed. Minor parties often strike agreements with other parties - called preference deals - which mean votes for them can be given to a major party.

Seats in the upper house of parliament are allocated differently - by proportional representation. Here too, the Greens could do well.

I've never taken up much interest in Australian politics but this made me giggle too much to ignore it.

I know we have a few australian posters amongst us (some infamously banned) and I'd love to see if this is a fair representation of the political situation down there.

Anyone called Mr Anderson insisting on something with a metaphor has to be applauded though.

As is the ridiculous pedophile argument which brings back many fond memories...

So the question remains, is Australian politics like GD in the days of Yore when Yahwe and Shai Gar ran free?

[Ste]

You get fined if you don't vote in Australia.
I like that idea.

[Sunday8pm]

I'm still in love with the second quote.

[pyirt]

Watermelons are good for you; especially in a hot climate.

[Embroglio]

i've come to realise how utterly shit the current australian government is recently

[Summanus]

Here's a rundown of the parties:

Liberal Party - Our equivalent of the Tories. To be quite honest, they haven't done anything worthwhile for the country, apart from not reverse the economic growth started by the last Labor government. Campaign on fear, intolerance etc. Of all the leaders involved in Iraq, Howard is the only one to not have it affect his chances at the polls, even though he's been exposed time and time again.

Labor - For some reason they spell it without the 'u'. A bit more left than their British counterparts, suffering from 5 years of crap leadership followed by 10 months of good. However, people irrationally fear what they will do to interest rates (which are determined by an independent central bank), and industrial relations (not too sure myself actually). Most people would like to vote for this party, but won't (if you notice any bias it's because I'm a member).

Greens - Support ecological preservation, legalising all drugs, most hippie policies. For some reason they kick up a stink about Tasmania's forests and the major parties make a big fuss, even though most Aussies don't consider it a part of the country (our equivalent of Wales). No useful policies whatsoever.

National Party - In a ruliing coalition with the Libs, they claim to stand for country communities and farmers. Mr. (John) Anderson is the deputy PM. In reality, they have no power at all - he's the only non-Liberal minister of any worth.

One Nation - What is it over there, the BNP or something, that really whacko neo-nazi one. This isn't so much neo-nazi as just racist and xenophobic. Their leader gaoled for electoral scamming, killed them.

Democrats - They have the only Aboriginal parliamentarian. Apart from that, well, umm.... they don't do anything.

Family First - Our bible-thumpers. The true comedic party, they released statements saying "Stana can be found in places of gambling, bottle shops, mosques" among other things, as well as "Lesbians are witches and should be burned".

This one should be pretty close. I'll be spruiking at one of the booths, followed by scrutineering, followed by a (hopefully) victory party. If not, we will riot.

And on the original post, I don't think Yahwe was from down under, but Mr. Gar was attempting to run for this election as an independent. He wasn't allowed as he was evading gaol for unpaid driving fines (maybe he's changed his name to Steve and moved in with Aryn)

[roadrunner_0]

Originally Posted by Sunday8pm

I'm still in love with the second quote.

possibly the best fruit = commies quote ever spoken!

[Marilyn Manson]

Let's hope that the campaign doesn't focus on the issues, and stays focused on the personalities. If this happens, then Latham will win by default, simply on the basis that John Howard doesn't have a personality. \0/

[Sunday8pm]

yes but I actually support Howard's Liberal-National Coalition.

He may not have a personality but that's been replaced with sound decision making and not looking like a ****ing tit over world issues.

(didn't blair have 'personality' when he got voted in back in 1997?)

[JonnyBGood]

A newspaper advert placed by a Christian group claimed that Greens' support for reducing the age of consent for homosexuals was good news for child abusers.

This is one of my favourite arguments ever.

[Kurashima]

Originally Posted by Summanus

Mr. Gar was attempting to run for this election as an independent. He wasn't allowed as he was evading gaol for unpaid driving fines (maybe he's changed his name to Steve and moved in with Aryn)

Its nice to know that annoying, intolerable little sacks of shit do occasionally discover that being a twat all your life does come back to haunt you.