Please do not endorse Tony Abbott by voting for Campbell Newman tomorrow
For the last two weeks I have worked on the pre-poll booth for the
Labor party. It has been very, very hot here in Rockhampton and some
days we have had huge storms where we battled with HTV cards, signage
and just plain finding some shelter. As someone who never tans, I have
tan lines on my feet where my shoes go and my face is a few shades
lighter than Ronald McDonald’s hair. Rain, hail, shine, it all has been
worth every single second of it.
A few days ago, I stood in the pouring rain holding a sign that
warned about the sale of our Electricity Assets. I remember standing
there thinking:
“People will either think I am crazy standing in
this rain, or think I’m taking this very seriously, it must mean so
much to me.”
I then thought, ‘Well, maybe I am a bit crazy, but this does
mean a lot to me.” Sometimes when I think what it means to get rid of
Campbell Newman and LNP out of Queensland; I am overwhelmed to tears.
This has not been a small difference in ideology or the way we govern.
This has been an absolute onslaught on every single sector of
Queensland, from massive cuts to public services, gutting of community
services, to the non-existence of jobs and training opportunities for
young people, to the highest unemployment in eleven years, to turfing
old people out of Nursing homes for a quick buck, to the destruction of
our workplace health and safety protections, to the removal of civil
rights for anyone who has tattoos or rides a motorbike, to the absolute
arrogance and nepotism and sheer dodgy practices of pushing through
legislation and debacles with our committee system and the disrespect to
our legal professionals. The LNP are a of depression, you simply
cannot get away from. I have had very serious depression in the past
and I do not say this lightly.
One thing I have noticed, when listening to the mantra of the LNP and
LNP supporter conversations on social media and the voices of the
volunteers at the booth; is that the one thing the care about is debt.
If they have any debt, it is ‘unconscionable’ to spend any money on the
people. This is an absolutely load of ideological neo-liberalist
nonsense. What separates LNP from Labor and some of the other
social-left parties, is that parties from the left focus on the people
first and foremost. They focus on the development of the state and
realise that sometimes you need to spend money, to create more revenue,
or to simply adhere to the Government’s absolute responsibility of
providing adequate essential services to Queenslanders, regardless of
any debt.
I mean, if the LNP had a grandmother on life
support, they would weigh up the cost between letting her go on, or what
they would save by pulling the plug. The plug would win out every time.
This brings me to the main argument on Asset Sales. What everyone
needs to be clear about is that a Government who cannot fund any
promises without selling assets after three years of austerity and
massive reductions in funding and the sacking of 24,000 public service
staff and the selling of billions of dollars in assets already “to save
money” is a poor Government indeed. If through all this pain they cannot
even in good faith provide adequate services without whingeing about
very manageable debt; it has all been for nothing, as they have achieved
nothing and stand for nothing.
We know both sides of politics have sold assets, but for many
reasons. The LNP’s promises all rely on the sale of our electricity
and other assets. There are assets that do mean a lot to be sold. They
affect workers and the guarantee of security of proper services for the
public, but not all assets are an essential service. It is vitally
important we keep our electricity assets. Electricity is an essential
service. We cannot live a normal life without it. The prices in QLD are
already incredibly high and with privatization, it will be simply
unaffordable for so many. Many elderly people now do not use the air
conditioning in sweltering heat and often sit in the dark as they simply
cannot afford electricity. My mind turns to people like my Mother who
died of COPD and was on oxygen 24 hours per day. With no guarantee of
emergency re-connections in blackouts, this could result in disaster and
death for some disabled people.
Clive Palmer is stating that they already have a Chinese buyer. Clive
was a member of the LNP, and would still be aware of a lot of goings
on. I don’t vote for Clive, but I do believe him on this one. We will
have no guarantee of service, no guarantee of timely re-connections and
no guarantee of the same highly trained professionals doing the very
risky work they do. This is all on top of the massive loss of jobs that
will occur in areas like Townsville, Rockhampton and Brisbane. Ergon
is a major employer for regional QLD. Tony Abbott’s free reign on 457
visa’s will allow a full replacement of local workers with overseas
workers. This will affect small business and place a lot of pressure on
families. This will only worsen the economy and debt. Not make it
better.
This takes me back to ‘crazy me’ standing in the rain, holding a sign
warning against the sale of our electricity assets. The LNP’s only
argument is that ‘there is a debt.’ They do not mention that this is a
moderate and manageable debt, but hey, this type of scaremongering
worked for Abbott for three years. If I am passionate enough, as a
volunteer to give up my time, to stand there getting the message out
that Queensland is not for sale, then what have the LNP got?
If the LNP is so passionate about the sale of Assets being
the very best thing for Queenslanders, why do they not have mobs of
volunteers holding up signage begging people to approve the Asset Sales?
If this does not show this is in the self – serving interest of the
party only and their wealthy friends, and it means nothing to benefit
the people, nothing else will. We have hundreds of volunteer Not for
Sale people getting up and out every morning on every corner in so many
towns fighting to save our assets. This is not political, it is a
protest from the heart of people who are passionate about keeping our
lifestyle and the security and assurance of a Government owning up to
their responsibility of providing a high quality and affordable
electricity service to every single Queensland. It is the responsibility
of the Government to provide absolute certainty for electricity
services.
To save our assets number every square and put LNP last.
Finally, your vote tomorrow is absolutely critical. This vote will
not only endorse Newman’s harsh, unforgiving, relentless, abhorrent and
shameful approach, but it also will endorse Tony Abbott’s agenda to push
more austerity and hardship onto Australians. Abbott is so
unpopular, he has been absent completely from the entire Queensland
election campaign. It is almost as if Queensland does not exist to Tony
Abbott. A vote for Campbell Newman, only endorses every single thing
Tony Abbott does and will do. A vote for Campbell Newman will make Tony
Abbott even more confident and enthusiastic to implement even more
harsh measures, as he will feel ‘popular enough to get away with it.’
Your vote in the Queensland Election on 31 January, 2015, will change our lives. Please make it for the better.
*I also want to use this post to dedicate my heartfelt
thanks to the Not4Sale teams and volunteers throughout Queensland who
have worked so hard to speak up and protest against the sale of our
Assets. You guys are bloody champions!
thanks to the Not4Sale teams and volunteers throughout Queensland who
have worked so hard to speak up and protest against the sale of our
Assets. You guys are bloody champions!
*Originally published on https://polyfeministix.wordpress.com/
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