Barnett is homophobic
When Colin Barnett’s not struggling with basic arithmetic, he’s accusing gay teenagers of being mentally retarded and making jokes at their expense.
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When Colin Barnett’s not struggling with basic arithmetic, he’s accusing gay teenagers of being mentally retarded and making jokes at their expense.
He’s appealing to the Christian Democrats (a contradiction in terms and Family First (see CDP description).
Unfortunatly the Christian Right is dominating in Australian Politics, Howard’s Gay Marriage ban is an obvious example of this.
This brings a whole new meaning to his “Leave My Little Boy alone” whinge he had with Carpenter in 2001 :-) (paraphrasing of course - can’t remember his exact use of words)
What is it with all this homophobia? Even in Qld, the Nationals in their 89 election campaign (assisted by some well funded fundos) flailed around with TV ads claiming that if Labor was elected, the Mardi Gras would move to Brisvegas (we wish…) to no avail.
Surely it won’t work in WA? I’ve never been to WA but everyone I’ve met from there has been thoroughly delightful (including an ex-g/f of mine…)
Menzies had Reds under the Bed, Barnett has Peds IN the Bed :-)
(sorry, couldn’t resist) :-)
It’s clear both from his legislation and his public comments that Barnett sees homosexuality as something to be looked down upon.
As he’s a Liberal, I’m not surprised: I’m sure it’s a view held by most members of the party, the only difference being that Barnett is less able to hide his real views beneath vague rhetoric.
Homophobia in the legislature is more worrying in real terms than anything else, though.
Since we get zippo coverage of WA politics in Qld, what’s the Labor goverment been like on GLBT issues?
Pretty good, Mark. This is what Pride WA’s Sue Fisher Hendry had to say:
I can’t really add anything to this, but say the laughs will really start when they win the election without policies having been an invisible opposition for 4 years, simply on the back of The West’s day in, day out character assassination of the Gallop government from the very beginning.
Then after a few weeks, people will scratch their heads and say “I’m sure we had a reason to vote for Barnett at the time…”
Dr G may be a bit of a schmuck, but honestly, half a day without air-conditioners and crap trading hours laws that the Libs WON’T CHANGE is not reason enough to elect a pack of asses without policies.
It wasn’t the air conditioners that was the problem Gio, but rather Dr Gallop’s insistence that it was OUR FAULT the power was out, and that any good citizen should turn off his fridge for the greater good of WA.
Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.
The Liberals certainly don’t deserve to win. If anything they are even further to the left of Labor. You guys should really be campaigning for Barnett.
That said, I won’t be sorry to see the back of Gallop - he’s the original Giant Douche.
There is one policy that may come up - last year the libs were talking about deregulating liquor licensing laws. I haven’t heard anything about it lately but I think we can all agree that WA’s current laws are the worst in the country, if not the world.
Well, Saudi Arabia’s liquor laws are most likely worse… but in Oz, WA is frickin’ ridiculous.
When I worked at Ezy Plus, foreigners and outta staters were bemused by the absence of 24 hour bottle-os. I’d say “There are none.” They’d say “Why?”
Can anyone give a good answer to that question?
Because then everyone would be drunk 24 hours a day. Didn’t you see the news? People everywhere else in the world are crawling around on all fours dribbling into the gutters - WA is the only functioning economy left.
Hmm. I see what you mean…
In Italy I think the legal drinking age is 16, a carton of, for instance, Messina Bira, costs about ten Aussie dollars and a bottle of Tanqueray $16. Also, Tanqueray in Italy is 7% stronger than the stuff the English export to Australia for some reason. You can buy beer in 24 hour servos and all kinds of liquor in 24-hour supermarkets.
If I remember correctly, and I could be wrong, Italy is in the G7 and considered one of the premier centres of culture, art, technology, industry and science in the world. It also has a lower incidence of alcoholism and binge-drinking than Australia, or the US.
…
It reminds me of the arguments against gaw law reform in WA a while back. You see, South Australia has been rained on with fire and brimstone since 1984 but it was hidden by a liberal, commo, poofter, media cover-up.
As an Aussie Born Italian, I think the main reason why the Italians have a lower Alcohol and Binge Drinking problem is the fact that in Italian Culture, Children are encouraged to drink wine mixed with water and/or lemonade from a young age as part of the evening meal, as opposed to thre Australian “don’t drink till your 18″ scenario, and hence they are used to drinking and don’t see booze as something which is rebellious.
If non European cultures took the same attitude, then the whole alcohol problem would be a LOT easier to manage and control.
Correct, Signor Calabrese.
It’s nice to see another Aussie Italian in the blogosphere, especially a Southerner!
There aren’t any 24-hour bottleos in the ACT, either, FWIW — we’re required to shut up shop at 23:00 each night.
The UK has very few 24-hour bottle-o’s, and even fewer legal ones., but our licensing laws are shocking. On the other hand, we can buy booze in supermarkets and corner shops.