Ask yourself the following questions before you decide how you’ll vote on Oct 9th:
(1) (Bear with me, I think this first question’s relevant.) If the Communist Chinese authorities had not cracked down hard on the Tiananmen Square protestors, (as horrible as that crackdown undoubtedly was), what would be the state of China today? Could the answer be, just possibly, a fragmented nation in a state of anarchy run by a half dozen warlords, (as it was until 1949)?
(2) Bearing your answer to the first question in mind, if John Howard had not cracked down heavily on illegal immigration, (as unpalatable as that crackdown might have been to many Australians), how many more boatloads of high-paying hopefuls would have set out from Indonesia over the last three years?
(3) With Latham in charge, will the boatloads of hopefuls start again? I’d be willing to put money on it.
(4) Does Howard deserve another term? Probably not. But after the “feel good factor” of “teaching that terrible man Howard a lesson” has worn off, is the alternative government going to serve your best interests? God help the country, for I can see another Liverpool Council spreadsheet in the making, but on a national scale, if Latham gets in, and I can’t afford to see my savings go up in smoke again. (Who else can remember paying 17% interest on their mortgage.)
I’m reminded of the old saying that Socialism is like wetting the bed on a very cold night – it’s a lovely warm feeling at first, but it very quickly gets very cold and uncomfortable as the long night progresses.
Look past knee jerk emotions and accept that pragmatic politicians quite frequently have to do unpalatable things in the national interest. Howard might not be Mr Nice Guy, (where Latham is????!!!!), but having lived through the Whitlam years, (another member for Werriwa), from pure self interest, I think I’d prefer to live in an Australia governed by Howard’s brand of politics rather than Latham’s.
Another way to look at it is to ask yourself who you’d pick to run your company or your stock portfolio (if you had either) – some nice (!) young hopeful with bu*ger all experience in the field who lost a truck load of money when he tried to run a very small company some years ago, or that not very nice CEO/fund manager who you thought might not lose your money?
Someone has said it before me – it’s a question of the lesser of two evils, and I’d prefer the bloke who tells a few fibs (as they all do) rather than the one who resorts to fisticuffs every time he doesn’t get his own way.