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2004-01-24 Down Under

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Posted by tipper 2004-01-24 9:20:43 PM|| || Front Page|| [9 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Australia has a particular problem that the USA and Canada share to a lesser degree. The problem is a capital city (Canberra) which is effectively a 100% government town. Its a while since I was there but I rate it as one of the strangest places I have ever been. The whole place has this erie uniformity about it, and this is reflected in its politics which are solidly left wing and PC. This means the government apparatus is Left wing and PC, while the general population is mildly right wing and very un-PC.

John Howard is the first Australian prime minister in modern times to refuse to live in Canberra and has done a lot to shift the public debate towards positions of both pragmatic self-interest and moral principle and away from the ideological posturing the Left indulges in.

I am hopeful that the Howard government will be re-elected this year and that the changes brought by the Howard government will withstand a change to a Labor government (when it is eventually elected) which has been moving steadily to the right over the last few years as Howard has redefined the middle ground of Australian politics.

Posted by phil_b 2004-1-24 10:01:04 PM|| 2004-1-24 10:01:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 phil_b

Canberra's not really that bad - I live there. There are a lot of very noisy lefties but it is a very solidly middle-class place and the great mass of the populace is apolitical. The lefties think they own the place but when push comes to shove they just get ignored.

The newspaper (Canberra Times) is very solidly lefty, but it has a low circulation and no influence.

If nothing else Canberria is a great place to raise kids!

Posted by Russell 2004-1-24 11:10:10 PM|| 2004-1-24 11:10:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 I agree with Russell, great place to live.

Should keep in mind that the PM's electorate of Bennelong is bang in the middle of Sydney (includes the Opera House) and as PM he gets to live in Kirribilly House, a grand house right on the harbour. The left go on about his "refusal" to live in Canberra to create another phoney "crisis"

Posted by Silly Old Buffer 2004-1-25 12:35:06 AM|| 2004-1-25 12:35:06 AM|| Front Page Top

00:35 Silly Old Buffer
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