Why do Liberal voters only think of money and forget about the important issue? (Australian question)?

Question

Every answer I see written from Liberal voters always focuses on money and interest rates. Obviously they aren't concerned about climate change, environment, hospitals, education, workers rights, Indigenous people and healthcare. Do they want Nuclear power station in their backyard? Don't they care about the future of their childre and the conditions they will live in? I am genuinely concerned with the people that only vote based on their wallet size. Its a real shame that money has been made more important that our health and the future of our children? You cannot be truly concerned about these issues and vote Liberal.

Almost every answer I see written from Liberal voters always focuses on money and interest rates. Obviously they aren't concerned about climate change, environment, hospitals, education , workers rights, Indigenous people and healthcare. Do they want Nuclear power station in their backyard? Don't they care about the future of their children and the conditions they will live in? I am genuinely concerned with the people that only vote based on their wallet size. Its a real shame that money has been made more important that our health and the future of our children? You cannot be truly concerned about these issues and vote Liberal (Liberals are the Conservative Party in Australia = to US Republicans). Labor (Workers/Social Democrat Party = to US Democrats) is our progressive party.

Answer 1

Hey, a fellow Ozzie here!

Firstly, for the Americans, the Liberal party in Australia is not at all liberal! In fact they are the very opposite. Deceiving, huh?

I think the problem here is that the Liberal government has fooled the majority of people (even Labour supporters) into thinking that they are somehow better at economic management, which simply isn't true.

It is definitely true that under the Liberal government money has been taken away from important areas such as health and education in favour of tax cuts to buy people's vote. And unfortunately it has worked.

But why are interest rates low and the dollar high? Because of the previous Labour government's decision to have interest rates set independently by the Reserve Bank to fight inflation, and to float the dollar on the foreign exchange market.

Uniformed people are fooled by Howard's repeated tax cuts, and fail to realise that they favour the wealthy and hurt the average worker. The Government's recent proposed tax cuts are so radical that the International Monetary Fund warned that they will increase inflation and throw away our surpluses. The very surpluses that workers worked increasingly hard for with no reward (thanks to the workplace reforms), and for what? An extra $30 a week? The average family has already seen their wages fall and the cost of living rise such that this money is already gone. And such drastic tax cuts will surely cause the cost of living to increase further still. On the other hand, if you earn over $180K, your tax cut becomes more like a couple of hundred dollars per week, and the increased rates only fuel your investments further. Besides, we will probable never even see such tax cuts, given the Liberal's track record for blatant dishonesty.

People also fail to see that the current economic prosperity if being driven by the resources boom, and the current skills shortages are caused by the Government's dis-investment in education. In fact, the Government has repeatedly taken money away from Health and Education to finance "baby bonuses" and tax cuts, while providing little in terms of strategic economic policy. Sounds like desperation, bribery and economic mis-management to me.

So yes, its easy to see that hard-line Liberal voters (who tend to be the business owners) only care about their own hip pockets. But we need to educate the majority of people (the workers, the families and the elderly), that the economy as well as our society and wellbeing will be better under a Labour government that offers more responsible economic management, investment in health and education, and a cleaner environment.

The prosperity that we've worked so hard for should be enjoyed by everyone, especially the workers who contributed to it!

Then there's the Liberal lie that Labour union members would be bad for business. Unions actually help businesses maintain their relationships with large workforces and maintain productivity. And in a growing economy, higher productivity is far more profitable than shaving away at worker's wages.

In my opinion, Howard is starting to become more like a dictator than a democratic leader. Lets hope he doesn't pull another "Tampa" out of his arsenal of deceit. I could go on further about Howard's arrogance, hypocrisy and lack of leadership, but I need to get back to work...

Please inform as many people as you can about the truth on these issues, so Australia can have a safe, free and prosperous future!

Answer 2

Without money in the bank it is impossible to make any social change. So regardless of whether you are a Liberal or ALP voter you need to be concerned about budget surpluses. It is for this reason that both John Howard and Kevin Rudd focused on money in the debate tonight.

History has shown that without the Liberal Party making the money, the Labor Party would not have been able to make the changes to society that they have over the decades.

The cycle of Australian politics is called a 'cycle' for a reason - it keeps going through its motions so that we can all live in this great country.

May the best man win the election...

Answer 3

hey surfa ..

I think that;s a world wide thing.. .I'm currently having a discussion re the USA being a Capitalistic nation which allows *the people the freedom, choice and justice they can afford* ( pity the poor buggar trying to survive on minimum wage) ....

it often seems the more a person has .. the less prepared to share they are ( BILL GATES being one exception) ...

i would HAPPILY pay more taxes ... if it were to go into areas of PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC EDUCATION AND AGED CARE...
I don't care if a person wants to live in a mansion or have luxury cars and an over-seas holiday every six months . .THAT'S FINE .. BUT every australian child SHOULD have the SAME HIGH standard of education ( i mean how do you know it's not some child from the poor suburbs who MIGHT grow up and be the person who cures cancer IF ONLY they had the same standard of Education that is supplied in PRIVATE schools).. EVERY australian SHOULD have a High level of national health care ... because a healthy nation is a strong nation .. and EVERY aged australian SHOULD recieve the utmost level of AGED care .. if only cos it shows our national compassion..

as I wrote .. the more some have ... the less they wanna share .. the less compassionate they are .. Let them choke on their bloody wallets .. I'll always care for others..

Answer 4

If what you describe in Australia is analogous to the US system, there are a couple of sad things I'd like to point out: despite being easily fooled by seeming monetary gains, people can actually lose money by going for the so-called conservative political scam. In the US, people were thrilled when they received their rebate checks on taxes promised when we elected George W. Bush. But the value of a dollar has fallen so much under his policies, and the average salary risen so little, that we are actually much poorer now, even counting that stupid rebate check. Conservatives in the US say "cut taxes," but the taxes they cut benefit only the already-wealthy. By contrast, progressive policies tend to enrich the wealthy AND everyone else, and they also tend to take care of issues that really are economic as well as moral, such as the environment, health care, education, etc.

To get to your point, I think that it's just easier for many people to decide that these moral issues are someone else's problem than to decide to solve them together as a society through government. Perhaps these same people fear that a government that assumes moral responsibility will become a tyrannical one.

I personally believe it is possible for a government (with the consent of its people of course) to lead a society to morally right action without destroying individual liberty. But I think it is easy for Conservatives to convince voters otherwise.

Answer 5

Let me assure you that Liberal voters do care about the environment,education, health and the future of our children. These things have and will continue to matter so much that we have bought about fiscal change that can enable us to continue to improve the life and opportunity for the current and future generation. Knowing that there is enough 'money in the bank' to benefit all and share with those who otherwise cannot afford can only happen where there is one hand on the financial steering wheel. The stereotype of a Liberal voter having no social conscious is a convenient and easy way to differentiate between the parties but reality is that to make a difference we need to find the a way - and this way will always have to be paid for somehow.

Answer 6

Thats because a lot of the Libs are people without children..who dont want children and are proberly multimillionaires from Real Estate and Excutives from high earned companies ..ect! who dont see the need for concern for all the issues you outlined. And what do they care if there was a nuclear station in their backyard..they wont care! once they die there is no one else to worry about.

Answer 7

Not being an Australian or having studied your political landscape -- I can only assume that your last statement is a blantant generalization "You cannot be truly concerned about these issues and vote Liberal."

Liberals -- by the definition of the term -- have many different individual beliefs -- and may come out differently on each of those issues, so it doesn't appear like they have a common cause -- and in your country, their only common causes may be economic.

That doesn't mean each individual doesn't have strong opinions on each of those subjects -- it just means that they don't all have the same opinion.

Answer 8

I'm with you, Surfa ~ the Liberals appeal to the "hip pocket nerve". Unfortunately, the people enjoying the goodies don't give a damn about the 30% who are missing out on basic necessities.

Answer 9

On this side of the Globe (USA) the reverse is in order. Republicans only think about money and forget about the important issues of which you speak. In USA the Liberals are for the exact cause you list

Answer 10

i think the liberal voters are very greedy, they only think of themselves, how they can make more money . they dont seem to think of the hard working battlers who struggle from week to week. the people on the long waiting lists for public hospitals or the public school students whose parents cant afford a private education.

yep.....my conclusion...pure greed...!!!!!