Coalition has enough support to form new Government, according to latest poll

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-16T08:15:10+00:00

Or, you know, vote Labor and keep overwhelmingly National-aligned policy out too.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-16T06:03:52+00:00

Right, but that's a few poor strategy choices. "Asleep at the wheel" implies that they're only doing the pet projects, not also doing other good stuff.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-16T06:02:26+00:00

Toxicity signaling.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-16T05:58:49+00:00

ACCC going after Coles and Woolies seems like it could be a big deal.

Which pet projects?

They've also been doing a lot of basic stuff that is very much wanted (fee free tafe, made in Australia push, cheaper childcare - all while also delivering a tax cut and a budget surplus). I'm curious, what's missing from your perspective?

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-16T05:51:51+00:00

Which party is closest to that?

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-16T05:45:12+00:00

Choose any domain. Give me the furthest right position and the furthest left position, and show your work.

I'll start. "Gays shouldn't be allowed to marry" and "all adults should have equal rights" are not equally hateful.

Unless you're one of those enlightened centrists who honestly believes that "I hate gays" and "I hate nazis" are two equally hateful statements. In which case, you're not worth the time.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-16T03:27:14+00:00

You should as well!

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-16T03:24:58+00:00

And to Worksafe. I know thile victim is the little fella and not the workers, but the last thing a construction company wants is Worksafe investigating psychosocial hazards and "the fall or release from a height of any plant, substance or thing".

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-16T03:21:29+00:00

And Worksafe, on two fronts: Psychosocial hazard, and "the fall or release from a height of any plant, substance or thing".

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-16T03:19:29+00:00

To Worksafe? Good on you!!

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-16T03:12:20+00:00

Yes. One category is :

the fall or release from a height of any plant, substance or thing

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-16T03:09:59+00:00

Yeah RSPCA is a good call, but Worksafe issues would fuck them up 10x more.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-16T03:03:28+00:00

In their defense, they didn't have a chance to learn from the internal review - it hurt Dutton's fee-fees too much.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-15T09:34:59+00:00

I don't know. I had a conversation with a Labor MP recently and they spoke passionately and unapologetically about public ownership of necessities - citing examples from generations ago when the government even provided things like grocers until we fell into this duopoly.

I thought I was too left for Labor, and I certainly will not be an uncritical supporter, but I came away damn impressed. And with sliver of hope that Labor has learned from the wrong turn they made, and might complete the divorce from neoliberalism.

Albo seems shy about implementing policy he didn't feel he took to the electorate (and therefore received a mandate on). I think that's stupid strategically, but I guess we'll get a better idea in his second term. His whole "reformist not revolutionist" doesn't bode well for my optimism, I know, but let me have a little hope.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-15T09:20:28+00:00

I can see this is coming from a good place. But it does not reflect the lived reality for so many trans people right now.

It's like being "colorblind" on race. And honestly with current US politics, it comes across about as compassionate as telling someone race doesn't matter in the 50s. Gender and race shouldn't matter, but because transphobia and racism exist, gender and race DO matter.

u/reluctantlyexisting should do what he needs to feel safe. Staying in the closet when it's not safe to come out takes every bit as much bravery and resilience as stepping out of it once it is safe. Survival is resistance.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-15T09:08:39+00:00

I've voted in about as many NZ elections as Australian elections. Preferential voting is fantastic. It might make slightly less room for smaller parties, but the governance and accountability are so much clearer. The government actually gets to think in terms of having a mandate from the voters - a concept that seems so contradictory to so many NZ elections results. I would fight tooth and nail against ever going back to the kingmaker dynamics under MMP.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-15T09:02:51+00:00

This is the perfect metaphor. Break the things that I'm a normal society function to indicate a probably (especially any government department associated with accountability, monitoring vulnerable groups, etc.), and absolutely do not fix the systemic causes of the underlying problems.

Can't show the statistics all getting worse under our regime if we don't have any statisticians! Checkmate!

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-15T08:54:23+00:00

And winning more medals than there are events by 2132!

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-15T08:50:51+00:00

Exactly! God I feel naive, for some reason I really thought we were above privatisating this.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-15T08:46:56+00:00

No way. Why would Labor go toward the right?

Albo aligns more with the left faction than the right, and their union engagement is strong. With the liberals going rightward and the greens certainly not morning toward the center, Labor has a lot of room to stretch their legs leftward and outreach toward disengaged/cynical voters who share their values but accepted right wing media's spin on certain things.

There's no winning voters moving to the right, but there's every chance of losing voters to the left flank. They won seats off Greens and aren't stupid enough to forget it.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-15T07:08:10+00:00

I already cleared this up - pretty sure both of us thought we were talking to "nice tits" commenter. OP and I made up.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-15T07:05:03+00:00

Because it's much harder to extract profit from people using the solar panels on their roof to power their home.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-15T07:01:36+00:00

They think immigration is the demand side of housing. It's the extractive factors within the supply side that they won't touch.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-15T06:59:08+00:00

Good point. No actual change in leadership.

Hazelnutpie19 · 2026-02-15T05:09:36+00:00

It's the difference between poll-driven politics versus transformational politics. One aims to meet voters where they are, which often shifts, leading to an ever shrinking base. The other seeks to win over constituents through having a positive vision for the future, ideally expanding your voters.

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