My main post today, Politics, policies and principles, is on my personal blog. It is based in part on this week's Armidale Express column; this will come up later.
In both the post and the column, I have used the words "our" and "we". Yes, they are my views, but they also reflect the feedback and discussion through this blog and the email traffic flowing from blog posts and column.
This is quite exciting. The feedback challenges my ideas, adds to them. Slowly but surely, we are creating another view, one that focuses on New England interests. Not just New England interests alone, but New England interests as part of the mix.
In the post, I refer to the views expressed by Mr Walladge on the ABC's The Drum. Compare those views with the feeling that many of us had that the hung parliament provided an opportunity for new views. I quote one line:
But the flexibility that allows our major parties to bend over backwards to accommodate the views of bigots and lunatics and the politically fraudulent goes far too far.
Of course there will be special pleading, in Mr Katter's case a degree of eccentricity (I actually love this), confusion over issues. But compare this to Mr Walladge's spleen!
I have no idea how all this will work out. I do not think that we can necessarily expect Mr Windsor to accept the approach I suggested. He has many things to consider. I do know that if we are going to make progress, we have to break or at least manage the Walladge position.
We are involved in a fight over ideas. We have to challenge many of the conventional ideas, put forward argued alternatives, stop the lock-in imposed by presently dominant mind-sets. I find that exciting.
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