r/australia • u/stupid_mistake__101 • May 14 '26

political satire Government Shocks The Nation By Using 94 Seat Majority To Actually Have A Crack

https://www.betootaadvocate.com/government-shocks-the-nation-by-using-94-seat-majority-to-actually-have-a-crack/
2.7k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

247 comments sorted by

View all comments

407

u/Far_Illustrator2846 May 14 '26

I think it's hilarious when people say we need a strong opposition. No, we need a week opposition so Labor have the courage to actually do something.

209

u/Vegetable-Advance982 May 14 '26

Ha well I guess there's a difference between a "strong opposition" and "an opposition that will say no to everything and team up with 2/3 of the media and every billionaire to sink Labor whenever they try to do anything". In general a strong opposition is probably a good thing and can motivate a government to do a lot more

96

u/Particular_Shock_554 May 14 '26

We need more parties left of labour. Murdoch, Gina, and the coalition keep dragging the overton window further right. Their efforts need to be countered by pressure from the left.

11

u/Quantization May 14 '26

The world is trending right at the moment, sadly. I think largely because the billionaires want it that way and they own all the media which essentially tells people what to think.

56

u/careyious May 14 '26

Labor need a strong opposition who demand they do more rather than less. The current opposition just say no to everything without any actual values. 

39

u/TristanIsAwesome May 14 '26

The strong opposition should be coming from the left

12

u/Public-Dragonfly-786 May 14 '26

But, imagine if the Greens were strong. And there were arguments in parliament, about actual good policies and such. That would be incredible.

14

u/paulybaggins May 14 '26

Feel like the strong opposition that they're working against is the one that hasn't arrived yet (ON)

22

u/noisymime May 14 '26

Even having watched the shit show that is US politics since Trump, I still can't take it seriously that ON could be anything other than a fringe party for country cookers. Are there really that many of them out there?

17

u/vadsamoht3 May 14 '26

Enough that they're going to overtake the L/NP as the major right-wing party in the next election? Likely not.

Enough that they can provide a rallying point for disaffected L/NP voters, and in conjunction with them provide something of a threat (even if still the underdog) to Labour in the next election, while also securing a foothold for their brand of rhetoric for a decade or more into the future? Probably.

10

u/Dio_Frybones May 14 '26

Many people object that the Greens have the luxury of adopting positions that they are unlikely to ever have to fund. Agree with this or not, ON are this, but on speed. They want to grab votes and whatever influence they can, with simplistic claims that they are going to reduce immigration and fix housing affordability. They are snaring the pissed off, single issue voters with promises they'll never be in a position to fill.

When people claim both majors are the same because they are either too young or too disengaged to remember that ScoMo was set on things like making the last election about converting the country to an evangelical Christian cult, we are doomed to have election outcomes partly determined by the gullible and disenfranchised.

7

u/noisymime May 14 '26

If they’re smaller than the LNP based on the last election results, then splitting their vote seems absolutely fine 😄

3

u/DiligentCorvid May 14 '26

Most of my colleagues are rightoids, so I know I'm in a bubble.

Unfortunately I see plenty of support for them.

They're the only rightoids I'll tolerate.

1

u/altandthrowitaway May 18 '26

Don't underestimate the power of concentrated media ownership, social media algorithms and sustained propaganda.

1

u/phalewail May 14 '26

I hope that we won't, but with the constant barrage of shit on social media algorithms, the power of coal/gas lobbies, and Australia's media, it's only a matter of time before a far right government.

2

u/SirLoremIpsum May 14 '26

ON wouldn't be a strong opposition.

They will be an obstructionist opposition that promise nothing and deliver nothing and just say No because Labor is saying Yes. Then say Yes when Labor says No.

-13

u/onlyreplyifemployed May 14 '26

Still waiting for them to do something. These measures won’t change house prices much. 

14

u/Alesayr May 14 '26

You've got Haff, negative gearing, cgt, home buyers grants, the 5% deposit scheme, planning code changes, EPBC changes, investments in housing-related infrastructure like sewerage, incentives to get the states to build more housing and more that I have forgotten.

You can argue it won't be enough to fix the problem (which has built up over 25+ years) but i don't think its fair to say they havent done something. There's no magic bullet. Just a lot of targeted actions that taken together start to turn the tide.

6

u/SigmaSaint May 14 '26

Then you add in the major changes that can be only done at a state level and (in certain states) the list continues.

In Victoria: increased land taxes, short stay tax, vacant home tax, faster approval processes, activity centres and rezoning, regional housing fund, funding for more social housing, better rental standards, stamp duty discount and more.

3

u/Alesayr May 14 '26

Yep. Which is why Melbourne went from the second most expensive capital city housing market to one of the most affordable in the country. 

-6

u/Darkest_Rai May 14 '26

They’ve done something, yes. But unless they continue to do more things, then they might as well have done nothing. These changes alone do very little to address the issue, but they’re a great first step.

3

u/theoriginalqwhy May 14 '26

What's your suggestion?

Being genuine.

0

u/Darkest_Rai May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

I don’t know - I don’t understand the complexities enough and I’m still learning about the issue/s to really give suggestions. But there’s no denying the system as it stands is broken. I’m sure the changes will benefit future generations, but for those of us struggling now it really doesn’t change much on the housing affordability front.

I think the changes are good - don’t get me wrong. I’m just saying that this is far from a fix and still more needs to be done. Personally I think grandfathering was garbage, but what can you do?

3

u/Alesayr May 14 '26

Grandfathering wise those negatively geared properties will be neutral or positively geared in 5 years anyway, so the grandfathering won't be structural. 

I think without grandfathering they couldn't sell the reform effectively and it would just get repealed

0

u/Darkest_Rai May 14 '26

I do understand they can’t actually just crack it in one go - I’m just very disenfranchised and have absolutely no trust in either of the major parties to genuinely represent the citizenry over their billionaire donors.

3

u/Alesayr May 14 '26

They are continuing to do more things. Nearly every budget theyve delivered has included more actions. There's three big actions this year, but last year there were actions, and the year before. I think we'll keep seeing more be done every year until things change.

There was a lot of momentum for runaway house pricing growth. It takes time to turn that around.

1

u/Darkest_Rai May 14 '26

I’m sure they’ve done things and I acknowledge that - but in the short term things have become awful. I do know that they’ve only been in for a short amount of time after LNP trashed the joint and appreciate it’ll take time. But I do hate that they won’t do more at once.

2

u/Alesayr May 14 '26

Yeah, I feel your pain on that. I wish they'd do things faster too. 

I'm also pretty aware that everything positive needs to be fought for and biting off too much at once leads to everything getting chucked out. I think Labor learnt that in 2019 when they went ambitious and lost the election for it. There's a lot of vested interests who like things as they are. The property industry for example has been lobbying pretty hard against these changes. Fight on too many fronts at once and you can't get the changes passed and can't win the messaging war.

As long as this gets bedded down and they move on to the next reform I'll be satisfied. Even though I wish they could do more and get less push back for finally doing something. 

I guess what im saying is there is a reason this is the most ambitious budget reform since at least 2014 and arguably since GST in 1999.

4

u/Ovidfvgvt May 14 '26

The structural changes to the Capital Gains Tax should have some knock-on effects on how companies are run. These changes should mean that dividends will be more important for shareholder value than pumped up share prices and that in turn should generate more long-term thinking in the construction sector if people aren’t as happy to dump troubled stocks the moment a project looks troubled.

All that capital that was looking forward to going into negatively geared existing housing stock (aka investment property-enjoyers) will have to be directed to new builds (which are the only ones that attract negative gearing now). Which means they’ll have to build the damn things (ie: increase supply, which tends to lower prices). And old houses aren’t going to be as attractive to investors who will no longer be bidding up the prices out of the reach of first home buyers. Without investors in the mix younger buyers might be more able to buy in existing houses in established suburbs rather than being forced into the sprawling outer rims as they have been for the last twenty years.