Was Russia really communist after Stalin took power?
They called themselves communist, and communists in other countries bowed down to Russia, including the Cambridge 5, the Rosenbergs and so many others.
Spanish communists in the Civil War got help from Stalin, and murdered for their trouble.
I donāt believe Communism can work in anything but smallish groups. All that revolutions do is replace one bunch of tyrannical arseholes for another bunch of tyrannical arseholes. With a small number of exceptions.
Going to an election is the ultimate in putting it to the people. So I donāt understand why you think otherwise.
As I understand and benfti may explain better, Premier Newman signed a contract with ADANI which the current Premier is unable or unwilling to break.
I will repeat for the third time, coal is not illegal and we still need it for maybe the next 50 years. And as long as the environmental safeguards are maintained, all taxes are paid, workers are paid award or better, and no taxpayer dollars are put into it, then I have no issue.
That said, it is all just a waste of effort, as it will never happen, the economics of this low grade coal does not stack up. As if there is nothing else to argue about in Qld.
Comrade AN, why do you think I use the word? Because I know it does your head and that of others in !
I grew up with it and at first it irked me, then I was amused, and then one day back in 1974, when I worked for a Federal Minister, Gough called me Comrade, so I wore it well ever since. Within the ALP, it is about solidarity and unity, and that is a good thing.
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BF, you obviously have far more political experience than I. Believe it or not I respect your views. But as far as govt support and approvals go, itās a done deal. Labor could have pulled the pin on it but they didnāt. And as far as the major parties go now, there is no alternative. Thatās why I donāt think itās being put to the people. Itās too late. āDemocracyā will need to be expressed in another way now as I doubt that the Greens can aquire enough clout via the polling booth.
As I said above, Iām not against all mining per se. Projects should be assessed on their merits. Numerous others have outlined the serious problems with this deal, so I donāt think I need to do that here. But why, given all those issues, has it still got the green light? Therein lies the gutless part IMO (fear of alienating northern voters, mostly). Sure, Qld has other issues, but none bigger than this and some are related to this in various ways (development, tourism, energy, agriculture, not to mention environment in a more general sense).
Hopefully youāre right and it wonāt go ahead for economic reasons, but there are wheels turning in NQ already.
Regardless, we can agree to disagree - Iām fine with that.
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Exactly, what I donāt think @Bacchusfox fully seems to appreciate is on the matter of the mine, there is no vote. Now if either party was running on the platform of no to the mine, then sure, she is putting it to a vote.
But to say she is putting the mine issue to a vote is nonsense.
I live in a region where the LNP have a 70% majority. Iāve never felt so uninspired to vote in my life.
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The election was called after she disendorsed Rick Williams and lost her majority. Nothing to with Adani.
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I know that, unless thatās what BF means by letting the public decide again. But I can say that the vast majority of people I speak to the mine is the top of the list of discussion points
Well benfti, Qld is a great place to visit and FNQ in winter is among the best places on Earth.
But the politics is a basket case and I commend you come home and get the Fark out of there. I have dealt with Qld Labor people for 40 years, and find most hard to support and harder to like. Bill Hayden was about the only one I could stomach or trust.
ADANI should be scrapped, and all the reviews I have done fail to show how it is viable. The coal quality is average the extraction costs are high and the capital infrastructure needs are massive. Without State funding it is very marginal, without the Feds $1 billion rail link it is impossible.
It all makes little sense, as coal prices are down, markets are contracting and coal miners around the world are not investing.
My conclusion is that it will never happen.
But politics is a weird beast; LNP is not driven by logic and love big dollar numbers that swell the balance sheet, Labor is driven by ideology of workers jobs with massive pressure from AWU and others.
If Qld voters had a brain, they would all vote for the Greens in this election, and slap down both LNP and Labor. But we both know that grey matter is scarce up North. Thank God you have bananas and nice beaches.
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Well I never!
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So as far as the LNP are concerned with Adani, the reason for pushing ahead with it pretty much comes down to ābecause Fark you, thatās why.ā Oh, and probably a few paper bags and post politics cushy jobs.
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Any truth in the rumour that Barnaby has been soaking the snag with one of his staffers.
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There was a bunch of (veiled) twitter debate on it a few weeks ago by a bunch of journo types I follow.
The fact that they were debating whether or not itās appropriate to report on a politicianās private life rather than whether or not the affair is happening pretty much confirms it in my book.
Soaking the snagā¦ that phrase alone makes a trip into this thread worthwhile, cheers!
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Not even once?
Ah, good olā southern snobbery. Reminds me of my old man, been paying out on Queenslanders ever since I moved up here.
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I plead the Bill Clinton defence.
So that makes Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt who are against the Adani mine. Is there anyone left who isnāt on the take who likes this idea?
Couldnāt be. Thereās not a human on Earth that would willingly engage in that kind of activity with B Joyce.
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No.
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