Monday 26 August 2013

Down To The Doctor's: The ‘Lucky Country’ has a real electoral choice [corrected]

With his gaze recently augmented by LASIK corneal surgery,* this week Libertarianz leader Dr Richard McGrath casts it westward, at the curious bunch of people walking about on that enormous, hot and dry continent just over the horizon, who seem to lack a decent rugby team—but not a decent choice in the forthcoming election.

Noting the pending advance auction of stolen goods (otherwise known as the Australian general election), he reckons there is a sane alternative to the Mad Monk and the Narcissist from Nambour.

Let me says this as bluntly as I can: I urge all New Zealanders eligible to vote in the coming Australian Federal election to back candidates from the Liberal Democratic Party.  It’s hard to be clearer than that.

Why? Because the two major parties in Australia are pretty much like ours. And the Liberal Democratic Party is just the opposite.

The ALP and the Coalition are Tweedledum and Tweedledummer. In the blue corner is a party originally conservative in outlook, now sadly dragged into socialist compromise and contradiction, and into expensive and unsustainable election bribes (sounding familiar?); in the red corner is a tired leftist mob led by an incurable narcissist, dominated by trade union thugs, and mired in corruption and rotten to the core. (If that doesn’t sound familiar yet, just wait until David Cunliffe takes over.)

Liberal Democratic PartyFortunately for Australian voters, there is a political party whose candidates don't want to steal your money and use it to run your life in a way far different than you would choose yourself.

That party is the Liberal Democratic Party, and with one exception, their policies replicate those of the Libertarianz Party.

They call for lower taxes and government spending, greater privatisation and deregulation, open markets and free trade, the legalisation of all substance use, and for extending migration agreements with other countries. They  seek to end corporate welfare, abolish the institutionalised racism of affirmative action and the outlaw the atrocity of coercive psychiatry.

The single issue on which our two parties disagree is their approach to climate change. The Libertarianz Party supports a free market response to changes in regional climatic conditions, whereas the LDP advocate a government-led response. I will be contacting the LDP leadership to see whether they will consider changing this policy to make it consistent with their otherwise flawless adherence to free market principles.  All in all, a flawless adherence to free minds and free markets.

We wish Peter Whelan and his candidates the best of luck for the election, and hope they are able to pull Tony Abbott's so-called Liberal Party in the direction of freedom for all Australians. 

I should also say that as Libertarianz leader I have also been approached by the Australian Sex Party for endorsement, but found that too many of their policies—especially those on taxation, censorship and private choice—were at variance with the principle of freedom on which their party is supposedly based.

So vote Liberal Democrat—and vote early and often.

In closing, let me say that there are changes afoot locally.

I will shortly be taking up a position myself in Australia, where I hope I can make a real difference to people in desperate need of freedom: as a doctor on Christmas Island helping with the triage, processing and medical treatment of asylum seekers. I was recently delighted to learn of the island's libertarian (duty-free) attitude to the sale of alcoholic beverages, and hope to support that sector of their economy while I hope for a more humane treatment for the prisoners residents.

I will remain Libertarianz leader-at-large while candidates are interviewed for my replacement, and will assume the role of foreign correspondent to this blog's readers.

_richardmcgrathThanks for reading.
Doc McGrath
Libertarianz leader-at-large

*Corneal surgery performed by eye surgeon Andrew Logan and his wonderful team at the Wellington Eye Centre.

8 comments:

the drunken watchman said...

@ Doc MCGrath

has Wikipedia got it wrong about LDP on "climate change"?

(see last line below)
from Wikipedia
Policies[edit source | editbeta]LDP policies include the following:[6][7][8][9]

Extensive reduction of taxes and fines, industrial relations regulations, and government spending including welfare, health and defence
Support of extensive privatisation and deregulation
Support of a 20 percent flat rate income tax
Support of extensive free markets and free trade
Support of nuclear power
Support of market over government responses to climate change

Mr Lineberry said...

Great article Doc and all the best for your new undertaking.

I must confess when I read 'Christmas Island' I had to look it up (*blush*); sure you will do some good work and be of great assistance to many people.

A good friend of mine in NSW is a member of the LDP and once had me roaring with laughter when he said "the ACT party is much more extremist and libertarian than us"

Oh how perceptions differ from reality!

Peter Cresswell said...

@DW: Yes, think the Doc might have that one wrong. Their website says:
"The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) believes... That atmospheric carbon dioxide is increasing but considers the consequences of this, whether it is due to human influence and if anything can or should be done about it, as too uncertain to warrant government action...

"Global Warming
Scientific evidence suggests that the Earth’s climate has changed throughout its existence, sometimes dramatically, and that changes in climate have impacted human civilisation. Much of human history has been subject to the effects of global warming or cooling - the origins of the Sumerian, Babylonian and perhaps also biblical stories of a great flood, for example, are probably due to a massive rise in sea levels following global warming 7,600 years ago.

"Global cooling from 1300 to 500 BC gave rise to the advance of glaciers, migration, invasion and famine. The Medieval Warm Period from 900 to 1300 AD led to the Vikings establishing colonies and trade routes.

"Whether human activity is causing climate change or not, the important issue is whether governments are capable of implementing policies that mitigate it without reducing the prosperity of future generations.

"Should the evidence become compelling that global warming is due to human activity, that such global warming is likely to have significantly negative consequences for human existence, and that changes in human activity could realistically reverse those consequences, the LDP would favour market-based options."

Peter Cresswell said...

Mind you, I think the Doc has it wrong by going to work in a concentration camp...

Richard McGrath said...

I did get it wrong about the LDP policy on climate change - my bad, I misread a one sentence summary of the policy without looking at the details.

So, happily, I am pleased to be able to say that the LDP and Libertarianz parties are in complete agreement on all issues.

I'm going to keep an open mind on how humanely the Xmas Island immigrant detention centre operates, until I've worked there and seen the conditions in which the asylum seekers are kept. From a medical point of view, I do know that many of these people arrive in very poor physical condition and need urgent (often life-saving) treatment, which is where I will be involved.

Yes, it is a concentration camp of sorts, in the same way all refugee camps are. This one is a cut above just about all others in terms of quality of shelter, food, etc., and it is a concentration camp to which people from Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka keep coming in their thousands.

B Whitehead said...

Another well written article.

I wish you all the best with the upcoming adventures on Christmas island.

It's been an interesting experience watching the rugby down here in southern N.S.W.
Almost no one watches it,& those that do are resigned to NZ winning before the match has even started!

It's very PC here, as it was in NZ 10 years ago, so it will be interesting to see if this starts to decline, after the Australian election.

P.S. If your partial to marmite, stock up now & take it with you..

Anonymous said...

Good luck on Christmas Island. I will be very interested to hear a first hand account from a libertarian perspective. It's an ever growing problem that I'm not sure an open immigration policy can solve.

Richard Wiig

Mr Lineberry said...

Looks like your endorsement worked Richard!! haha!

They have won a Senate seat from New South Wales!

Amazing what libertarian parties can do when they actually go out and campaign.