Post by katemac on Apr 30, 2013 6:33:09 GMT 10
Good on Sarah Hanson-Young for fronting up to Q and A last night, broken arm and all. She has been something of a sacrificial lamb for the Greens, keeping true to her knowledge, ethics and experiences regarding asylum seeker policy and being attacked unremittingly for it. And now, of course, she's been proved right. The no advantage policy is a cruel failure. To consciously go about creating mental illness is nothing short of evil - and it is costing us billions to destroy people's minds.
Hanson-Young was vocal and confident last night, despite the fact that Tony Jones kept interrupting her (as usual it was hard for the women to get a word in).
I still think she could do a bit better where image is concerned. She's a little like Clive Hamilton - heart and mind in the right place, but lacking a little that extra empathy that can imagine the ordinary voter, and appeal to them. I think she needs to work on this. Her arguments are fine, and shouldn't be watered down - but she needs to somehow build a bridge between her own strong beliefs and the concerns, delusions and misapprehensions of the community. This is the art of politics I guess - being true to yourself and keeping your policies effective and evidence-based while at the same time being conscious of who you are trying to appeal to, and the climate in which you are sending your message.
Still, I loved the way she treated Mark Scott's Murdoch plant, Nick Cater, calling him out for his hypocrisy as a Murdoch employee and accusing him of trying to soften us up to get rid of the ABC. I think it's slightly more sinister than that - it sounds as if this sad, twisted man is trying to build an Australian version of the Tea Party, at Murdoch's command. Good luck with that Nick, judging from the reception you got last night.
Hanson-Young was vocal and confident last night, despite the fact that Tony Jones kept interrupting her (as usual it was hard for the women to get a word in).
I still think she could do a bit better where image is concerned. She's a little like Clive Hamilton - heart and mind in the right place, but lacking a little that extra empathy that can imagine the ordinary voter, and appeal to them. I think she needs to work on this. Her arguments are fine, and shouldn't be watered down - but she needs to somehow build a bridge between her own strong beliefs and the concerns, delusions and misapprehensions of the community. This is the art of politics I guess - being true to yourself and keeping your policies effective and evidence-based while at the same time being conscious of who you are trying to appeal to, and the climate in which you are sending your message.
Still, I loved the way she treated Mark Scott's Murdoch plant, Nick Cater, calling him out for his hypocrisy as a Murdoch employee and accusing him of trying to soften us up to get rid of the ABC. I think it's slightly more sinister than that - it sounds as if this sad, twisted man is trying to build an Australian version of the Tea Party, at Murdoch's command. Good luck with that Nick, judging from the reception you got last night.
