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Peter Wicks says Australia desperately needs a third political party with teeth — and he reckons he’s found the perfect bloke to lead it.
The two Tonys: Windsor and Abbott
I just had a quick look in the mirror and it seems that despite years of abuse, I still have my two front teeth. Given that incredible fact, I have been forced to consider what else I may want for Christmas.
Watching highlights of question time in Canberra yesterday on ABC24 (it seems odd that there are highlights, however) it suddenly occurred to me what I really want for Christmas.
What I really want is Tony Windsor to form his own Party. How cool would that be? A Christmas gift to the nation. Well, kind of…
I came to this revelation yesterday, as I watched Tony Windsor sticking it to Tony Abbott during Question Time.
It was a brilliant display by our favourite Independent, holding Abbott to his words and taking him to task over his negative stance on carbon pricing — something that only a few short years ago he was in favour of, under John Howard.
Windsor kindly reminded everyone that Abbott told him, and others, during negotiations to form government after the election, that he would do “Anything, absolutely anything” to get the PM’s gig in the Lodge. The only thing Abbott wouldn’t do apparently, was “sell his arse”, but added that he’d consider it. How comforting.
Tony Abbott wouldn’t sell his arse — he’d sell ours instead.
Windsor summed up Abbott’s policy positions over the last few years on Climate Change.
“Climate change is crap,” Abbott says. Meanwhile, his policy has a hideously expensive plan to supposedly address it.
A Carbon Price is the wrong way to address the issue, Abbott states. Not that long ago however, he told a TV programme the best method to address the issue would be a “Carbon Tax”.
Abbott tells us the government’s Carbon Price will hurt families — yet, Windsor says, Abbott has the “audacity” to offer as an alternative, a vastly more expensive policy that punishes families and pays polluters. Not only that, his Direct Action policy has more holes in it than Alexander Downer’s fish net stockings.
Windsor then pointed out that Abbott’s definition of “anything” would have included a Carbon Price.
So, I got to thinking, if Tony Windsor formed his own Party, he may well save all our arses from Abbott.
You see, I believe if Windsor had his own party, and rallied up a few good candidates (and by “good”, I mean — not Angry Anderson) he could split the National Party vote.
National Party members must wonder what they are doing aligned with such a pro-development party like The Liberals anyway.
As I write this, National Party voters are fighting for their farms – often literally – to stop them being destroyed by the effects of Coal Seam Gas Mining. Meanwhile, the Liberals are battling to give these mining companies tax concessions, presumably for their FFF’s — Farmer Fighting Funds.
Another big issue facing farmers is our weather. Be it drought, flood, or violent storms, these things are all affected by climate change, and it is our farmers who bear the brunt. I am sure that most of these National voting farmers would like a party with a leader that firstly believes in science, and secondly has the guts to do something about it. That man is Tony Windsor, it sure ain’t Warren Truss or Barnaby Joyce.
Our nation is desperate for a third political party with teeth.
The Democrats have gone fishing, The Greens don’t seem capable, and as for the Katter Australia Party, where do I start??
We need a third party with integrity, drive, determination, and our best interests at heart. A party led by someone who won’t sell their members out, but yet knows the art of negotiation.
We need someone like you, Mr Windsor. So step up to the plate.
(This story was originally published on The Hoopla and has been republished with permission.)
11 Comments
In every positive respect, Tony Windsor has it all over the other Tony. Honesty, decency, integrity, intelligence, social conscience, hard work, selflessness, saneness – Mr Windsor is unmatched by the other Tony.
In the negative traits – dishonesty, self-service, spite, shallowness, laziness, extremism – Abbott is unmatched by Mr Windsor and in fact every politician, past or present.
um, nationals only got about %3.5 of the vote at the 2010 election. i’d wager that a tony windsor party won’t achieve much by just splitting the nationals vote. yet they have 6 lower house seats, talk about over representation sheesh :roll-eyes:
Mr Tony Windsor was definitely a Leader this week.
Words of wisdom Wixxy, indeed Tony Windsor is a credit to his electorate, the Parliament and the country and a fine man as well.
While on leaders, I believe we undoubtedly saw a future Labor leader and PM in Greg Combet last Thursday. His reply to Abbott and Pynes motion to suspend standing orders was quite outstanding. Greg shows a steely resolve, is a fine debater, knows his stuff and can dish it out with the best of them, all with his own touch of dry humour.
His extensive experience as the countries top trade unionist has given him the attributes needed to progress quickly up the ranks.
We will be seeing and hearing much more from this excellent Minister.
The Greens have proved themselves well and truly capable, Wixxy – methinks your political affiliations are showing just a tad here (never give a vote-stealing Greenie an even break!). I agree with you that Tony Windsor is great, though.
Windsor would be a great leader of : The Independents Party. Maybe even Bob Katter could be persuaded to join. OK Bob can be a nutter but I reckon he is honest and pragmatic and only has his constituents well being at heart.
I’ve always been puzzled why any country person would vote for The Nationals who continually sell out country people and farmers to Big Business. I asked my best friend, a card carrying National country property owner the other day why he voted Nats and he said “always have because the family always have”. Weird.
Windsor still caved in over the lies of the major parties and voted to push refugees to bird poo islands.
Cheap shots at the Greens demean Peter Wicks though.
First off, I live (and vote) in Tony Windsor’s electorate. I’ve been very impressed with the common sense and integrity he has displayed during his time in Parliament, even if I haven’t agreed with him on every issue.
Unfortunately there is a very good chance that he won’t be there after the next election. Today the Nats confirmed Richard Torbay, currently the Independent member for the NSW state seat of Northern Tablelands, as their candidate for New England in 2013. There’s a strong likelihood he’ll win.
Torbay made some remarks a while back about how the Independent “brand” had been “damaged” by Windsor and Oakeshott’s support for the Labor government. I suspect that Windsor’s spray at Abbott in the video clip above was in part to remind the voters in his electorate why he chose to do so.
There was some disquiet about this after the 2010 election. New England is ‘traditionally’ a Country Party/Nats seat – Labor hasn’t held it since before World War I – and apparently the locals expected Windsor to tug his forelock to Abbott without thinking. (He had some form in this regard: he was the first Independent to sign on with Greiner’s minority government in NSW in 1991.) I for one am glad he didn’t, but a lot of people in my electorate think otherwise.
Oscar: “always have because the family always have” cuts both ways. A friend once told me how his grandfather told his children that he expected them to show undying loyalty to three great institutions: the Labor Party, the Catholic Church and Essendon. Only one of them has stood the test of time in my opinion – go the Bombers!
Nothing cheap about what he says on the Greens, if anything, he is being polite and pulling his punches. With the amount of vitriol you happen to dish out to Peters party Marilyn, how ‘demeaned’ does that make you?
The family farmer now has no political representation whatsoever.
The marginalisation of this grouping has been comprehensive.
Almost the entire National Party Parliamentary contingent are gutless and opportunist time servers (save for NSW Senator John Williams). Torbay is an opportunist and would join their ranks. The fact that Bob Katter quit the Party is indicative of its uselessness.
The National Farmers Federation, formed in 1979 with its origins in the elite Australian Woolgrowers’ and Graziers’ Council, was intended precisely to marginalise the family farmer voice. The NFF ripped off farmer money to fight trade unions but has not spent a single dollar in supporting farmers against rapacious banks and the retail duopoly.
The NSW Farmers’ Federation is gutless.
The federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is full of beancounters, ‘trained’ mostly by pinheads via ridiculous syllabuses in University Departments of Agricultural Economics or Economics.
The NSW Dept of Agriculture has effectively been abolished, now nominally within the now mega NSW Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services (sic), whose current Director General is one Mark Paterson, functionary par excellence, ex lobbyist head of the Right-wing Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, then imposed as Secretary of the federal Industry Department by Prime Minister Howard, from which totally unsuitable position he was despatched and subsequently taken up by the O’Farrell Government. The mining lobby now rules on the land.
The few farmers that I know will not vote for the Party that has comprehensively sold them down the drain.
i think farmers and farming always have and always will be more important than most things, most especially mining. the greens should talk to farmers and find out what they need and propose policies that help them so much that they’d never consider selling the farm, which causes all sorts of consternation. i also agree windsor is excellent and torbay comes across as an opportunist, all that glitters is not gold new england.