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The Liberal Party and Bruce Billson cannot seem to work out what it really stands for.
Of course Bruce Billson has been a part of a Government which has been involved in deception, cover ups , lies, secrecy and broken promises. However some policies have held firm.
Flip Flop Floozy
"Don't mention the flip-flop. John Howard first used the term against Mark Latham but this week Veterans Affairs Minister and Howard favourite Danna Vale was called "Flip-Flop's floozy" by Labor MP and Vietnam veteran Graham Edwards after she was forced by a Coalition party meeting to withdraw her proposed package of entitlements for veterans.
That was nothing compared with what she was being called behind her back by her own colleagues. Howard's mate, Tony Abbott, was asked if the PM was "Mr Flip-Flop""
The Age - February 20, 2004
The “Never Ever GST”
Howard was re-elected on the back of the GST promise, but his mandate was questionable at best. Remember that he received less than 50% of the 2 Party preferred vote and only squeaked in on the back of lucky electoral boundary distributions. In other words, he received endorsement for his GST platform from less than half the population.
Yes, it is human nature for a politician to change his mind. But Howard has made a career out of fudging the truth, twisting words and telling outright lies.
For example, everyone knows about his GST flip-flop, but the extent of his lie is actually revealed when we read the full transcript of his comments.
May 2, 1995 (doorstop interview):
Journalist: “So you've left the door open for a GST now, haven't you?”
Howard: “No, there's no way that a GST will ever be part of our policy”.
Journalist: “Never ever?”
Howard: “Never ever. It's dead. It was killed by the voters at the last election”.
May 2, 1995 (press release):
"A GST or anything resembling it is no longer Coalition policy. Nor will it be policy at any time in the future. It is completely off the political agenda in Australia."
December 11, 1995 (Radio 2NC):
"Can I look you straight in the eye and say this, that if I state before an election that we're not going to do something and say it in concrete terms, I mean it. One of the worst things about politics in Australia at the moment is that the public doesn't believe what political leaders say."
John Howard is a career liar. Bruce Billson supports him.
What Do Political Promises Mean? David W. Lovell
THERE IS a widely held view in Australia that political promises are glibly made and almost routinely broken once politicians have used them to gain votes. Indeed, the charge of “broken promises” has become a significant part of our political debate, especially during election campaigns,when opposition parties try to capitalise on the claim that the outgoing government has not implemented the promises made in winning office. Lists of promises made, and their fate, are sometimes published by such parties, and by the press (and not solely by the sensationalist, tabloid press), and the message is echoed by many ordinary citizens. In recent times, economic mismanagement and the breaking of promises—often linked together— seem to be the two most prominent reasons given for attacking a government presenting itself for re-election.
Governments themselves have applied tortuous logic to explain or justify how their actions relate to the promises they made in getting elected to office. The Prime Minister, John Howard, explained in June 1996—soon after winning office for the first time—that some of his party’s promises were “core” promises, and some were “non-core”, and that his government (in the light of the unexpectedly poor finances it had inherited) would keep only core promises. The distinction, depending entirely on his own discretion, has now entered the Australian lexicon as a code for political cynicism in general.
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