Albanese is under fire over a grants program that benefitted his local golf club. Were any rules broken?
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/11/albanese-is-under-fire-over-a-grants-program-that-benefitted-his-local-golf-club-were-any-rules-brokenOpen linkView original on programming.dev
19 replies
Didn't the LNP give a bunch of grants to LNP-held areas before Labor got in? Would this not just be a case of making up for lost time?
Either way doesn't matter to me. There are no better alternative's to Labor.
Greens?
God no. There's a reason people don't vote for them.
Like?
Their marketing and public image is appalling. People equate them with the hardcore Greenpeace style warrior. Young people fixated on a single topic (environment) and willing to hurt the nation in furtherance of that topic. This is especially the case with voters over 40, who remember when the Greens essentially were like this in the 20th century.
If you sit down and go through their policies, not only are they in fact reasonable, they're probably the best and most transparent party in terms of what they stand for. My only criticism of their platform is it's a little vague on the how they plan to do stuff and some of it tends to be aspirational rather than achievable. Still, it's great stuff.
But the percentage of voters who go through the actual stated policies of their choices are sadly in the minority.
Absolutely, the greens will never get positive treatment from corporate media, and corporate Australia in general, precisely because they stand firm on left wing policy that benefits working people. I don't think anything they say is unachievable but I understand anyone who thinks that way. We have been taught that doing great things for working people is impossible by our past governments because they'd rather sell out then deliver a better future
Which is not a sign of good policy makers or approach to governance.
It’s probably easier to fix Labor than the Greens
They literally have all their policies laid out and their plans to achieve them in the link provided.
I must have missed their policy of blocking reforms to environmental protection, housing and others so they can claim Labor get nothing done. Maybe they dropped it after the last elections results?
Broadly speaking they're not a party of government. They put ideology above reality.
They're also delusional, they think they're way more popular with the median voter than they actually are.
"Not the party of government" is a meaningless take. "Ideology above reality" just reads as somehow finding fault in a political party being principled. And for your last point, they are popular with the median voter, in terms of what their policies are. Tax the gas? Greens policy. Dental in medicare? Greens policy. End corporate lobbying? Greens policy. The median voter in Australia doesn't know the greens policy platform and tends to go with the vibe that corporate media pre packages for them. You are very clearly an example of this as when prompted for examples of why the greens can't be an alternative to labor; all you could come up with is a bunch of vibey takes that doesn't tell anyone anything other than your arbitrary thoughts on what the greens are.
There are various practical issues with the Greens policies. The Gas is under contract, we don't have enough dentists, and some amount of corporate lobbying is necessary for business confidence and by extension our economy.
There's also the issue of negative gearing and capital gains. The Greens frequently criticized Labor for not making the (much needed) changes but it's blatantly apparent that promising to change those cost Bill Shorten the election. The Greens have no regard for the limitations of democracy.
The Greens are revolutionaries. They want to overthrow the system and not work within it. If they were in Labor's position they probably wouldn't undermine democracy, they would instead implement all their dream policies which would last for 2-3 years before they lose an election by a landslide. They're delusional enough to think voters would like them if only they were given a chance.
The average voter knows that the Greens stand for taxing natural gas. The average voter is stupid, but not that stupid.
EDIT: I forgot about the Greens calling for proportional representation in the lower house. A stupid policy that they're only calling for because it favours them. We have proportional representation in the senate already, and we've seen in Europe and Tasmania that even just forming a government is a nightmare because of proportional representation.
"corporate lobbying is necessary for business confidence and by extension our economy"
So if anyone was onboard with what this guy was saying earlier I'm just letting you know it's okay to get off now XD
I was gonna discuss your points in depth but your too far gone. This very statement is fundamentally not a left wing policy and the reason labor can only be considered left wing in relative terms. You're either a beneficiary of the system that oppresses working class people or incapable of liberating yourself, either way there's no reason to continue this.
The government (and the police) are very clearly above the law now.
Now? Do you remember the Sports Rorts Affair and all the other pork barelling that's been par for the course in Australian politics for at least 30 years?
I remember not voting for the dastardly duopoly for 30 years