Enough of the Fear Campaign

I very rarely make public comment about politics, it is not a subject that interests me largely because I don't have any real respect for politicians. But I can't be silent on the Australian 2010 Election, which should be called Election by Fear. Both parties want us to be afraid of everything from rising taxes to dying from cancer - one of the most outrageous ads of this campaign has been Abbott's claim that the Labour Party's health policies will see more Australians die because they can't get medical care.

But the issue that has prompted me to speak out is the Stop the Boats campaign. Abbott and Gillard are as bad as each other with their pejorative rhetoric around the asylum seekers - which in reality don't add up to more than a few thousand people a year, desperate people who have been driven from their homes by true fear, by true terror. What are they guilty of? Seeking a better life for themselves and their children. I am so ashamed of Australia's policy towards these people, our lack of compassion as a nation, our closed-mindedness and our selfishness. 

Abbott and Gillard would have you believe that these traumatised human beings - remember they are people just like you and me, wanting to shelter and feed their family and live their lives in peace - are going to take away our freedoms. Rubbish. We are doing that ourselves by our lack of ability to think beyond what we are told, to stand up for what we know is right, to extend a helping hand to someone for no other reason than one human being helping another in a time of need.

Stand up for Australia and say no to this backward policy that will send us back to the dark ages. Stop the boats? No. Stop the fear mongering and recognise it for what it is: a smoke screen to hide the fact that between the two major political parties they don't have a policy worth debating. They are both resorting to the most basic political ploys - tell the electorate who is to blame for their woes, instill fear and anguish, and promise that they will do better. History dictates that we, as an electorate, should know better than to fall for that tired old play yet again.

End wasteful spending - on the diatribe of fear

Welcome the boats - extend a helping hand and show the world what Australians are made of - compassion, intelligence to cut through the political rhetoric and the guts to stand up for what is right.