Translating the double-speak of the ALP

Kevin Rudd has delivered his vision to the ALP conference. I will translate the empty political rhetoric into plain english for my readers.

Mr Rudd was greeted with a specially-commissioned song as he appeared at the Sydney Convention Centre this morning to address Labor delegates, flanked by the message "Australian Labor, Fresh Thinking''.

Wow.. Kim Jong Il, who is the subject of many (most) North Korean operas and musicals, would be impressed by this young socialist.

Delegates gave Mr Rudd a standing ovation as he walked to the stage, greeting his children and his wife Therese Rein on the way.

Don't you usually applaud AFTER someone has said something worthwhile ? I guess its the cult of the celebrity in action, kind of like seeing movie-stars head down the red carpet, or Al Gore attend a global warmenising conference.

"My name is Kevin, I'm from Queensland and I'm here to help,'' he quipped as he addressed his first Labor national conference as opposition leader..

= I am Kevin. I am here to meddle, control and regulate your lives.

In a speech on enduring Labor values, Mr Rudd said Australia was approaching a crossroads and Australians needed to deal with it head on.

Crossroads ? What are you on about Kevin ? How does this relate to policies and ideas ?

"One thing we know for certain is that the history of nations is made up of those who understand, anticipate and act on the challenges of the future. And those who do not. Those who instead bury their heads in the sand. Those who hope it will all just go away,'' he said.

= I will invent some problems and issues, without considering their priorities or real value, and then rapidly expand taxes and government power in harmful efforts to deal with these "problems and issues".

Notice the underlying assumption here ? That in order to do something, take action and act on challenges, it requires governmental action, planning and policies, rather than the millions of individuals freely and voluntarily responding to changing conditions.

Mr Rudd said Labor was at its best as a navigator of Australia's future, drawing on the achievements of past leaders like Ben Chifley and John Curtin.

= We love central planning at the ALP ! Don't let individuals decide, we can coerce them instead !

What achievements did those past PMs have ? Central planners really only have a record of failures next to their names. Bob Hawke was the best ALP PM because he massively deregulated markets, slashed taxes, separated monetary policy from the government and other policies to reduce the size of government. Look how well central planning worked for China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.

"This election in just a few months time will be about the future versus the past,'' he said. And we friends are the party of the future.
"And our opponents, friends, have become the party of the past.''

Thats a half truth there. The ALP are the party of the past, relying on the old fashioned socialist methods of central planning, large government and massive bureaucracy. Freedom and individual liberty are the actual modern ideas that lead to the flourishing of western societies in recent centuries.

Mr Rudd outlined what he saw as the greatest challenges facing the nation over the next few decades.

End of mining boom

These included the end of the mining boom which had underpinned the nation's economic prosperity, global warming, the threat from terrorism and what he called the dysfunctional federal system of government.

= We do not like profit and free trade. Wealth must be crushed and redistributed.

Here it comes .. the ALP are openly admitting they will rape and pillage the economy. The mining sector is home to thousands of leading edge jobs and billions in investment. It is our major export sector and our living standards are indirectly tied to the success of this industry, fueled by economic growth from China.

According to Rudd, the mining boom had underpinned the threat of terrorism ? How exactly does that mechanism work Mr Rudd ?

"When I look to the next decade, the future I see for Australia is one fundamentally shaped by the rise of China and the rise of India,'' Mr Rudd said.

"The future I see for Australia is one in which our current mining boom does not last forever, and rather that simply being the lucky country , we will have to make our own luck.

Does anyone take these speeches seriously ? This guy is delivering the most empty rhetoric ever. No ideas, no hard policies, only veiled threats at further regulation and taxes. No appreciation of the dynamic and robust nature of free markets.

"The future I see for our country is also one challenged by long term energy security, climate change and its impact on water security, food security and national security.''

Once again, can this ego-maniac acknowledge that the future isn't shaped by one man, and that its often random, unpredictable and that millions of individuals contribute towards it, rather than one Supreme Overlord of Australia ?
The sheer arrogance of this man, as he prepares to lord it over all of us, is breathtaking.

He accused the Howard government of failing to embrace the opportunities to deal with the challenges the country faced.

More to the point, he was upset that the Howard government didn't expand and grow its powers fast enough to deal with invented problems and to steal more liberty and property from the proletariat.

He pledged Labor would face the future with confidence, determination and fresh ideas.

"I am an unabashed optimist when it comes to our country's long term future,'' Mr Rudd said.

He restated Labor's commitment to its core values such as equality of healthcare and a social safety net for all.

Labors core values = pouring billions of taxes, taken from succesful income earners, into healthcare, welfare and other grand schemes, and then claiming that it really makes a difference.

"Australian people want prosperity but they want prosperity with a heart,'' Mr Rudd said.

Aww.. how lovey dovey. Prosperity, with a heart !! As opposed to heartless prosperity ?

"Mr Howard doesn't really believe in a single idea which didn't appear on black and white television,'' Mr Rudd said to laughter and applause from the crowd.

"No one is a bigger fan of Ward Cleaver than me, but I've got news for Mr Howard, the world has changed since Leave It To Beaver,'' he said of the American 1950s TV show.

Wow what an amazing phrase, but how incredibly dishonest. Mr Howard doesn't believe in mass media, internet, technology, aviation, mass transit, medical breakthroughs ? I didn't realise that Leave it to Beaver was part of the Liberal Party manifesto ?! its full of all this other stuff, like principled support of freedom, liberty and property rights.

But he reminded the party faithful that Labor would not be able to clinch victory at this year's federal election if it only relied on voter unhappiness with the government.

"As I've said to my colleagues on many occasions: we will not win this election on the basis of a protest vote against Mr Howard alone,'' Mr Rudd said.

Thats true. I'm unhappy with the current level of taxes and governmental interference at the moment. And quite correctly, I won't be voting for the ALP because they are definitely worse than the current mob.

Alternative plans

"We can only win it on the basis of a positive vote for us - and our alternative plans for Australia's future.''

Mr Rudd reiterated Labor's plans to improve public education, invest up to $4.7 billion in a new high-speed national broadband internet network, and tackle problems with business regulation to help boost productivity levels.

See.. its all about the plans. Mao and Stalin had plenty of plans. And Rudd will too. Plan to spend. Plan to tax. Plan to regulate. Plan long term. Expand the plan. Make it grand. Think big. Tax big. Steal more than ever before. Regulate and control the population. Brainwash them if necessary. Introduce new laws and powers to coerce us.

And he repeated his promise to dump the government's industrial relations policies "once and for all'' and introduce policies to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent by 2050.

60 percent by 2050 - he wants 60 percent of Australians to stop breathing ? Stop living, Stop using cars, stop using heating, stop using technology, stop communicating. If that threat isn't enough to scare you away from voting for the ALP, then what is ?

"We can build productivity growth through an education revolution, the application of new technologies, by freeing up our businesses from unnecessary regulation and by encouraging a new age of innovation - including our critical manufacturing industries,'' he said.

Yay ! The revolution is coming. Those revolutions are really popular amongst socialists, and they always result in .. misery. Since when has the ALP ever freed up anybody from unnecessary regulation - aren't they the bastards who always introduce it in the first place ?!

"I don't want to be a prime minister of a country that doesn't make things any more.

What in the universe could this mean. We are producing more than ever. I'm not sure what "things" he is referring to, so the safest action would be for Rudd to quit before the election !

"And we are capable of building this prosperity on the back of these reforms - without throwing the fair go out the back door.''

Throw it out the front door then.. what is it with these socialists and metaphors !? Can't they speak in plain english, tell us what policies and actions they believe in, and what examples they are drawing upon ?

With classic liberals and capitalists, its very easy to elaborate policy details on the spot, and draw upon dozens of examples to justify the effectiveness of liberty and property rights. I feel that the ALP will avoid using proper English to describe their ideas and principles, because they mostly fall under the category of "central planning" and "socialism". When you look up how those philosophies have fared in other nations in the past, its plain as daylight to see that its a disaster waiting to happen. So naturally, the ALP use doublespeak and distorted metaphors to hide their agenda.