Mark Latham’s maiden speech ‘like rain on parched earth’
Your say on Mark Latham’s big speech, the Greens on hate speech, and the ALP’s ambitious agenda.
Welcome to the column where you provide the content. Mark Latham took aim at cultural Marxism and political correctness in his maiden speech in the NSW parliament, unleashing a flood of praise from over a thousand commenters, among them John:
“He will, eventually, by sheer moment and force of character and intellect, lead One Nation in one way or another. When that happens, watch out lefties and Liberal Party ‘moderates’. “Pauline has done a fantastic job, but she, unfortunately, lacks oratorical skills. No doubt, after all the great work she has done, she does not deserve to be anything but leader, but it would be in her interest, the interest of her party and of our country for Mark Latham to be given some sort of pre-eminence in One Nation.”
James rejoiced:
“Wow! Finally an authentic voice that’s speaks for so many that, until now, have remained silent through fear of being persecuted by the leftist mob, always baying for blood, for whatever infraction. This is a watershed speech by a very gutsy politician. Congratulations Sir! I applaud you.”
Helen heralded him:
“And that, Mark, is the reason you got my vote. Thank you.”
Reaganesque, said Rod:
“Mark Latham, like Ronald Reagan, has been compelled by logic, commonsense and desire for equity, to make the journey from left to right. We are all richer for it. “
No likes from Leoni:
“The comments section is full of adoration for Mark Latham, a loose cannon and authentic representative of the One Nation Party (erratic, unprincipled and egocentric).
“It says a lot about the readers/subscribers of The Australian and it’s not a club anyone should want to be a member of (talk about Marxism; it’s Groucho that comes to mind).”
Lyn liked:
“This speech is like rain on parched earth.”
Simon said:
“Mark is showing that he has matured in the time he has been absent from politics! Cultural Marxist an appropriate name for lefty collective!”
Yo ScoMo, said Seamus:
“Take note of the massive amount of positive comments here ScoMo — this speech would have won you an election in a landslide.”
Ted1 said:
“Well, well, well. So One Nation’s not dead yet after all! Is it just beginning?”
Stan struck back:
“Is it possible that in 2019 we can have a clown (in parliament even) who is seemingly unaware that storage and pumped storage hydro conserves and harnesses the abundant surplus renewable power (when the wind and sun are blowing/shining) and makes this available at those times when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing?”
Damon got to grips:
“Nice one Latho! if you could get one of those pesky Marxist Greens in a handshake you’d sort them out! You may have missed it mate but Life of Brian was actually about the absurdity of religious belief and a call for its reduced influence. That part may have sailed over your head a little bit.”
Piers posited:
“It was actually about the absurdity of human nature and groupthink. Guess that sailed over your head.”
Karl was a convert:
“Wow! Haven’t read a finer maiden speech for a very long time. Dripping with common sense and the wisdom of seeing what Labor and the loony Greens are doing to this country. Can we please clone Mark and replace most of federal Labor with them.”
Stewart suggested:
“Mark has hit it on the head how the left has changed: ‘The Leftist project, then and now, is about control. Having, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, lost the struggle for economic control, the Left got smarter. It shifted from the Cold War to a culture war. It moved from pursuing economic Marxism to pushing cultural Marxism.’
“Mark has hit it in one how the socialist/communists have changed from bayonets to words … always about a ‘fair society’ but which preaches stealing from one section to supposedly give to another.
“They never bring inclusiveness to the table, they never bring anything about creating wealth and increasing Australians standard of living to the table. When you look at the way the left has wrecked manufacturing and now push climate change (which is an agenda for total state control) then we should be very worried.”
Amazing, said MichaelB:
“It is extraordinary how Mark Latham’s views have changed — I must say, I prefer the new, politically-incorrect Mark Latham who is not afraid to tell it how he sees it, without fear or favour.
“Breath of fresh air. However, the picture of him ‘space-invading’ John Howard will live long in my memory.”
Brett saw the bright side:
“Well Mark Latham has truly surprised me. I think the years he has spent helping raise his children has caused great growth in understanding and maturity.
“This speech in my opinion would have to be one of the greatest political speeches in history and a rallying call for our western civilisation. No flowery meaningless empty words but direct and filled with fighting spirit and hope. Well said Mark.”
Joanne joined in:
“What an inspirational speech Mark! You have tapped into the hearts and minds of many looking for strong and articulate leadership to defend western values.”
Sam saw Latham with a triple bypass:
“This sounds like a new Latham. Perhaps he really had a ‘Damascus experience’. Maybe out of the ashes will rise a great leader.”
Ian opined:
“Mark Latham was rightly thought to be a political outcast for a few years. I would say by the tone of this speech he is back, rested and head in the right space.
“One Nation needs his leadership or else the party will fail, Australia needs a commonsense approach such as he is advocating.
“I won’t be voting One Nation this election as while I agree with many of their views I don’t think the parties current bunch of misfits are good enough to become a genuine voice for the right. Latham has the ability to change that.”
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The Mocker took aim this week at Richard Di Natale’s promised crackdown on hate speech, being any speech that Di Natale hates, starting with anything emanating from Andrew Bolt, Alan Jones or Chris Kenny. By George:
“If the people elect a Labor-Greens coalition to power, then soon will begin the book burning.”
Tim’s tip:
“And the brown shirts knocking on front doors in the middle of the night!”
Greg said:
“As anyone who has ever had a difference of opinion with a Lefty can attest, disagreeing with them results in insults and personal abuse coming your way. They are certainly well qualified to talk about hate speech because they have mastered it.”
David declaimed:
“A couple of years ago I began to regard it a compliment to be called a bigot and a homophobe.”
Paul proclaimed:
“I consider the quietly spoken Dreyfus to be single greatest threat to our democracy if he becomes AG purely because he wants to expand the powers of 18C. It is the single biggest issue for me in this election.”
John offered:
“Might I respectfully suggest that the sneering ‘top end of town’, ‘wealthy income earners’, ‘gifts for retirees’, ‘handouts for big business’ all qualifies as hate-speech directed specifically at successful people.
“As was Plibersek’s ‘Morrison is a motor mouth but nothing intelligent comes out’. Just imagine, if you will, for a minute if Morrison had said that about Plibersek or any female! Such staggering hypocrisy.
“Don’t hold your breath for legislation to stop that kind of envy-fuelled class warfare which whips the constituency up into a lather of resentment and which sees eggs hurled at PMs, dogs shot, Nazi signs on campaign material and faeces left in books, THIS is the ugly face of hate speech — a consequence of people having their resentment built up over time.”
Sir Les shared:
“It looks like a return to the Gillard/Conroy days of press censorship and the suppression of free speech if Shorten and Di Natale win the election.
“It was indeed a shameful time when the Labor Party attempted to muzzle the free press. And of course who can forget during this same period the way cartoonist Bill Leak was mercilessly hounded by the AHRC’s Gillian Triggs and Tim Soutphommasane.
“I hope that our nation never has to live through a shameful episode like this ever again.”
From Robert:
“That will look like a garden party compared to what will happen under Bill Shorten, Richard Di Natale and Mark Dreyfus if they win this election.”
Cliffo was cross:
“When Di Natale was first put forward as the leader of the Greens in 2015, I distinctly remember commentators inferring he would be a much more moderated and balanced voice than Christine Milne.
“How wrong they were. Perhaps it’s his attempt to hold onto the leadership that he has become increasingly environmentally extremist, morally bankrupt, hypocritical and politically ridiculous. Because, the more you display of those four traits, the more the Greens grassroots supporter will adore you.”
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Chris Mitchell wrote that the media story of the campaign is not the one Twitter would have you believe: that News Corp Australia is subjecting Labor to unfair scrutiny. The real story is Labor is surfing into government with the biggest policy-shifting agenda since Gough Whitlam. Kathleen’s comment:
“Only a hefty dose of Shorten-Labor will make this country wake up to the folly of their big-government wealth-distribution policies. Unfortunately, by the time most people realise that BS is in fact BS, a massive amount of economic damage, some irreparable, will have been done.
“This country is in for a world of hurt. And just like watching a slow motion train crash, there’s nothing we can do to prevent it except cast our votes carefully on 18 May.”
Murray mooted:
“Yes, but, they will do what RGR did and build unsustainable debt into the forward estimates, such as the NDIS and Gonski, in the form of legislated wage increases for the government sector to ‘balance’ those increases legislated for other worker groups ie childcare workers.
This madness is all about increasing union membership and influence.”
Adam advanced:
“As long as we still have an intellectually dishonest and activist media, we’ll never learn from the mistakes of the left. They will continue to manipulate the situation and blame conservatives.”
Geoffrey gloated:
“A ‘deskilled’ media! Add that to a not-really-interested-in-analysis bunch of voters and you get the result of another round of Labor doing damage to the country.
“Even a noted eminence grise journo here over the weekend was enthusing about Shorten’s revolutionary approach to (wait for it) climate change policy.
“Australia has become like a Greek tragedy, a sort of inevitable slide into decay and ruin. It’s death not by a thousand cuts but by a thousand unwise spending proposals, many of them more like “geek tragedies” such as the NBN. Now it’s stupid policies on electric cars, ineffective and costly wind and solar targets, and uneducated blind opposition to coal, nuclear, and dams.
“Without export dollars, without sensible leadership, we are bound for Venezstralia.”
Kate’s World concurred:
“This is a brilliant column by Chris Mitchell highlighting the true agenda of Labor.”
Kath W wondered:
“How often do communism and its little brother, socialism, have to fail before we really understand that they just do not work. In theory, its wonderful to say that the state should look after everyone and that everyone should have the same no matter their own individual efforts.
“Socialism does not work because it is anti-human nature. It takes away peoples’ natural inclination to strive to better themselves and to compete.
“Bill Shorten and his Labor mates will do anything to get power and to keep it. The good of Australia and Australians just does not figure in their calculations.”
Lutz illuminated:
“As they say: You can vote socialism in but you have to shoot your way out. See Venezuela.”
John was confused:
“The Age says Shorten is more popular than Don Bradman riding Phar Lap at the front of the AFL Grand Final parade. I must be missing something.”
Alison added:
“As has been obvious for months, many, many journalists just do not ask the hard questions anymore. With a few honourable exceptions, media has become merely a chorus of affirmation of the ‘progressive’ agenda, led by people who have never had to really dig deep and earn a dollar for themselves.
“Or just a bad news network, revelling in disaster and make-drama at every turn. It’s no wonder average jo punter has switched off and turned to the cesspit of Facebook instead.”
One man for Mandy:
“Many in the media could learn from the man that many of them love to hate, Tony Abbott. Who nailed it sometime ago, warning against a Shorten government, saying they would be the worst Labor government ever, with economic policy set by the unions and social policy set by the Greens!”
Erasmus explained:
“The left always quote Sweden as a socialist Nirvana to imitate, but in fact Sweden dumped those policies years ago.
“Sweden has far lower business taxes and far less business regulation than Australia. In fact, they rate well above us and even the US for business freedom. Which is why Sweden today has one of the most innovative and flexible economies in the world.
“Yes, they do have many social services and high personal taxes to pay for them, but they know that high paying jobs are created by a competitive business sector, something Labor and the unions don’t seem to understand here.
“The Swedes have also privatised beyond anything we would ever consider, with even most government funded social services run by private organisations and every parent given education vouchers for their children, so they can choose whichever school they want for their children and get equal government support.
“Just the suggestion drives the left insane here. So Labor chooses the worst of all systems — high spending with high business taxes and extreme regulation, ensuring economic chaos, and yet they are never questioned on these key issues. Journalism is indeed dead.”
Added David:
“As Spike Milligan used to say, “Old England isn’t finished yet … [a pause, looking at his watch] it’s finished now!
Last work to Mark:
“I remember the Whitlam era and have been longing for a return to it since. A chance to make this country something more than the plaything of dull grey accountants in the service of the rich and powerful.”
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