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Tony Walker is spot on with his comments on the Liberal Party ('Contortionists hijack Menzies' legacy', 10/7). I particularly like his Menzies quote: "We took the name 'Liberal' because we were determined to be a progressive party, willing to make experiments; in no sense reactionary, but believing in the individual, his rights and his enterprise."

Tony Abbott and the other conservatives should follow Cory Bernardi's lead and as conservatives should form a Conservative Party and allow the Liberal Party to stick to its founder's ideal of a "free go" for everyone. We all want that.

Spencer Leighton, Torquay

The presentation of a wonderful, cuddly Bob Menzies (10/7) omits hisattempt to ban the Communist Party of Australia in 1951. It wasn't liberal or progressive. The High Court rejected his proposed legislation as unconstitutional and when Menzies took his attempted ban to a referendum it was lost. Another founding member of the Liberal Party in 1949, Alan Missen,argued that banning a political party would be acting like communists in other countries and within Australia ideas had to be defeated by counter arguments. Missen's case was progressive. Menzies' case was regressive.

Des Files, Brunswick

Tony Walker rightly highlights how Tony Abbott's ideological clique have wilfully chosen to ignore their party's founder's inherent "progressivism" and unsentimental pragmatism. Menzies was never fussed about intellectual arguments as to whether he was a "Burkean conservative" or J..S. Mill "liberal".

His credo was, simply put, to win elections on behalf of what he termed the "forgotten people"; the "unorganised" shopkeepers and "home makers", for example, neglected by big companies and unions. If that meant championing women's political party participation in the 1930s and '40s, so be it. If that meant in government preserving the ALP leader Ben Chifley's social welfare agenda in the '50s, minus the ALP's nationalisation agenda, the pragmatic price was worth paying.

Menzies, if he were PM in 2017, would no doubt have embraced renewable energy, increased immigration, and even "gay marriage", because ultimately what mattered to him was pursuing those causes that ensured electoral success.

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Jon McMillan, Mount Eliza

What would Bob do? Any reading of his legacy explains why his progressive approach to many issues led to him become Australia's longest serving prime minister. Most current politicians are overshadowed by the intellect of Menzies. The current member for Kooyong, Josh Frydenberg, seems to have forgotten what made Menzies both popular and effective. Menzies' "forgotten people" speech has frequently been quoted. The voters of Kooyong have become the latter-day forgotten people.

William Chandler, Surrey Hills

Tony Abbott has been criticising Malcolm Turnbull for the same things he failed to achieve when prime minister. This behaviour goes some way towards explaining Abbott's fall from grace, and also demonstrates that he has learnt nothing from his own abject failures. The surprising thing is that he still has any following at all, which perhaps we can leave to the psychologists to explain.

James Ogilvie, Kew

The state government plans to sell valuable land under the guise of public housing renewal across Melbourne. But a meagre 10 per cent increase in units (with a focus on smaller units) will barely dent housing waiting lists.

The winners will be developers. On a North Brighton site without local services rezoning will allow 300-plus private units in towers up to nine storeys in a neighbourhood of single-storey cottages. Similar marginal outcomes are planned for eight other estates, with more mooted. Once the land is in private hands its future public value will be lost. Again taxpayers will pay dearly for government incompetence and public housing under-funding.

Richard Holt, Brighton

Deliberate violence committed on the football field is not "a grey area" (The Age, 8/7).

Football players, unlike boxers, do not consent, either explicitly of implicitly, to be deliberately struck by an opponent. It is not in the rules of the game, and footballers (professional or amateur) should be charged with the criminal offence. That they also front a disciplinary tribunal is immaterial. There is no "double jeopardy" as one is criminal, the other civil.

To say "Oh, but it's part of the game" is to condone and encourage thuggery.

Harry Kowalski, Ivanhoe

Jessica Irvine asks the question "why should today's youth be getting more anxious over time?" ('Prisoners of our own device', 10/7). Could the answer be an addiction to the virtual reality of social media and the confused need to accumulate likes and re-tweets as some form of twisted social currency. Too much of the content on social media is ratcheting up increasing levels of social envy and an irrational fear of missing out.

Perhaps it's time to unplug and turn the social media off for a while. Be alone and let your creative imagination and thoughts run wild and free and rise above the banality of social media fluff.

Paul Miller, Box Hill South

The "frontier war" research by Newcastle University and the publication of a map detailing 150 massacre sites in Australia is further proof of Australia's violent colonial history.

As the primary victim of that history of institutionalised racism and brutality Aborigines have always been acutely aware of the atrocities they suffered.

It is for the rest of Australia to acquire an understanding of our dark colonial past. And, as researcher Lyndall Ryan pointed out in her ABC interview recently, we should not shy away from coming to terms with that painful past. It will not do us any good as a nation if we act the ostrich and pretend we did not have that troublesome past.

Ryan informs us that in America that aspect of their history is openly acknowledged.

As a mature nation we should do the same.

Rajend Naidu, Glenfield, NSW

Your editorial ('Australia is being gouged by gas industry', 10/7) fails to explain how dumping our existing profits-based tax for a production-based royalty would deliver lower gas prices. It also fails to acknowledge the damage retrospective tax changes would inflict on Australia's overall investment reputation.

Comparing Australia's tax approach to Qatar's is misleading. Qatar is the most profitable LNG producer in the world. Australian projects can take decades to become profitable.

The Petroleum Resource Rent Tax was purpose-built for Australian conditions. It taxes profits after companies have recovered costs. It was designed to attract the investment needed to underpin secure and reliable energy supplies.

Your editorial also advocates intervention in the gas market to increase supply. This is likely to be counter-productive.

The best way to increase supply and put downward pressure on gas prices is to remove the bans and moratoriums that exist in Victoria and some other states.

Noel Mullen, deputy chief executive, Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association

The biggest threat to Australia (and the world) is not North Korea's ballistic missiles, but the loss of our country and biodiversity through environmental degradation, waste and overuse of resources, the increase in inequality, the disrespect for Aboriginal and post-European history and culture as everything is being built over in the name of "development", and the inevitable loss of our quality of life.

The drive for economic "growth" on a finite planet and resultant overpopulation is what is the essential ingredient of our demise. We have lessons to learn from our Indigenous people who managed to thrive for thousands of generations without compromising their country.

Jennie Epstein, Little River

The recent and impending increases in power prices is another blow to people on modest wages. Our governments have been elected to provide an environment where the average person has a fair go. When they sell off community assets such as those involved with electricity generation and distribution for an immediate financial gain but lose the ongoing income, and control over the prices that are inflicted on the public, the community suffers.

Environmentalists should realise that you cannot remove generation such as Hazelwood from the grid unless you replace it with other rotational equipment to maintain system stability and therefore reliability. In the case of Hazelwood it took almost seven years from approval to the first generator being placed in service, that is, more than twice the three years' notice asked for by Alan Finkel.

Alex Brown, Ashburton

Candice Hadden Letters 8/7) suggests that I have no right to criticise the Miss Universe competition on the grounds that I wrote a book called the Princess Bitchface Syndrome. This is, as Dr Spock would say, not logical. The title was derived from the description of an acting-out 14-year-old girl by a frustrated mother and describes the skills, knowledge and strategies needed to parent a small sub-section of teenage girls who go through a challenging developmental stage. It has now been reprinted 10 years later co-written with researcher Elly Robinson and is regarded by many working with young people as a useful guide for parents.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, Balwyn

For those involved in causes for justice, refugees, the environment and anti-racism, the French undercover agent, Christine Cabon's role in bombing the Rainbow warrior ('No Apologies', The Age, 10/7), and her lack of remorse, is a lesson in how far spies will go to secure, in that case, French nuclear tests.

It must make those wanting a war-free inclusive world more determined to continue that necessary fight for justice despite infiltration and intimidation.

Melanie Lazarow, Brunswick

Barry James (Letters, 10/7) suggests offering interest-free home loans to new teachers for the length of their contracts, reverting to regular interest rates at the end of their contracts.

It sounds great, except that after the contract they would be out of work and unable to repay the loans. Then what?

This has been an issue since contract teaching became the norm in Victoria. Many young teachers have been unable to get a home loan at all because who wants to give a loan to someone whose job is insecure?

But improved conditions in general, that might work in tempting new people. Anyone who thinks teaching is all about long holidays and short hours has no idea how it works.

Sue Bursztynski,Elwood

No, Richard Begley ('Women bear the brunt of Islamophobia, study finds', The Age, 10/7) Islamophobia, even if one stretches the meaning beyond "an irrational fear of Islam", cannot be defined as "a type of racism".

Why? Because Islam is not a race, it is a philosophy, a political, social, cultural and religious movement. It is a choice.

Furthermore, Islam embraces people of all races, including Caucasians.

How can a white non-Muslim criticising a white Muslim be racist?

John Christiansen,St Kilda

I suspect that the reason women bear the brunt of Islamophobia is that the people engaging in this behaviour are cowards and bullies and pick on a safe target women. We have to keep calling this out until it stops.

John Massie, Middle Park

So Donald Trump accepts Vladimir Putin's assurance that the Russians never helped him beat Hillary Clinton.

Malcolm McDonald, Burwood

While visiting Portugal recently, we came across some good advice to Donald Trump in big letters on a building MAKE LOVE , NOT WALLS!

David Ginsbourg, East Bentleigh

The G20 is now the G19 because Trump got the grumps and didn't want to Putin.

Bruce Dudon, Woodend

Can someone take Malcolm Turnbull aside and tell him that if there is no rain there is no water to generate anything. The man is delusional.

Doris LeRoy, Altona

Perhaps Bernard Tomic could be employed to volley any ICBMs straight back to North Korea.

David Johnston, Healesville

Regarding the editorial (10/7) that said the country receives more from beer excise than the PRRT. I was reminded of my father telling me that he was drinking for the country.

Sean Mellerick, Croydon

Summer of male cricket? Don't really see a problem, after all we do have a world-class women's team.

Denis Evans, Coburg

Sunday morning 10am: petrol 109.9cents Bundoora; 132.9 cents Glen Waverley.

Jen Gladstones, Heidelberg

It's ironic Barnaby makes light of renewable advances and Malcolm's primary concern is power his own.

Greg Curtin, Blackburn South

Maybe Tony Abbott's training in the seminary has led to a God complex, i.e., a person who refuses to admit the possibility of their failure, even in the face of irrefutable evidence.

Julie Conquest, Brighton

Go here to see the original:
The Menzies legacy: In the beginning, it was a party of progressives - The Age

By Phillip Stucky

Many progressive votersquestion whetherDemocratic Sen. Kamala Harris of Californiawouldrepresent them if shecampaignedagainst President Donald Trump in 2020, according to report released Friday.

Despiteher rising popularityon the national stage, progressive voters are unsure just how the freshman senatorwouldrepresent them if she were to run for the White House.

Shes not on our radar,RoseAnn DeMuro, a supporter of former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, told the New York Times about Harris potential White House run. Shes one of the people the Democratic Party is putting up. In terms of where the progressives live, I dont think theres any there there. DeMuro heads National Nurses United, as well as the California Nurses Association.

Veteran Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein also appeared to distance herself from supporting the rising senator.

She just got here, Feinstein said. What she should do is concentrate on being a good, and possibly a great, United States senator. The rest will either happen or not happen.

Harrismade a namefor herself during her questioning of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and AttorneyGeneral Jeff Sessions during a June Senate hearing. She was interrupted by Sens. Richard Burr and John McCain for her not letting the witnesses fully answer the question.

Since then, shestraveledthe country raising money for other Democrats, a pretty sure sign that shes interested in playing a national role moving forward. Shes raised more than $600,000 so far this year on behalf of a Democratic Senate fund, according to the report.

Harris hasalso shied away from far-left positions, mentioning several times that Democratic senators cant afford to be purists to gain an edge in the Senate in the 2018 midterms.

Bernie Sandersdianne feinsteinDonald TrumpJeff Sessionsjohn mccainkamala harrisRichard BurrRod Rosenstein

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'She's Not On Our Radar': Progressives May Not Support Kamala Harris In 2020 - The Libertarian Republic

Try thinking like a liberal you might be enlightened The San Luis Obispo Tribune In his letter of June 29, Ed Bogusch wonders what it would be like to be a liberal. Contrary to his assumption, liberals are hardly spongers. The vast majority of them are highly educated and include scientists, academics, lawyers, educators ...

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Try thinking like a liberal you might be enlightened - The San Luis Obispo Tribune

Updated July 11, 2017 08:42:00

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has taken a shot at critics on the right of his party, saying the Liberals' founder Robert Menzies never intended his party to be conservative.

The comments were part of a speech delivered in London overnight where Mr Turnbull was receiving the Disraeli Prize awarded by UK think tank Policy Exchange.

In his speech, the Prime Minister made the case that his party's longest serving leader Sir Robert Menzies wanted to create a progressive party not a conservative one.

"In 1944 Menzies went to great pains not to call his new political party, consolidating the centre right of Australian politics, conservative, but rather the Liberal Party, which he firmly anchored in the centre of Australian politics," he said.

"He wanted to stand apart from the big money, business establishment politics of traditional conservative parties of the right, as well as from the socialist tradition of the Australian Labour Party, the political wing of the union movement.

"Menzies said at the time: 'We took the name 'Liberal' because we were determined to be a progressive party, willing to make experiments, in no sense reactionary but believing in the individual, his right and his enterprise, and rejecting the socialist panacea'."

"The sensible centre was the place to be. It remains the place to be."

The comments will be read as a rebuke to those conservatives on the backbench, led by Tony Abbott, who have been openly critical of the direction that the Government has been heading in.

Earlier in the day the Prime Minister, along with British Prime Minister Theresa May made an emotional trip to Borough market where eight people, including two Australians, were killed during a terrorist attack last month.

"The three of us did our best not to burst into tears," he said.

Near Southwark Cathedral he spoke to two of the police who had tried to revive one of the Australian women who died during the attack.

"They are very brave men, very brave men and women," he said.

After meeting with Ms May to discuss trade and security, Mr Turnbull said Australia was ready to secure a free trade deal with a post-Brexit UK.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Turnbull said a new trade deal would happen "as soon as possible, if we move quickly", after Brexit.

Ms May said securing a free trade deal between the UK and Australia remained a priority of her Government.

"We've both made clear our intention to continue to deepen our trade and investment relationship as the UK leaves the EU," she said.

Ms May said the UK and Australia were "investors in each other's success" and their growing trade relationship was worth close to $18 billion.

Mr Turnbull also said he would not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea, and has been encouraging China to put economic pressure on Pyongyang.

"The Chinese, in practical terms, is the only country that has the ability to bring the North Korean regime to its senses without some form of military intervention," he said.

"They have the ability to impose huge economic pressure on North Korea."

Mr Turnbull will also meet with Queen Elizabeth II during his visit.

Topics: government-and-politics, turnbull-malcolm, federal-government, liberals, united-kingdom, australia

First posted July 11, 2017 06:32:35

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Malcolm Turnbull hits back at right-wing Liberals, says party was never intended to be conservative - ABC Online

Eversince Donald Trump shocked Hillary Clinton in November and Republicans won victoriesup and down the ballot, the Democratic party has been debatingwhatit needs to do toconnect with voters and put itself back in control of government.

Those debates may soon be coming to a head. Led by Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Senate minority leader, Democrats in Congress are developing an economic agenda that could serve as a statement of the party's principles in next year's midterm elections.Schumer has suggested the document would be public in the coming weeks, although Democratic aides have cautioned that no date is set.

But while Democrats are unified in opposition to the president,they're split over an agenda of their own particularly when it comes to bringingback working-class, white voters who flocked to Trump in 2016.

Afterdecades of relying on free-market solutions to achieve liberal aims,Democrats have shifted to the left in recent years, and many are calling formore government intervention in the economy. Yet despite the emerging consensus around more progressive policies, it is unclear whether Democrats can form a winning electoral coalition around those ideas, and some say the party must tackto the ideological center.

"People dont like Trump," Schumer told ABC News. "But they say, What the heck do the Democrats stand for?

The left has already won many of the important debates within the party in contrast to past years, whenDemocrats tooka centrist approach to economic policymaking.

President Bill Clinton unraveled crucial elements of the social safety net forvery poorAmericans when he reformed the welfare system in 1996, replacing it with programs to encourage participation in the labor force. Additionally, Clinton deregulated financial markets and accelerated globalization with the North American Free Trade Agreement.

President Barack Obama also pursued free-trade agreementsin office, although without success. The Affordable Care Act, widelyknown as Obamacare, relied on free-market principles to reduce premiums for individual consumers.

Today, though, Democratic politicians broadly support greater redistribution of income, more generous social insurance and an expanded scope for government a more ambitious liberalismexemplified by proposals for paid leave and universal child-care benefits.

"Which side are you on?" That is the question for Democrats, writes Mike Konczal, an expert on the financial industry at the progressive Roosevelt Institute, on Vox.

The shift follows a gradual trend among Democratic voters toward more progressive politics. The share of Democrats calling themselves liberal has increased from 27 percent in 2000 to 42 percent today, according to the Pew Research Center. There are now more ordinary people in the party who describe themselves as liberal than who describe themselves as conservative or moderate.

Meanwhile, the distribution of economic resources has become vastly more unequal, and many on the left seem ready for a change. The figures for wealth are particularly striking: The richest 0.1 percent of U.S. households now possess as much as the poorest 90 percent combined.

"What has gone wrong with the American economy isnt just a short-term flip," said Heather Boushey, an economist and the director of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. "Weve had 40 years of economic policies most importantly tax policies, but other policies as well that have allowed a small group of people at the top of the income spectrum to garner greater and greater shares of national income."

The victories for progressive Democrats are not limited to economic issues.

The tough-on-crime legislation Clinton signed two decades ago is now widely viewed as a mistake, and Democrats agree on the need for reform in criminal justice. Pro-life Democrats are so rare these days that it was newsworthy when Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declared that there was still a place for them in the party. Former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders arguably won the debate over Social Security when he goaded Clinton into promising not to reduce benefits.

Acknowledging that reality, middle-of-the-road Democrats Mark Penn and Andrew Stein urged the party to opt for more moderate positions in an op-ed in the New York Times on Thursday. "The path back to power for the Democratic Party," they wrote, "is unquestionably to move to the center and reject the siren calls of the left, whose policies and ideas have weakened the party."

On the economy, the gist of the Democrats' likely platform in coming elections already seems clear, based on proposals by lawmakers and candidates in recent years.

Many Democrats agree on making college and vocational school more affordable by using federal money to help students with tuition. Another priority is bringing down the cost of parenting. Democrats have proposed guaranteeing paid parental and family leave for all workers, covering some of the cost of child care with federal money and delivering more cash to families via an expanded child tax credit.

Democrats have also supported assisting adults without children by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit for that group. Meanwhile, lawmakers have called for a massive investment in rebuilding the country's physical infrastructure. Schumer, Sanders and their colleagues in the Senate have proposed dedicating $1 trillion in funds over a decade.

With some exceptions, Democrats have said they will fund these programs through increases in taxes on the rich. They've largely rejected any additions to the national debt, or any hike in taxes for ordinary households.

The worry for Democrats is that Hillary Clinton advocated all of these policies during the campaign, without attracting much interest from the media or from the general public. Trump's unpredictable style as a politician has made it difficult for Democrats to get attention for their ideas.

Compounding the problem is that the same economic issues that do arouse passionate concern among voters seem to be the ones on which the party really does disagree.

For instance, Trump has made it impossible for Democrats to ignore their differences over trade. Those on the left argue that globalization has caused unemployment and dislocation, especially for blue-collar workers. The success of Trump's campaign in which he repeatedly blamed free trade for voters' economic frustration -- has cowed Democrats who believe that trade is good, on balance, for American households and businesses.

The minimum wage is another point of contention. Democrats broadly agree the national minimum of $7.25 an hour should be hiked, but many are reluctant to say by how much. Economists warn that increasing the minimum wage by too much could make low-income workers too costly for businesses to employ, impoverishing the people the minimum wage is intended to help.

Sanders supported a national minimum wage of $15 an hour during the campaign. Clinton argued for more modest increases.

Finally, on health care, Democrats are divided over whether to modify Obamacare, or to replace the private insurance industry with a single government payer, as Sanders has advocated.

For now, these disagreements are not all that important, as Democrats are united in their opposition to Trump and his agenda. Sanders, as an example, has been traveling around the country holding rallies and making clear his support for Obamacare over the GOP alternative.

Yet as Democrats prepare for the elections in 2018 and beyond, these divisions could make it difficult for them to settle on a simple and straightforward pitch to voters.

Many in the party argue that Democrats do not need a radically different approach on economic issues.

"Americas best hope to remain an economic superpower is an inclusive economy where immigrants start businesses and create jobs, where everyone can make meaningful contributions," Ronald Klain, a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton during the campaign, wrote in The Washington Post. "That message may not have appealed to some working-class voters, but it isnt condescension its honesty."

Some on the left are looking to Trump for tips. Trump's relentless emphasis on restricting trade and immigration gave him an advantage over Clinton, said Yascha Mounk, a scholar at New America, a research organization in Washington, D.C. By contrast, he argued, the Democratic nominee's appeal to voters was muddled because she had so many different ideas.

"They kept pitching a different policy proposal every week," Mounk said. Instead, he said, Democrats need to settle on one policy with the potential to capture voters' imaginations.

"Whatever the Democrats do in 2018, but even more so whatever they do in 2020, they need some policy that is like that ... one sort of crown jewel that sort of encapsulates what theyre trying to do," Mounk said.

"Message has always been a challenge for Democrats, because it tends to get too convoluted and not very simple," Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) told Politico.

Boushey, the economist, argued that Trump won over voters by convincing them that he could take control of the economy, and that Democrats can do the same.

"That was incredibly powerful -- to say to the American people, the economy isnt just something that happens," she said. "We have a choice about what kind of economy we want, and it is well within the power of policymakers to enact policies that will create good jobs. We've done it before. We can do it again, so I think whatever we do needs to signal that."

Not everyone on the left shares that optimism.

Lane Kenworthy, a sociologist at the University of California at San Diego, cautioned that while Democrats' proposals would shore up ordinary households's finances and bring down inequality, they might not improve employment and economic growth. Kenworthy suggested that Trump became popular with voters by promising not just more financial resources, but better jobs as well.

"A lot of the stuff that Hillary Clinton was proposing would be really good things that would make peoples lives more secure," Kenworthy said. "The problem is, I dont think social scientists at least the ones who study this carefully have any real good ideas about how to boost economic growth."

See more here:
Democrats' internal dispute over the white working class is about to get real - Washington Post