Backbencher

I looked at three articles from the Sydney Morning Herald. The first article was entitled “Open views thrive despite PM’s stance: study.” Opinion polling charts that many Australians are becoming more liberal on many social issues, but they still consistently vote for a conservative government. Australians have become more approving of working mothers, same-sex couples with children, immigration and government expenditure on public service, and are strongly against the privatization of Telstra, electricity and Australia Post. However, Australians endorse a Prime Minister who stands for traditional family values, Christian morals, the monarchy, and a “blokesy version” of nationalism. John Howard has banned same-sex marriages, tailored welfare to deliver most benefits to traditional families, and reinvigorated the role of churches in social policy. The government remains strong because of the strength of the economy and the weakness of the Opposition. This was the first article that caught my eye and I was interested in this study. I gained the impression that public opinion has brought forth some liberal changes to conservative government.
The second article that I read was entitled “AWB boss dumped from trip to save Iraq wheat exports.” The AWB chairman, Brendan Stewart, is set to be dumped from Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile’s emergency mission to Iraq aimed at saving wheat exports. Murray Jones, who is the chairman of the Grains Council of Australia, is likely to go on the high-level delegation to protect contracts worth about $200 million. After reading this article, I gained the impression that this was a decision made in order to secure future wheat exports and that AWB’s involvement could undermine this effort. I believe that after reading this article it appears that AWB has some critics. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this delegation.
The last article discussed Ross Turnbull and was titled “Remorse Turnbull: His new life in a charity hostel.” One-time corporate Turnbell has had a rough year, the bankrupt former NRMA president now lives in a charity-run hostel for the homeless. This article reports that he has $1.8 million in debt. For the past nine months, Turnbell has resided rent-free in this hostel in return for his volunteer work. The article went on to detail his money-trail. I think this is an article that explains how a high-class individual has certain advantages over others.