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Australian news and politics.

Football us life said:
The UN is a club for all countries, not a global government. To keep everyone at the table, it avoids forcing its members to change their local laws. (ie Muslim countries that have made homosexuality illegal). While it promotes human rights, it lacks the power to punish every nation. Because it relies on voting, it often focuses on geo-political conflicts—like the Israel-Palestine issue rather than internal social laws.

Many, including myself see this as a failure of moral clarity. If the UN is supposed to uphold international law.and human rights, it should not treat a government that targets LGBTQI civilians as criminals because of their sexuality.....

This selectivity captures the core frustration many have with the UN – the belief that the organisation operates on political expediency rather than moral principle. When the enforcement of universal rights becomes a matter of "which country can we get a majority vote against today," it undermines the credibility of the entire human rights regime for many observers.

"The UN has been a joke organisation for years....."

Statements like the above capture a central tension in global politics....

The gap between the United Nations as an idealistic vision of international cooperation and its reality as a political forum for 190+ sovereign states.

Whether the UN is viewed as a "joke" or a flawed necessity often depends on whether one expects it to be a global moral arbiter or a practical, if imperfect place for nations to manage their competing interests.

I tend to think that the UN's structural failings – paralysis, bias, and the inclusion of bad actors make it fundamentally broken and incapable of serving its original purpose.

Things need to change!
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LGBTQI rights are human rights, because LGBTQI people are humans. Therefore, they should uphold human rights in countries where you can be jailed, tortured or even killed for your sexual orientation or gender identity. Women’s rights are human rights, because women are humans. Therefore, they should uphold human rights in countries where women are inferior to men. Ethnic and religious minority rights are human rights, because ethnic and religious minorities are humans. Therefore, they should uphold human rights in countries where marginalised groups still face legal discrimination and bias against them. Indigenous rights are human rights, because indigenous people are humans. Therefore, they should uphold human rights in countries where indigenous people are still unequal by the law.

The UN wouldn’t give any of these recommendations to Muslim countries. So, why are they claiming that we’re committing human rights abuses when some countries still kill people based on who they are? Why won’t the UN uphold human rights and democracy worldwide?

It’s a broken organisation and is merely symbolic. The resolutions have no say on anything really. Netanyahu has an arrest warrant against him from the ICC but he won’t be arrested even if he enters the waters of an ICC member state.
 
HonestSpursFan said:
LGBTQI rights are human rights, because LGBTQI people are humans. Therefore, they should uphold human rights in countries where you can be jailed, tortured or even killed for your sexual orientation or gender identity. Women’s rights are human rights, because women are humans. Therefore, they should uphold human rights in countries where women are inferior to men. Ethnic and religious minority rights are human rights, because ethnic and religious minorities are humans. Therefore, they should uphold human rights in countries where marginalised groups still face legal discrimination and bias against them. Indigenous rights are human rights, because indigenous people are humans. Therefore, they should uphold human rights in countries where indigenous people are still unequal by the law.

The UN wouldn’t give any of these recommendations to Muslim countries. So, why are they claiming that we’re committing human rights abuses when some countries still kill people based on who they are? Why won’t the UN uphold human rights and democracy worldwide?

It’s a broken organisation and is merely symbolic. The resolutions have no say on anything really. Netanyahu has an arrest warrant against him from the ICC but he won’t be arrested even if he enters the waters of an ICC member state.
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I agree, the United Nations is structurally incapable of living up to the lofty ideals of its own Universal Declaration of Human Rights. When you look at the gap between the UN's stated mission and the lived reality of people in many parts of the world, it is easy to see the organisation as symbolic or even hypocritical.....
 
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been criticised over comments made while playing a “shag, marry, date” game on a popular podcast.

Appearing on the Bush Deep podcast with host Nikki Osborne, the Prime Minister was asked to choose which celebrity he would sleep with, marry or date between Australians Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman, and Rhonda Burchmore.

7news.com.au

Albanese slammed over Kylie Minogue response in ‘shag, marry, date’ game

‘They do podcasts to be like the cool kids. Well, Prime Minister, you’re not; you’re a 63-year-old national leader; you’ve got to act like one.’
7news.com.au 7news.com.au
 
SocceroosFan84 said:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been criticised over comments made while playing a “shag, marry, date” game on a popular podcast.

Appearing on the Bush Deep podcast with host Nikki Osborne, the Prime Minister was asked to choose which celebrity he would sleep with, marry or date between Australians Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman, and Rhonda Burchmore.

7news.com.au

Albanese slammed over Kylie Minogue response in ‘shag, marry, date’ game

‘They do podcasts to be like the cool kids. Well, Prime Minister, you’re not; you’re a 63-year-old national leader; you’ve got to act like one.’
7news.com.au 7news.com.au
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Does he really think playing a watered down version of “fuck, marry, kill” is supposed to make him popular with young people?

FWIW I doubt this podcast will tarnish his popularity, he’s already doing that himself by being a bad leader.
 
Antisemitic and racist vandalism at one of Australia's most significant Anzac sites has been universally condemned by local leaders and Jewish community representatives.

www.abc.net.au

'Disgusting' antisemitic graffiti sprayed on Anzac landmark

Swastikas and anti-Jewish abuse were discovered spray-painted on rocks and the historic Plantagenet Battery along Western Australia's south coast.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au
 
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Toebash said:
https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/10276-federal-voting-intention-july-6-2026

Labor consolidates its lead considerably in the latest Roy Morgan poll, with support for One Nation declining 9% since Hanson's address at the national press club.

Psephologists around the country wondered how well One Nation might fare once Hanson came under proper scrutiny. Looks like we might have our answer.
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One Nation is toast. Hanson's National Press Club address was a rambling, fact-light disaster with her clumsy monoculturalism rhetoric and dubious claims that invited withering scrutiny and fact-checks....

Weak leadership exposed....

Australia's electorate aren't daft—they saw right through Pauline Hanson's amateurish shtick!!
 
Football us life said:
One Nation is toast. Hanson's National Press Club address was a rambling, fact-light disaster with her clumsy monoculturalism rhetoric and dubious claims that invited withering scrutiny and fact-checks....

Weak leadership exposed....

Australia's electorate aren't daft—they saw right through Pauline Hanson's amateurish shtick!!
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Weak leadership didn't stop Labor winning an election twice under Albo.

Technically we are for electing a weak leader as Prime Minister in the first place.
 
SocceroosFan84 said:
Weak leadership didn't stop Labor winning an election twice under Albo.

Technically we are for electing a weak leader as Prime Minister in the first place.
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Fair point Australia has elected weak leadership before. But at least Albo's version came with better scriptwriters and fewer conspiracy tangents.....

Hanson's Press Club flop wasn't 'relatable'; it was just unprofessional. As I said voters aren't daft, they'll tolerate dull competence over chaotic amateur hour.....

Let's be blatantly honest here....

Pauline's diatribe errm sorry I mean speech was a tin-foil monoculture fever dream delivered like a pub rant after too many schooners...

Yeah.....so maybe it was BJ who wrote said ' speech'!!
 
patjennings said:
At the end of the day you have to vote for someone. TBH there was no inspiring leader in 2022 or 2025 of any party.
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Yep....the current poltical class in Australia are as biege as biege can be....but that's politics in the 2020's!!

Not just in Australia but everywhere!

Half the reason Pauline Hanson resonates with that 20-25% portion of the electorate who struggle with the more boring theoretical issues of political discourse!!
 
SocceroosFan84 said:
Weak leadership didn't stop Labor winning an election twice under Albo.

Technically we are for electing a weak leader as Prime Minister in the first place.
Click to expand...

What's weak about Albanese?

He's consistently made difficult calls on principle and kept his front bench disciplined, all the while having to negotiate two inflationary crises not of his own making. He's been a strong leader in my view.
 
Are people referring to style of leadership or leadership itself? "Strong-man" style like Paul Keating or Jeff Kennet vs the "everyman" like Hawke or Howard? Albo is the latter whilst Dutton is the former. For the record I prefer the Keating/Kennet style.
 
Toebash said:
What's weak about Albanese?

He's consistently made difficult calls on principle and kept his front bench disciplined, all the while having to negotiate two inflationary crises not of his own making. He's been a strong leader in my view.
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Going missing for a week in the wake of Bondi? Which wouldn't have happened if he had a better Foreign Minister that that goose Penny Wong who had been stoking the waves of anti-Semitism for a long time before that. Remember when the media bagged Morrison for going on his pre-booked holiday to Hawaii during the bushfires but kept quiet while Handsome Boy went underground after Bondi.
 
I think that the narrative that Anthony Albanese is "weak" misinterprets a deliberate shift toward disciplined, consensus-based governance. So rather than favouring performative crisis management, his administration prioritises structural stability and cabinet cohesion to navigate complex economic headwinds...

By rejecting the volatile "attack dog" style of one or two of his predecessors, he has established a steady, process-driven government focused on long-term policy delivery over reactive, high-visibility political theatre.

Some people have this desire for this "high-visibility political theatre" all the time.....

This is something that probably stems from a fundamental disconnect between how the media cycle operates and how effective governance is actually conducted.

For many observers, a leader's worth is measured by their performance during a crisis....The press conference, the walkabout, or the fiery retort rather than the granular, often invisible work of policy implementation.
 
Of course it's easy to laugh....

To use a football parlance you’re judging a game based on the highlights reel instead of the match stats. Some prefer a manager who actually builds a squad and plays for the full 90 minutes rather than just looking for viral tackles to please the crowd.....
 
Football us life said:
I think that the narrative that Anthony Albanese is "weak" misinterprets a deliberate shift toward disciplined, consensus-based governance. So rather than favouring performative crisis management, his administration prioritises structural stability and cabinet cohesion to navigate complex economic headwinds...

By rejecting the volatile "attack dog" style of one or two of his predecessors, he has established a steady, process-driven government focused on long-term policy delivery over reactive, high-visibility political theatre.

Some people have this desire for this "high-visibility political theatre" all the time.....

This is something that probably stems from a fundamental disconnect between how the media cycle operates and how effective governance is actually conducted.

For many observers, a leader's worth is measured by their performance during a crisis....The press conference, the walkabout, or the fiery retort rather than the granular, often invisible work of policy implementation.
Click to expand...
You've forgotten his "attack dog" style in opposition haven't you?

The bloke is completely a weak leader and Bondi could've been avoided if he told Penny Wong to stop stoking the anti-Semitism fires and he not cowered in fear over losing votes in Western Sydney by doing nothing about the anti-Semitism in this country seen since October 7, also not forgetting having to be dragged kicking and screaming to announce a royal commission after Bondi.

If you really think Australia is better off for his and Labor's two terms in office you're living in Cuckoo-land.

 
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