I saw this on Google News last night, but was too tired to write about it then. Natasha Stott Despoja has announced that she won't stand for re-election when her current term in the senate ends.
I've followed her career since I first saw her as a regular guest on Good News Week. When I started university, I signed up to the campus Democrats group since they said there would soon be an event that she would be attending (I ended up not going, but it was only two dollars). She quickly rose within the Democrats (a big fish in a small pond), becoming the leader, but only staying in the position for a few months.
Stott Despoja has been a strong selling point for the Democrats, someone seen as being willing to stand for something, when others in the party have caved and made deals with the government.
I'm afraid that after this the Democrats decline will continue further, and they may even end up not having a member in the senate after the next election. Which is a bad thing, as they have managed to play a vital balancing role in Australian politics, holding back some of the excesses of the Coalition government. Their decline started when they compromised on their principles and did a deal with the government on the GST. Since then a voter backlash over that issue and almost perpetual internal conflict over the leadership have seen them fall from respected moderators in politics to a bunch of bickering babies.
At the moment there doesn't seem to be a party to take the place of the Democrats. The Greens are increasing their popularity, but they are not a moderating influence, their agenda and goals are different to that of the Democrats, and while I support them, it is not as whole hearted as I once backed the Democrats.
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2 comments:
Also she way totally hot. You're forgetting the most important point.
Well, yes, there was that too.
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