Tony Abbott advises The Young Liberals

It is sad to see but Tony Abbott hasn't moved on from the neo-conservative philosophies of the Howard era. As the Western world steps forward towards a new world order with it's left foot, Tony marches on, out of step, with his right foot and is determined to foist his philosophies on the Young Liberals at their National Conference.

The Australian reported ...

THE Liberal Party should stick to its principles and resist a move to the left in its bid to beat Labor at the next election, argues Tony Abbott.

In his speech, the Opposition families spokesman said that voters distrust politicians but the "politicians they respect most are the ones who seem most committed to their cause".

Mr Abbott says the party should resist the urge to take populist stances on issues, and instead fight for what is right.

After such a grubbing at the elections, how arrogent of Tony Abbott to claim righteousness - that was the mortal sin of John Howard "I did it because it was the right thing to do".

"After a change of government, people aren't very interested in the opposition, but they will notice if our principles seem less important to us than our political prospects."

I disagree - we are most interested to find out if the opposition can offer an acceptable alternative to status quo - and with this type of thinking, the opposition is not offering a viable alternative.

Mr Abbott says those who see unions as "just another sectional interest" and who "heed climate change science rather than green religion" are more important than ever since the defeat of the Howard government.

That sectional interest is probably the biggest 'sectional interest' in the land and cannot be dismissed because the opposition claims 'righteousness'

And he strongly defends the legacy of his former leader, John Howard, drawing a parallel between the Victoria Cross awarded to SAS Trooper Mark Donaldson last week and the US Presidential Medal of Freedom conferred on the former prime minister by George W. Bush.

"If there was anyone in politics who deserved a medal for political courage, it was John Howard," Mr Abbott says.

"Whether it was banning semi-automatic rifles, introducing the GST, getting wharfies to earn their money, allowing workers and bosses directly to negotiate with each other, dealing with boatpeople before they reached Australia, or making people work for the dole, Howard did what (was right).

From Tony Abbott's viewpoint, he is probably right. However, the Australian people did not see it that way as they removed Prime Minister Howard from the Parliament altogether.

But, now to the future direction of the Liberal Party! At the conference, the Young Liberals have proposed nine months of compulsory national service to be completed before the age of 24 and which people will not be able to dodge by going to university.

In his review (A MUST READ), Slackbastard noted: Rather than force young people to serve their country — and in order to demonstrate their own commitment — the Young Liberals would be much better advised to make it a condition of membership in their own organisation that the individual perform nine months of compulsory national service.

Those of us old enough to remember conscription, and the lives sacrificed in the Vietnam War in the name of righteousness, will never accept it again. The unfortunate thing is that our generation will have died off by the time the Liberal Party comes back to power and the fear is that a stronger neo-conservative influence will develop. God help Australia should that happen.

And what is war, what is needed for success in war, what are the morals of the military world?
The object of warfare is murder; the means employed in warfare —
spying, treachery, and the encouragement of it, the ruin of a country,
the plunders of its inhabitants… trickery and lying, which are called
military strategy; the morals of the military class — absence of all independence, that is, discipline, idleness, ignorance, cruelty, debauchery, and drunkenness.

~ Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, 1872