Merged Australian Politics / Australian election

[dudalb]

And the leftist-Islamist alliance -- Satan and Belzeebub.

That is another think a lot of people deny.
It is truly bizarre; and each party thinks they can use and manipulte the other .
Of course I find the right wing alliance with fudenmatalist Christians to be equally repulsive.

 

[NatalieSalat]

I have taken lots of heat here from sayiing that pure Pacifism is just plain stupid. You give over the world to its worst elements.

And "collective punishment" designated as a crime under the rules of war doesn't work too well if the irregulars can "melt" into the civilian pop at will. Also the "cogs" of murder machinery across time from Hitler to to Burma's junta were civilian occupations = police, clerks, engineers, scientists, technicians et al.

 

[dudalb]

Yes, like I said, I was pretty damn disappointed that they said that. Won't stop me voting for them, though.

You know how much you sound like a Trump supporter with that attitude.?
I would never support the Greens; their ideology is in La La Land.

 

[NatalieSalat]

Bob Brown always came across as this compared to most of his party. Still does.

 

[NatalieSalat]

 

[arthwollipot]

You know how much you sound like a Trump supporter with that attitude.?

No - why don't you go into great detail about it and I can break it down bit by bit so I can explain comprehensively how wrong you are?

 

[lionking]

It certainly was a terrorist attack on Haines.

Helen Haines: independent MP in critical condition in Melbourne’s Alfred hospital after being struck by car in Wangaratta – follow updates

A joint counter-terrorism taskforce is investigating the incident, which Anthony Albanese alleged ‘wasn’t an accident’

www.theguardian.com

The car did a U-turn and drove straight at her. The driver also had a knife.

 

[arthwollipot]

I don't think a deliberate attempt at murder can be called terrorism until we know the motive of the driver.

 

[lionking]

I don't think a deliberate attempt at murder can be called terrorism until we know the motive of the driver.

When a politician is deliberately targeted you can put money on it. Besides ASIO is now involved.

 

[arthwollipot]

When a politician is deliberately targeted you can put money on it. Besides ASIO is now involved.

Yeah that's a bit of a giveaway. But still, it could be just some incel targeting her because she's a prominent female MP. They haven't released any details on the attacker yet as far as I've seen.

◊◊◊◊, she's lost a leg.

 

[The Atheist]

It certainly was a terrorist attack on Haines.

Depends on what you call a terrorist. Eco-terrorist? SovCit antivaxer?

I'll lay any bets that he is a lone wolf nutcase.

 

[arthwollipot]

His identity has been released. He was known to police and there have been significant concerns among his neighbours about his mental health.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-20/live-blog-victoria-indi-mp-helen-haines-attacked-wangaratta/107285252?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web#live-blog-post-351028

 

[rjh01]

Can someone please define what a terrorist is? Can a mentally unstable person working alone do a terrorist act?

My answer to the first question would involve a foreign government. The answer to second question is no.

 

[arthwollipot]

No, terrorism is not always about foreign governments. There are domestic terrorists, and stochastic terrorists.

My working definition of terrorism is deliberate violent acts intended to invoke terror. A political or ideological goal might be a part of it, or it might not. A good example is the 2002 D. C. sniper attacks. People were afraid to leave their homes.

In this case, the perpetrator appears to be, in @TheAtheist's words, a lone wolf nutcase. Sowing terror does not appear to be the motive. Nor does there appear to be a political agenda, except for the fact that the victim was a politician.

So no, my current assumption is not that it was terrorism but that it was an unhinged attack on a prominent person. It's entirely possible that the perpetrator was in psychosis at the time, but of course that would have to wait until a full mental health assessment has been completed.

 

[lionking]

My working definition of terrorism is deliberate violent acts intended to invoke terror. A political or ideological goal might be a part of it, or it might not. A good example is the 2002 D. C. sniper attacks. People were afraid to leave their homes.

In this case, the perpetrator appears to be, in @TheAtheist's words, a lone wolf nutcase. Sowing terror does not appear to be the motive. Nor does there appear to be a political agenda, except for the fact that the victim was a politician.

From what has been reported you have no idea of the motives, but if you think that driving over a popular member in the Main Street of the town multiple times while also armed with a knife is not intended to invoke terror, you live in a different world to that I inhabit.

I’ll stick with terrorist, even if it is only the eco-terrorist type. The Unabomber was a pretty accomplished and deadly terrorist.

By the way, the left is pretty good at finding ways to deny that the Bondi shooters and even the 9/11 hijackers were not really terrorists.

 

[arthwollipot]

From what has been reported you have no idea of the motives, but if you think that driving over a popular member in the Main Street of the town multiple times while also armed with a knife is not intended to invoke terror, you live in a different world to that I inhabit.

No, I don't have any idea of the motives, but to me there's a difference between people being afraid of something and a deliberate act intended to make people afraid. I don't think this guy intended anything other than to kill or injure this one person. But again, it's hard to know for sure

There are several valid ways to define the word. I gave my basic working definition, and you're free to disagree if you want.

 

[Norman Alexander]

From what has been reported you have no idea of the motives, but if you think that driving over a popular member in the Main Street of the town multiple times while also armed with a knife is not intended to invoke terror, you live in a different world to that I inhabit.

I’ll stick with terrorist, even if it is only the eco-terrorist type. The Unabomber was a pretty accomplished and deadly terrorist.

By the way, the left is pretty good at finding ways to deny that the Bondi shooters and even the 9/11 hijackers were not really terrorists.

I don't think this guy was specifically aiming to invoke terror in the community at large. But he has nonetheless.

For some reason he snapped and personally aimed for the woman, and only her. So it seemed very personal to me. I'm sure she was terrified, if you want to confine the scope to that.

Also, strawmanning us "lefties" doesn't enhance your position.

 

[lionking]

Also, strawmanning us "lefties" doesn't enhance your position.

I’m a lefty too and always vote Labor. But one participant in this thread tried, unsuccessfully, to link the Bondi massacre to Gaza. And I listened to ABC radio after 9/11 when the hosts allowed callers to say what a pity it was that the US didn’t suffer more and that the Pentagon should have been completely destroyed. Without the host condemning the comment.

I didn’t imagine any of this. I’m allowed to point out the shortcomings of my side.

 

[Norman Alexander]

Is

I’m a lefty too and always vote Labor. But one participant in this thread tried, unsuccessfully, to link the Bondi massacre to Gaza. And I listened to ABC radio after 9/11 when the hosts allowed callers to say what a pity it was that the US didn’t suffer more and that the Pentagon should have been completely destroyed. Without the host condemning the comment.

I didn’t imagine any of this. I’m allowed to point out the shortcomings of my side.

Is "a broadcaster not condemning" the same as "a broadcaster endorsing"? Or is it simply "broadcasting".

 

[lionking]

Is
Is "a broadcaster not condemning" the same as "a broadcaster endorsing"? Or is it simply "broadcasting".

You needed to be there at that time. The host was a very cuddly ABC lovvie who I can’t recall right now. He was not just broadcasting. He was one with the caller. Even Jon Faine, a true lefty ABC broadcaster later disagreed with his colleague.

How do I know, you might think? The beauty of talk back radio is that you can talk back. I told Jon Faine how I felt. He agreed.

Yes, a side issue I suppose,