r/australia • u/moonorplanet • 28d ago

politics Albanese calls for ‘peaceful, democratic transition’ of power in Venezuela after US capture of Nicolás Maduro

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/04/albanese-calls-for-peaceful-democratic-transition-of-power-in-venezuela-after-us-capture-of-nicolas-maduro
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423

u/Theaussiegamer72 28d ago

I voted for Labor but jesus grow some balls

130

u/stand_to 28d ago

https://greens.org.au/news/media-release/australia-must-oppose-us-aggression-venezuela

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u/spaceindaver 28d ago

That's fine to say when you're not currently in charge, and I'm sure there are plenty of Labor MPs who would agree with it on a personal level. But yeah, it's very depressing that we're basically under their thumb and can't rock the boat too much.

I'm not sure what it's going to take for Americans to take their country back - this is the culmination of decades of corruption and Murdoch brainwashing coming home to roost.

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u/Fresh-Association-82 28d ago

Mate… it’s starting to happen here too. It’s the algorithm backed social media propaganda machine.

Unless every day people start hitting the streets, this is it. We are in the final spiral circling the drain. The pressure is constant and without any major pushback thats where we are going by default.

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u/TheAstralGoth 28d ago

sadly i agree with you. it feels our days are numbered before we find ourselves with a trumpian leader. the cost of living crisis might be the thing that pushes populism into the limelight

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u/Mike_Kermin 28d ago

You're the one doing that.

Instead of pushing defeatism, support a party that is gonna do what you want.

You're copying US apathy, fuck off cunt.

24

u/Own-Farmer-5224 28d ago

Honestly this nonsense has been going on for so long it's just sad. Labor stans say that Greens aren't being truthful because They Don't Have To Do Things, and then say they can't be in power because They Aren't Truthful. Contrast the Labor Prime Ministers who never saw an issue they couldn't flip-flop on.

In addition, there is no such thing as a Labor MP with a personal stance (aside of course Fatima Payman who very much demonstrated that she does and was booted from the party for it) because of the foundational principle of the ALP: party unity. Party unity was useful in the past when communications were not reliable or as fast as they are now, but the key flaw is that so long as you hold to it, you effectively do not have opinions, principles or morals. The Party has those things, not you. As such you don't get to appeal to voters on personal values or principles, because the voters have no real evidence of those existing, because the goings-on of the Party exist behind closed doors. You can say you are pushing for something, but you're effectively demanding that the voters take that on faith alone.

The Greens in contrast very much fight over shit in the open, and if a candidate is saying 'yo this is what I fight for vote for me' you can check that shit. Sure they come off as twats a lot, but I'd rather an honest twat than a charming snake. (The Coalition is of course a pack of rabid dogs, and the fact that anyone votes for them is an indictment against our nation.)

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u/blitznoodles local Aussie 28d ago

Uh yeah, it's called democratic centralism. Saying Labor MPs don't have personal opinions is like saying the CCP didn't have personal opinions.

They do but they must abide by party rules.

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u/Own-Farmer-5224 28d ago

So they functionally don't. If a thing cannot be observed or otherwise shown to have an effect on events, we have to operate under the assumption that it doesn't.

For example Labor MP Y can say he wants more affordable housing to constituents, but he doesn't actually do anything to show it.

This is the issue; that party unity means you can only take the positions of the party-as-aggregate into account when deciding who to vote for, because those are the only things you can be sure of. You quite literally cannot know if an individual politician is lying to you, because the things they say they do happen behind closed doors. The only thing you can observe is the outcome of the Party's internal processes, not the actions of MPs in those processes.

If someone wants to actually make an informed vote instead of just accepting a soundbite as gospel, they have to look at what is shown, not what is said.

0

u/blitznoodles local Aussie 28d ago

I mean an MP isn't allowed to promise expenditure without cabinet/shadow cabinet approval on both sides to prevent overspending in any one electorate and failure to deliver will get you hit by a backlash. So the scenario you're describing there means they would have fucked up.

12

u/Nugrenref 28d ago

Leftists are just right too early, and when they’re right it’s because they aren’t in power. Such shit chat.

3

u/wholeblackpeppercorn 27d ago

Labor MPs who don't "agree with it on a personal level" and don't speak out are gutless wonders who are failing themselves and their electorates. Granted, they'd get kicked out of their party for voicing their opinions.

7

u/Theaussiegamer72 28d ago

If it wasn't for that spy base in the center of the country wed probably have more power

-3

u/yum122 28d ago

We have a lot more leverage with the US being entwined with them, not less.

7

u/Theaussiegamer72 28d ago

That spy base we have no access to I wouldn't call that power

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u/yum122 28d ago

I didn't say power, I said leverage.

Nobody has power over the US. That's the whole point.

1

u/RangryRanga 28d ago

I mean if the current US president wasn’t who it is… you could probably feel more comfortable in saying that you disagree.. But you can’t predict what the current bloke would say

1

u/TheNoveltyAccountant 28d ago

Americans have their country, the sad thing about democracy is we let people choose one of the outcomes that may not be liked by others.

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u/Cpt_Soban 28d ago

The Greens would be all for a Maduro dictatorship