A final reminder has been sent to Liberal and Labor candidates for the seat of Gosford. We hope to have a complete spectrum of responses to our invitation on the Back Page by Wednesday the 21st.
We apologise if our omission, by not inviting the Christian Democrats, Save Our Suburbs and Australians Against Further Immigration candidates, has disappointed any readers.
A brief explanation for the omission.
Image from Fred Nile's website
It is difficult to get useful information about single-issue parties with names like slogans.
A Google check of AAFI found no website, several mentions of de-registration and suggestions of racism. Xenophobia is not an immigration policy; Population policy is far more complex than simplistic practices of exclusion; Cultural chauvinism is not helpful in any arts and culture policy developed for an increasingly globally-aware contemporary art community.
SOS (Save Our Suburbs) is another group with no discernible concern for art practice. “Save Us From the Suburbs” might be getting closer to an Arts Policy.
Caps on population and resistance to rapacious development might be notions worthy of discussion, but that is not our purpose here.
Fred Nile’s Christian Democrats likewise seem to have no Arts agenda, other than trying to close down exhibitions they object to, as was evidenced recently at the Gosford Regional Gallery. For other attitudinal pronouncements (e.g. on Muslims), see AAFI thumbnail above. Bigotry is not an Arts Policy.
[editorial disclosure] I do not believe belief in belief necessarily results in good. Holding a belief is a personal issue which will inevitably influence the way an individual acts as a politician, but I regard the separation of Church and State as being important in a democratic system that depends on the principle of debate, scrutiny and rational argument.
Unchallengeable supernatural premises are fine in their place and might even produce outcomes beyond the limitations of the rational (martyrdom for example or a will to survive). If people believe in angels and/or aliens (and apparently the majority of Americans do) that is fine. But does it provide a desirable foundation for making decisions on, for example, the privatisation of public assets.
Speaking of Alien political policies, A Finnish Member of Parliament
is aiming for re-election by campaigning with a translation of his website into Klingon, according to a Reuter’s report. He said his politics posed some translation difficulties, since Klingon does not have words for matters such as tolerance, or for many colours, including green - the party under whose banner he is running in the national elections on March 18.For those familiar with the language, he writes:
yIrqI' yIy yIy qaSvI' 'oH pongwIj'e' 'ej vInlan yejquvDaq jIjeS. pa' DIvI' SuDqu' vI'oS.
pe'vIl parmaq vIvoq. qo' vIDub vIneH; motlhwI' vIqaD vIneH; ngoch ngachlu'taHvIS qechmey chu' vIchel vIneH. jIHvaD Daj qechmeyvam: De' nugh, vummeH mIw patlh, DuSaQ'a' ngoch, 'oghmeH toDuj je; nIb Hoch ghotpu' DuHmey 'ej pImwI' cherghlu' 'e' vIqel je.
qaS Dochmeyvam vIneH:
- 'ebmey jonlaH Hoch
- tlhablu'DI' ngoy'nISlu' je
- roghvaH qum
- rewbe'pu' jIj nugh
- wa' Dol nIvDaq matay'DI' maQap
- pImwI' cherghlu'
As you can see, not much about the arts there!
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