GetUp! launches attack ad on Tony Abbott boat people policy

These guys are getting really boring……why don’t they offer up alternatives that keep people from risking their lives at sea in crappy boats in the hand of criminals?

Maybe they could run an ad in Indonesian media that says “Don’t give a people smuggler $10K to get to Australia, fly in style with Qantas in first class to escape persecution”.

Who in their right mind would want to encourage more of these dangerous boat journeys?

Sheik’s a complete twit. Smart, but not very wise.

Anyway, can somebody please tell GetUp! (and get a real job?) that Tony Abbott’s not PM…yet.
How many more people are GetUp! willing to allow die under Labor’s failed policies?
Seems they barrack for a team, not an idealogy.

Funded through crowd funding? Is that a euphemism for dollars donated by the Labor Party and the ACTU. The GetUp message is an ineffectual partisan attack, successfully pissing union membership fees up the wall.

It also seems to be rather misleading. The views that the Navy would refuse to turn the boats back came from a personal opinion of a retired admiral. Not the Navy itself. If Abbott’s elected, if that’s what the vast majority of Australians want, then the Navy should act in accordance. God help us if we start going down a route of the the military behaving how and when it wants to!

The average punter won’t have a clue what this ad is about. And anyway, if Abbott get’s into power all he’ll turn back is the country.

@Get Over it, i completely agree; if people are to risk their lives coming to Australia, they shouldn’t do it on crappy little sea boats. they should – at the very least – travel in style.

I don’t disagree that GetUp is often sensationalist.

This said, I challenge anyone to watch ‘The Man Who Jumped’ which aired on SBS last night and not re consider their thoughts on the above.

Richard getup is funded through individual contributions not the Labor party or Union memberships…or are you against that as well..There are 2 million refugees in the world today and we whinge and complain about 6 or 7 thousand..yes we need to do something to fix this issue maybe if we act more compassionately and together we get help these people .

Abbott’s Navy, McHale’s Navy, now there’s an apt metaphor.

Of course Get Up is sensationalist. They’re an activist group who engage the public on issues about which they feel strongly, and do all they can to provoke discussion.

@Rob, Not sure what idealogy is, but your obvious mastery of spelling and grammar alone should qualify you as having the perfect intellect to pass judgement on a man of principle like Simon Shiek.

@Richard, See the organisation’s disclosure of their funding and you’ll realise that 87% of their initiatives are underwritten by working Australians who feel passionately about a wide range of subjects. They are decidedly not an extension, as you insinuate, of the Labor Party or any other political organisation, and if their ‘attacks” are so ineffectual, then why are you bothering to denounce and slander them on a public blog. Sounds like they’re getting to someone.

Get Up – what a bunch of twats! They are nothing more than the ALP’s lap dogs masquerading as some loony left wing outfit. Same old undergrad tripe

I welcome anything in the media which unmasks Abbott’s desperation and stupidity.

@Mark I completely agree. He manages to swindle misinformed people so I support anything that counteracts it.

There it is, thanks Taylor @ 2.30pm…..Abbott “swindles misinformed people”. Who asked you guys to be the protectors of the truth, which funnily enough is always the extreme left spin on an issue?

Logical and pragmatic citizens with a right-leaning view don’t need to be protected from being “misinformed” by charlatans like tony abbott or alan jones, we can make up our own minds.

What possesses you guys to think we are all dumb if we don’t blindly follow leftist propaganda?

Such a bunch of self-righteous tools – is it any wonder the Australian political mood has swung so far back to the right??!!

@patrick – twats, lap dogs, looney left wing, undergrad tripe

I think you missed pinko, although undergrad is one we wouldn’ have expected you to know much about, given the apparent level of education you display with your illiterate ravings.

Why is it that every year around Australia Day, the double digit IQs of this country come crawling out from beneath the floorboards to wrap themselves in the flag and spew their racist, misogynist, homophobic, and generally toothless rants.

Get Up is an advocacy organisation that has been more successful in changing or at least guiding public policies in this country than nearly any other over the past decade, and it’s success is attributable to the fact that the positions they advocate are those that are supported by the majority of Australians. Their supporters are educated people, articulate people, and compassionate people who bear absolutely no resemblance to you and your fellow travellers, and precious little resemblance to the Mad Monk Abbott, whose entire maniacal political agenda is about gaining power and doing so through the politics of fear, hate, division, negativity, and currying favour with the rich and powerful at the expense of the majority, who are neither.

Is it just me but I find this ad – like many of GetUp’s previous efforts to be confusing to the point I dont want to read it or engage with the message. Surely with briefs as strong as this a better job could be done.

I smell plants.

@ Reg it’s a bit rich for you to rant about “Mad Monk Abbott’s” effort to gain power through fear, hate, negativity etc. On the flip side “Juliar” is desperately holding on to power with broken promises (no carbon tax), reneged deals (Wilkie’s pokies reform) and propping up corrupt members with inaction (Craig Thomson).

At least call them both out as bad as each other.

GetUp simply adds to the noise by taking a fairly predictable side in every policy debate…..a true advocacy organisation would take a position on the basis of the issue at hand, not general ideology.

How arrogant for you to claim they take “positions supported by the majority of Australians”…..why don’t they put up or shut up and run for office rather than throwing union-funded grenades from the sidelines?

Get Up = Bunch of Greens in Drag, hence the obsession with themes from Village People songs.

@Get Out. My my my… what is that…? Really…
I can’t even comprehend what would motivate a post like that
Take a Xanax or your Quetapine or something. FFS.

@get off

Get Up are not funded by Unions, but by individual donations. Less that 13% of their funding in the past five years has been institutionally based, 87% via private donations, the vast majority of which are less that $50.

Get Up are not a political party and as a consequence can enter the public debate on a wide range of policies with advocacy on the values of the issues themselves, rather than upon how a position on any one issue will effect their political standing. They are independent and honest brokers for the points of view they advocate.

What specific Get Up position are you suggesting was taken on the basis of ideology rather than being on the moral, intelligent, healthy, fair, and democratic side of any issue for which they have advocated?

With respect to immigration policy, the topic of the ad in question, I’m confused as to how ridiculing the policy being suggested by the Opposition Leader of setting overcrowded refugee boats near our coastline back out to sea and further endangering lives in the process is in any way ideological? The point of the ad seems to be that the policy being suggest by Mr. Abbott is an act against humanity and that any member of our armed services would be disgracing themselves and their nation by upholding such a policy. Moreover it is a violation of international law not to give aid where one is capable to any vessel at sea. Repairing an overcrowded boat where people are short of food and water and returning it to sea, even with provisions would arguably be immoral if not illegal, and it will do nothing in the end to curb the flow of these boats to our shores. It is absurd for the shadow PM to have suggested such a policy, but it is beneath reproach that he would begin floating the idea as a solution for our immigration policy in the week of our celebrating Australia as a country of generous and caring people. It was another naked attempt to inflame an already heated debate, one that is always tinged with an unhealthy dose of anti-immigant sentiment on the Right.

@JayZ – seems like someone is a little uncomfortable with their own sexuality.

Always interesting to see homophobia, anti-immigrant sentiment, and anti-environmentalism all merged into one emotionally and mentally crippled individual.

Congratulations on your trifecta.

@bob, you obviously no sense of humour

@JayZ, you obviously no sense of grammar

Spot on bob
Reg, you forgot “racist”. Afterall, that’s one of the monikers you twats inevitably trot out when someones dares to disagree with your predictable agenda

@patrick

Disagreements are fine, even encouraged, so long as they make intelligent points and are well argued, features that your posts with their illiterate, ad hominem attacks have no familiarity with whatsoever.

I’ll agree with you, however, insomuch as to say that aversion to racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-environmentalism, anti-immigrant sentiments, and generally anti-democratic behaviour, or just your garden variety ignorance and stupidity is very much the substance of our “predictable agenda”.

You’ve got a keen eye for the obvious, too bad it’s just the one.

GetUp? Get Lost!

Hoin, first person singular indicative form of the verb Hokea –
To repeat over and over again.
To parrot, to repeat without understanding.
To cuckoo, to repeat incessantly.

What’s in a name? Says it all really.

Must be a copywriter, all form, no substance.

@Bob Sorry for not brilliant grammar, asshole. My first language is Vietnamese and you are obviously a smart arsed white immigrant from UK. Get a sense of humor, f*cktard

So its funny how the point of this story was lost with personal agendas. All I have to say is that both sides of the government are really pissing me off with all their boat people distraction yah yah…what’s more important is that the families of this country are suffering especially in NSW because of the bullshit price of petrol, the bullshit compulsory green skip, the bullshit health care insurance that doesn’t cover you for anything meaningful but premiums go up every 6 months all at the same time as car insurance. The boat people debate is distracting the media from the real issues of this country. how about we look after our own with housing in SA, food and a fresh start….before we let anyone else in…how about the government approve extra housing in the urban sprawl areas before they keep they keep paying for babies to have babies…Tony Abort can’t even get decent transport functioning from the Northern beaches to the City let alone run the country however the entire government in power and apposing needs to start talking to the media about shit that matters and start taking action to make a better place for Australian’s first…above all others.

@JayZ

From your mastery of English profanities and the shear brilliance of your rant, uh argument, we’d guess that the issue is probably not your language skills, but your intelligence, education, and upbringing. You have managed to prove for us all that immigrants, new Australians can be just as ignorant, biased, and inarticulate as the dyed-in-the-wool rednecks who’ve been here for generations.

@KizaKuza

Thank you on this Australia Day for reinforcing the notion that the newest Australians can be the most vehement, rabid, and militant of the supporters for a xenophobic Australia First policy.

Thank you both for keeping stupidity and hatred alive. You’re a credit to your communities and the core of this country . . . well the hard core at least.

Oh Getup – go back to your lattes and undergraduate cafe socialism, and the hypocrisy that comes with it.
If Getup people are so concerned about refugees – do we see them providing B&B for them in their inner-circle mansions and apartments? Do we see Getup people lending refugees their BMWs and Audis to get around in? No….I didn’t think so.
The underlying hypocrisy of Getup and their fellow travellers is really quite revolting; and the gullibility of those who fund them is tragic in equal measure.

Sorry, Reg.

Too busy working for a private enterprise to spellcheck. Also, haven’t time to trawl through every blog administering my sage-like leftist wisdom (pink batts style), unlike your good self.

My “ideology’ is that GetUp supporters are nobs. Happy you’ve re-confirmed it for, like, the millionth time (see I can ‘do’ undergrad humour too).

@Rob and Mike

The Spanish have a saying that is too appropriate for you two not to quote, “Habla habla, no dice nada.”

GETUP is a tool of the Cultural Marxist GreenAlp.

U can lead a horse to water,but u can’t make it drink.Especially 100’s of km out to sea.

It would be good to know if GetUp has mounted any campaigns to this degree against ALP policies. The policy ALP is trying to get thru at the moment seems to majorly go against Get Ups principles also. How hard have they hit out against that? Not a loaded question – genuinely wondering.

@Rob

Save The Net – opposed Stephen Conroy’s policies forcing ISPd to police activity on the web.

No Child in Detention – opposed the policies of Chris Bowen with respect to children in refugee families.

Called for an end to large corporate political donations – opposed by the ALP

Opposed Australia’s involvement in the war in Iraq – counter to ALP platform and current government policy.

It’s all on their website, but you do need to be able to read, so . . .

When will you people understand.

The only groups that should be allowed to run such ad-campaigns should be funded by big business. The very fact that people would put their hands in their pockets to have their views heard is clearly undemocratic. Rich bastards paid a lot of money to own the media channels and it should remain their sole preserve.

Yes the ad looks pro Abbott!!

For all those deriders … why don’t you get over to the Menzies House website and sign their petition.

“I hereby express my belief that the Australian Government should immediately
close the racist and divisive Aboriginal Tent Embassy”.

Nice sentiment boys, nice sentiment.

@ Reg I was genuinely asking about the current ALP immigration policy and if Get Up has taken any actions against it? Does anyone have any views on that? “It’s all on their website, but you do need to be able to read, so . . .” What’s that all about?? Very strange comment to make to a genuine question. I’m not the same Rob at the top of this thread by the way…

An idea! We get actors to play Rob, Reg and Bob (using their exact words) and Mumbrella video it. Kinda like the Drunk History thing. Would be riveting in a sort of Archie Bunker way don’t you think?

Lotta rich old guys getting buthurt that the world is changing and not everything goes their way anymore.
Ever notice that conservatives seem to approach politics like they would a sporting match? They just yell random stuff and make up childish names.

It’s been proven that conservatives are less intelligent than non-bigots, so why don’t you dullards just shut up, sit in the corner and let the grown-ups run the country.