Inaction, inaction, inaction

Tuesday, 23 January 2007

Young Libs meeting: time to be very afraid

Reported motions from the NSW Young Liberals to their national meeting are a frightening insight into Liberal party political ideology and cast a large shadow over the direction of a future Coalition government in NSW according to Greens NSW Upper House candidate John Kaye.

Dr Kaye said: "The NSW Young Liberals exposed themselves as climate change deniers and nuclear power supporters, who want to force working people to delay their retirement until they are 70.

"While some of this might not be official NSW Liberal policy, it is frightening to think that the people who framed these motions are the future leaders of the party. It is even more frightening to realise that this might be a significant current of thought within a party that is vying for government in NSW.

"The Greens are concerned that what we are seeing here is a glimpse of Peter Debnam's 'bottom draw' agenda that would only come out after an election victory.

"We saw this happen after the 1988 election of Nick Greiner, whose extremist education, welfare and transport policies damaged public services for decades.

"NSW could expect very little action on climate change from a Debnam government and even less if it is influenced by its youth wing which opposes doing anything until there is 'conclusive scientific evidence' of 'alleged man-made global warming'.

"The real fear is that many senior NSW Liberals secretly agree with their youth wing's agenda to build nuclear power stations and raise the eligibility age for the aged pension to 70, but are staying quiet in order to not frighten the voters.

"The extremism of the Young Liberals is a reminder of the importance of a strong Upper House that is not dominated by either major party," Dr Kaye said.