Australia's #MarchinMay protests...awesome. Pics. Our battles seem to be theirs. Heartwarming.
I am not sure of all the issues involved there of course, but I notice many similar gripes from the marchers and their signs. One of the main ones concerns the cuts being made because of the deficit, especially cuts to the elderly and those in need.
I found these pictures mostly under the #marchinmay hashtag at Twitter, and few by that name at google. There are also pictures at Twitter under the #bustthebudget hashtag.
Here is one article about the rallies:
March in May rallies: Thousands gather to protest against federal budget
The pictures show many more than thousands.
Protesters angered by the announced budget cuts to Government services - including health and education - gathered in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Hobart on Sunday, as part of the nationwide March in May rallies.
In Sydney, the crowd was estimated at up to 10,000 people.
Protesters gathered in Sydney's CBD carrying placards with messages such as "hands off health, education and welfare".
"Why are 6,000 South Australians raising their voices in Adelaide today? They understand that this is about making sure when they are sick, there is a hospital bed for them," he said at a joint news conference with other state leaders in Sydney.
"When their children have a learning difficulty, there is the extra teaching support to allow their child to be a success – that's what's at stake, that's what's motivating them, and we are speaking for those Australians as we stand here today together.
Here are some of the pictures I found:
20,000 estimated in Melbourne.
Here is the link to the MarchinMay pictures at Twitter
Here is an article and some pictures from News.com.au
Along these lines I found a piece at the Tasmanian Times about the alarm over the budget.
A colder, meaner, narrower place ...
There are no paragraphs to go by, just sentences. Here are a few.
This is just the beginning, turning Australia into a place most of us won’t recognise — a colder, meaner, narrower place.
Losing our sense of fairness and our sense of community.
I believe in a different Australia.
An Australia where your destiny is not predetermined by your parents’ wealth or your postcode.
A fair and prosperous nation populated by a creative and productive people.
But this is not the Australia we saw reflected in the Budget on Tuesday night.
On Tuesday night we saw the outlines of Tony Abbott’s Australia — an Australia divided into two societies.
This was a ‘tax it or cut it’ Budget.
Millions of Australians now know what Abbott’s Australia will look like:
If you need to see a doctor, you will pay more.
If you need to buy medicine, you will pay more.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I understand our safety nets are still "on the table", just sitting off to the side for a while until we forget.
We have trusted our party to stand up for things that we value. We have had to fight them on the most serious issues like our privacy, the TPP, the fairness of the internet, saving the safety nets, fighting back against their attacks on public education.
So I guess you may be right. The people together there are heartwarming....but the fact they have to do so is chilling.
Seems to be a worldwide thing now.
The way our Parliament is set up, if a Supply Bill (budget bill) is blocked twice by the upper house the Government can call a Double Dissolution election. In reality, if supply is blocked they have to do this because Supply Bills are what gives the government it's money.
In a Double Dissolution election both houses of Parliament are dissolved and every seat, House and Senate, are up for grabs. It very rarely happens.
The basic premise is, you can't get your budget passed so it goes back to the electorate so see what they think, if they agree with you then you'll end up with the numbers required to pass it.
Abbott's approval/popularity figures as of today are almost rock bottom and it is assumed that if an election were held the right wing would be tossed to the curb pretty convincingly.
Hope this helps 
Was trying to figure that out. Impressive numbers at rallies. Good for them.
Whether true or not, perception means a lot.
Also found at the same Twitter link:
https://twitter.com/irisherself
The mental image of Joe Hockey in Marie Antoinette’s blonde ringlets proclaiming “Let them eat cake” might prompt consternation or an upset stomach, depending on your political persuasion. But with his “beer and cigarettes” comments, he has in effect uttered the modern-day equivalent.
It is thought the Queen of France never actually said those words. Joe Hockey, on the other hand, undeniably compared the $7 co-payment for a GP visit to the cost of a pack of cigarettes and two $3 middies of beer. In the same breath (almost) as he inhaled a cigar, he also perpetuated the stereotype that welfare recipients were layabouts who would choose booze and ciggies over feeding their children or taking them to the doctor. They simply sprawl in front of their flat-screen TVs, never look for work and watch the fat welfare cheques roll in. Isn’t that right, Joe?
Mr Hockey, sitting in his castle twirling his ringlets, is displaying an appalling lack of understanding of the way real welfare recipients live. How would I know? I was one.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/beer-and-ciggies-more-like-let-them-eat-cake-from-joe-hockey-atop-his-tower-20140519-zrh3z.html#ixzz32MH4D7P5
Smug fucking prick...
I only moved here in 2006, and still lurk here regularly.
