http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMZTK7EPPA4
Here is a video that we created for the blog as part of our assignment for ISYS100. It is a mock interview with Tony Abbott using footage from the 60 Minutes program and Channel 7 news.
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
I have to go...but I'll be back.
Such a great use of pop culture and politics, the puns to be
made are endless. This gem was created for the 2010 election; it’s amazing how
not much has changed in the eyes of the public over three years. It is common
to see Tony Abbot and his ‘fear’ of ‘boat people’, but this portrayal of
Gillard is great, personally, it’s refreshing to see a different perspective of
her. As a woman, it is shameful that many of us will accept any woman to be put
into power, not considering her actual effectiveness, just continuing to praise
her for being a woman.
Poking fun at both of the most popular parties, there is
something here for everyone to have a laugh at, a procrastinating woman or a
man focused on border patrol. I love the sci-fi theme of this caricature; it
could not be more relevant.
Funny side of Australian Politics
This post is made to show the lighter side of politics. Everyone looks at politicians and see them as boring people that can debate for hours on useless topics.
But this video we see that they have a sense of humour The banter that occurs in parliament is second to none and will make most people laugh. Jokes and insults are thrown around like wild fire.
We see politicians in newspapers looking stupid, dumb and sometimes just ignorant but its these videos that we see their personality, their almost human side and the way they can accept a joke.
This particular video expresses politicians acting in human ways and helps to show to the Australian population that they are human, partaking in drinking, games, singing and getting frustrated with each other.
Saturday, 4 May 2013
Headless Chooks
Hot off the press is this animation by the Liberal Party
that will air as a pre-election commercial, aired on the ABC Insiders this morning. It has an obvious bias towards the Liberals,
as it was them that endorsed it, and it parodies the (perceived?) failures of
the Labour Party in the past ranging from the leadership stoushes to the
inability to stop the boats (hence the term perceived failures as the Liberals
couldn’t stop them either). The repeated phrase "we have lost our way" suggesting that Labour can't keep their promises, although it is natural that circumstances occur from time to time that prevent governments of all persuasions to break their promises.
The insinuation that Labour are running around like headless
chickens is the main theme of this commercial, and using this analogy with the
highlighted headline problems that Labour has endured since it came to power
will surely be a favourite pre-election commercial for those that support the
Liberal Party, and those that buy-in to the rhetoric from Tony Abbott and his
party.
As our blog aims to be unbiased, we will be posting the
Labour Party pre-election commercials as they come to light.
Thursday, 2 May 2013
The Budget Hole!
 |
| Image From: http://media.cagle.com/76/2013/02/27/127914_600.jpg |
This cartoon is a very good example of the budget hole and with Julia Gillard talking a lot at Rootyhill RSL the pokies cleverly illustrate the issue at hand. The recent issue about a $12 billon hole in the budget has been all over the news. This isn't a small hole, its massive! With the goal to reach a 2.2billion surplus by 2015-16 it has just been shown in a budget preview on April 18, that ANZ economists examined a range of scenarios and tipped a probable deficit of $16.6 billion this year, as part of an overall plan to reach a $2.2 billion surplus by 2015-16. The bank said this would allow Australia to maintain its AAA credit rating and increase net debt only slightly to peak at 10.5 per cent of GDP over the coming five years.
Gillard blames the deficits on the long-term revenue writedown from lower company profits. But how much of this is true? We already see that the NBN is already going to cost way more than what was projected, let alone all the other spending the government has done. So is this just an excuse to cover up the mass spending? It's hard to trust a government that has already lied.
Sunday, 28 April 2013
Political Memes
The previous posts have focussed on cartoons, videos and
animations, but I thought that I would focus this post on memes. To my surprise, there weren’t as many memes
on the subject of Australian politics or the upcoming election, however I did
manage to locate a handful.
The topics of the memes covered the politicians themselves,
the upcoming election, as well as some current topical themes such as the
opposition’s plan for the NBN.
This image of Tony Abbott saying he welcomes Republicans,
just not by boat is a reference to US Republican voters threatening to move to
Australia (or Canada) after President Obama won his second term. One such republican even tweeted “I’m moving
to Australia because their president is a Christian and actually supports what he
says”, her obvious ignorance on who Julia Gillard is caused a sudden twitter
backlash that she deleted her twitter account shortly after her tweet. The meme merges Tony’s political leaning
similarity with the Republicans in the US with his anti-asylum seeker stance.
This meme highlights Tony’s stance on asylum seekers and
marriage equality for the gay community (despite his sister being gay
herself). It is a funny play on words in
this particular meme that the combination of the two things that he is against
creates an even bigger fear for Tony.
This meme of Tony claiming to be the better feminist is
directed at his misogynistic profile and the fact that Julia is unwed. Tony was quick to roll out his wife into the
public domain soon after Julia’s misogynist speech aimed squarely against Tony.
The main difference I have seen in the memes focussing in
the politicians themselves is that those directed at Tony Abbott appear to be
aimed at his policies or his conservatism, whereas those directed at Julia
Gillard seem to be purely on her appearance.
The one above points out that both Julia and Margaret Thatcher were both
the first female Prime Ministers in their countries and they both have red hair. That is as far as the similarities go
politically as they were on opposite ends of the political spectrum. The rust bucket comment is a reference to
Julia’s red hair.
Another meme aimed at Julia’s looks, a rather unfortunate
timed photograph of the obligatory baby kissing during electioneering caught
the baby with a look that could be described as uncomfortable. The ranga reference clearly directed again at
the Prime Minister’s appearance.
The memes directed at the election are few and far between
which is surprising given the long notice given for the election. The one above showing Tony in his ever
present red budgie smugglers and being compared to Daniel Craig in an attempt
to woo the women’s vote based purely on his physique.
This election meme compares photos of Julia and Tony to ‘look-a-likes’
Gollum from Lord of the Rings for Tony and Pennywise the Dancing Clown from
Stephen King’s movie ‘It’. It is amazing
that the comparison photos appear to have the same facial expressions giving
credence to the identity they are portraying.
It also highlights that the options for the next election
are slim pickings, you can either choose a slimy scheming goblin or a crazed
manic clown. Perhaps it was the Greens
that made this meme?
The photo in the above meme lends itself nicely to memes,
one could think of any suitable one-liner and insert it in the above photo. The particular one-liner in this meme is
directed at the recent release of the opposition’s design for the NBN, which
most people agree is pretty dire.
And just to demonstrate how dire the opposition’s NBN plan
is, this meme cleverly shows Malcolm Turnbull listening to a tin can and string
phone that most kids have used before highlighting how inadequate the
opposition plan actually is.
Super Sarah to the rescue…
So far the majority of the posts have been based on the two
party preferred system, and although they have deliberately been not biased
towards one party or the other, it would be negligent of us to not include the
other ‘big’ party in Australian politics, the Green Party.
The animation in the above clip attempts to persuade the
voting public to ensure that the green senator Sarah Hanson-Young retains her
seat in the Senate in order to keep total power going to Tony Abbott and the
Liberals should they win the majority in both houses of parliament.
The clip shows Sarah as a super hero in a green bodysuit and
a gay rights rainbow cape, and Tony as a power mad maniac who is against
marriage equality, women’s right to choose to work and have children (he does
love a home cooked meal though the clip claims), anti-asylum seeker and a
climate change sceptic.
The clips also says that Labour is too busy fighting Tony
Abbott to protect the nation from the perils of Liberal dominance in the Senate,
however this is the only negative mention of Labour, it is very evidently
anti-Liberal.
It is interesting to note that this clip on YouTube has the
comments disabled denying viewers to discuss the clip. I find this particularly
odd considering such a clip should be open to public debate, and even allow the
other parties mentioned in the clip a right of reply.
It is unclear who actually made the clip, but it was
authorised by Ali Neyle who appears to be Sarah Hanson-Young’s press secretary,
or a press secretary for the Australian Greens Party.All clips and cartoons posted to date have been by the media taking the piss out of the political parties, this is the first posted where a political party takes the piss out of political parties.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)