Ideologies . . . a thing of the past?

This week saw the Media outlets comment madly on the emerging feud between the ALP Government and the Greens, in which the Green have accused the government, and hence the ALP of abandoning their ideologies in favor of nothing. When I herd of this 'fighting' I nearly bust out in a fit of giggles, why? Because as one of just a few high school politics students in South Australia, studying for my upcoming exams the week after next I found it amusing that the media are examining one of my practice exam questions. I know lame right? Not that it is a bad thing, it just means I can FINALLY, legitimately, say I am watching news are reading the newspapers for my homework. YAY!

In the past it was easy to ascertain the differences between the major parties, Labor supposedly being more progressive than the Liberal Party, likewise the Liberals were more conservative in their economic outlook. The Labor Party supported workers rather than companies and the Liberal Party was for the employers, it was almost too easy to see the differences between the major players. Nowadays it is harder, especially when the media skew the facts to suit the story, it does seem as though the minor parties stay more true to their ideas, but because it is harder for them to get publicity it almost seems that they can only handle a few view points and stick to them. This is probably due to the fact it is highly unlikely that the Greens, in this case and the Democrats before them, could never hold government and so their primary goal is to hold view points which may differ radically from the government and hold them accountable, in some way or another.

Whether or not minor parties stick to their ideals more than the major parties is a point that has divided politicians, and makes for an interesting essay question because the ALP will deny the allegations and the Greens will wholeheartedly agree. This week Senator Hanson-Young said she believed 100% that in light of recent events, the ALP have 'no values' but at the same time (SMH reported that) Labor 'power brokers' labeled the Greens as 'Extremist, [and] not unlike One Nation'. The idea that the major parties find it hard to stay true to their ideologies is probably a semi valid point, as in order to pass legislation, especially in the current hung parliament the government must compromise with other parties in order to get their legislation passed. Former Democrats Leader, and Senator Natasha Stott Despoja appeared on Channel 7 program Sunrise program reiterating the same point, that sometimes parties need to grey the edges and compromise but obviously whilst still staying true to their core beliefs. Whether or not Greens Leader Christine Milne, and the rest of the Greens agree with Despoja is another issue altogether, with vicious comments coming from both the ALP and Greens camps, it will only be a matter of time before we see the full extent of this fued, when parliament resumes in August and the government will try to pass Asylum Seeker legislation, among other bills.