Mark on the 2004 Election
Information on the links between Hunters and Collectors, Mark Seymour and the 2004 federal election.
Author: Stuart Fenech / Mark Seymour.
Date: October 9 2004.
Original URL: Various.
Australia had a federal election on the 9th of October 2004. The John Howard led Coalition government, comprising of the dominant Liberal Party and National Party, was elected for a fourth term. Mark Seymour, in particular, put his view forward in no uncertain terms leading up to the election. Mark supported the main opposition party, the Australian Labor Party (ALP).
The ALP federal campaign launch featured the Hunters and Collectors song “Do You See What I See?”. The song blared out while Labor leader Mark Latham made his way down to the front of the stage, embracing ALP legend Gough Whitlam on the way down. The song was used with permission from the band and got the song some publicity. Having been at the launch, I can vouch that the atmosphere was perfected by the use of the Hunters and Collectors song. There could not have been a greater contrast to 2002 and the fury that resulted when the Tasmanian Liberal Party used “Holy Grail” to launch their election campaign.
On the 4th of October Mark Seymour got a mention in the Australian:
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Showbiz hits centre stage ‘to end the lies’
Rosalie Higson
October 04, 2004
A GIANT rubber rat dubbed the “Lying Rodent” loomed over a large and noisy crowd in Sydney yesterday – a crowd that ignored the rugby league grand final and the beach to voice its opposition to John Howard and his policies.
The End the Lies march and rally, which organisers estimated attracted about 9000 people, was one of the last opportunities for musicians and artists to speak out against the Coalition before the election.
And the gloves were off.
“The stakes are high for democracy,” said former Hunters and Collectors frontman Mark Seymour, who says he simply wants to see Howard go.
“This Government hasn’t hesitated to manipulate the truth and got us involved in a war we shouldn’t be in,” he said.
…
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On the Thursday before the election (7 October), Mark posted the following on his Internet site:
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John Howard must go!
On Saturday 9th October we will have the opportunity to decide who will run this country for the next four years. Don’t take it for granted. Don’t waste your vote. It’s not john howard’s democracy. It’s ours. AND in our democracy, the stakes have never been this high.
Because no prime minister has the right to commit Australian troops to war without the backing of parliament.
There has never been a more shamelessly opportunistic government than this one. This is a government that runs on SPIN.If the spin works then any negative publicity simply doesn’t matter. John howard the teflon man, just shrugs it off. He has shown a total disregard for the truth. a willingness to manipulate fact, to conceal profoundly important information, contrary to the national interest,. He has in short DUPED US.
This is a government without VISION. It only has one point to make…
Be afraid, be very afraid. of two things
Terrorism and interest rates.
John howard wants you to FEEL SCARED. John Howard wants you to feel that there is no alternative but him. And John Howard wants to divert your attention away from the big issues of national interest:
our continuing support for the American war in Iraq,
the indefinite detention of asylum seekers, the dismanting of our once great public education system and medicare. The ratification of the Kyoto protocol, global warming, the widening chasm between the mega rich and urban poor..and the tragedy of reconciliation with Indigenous Australia.
Right here, right now, these are some of the great political questions of the day. These are the issues that we need to address if Australia is to move forward and become the great society it has the potential to be.
John howard has, with all the bloody minded efficiency he is famous for, removed these issues from public debate. It is up to us, the people of Australia, to bring them back into the political mainstream.
Quite simply, John Howard is relying on our fear to stay in office. But there is nothing to fear except for the threat to our precious democracy that this government poses . Make your vote count next Saturday.. Let’s get some fresh blood into the Lodge. The Liberals are old and tired..their time is up
John Howard must go!
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After the loss, Mark commented that he was ‘very disappointed’.
N/A.
