Talk:GetUp!

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Contents 1 Left-wing or independent? 2 Campaign success 3 Past campaigns 4 Criticisms - Effectiveness 5 Far left lobby group?

[edit] Left-wing or independent?

There is no case to be made that GetUp! is not left-wing; it is associated with exclusively left-wing causes, and it is frequently described as such or similar. "Progressive" is a weasel word that is neither clearly defined nor in common use in Australia. For its part, the site calls itself politically "independent", a self-description Wikipedia can not, alone, ascribe the status of fact. I would suggest that "left-wing" is neutral in terms of its connotations and appropriate for use here; "socialist" or similar could be construed as a pejorative term. Joestella 13:11, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Campaign success

My understanding is that mass emails are not taken seriously by politicians. Any strong linkage of GetUp's campaigns to the success or failure of particular pieces of legislation should be backed by sources - statements such as "GetUp campaigns were recognized as playing an important role" need to be substantiated. GetUp never works alone on causes, it generally works in parallel to (though independently of) the labour, environmental and other movements. Joestella 13:15, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

I agree that statements need to substantiated. To that end, I have removed claims about Senate power, media attention and spam. These had elements of subjectivism.--cj | talk 14:55, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Past campaigns

Oddly, GetUp's website has removed references to at least one past campaign, concerning SnowyHydro's privatisation. It's one of the few in which the site could claim success. Any ideas on how to make the past campaign list more authoritative than GetUp's apparently faulty recollections? Joestella 04:33, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Criticisms - Effectiveness

Is a blog really notable enough to be referred to on Wikipedia? I think not... I propose deletion. WikiTownsvillian 03:49, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

I have removed:

Another criticism of the site concerns its effectiveness. According to the National Forum blog Ambit Gambit, GetUp! will fail to influence voters much as Moveon.org, on which the Australian site is based, did in the United States. "By giving voice to left-wing opinion they exert a force on centre left parties which pulls them away not just from the centre, but their own working class constituencies," wrote Ambit Gambit, "MoveOn was run by people who thought the reason that they lost the first time was because they weren't singing the song stridently enough." Further, the blog considers the site to be directed primarily at potential activists, not conservative politicians:

When you look at the site, the ad isn't really directed at the government at all. It's meant to recruit the people sending the URL around who will presumably look at the ad before forwarding. ... They say things like "If only one man controls the media, then we get only one side of the story", "Don't keep putting George Bush's interests in front of Australia's", and "Australia is still a democracy". From our focus group research, I'd expect these phrases to resonate with left of centre voters, not Coalition MPs.^[1]

Thanks, WikiTownsvillian 07:37, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

I think there's a wider point here about NPOV to be made (and I agree with the above removal). I think the conception of GetUp as a left-wing organisation is slightly misleading - they take up issues which the "wet"/centrist Liberals would have championed prior to the rise of Howard within the federal Liberal party. Many of the campaigns are in line with comments made in the public arena by Liberal MPs such as Mal Washer, Warren Entsch, Judi Moylan, Jeannie Ferris and Russell Broadbent, and National MP Barnaby Joyce. Many genuinely left wing issues are ignored or not addressed by Getup. Orderinchaos78 07:16, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Far left lobby group?

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This is rubbish. GetUp! is not a far left lobby group - I am part of GetUp! and I would never have described myself as such. In fact, I would not describe any of the members of my branch as "far left". We conduct meetings and individuals say whatever they like and express their opinions; there is no "party line" like there would be in a political party. So this is just wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.44.52.12 (talk) 00:48, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Agreed, political position is made clear in the intro and body of article. Will remove "far left" description. Recurring dreams (talk) 00:59, 22 March 2008 (UTC)