icowden
Shaman
When the quote isn't taken out of context, it makes a lot more sense.
TP: Your party want to get rid of nuclear weapons, move the emphasis on to diplomacy, development and so on and so forth... um ... if Greens were part of government would we expect to have fewer men and women under arms by the end of your term of office?
ZP: Well, I think that depends what is happening in the world. I think it would be foolish to assume anything about military budgets without knowing the political context you are working in. I would say more widely if we are looking at right now, we have a prime minister who is spending $15bn on nuclear weapons and at the same time saying there's no money to lift the two child benefit cap, something that is keeping 350,000 children in poverty. So I think it is right to question political choices at budget time.
TP: But surely a nuclear deterrent is valuable in a world that has Vladimir Putin in it?
ZP: Well, I want to see everyone denuclearise including Vladimir Putin but ultimately the only way you can do that is by showing...
TP: <laughing> I have to say that that would be in the realms of the miracle!
ZP: Well, you are laughing at it but I think it's important that we don't laugh at peace, I think it's really important...
TP: I'm laughing at the idea that Vladimir Putin is going to give up his nuclear weapons because somebody asks him to.
ZP: Well you could have laughed at the idea of Nelson Mandela negotiating with the ANC or we could have laughed at the idea of negotiating with the Irish during the troubles...
TP: You're not seriously making the comparison, come on...
ZP: I am making the comparison yes. I think it's always impossible until it's done, and I think it's really important. I don't think it's likely, but that's a different question, but I think the first question has to be, "do you believe that we can work for peace and diplomacy in the world. Do we believe that we can work with people that we have mass disagreement with and that are obviously creating an illegal invasion of Ukraine?". These are really serious issues, and at the same time I believe that you should never leave the negotiating table and part of that is showin a moral and courageous leadership, to come on TV and say to you, even though this might be a position that is ridiculed, that I don't think we should find peace and diplomacy ridiculous, I think we actually, the most brave and courageous and authentic thing to do is to say that we can have a world without war.
TP: So Prime Minister plans for you would be to negotiate with Vladimir Putin?
ZP: Undoubtedly. I think it would be sociopathic behaviour to say that you wouldn't negotiate with the President or Prime Minister of any country.
Essentially Phillips has an agenda to make Polanski look like an idiot and fails. IMO its Phillips that looks the idiot by the end of the interview.
Polanski is coming across very well as a leader, and is doing very well at accessing the media. I saw him on the Last Leg last Friday and I can see why the Greens are now surging. He's offering something different and also offers rational and well thought out arguments as far as I can see.
