Beating up on people
During the season of "brotherly love" and good will to all, our illustrious government of reactionaries managed to, inter alia, trash the reputation of the Sudanese community. This of course, made headlines across the nation in the daily press, the ABC and other outlets. Our illustrious minister for all things police and immigration, Herr Dutton, put his big, flat foot in it as well, exacerbating the whole issue.
If they didn't have a "Sudanese gang" problem before the excrement struck the rotating machinery, chances are they will soon. Thanks, guys. Well done.
Now in other news, the Prime Minister put out a 24 hour thought bubble about hosting another plebiscite for an Australian republic. Once the media got wind of this, it was immediately put on the back burner -- again. That unfortunate burner must be suffering considerable overload...
I was reflecting on the conservative government, and make no mistake, this IS a conservative (read reactionary) government. However, they are blessed with a front man who is good looking, and is an outstanding orator. Sadly, neither he, nor his side of Parliament, seem to have a policy or an idea to bless themselves with.
Ah, but wait! I hear you cry. They do have a serious, underlying philosophy of government. It works something like this.
1. In order to keep the heat off us, let's beat up on:
* The poor. After all, they are poor bacause they can't get off their backsides and work, or study, or look after their numerous children. They want the government to do something. And we are: we're cutting benefits, health services, education and community infrastructure -- 'cause we gotta balance that old budget. And in the meantime, spending more on doing less. (Can't figure out how they can do that...)
*The refugees. Five years Nauru and Manus Island have been prisons for refugees with apparently no hope of release. Herr Dutton will not send them to New Zealand, although Ms Adern said they were happy to take a fair few. They are waiting for Der Trump in the USA for their prisoner swap. This, candidly, is an indelible stain on Australia's international reputation, and I cringe every time I hear the cantrip of "We don't want any drownings at sea." It is nothing more than excuse to continue the torture.
*The Labor Party. Whenever things get a bit sticky for the government, invariably they pull out some sort of idiocy and then blame the Labor Party. It's like a kid being hauled before the Principal: "Not my fault, they did it first!" Or, "Quick, hide, you don't want Mr Shorten to be Prime Minister!" Or, inventing some sort of "commission" to look into the nasty unions and their underhanded dealings with business. The latter, of course, is completely excused. And on it goes. Aha! Now I know why this government is spending more while doing less. It's all the commissions, royal or otherwise. The lawyers are happily paying their yachts and Rollers.
2. Now we have a non-policy called NEG (how apt!) which is supposed to address the ever- increasing climate change issue, while doing less. Remember how, earlier in the year, when South Australia was being beat up by the Coalition? Now, Mr Musk has installed his giant battery, and things seem to be working along just fine.
We also have the Australian public voting with their wallets and getting more and more into solar, and even home batteries for their residences. Sales of electric cars are slowly starting to grow more rapidly. Some state governments (notably Labor governments) are putting their money where their mouths are and funding large infrastrucure projects for energy.
And the federal goverment still is pushing coal.
That's it for this rant. Welcome to 2018. May we all survive it.
If they didn't have a "Sudanese gang" problem before the excrement struck the rotating machinery, chances are they will soon. Thanks, guys. Well done.
Now in other news, the Prime Minister put out a 24 hour thought bubble about hosting another plebiscite for an Australian republic. Once the media got wind of this, it was immediately put on the back burner -- again. That unfortunate burner must be suffering considerable overload...
I was reflecting on the conservative government, and make no mistake, this IS a conservative (read reactionary) government. However, they are blessed with a front man who is good looking, and is an outstanding orator. Sadly, neither he, nor his side of Parliament, seem to have a policy or an idea to bless themselves with.
Ah, but wait! I hear you cry. They do have a serious, underlying philosophy of government. It works something like this.
1. In order to keep the heat off us, let's beat up on:
* The poor. After all, they are poor bacause they can't get off their backsides and work, or study, or look after their numerous children. They want the government to do something. And we are: we're cutting benefits, health services, education and community infrastructure -- 'cause we gotta balance that old budget. And in the meantime, spending more on doing less. (Can't figure out how they can do that...)
*The refugees. Five years Nauru and Manus Island have been prisons for refugees with apparently no hope of release. Herr Dutton will not send them to New Zealand, although Ms Adern said they were happy to take a fair few. They are waiting for Der Trump in the USA for their prisoner swap. This, candidly, is an indelible stain on Australia's international reputation, and I cringe every time I hear the cantrip of "We don't want any drownings at sea." It is nothing more than excuse to continue the torture.
*The Labor Party. Whenever things get a bit sticky for the government, invariably they pull out some sort of idiocy and then blame the Labor Party. It's like a kid being hauled before the Principal: "Not my fault, they did it first!" Or, "Quick, hide, you don't want Mr Shorten to be Prime Minister!" Or, inventing some sort of "commission" to look into the nasty unions and their underhanded dealings with business. The latter, of course, is completely excused. And on it goes. Aha! Now I know why this government is spending more while doing less. It's all the commissions, royal or otherwise. The lawyers are happily paying their yachts and Rollers.
2. Now we have a non-policy called NEG (how apt!) which is supposed to address the ever- increasing climate change issue, while doing less. Remember how, earlier in the year, when South Australia was being beat up by the Coalition? Now, Mr Musk has installed his giant battery, and things seem to be working along just fine.
We also have the Australian public voting with their wallets and getting more and more into solar, and even home batteries for their residences. Sales of electric cars are slowly starting to grow more rapidly. Some state governments (notably Labor governments) are putting their money where their mouths are and funding large infrastrucure projects for energy.
And the federal goverment still is pushing coal.
That's it for this rant. Welcome to 2018. May we all survive it.
posted by Peter W | 9:59 am
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