The Waiting Man

I'm writing this down to work it all out in my head... This one's all about Australian politics, so feel free to skip it if you're not from 'round here. Hell... feel free to skip it if you are!!

The 'Voice' referendum seems to be exposing the not-very-well-hidden-in-the-first-place undercurrent of racism in many Australians - not necessarily only those of Anglo descent, but many former Europeans as well - towards the Australian indigenous population, because they are being offered a Voice to the Federal Parliament, designed to make representations to the Government on matters relating to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Island people & their culture/land etc...

A good thing, you might think... & about time. Sounds perfectly reasonable to allow them to have some input, if not influence, on decisions that affect their lives & livelihood. Things like education & social policy, to the granting of mining licenses to go & dig anywhere the Miners like for whatever traces of whatever particular rock they're looking for, then leave the place looking like an impact crater on the Moon when they're done... as has been the case for about the last 100 years or so. Things that have simply been passed &/or granted by the Federal Government, usually in return for huge 'donations' by whichever consortium, or industry body wants a favour. These sorts of people are, no surprise, vehemently against the 'Voice', as it means they can't just steamroll over any indigenous opposition on their way to a tidy profit

Rampant capitalism aside, the emotive argument the 'Vote No' campaign are weaponising, is that the Indigenous peoples don't deserve a special advisory body or, if they do, why can't the rest of us have one too?! To my ears, this sounds a lot like all those men who complain about International Women's Day & demand a Men's Day equivalent, conveniently forgetting that the other 364 of any given year, are basically days for them already. The parallel here is that both ideas are designed to redress an existing & established imbalance. Frankly, it would be fantastic if there were no need for the Voice at all, but we're dealing with a socio-economic & political world that not only has a huge head-start & tactical advantage in the way things are run, it's left our indigenous peoples hobbled back at the starting line, or in some cases, not even invited to be in the race... In order to bring things to a somewhat even keel, some extra help is required for now & that's what the Voice is - an opportunity to bring people who for centuries now have been marginalised, denigrated, repressed & diminished, in from the cold, so to speak. To acknowledge their culture & beliefs & find better ways to work with them

No one complained when the Federal Government passed the National Disability Insurance Scheme about 10 years ago, as a means to give disabled people greater access to services they needed. No one said they were getting unfair special treatment. What's the problem with helping the disadvantaged then?? Ohhhh.... because they're black? And for years, they've been portrayed & seen as ungrateful, recalcitrant, refusing to integrate into 'our' society... a bunch of uneducated drunks. Hey anyone from the rest of the world still reading at this point - does this sound familiar?!?

The other tactic being employed by... well kind of by both 'Yes' & 'No' campaigners, actually... has been to make this a politically divisive 'Left' vs 'Right' issue... a battle between those who are 'woke' & those who aren't (what's the opposite of 'woke' anyway) to the point where the original purpose of the referendum has been lost in muddied water that's now close to boiling. At what point did we Australians take a look at the political turmoil in the USA & think 'That's fantastic - we should definitely get some of that!!' We should absolutely choose an ideological side & abandon critical thought. We should totally think that if you're not 100% with us, you're against us & we hate you

I know Australia has a lot of sheep... but I thought they were mostly of the 4-legged variety

The simple fact is this: Here's the proposed amendment - “Chapter IX Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples - 129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice

In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:

i: there shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;
ii: the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
iii: the Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.”

The 'No' campaign's official objection to this is: The jurisdiction of the Voice extends beyond matters that relate only to Indigenous affairs and includes any matter that relates to Indigenous peoples. The Voice is free to involve itself in any debate that affects the broader community so long as it relates to Indigenous peoples

And, you might well ask, the problem with that is... what exactly? Well, they might start objecting to mining, land-clearing & development. They never could before & be damned if we'll let them start now!!

The key part the 'No' campaign seems to ignore, or gloss over, is the term 'make representations' to Parliament & Government. In other words, they can advise, they can petition, but they have no legislative ability - they can't introduce, let alone pass, any laws or policies... & the Government of the day is free to heed or ignore their representations as it sees fit

Personally, I've been steering well clear of any articles or reports that seem designed to further the clouding of the issue, or seek to further encourage rabid partisanship. Which has certainly irritated one long-standing friend of mine, with whom I had a Facebook comments argument yesterday, leading to him saying I was being paid to parrot the Left propaganda, then getting mightily offended when I suggested he'd been manipulated by his chosen side. When I reminded him that he'd just done the same to me, he retreated by saying he was only joking... at which point I just figuratively walked away

The possibility of losing a friendship of over 40 years standing disappoints me, but to lose it because of the global plague of Trumpian politics is actually way more upsetting to me

Well, we've changed government in Australia... Out with the Liberal/National Coalition, in with the Labor Party. Expect a lot of spiteful hand-wringing from loudmouth bigoted right-wing media figures who can't see a future that doesn't look like the 1950s...

Neither of the major parties performed very well in the primary vote, only getting about 1/3 each, with the rest going to a variety of minor parties & independents, which will make the next Parliament an interesting prospect. The election seems to have been more a collection of local referendums than a decisive shift in National policy. At a time when things in the South Pacific region are getting a little fraught with tensions over China & its extended reach, we've apparently decided as a Nation that things in our own individual back yards need more attention than our neighbourhood. Not that there was much evidence that either the departing Liberal government, or the incoming Labor one have much of a competent handle on foreign policy & trade anyway...

This is the underlying problem with Australian politics at the moment. The election & its result have shown that we don't have much faith in either of the 2 'preferred' parties to be any better than each other - the Liberals have been elitist, sexist, climate change sceptics with no regard for how the increasing costs of living are affecting younger people (& some of us older ones too!!)... The Labor Party have been none of those things, but haven't really said what their overall vision for the Country is either. There has been a complete lack of substance, commitment & leadership throughout the whole campaign. In the end, the Liberals weren't so much defeated by Labor as by their own hubris...

Fortunately, I suppose, we're a pretty stable country & society, so while there will be the usual grumbling from the usual quarters, we'll all just knuckle down & get on with things as best we can, domestically-speaking. It's how we'll confront & deal with the bigger, global picture that has me a little worried...

On a more satisfactory note, the objectionable Liberal candidate for my electorate lost her bid... & both Craig Kelly & George Christensen look to be gone from our political landscape. So there was some political climate change for the better, at least!!

Federally-speaking, the seat I live in has been a blue-ribbon Liberal stronghold for generations. Anyone who voted Labor, Greens, Australian Democrats (R.I.P.), or independent was pretty much throwing their vote away...

That is, until Tony Abbott, erstwhile Prime Minister & perpetual blinkered, god-bothering, coal-loving, racist & sexist dinosaur, completely failed to read his own room/seat & was booted out by a well-liked, progressive independent candidate who ran on a platform of climate change action, racial & sexual equality & tolerance & a raft of other ideas the Liberal Party has yet to even consider

Here we are at Federal Election time again & the Liberal Party has selected a woman to try & get their seat back. Unfortunately, they've selected a woman with outspoken, inaccurate & plain offensive views about transgender people & by extension, the whole LGBTQI+ community. She's even committed the ultimate political sin of invoking the Aboriginal Stolen Generation to back her unfounded claims about kids being removed from their homes if the parents didn't approve of their orientation. Complete bollocks of course & a profound insult to our First Nations. About the only foot-in-mouth symptom she hasn't displayed, so far, is invoking the Nazis... but there's still time, the election's not until May...

To bang another nail in the coffin of her candidacy, Tony Abbott has stated his support for her, proving that the Mad Monk hasn't improved his reading skills since being voted out of a Federal seat that was 75% in favour of Gay Marriage in the 2017 referendum

And yet... somehow, I have this gnawing dread that the Nation as a whole, will re-elect Scotty from Marketing - the man for whom the buck stops at any number of locations as far away from his desk as possible

West vs East... Australia, that is... The Miners vs the Suits etc.

The Premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan, has never had much love for the eastern states - New South Wales in particular & his parochial pride style of politics obviously resonates with the citizens of W.A. who returned him to government in last year's state election, with a whopping 89.8% majority in the Lower House

With the advent of the Plague over the last 18 months & despite the Prime Minister's talk of a united approach between the State & Federal governments, the détente between east & west was short lived & it was soon back to sniping, border closures & isolationist rhetoric that wasn't far from suggesting secession from the rest of the country

Now, with the release of his annual Budget & declaring a $2 billion surplus, he's at it again, declaring that New South Wales had 'failed' in these Plague times, to manage either its economy, or the outbreak(s), suggesting that NSW should have adopted his hardline border closure & lockdown approach... & that NSW is responsible for infecting the rest of the country, as well as New Zealand (The 'Best Prime Minister in the World' is yet to comment on this accusation...). And it's a bit rich, Mark, suggesting that what works for a State that only has 2.68 million people, will work for somewhere with 8.2 million people... that the policies of a State that gets all its money from mining, would be just as effective in places where there's nothing much in the ground except coal & gas & even those aren't as popular as they once were... If your idea of progress is more & bigger holes in the ground, then we won't even have to worry about you seceding - we'll wake up one day to find the Western half of the country has collapsed in on itself & sunk into the Indian Ocean

In short (too late!!) - Pull your head in, you moronic miner!!

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Not that I would expect any of my limited audience to be avid listeners, fans, or supporters of Joe Rogan, but a little fact-checking of his latest podcast about Australia's Delta variant experience...

“There’s some crazy shit going on right now where the army is trying to keep people inside in Australia. They have full on government lockdowns where the government is flying helicopters over streets saying ‘go back indoors, you’re not allowed outside’.”

No - helicopters with loudspeakers are not overhead as I type this. And you are allowed outside for a number of reasons - food & essentials shopping, exercise, home-schooling sanity breaks... & essential workers, which kind of includes me, in a limited capacity. We're certainly not talking about a Chinese-style operation where people were literally shut inside. The helicopters have been used over some beach areas to encourage those not in any of the above categories to go home, but it's not a constant thing, nor a Sydney-wide, nor indeed a nation-wide practice

As to the army forcing people to stay at home, well... only if you're supposed to be there...

From Monday, some 300 army personnel will help police go door to door to ensure people who have tested positive are isolating, New South Wales police commissioner Mick Fuller told a news conference.

The military personnel will not be armed and will be under police command, he said.

In summary: No, we have not become a heavy-handed, authoritarian police state, nor is there any danger of a military coup. The people who have complained loudest about these restrictions, are the first ones to break them, resulting in necessarily stricter enforcement measures, which, of course, they complain about as well. It's a looooong way from storming government buildings in 2nd-hand combat fatigues, armed with assault rifles, just because you can't get a haircut... & more of a storm in a takeaway teacup - oolong, with almond milk & a dash of manuka honey
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Whenever US President Joe Biden, or the guy before him, mangles his words, or speech, it's international news...

Okay, the guy's in his 70s & been in politics a loooong time

Our current Prime Minister is 53 years old & has been in politics since 2003. He regularly makes mincemeat of public announcements & speeches, without the excuses of age or confusion after decades at the ever-changing coalface of public service, yet nobody lambasts him for abuse of the Mother Tongue...

So, allow me:- Today's example(s)

During a grilling by voters from Mr Morrison’s Cook electorate in Sydney’s south on Thursday night, one frustrated resident said more Australians would get the Covid vaccination if businesses like restaurants were supported so they could open only to those who had received the jab

Mr Morrison said once vaccination levels were higher he agreed this should be an option.

“When we get our vaccination levels a lot higher, I agree with you, and I think there should be those advantages to those who have done that and taken the opportunity,” Mr Morrison said.

“Because if you’re vaccinated, you’re less of a public health risk than you are to someone who’s unvaccinated.

“I think the time will come when exactly what you’re suggesting should be able to be achieved.”

Mr Morrison has already indicated that people who aren't vaccinated “can’t expect to have the same restrictions not imposed on those who … are vaccinated”.

“They’re more at risk and would have to have more restrictions on people who are unvaccinated because they’re a danger to themselves and others,”

I know, I know, this is grammar pedantry at its most... well, pedantic. But in a country where we are bloody quick to lampoon the mangling of English by people for whom it's a 2nd, or even 3rd+ language, it seems only fair to point out the failings of the guy who's ultimately in charge of public education...

This is why I don't subscribe to any religion... I find the more 'devout' people claim to be in their faith, the less they actually practise the tenets of the religion itself

Step forward, pentecostal christian Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison

I really couldn't crystallise this story any better than the writer of the piece, so here it is, for those who don't click links...

Scott Morrison’s Christian values are sadly missing when it comes to the plight of the Tamil family

Where is Scott Morrison’s Christianity now?

Scott Morrison’s Christianity has regularly been on full display from the moment he entered politics.

It’s in the photo opportunities organised by his media minders inside the megachurch he attends in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, showing him eyes closed and arms raised in the air in enthusiastic worship.

You see his devotion in videos and images of appearances at heaving conferences hosted by Hillsong and its founder, his close friend Brian Houston, with several thousand people hanging on his every word. That was especially the case at one where Mr Morrison declared he was doing “God’s work” as PM.

It’s evident in his semi-regular references to God, prayer, miracles and faith in his public remarks. He praises a man who preached love, kindness, compassion and empathy for those suffering society’s worst ills - the sick, the needy, the downtrodden, the persecuted, the poor.

Displays of faith are quite nice, especially when promoting such worthy ideals of charity and loving thy neighbour.

But, Mr Morrison, where the bloody hell is your Christianity now?

Since being PM, he has ignored the increasingly desperate and shameful plight of a family of four locked in immigration detention and forced to live in horrifying limbo. Since August 2019, the family has been held in immigration detention on Christmas Island. They were in detention in Melbourne for 18 months before that.

The latest indignity and injustice inflicted on Priya and Nades Murugappan and their daughters Tharunicaa and Kopika was exposed yesterday, leaving many Australians rightfully appalled.

An image emerged showing a hysterical Tharunicaa, just three years old, terrified on a stretcher, moments before being evacuated to Perth for treatment for a serious blood infection, being kissed goodbye by her five-year-old sister.

When asked about the horrific case yesterday, Mr Morrison simply said: “As you know, this is a matter going through the court‘s process that they’ve initiated and there are some present medical issues involving the family. And they will continue to receive every medical care and that care and where they are treated will continue to be determined by doctors, by the medical professionals who advise us on these matters.”

The couple arrived by boat as Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka nearly a decade ago before settling in Queensland and starting a family.

For almost four years, Mr Morrison has repeatedly swatted away pleas for compassion with disinterest, saying he wouldn’t intervene in the case for the sake of strong borders.

He has said he would not step in to save a Tamil family from deportation because he believes it would expose Australia to a new wave of boat people.

The sense of Christian duty has been repeatedly absent, like when the Tamil family were ripped from their home in Biloela in central Queensland, where they had settled and become an important and enthusiastic part of their new community.

In shrugging off the case each time he’s pressured, his government relying on the findings of an assessment of their status as refugees, Mr Morrison showed no care for their actual circumstances.

In reality, the family was assessed under a “fast track” process by immigration authorities that has been widely criticised as deeply flawed, problematic and unfair.

But this Christian ideal of fairness was missing there too, as was the one of compassion and understanding about the threat they face in their homeland should they return.

The pleas of the Biloela community, who want the family brought home, were ignored, as were the concerns of advocates about the physical and mental health implications of the indefinite detention.

Instead, Mr Morrison and his government consider it worthwhile to lock four people in a staffed immigration detention facility on Christmas Island at a cost thus far of $50 million.

That $50 million could’ve been better spent on helping some of the 3.2 million Australians who live below the poverty line. It could’ve helped to feed some of the one-in-five children who regularly go hungry.

Perhaps it could house some of the 116,000 people who are homeless across the country. It could go some way to alleviate the pressures felt by two million Australians who can’t afford medical care.

You know, very Christian acts of charity and compassion and care.

It seems the PM is picking and choosing which of the Bible’s teachings he’s willing to subscribe to and those he can conveniently ignore.

Shannon Molloy is the news editor at news.com.au

Why is it, that when an international event happens, which has nothing to do with Australia in general & certainly nothing to do with its politics, that the unrepresentative swill that sometimes gets elected here, attempts to sound relevant by chiming in on said events with tone-deaf &, in this case, unfounded rumour that they read on Facebook, so it must be true... even though it's already been fact-checked & discredited, including by the outlet that originally reported it. But don't let the truth & the facts share the limelight...

Step forward, serial offenders Craig Kelly & George Christensen & let your idiocy shine bright for the world to laugh at

If you have 5 minutes & are in need of a laugh after the events in Washington DC & around the world yesterday, I recommend googling either of these 2 buffoons & their propensity for putting their foot in their mouth, or shooting themselves in it. If only we could get them to do both at the same time, the Australian taxpayer would be much better off...

Tony Abbott wants you to get laid, get pregnant & have more babies, otherwise, there'll be too many 'welfare class' kids...

I just don't know where to even start... Okay, look, sure... the 'populate or perish' message is fine, as it goes, more kids = more consumers & that's good for the economy (Australia, for its size, is a very small market, globally-speaking), but... jesus Tony, do we have to denigrate anyone who doesn't live in your affluent, leafy former electorate, by labelling them 'welfare' people??!!

At least the rest of the article is what we've come to expect from you... & it shows you've learned nothing from the drubbing you received at the ballot box last year... still banging on about cutting immigration rates (from non-white, non-christian countries, presumably?) & supporting the coal industry. Just further proof that dinosaurs can't evolve & require a meteor strike to get rid of them. It's certainly clear that this particular Diplodocus will not go gentle into that good night. He's one of so many people I wish the media would just ignore & not give any column inches, or airtime to - in the hope he'll just wander off into a swamp somewhere, get stuck & make the ultimate contribution to the coal industry... in a couple of million years time

The irony of my bringing attention to his brayings, thus amplifying them further, is not lost on me...

Aside from all that... the last few entries I've done were typed on my phone & it's interesting to read back over them & notice how much more succinct I am, when using my thumbs, as opposed to the 6-7 fingers I use on a keyboard... As you can probably tell then - this was written on a PC, during early, quiet time at work