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John has a strong interest in politics, especially the workings of a progressive democracy, together with social justice and the common good. He holds a Diploma in Fine Arts and enjoys portraiture, composing music, and writing poetry and short stories. He is also a keen amateur actor. Before retirement John ran his own advertising marketing business.

Comparative justice: Djokovic Vs Seekers of it

Diary No 5: January 19 2022

1 How is it possible that the attention of the world is so focused on a magnificent sportsman who, in essence, has tried to cheat his way into the Australian Tennis Open? I ask this question in defence of comparative justice. And l defend my use of the term comparative justice with another question.

How does the attention thrust on this tennis player who admits to being an anti-vaccination believer and refuses a jab compare with the plight of a group of asylum seekers housed in the same cheap lodgings? He was incarcerated or inconvenienced for a few days; they have completed as many as ten years imprisonment for never committing a crime.

According to our Government, their crime has been to seek the safety of Australian shores when persecuted by their own. Even after ten years of incarceration, there is no room for empathy from people whose blood runs thin through barren thoughts. If my words were able to jump from this page, I would command them to do so and confront these nefarious politicians’ intent only on using people’s lives to show how strict their border policy is.

Over its time in office, this Government’s performance has been a daily show of crudeness’s raining down on society. Surely performance or lack of it must mean something.

Friday, January 14

Scott Morrison has made yet another political decision to send Djokovic home. A decision made only after calculating that the enormity of any alternative was a political cost he couldn’t carry.

Back in the real world, 32 detainees at Melbourne Park’s Hotel – where Djokovic was detained – didn’t receive the same celebrity attention as the tennis player.

Efforts to free them have been frowned on by the Morrison government: A government that is much more interested in Novak Djokovic and the political gain in the story.

Their objections have been dismissed yet again, the refugees and asylum seekers involved in this sad episode in Australian history. The forgotten men and boys who have been abandoned after up to 10 years of indefinite detention placed their weary eyes on putrid windows. They watched as people gathered in the streets below, waving Serbian flags and chanting support for the tennis great.

A more intense exercise in personal narcissism l have ever seen.

Not a word was heard from Djokovic about their plight. He was undoubtedly preoccupied with winning another grand slam, and the Government was busy putting out the flames of yet another controversy.

Djokovic could have used his high-profile position “to advocate for their freedom” but chose his own self-importance as being more critical.

We live in a country where good takes its place in front of evil, but the margin is slipping by degree.

6pm Sunday, January 16

Novak Djokovic loses his appeal to stay in Australia after the Federal Court upholds the Government’s decision to cancel the tennis star’s visa. The three judges’ unanimous decision and the reasons will be published later.

Notably, the case was about Minister Hawk’s authority to make the decision he did and had nothing to do with the rights or wrongs of it.

The judges concluded that: “It is no part of the function of the court to decide upon the merits or wisdom of the decision.”

Never have I seen so many double faults in one game.

2 If rules are rules, how did Hillsong avoid a fine for singing and dancing. There are rules for some but none for others. Added to that, they seem to have an endless supply of RATS. How come?

Sunday, January 16

I, for one, am sick of the political scam that takes place in Australia every three years or every day, for that matter. Something has to be done. If Labor cannot win this election, I sincerely fear for our nation and its future.

Australian politics has for over a decade been suffering from the longevity of sameness. I advocate a change in the way it is practised. We don’t have a representative and participatory democracy that administers for the benefit of all. It is time to evaluate just what we want from our democracy.

We can often become so trapped in the longevity of sameness that we never see other ways of doing things.

Change is needed, but it is more difficult for them because it is anathema to the conservative mindset. For progressive Democrats, it should be uncomplicated.

Anyway, I was thinking about whether it will be enough to just go through the motions of bland, vapid promises and a traditional election campaign. Will it achieve a Labor victory?

Albo’s low key philosophy in the face of a self-destructing Government might work, but if you offer to give the people back its democracy, you might emphatically secure victory.

We are at a point in our history where “change” demands it to be listened to. Where the events of a decade scream out for it. It only requires the voice of a natural leader to order it on behalf of the people.

Change sometimes disregards opinion and becomes a phenomenon of its own making, with its own inevitability.

The definition of servitude needs to be indelibly ingrained into the minds of those seeking election. And the self-serving attitudes that now exist need to be purged from the minds of our current politicians.

Brian Briggs tweeted. Never in my 35 years in the law have I seen a Federal Court Appeal proceed so quickly and before a Full Bench and on a Sunday. Some serious strings have been pulled by someone for this to occur. Normally the wheels of justice turn slowly.

We await the court’s reply.

My thought for the day

We dislike and resist change in the foolish assumption that we can make permanent that which makes us feel secure. Yet change is in fact part of the very fabric of our existence.

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Now let’s get this straight: We don’t have the best…

Election Diary. 2022. No2. Saturday, January 8 2022. “Now let’s get this straight: We don’t have the best…”

1 Who is paying for our Covid programme? Socialism is. The Government is borrowing money that the people will have to pay back. It is the public debt. At the same time, the rich and privileged are getting a tax cut. Work that out.

What do we want from this election?

2 Have we listened to the stories in the Child Abuse report? Of those in aged care. Those who have died or are dying from Covid. Or the treatment of women – we cannot escape their anger.

The horror that is our national shame. The dead are many. When will we govern with some form of proactive planning instead of reactive negativity? Did we imagine another variant would never rear its ugly head.? Has the cost spooked them? Rapid antigen tests (RATs) should be free to everyone who requires one. There are many questions.

3 I find it impossible to imagine that the Australian people could be so gullible as to elect for a fourth term a government that has performed so miserably in the previous three, and is becoming worse. And it has amongst its members some of the most devious, suspicious and possibly corrupt men and women in its ranks.

It seems to me that for some time now the electorate has been giving Morrison more than just a cursory going over. Instead, they have become more analytical of the man and his policies. Forensically so.

4 A fascination of mine has always been the “we have the best whatever” statement. We have the best army, the best political system, firefighters, police force. It goes on and on. It’s impossible to have the best everything all the time.

Before the upcoming election, we must do our very best to counter the Government’s claims about these matters.

Now let’s get this straight: We don’t have the best…

5 We are the best managers of the economy, the Coalition would have us believe. Well, the simple fact is that they are not. This link to a post I wrote on the subject affirms it.

The myth created by the Coalition as long back as I care to remember and memorialised for many years since is nothing more or nothing less, a myth.

Of course, those of a conservative bent won’t have a word of it. They simply insist that the tale has God’s word of truth attached to it.

6 John Menadue, always a good read, in The myth that the Liberals are better economic managers? writes that:

“The Coalition is handicapped and hidebound by an out-dated ideology about markets and private enterprise. The tide has turned in the world that now sees the failures of the market system. The Coalition has failed to catch up. That is why we are seeing the failure of the Liberal Party in economic and business management. Its ideology has passed its use-by date.”

7 The consummate liar and How do you trust a liar? are but two articles I have written on the subject of the Government’ s propensity toward telling lies, which you may wish to revisit.

8 Scotty, in his great wisdom, has decided that Rapid Antigen Tests should remain limited to people in close contact with symptoms, pensioners etc., despite growing pressure to provide free tests.

9 On Tuesday on 7.30 Albo faced a load of questions, looking and speaking Prime Ministerial. Like every inch the man you want to lead the country.

I had read earlier in The Guardian that:

“The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, criticised the government for failing to secure enough RATs, accusing Morrison of again offering “too little too late”.

“This has been an example of something that has characterised Scott Morrison’s prime ministership. He identifies a problem only after it becomes a crisis, and then he doesn’t act. He just seems to blame someone else,” Albanese said at a press conference in Newcastle on Monday.”

No wonder the PM, and many of his associates refused an invite to appear on 7.30.

10 I have been trying to summarise or get my head around what Scomo is talking about on any subject. You see, now he is saying that what I thought he said is only a figment of my imagination. That what I think I thought he meant is not what he meant at all. When he says something, and I take it to mean one thing, he has the option of saying that what I thought I heard was not what I heard.

Or was it only my interpretation of what he meant? I mean, did he say what he meant, or did he mean to say what he meant or was what he meant really what he meant?

Well, that’s politics. And that’s Morrison.

11 And I thought that vaccinating the public was supposed to fix everything. It’s not as if answers aren’t available. The man is totality out of touch with what the problem requires. A man without any qualities of leadership. He should resign. Given his present form, he may take the option of a half-Senate election in May with a general election in August if that’s possible.

12 Here is something you may have missed. We had our coolest year since 2012, but it was still half a degree hotter than the average.

13 Did the panel (whoever they may be) consider that the Tennis Professional Novak Djokovic is a Covid denier and anti-vaccination freak. In my view, the Australian Tennis Open will have its reputation greatly diminished by his presence in the draw. Or booing a champion on the centre court will not do our international reputation much good.

By 6 am, Thursday, the world No.1 was still dealing with Border Force officials at Melbourne Airport.

Note: I will address this update in the comments section.

14 Would you be surprised if I told you that 21 schools received $90 million in JobKeeper payments while making profits of $97 million. Of course, you wouldn’t. Most of them serve highly advantaged families.

My thought for the day

We live in dark times where horrible things are being perpetrated on us. The shame is that we have normalised them and adjusted accordingly.

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The baggage the LNP have dragged from one year to the next has gotten heavier and heavier

Election Diary. 2022. No1. 5 January 2022. “The baggage the LNP have dragged from one year to the next has gotten heavier and heavier.”

I am starting my Election Diary early this time around. It would seem the pollies are off and running, so I thought I had better get my running shoes on. Yet again, Labor will start in front. Well, at least the polls say so.

The importance of this election cannot be understated. Australia is at the crossroads with a democracy that has been ripped asunder by an incompetent government, easily the worst in living memory.

My first diary entry gives an analysis of where the parties currently stand. Anyone is invited to correct my diary or just comment. Even a bit of debate wouldn’t go astray. We welcome it.

According to The Poll Bludger:

“… analysis Labor is leading substantially in each state with the distinct exception of Queensland: by 53-47 in New South Wales, out from 52-48 in the previous quarter, for a swing of about 5% compared with the 2019 election; 56-44 in Victoria, in from 58-42 last quarter, for a swing to Labor of about 3%; 55-45 in South Australia, a swing of about 3%; and, most remarkably, by 55-45 in Western Australia, out from 54-46 last quarter for a swing approaching 11%. The Coalition retains a lead of 54-46 in Queensland, in from 55-45 last quarter, which still amounts to a Labor swing of about 4.5%.”

The bookies (Sportsbet) have Labor on 1.65 and the LNP on 2.20.

Policies released by Labor so far

Labor has released some policies but will campaign chiefly on the following. High-speed rail, child care, climate change, the NBN, a plan to save Medicare, a National Anti-Corruption Body, aged care, repairing social housing, rewiring the nation, free TAFE, and university courses, protecting the ABC, fully funding schools, opposing the Indue Card, and repairing our Australian democracy.

The Liberals say they have a plan

(As described on the Liberal Party official web page.)

They don’t list policies but describe what they say is a plan for Australia’s future. It includes a recovery after Covid-19, a better broadband, tackling union lawlessness, backing outback Australia, strong border protection, a stronger defence force, stronger national security, lower power prices, protecting the environment, supporting Australian women, supporting senior Australians, supporting young Australians, better health and covid responses, support for families, delivering infrastructure, lower taxes, support for small business and implementing Australia’s economic recovery.

The luggage they carry

The Coalition still carry the leftover remnants of past years. The Indigenous Voice to Parliament remains voiceless. Allegations of corruption, Robodebt, lying, and rorting abound. Accusations of poor governance, their attitude toward women. Global warming will be a more significant issue in this election, but the Coalition has come up with a policy that the whole world has condemned as being lousy.

Trust and transparency, wages theft, a national anti-corruption policy are negative issues. Will the religious discrimination bill be introduced before the election?

Damaged relations with China and our region are such a hot topic that it will unavoidably find itself on the list.

Massive tax cuts for the wealthiest Australians and foreign corporations. More expensive university degrees. Attempts to undermine Medicare. Shrinking home ownership. The everyday cost of living is up and higher debt will cost future generations. A fence-sitter, is Rudd’s forced Senate inquiry into Rupert Murdoch’s political influence in Australia.

The pandemic and the economy have become intertwined, making it more challenging for conservatives.

Water theft will be forgotten unless there is a change in government. The Cashless Welfare Card will also take prominence this year. So too the issue of political donations won’t bury its head in the sand. A shake-up of political donation laws is well overdue, including real-time disclosures.

The Government will have to write down the value of the National Broadband Network, however.

Angus Taylor carries so much baggage that it’s hard to imagine him being off any list. I remind you that we don’t yet have formal energy or climate change policies. How about sports rorts?

The lack of funding for the NDIS will continue to be a thorn in the Government’s side, as will its failure with (suicides).

Jumping onto the list will be aged care, which the Morrison Government is responsible for. And, of course, the resulting deaths which I hadn’t included will also take a place on the list. Bush fires (unless more are forthcoming) might drop a rung or two but remain in the public eye because of Morrison’s inept handling of the 2020/21 fires.

Welfare for the poor and vulnerable will also feature.

You might conclude that a party carrying the weight of all this luggage would be unfavoured to win an election, but that is not the case. Many say they will still win.

As for Labor

They carry the burden of toppling a government that has been in power for three terms. “Incumbency is a powerful weapon“. It has behaved well in opposition, but you can be assured the Coalition will throw plenty of mud. (Scare campaigns)

When will it be?

The Coalition’s preferred option for an election date is in May of 2022 rather than March, unless the Government shows signs of winning early in the year. Of course, Morrison will go when he thinks he has the best chance of winning. My view is that given the next scandal is just around the corner, he should visit the Governor General ASAP. (What’s his name?)

Leadership

Labor has as its leader Anthony Albanese, a man of integrity and respect. He has a long history of service to the nation and the Parliament. Albo seems to be everything that Scomo isn’t.

The Liberal and National parties have Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce, respectively. One need say nothing more about Morrison other than he is a blatant liar. There is nothing to be said for Joyce.

The Morrison Government consists of some of the most corrupt, ill-disciplined and untrustworthy politicians ever assembled in Parliament.

In Scott Morrison’s Australia, everyday citizens are not supposed to protest those things we know to be unfair. The things we know to be wrong. We are not supposed to object when the Government doesn’t meet our expectations. Workers cannot strike for better conditions.

Free speech is in rapid decline. Nor are we supposed to protest our inability to see or obtain information about the workings of Government.

People who report government wrongdoing are ostracised, and worst of all, government propaganda is seeking to change the way we think.

The absence of empathy is being replaced with narcissistic self-importance. It must stop.

My thought for the day

We would be a much better society if we took the risk of thinking for ourselves unhindered by the unadulterated crap served up by the government, the media and self-interest groups.

PS: Contribute to my diary by making a comment.

 

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2021 forever remembered

The year is almost over, and another will soon begin. What price will Scott pay for the deliverance of his sins?

Yes, 2021 is almost about to park itself in the recesses of our minds but not before reminding us of just how dreadful it was. The world continues to have COVID-19 inflicted upon it in the form of new variants. Hopefully, the latest called SARS-CoV-2 Omicron will prove as ineffective as health authorities predict.

The virus has now preoccupied the hearts and minds of men and women throughout the world for two long and arduous years. 273 million cases have been detected, with 5.3 million deaths. What is immeasurable is the heartache and suffering it has thrust upon families – the mental and physical sorrow of unbearable dying and desolate parting.

How dreadful has been its side effects? Economies have been shattered, and the suffering has been born by those least able to fend for themselves.

Its destructive march has revealed those with a heart for the hard yakka, those willing to risk their own lives to help save others. Yet alarmingly, it has shown a percentage of our population seemingly unknowing of their stupidity.

The changing tactics needed to counter new variants bring on unique problems.

Professionals warn that allowing the virus to spread may be part of a strategy to build herd immunity but could lead to deaths and overwhelm the health system.

Just as alarming has been the world leaders’ attitude toward a heating planet that threatens our very existence.

The COP26 in Scotland yielded only a half-hearted embrace by leaders of many countries who failed to make commitments that would keep us near the 1.5%-degree target. The world’s citizenship could only watch on as world leaders said they would instead retain the power they had than concede that they were wrong.

We in Australia could only watch on as a man believing in things he couldn’t see, touch or hear made terrible decisions about things proven to him by the exact science that discovered a vaccine against COVID-19.

As one week bled its way into the next and weeks into months, seasons changed slowly but surely, as circumstances converged to convince us that Scotty, our leader, told too many lies. In the Australian way, the people unhurriedly awoke from their long-lasting slumber to find that they had not only a pathetic liar as Prime Minister but a moron to boot.

In terms of social activism, the word wait should never mean never.

For this writer, 2021 has been a demoralising one, not for reasons of having nothing to write about. The LNP gifted me with so much food for thought that I sometimes suffered from digestion and the negativity was at times demoralising.

To be honest, I’m worn-out writing about the truth of things or what I believe to be the truth of those things concerning the nature of good governance. We are in a state of near collapse. Unless we rid the nation of the Morrison government in the upcoming election, we will deteriorate into a form of middle fascist power.

I cannot begin to imagine what might happen if Morrison were to win with a decent majority. However, I believe that the electorate has primarily come to its senses and that Labor is in a winning position this time around.

Governments who demand the people’s trust must govern transparently to acquire it. Morrison’s doesn’t.

So as the negativity of this year slowly passes us by, we must use all the ways and means available to us to convince those wavering that it is their vote that will change our destiny. Not the voice of the convicted voter but the voter who knows that our democracy is under threat. The swinging voter who wants right to prevail over wrong, regardless of ideology.

That is what we of political instinct and knowledge must do. The incumbents are not your ordinary liberals with a smattering of conservatives. This government is far right from top to toe.

The real enemy of neo conservative politics in Australia is not Labor or, indeed, democratic socialism. It is simply what Australians affectionally call a fair go.

Therefore, it is incumbent on those of a socially progressive bent to help inform those of an opposite persuasion of the danger in supporting those who, over a lengthy period, have created so much havoc and mistrust.

In writing over 100 articles for The AIMN this year, I hope I have kept those who so ardently follow my words well-informed about the political machinations of our country and, to a lesser extent, around the world.

There is, of course, much that I have left behind or unsaid, but I will catch up with it as luggage they carry from one year to the next.

To the many other writers who pound their keys for truth and fairness, I would say thanks for your sage thoughts and contributions.

This is my last post for 2021, so the season’s greetings to you all. I will be back in 2022 with my usual stuff, plus an Election diary. Would you please continue to add your comments as fervently as you have in the past?

My thought for the day

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

 

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Albo seems to be everything that ScoMo isn’t

Who is this bloke called Albo?

In the Australian manner of receiving a title by plunking an “o” on the end of one’s name, Anthony Albanese became Albo. But what do we know about the man other than he mispronounces a word or two?

Wikipedia tells us that:

“… he was born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2019. He has been a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Grayndler since 1996. Albanese was deputy prime minister of Australia under the second Rudd Government in 2013 and a Cabinet Minister in the Rudd and Gillard Governments from 2007 to 2013.

Albanese was born in Sydney and attended St Mary’s Cathedral College before going to the University of Sydney to study economics. He joined the Labor Party as a student, and before entering parliament, worked as a party official and research officer. Albanese was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1996 election, winning the seat of Grayndler in New South Wales.

He was first appointed to the Shadow Cabinet in 2001 and served in several roles, eventually becoming Manager of Opposition Business in 2006.

After Labor’s victory in the 2007 election, Albanese was appointed Leader of the House; he was also made Minister for Regional Development and Local Government and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.

In the subsequent leadership tensions between Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from 2010 to 2013, Albanese was publicly critical of the conduct of both, calling for unity.

While serving in the Gillard Government, Albanese supported the introduction of carbon pricing and voted, along with the rest of the Labor Party, to establish the Clean Energy Act 2011, which instituted a carbon pricing scheme in Australia. After the Abbott Government abolished the system in July 2014, Albanese stated that carbon pricing was no longer needed, as “the circumstances have changed”.

Albanese is a prominent backer of renewable energy and has declared that Australia’s “long-term future lies in renewable energy sources”.

Personal life

In 2000, Albanese married Carmel Tebbutt, a future Deputy Premier of New South Wales. They have one son named Nathan. Albanese and Tebbutt separated in January 2019. In June 2020, it was reported that Albanese was in a new relationship with Jodie Haydon.

Albanese describes himself as “half-Italian and half-Irish” and a “non-practicising Catholic”. He is also a music fan who reportedly once went to a Pogues gig in a Pixies shirt and intervened as Transport Minister to save a Dolly Parton tour from bureaucratic red tape.

As a lifelong supporter of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, he was a board member of the club from 1999 to 2002 and influential in the fight to have the club readmitted to the National Rugby League competition.”

In all its brevity, there is my rehashed profile of Anthony Albanese. There is more, of course, if you want to follow the link provided, but I’m trying to make a point here. I keep searching. I visit his web page, where he tells the story of being raised by a single mum who wanted him to have a better life than she had.

Then I peruse his parliamentary web page. No luck there. Very mundane stuff.

A Google search “Anthony Albanese Scandals” then takes me to news.com.au, where I find that; “Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese was involved in an awkward exchange during a grilling about a veteran MP involved in a scandal in Victoria.”

Albanese had refused to intervene.

I went back to my search for any sort of scandal concerning Albo. I’m led to The Daily Mail (England edition) to read that:

“It was revealed in June last year that Opposition leader Anthony Albanese had found love again with Jodie Haydon, after his devastating split from wife Carmel Tebbutt.

The politician previously revealed the break-up with his ex-wife Carmel, 57, in January 2019 wasn’t his decision.”

“One last go,” I said to myself. My final search told me that the son of the Albanese’s turned 20 this month.

Wow.

I cannot think of a politician with so little scandal. I think to myself; “What on earth will the conservatives do. How could you possibly trust a leader without a scandal or two behind him?”

My search yielded no corruption, no abundance of lying or lack of truth. There is none of the Morrison arrogance nor self-entitlement. No question of him being untrustworthy. Nothing to raise a scare campaign about. No mistakes, bungles or stuff ups. I shall leave it there. Once one has made one’s point, it is best to leave it.

Albo seems to be everything that Scomo isn’t.

My thought for the day

The way you think and feel about yourself affects every aspect of your life. When you love, accept, respect and approve of yourself, you validate your existence.

 

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This might help Labor win the ‘must win’ election

In reality, both major parties have commenced their 2022 campaigns, and it is about time the media (you know who I mean) of this country admitted that there is more than one party running for election and give Labor equal billing.

So far, Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has given the Prime Minister a decent shirtfront every time he has crossed the boundary of lying. In January, I expect Albanese to announce minor preliminary appetiser policies that Australians will find more attractive than the LNPs.

Those who follow politics will acknowledge that the country’s political establishments, conventions, and political truth have been devalued and run-down to the point of being unrecognisable to the constraints we had but a generation ago.

We also have to recognise that it is not those who follow politics (the devotees of both parties) that we have to bring over but those whose vote is insecure-those willing to listen to a story of transparency, trust, fairness, honesty, ideas and sound policy.

Of all the issues, two have captured the electorate’s attention more than the meagre efforts of the Coalition in combating climate change and the decline in the standard of Governance. Rorting and unfairness have run amok and continued throughout the terms of Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison.

A virtual wage freeze has typified the lot of the average wage earner while the ultra-affluent have increased their wealth astronomically.

Robodebt is but one example of the Morrison Government’s unfairness, whilst the largesse of Jobkeeper for companies in comparison boomed during Covid is another.

The country now has more than a trillion dollars of debt, which raises the question of how it is repaid. The usual way of doing so for conservatives is to slash spending.

The usual targets are the ABC, universities, education, the unemployed, women’s programs, etc. After lowering taxes, they would unlikely increase them.

The answers to many questions remain so, but one thing we know for sure: The Morrison government must be defeated at this election.

Here is my plan for defeating the LNP in 2022. (You may also want to read Rob Gerrand and Noel Turnbull’s list on Pearls and Irritations, on which my list is based).

Trust

There is no common thread for a recovering society/economy to cling to without trust. Everyone likes to feel they can trust the other person. On multiple occasions, Morrison has been called out for lying.

The French president called him a liar on the international stage. Albo must go in hard exploiting his untrustworthiness. What will he do if he regains power? Can you trust him?

By comparison, Labor will stand by its promises and commitments.

The economy

Labor sees the post covid economy as an opportunity to marry society with economics where spending is bonded to and justified by the common good. It will grow the post-covid economy in a new state/national government cooperative agreement, including infrastructure and new green technologies.

An electric future confronts us. Electric vehicles are just a starting point. Incentives for Australian companies to undertake research into tomorrow’s key developments and services must be front and centre of Labor’s platform. Even to the extent of introducing a ministry for the future.

Taxation

The tax cuts introduced by the Coalition may not be sustainable, and Labor must be truthful about it.

With a trillion-dollar debt, cutting taxes may not be advisable. Labor should trust the rich and privileged to understand that the debt problem will have to be brought under control. Any economist would testify that it is unsustainable, and the nation has to fix it. A high-level enquiry with the powers of a Royal Commission is the proper way to address the problem. The ultra-greedy must pay their fair share.

 

 

Climate change

The fear I have here is that Labor, after being burned in the past two elections, will fail to recognise that this time around that the climate is a red-hot topic and needs to be respected as such. Tell the country the truth. Coal is finished. It has no future.

Tell mine workers that Labor will ensure that they are looked after as Australia transitions out of coal. Insist that they will not be left behind.

Tell them that the “billions being spent on subsidies for fossil fuels and new gas exploration will be diverted to investment in green hydrogen plants (using solar and wind electricity to generate hydrogen).” Tell them they have a future.

Integrity Commission

Labor needs to go in hard with its promise to release a policy (before Christmas) for a Corruption Commission. Now that the Coalition has vacated the transparent government space, it must promise to end corruption and waste and establish a proper independent anti-Corruption Commission “that has the power to hold politicians to account and stop the rorting.

The workplace

People may have jobs, and there might be more in the pipeline. However, “wages have barely increased since the Abbot/Turnbull/Morrison governments have been in power.” At the same time, company profits are overflowing.

Labor is, of course, “committed to good jobs with good wages and training all workers, especially the young, for tomorrow’s industries.” The promise of free TAFE places has been a good start, as has its pledge to increase JobSeeker to $450 a week, at the poverty line.

Health

Health has traditionally been one of Labor’s strong suits and it must keep with this tradition. A focus on prevention would appeal to the younger voter. Promising to work with the health funds to reward those willing to adopt healthy lifestyles would be popular with many.

With covid in mind, it must refund our hospitals for their incurred costs. Not only for their selfless efforts during the pandemic but simply because it is something that needs to be done.

Raising doctors’ Medicare rebates (deliberately held down for years) would show how much society appreciates their work.

International relations

Labor should promise to restore the principles of sound old-fashioned diplomatic principles and promise to restore relations with China. Whilst being a treaty nation with the US, we should diplomatically tell them that we will always do what’s best for Australia.

The ABC

Labor would assure the ABC that proper financial support would be legislated over five years instead of three. It would also undertake an assurance that Government would “stop undermining its independence.” The arts would also receive appropriate sustainable support.

Innovation

Labor has already undertaken to fix the balls up, known as the NBN (or Fraudband). It should empathise the urgency of the task.

Labor will make Australia the world leader in green technologies with a fund to support start-ups that show promise.

Labor should offer to increase university funding if they commit to more significant research programmes. It would also provide funding to launch new innovative firms and create thousands of jobs. It must also address the unfinished work of Gonski.

The standard of Governance

The one thing that Morrison is now disliked for that is revealed in focus groups, surveys, and polls is his appalling leadership and governance. You can add to that the performance of his cabinet and Ministers in significant portfolios. This pitiful governance can also be attributed to the junior partner in the Coalition, the National Party.

Morrison cannot even admit that he tells the most outrageous lies and lies on top of lies in the face of facts that show he does. He really believes he doesn’t.

 

 

I and many others have written over the year about the many examples of rorting in detail, almost to the point of boredom. Here are just a few reminders: Angus Taylor and Josh Frydenberg’s environmental stuff-ups; the sports rorts of Bridget McKenzie; the railway car parks fiasco; the gifting of billions of JobKeeper money to companies that earned record profits; the gifting of billions of dollars to the Government’s fossil fuel friends in the guise of meeting emission targets.

Need I go on?

You can’t trust Scott Morrison” should be a slogan repeated ad nauseam throughout the election campaign.

My thought for the day

The left of politics is concerned with people who cannot help themselves. The right is concerned with those who can.

 

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A post from 7 December 2016. Check out the familiarity with the same day in 2021.

One of the more pleasurable activities I ingest when I have a moment to spare is to go back in time and see what I was writing about on the same day a few years before. Often the results reveal some interesting treasures. Sometimes I want to laugh, have a giggle, or bawl my eyes out at how little we have advanced as a society.

Why? Because our present Government will never change until it gets too uncomfortable to stay the same.

Here are a few things I wrote about on Wednesday, December 7, 2016. My 2021 comments are in italics.

1 It wasn’t long ago that we had a ‘carbon tax’. One that, over time, would have become a Carbon Trading Scheme. Then the conservatives conveniently converted a statement by the then Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, into a lie. Consequently, we have lost years to tackle a life-or-death challenge.

The conservatives’ decision to repeal the carbon tax will historically be recognised as the worst public policy decision in Australia’s history.

Despite knowing it would be a political disadvantage, Labor put the good of the country before politics and proceeded with a tax. The then Opposition Leader, Malcolm Turnbull, agreed with it and, when replaced, because of his views, gave the Coalition a critical serve it had coming to them on its hopeless Direct Action Plan.

Strange as it seems, as I write on December 9, 2021, there is an article in the Guardian about Turnbull supporting independents standing in marginal seats with Climate Change as their focus.

Sometimes, change disregard’s opinion and becomes a phenomenon of its own making, with Its own inevitability. Particularly now that our politics has degenerated into the chaotic mess it is now.

2 Abbott, an Oxford graduate, would suggest that climate change a socialist plot. In doing so, he does a great disservice to that esteemed university.

But here we are years later, with the conservatives still no further advanced other than lies on top of lies.

As is predictable, the far-right members the Coalition government are screaming and shouting over something that makes perfect sense to most people but is a monumental crime of ideology to them. (Referring to the carbon tax).

Those in the energy sector and the business community generally pleaded with both parties to stop the nonsense and develop a bi-partisan plan to cut emissions over the coming decades, including a carbon price. Will Turnbull take the bull by the horns and confront the denialists? If he does, he will get public support; it will confirm his weakness if he doesn’t. He has to do it sometime, so why not now?

“Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull faces a fresh outbreak of party disunity over climate policy, with backbench MPs questioning the government’s timing, scope and tactics after a formal review of the Direct Action plan was finally announced”.

As history will show, he didn’t, and the consequences are known to one and all.

3 If profit means the end of coal, that’s the decision business will take. But science and capitalism will win the day, and nothing will stop them.

I don’t think the word “tax” will appear in any legislation.

4 Josh Freydenberg says his Government “… is committed to adopting a non-ideological approach to emissions reduction to ensure we secure the lowest cost of abatement.”

So, it would necessarily consider a carbon price. Let the market decide which technology wins at “the lowest cost” if you take that seriously, you are as silly as Barnaby Joyce.

5 As if Barnaby Joyce’s decision to move the nation’s agricultural chemicals and veterinary medicines regulator into his electorate for $250 million wasn’t enough.

Like most things this government does, it’s clear the move was never about what was best for the agricultural sector. We now find it was allegedly greatly influenced by celebrity gardener Don Burke over people in his department.

I wonder how all that went. Well, Barnaby Joyce continues to confirm he is not intellectually up to the task of Deputy Prime Minister. He needed to win his seat, and he did. That was the real motive. But $250 million.

6 Another thing I missed was this headline in The Sydney Morning Herald: “Barnaby Joyce vows LNP maverick George Christensen will become a cabinet minister.”

Sorry, I’m lost for words.

7 Senator Pauline Hanson said yesterday, when referring to party member Rod Culleton: “He’s not a team player at all. We can’t work with him; you can’t reason with him.”

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. I ask myself where the right get these people from, but I never get an answer.

8 The special Minister of State Scott Ryan has an independent review of MPs entitlements but is dragging his feet with recommendations for an overhaul. In the meantime, there is a lot of activity in the skies with charter planes doing record business.

I don’t recall seeing the results of that enquiry. Like many things, they seemed to have fallen into the abyss of terrible governance.

With the purchase of yet another property, Peter Dutton has expanded his impressive portfolio to six properties.

Thank goodness I’m not a taxpayer and not contributing to his wealth, but I feel sorry for the silly buggers who are.

Many federal MPs have properties, and it doesn’t go unnoticed. It beats me why the taxpayer should have to fund their wealth.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy have seven properties, including their Point Piper home, a Hunter Valley farm and a New York apartment.

Nationals MP David Gillespie has 18 properties, including 17 for investment purposes.

Liberal MP Ian Goodenough has nine – three residential and six investments.

LNP MP Karen Andrews has six investment properties and one residential.

Of course, this was in 2016. God only knows how many they have added to their portfolios. Is it any wonder they opposed Labor’s negative gearing policy at the last election?

9 The characteristic that most defines modern Australia is ‘diversity’. In an argument last week about what defines an Australian, I came up with this:

In all its forms, together with multiculturalism, it defines us as a nation. People of my generation and later should divest themselves of their old and inferred racist superiority.

We have changed for the better. It is such a pity that this great nation is being held back by those of little understanding. There is no shame in not knowing. The shame is in not wanting to know.

10 I didn’t get the opportunity to voice my view on the ‘sugar’ debate last week. The suggestion that we should tax sugary soft drinks is nonsense and unnecessary. It’s as simple as this. Science knows that the primary cause of ill-health in society is consuming too much sugar, fat and salt. Mainly in fast foods. An enlightened society that wanted to save lives would legislate to, over time, reduce the amount of these killers in the foods we consume. Problem solved. It won’t happen for two reasons. One, ideology and two, we are not an enlightened society.

11 When talking about the cost of living, I think people get confused. There is a big difference between the cost of living and the cost of lifestyle. A recent survey found that 56% of those complaining about the cost of living had taken an overseas trip in the same year. And a further 52% had reduced dining out from three to two times a week.

And in 2021, it is still a hot topic. Have you looked at your grocery bill of late?

12 On December 8 2016, Newspoll has both parties the same. The Essential Poll has Labor on 52% and the Coalition on 48%.

On December 8 2021, Newspoll for the year records Labor’s two-party lead unchanged at 53-47, from primary votes of Coalition 36%, Labor 38% (steady), Greens 10% (down one) and One Nation 3% (up one).

Yet again, Labor finds itself in the box seat to win Government. It must do so for the nation’s sake; otherwise, Scott Morrison will be emboldened or at least tempted to commit crimes against our society more extreme than he has thus far.

My thought for the day

I found it impossible to imagine that the Australian people could be so gullible as to elect for a third term a government that has performed so miserably in the first two. And it has has amongst its members some of the most devious, suspicious and chillingly corrupt men and women but they did.

 

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The consummate liar

As if given a second wind by a few writers who have dared call him out for his blatant lying (me included), the Australian Prime Minister has belligerently doubled down on his deceptions, telling 3AW Radio Host Neil Mitchell when asked if he had ever told a lie in public life, he answered; “I don’t believe so, no.”

Last week, I spoke to a Facebook friend who criticised me for not writing anything positive about this Australian Government. He was right. Indeed, I cannot remember the last time my keyboard had anything positive to say about the LNP and its leader.

I must admit that I took it to heart because I like to think that I can put aside any bias I might have when writing. So, I thought about it for the day and concluded that I was right.

The truth is the Prime Minister’s demeanour over the past week or so has been so agitated and his lying so blatantly offensive that I had to call him out for his dishonesty. I have nothing positive to write about Scott Morrison or his band of liars.

Neither does Chris Bowen, telling Sky News that:

“Tragically, Scott Morrison has managed to trash that, quickly, with his very clumsy handling.

“Secondly, of interest to the Australian people is Scott Morrison’s fundamental dishonesty; I mean this guy lies, he lies to Australians, he lies at every opportunity, he lies about Labor, he lies about the past.”

And Annabel Crabb said this in her weekly email newsletter:

“Never was this feature more in evidence than this week’s prime ministerial heavy-petting tour of Melbourne, during which the nation’s leader blankly denied ever having disparaged electric vehicles during the 2019 election.”

And on it goes, with Sarah Martin reporting in The Guardian that:

“For those who need a reminder, Morrison shamelessly claimed that Labor’s policy, which set a target of half of all new cars to be electric by 2030, would “end the weekend” and lead to apartment dwellers dangling extension cords out of their windows.

“It’s not going to tow your trailer. It’s not going to tow your boat. It’s not going to get you out to your favourite camping spot with your family,” Morrison said at the time.

“A hyperbolic Michaelia Cash, then the small business minister, pledged to ‘stand by our tradies and … save their utes’ from Bill Shorten’s grasp.”

Doug Cameron – always good at hammering a message home – got some runs on the board.

 

 

 

The Australian mainstream media had little to say about it, and surprisingly it hardly rated a mention on last Sunday’s Insiders programme.

His lying on both an international and national scale is very concerning. Without any understanding of the art of diplomacy, it is time perhaps that we should be truly concerned about the man’s ability to govern.

Morrison is currently converting himself and his language to that of outlandish “Trumpism.”

Imagine, if you will, a world in which we all openly lied to each other as a matter of normality.

This is now my third post in a row in which I talk about his lying, mistakes, bungles, stuff up’s and what we Australians call a “balls-up.”

It is somewhat extraordinary when you think about it that a government with a lying leader could make so many blunders over such an extended period, many of bewildering proportion, and still be governing.

They have made errors, faults, blunders, slips, indiscretions, gaffes and been obsessed with an appetite for lying unsurpassed in Australian political history, but this Government has survived it all.

Morrison still thinks he is God’s gift to the nation. I find it impossible to imagine that the Australian people could be so gullible to re-elect a government that has performed so miserably over such a long period.

It has some of the most devious, suspicious and allegedly corrupt men and women amongst its MPs, yet we re-elect them. Astonishing, isn’t it?

Every day, it seems, I awaken to a new controversy wondering why illogical opinion is allowed to shout its perverted anger longer and louder than science.

Simply put, their rhetoric about climate change does not match the facts, and has become worse.

We have impacted the climate; can we at least agree on that? Dismiss the science if you wish, but can we acknowledge that the weather is manifestly unlike what we experienced when we were kids.

It is the self-superior wealthy white males who impact our thinking. People like the Trumps of this world have thrown every notion of facts, goodness and empathy out the window, and Australia, as is its way, is following suit.

Both Trump and Morrison are narcissists who have treated the rules and established conventions of democracy that bind a society together like a personal plaything. To bend and corrupt for a hold on power? With Trump now gone, the people of Australia need to see that Morrison suffers the same fate.

The people of this great nation need to, at the next election, reconsider the course their country is taking and the leadership that is compelling them toward disaster. Do we need a leader who lies as triumphantly and belligerently as he does?

In the history of Australia, have the people ever elected a Prime Minister so ready to abuse his powers. If not, then he is most certainly the most divisive ever.

The conversion of some Australians into de facto Americans usually comes after an extended stay in the land of milk and honey. Scott Morrison managed it in his first meeting with Trump.

His conversion to Trumpism is so apparent. So in your face, that we need to ask the Prime Minister if he agrees with the former president’s stated view that “The future does not belong to globalists; it belongs to patriots.”

A term I find to be an ugly and ridiculous proposition.

Morrison’s ability to be “Trumpesque”, repeatedly lie, lie by omission and obfuscate in an Aussie sort of way will either work for him or equally bring him undone.

Now he has added a new dimension to his character. Just like Trump, Morrison now shoots from the hip, rejecting anything he has said in the past as a Labor lie. Being “loose with the truth” is now the norm, even when confronted by a literal truth.

He warned against fuelling “needless anxiety”:

 

 

If Scott Morrison wanted our kids to be free of worry and anxiety about their future, then he should do something about it.

He could start by declaring a climate emergency and not opening up more coal mines.

Morrison also claimed that:

“… activists had spread ‘completely false’ reports about Australia’s efforts on climate change.”

How grubby, how condescending, how patronising when speaking to the voices of tomorrow; the sufferers of his decisions.

And speaking of grubby, on Sky News Rowan Dean said:

“… climate activist Greta Thunberg has now become a “diagnostician able to cure mental illnesses” with the “medication” of climate change activism.”

Oh dear.

What do these misogynistic, demented, bigoted, and narcissistic right-wing zealots and deniers like Alan Jones, Andrew Bolt, Sam Newman, Chris Kenny, Mark Latham Lyle Shelton know about delusion? Other than they might all suffer from it themselves.

What do they see in this mild-mannered young girl that provokes such intense rage?

These types deny the science of climate change. All of them have debased, belittled, insulted, and pilloried a young girl who believes passionately in the planet before self-interest and greed.

In their temper, they have thrown at her some of the vilest, vicious criticism, but in the face of their bullying, she has stood mature and resolute.

Have they not viewed the pictures of our youth protesting in all our major cities and beyond?

Morrison repeated his claim that Australia exceeded its emissions targets in his recent speech to the United Nations. A claim those who know anything on the subject say is bullshit. Morrison’s use of Trumpesque language must be seen as words of bullshit and was taken as such when he addressed a near-empty auditorium at the COP26 meeting in Scotland.

Scott Morrison, his government, and by association the Australian people are now an international joke on climate policy.

Whatever advances we are so far making is being done by business and the state governments. Indeed, not the Australian Government.

Australia’s climate policies have:

  • been ranked last for its climate policies behind Russia and Brazil
  • slipped four spots to 58th overall in latest Climate Change Performance Index

What a disgrace we are.

More to the point, what a disgrace Scott Morrison is.

My thought for the day

Science has made in my lifetime, the most staggering achievements and they are embraced, recognised and enjoyed by all sections of society. The only areas that I can think of where science is questioned is in the religious fever of climate change doubters, conservative politics and unconventional religious belief.

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How can we trust a liar?

The person you can most easily convince about anything is yourself because you are susceptible to your own emotions – your own bias and beliefs. Some people are more prone to believing their own bullshit than others. In this instance, l refer to the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Some can consider these susceptibilities when speaking or writing about different subjects like politics, for example. Others have it in varying degrees, while others have no control over it at all.

It can be infuriating when listening to a politician answer a question (or most likely not answer), and you know the words they are using belong to a question they would have liked to have been asked.

You know what I mean. It goes backwards and forwards (you know, the answer) until the interviewer goes on to the next question. Your frustration builds while your respect diminishes.

The best tactician in this regard is the Prime Minister himself. He uses what l call the ‘conlie‘, where he simply denies any association with what he might have said.

You know it’s a con, but you separate the hustle from the lie. Then the argument is discussed in terms of the differences between the deception and the falsehood rather than the lying itself.

This week he used this technique regarding what he had said about electric cars during the 2019 election campaign.

 

 

It’s akin to saying that life is about perception. Not what is but what we perceive it to be. Or people see what they are thinking and feeling, seldom what they are looking at. Morrison appeals to those who have reasoned by virtue of their feelings that they are correct, and it is totally futile to appeal to their logic.

That is why (if my previous remarks make sense to you) most people from the left at least have no hesitation in calling our leader a liar, and I think it’s safe to say he now surpasses Tony Abbott.

In 2019 during the election campaign after Labor announced its EV Policy, Morrison said that it would; “end the weekend”, and incorrectly stated that the vehicles in question wouldn’t “tow your trailer.” Then he questioned how people in apartments would charge them.

 

 

His policy for this election, it seems, is to set up how the vehicle would be charged. It came with a rather ridiculous scare campaign on utilities.

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers, appearing on RN Breakfast, labelled the U-turn an embarrassment:

“How humiliating for a prime minister who said electric vehicles would end the weekend,” he said. “[He’s] now trying to pretend, all of a sudden, because we’re on the eve of an election, that he cares about electric vehicles.”

Writing for The Monthly today Rachael Withers asked the question:

“So how exactly does Morrison intend to pull off this brazen backflip, from claiming EVs would ruin the Australian way of life to spruiking his own highly insufficient EV plan? The answer is with a shamelessness that outstrips many of his earlier instances of barefaced lying.”

When asked about his “end the weekend” comments at Melbourne’s Toyota hydrogen production centre, he classically did what I said he does. He conlied:

“I don’t have a problem with electric vehicles … claiming his issue was only ‘with governments telling people what to do, and what vehicles they should drive, and where they should drive them,’ as he alleged former Labor leader Bill Shorten had wanted to do.”

Again, he is lying by omission and twisting words. He went on to say things that Shorten had never spoken:

“Even when a reporter argued that Morrison couldn’t honestly say he hadn’t attacked EVs back in 2019, Morrison claimed he could “because that’s true.”

One cannot help but pick up on the likeness, style, and technique Morrison shares with former US President Donald Trump. “I didn’t say that,” when it is clear that he did.

Quoting Rachael Withers again:

“Morrison wilfully misrepresenting the Opposition’s policy as a “mandate” (it was a target, with incentives to boost uptake, which experts and the Electric Vehicles Council say is what’s needed), while suggesting it is Labor that is fibbing. “That is just a Labor lie,” he said, speaking of comments he made on the public record.”

I get so frustrated when Morrison does this. Indeed, it isn’t too much to ask that in a democracy that our politicians at least tell the truth. I, like most Australians, want to be proud of our Prime Minister and the work they do.

We would be a much better society if we took the risk of thinking for ourselves unhindered by the unadulterated crap served up by the government the media and self-interest groups.

Morrison’s falsity is written all over his face. It is commonly accepted amongst writers that he is a liar, and I could never trust anything he says – the man’s an inveterate liar.

To say that we are ambivalent about our politicians is an understatement. Now we are ashamed.

I have been flipping through a new book by former Rudd advisor and Monthly Today columnist Sean Kelly, titled, The Game. Kelly observes that:

“Morrison never feels, in himself, insincere or untruthful because he always means exactly what he says; it is just that he means it only in the moment he is saying it.”

When one thinks about it, the way Morrison lies might mean that there is some truth in it.

Unfortunately for Morrison, his insincerity on climate now just comes over as old fashioned bullshit, or he is conlying.

My thought for the day

Leaders who cannot comprehend the importance of truth as being fundamental to the democratic process make the most contribution to its demise.

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Crash goes his character as pressure rises on Scotty from marketing

Our prime minister has returned from Scotland with his tail between his legs and his character shot to pieces. If his arrogant behaviour and shouty mouth on the international stage annoyed you, we are as one.

After copping a mauling from President Macron of France and a slap over the wrist from President Biden, the Australian Prime Minister then did the unthinkable. After being called a liar by Macron (it is scarce for one head of state to call another a liar), he decided to leak an American national security document against an international leader. It was tactically and typically Morrison.

By this, I mean that it is typical of the man to create another lie to divert attention from the one he is defending. He said he wouldn’t accept the President’s sledging of the Australian people, which the President never uttered. His defence was to embrace nationalism:

“Australia’s integrity, and the slurs that had been placed on Australia – not me, I’ve got broad shoulders, I can deal with that – but those slurs, I’m not going to cop sledging of Australia. I’m not going to cop that on behalf of other Australians.”

The mistake had been made. President Macron, in fact, went out of his way to praise the Australian people, and his beef was with the Prime Minister. He arrived in Scotland willing to tell lies about Australia’s commitment to climate change on a global level but found himself telling them about submarines.

French President Emmanuel Macron accused Morrison of lying. While in Rome for the G20, reporters had asked the French President if he thought Scott Morrison had lied to him about the submarine deal’s future, Macron was asked by reporters in Rome. “I don’t think, I know,” he had replied.

By the time Morrison got to Glasgow, his demeanour was as low as a man who told lies about which sporting clubs he followed.

Macron called him a liar on a stage that Morrison wasn’t used to performing on. He played his part as the bearer of bad news then exited stage left with disastrous reviews of his performance.

Yet again, in typical Morrison fashion, he had quickly changed from a weak leader, climate denier, to don the cloak of nationalism and become the defender of our pride, whereas, in truth, he is in the world’s view a leader not to be trusted.

Finding the truth and reporting it should be more important than creating a narrative where controversy matters more.

That Morrison is a peddler of half-truths and lies is beyond dispute. When he apologises, Scott Morrison usually precedes it with an avalanche of indulgent words of self-praise intended to compliment him and his government. He told Channel 9 news that:

“Australia made the decision not to go ahead with the contract for submarine that was not going to do the job that Australia needed to do, and I’ll never make any apologies for that decision.”

Then referring to former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull – one of his COP26 critics – he added.

“As you know, I always treat all former Prime Ministers with respect, and I’m going to continue to do that.”

Which, of course, brings back images of Morrison with hand on Turnbull’s shoulder saying, “My leader” while stabbing him in the back to replace him.

In the recipe of good leadership there are many ingredients. Popularity is but one. Character is another. It however ranks far below getting things done for the common good.

Character is a combination of traits that etch the outlines of a life, governing moral choices and infusing personal and professional conduct. It’s an elusive thing, easily cloaked or submerged by the theatrics of politics. But unexpected moments can sometimes reveal the fibres from which it is woven.

His answers are so pathetic and simultaneously self-congratulatory about a fall in our emissions. He neglects to mention that we have met our targets because there have been fewer cars on the road, businesses closed, and no planes in the air.

He reluctantly went to the COP26 Glasgow conference to achieve two things: to set down Australia’s position on our efforts to combat climate change. On that front, we now know that our mediocre results, since the climate conference in Paris (2015), prove that Morrison is more interested in retaining power than preserving the planet’s life. The other reason was to try to appease Macron and allay any misgivings. Instead, it packed a suitcase full of policy decisions to Glasgow perfectly entrapped in wedge politics and internal government political problems.

 

Cartoon by Alan Moir (moir.com.au)

 

Instead of this flat-earth thinking, a leader with any character would slap down members of his cabinet who roamed the road of lying with all the force of a heavy roller. At the same time, he would restrict himself from doing the same thing and, just as significantly, refrain from insulting every international leader above his station.

In January 2021, journalist Dennis Atkins tweeted:

Morrison’s been unmasked. His refusal to openly condemn Trump’s behaviour & legacy is the deliberate act of a weak, spineless & character free Prime Minister. At a pivotal time, Morrison retreated. He didn’t want to tell the truth (because of) politics.

It is no wonder we have diplomatic problems with China; his diplomacy stinks. This again was another Morrison diversion against the appalling governance of his government and the daily crisis that confronted him.

Of the conference itself, one can only conclude that it was mostly a flop, except that it looks as though business and state governments will be left to pick up the baton that our government found too hot to handle.

I remain of the view that something so catastrophic will occur that will force us to act. Something incomprehensible to us now, unforeseeable, dark and sinister. Instead of being proactive, we tend to wait for disaster to receive us. Then and only then do we react.

My thought for the day

Have we reached the point in politics where TRUTH is something that politicians have persuaded us to believe, “Like alternative facts” rather than TRUTH based on factual evidence, arguments and assertions.

 

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The Morrison Government gave $38 billion to businesses – major companies included – that didn’t need it. How can they justify that?

Of all the handouts, in whatever form, be it the Sports Rorts or others, the most blatant has been the $38 billion that went to employers that did not suffer sustained downturns below the required threshold levels, new data reveals.

Yes, that’s correct; the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) found at least $38 billion of taxpayers money was transferred to the private sector through JobKeeper.

Labor MP Dr Andrew Leigh, who is casting a forensic look over the program, told the ABC that:

“Every dollar paid out on JobKeeper needs to be paid by Australians, either in the form of higher taxes, lower services or more debt.”

Nothing I have read has been critical of the scheme itself; most have praised it. However, there is no doubt that it had some real problems, and it didn’t contain a section or clause that would have prevented this astonishing amount from being given away for basically nothing or being paid back, for that matter.

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said a recent report showed the pandemic heavily impacted businesses that received JobKeeper:

“It saved lives and livelihoods and supported more than four million Australians and a million businesses during the greatest economic shock since the Great Depression.”

Well, that’s great, but it still evades the question of how $38 billion in JobKeeper funds found its way into businesses that shouldn’t have received it.

If they were gracious enough to say it was an oversight, they would cop a bit of flack but, in turn, would be appreciated for their honesty.

But crikey, $38 billion is a lot of our money to be giving away.

The Parliamentary Budget Office also found that:

“$1.3b went to companies where turnover tripled during the quarter for which they claimed JobKeeper… And a further $1.3b was paid to companies that doubled their quarterly turnover. “

Dr Leigh told the ABC:

“We had firms that were doubling or tripling their revenues, and yet still getting money from Josh Frydenberg.”

“At a time at which he should have been a frugal custodian of the nation’s finances, he was spraying money around like a Formula 1 winner spraying champagne over the crowd.”

University of New South Wales economics professor Richard Holden said:

“… the scheme did its job and it was the right call not to adjust JobKeeper for six months.

“The idea was to provide certainty in a time of radical uncertainty.”

“And the way you provide certainty is to make something simple, clear and not subject to change within a certain timeframe.”

We live in a failed system. Capitalism does not allow for an equitable flow of economic resources. With this system a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level.

Under the Coalitions “Need to know” philosophy, the ordinary punter cannot find out just who the beneficiaries of this enormous sum of money were.

The ABC reported at the time that:

“Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was alerted less than three months into JobKeeper that businesses were getting taxpayer support while increasing their turnovers.”

Such is their paranoia they won’t allow the tax office to disclose the names of the companies who benefited from Treasurer Frydenberg’s mistake. True, some have come clean and revealed what they got, but the majority have not. Were donors involved? We may never know.

Some have, in “the Australian way,” returned the money as a matter of conscience. The reader may recall that the programme’s cost was reduced by half when Treasury informed Frydenberg that they had made an error. The cost of the program has been nearly halved from $130 billion to about $70 billion.

Just why we aren’t allowed to know who the offending companies are is beyond me. Sometimes they act like a police state with all this lack of transparency and secrecy. These days it isn’t easy to find information under FOI.

The governments words and actions bring into question the very essence of the word truth. Or they have at least devalued it to the point of obsolescence.

Imagine how emboldened they will be if they win the next election.

With another win under their belts, one doesn’t need a vivid imagination to see how they would take it as a licence to rip the joint asunder. I dare not overthink about it lest I break out in a cold sweat.

The Coalition “must win 33 of the 48 seats on offer in WA and Queensland” to maintain the status quo.

Given the performance of what one can only describe as a corrupt, disgusting government, you might even be forgiven for thinking that Labor is in with a chance against this teflon-coated Coalition.

However, making it just a fraction easier has been the Prime Ministers erratic behaviour. It is disingenuous for the Australian Prime Minister to invoke patriotism and nationalism in defence of the accusation that he lied to France, and his shouty response is also noteworthy.

He is not my sort of leader, but for those who like to be led in his lecture come bossy style, it’s a winning one.

French President Macron branded him a liar, and he disowned some of our exporters with his misplaced diplomacy toward China. On top of that, the American President has called him clumsy, and in an Australian context, I would suggest he is a fool. He seeks permanency of power through his interpretation of righteousness.

His shouty response to accusations is also noteworthy, and never in my eighty years has an Australian Prime Minister leaked against an international leader.

The next poll will determine just what the people think of his brand of diplomacy.

My thought for the day

One of the oddities of political polling is trying to understand how 48% to 50% of the voting public would willingly return a party that has governed so abysmally.

 

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Would you please explain, Prime Minister, just what is the Australian way?

Our Prime Minister has been called a liar by the President of France, and the worst thing about that is that it is unsurprising. People’s worldview will now be that Australia and its politicians cannot be trusted, and our leaders have only themselves to blame.

Hardly a day has passed since Tony Abbott and the Coalition came to power that some form of corruption, controversy or pathetic behaviour hasn’t been the subject of our media headlines.

What is it that in a thriving multicultural and prosperous country that would invoke Scott Morrison to summon the expression; “we will do it the Australian way.”

Before he did so, I intended to invite the reader to comment on the list of subjects that follow, but now you can add “the Australian way” to it or even how the world sees us as a nation.

1 On leaving for the Glasgow summit and upon his arrival, Scott Morrison looked and acted decidedly nervous. As he approached the podium to announce Australia’s emissions target for 2050, the adrenalin was pumping like a man about to tell a lie. Mind you, nervousness when you knowingly tell lies must be different than when you unwittingly tell them. Now with the added slogan “we will do it the Australian way,” one would have to be super careful about how you apply a saying that could be turned around, twisted or turned upside down – just saying. Anyway, Katherine Murphy has a good article on the subject here. And writing in the New Daily, Alan Kohler says:

“Most people in Glasgow will dismiss him as a freeloader, or laugh at his gall to come to such a consequential conference with something so inconsequential, but some might seize upon it as a remarkably fine wheeze.”

And this is the Australian way?

2 Insiders 31 October. David Speers interviews Angus Taylor from Rome. Taylor says $20 billion of taxpayer’s money to fund new technology. No new taxes after that. If it doesn’t work, then the government of the day will have to sort it out. It seems that if they could describe the $20 billion as other than our taxes, they would.

This is the Australian way?

3 Just as it would seem that finally, the public comprehends the importance of doing something about climate change, Labor becomes overly cautious about being burnt again. Come on be brave, Albo.

This is the authentic Australian way.

4 This is what brave is. “I’m a footballer, and I’m gay.”

It’s hard to believe that in 2021, a young tearful soccer player, instead of just being one among many, has to identify himself as gay; otherwise, he won’t be recognised. Well done, young man.

Setting an example of the Australian way.

5 “Opposition Treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers has outlined a new political and policy strategy for Labor to target Australia’s middle class by developing an inclusive growth agenda.” The Australian 31, October Paywall.

A winning way.

6 On 31 October 2016, I wrote on Facebook that housing affordability is an issue they have put in the public domain without having anything positive to say about it.

No, this is not the Australian way.

7 I’m testing my memory, but I cannot recall an Australian Prime Minister who had his own personal photographers.

A marketing way.

8 Roy Morgan’s fortnightly poll has Labor’s two-party lead out from 53-47 to 54-46, from primary votes of Coalition 36.5% (down one), Labor 35% (down one), Greens 13.5% (up two) and One Nation 3.5% (up half).

Now, that’s the way.

9 “It was not done with a lot of grace. I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not going through. Honest to God, I did not know you had not,” said the President of the USA.

Definitely not the Australian way.

10 The Australian Government, during its tenure, to put it lightly, has tried to bury our access to information. In my view, the only area where there is a valid reason to withhold information is in our national defence.

This article by Christopher Knaus of The Guardian points out the failings of the Morrison Government.

“Prime minister Scott Morrison’s office also again failed to meet lawful timeframes in the majority of FOI requests it received, according to the latest Office of the Australian Information Commission’s (OAIC) annual report.”

They do it their way.

11 The length to which the Morrison government has gone to protect Christian Porter is another example of power gone mad. The government doesn’t seem to mind how much it destroys our democracy.

And then there was this, as reported in The New Daily:

“Despite Speaker of the House, Tony Smith – a Liberal MP – deeming there was a “prima facie” case to refer Mr Porter to Parliament’s privileges committee, the government general from further scrutiny.”

For 120 years, this has been critical protection against corruption, yet the government walks away from anything that threatens its power.

In silent protest, this fine Speaker has moved to the backbench.

Protesting in the Australian way.

12 JobKeeper continues to find its way into the headlines. Now churches, it seems, were the benefactors of thousands of dollars, and The Guardian reported that:

“Hope Unlimited Church, a global church that began on the New South Wales Central Coast, revealed in filings to the charity regulator that it posted a $1.6m profit last year while receiving $660,000 in Jobkeeper payments.”

An unChristian way.

13 What did you think about Murdoch’s publications doing a backflip on Climate Heating. True, after telling its readers that the whole thing was a hoax for over a generation. From The Monthly:

“News Corp, meanwhile, began its recently foreshadowed pivot towards advocating for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 (or “Mission Zero” as it has been labelled), shamelessly pretending it had not spent years tearing down any and all efforts to achieve it – something Australian of the Year Grace Tame quickly dubbed “greenhouse gaslighting“.

“Momentum has clearly shifted on the net-zero debate, especially in light of News Corp’s late-stage conversion: 69 per cent of Australians want the government to commit to the target, according to the latest Climate of the Nation report, while a whopping 82 per cent back the phasing-out of coal, and these numbers have been growing for a long while.”

He does it his way.

14 Paul Fletcher has become the go-to man when the government wants to tell lies and do it while at the same time sounding reasonable. The car parking scam is but one example. The Guardian reports that:

“The auditor-general lashed the scheme in a report released mid-year, finding it was “not effective” and projects had been handpicked by the government based on the advice of its own MPs and candidates ahead of the 2019 election.

A conservative way.

15 Lest it be forgotten in the essence of time when the campaign starts, don’t forget these words about Greg Hunt.

“After claiming “official” discussions with Pfizer had only started in December, Health Minister Greg Hunt has finally confirmed that the government met with Pfizer last July to discuss purchasing the Pfizer vaccine. Sources say Australia was given options for as many doses as needed to be delivered in January this year, yet government officials turned down the offer Callum Foote reports from Michael West Media.”

Lying is un-Australian.

16 Paul Keating speaks at the National Press Club Wednesday, 10 November 12.30 ABC24.

A genuine Australian way.

17 Just to prove they are tough; our very conservative government has refugees who haven’t committed a crime incarcerated on Nauru for no good reason. It has been ten years now. And the Biloela family still languish somewhere in outer Perth. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke, another Hillsong man, granted her parents and six-year-old sister Kopika bridging visas to be together while she recovers.

The Australian way?

And I’ll finish how I started: the Prime Minister has been called a liar by the President of France. The worst thing about that is that it is unsurprising.

My thought for the day

Life is about perception. Not what it is but what we perceive it to be.

 

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And this is the bloke we’re sending to Glasgow!

The Government’s booklet and the entirety of its contents purporting to be a plan the Morrison government has adopted for a mid-century target of net zero emissions by 2050 has met with universal criticism.

After weeks of melodrama, the Coalition parties have adopted a plan hastily put together in a matter of days with all the swiftness of an African antelope.

There is much to be said about this agreement between the Liberals and the Nationals, and it is, in my view, a superb exercise in nothingness. Probably the worst in Australian political history is about the best I can do.

It seems to me to confirm that whilst our Prime Minister might believe that climate-heating is happening, he is sceptical about doing anything about it.

No coatings, no modelling, no legislation, nothing to even suggest they have done much work on the problem at all.

They couldn’t have given it much thought because we adopted these objectives five years ago when we signed the Paris Agreement.

When he arrives in Scotland, the prime minister won’t be greeted with handshakes of possibility but a kick up the arse for pursuing nothing.

Here is a selection of headlines from news outlets that capture our government’s hypocrisy (and idiocy) on climate change:

Mathias Cormann calls for carbon pricing to be coordinated across the world, the ABC.

Angus Taylor to promote fossil fuels at Glasgow Cop26 climate summit, The Guardian.

“Angus Taylor has declared he will use Cop26 to promote Australia as a good place to invest in fossil fuel projects in a provocative statement confirming he will attend the climate summit in Glasgow.”

For those of us who clean our glasses with ‘see it clearly’ and see what we are looking at through the lens of honesty, well, we are fascinated by the seemingly appalling lack of enthusiasm shown by the government. Conservatives must be asking why Tony Abbott led this country down the road of crap in the first place. It’s not easy being green.

What an embarrassment we are in the world’s eyes and what an absence of leadership we carry. What a shame we are to ourselves. How confused must be our electorate that we would place power in the hands of people with chastisement in their hearts, authority on their minds, and control in their doing, those who do little for democracy.

Control freaks usually cannot see beyond their own self-importance and are hostile to those who might threaten it.

Here are some more headlines – including some from overseas media outlets:

Australia will be the rich world’s weakest link at COP26 with hollow net-zero and emissions pledges, CNN.

The Washington Post raised the devastating bushfires of early 2020 and the urgent push for action against global warming that followed in their article, Australia pivots on climate with 2050 net zero target, but won’t adopt steeper 2030 commitment.

Closer to home again, Katharine Murphy reports in The Guardian that:

“It really is extraordinary that we could spend the best part of a year tracking towards Tuesday’s pre-Glasgow crescendo – and land with a “plan” that is actually the status quo with some new speculative graphs.

But that’s exactly where we are. After the Coalition’s disgraceful, destructive decade – measured substantively, looking at proposed actions, not slogans – the government is still running to stay still, without any obvious remorse, introspection, or regret.”

She went on to say:

“But if the Coalition were to change course radically, it would be tantamount to an admission that a party of government in this country has traded the national interest for a handful of regional Queensland seats for the best part of a decade.”

Internally many organisations were just as scathing, as reported in The Guardian:

“The Greenpeace Australia Pacific chief executive, David Ritter, said the Australian government’s commitment “will not stand up on the global stage”.

He said without an updated 2030 target that did more than just “repackage” state emission reduction targets, the government’s plan was “meaningless”.

Influential software billionaire and climate advocate Mike Cannon-Brookes slammed the plan as “just more bullsh*t”. He is, in my view, correct.

David Attenborough has “blasted the plan for lacking detail and failing to increase 2030 emissions reduction targets.”

 

 

The Clean Energy Council warned that:

Without a stronger 2030 target, there remains a lack of clarity and positive investment signals to accelerate the decarbonisation of Australia and take advantage of the enormous economic opportunity in play.

Morrison, when he returns from Glasgow and after receiving the condemnation of other world citizens, will as promised, release the modelling within weeks. Given the government’s record on producing reports etc., I can see that waiting until after the election.

The Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese was right onto Morrison’s ploy when he asked during Question Time:

“What is the reason why he says he’s releasing the modelling in a few weeks, rather than now? Don’t Australians deserve the right to see it?”

While:

“Labor climate spokesman Chris Bowen said the next election would be a climate change contest, labelling the announcement a ‘steaming pile of nothingness’.”

Bowen was correct.

The next day:

“Senate estimates was told Treasury had little input into the modelling but provided advice to the energy department… Treasury had little input into the modelling but It’s even possible that none existed or is being done now.”

Morrison dismissed all the criticism by turning his motor mouth to full throttle, saying on the Seven Network that:

“Everyone else who doesn’t understand Australia, our economy and the challenges we have here are entitled to their opinions… I will do what is right for Australia and we are getting results.”

Mr Morrison said Labor won’t release its plan for 2030, and it was yet to reveal if it would take a 2030 target to the next election and had not released its plan for 2050 net-zero.

Labor intends to release its plan after the Prime Minister returns from Glasgow, and this makes sense after being bitten badly by releasing policy too early.

The prime minister produced his smartphone in defending a reliance on unproven technology to achieve his emissions targets:

“An iPhone would never have been existing if it was based on the assumptions of the leader of the opposition,’ Mr Morrison said. “We wouldn’t have had a COVID vaccine. I have more confidence in technological innovation and science than I do in taxes and regulations.”

All this was meant to imply that he had great faith in technology, but he missed the point that millions of dollars had been spent on carbon capture and storage over a long period without success.

The government won’t budge from its 2030 emission reduction target of 26 to 28 per cent on 2005 levels or its 30 to 35 per cent by the end of the decade.

Just what the National Party’s cooperation will cost the country or the taxpayer (businesses won’t pay) in this ill-founded exercise is unknown, but it will come out in dribs and drabs.

Resources Minister Keith Pitt returns to the cabinet, but we will suffer much more than that. And in more ways than one. So, I end this piece with the same paragraph with the exact words as my previous one:

Morrison will have to tell the truth, which is always a delicate proposition, and he will have to say we will do our best, but because our coalition partners don’t want a target, there is “nothing” much we can do. It’s just the way we govern in Australia.

Fools rush in where wise men never go.

My thought for the day

When he arrives in Scotland, the prime minister won’t be greeted with handshakes of possibility but a kick up the arse for pursuing nothing.

 

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Fools rush in where wise men never go

One can understand that Labor is hesitant about climate change after the subject has been a dead runner for them in the past two elections. As things are shaping up, the Prime Minister will front other world leaders as a climate denier, prepared to lie to convince them that Australia is meeting its climate obligations.

And to watch Scott Morrison and other ministers doing their media rounds, they certainly sound convincing. Words fly from frequently moistened lips with the sting of dishonesty and an absence of explanation.

The blatancy of Morrison’s lying confuses this writer because Proverbs 6:12-13 says; “let me describe a worthless and wicked man; first, he is a constant liar.” Undoubtedly some of you, most of you, or all of you when you hear the words; “we are meeting and beating”, you may be as confused as I am. Given his Pentecostal brand of Christianity, which believes in a literal interpretation of scripture, does the word of God presuppose that he is both a liar and a hypocrite?

When Morrison uses the phrase “we are meeting all our obligations”, it is camouflaged with the uncertainty of lies but not backed with the truth of evidence, then he lies.

At this stage of these Clayton’s negotiations between a corrupt party and a smaller but equally defective one, the Coalition has left us with a commitment to net zero emissions by 2050. However, we are assured that Australia will not attempt to reduce emissions between now and 2030. We will be seen as laggards by an international community, increasing its targets and suffering international isolation. Our target should be more like 50%, not 30%.

Fools rush in where wise men never go.

Ask yourself this question: “Are they serious?” Do Scott Morrison and energy minister Angus Taylor want to have a much more ambitious emissions reduction policy? No, not on your nelly. They are not driven by the innate goodness of saving the planet but by the politics of power. It’s more about one party appeasing the other and working out a political plan between them. A balancing act between the Liberals, the Nationals and their ability to win the next election. Advance Australia fair. They can give no certainty on the as yet unproven technology they intend to use.

I want to get this absolutely right. So correct that there can be no ambiguity. Morrison and his cabinet members tell us “We are meeting all our obligations” at every opportunity, but they tell the most dreadful lies.

What they don’t say is important. They talk about a target set for emissions reductions at the Paris climate talks in 2015.

It’s not apples with apples, and what we are actually beating is the commitment we made to cut 26 to 28 per cent of our emissions compared to 2005. Similar countries to Australia committed to cuts of more than 50 per cent.

The meeting in Scotland will in the main focus on 2030 targets because they are more critical than 2050.

The Coalition insist that we have cut our emissions since 1990, when the fact is that they have risen.

“The truth is that electricity emissions have increased by around a third, and transport emissions have grown by more than half.” (The Climate Council, New Report: Australia ranks dead last on climate, 21/10/2021).

So, it’s only when you add in all the land clearing that impacts emissions that the figure starts to look genuine or at least healthy.

Call it what you like, dirty tricks, political skulduggery or creative accountancy, but that’s what we used at the Kyoto talks in 1997.

They talk about a “gas-led recovery”, the technology roadmap, but no policy work or legislation is involved, and it is only unproven science.

Here are some facts from Climate Action Tracker (CAT):

“The CAT rates Australia’s climate targets, policies and climate finance as “Highly insufficient”. The “Highly insufficient” rating indicates that Australia’s climate policies and commitments are not Paris Agreement Compatible. Australia’s 2030 domestic emissions reduction target is consistent with warming of 4°C if all other countries followed a similar level of ambition. Under Australia’s current policies, emissions will continue to rise and are consistent with more than 3°C warming. Australia needs to set a more ambitious target for emissions reductions, establish associated policies, and provide finance to support others to get a better rating.”

Last week Laura Tingle (7.30’s chief political correspondent) wrote:

“And, whatever the Government does do in terms of setting, goals, ambitions, or whatever terms of sophistry are employed to not appear to have adopted a target of net zero emissions by 2050, it is not expected to be legislated, lest it produce a humiliation on the floor of the Parliament as Nat’s cross the floor against it.

Can you think of a more abject failure of political leadership in living memory?”

The Australian Government has a dislike of accountability and transparency unequalled by any other. It has reduced the budget of the Auditor General’s office. After all, you don’t want people looking over your shoulder when you are doing naughty things with public money.

Instead of governing with an open mind as to the integrity of climate change, Tony Abbott sought to use it as a political tool to gain Government. Peta Credlin, his chief of staff, later admitted the climate change policy under Julia Gillard’s Labor government was never a ‘carbon tax’. Still, Tony Abbott used that label to stir up trouble continuously. If he did not, Australia would be a leader instead of a nation lagging behind almost every other.

In 2013 and 2014, when Labor’s ‘carbon tax’ was still operating, Australia was significantly ahead of the target for those years.

In 2019, Angus Taylor gave an interview on ABC’s Insiders. He said that when the Coalition came to power, it inherited a 755 million tonne emissions “deficit” needed to reach Australia’s second Kyoto target because Labor “hadn’t done the hard work”.

“We have turned that around by 1.1 billion tonnes,” Mr Taylor said.

“They [Labor] hadn’t got to the point where we were going to meet Kyoto. We will reach Kyoto in a canter.”

So, the question begging to be answered was through its own “hard work”? Has the Coalition turned around an emissions deficit inherited from Labor? And is it correct to suggest emissions are heading down, or have they gone up?

He also claimed that emissions are “coming down right now”. They say they are protecting jobs, but the only threat to coal jobs comes from countries that will eventually stop buying it from us.

Mr Taylor’s claim is misleading, said the ABCs Fact Check:

“When the Coalition came to power in September 2013, the most up-to-date projections available were from a Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency report almost a year earlier. The figures Mr Taylor cites are consistent with forecasts contained in that report and another released in December last year.

However, Mr Taylor’s characterisation is problematic.

First, the 2012 emissions data used by Mr Taylor was superseded by a new report three months after the Coalition came to power. It found that actual emissions under Labor in 2013 were significantly lower than had been anticipated a year earlier.

Its forecasts also factored in estimates of abatement to be achieved by Labor’s carbon tax.

For this reason, Fact Check considers the 2013 report provides a more accurate and less pessimistic snapshot of the situation that the Coalition “inherited” from Labor.

In addition, the 2013 report accounted for a significant “carry-over” of emissions credits from Australia’s over-achievement of the first Kyoto period, which ended in June 2012. The inclusion of the carry-over, which was not factored into the 2012 estimate cited by Mr Taylor, reflects an accounting assumption rather than any “hard work” on the part of the Coalition in reducing emissions.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has further reduced emissions by shutting down whole industries. But in reality, where has this decade long lust for power over principle left us?

Our Prime Minister will go to Scotland for the COP26 with an agreement to cut our emissions to net-zero by 2050. The deal is only valid if the terms reached don’t vary from those agreed to between Joyce and Morrison.

The substance of which has not been revealed, or the cost, nor are they likely to be. Or it might be on a need to know basis. No plans are available outlining how we will reach net zero by 2050, but even more importantly, the conference will want to hear about what we are doing to improve our 2030 targets.

Morrison will have to tell the truth, which is always a delicate proposition, and he will have to say we will do our best, but because our coalition partners don’t want a target, there is “nothing” much we can do. It’s just the way we govern in Australia.

Fools rush in where wise men never go.

My thought day

In terms of the environment, I wonder what price the people of tomorrow will pay for the stupidity of today.

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A letter to the editor from Morrie Moneyweather

Editors note: At The AIMN, we take people’s criticisms seriously, even if inflammatory. Although Morrie Moneyweather conveys little interest, The AIMN’s policy is to publish other points of view. We don’t in the least think we have ownership of any righteousness.

Oi. Michael Taylor,

I know I haven’t written for a couple of years Mr Taylor and I wouldn’t have except many of your writers have gone to far and I mean the crome domed one who writes all that filth about a government that we should be all thanking God for. He is so popular that his name escapes me. Thank the Lord. John Lord thats hin. I mean there is just no limit to how far he will stoop, no gutter to low to slide into, no sewer to murky for him to loosen himself in

It really irrites me. All this criticism of a man who has devoted his life to God and the community. I mean, no vunder people are so well off these days and you left wing latte sipping loonies of the proletariat. The chardonnay drinking Bolsheviks without any intelligence. Allyou can do was criticise a few grammamatical errors in my last piece of considered thought.

Barnaby was right your all just a lot of commies. The thing is, you commies don’t understand the fundamentals of conversation.

The free market and capitalism. Conservatives (LNP) believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty and traditional values. We believe the role of government should be to provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals unhindered by government regulations. Is that clear.

Just before I go on. I read that piece by John Lord abouy covid19 and really, he needs to take his hand of it.

Fair dinkum. He wouldn’t know shit from clay. I’d suggest he takesa hold of himself. Life is life and death is death. How’s that for a deep philosoxiful thought Mr Taylor. Pass that on to the old bald bugger.

Personally I don’t think Scott went far enough. He should have banned you commies as well.

And all his bullshit about Scott overlooking the order for the pricks. God only knows there’s enough in the country as it is.

I mean everyone knows that their will be plenty of work after the pandemic. Let her rip I say. Then there will be jobs for everyone. All my sons at Melbourne Gramma will got jobs this year. My son Erwin is repeating year 12 vagain, but that’s not the only thing repeating on me.

And everyone noe’s we need to be free to pursue whatever they like to pursue be it wealth, SEX or government handouts like job keeper.

I mean I needed the freedom to accept my inheritance. The same with Gina. There will always be haves and have nots. Even Jesus said that. And Ronald Regan said. If we keep giving more money to the rich, everyone will have more money. It’s called tickle down economics. Funny that.

Its always worked and always will. The poor will just have to wait a little longer to see it work.

Patience is a virtue. The poor need to get that into there Thick heads.

Conservatives were born to control capitol. Labour comes after capital. Not everyone can be effluent.

Had we had less regulation and let market forces have their way we wouldn’t have had a Global Financial Crisis. Remember that and Swanee paid A hundred thousand dollars to be named Treasurer of the year.

THAY, lABOUR wreckoned they handled so well. Now look at the mess Scott has to get the world out of. We need more men like Scott.

Has Australia ever, so wisely, elected a man so positive about the countries future and exprecced it so clearly.? A person with such truth and transparency. A leader in every respect. So sensitive to those who cannot help themselves. So willing to endorse and foster equality. So knoweggible of technology and science. So aware to the needs of women. there Prime Sinister. So adeptt at policy formation and its implementation. Did ya notice my use of diplomatic language words. (That’s what a private education gives you)

Now what was the point I wanted to make. Or was it points. Could you get Lord to lay off Porter. He has nough problems. I mean what is it with women these days. Almays complaining. women should be obscene and not heard.

And talking about lies. How stupid people can be. Scott is of the finest examples of honesty one could ever meat.

Anyway I don’t mind wealthy people so long as they aren’t as wealthy as me. If that makes sence.or do you want me to spell it out.

I can only speak the truth Michael Taylor. There is no need to be so bloody cruel.I know there are loads of me letters you haven’t posted. No wonder 18c needs to be changed.

I have feelings you know. Even if I am wealthy. I think you are so bloody mean that if I paid you a compliment you would probably ask for a receipt.

Speaking of reciets I must get one from Dam Murphys for that dozen bottles of 62 Grange.Bloody decent drop that one.

You’re disrespect is just revolting. I think you’re that dumb that you must be three bricks short of a load or not the full two bobs worth. Either that or your three sanwhiches short of a picnic. See I can throw shit tooo.

And most of the comments had to be a joke – no-one can be that stupid and arrogant, unless they are members of the Greens. Even Pauline knows that climit has something to do with a ladder.

I could describe you as a pain in the neck but I have a much lower opinion of you.

There were so manny comments regarding my last letter. All of them in such poor taste that I feel I cannot avail myself to share my wisdom with you again. I can only hope and pray that someday the working classes will come to their senses and show their appreciation for the effluence we share.

John Lord just keeps hurling insults every day. Never a fact to back up his lying. Just wild claims about anything that suits him. I mean he he thinks he has some sort of influenza over people. Fancy saying that Scott doesn’t have a plan. His words have a wiff of effluence about them. The Lord that is.

Scotts plan is to stay in power so that the rich can support the poor and those who get the covid. All with whatever is left over after all our expenses are catered for. After all there are a lot of costs in being rich. I mean what’s wrong with that.

I new there was somethink I missed.m Might I suggest that the writers on this blog try a bit less bias otherwise they will end up like the ABC. Christ don’t start me on them dicks. My son Nigel would like that. I have no malcontent toward anyone. Just try to be more fair and give credit where credits dew. Try to be objective and nondiscriminatory. Then we con have some real intercourse. Fair bloody dinkum your crap blog is getting worser

All your writers av little to say and all the time in the world to say it.

Take all the things Scott wants to do for the Country. No one understands his motives. Well Labor doesn’t. All they do is critic. I was talking to my Financial Adviser the other day and he reckons they are all just jealous.I know I inherited mine and I had the best of education. Well I will say it again. All they have to do is get off their collective arses and get a job. God only knows sCOTT is providing enough of them.

And what about the climate. I mean have we ever had a prime minister so on top of the sciences. I mean look at wht he is going to do for it. All the new technologies that he will invent. He knows more about everythink. You ask him. He has plans to have a fleet of subs to put all the stuff underwater by 2050. Hows that for imaginative thinking.He will even disclose what’s under the kilt when he gets to Scotland.

While Im at it and this is the mane reason I have written is to comment on the stuppiddy of that fellow John Lord. I told him last time that he needs a manager because hes been handling himself to long. Then he emailed bak to say he was to old to handel anything.The eldest son Miles laughed and said said he did though.

I have no idea what he meant. Jees he pisses me of. Stupid old bald headed bastard ought to get a grip of himself.

Yours Faithfully

Morrie from Malvern.

 

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