When ASIO director-general Mike Burgess took aim at the “hateful ideology” of right-wing extremists it rattled a few cages in right wing covens and cliques around Australia.
Surely he meant Left-wing nutters cried Right-wing extremist Peter Dutton: emerging from his lair, Mr Dutton said that it was important for security agencies to deal with threats from both right-wing and left-wing “lunatics”.
Right-wing spear-chucker and Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells attacked the ASIO chief for using the term “right-wing” when warning of the growing threat of right-wing extremism, saying it offended conservatives*.
*Conservatives are right-wing people who must not be offended under any circumstances – see IPA rulebook 13.1.
On Sky-after-Dark they were apoplectic in re-interpreting what the ASIO boss had said and clearly he wasn’t having a go at right-wingers like them.
Well, actually he was and whilst he didn’t single out Bolt, Credlin, Kenny, Murray and others in the Sky crèche, he obviously had them in mind as well as their shadowy alma mater the Institute of Public Affairs where right-wing grooming goes on to this day [and, so they tell me, self–flagellation].
So, I think we can safely assume that the ASIO boss knew exactly what he was talking about and it wasn’t a threat from those nice people on the Left but the extremist on the Right who are committed to tearing down Australia’s institutions – I’m not talking about the Sydney Institute but the good and wholesome things that we all treasure, like Medicare and the ABC.
It has to be said that the terms Right and Left have become somewhat confused in recent times. In Australia, for instance, we call a right-wing political party ‘Liberal’ which is clearly a contradiction in terms. Similarly, right-wing used to imply certain religious connotations meaning that somebody of the right held religious beliefs and was guided by religious principles. But that has gone by the board with religious zealots in politics finding it quite acceptable to tell lies and provide misleading information to a confused and increasingly cynical electorate.
In their origins, the terms spring from French Revolution (1789–1799) and they originally referred to seating arrangements in the French Parliament: those who sat to the right of the chair of the parliamentary president were broadly supportive of the institutions of the monarchy and the landowning class. Whilst those sitting to the left of the chair were more concerned about social equity, fairness and the rights of the people.
So, in simple terms it was very much as we see it today in Australia: the rich are on the right and they don’t agree with being taxed but they are very much in favour of those on the Left paying tax – that’s democracy.
What, then is to be done about this confusion? Mr Dutton has suggested that the ASIO director-general should be sacked or at the very minimum sent to an IPA re-education camp in the Blue Mountains. That could be a bit difficult as the prime minister has already booked out the re-education facility for the Auditor General and other members of the Australian National Audit Office who were caught out telling the truth at Senate Estimates in matters concerning the sports-rorts affair.
For those of us on the Left, we need to heed the warning from the ASIO chief and sharpen our antennae for spotting any of these right-wing nut jobs before they wreck the joint. Should you spot any of the aforesaid right-wing nutters, call your mum she’s the only person you can trust – but keep an eye on her particularly if she starts saying things like ‘I do so miss Gerard Henderson on Insiders, he’s so balanced’!
‘Ooroo!
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Oh Lordy! Can’t trust my mum. She loves Pauline Hanson and told me a months ago that “that PETA Credlin writes a good article “ 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱
“So, in simple terms it was very much as we see it today in Australia : the rich are on the right and they don’t agree with being taxed but they are very much in favour of those on the Left paying tax – that’s democracy.”
Yep!! Australia under the Liarbral Nazianal$ misgovernments since 2013 has become a Fascist Socialism for the Rich economy where foreign owned multinational corporations trade in Australia and export the profits without paying any taxation in Australia with impunity. The PAYG worker taxpayers cross subsidise their bosses excesses while politicians exploit the Parliamentary Allowances Scheme without fear of criminal charges.
Egalitarianism is a forgotten tradition and “looking out for your mates” has been tarnished by the flagrant unapologetic financial skullduggery of Nazianal$ politicians in the Indue Card about $10,000 per card kickback debacle and the Northern Inland Railway 50 years to recover the initial about $700 MILLION government investment if they are lucky and close the Great Northern Railway in NSW, both beneficiaries are former Nazianal$ leaders.
The rich don’t like being taxed but they plunder the tax base as if it’s their own money.
‘‘Twas ever thus, though. History teaches us that the same kind of people are always in power, and they use the people they despise to control their own. ‘Political strong men’ can’t survive without underlings ‘just doing my job.’
Morrison, Dutton, how many more…whole nest of them congregate around Canberra. Then there the ones who report back to foreign powers.
For oligarchs, ” Egalitarianism is a forgotten tradition”, as NEC neatly puts it.
Merkin Wartblock you are right to develop the notion, they are just crooks in expensive clothes.
Someone was saying about those qualities of leadership !
Say no more, nudge nudge, wink wink !
My mum loves the Unaustralian but votes green and is a staunch atheist, so I would call her left wing.
Johno.
Your mum must be a walking talking oxymoron, Unless she reads The Australian in order to know what your enemy is thinking!
The Australian editorial policy is the antithesis of ‘left wing’ politics. Virulently Anti-green, ant-Labor, pro-bible-bashers, The ‘letters to the editor’ are almost exclusively from RWNJ ( and I assume they are filtered by the staff to represent the views that Newscorp espouses.)
Plus – and this is a major minus – the writing is very poor.
If you want to read quality RWNJ writing, try The Spectator.
But having said all that, we are all ‘walking contradictions, partly truth and partly fiction’ as the song has it.
Hells bells waltz of the cuckoo you are dancing the fandango today.
What a shuffle and deal of history.
Keep chasing the descriptive terms ‘self flagellate’ could be with a kat er nine tales.
Perhaps the last 7 years award of portnoy’s could be ending with the top wanker in charge??
Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a left in parliament just the conservative soft and hard with a phon and a few loonies wafting around the senate.
These extremists co-join an ex-army demagogue picking up a deal here, a committee there and a trip everywhere.
ps
The image is great when the frogs had a left and right which is too complex so we need it in ‘simple terms’.
You have been reading the voter’s mail.
ps
WTF is fitzmonkey doing on TV?
Asio would be doing the country an urgent service by spiriting away the RWNJ’s in Parliament starting with Herr Kipfler.Our mood would lifted immediately.CFW would make a wonderful evil witch in a Roald Dahl tale.Come to think of it,so would Pauline Pantsdown and the Shriek from the West..really the possibilities are endless
“This ain’t no party,this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no foolin’ around…”
Not to mention the fact that well known rightwing nut job Tony Abbott was last year asked by ASIO to register as an agent of foreign influence under our security laws ?
The request came the day before Abbott addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in August last. Brexit party leader Nigel Farage and British political activist Raheem Kassam were keynote speakers.
ASIO are in a classic Catch22, they are worried about rightwing extremists but their minister is foremost among those RW nut jobs !
Hahaha waltz. “another fine mess dutton’s got into again”??
Perhaps he tried to treat ASIO like the afp??