Dutton Clutching At Non-existent Straws To Prevent “Dangerous Criminals” Drowning At Sea!
Creating a political narrative doesn’t mean that you have to be consistent with your previous political narratives. There’s no problem with, for example, the Liberals abandoning their view that “the invisible hand of the market” is the only way to go and announcing that, when it comes to energy prices, they’re prepared to intervene and subsidise and take big sticks to companies that have the temerity to put profits before people. Greed, it seems, is not good when it threatens you electorally. No, you can flip-flop all around the ideological dartboard when it suits you. Both Liberal and Labor have done this, while the National Party have made it a fundamental tenet to be anti-socialist except when it comes to primary industry.
However, it’s usually pretty important to ensure that your narrative is consistent with itself. Yes, Andrew Bolt and his fellow travellers can squawk about dangerous people being out on bail and call for tougher sentences when it comes to minorities, but George Pell being sentenced is a travesty. While some are suggesting that the jury is still out on Pell because we need to wait on his appeal, I’d like to point out that the jury is not still out. The jury has made its decision and if that decision is overturned on some point of law, it doesn’t alter the fact that, at the time of writing, Pell is a convicted criminal.
When it comes to the whole asylum seeker issue, the Coalition have flipped between them being illegal queue-jumpers who don’t deserve any consideration of such nebulous things as human right, to arguing that it’s really out of concern for those who drown at sea that we need to lock people up indefinitely. This not-so-subtle change happened over years and if you weren’t paying attention, you may have missed it changing.
Lately, though, the Liberals seem to have either lost their talking points sheet or issuing a new one every day. We were told that life on Manus and Nauru was like a big holiday resort and that conditions there were better than these people had a right to expect. However, it quickly became a source of concern that there were children in detention and that it was a priority to remove them. As for removing anyone who wasn’t a child, just because doctors thought that they were ill, well, that was outrageous because these are dangerous people and we would need to check them out thoroughly before we let them into an Australian hospital. We knew that they were pretty much okay when Turnbull was telling Trump that they were, but they’ve since become dangerous criminals. Probably because of refugee advocate groups. But still, we need to spend billions of dollars on them in order to prevent people like them making the risky journey and drowning at sea.
By this stage, I’m a little confused because part of me thinks we should be letting the bastards drown, while another part thinks we should be sinking the boats as a deterrent in a totally caring and compassionate way to save the lives of those who are yet to attempt the risky sea journey.
Now I guess most of you have heard something about Peter Dutton’s assertion that thanks to the Medivac bill, these people will be pushing Australians off the waiting list for medical treatment. Ok, I can sort of see how this scare campaign…
Oh, I guess I shouldn’t be calling it a scare campaign. That sort of thing is what Labor does. Remember Malcolm on election night telling us that he was going to refer the Opposition to the AFP for fraud over their Mediscare tactics… Whatever happened to that? Did Turnbull drop it for fear that if they started charging politicians for fraud over what they’d said, hardly any of his front bench would be there for the next election? Actually, come to think of it hardly any of his front bench are there for the next election – including him! No, I shouldn’t call it a “scare campaign”, Let’s say, we call it a “government information campaign” like the one about how they’re making the tax system fairer. Yes, I think we’ll see lots and lots of such ads over the coming weeks… Anyway…
I can see how this sort of “government information” campaign might concern Nana who’s waiting for her hip replacement… particularly now that she may no longer get her forty thousand in franking credits and will have to give up her private health insurance. There is a sort of logic to this particular part of the scare campaign… whoops, government information campaign. Of course, when Petey added that we’ll also have people kicked out of public housing that I really had to wonder if the man had lost more than his hair over the past couple of years. Why on earth would any government do that? Can you believe that it would not be in every tabloid that Mr and Mrs Ordinary, with their Australian kids, were made homeless so that some foreign queue-jumper could move in? Still, even suggesting this could make a consistent narrative by itself. Note, I said “consistent”, not a “convincing” one. Yes, you can put forward a narrative that Labor care more about these evil people than they do about you. At least you can if you hope that people have forgotten that you were saying earlier in the week that Labor were the ones who were responsible for locking up thousands of children and it’s only thanks to the compassion of the current government that these kids are free.
Then, of course, we have the slight problem of the re-opening of the Christmas Island detention centre. According to the Liberals, that’s where any sick refugees will be going – unless they’re too “dangerous” in which case, apparently, we leave them to die a slow death on Manus or Nauru. Now, if Nana was planning to go to Christmas Island to get her hip done, then she’s got an even looser grip on reality than our Minister for Border Distraction. Similarly, I don’t believe that many people are expecting public housing to set them up on Christmas Island.
But hey, according to Mr Dutton, not only will these people be placed ahead of good, loyal Australians, but Nana and Mr and Mrs Ordinary will be “kicked off the waiting list”. You don’t just get pushed lower down, you get removed.
Asylum seeker policy has been tying Labor in knots for years but mainly because any deviation from Liberal policy has been portrayed as weakness on borders and there’s been a battle between the pragmatism of winning elections and the morality of using vulnerable people to make political mileage. While this has worked well for Coalition in the past, it may not work in the future for two reasons. First, it was fine to lock people up temporarily for their “jumping the queue”, but after five years people were starting wonder just how long the so-called queue was. The Liberals no longer have a coherent narrative. It’s fine to say that “We will decide…” etc. However, currently we asked to believe that they’ve lost control of the borders thanks to Labor and all these terrible things are likely to happen, but they’re still in control of the borders and they won’t be letting these things happen. We’re being asked to believe simultaneously that the Medivac bill has caused enormous problems but the adults are still in charge and our borders are safe. A sort of Schrodinger’s Cat-type arrangement where we’re both in danger and not in danger.
I’m looking forward to hearing Mr Dutton’s thoughts (if you’ll pardon the oxymoron), in the coming days. Which following proclamations from Il Dunce will be next?
- Asylum seekers to be given your job even if they have no qualifications.
- Asylum seekers to be given free Maserati and allowed to drive without a licence
- Bill Shorten to introduce quotas to ensure that only Asylum seekers can be elected to Parliament
- Asylum seekers to be given priority for a place on “Married At First Sight”
- John Howard will be required to write character references for every single asylum seeker
- Sharia Law to replace all existing school rules.
- Laws giving women equal rights will be enacted if Shorten is elected.
Ok, that last one has sort of already happened, but I’m not sure that the current federal government is aware of it, so they may try to use it as a scare campaign.
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David1
Return to home pageShame on anyone who gives their precious vote to this bunch of Ugly Australians. This government is an infected sore on our backside.
I noted in the New Daily both Prissy Pyne and Chops Ciobo are both heading for the hills and leaving their Govts shambles in their wake. Good bloody riddance to the pair of them, the Coalitions internal polling numbers must be shocking.
Pyne said he was going while ‘people’ were asking him to stand again and preferred that to being told to go. While Ciobo leaves immediately rumored to be getting an overseas posting (I wouldn’t unpack the suitcases Chob) a change of Govt can mean changes in overseas personnel too.
It’s obvious these politicians were never part of any debating teams when at school…… the lack of continuity in their arguments would see them losing any debate.
Still who needs continuity when there are votes to win, in an undiscerning electorate?
Barry Cassidy had some interesting information concerning the Lib retirements from politics. It’s all to do with the superannuation defined benefits scheme.
If they resign while holding a cabinet position, they are entitled to 60% of their last wage, as a defined benefits pension.
Apparently, they earn twice as much in government than their opposition colleagues do, so it’s better financially for them to retire while they are still in government.
As Scottie said, “Do the math!”
Adrianne,
Malcolm Farr wrote about that. I have a lot of regard for him aside from his employer.
https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/another-reason-some-mps-might-be-calling-it-quits-before-the-election/news-story/b8c31bab60010371f124b1a43c718b37
Asylum seekers to be given your job even if they are, as once asserted by the Sebago, unable to read and write.
Thank God for the AIMN!
Most Australians are treated like mushrooms: kept in the dark and fed bullship!
Kaye Lee,
From Farr’s article that you linked to, “In the 151-seat House of Representatives just 17 will qualify, assuming they are re-elected. They are Labor’s…. Maria Vamvakinou…”
Maria has been an MP since before 2004? This is the first time I’ve ever heard of her.
I am waiting for shoulder surgery, for full rotator cuff tear from a fall. Painfully waiting my turn. Hospital letter says 12 months wait list, surgeon was hoping around 4 months. All depends on when the surgeon runs out of paying patients to operate on. Then I will get my turn.
Ron,
I don’t even recognise her photo yet she has been there since 2001 in the seat of Calwell apparently. That’s a long time for very little in the way of achievements.
https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=00AMT
Perhaps she is a great local member???
Uhm … European women were given the vote in all states in 1901 through the Australian Constitution. All Aborigines were disenfranchised by the same Constitution thanks to the successful advocacy of Isaac Isaacs who went on the become Isaacs CJ who sat as a judge alone and gave the verdict that commenced state sponsored genocide util the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. The great historic irony is that Isaacs was Jewish.
The New (020319) Daily has a fine article by Karen Middleton this week describing the Election Councillor assisting many Independents.
Remember a vote for the Nat$ is a vote to protect the broad acre farmers, who are the MDB water thieves that ‘stole’ environmental flows to grow cotton and destroy down stream communities and agricultural enterprises,from 24/7/365 satellite monitoring of ALL pumping in the MDB and proper law enforcement by government regulators.
Interesting article by Farr. Polititians should not be able to collect their super until retirement age cause thats what the bastards have done to everyone else.
If the private insurance rebate was abolished, the $5b would go a long way to clearing the backlog. They will argue that it will cause delays, but thats a pretty lame argument. The number of patients will be the same but the surgeon will have less full paying customers so more time for medicare customers. Just means they cant buy that new ferrari this year. I dont begrudge surgeons making a good living, but when they start buying flash cars and toorak dwellings, you know they are on a good wicket.
dutton is just a long faced effwit who has studied the art of lying to get what you want. In another life a , just a plod who rose above his abilities. He would have fitted in fine with Joh.
David Stakes. March 3, 2019 at 2:22 pm
Well David you can thank the vile Howard for the fact that private health insurance corporations are given, from the public purse, in the order of $7 BILLION a YEAR and rising each year. Money that if the public purse was not propping up private health insurance companies could/would go to the public health system and your 12 month wait could be substantially reduced.
Dutton is a journalists nightmare, he makes outrageous statements as a ‘doorstop’ and then quickly moves on or he does it with Ray Hadley on the 2GB echo-chamber.
Even on SKY some are now asking more probing questions although you could go on Bolt, Credlin or Paul Murray and say that Shorten is responsible for the Brexit mess in the UK and they would nod sagely in agreement.
Dutton is renowned for not taking journalists calls, refusing to make himself available to the ABC for interviews and generally avoiding scrutiny and accountability. In Canberra he is known as being lazy and detached from his portfolio responsibilities but he will always spring to life when it’s time to playing political scaremongering
games : it’s all he’s got.
A very dangerous species !
Angus Taylor is furiously deleting comments from his facebook page in reaction to his lies on Insiders this morning.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0tIj4HUcAAAOth.jpg:small
@Terence Mills – probably too busy approving visas for his mates’ au pairs….
Sigh…
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/03/theyre-putting-us-through-hell-png-born-australians-furious-at-citizenship-bungle
The beauty of talking out of both sides of your mouth is that you are no longer able to be contradicted or called upon to explain your statements.
Mondays, Wednesdays and alternate Fridays you subscribe to renewables: the rest of the time you are pro-coal.
With the general populace having the attention span of a goldfish with even less memory, how can you go wrong?
Smile, explain that the interviewer is not seeing the bigger picture, call out national security, blame Labor and shout how good you are doing.
Bring on the election and a federal ICAC.
Grief – where to start? Perhaps the current Government might consider putting more money into hospitals so that the waiting lists which currently occur could be reduced – more surgery and medical treatment for everyone who needs it! They could find the money by cutting the Private Health Care Rebate or even the billions saved by bringing the asylum seekers to Australia and closing the camps.
They obviously have complete contempt for the general public and think that many of them can be suckered into voting Liberal again. Unfortunately anyone who votes Liberal has an integrity and compassion deficit which they’ve no doubt filled with prospective greed or a lack of interest and comprehension. The greatest scare campaign for my money is the re-election of those callous Liberal National planet warmers and barn burners.
Finally – bets on where Ciobo and Pyne end up, in light of the Australian Government’s desire to hit the Top 10 of world arms dealers. If Andrew Robb could get a part time position selling off the Port of Darwin for $800,000 a year along with his wonderful pension – imagine what these nit wits can do! Scotty will quickly realise that he’s snookered himself all in the name of a little personal prestige. I’ll weep bucket fulls.
“”An essentially ‘generalist’ approach to the recruitment of senior executive service staff within Home Affairs and its predecessor means essential specialist knowledge is lacking. There is little or no maritime, air-operational, or technical expertise, and limited maritime policy experience, in the higher levels of the department.””
Loosely translated means that The Spud is loading the top end with LNP mates and assorted hangers-on.
Border Farce seems to be consistently short of cash and leads me to think (I may be way off the mark) that maybe money is being skimmed off and stashed away by one or more people within the department.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/leaked-briefing-reveals-defence-warning-on-state-of-australian-border-force-20190305-p511yl.html
One of the incoming Labor Govts first priorities must be to go through Dutton’s Ministries with the ole fine tooth comb. Although I imagine the evil tosser has already ensured the paper trail has been burnt. Fortunately in these days of technology it is not so easy to shred and forget.