Remember what this election is all about?
No, not jobs and growth. No, not asylum seekers and the need for STRONG borders. Not Gonski (because, remember, Labor and Liberal are “at one” on education and if we vote Liberals in no school will lose any money. Or, as Pyne clarified after the 2013 election, when they said “school” they meant “schools” and when they “no school” they meant that “no private school”)! No, it’s not about climate change, because the Direct InAction Policy is doing quite enough there, thank you. Or the Great Barrier Reef because as Greg Hunt pointed out we’re doing more to protect the Reef than any other country in the world according to a UN report. (One of the good ones which we can use as evidence, not one of the bad UN reports where we can tell it to stop lecturing us). Although why Mr Hunt would expect other countries to be spending money to help the Great Barrier Reef is something I can’t work out.
And the election certainly isn’t about reconciliation because we’re all in agreement that there’s no racism in Australia. I mean, look at the way the news of Nova Peris’ decision not to stand was greeted. Like Clive Palmer, she chose not to re-contest the election. However, Ms. Peris attracted criticism, not because of her sex or race – of course not – she attracted criticism because she made her decision not to contest an election. I mean, surely she should have waited till after the election and jumped ship like so many people do when their party doesn’t win.
No, we rushed to the polls because of the desperate need to bring the building unions to heel. They’re concern with workplace safety was leading to a lot of unnecessary red tape, and their behaviour was so bad that parts of the Royal Commission’s findings had to be sealed so that we couldn’t know about them, but, no matter, if you can’t trust the government then the ABC wouldn’t feel that it was ok to shut down their Fact Check unit. (No, it wasn’t because various Coalition MPs were complaining that the facts were showing a distinct bias against them and it was therefore contrary to the ABC’s charter! That was just a scurilous rumour started by some of those lefties who are trying to tell us that Turnbull will be replaced by Abbott as soon as the first party meeting leaving Turnbull free to move to New York.)
I just feel compelled to remind everyone of the reason for the early election, because in the hurly burly of the election campaign, the Liberals seem to have forgotten why they called it in the first place. If you do a Google search on ABCC and the election and various combinations of things, it seems that it hasn’t been mentioned since the election was called. Which would seem a terrible oversight. We might all go to the polls and totally forget how vital this piece of legislation is just because Malcolm hasn’t seen fit to mention it. He has more important things on his brain, like growths and a job. And illiterate refugees managing to steal the jobs from right under our noses while refusing to learn English and blowing the welfare bill out while they languish on the dole or incite terrorism.
So remember, when you go to the polls that this is about ensuring that building unions can’t slow down progress by insisting on checking that working conditions are safe. Labor’s been tremendously hypocritical here because well, remember that their Pink Batts insulation scheme was such a failure that four people died because they rushed it out, so they should have no problem with the odd industrial accident here and there in the name of productivity. And while we’re on the subject let’s remind everyone of the Pink Batts scheme because it’s one of the few things that we can actually criticise Labor for, because now we’ve been in power for nearly three years and haven’t reduced government debt by as much as we said, when we bring that up, some pedantic people point out that we’ve actually increased it.
Ah well, it’s the leaders’ debate tonight. Perhaps that’s where Malcolm intends to make the case for his decision to call a double dissolution. Or perhaps he’s just hoping that we all just understand and there’s no need to spell out his reasons or his plan for jobs and growth. Mm, it’s common sense really.
Just like we need strong borders when it comes to refugees, but free trade deals are really, really terrific because they break down barriers… You know, like borders.
PM mentioned it once, when he was in strife, at the first debate I believe. One small throw away sentence.
What we are enduring is a eight week, expensive unnecessary DD election.
Only had to wait few short weeks to call normal; election. He could have always called a single house election.
The stupid part is it seems will have similar senate ah he has now.
Truth is, he couldn’t afford to let parliament to sit any longer. Too many Abbott’s chickens, coming home to roost. Too many booby traps set by Abbott.
Putting the budget to bed, would have add to polls trending wrong way.
Looking at his performance over last three weeks, the government were not even ready for this election.
After watching Insiders this morning, the ABC is now on side government. How else could one describe such a poor performance.
Foxtel has been more balance today. That is saying something.
Tonight will be interesting. If Insiders is a guide, Shorten is in for a rocky ride. Not sure he can’t handle it. One thing government and media are one in. That is underestimating Shorten. Not sure if it is arrogance or stupidity on their part.
Five weeks to go. Who will last the distance?
Bill will be fine tonight. He’s been dealing with greedy, lying, cheating, neo-con bastards, of all colours and sizes, all his working life.
I am not interested in the debate, it will just the same drivel as both parties are saying now, neither one of them has touched on what concerns the people of Australia, thank you Rossleigh for the truth.
I think the Liarbrils are almost in tatters…. their policy vacuum is becoming more apparent day by day and even their “chosen one” “Horse-shite” Corrmann is failing in his robotic deliverances. Feeney’s mess is a pinprick compared to the “own goals” this ruling rabble have kicked….the next two weeks will be very interesting.
Turnbull has a massive intellect, but it is no match for the ideological will of the IPA/Murduck. They told him to jump, and he jumped. He knows what he is doing is stupid, but he is not in a position to tell his masters so.
There are approximately 234,987,987.4756346678367654 +/- 6 examples in history of people whose intelligence was trumped by ideology. Since Turnbull is still alive he yet has the chance to not appear in that amazing number. It’s up to him. $20 he fails.
I have yet to see any evidence of Turnbull’s “massive intellect”. He certainly has good oratory skills, but that doesnt make you a towering intellect. Just very good with the words. If I were his client, I would be worried about the case he put on my behalf in the courtroom (National Press Club), last night at the “debate”. I would be very worried about my prospects of a Not Guilty verdict. It also seems to me that Malcolm is lazy – he wants the limelight and the glory of being Prime Minister, but not prepared to put in the hard work behind the scenes. This showed up as last night, when he covered up for his lack of knowledge with the “big picture” (as he sees it) talk, which I felt fell very flat.
When I was in the workforce & also in a Union (the NUW), we had direct evidence of just how draconian, & almost “dictatorship-like” were these ABCC “laws” & rules. One particular individual (from the CFMEU) was charged by the ABCC with breaking some “law”, because he had the temerity to actually want to hold an OHS&W meeting on his building site! The “case” was dragged through the Courts for over a year, & finally, his particular “charge” was dropped! We did not know why–nor did ANY of the “nonsense” the ABCC talked about ever explain why! Your excellent article Rossleigh, points out what, I would suggest, is probably unknown or forgotten about by a huge percentage of the voting public. I only hope that this inept, lying Liberal mob DO NOT get re-elected, as, for sure, this incompetent, right wing, anti-worker’s rights & anti-Union members rights will be swept under the rug by the imposing of this draconian ABCC “system” (sic). The individual who was (spuriously) charged was told that he stood the “chance” of being arrested, placed into some form of “custody”, with no “rights” to any explanations or even a Lawyer! Nor was he able to ask ANY questions regarding his “charges”! Talk about a “Police-state” type so-called “justice” (sic) system! No recourse, no proper representation until his Union was finally able to have a Lawyer to represent this man, & really, no real “Justice system” as our Constitution states!
Aha!
You too, haven’t lost sight of what this election is about.
No one else is daring to mention it, for some reason.
Thank you.