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«How Good Is Listening To The Quiet Shareholders?»

Earlier today the newspapers had the gift of prophecy. Various media outlets informed us:

“Apocalyptic in tone. It brooks no compromise. It’s all or nothing. Alternative views are not permitted,” Mr Morrison will say.

 

Outrageous. Apocalyptic in tone! Alternative views are not permitted. No, he’s not talking about The Book of Revelations. Neither is he repeating Peter Dutton’s latest pronouncement. No, as the prophets of the press went on to tell us:

“I think some of our largest corporations should listen to, and engage, their ‘quiet shareholders’, not just their noisy ones,” Mr Morrison will say. “Let me assure you this is not something my government intends to allow to go unchecked.”

So, in order to stop these “indulgent” and “selfish” protests, MoSco is ensuring that alternative voices to the climate activists are heard, by introducing measures to stop the views of the climate activists.

“Together with the Attorney-General, we are working to identify mechanisms that can successfully outlaw these indulgent and selfish practices that threaten the livelihoods of fellow Australians, especially in rural and regional areas, and especially here in Queensland.”

Now, some of you may be concerned that this is an attempt to silence legitimate protest and it’s a bit hypocritical given that one of his reasons is that alternative views are not permitted, but I think Scott’s got a bigger problem.

No, it’s not that he may turn them into the “quiet Australians” that he says are the only ones worth listening to… Of course, it’s impossible to listen to the quiet Australians because they don’t say anything.

Neither is it the fact that it should be easy to get round laws preventing people from urging a boycott. I mean, how could one be prosecuted if one were to, for example, publish the following: “Even though some of you are very upset about Alan Merandabolt’s comments about whipping Senators who disagree with his Holiness the PM, I wish to remind you that it is illegal to call for boycotts of his advertisers. In particular, it’s illegal to call for the boycott of the following advertisers: Acme, Beta, Gamma, (etc), so don’t do it because you’ll be breaking the law. Can you please share this community service announcement to remind people that they shouldn’t boycott anyone and urge people to contact the various advertisers to assure them that there will be no boycott!”

It is, in fact, Scottie’s proposed religious discrimination laws. They may run smack bang into his anti-boycott laws.

I’m not suggesting that banks and insurance companies can refuse to service coal industry on the grounds that they may have gay people working for them and if florists can’t be compelled to bake wedding cakes then financial industry people can argue they can’t be compelled to lend them money. And I’m also not suggesting that the government would have any trouble arguing that the belief in man-made climate change isn’t a religion, even though ministers like Angus Taylor have called it one. No, they’d have no trouble saying that yes, it is a religion but not one that’s eligible for a tax-free status, or protection for its adherents to say what they like because it’s a deeply held religious belief.

No, quite simply the banks and insurance companies can simply remind everyone: Money is a religion. And it’s one of their strictest commandments that they don’t throw it away by lending it to people who are highly unlikely to pay it back.

By the way, did you happen to notice that Adani has had its $18.5 million payment for their water licence bill pushed back again. Now it’s due mid-2021.

Yes, when it comes to Adani, I’d certainly want some collateral.

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12 comments

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  1. New England Cocky

    Perhaps we could agree that on this website the Prim Monster of Australia is referred to as “Scummo”as befits a self-indulgent, low empathy, ego-centric lightweight misrepresentative of the Liarbral Party values for building get worst third world export economy in the OECD.

  2. pierre wilkinson

    when will this mendacious monster, this self promoting conman, this personification of hubris and his incompetent, out of depth, deeply troubled team of misfits be held to account?
    where is the opposition?
    – crickets –

  3. JudithW

    Exactly. There’s no need to call for a boycott – just publish the data. But what about the calls for boycotting companies that use animal testing, or unsustainable palm oil, or uncertified timber products or… ???

  4. Kerri

    Holy crap Rossleigh!!
    That image of Morrison is frightening enough without it taking up my whole screen.
    I may have trouble sleeping tonight.

  5. johnyperth

    I have been waiting for this!!
    As always people that protest against the Morrison government, then, Morrison do’s what it takes to shut them down!!
    A conservative idea!!
    The Morrison government just wants to slowly dismantle the Australian constitution!!
    Talking about the quite Australians, do’s this include pensioners that only received $3:60 a week last September!!??
    If not, then, why not!!??

  6. Rossleigh

    Interesting what you miss if you don’t think about it. Cormann says that he didn’t ask the police to investigate which “HelloWorld” employees leaked the fact that he didn’t pay for his tickets until the media found out. If we take him and everyone at their word, one wonders why “HelloWorld” isn’t simply grateful that an unpaid bill of a couple of thousand dollars was discovered and paid…

    But then one would have to wonder why the employee who went to the media, didn’t simply go to the accounts department and point out the oversight… And then one would have to wonder if they did.

  7. Wobbley

    What have we the people of this nation got left to fight with? Forget the state run media and the msm have been missing since about the early nineties, all government agencies and the burearocracy have been corrupted, the corporotocracy have long been the enemy of the people and the federal government loathe a whole 90% of the country. I feel a bit like the Japanese at the end of World War Two, fighting with sticks while your opposition has nuclear bombs.

  8. Bruce Winchester

    Morrison’s second coming of 1984. War is peace, love is hate, truth is false news, free speech is censorship, democracy is totalitarianism and religious freedom is sanctioned discrimination.

    spoiler alert Winston Smith had it easy with just rats in a cage on his face. We have them in our faces every day, infiltrating every damn aspect of our lives through government and media.

    The Libs boast small government and cripple basic freedoms. How are they not like the Stalinists they supposedly hate so much?
    And Labor? Couldn’t piss in a bucket without drenching their own socks.
    Sod ’em both.

  9. DrakeN

    There is a nasty odour reminiscent of 1030s Germany in this malodorous government.

  10. Brissie boy

    Would that also mean that the government couldn’t halt government contracts if union members fly their flags on building sites?

  11. Josephus

    Scomo should do as they do in China and issue all adults with social ID cards that prevent non-quiet activists from getting good jobs or studying.

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