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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