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“If The Voice Loses It Will Be Albanese’s Fault!”

“If The Voice Loses It Will Be Albanese’s Fault!”

Yep, I saw that on the front page of “The Australian” a few days ago and I was tempted to steal the paper but then I remembered that theft is one of those Ten Commandment things that still gets enforced by law and, more frightening than any jail term is the fear that I could go down in history as someone who thought that one of Murdoch’s papers was worse stealing.

Of course, I could have simply bought the paper but then I’d be giving in to his whole business model of making the front page outrageous enough that normal people will be intrigued and buy it…

While I don’t know why the article was telling us that the Voice losing would be the Prime Minister’s fault, I did hear a couple speeches in Parliament today where they were prosecuting the same idea, so either the Rupert papers got an early scoop or else the Liberal MPs were just following orders…

Whoops, that makes them sound like Nazis and we all know how sensitive a topic that is… particularly in Victoria…

Just for the record, I will say that you can’t help it if you’re at a demonstration and Nazis turn up, uninvited to support you… Although personally, I wouldn’t be saying it’s not my fault that Nazis are agreeing with me, I’d be wondering what part of what I’m saying appeals to Nazis and maybe I better have a bit of a think before I start to say things like, “If we start banning swastikas, next we’ll be banning all sorts of stickers and I don’t want to live in a world like that,” because I’m pretty sure Nazis are obliging when it comes to people not living.

Anyway, I discovered the reason that why if the Voice doesn’t succeed it’s be old Albo’s fault. Apparently, he didn’t get bipartisanship.

That’s right… He couldn’t get someone who walked out on the Apology to join with him to agree that it was a great time for something to help those people who didn’t deserve an apology but who had learnt the error of his ways to agree to adopt a bipartisan position when just about every political commentator is prepared to admit that Dutton is hoping that by scuttling the Voice he’ll have the only win he’s had as politician since nobody else wanted the job of Opposition leader.

Of course, given that the Opposition and the Liberal Party…

Oh, sorry, for a second I forgot that the Murdoch papers are not the Opposition…

Anyway, given that certain people argue that the Voice is a terrible thing, shouldn’t it be that if the Voice doesn’t get up, Albanese deserves all the credit?

Or is this one of those times when they have to contradict themselves a hundred times in order to find one thing where they can blame Labor?

Ok, we can blame Labor for not raising the rate or doing more on climate change, but how can you blame Labor for not achieving what you said was a bad idea?

 

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19 comments

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  1. Canguro

    Look, I know he’s not a Nazi and no-one is suggesting he is, and I think it’s also fair to say that whatever he’s got tucked away in his closet is nobody’s business but his own, but it just makes me a tad uncomfortable to think that he might turn up uninvited to whatever function I might be the centre of attraction at… hmmm… the last being waaaaay back in 1983 when I got married in the back yard of my wife’s parent’s home, a time when the Spud was a mere 13 year old and probably a skinny little sprog getting by barefoot in shorts & t-shirts and tossing gooleys at the local Aboriginals whilst shouting ‘get a job, ya black bastards,’ to the merriment of his mates and his dad’s admiring gaze… if he’d turned up in the backyard of genteel Roseville to gatecrash the show it’d have been utterly perplexing, to say the least, and especially if he’d been dressed in khaki shorts & shirt with some sort of appropriated Buddhist symbol stitched to the shirt’s front pocket & sleeves.

    But as they say, cometh the boy, cometh the man, or something like that, and here we are today with this misfit of an individual spending his playdough time turning up in the Big House on an all too frequent basis just because he can, but, again perplexingly, to what useful end it’s very hard to discern. It’s not as if he needs the money, jeez, he’s not too badly off, and it’s not as if he has serious philosophical and political issues that get him out of bed each day and packed off to the office with his fritz & tomato sauce sambos tucked away in his briefcase along with the little tetra pak of OJ. Not at all.

    Maybe it’s that early conditioning, the chucking of rocks at the local Aboriginals and yelling insults at them, then running away when they threatened to beat the crap out of him that led Dutts on the life path he’s pursued; a copper on the beat, giving it to the black guys whenever chance enabled, and as a politician, giving them the middle finger at every opportunity because, you know, he can. Doesn’t matter that he’s seriously wealthy, or that he’s managed to achieve things most Australians can only dream about, it’s the getting back at those black bastards that scared the crap out of him as a runty little skinhead that’s the driving force in the Spud’s existence. He’ll never change, guaranteed.

  2. wam

    Rupert’s papers use headlines and photos for non readers like us, Rossleigh.
    They give the impression desired by the editor and do not need to fit the article.
    Had a laugh last week when an article, by a woman, named albo and 4 women, at a yolngu funeral, the photo was of dutton. That sets the scene for the no ‘voice’?

  3. Andrew Smith

    It’s a situation of Australia’s own making, esp. LNP, in passively allowing right wing media cartel or oligopoly to dilute regulation, increase reach/income streams and unimpeded ability to attack centre right through left.

    If anyone is on Twitter it’s quite clear that Albanese, ALP, Wong et al. are responsible for everything that has gone wrong in the past decade, when Labor were not in power; quite a bit of astroturfing but suggest a right wing media cartel is not sufficient?

    Twitter is being used to platform the Assange extradition issue again, then allows them to accuse ALP Govt. and the Democratic administration of not doing enough, but deflect from or running protection for LNP, Tories & GOP; on the latter also Trump, Fox & Putin conspiracies vs. Clinton during the Trump Presidential campaign and Russia’s invasion.

  4. Stephen S

    The headline is simply stating a fact. He is the leader. He decided to do this, at this time, in this way. He is making errors, losing control of the debate, and much as I would like it to get up, it might go down. He has misjudged the Indigenous divisions. His skills are way overrated, by beltway journalists.

    Safest not to even try a referendum (plebiscite) unless both sides support it. Never forget, SSM got up under Turnbull Libs, not Labor. Nominally, both sides supported the republic referendum, but in fact Howard sabotaged it at every turn.

  5. Terence Mills

    The opposition leader has done everything humanly possible to meet Albanese halfway and on a non-partisan basis with a view to accommodating the government and destroying the Voice and everything it stands for.

    Curiously, something that started as a gesture at Uluru with no political involvement has turned into a Right/Left shit fight courtesy News Corporation and with a special mention to Sky-after-Dark.

  6. Paul Smith

    I agree with the point you make, but I also agree with the one-liner that you are refuting. As the Yesser-in-Chief, Albo’s a bit of a disappointment. Not just because he doesn’t have the tactical agility and verbal cut-through of a Keating – that can’t be held against him yet it is a factor in his ineffectiveness – but because he’s just not leading at all. He’s seems determined to stick to “vote for the principle” because it’s not YET about the detail. That would be my choice too if I didn’t hear several times a day, “I dunno wot tits about.” Albo refuses to notice that Dutton has won the argument about the details. So why TF isn’t he going to the media with the Calma-Langton model and saying that, while it won’t necessarily be what parliament legislates, it’s what First Nations people are asking for; and that listening to what they are asking for IS THE WHOLE POINT of the exercise. Moving the focus from “What are the details” to “This is what they are asking for” would not be committing to the model but inviting the country to realise what is being asked of it. To answer this question, “Will you recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution in the way they want to be included” people have to know HOW they want to be included. If Albo doesn’t change course he will be responsible if the referendum fails.

  7. Fred

    PS: While I largely agree with your take on the matter, trying to grab the attention of/cut through to lazy, uninformed politicians and public of the “dunno” set to explain the Calma-Langton model isn’t going to work – even if you put it in “elevator speak” terms.

    The point that Albo should be countering with is that it will be up to parliament, which includes the “noalition”, to set how it will work (i.e. create the detail) as per the proposed sub-section 3: “The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.”

  8. Clakka

    Just because Albo’s style / m.o. is not what we’re used to, doesn’t mean it’s ineffective. In the last 12 months and two weeks, he seems to have largely attained what he wants, even without a majority in the senate. Not only that, he seems to be successful in having ministers talking to the public regarding their own portfolios, giving the perception of solidarity and talking to the same song-sheet. Let’s hope it continues, as there is a litany of reform yet to attend to after 9 years of the do-little-but-corrupt dullards. Not to forget the increasing accumulation of new curlers we’ll have coming at us over the next few years.

    It strikes me that the Voice naysayers came hurtling out of their caves and McMansions in a fit of premature ejaculations into thin air. Shaky with their own guile, they have continued … to blather, be found with their pants down, mop up, then blather again in defence of the indefensible. All leading to defections from the party line, and the horrendous mouth-fart from the Duttonate last week, and the insignificance of Littleproud’s strangulation of rationale.

    Albo would appear to have played them like suckers. The naysayers appear to have given it their best shot, there would appear prima facie to be zilch left in their sack of ambition, and they are seriously exposed. For what? ….. Polls since Aug’22, ‘NO’ 35% moved to 44%, and ‘YES’ 65% moved to 56% (still a majority), and the ‘YES’ campaign hasn’t begun …. odds-on when it does those moves are likely to revert.

    In my opinion, the biggest shift has been caused not by the naysayers’ context, but the last 3 months of msm’s hyping of crackpotism, potential for conflict and the troller’s bs from social media. I suggest, the majority will be tiring of it already, and there’s 6 months+ to go.

    As for me, nothing will make me go weak-kneed in my fully informed decision for a ‘YES’. And in the crowded field of heated theoreticians, nothing will draw me to blame before the ‘fat lady sings’

  9. Glenn K

    Mr Potato was a QLD copper. How did he become seriously rich?

  10. GL

    We must always remember the catchphrase of the LNP and Rupert and Costello and Stokes, et al. throw around: “It’s all Labor’s fault!”

  11. andyfiftysix

    As John lennon said, your either part of the problem or part of the solution. Now i dont agree with everything the man said, but surely this is priceless. Dutton is part of the problem. Either he is great as a fear monger or he falls on his arse and breaks his cccyx. I am scared of the former but will look forward to the latter. Why should the arseholes of this earth always win. Fuck him.

  12. Fred

    Andy56: I couldn’t think of anything more repulsive than coupling with him. Defecation and/or urination on said low life may be more satisfying. 🙂

  13. B Sullivan

    Why doesn’t Albanese just get off his arse and move to establish an indigenous voice to Parliament, as the first of many other voices to parliament from other sections of the community that Parliament could benefit from listening to? Turnbull had the opportunity to do that, but turned it down. Perhaps the company that the Libs use to profile and assess voters’ inclinations warned him that he might offend the five per cent of voters who support the Nationals and are worth ten seats in Parliament that the Libs depend upon to win government. Whatever, Turnbull turned down the opportunity and so did his successor Morrison. Then along comes Albanese and instead of dealing with the matter in Parliament where he faces negligible opposition he insists on a referendum to alter and mythologise the Constitution. He is an utter disgrace.

  14. Paul Smith

    BS You say “… instead of dealing with the matter in Parliament where he faces negligible opposition he insists on a referendum …”
    The Voice is all about listening to what Indigenous Australians have to say about issues that affect them.
    It is Indigenous Australians who have asked for a referendum.

  15. Konn

    B S, I never thought of it like that. You have a point, “alter and mythologise the Constitution”, that’s an apt description of what is being attempted, whether they know it or not. I wonder if after the referendum succeeds there will be requests to include “Dreaming” and “welcome to country” in the Constitution. Why not.
    I think those pushing for a ‘voice’ and ‘treaty’ would be better off negotiating as sovereign people. By dealing with corporations as corporations they cut their own real connection to land. Their status becomes that of a legal fiction bound by corporate legalese. They’d better serve their heritage if they dealt with the govt as man or woman steeped in traditional lore / tribal law. I don’t know if those incorporated indigenous land councils and other groups lining up to live the corporate dreaming have read the fine print yet, but, if they transgress the agenda of the UN, which is backing them at the moment, there is a commercial price to pay. I don’t trust the UN to do the right thing, except maybe organize the famous World Asteroid Day once a year and four times every leap year, very important!

  16. leefe

    Konn,

    Or, instead of dictating to Aboriginal people – as ever in the past – about how they should do things, we listen to them and have a go at doing things thast affect them their way? Self-determination, y’know. Just an idea.

    As for the rest of that slippery-slope rubbish … I’m rolling my eyes so hard the chair is rocking. Konn by name, con by nature.

  17. Konn

    leefe, I’m 100% for self-determination.
    You think the Aus gov Voice referendum is about ‘helping’ Aboriginals determine their own fate? The Aus gov has a history of spying & conspiracy to dud. Ask the spied-upon Timorese how the 2004 Timor Sea Treaty oil negotiations went.
    Why do you think mining companies want the referendum after years of trying to run Aboriginals off the land? The mining corps want access to all land and the right to minerals. They want to deal with pliant corporations, not sovereign people who can still lay claim to the land and their law.
    You can ignore the slippery slope of corporate takeovers all you like. If you think the UN has nothing to do with this referendum then keep ignoring UNDRIP. On 02 Aug 2022, Committee Chair Senator Patrick Dodson said, “I encourage everyone to have their say on how the application of UNDRIP can be successfully implemented in Australia”. (APH Media release Sept 2022)
    Have you not yet worked out the UN is part of a club of thieving so-called ‘elites’? It’s partner, the World Economic Forum said “You will own nothing and be happy”. The WHO wants to decide and direct all nation’s health outcomes. What is the point of Aus having an elected Minister of Health if s/he is mandated to take directions from a foreign bureaucrat?
    We might as well have a one world government.
    Oh wait, that’s what they want. Probably just a coincidence?
    The UN, WEF and WHO are unelected bureaucrats who want to rule the world. Sovereign nations are in their way.

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