Mr Morrison – you are the current leader of a party with a philosophy for life which grabs every opportunity and cares not one tiny jot for those unable to do so.
Over a long period now, the goal of your party has been to ensure that those who support you are really well looked after, while those who disagree with your policies are derided and denied a real chance in life.
The rot, both in reality and metaphorically, began under John Howard. He scored a lot of contempt and criticism and paid back his critics in spades when he got the chance.
Undermining the rights of the poor and disadvantaged has been carried out in ways which have massively increased the gap between the seriously wealthy and the undeservedly poor. Unions have been castrated, many lower paid employees are defrauded by employers, a strong resistance to establish a meaningful Commission Against Corruption at Commonwealth level has allowed corruption in government to flourish, and Scottie from Marketing has ignored any requirements for integrity, transparency and reasonably unbiassed policy-making which should be expected of democratic governments.
The reason the Coalition could proudly boast of a massive surplus when they lost government to Labor, was because they had privatised so many services – and, in the process, increased the cost to the user.
Just think a moment. Income tax rates mean that those on lower incomes pay lower tax rates, and services provided by government are provided by public servants whose salaries are paid by the government.
When that service is privatised, the new management has to cover all costs, usually reduces them by employing fewer staff, make a profit to meet the requirements of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) – AND keep shareholders happy. Few of these services offer a means tested system, so the contribution paid by users is effectively more for those in the population on lower incomes – if they can afford the service at all!
Another example of the way that income distribution ensures that the poor may be denied a service or, if they use it, pay a higher proportion of their income than do the well-to-do!
The current crisis affecting Victoria, and possibly NSW, so seriously has been the creation of Coalition policies.
Federally ‘regulated’ Aged Care Homes have not so much been starved of funds, but provided for in ways which allows fund increases to flow on to shareholders, while failing to ensure that regulations require minimum standards of training for and numbers of staff.
A majority of staff are poorly paid, and the nature of their contracts guarantees that they will need to have second, and even third jobs in order to make ends meet.
Most developed countries which run a democracy, recognise the need for reliable child-minding facilities, which also offer early childhood education. Consequently the well-qualified staff offer an important service, allowing adults to be able to work in the knowledge that their children are being well looked after and educated – at government expense.
Australia has increasingly gone down the American path, regarding government assistance as a first step to Communism, and the recent, brief, willingness to provide the service for free has been abruptly, prematurely and disastrously terminated.
Women, and families on lower incomes have, of course, been most affected.
People have three choices about where they live: they might be able to buy a house, which usually involves taking out a mortgage; they might be renting, probably privately because the country has been starved of social housing; or they couch-surf, between living on the streets.
In partial recognition that there would be severe financial implications for the first two groups if job loss hit the household, the government did introduce some temporary policies, without really thinking them through.
Victoria has established that Australia, as a whole, is far from out of the woods in relation to COVID-19.
Morrison, lacking any real understanding of the likely consequences of the long-term effects of the pandemic, has it firmly fixed in his mind that we can ‘snap-back’, with minimum side effects.
He has shown no understanding that, quite apart from the not insubstantial number of people requiring serious help following their bush fire losses, those who lose their jobs during the shut-down are living with the high stress levels associated with uncertainty.
He falsely raised hopes by introducing short-term plans concerning payment of rent, and mortgages, being safe from eviction or foreclosure, without thinking through whether there was any certainty that landlords and mortgagors would respond favourably, or that states and territories would enact legislation to ensure tenants and mortgagees were, in fact, protected. Or for how long this could continue.
Banks have demonstrated without a shadow of doubt that they are entrepreneurs, not philanthropists. What motivation has the Coalition offered to encourage them to defer mortgage payments and not charge interest on late payments?
Both households where the house is mortgaged, and landlords who are leasing properties on which they have a mortgage, are at the mercy of the banks on this one, while those who are tenants have no certainty that they will not be evicted and/or charged interest on overdue rent.
And how long will this situation last?
How long is a piece of string?
We do not know – and neither does the government.
And for how long will our borders be closed to non-Australians?
And, incidentally – what does it say for the morality of the airline business that they are charging exorbitant fares for returning Australians, or those moving within Australia, because of government-imposed restrictions on passenger numbers?
MR MORRISON – YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE CREATED THE CURRENT SITUATION, THROUGH YOUR IDEOLOGY AND THROUGH YOUR REACTION TO THE PANDEMIC.
WHAT IS THE POINT OF TRYING TO SAVE PEOPLE FROM INFECTION IF THEY ARE GOING TO LOSE THE ROOF OVER THEIR HEADS AND HAVE TO FORGO VITAL HEALTH CARE BECAUSE HOSPITALS ARE OVER-STRETCHED WITH COVID-19 PATIENTS.?
THE WORST FAILING OF AUSTRALIAN POLITICIANS IS THEIR REFUSAL TO LOOK TO OTHER COUNTRIES WHO MORE SUCCESSFULLY MANAGE SIMILAR PROBLEMS.
AND THE WORST FAILING OF THE CURRENT PRIME MINISTER IS REFUSING TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS MISTAKES AND INCOMPETENCE.
I end as always – this is my 2020 New Year Resolution:
“I will do everything in my power to enable Australia to be restored to responsible government.”
PS – Have the Robo-debt victims been reimbursed – with interest – and have those promised help after the bush fires received it yet???
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Roesmary, Morrison appointed a former mining executive to lead the Covid-19 response. No interest in health of others, only profits for corps. Conflicts of interest mean nothing to the LNP, that is a conspiracy theory. Cowed journalists have a central role in the downfall of public confidence. They have covered up and decried relevant info, they are in lockstep with the LNP.
The perfect example is the dismissal of hydroxychloroquine as a sound treatment for covid (#HCQworks).
You ask “how long will this situation last?” At a guess, until the economy is all but destroyed and the unions completely destroyed. The people need to be driven into a state of despair and dependency before the great wage reset and destruction of working conditions can be achieved with minimum pushback..
Guess AI doesn’t always stand for Artificial Intelligence.
Rosemary,I don’t think the Liar actually gives a shit about the people in general.A cursory glance at his MO,gives the lie to his lack of intention.Everything he says and does feeds his overweening ego.For someone whose every move is informed by an adherence to a bizarre, materialistic cult, strongly suggests serious psychological problems.Talking in ‘tongues’, the ‘rapture’? Jesus, spare us.
He is certainly NOT a “Christian” in his thinking, his philosophies or in in his day to day workings! He tells blatant lies, does not seem to answer any question on any “contentious” subject, deflects any answers he does not have an answer too, he as a “true blue fucking liberal” always gives ALL his wealthy mates, whether mining, pastoral, manufacturing, media etc extra monies, does not tax any of these bastards anywhere near the taxes they ALL should be paying & so on. Your article highlights the lowlights of this cretin well!
Bronte DG Allan
‘Christian’ is not a word or way of life that I admire. ‘Christians’ are actually very easy to dislike.
The origin of the insult ‘cretin’ is actually the French word for Christian – Chretienne: and it fits…
Well written, though I feel you were holding back.
Personally, I think our corrupt pollies know exactly when this will end, and in their minds it will be many years away.
He certainly doesn’t care about anyone but himself and his rich eugenicist friends.
I’ve been renting for a long time. We’ve lost substantial income. Combined with skyrocketing energy, food and health costs, we can’t even afford to eat meat, fruit or vegetables (with the exception of potato). Health insurance has had to be cancelled. Electrical devices sold off, including my cell and home phone. We have a brutal and dishonest real estate agent who threatens, intimidates, harasses and tries to keep us in fear at all times.
The point of this lock down is to break our spirits. To make us beg for vaccines, to make us want to give away all of the rest of our human right, liberties, freedom and privacy.
And you know, I thought it couldn’t get worse. I have a son who lives between two places who I now cannot see. I can’t exercise for more than one hours a day? A 9 hour curfew. Isn’t this the very definition of martial law?
And yet, it can still get worse. At what point do we say “Enough”?
I think these scumbags know exactly what they are doing. The incompetence is probably there, but with key US people guiding them they’ve managed to bring Australia to it’s knees – knowingly and deliberately.
Geez, every dystopian movie I watch pretty much covers everything that is actually happening to us. That was so depressing I had to stop watching movies. The “Only in the movies” phrase is now meaningless. It’s all happening for real.