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Morrison – the buck stops with you!

Before commencing writing this post, I read another brief biography of Morrison’s career which was less directly critical than one I had read earlier and certainly more complimentary than a more recent assessment.

My impression from personal observation is that Morrison is first cousin to a chameleon.

The so-called Christian cult to which he belongs has done little to steer his policy-making down paths of love and caring for his fellow man.

As Immigration Minister, the essential cruelty with which he pursued his ‘stop the boats’ policies, was superficially predicated by following Kevin Rudd’s dictate that refugee boat arrivals would never come to the Australian mainland to stay.

And, as then PM, Tony Abbott’s skin-deep Christianity resulted in no attempt to rein in this behaviour.

But at no time did it seem that any well-thought-out policies were being developed to enable the refugees in offshore detention ever to have a chance of a settled existence. They have, pretty much consistently, been treated more cruelly than are convicted criminals. And these refugees were fleeing danger, only to find they were out of the frying pan and into the fire.

The deal with Cambodia was a farce, at tax payer’s cost, and it is a moot point whether the deal with the USA has been truly beneficial for any who were able to ‘benefit’ from it.

With Malcolm Turnbull’s ascendance to PM, Morrison became Treasurer, and, in this role, his decisions made it very clear that, in economic terms, he was on the side of Capital and Labour was the enemy.

That has been further highlighted now that he is himself PM, and well and truly out of his depth in trying to steer us through the turbulent waters of a global pandemic, causing economic chaos of an order not seen since WWII, while being assisted by the NCCC.

Continuing in the pattern which Morrison had established, Peter Dutton brought all his police career experience to ensure the cruelty to offshore refugees was refined, and the screws tightened.

And don’t start me on my contempt for Dutton’s treatment of the Biloela family, which sees to have become an unseemly personal vendetta!

Originally Greg Combet, who has, throughout his career, in and out of politics, earned a great deal of respect was connected to the NCCC, but is no longer involved, and it seems that the balance of the interests of the remaining members of this group is such that prioritising action on global warming is not to be expected, even though that is even more important than the pandemic!!

While the National Cabinet concept has worked well in some regards, Morrison has made the same mistake as he did with the bush fire disasters.

Yes – the states and territories have powers which they should be allowed to exercise, but in a national emergency – which both bush fires and COVID-19 have created – the Commonwealth government MUST have a realistic coordinating role.

Because Victoria was one of the states which delayed lifting restrictions, Victorians were seeing others elsewhere already letting their hair down, so making it more likely that they would want to rush back to ‘normal’ behaviour as soon as possible.

But the real problem – which, after years of deliberately holding back wage increases, and actually deliberately driving wages down, removing penalty rates and creating a gig economy, by encouraging casual labour contracts, the Commonwealth should have realised that many low wage earners have no access to sick pay.

If the Coalition government was properly aware that social distancing, testing for infection, etc were essential as restrictions were removed, it should have realised that the lowest paid, casual workers could not afford not to work!

The fact that we rely on many migrants to work in these areas, which includes those working as carers, cleaners, etc in Old Age Homes, means there may have been a breakdown in the process of explaining the procedures associated with testing.

Directions were – if you thought you had symptoms, get tested.

Once you were tested, isolate until you get the results.

If the result is positive, quarantine for 14 days and then get tested again.

Did those directions include the questions – can you afford not to be at work?

How will your household manage without your wage?

Do you have somewhere suitable for isolating yourself?

Probably not – because, for those creating the system, and those involved in testing, those issues might not have come to mind.

And that is where the Commonwealth government has let everyone down.

Surely there were advisers, or others consulted through these processes, who must have been aware of this?

You cannot blame people for not staying away from work when that would have meant there was no food on the table for the members of their family!

And anyway – hasn’t Scott Morrison himself urged everyone to get back to work, particularly if their work is ‘essential’?

And is not looking after the elderly ‘essential’ work?

I am sorry Mr Morrison, but every day that you receive accolades for how well you are doing, you should be receiving brickbats for allowing your hubris to prevent your seeing what you should be, but are not, doing!

As PM, the buck stops with you.

Daniel Andrews readily apologises for his mistakes and oversights.

You brush criticism aside.

And please everyone – stop going on about massive debt and deficits!

The Coalition needs no encouragement to withdraw financial help as fast as it can, despite the fact that thousands, if not millions, will be struggling to find work, and many who have had, and have recovered from, the infection, may not be well enough to take on the first job available!

The government must commit to providing support for as long as necessary and then some.

Even if a few people get a little more than they need, it will return into circulation to stimulate the economy, which is really important, too!

And I hope those robbed through the Robo-debt scandal are being reimbursed as soon as possible!

I am also hoping that the Coalition government does the minimum amount of damage before the next election and that the other parties will patch up their differences, formulate policies which will not only help this country in recovering, but also assist the planet in reducing emissions and keeping temperatures down – and win the next election!

Remember – divided we fall!

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.”

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5 comments

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  1. Florence

    Are not the Federal government responsible fot the aged? Why do they act if they have something for the Premier when announcing action for the aged.

  2. Michael Taylor

    Thank you for that link, MN. As a policy officer in days past – as well as being lumbered with the dry job of drafting legislation – I find that sort of stuff interesting.

  3. LambsFry Simplex.

    No accident.

    The only things these people derive satisfaction from is putting over a lie, robbing people they feel unworthy to exist in the universe with them and inflicting pain on those who can’t fight back

  4. John Lord

    It’s a sad sad world.

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