When the Prime Minister made his first official speech in Albury after becoming leader of the Liberal Party, he spoke passionately about the principles of Menzies, the culture of the time, and his own personal philosophical beliefs. He spoke about the founding of the Liberal Party and said it was the most successful political party in our history.
Now most people would know that without the help of the unrepresentative National Party, the Liberal Party couldn’t win.
Whilst I admired his craving for his political beliefs, when he spoke of his party’s current achievements he could find no room for self-critique. He never does.
It was as though he was blind to all the chaos happening around him or lost in the elation of getting the top job.
One would have thought he was talking about the best government ever when we all know that they are arguably the worst.
When he spoke of the past I thought “here we go again” with this conservative, tranquil longing for a time that has long passed us by. A time when everything seemed to take an eternity to happen and people knew the difference between manners and civility.
You can go back to the place but not the time. Whatever there is to dislike about our nation now, well it all began with Morrison’s side of politics.
The aforementioned words are taken from a piece I wrote in September 2018 that rather opportunistically leads me into the present.
It is said that truth is the first casualty of war. Unfortunately, it is also the first causality of Australian politics.
Today truth is treated like it has – like religion – gone out of fashion.
1 Take for example the Prime Minister’s and Treasurer’s straight out lying about the economy during and since the recent election. They spent the entirety of the campaign telling us that it was all going to plan.
‘Plan’ is a word you will hear more often than not these days. It’s like the truth; they plan to make it obsolete some day.
They cannot deny that with all the resources available to them they simply had to have known that the economy was in bad shape, but in spite of it choose to lie to the Australian people.
Yes, they said it was all going to plan despite knowing that we were soon to be presented with some of the worst economic growth figures the nation has had for many years.
When Scott Morrison told his audience in a speech at his party’s campaign launch last May, that “You know it all begins with keeping our economy strong,” he must have known he was telling a lie of omission.
The latest GDP figures make it very clear that the economy was clearly tanking when he made his speech, and he must have been well aware of it.
We now know that the economy hasn’t been in good shape for some time – way before he made his speech to the party faithful.
We have been conned by the best in the business but most people don’t give a stuff.
2 This brings me to last week’s Essential survey. Whilst the Coalition continues to govern with the same haphazard ‘born to rule’ turmoil it did before the election and the Labor party, under a new leader, is still under a few meters of snow and as last week’s Essential Report shows, the majority of the public has simply turned off politics.
A bare majority say they are taking notice of federal politics, with just 15% professing to follow events closely.
That leaves half the population either wholly or partly disengaged.
Less-informed voters unfortunately outnumber the more politically aware. Therefore, conservatives feed them all the bullshit they need. And the menu generally contains a fair portion of untruths.
Talking about the Global Financial Crisis Russell Marks of The Monthly today wrote that:
“… Australia avoided a recession through the application of sound economic policy. Now, there would be no way Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg could claim, as Paul Keating did, that a recession – should it eventuate – is one we “had to have”: it’s entirely avoidable. Future historians may well reflect that the oddest thing about it is that in May 2019, we voted for it.”
The brutal yet incontestable fact is that after six years of three conservative treasurers we have not had a worse financial year since the 1990-91 recession. Best managers of our money? That is what they are still saying, believe it or not.
3 The Parliament returned last Monday for the spring session with the sitting days determined by the Prime Minister. One wonders where they will find the business to fill the working week given their inability to think beyond the next day, let alone the next month.
4 The government – in its attempts to divert the public’s attention from its appalling handling of the economy – now has a number of diversions running simultaneously. In fact, they are drunk on the drug of diversity.
Firstly, we have the time honoured demonisation of anyone who arrived on a boat, known as the ‘systemic cruelty to asylum seekers drug.’ Secondly, the Newstart recipients opiate for great pretenders and the unscrupulous culture drug known as the ‘ice cashless welfare debit card.’ (Still on trial but who cares? Sounds cool to me).
The government has said that trials of the debit card have shown signs that the system works. Perhaps they ought to read the Auditor Generals scathing report that has been deeply critical of claims that this program is working.
But then, they never read the Gonski report into education either.
5 Anyway, if you believe in progressive democracy, as I do, you cannot pre-suppose that the party you support should win every election. What you are, however entitled to expect is that whomever wins will govern for the common good. Conservatives have been in power for six plus years and we have not seen one iota of good governance. The have governed for those that have and forgotten those who have not.
6 As an ashamed Australian I’m appalled at my country’s continuing immoral punishment of children and adults in indefinite detention under the excuse that it is a message to people smugglers.
It is well known that these people have committed no crimes yet have been incarnated for nearly six years. Shame on my country. This government should be charged with child abuse.
Our government is spending inordinate amounts of your money, in your name, to wreck the lives of asylum seekers just to make an example of them and also in the name of Christianity.
It is just as well that Labor has a girl with the qualities of Florence Nightingale who regularly cleans up Dutton’s vomit of hatred and admirably throws it back at him. Kristina Keneally shows all the attributes of a Shadow Minister for Home Affairs to be able to stand up to a former copper intent on unjustly sending home a Tamil Family who have done no wrong.
7 Yet another raid took place last week by the Australian Federal Police, and yes, we are not allowed to know for what by whom or indeed anything else and as usual the iron-wall of the top echelons of those you govern us have said “no comment” as they incrementally turn us into a police state. And no, we are not allowed to know why that is.
8 Three weeks ago during a chat after a church service I spoke to the Minister about the decline in Christianity in the western world. I said that the media and government didn’t realise that the church in Australia was indeed fighting for its very existence,
He agreed adding that the thought didn’t occur to many in the church either. I have written on that very same subject for The AIMN if you care to read.
9 The Prime Minister’s performance last Monday night was impressive. His unexpected win at the last election has emboldened him to the point where his ability to omit facts and embellish others knows no bounds.
He seems to have, such is his confidence – or downright self righteousness – gone from “my government” to describe what the government has done, doing or has planned, to the word “l” in describing all things Morrison.
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My thought for the day
We dislike and resist change in the foolish assumption that we can make permanent that which makes us feel secure. Yet change is in fact part of the very fabric of our existence.
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