Part 4: Arise Scott Morrison, Lord Sixwords of Cronulla!
“The Australian corporate élite is demanding an end to ‘entitlements’ in order to force welfare recipients to take any work available, and drive down the wages and conditions of the working class as a whole” writes George Venturini in the conclusion to his outstanding exposé on Scott Morrison. And who better to implement these demands than Morrison himself? (You will need to read/re-read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 first).
Arise Scott John Morrison, Lord Sixwords of Cronulla!
But why Sixwords? Simple: Eine Sprache, ein Gezetz, ein Kultur – translated into ‘One Language, One Law, One Culture’ for the benefit of the ‘boys of Cronulla’, Morrison’s grand electors.
There were some subdued, critical voices from the Labor Party, too. None from the Coalition spoke against the bill.
Perhaps one should overcome a certain discomfort in giving so much emphasis to the view of the Greens. They are what is regarded, occasionally with a touch of disdain, as a ‘small’ party. It certainly is so, if one counts heads more than ideas.
On the subject of asylum seekers the Greens are loyal to a declaration which was prepared by a famous Labor man, Dr. H. V. Evatt, amongst others illustrious contributors such as Eleanor Roosevelt. That anchoring point is very simply but finally stated, and beyond equivocation: Art. 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads:
“(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.”
It is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948. The Declaration consists of thirty articles which have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions, and other laws. The Declaration is the starting point for The International Bill of Human Rights, and must be read together with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols. In 1966 the General Assembly adopted the two detailed Covenants, which complete the International Bill of Human Rights. In 1976, after the Covenants had been ratified by a sufficient number of individual nations, the Bill took on the force of international law. It binds all law abiding countries – even Australia. It cannot be derogated from, unilaterally amended – let alone disregarded for that would make of the actor an outlaw. It cannot be debased by self-righteousness, or twisted in the name of some kind of market-fundamentalist faith that everything and everybody is for sale. The ‘gospel of prosperity’?
Perhaps, ministers such as Scott Morrison would not mind some deviant aberration. It is not beyond the possibility that the ideal representative of a ‘judicial’ system which would suit Morrison is a High Court presided over by some Australian version of Roland Freisler, who was a prominent and notorious Nazi ‘lawyer’ and ‘judge’, State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice and President of the Volksgerichtshof, the notorious People’s Court which was set up outside humane – and never mind constitutional – authority.
‘The Greens’ have a history which makes their Party almost coterminous with the mandatory detention of asylum seekers. Both were born in 1992.
The Australian Greens were brought together by a desire to respond to a question persistently posed by the philosopher Peter Singer: “How ethical is Australia?”
It is to that end that several groups and individuals, moving from different positions: war resisters, Quakers, former members of a ‘Westminster wing’ – mainly Labor, environmentalists, surviving members of the Nuclear Disarmament Party – others, too, got together in a confederation of eight state and territory parties which form ‘the Greens’. Members are linked by loyalty to four fundamental points: grassroots democracy, social justice, ecological sustainability, and peace and non-violence.
They see themselves as keepers of the country’s conscience which is rapidly disappearing.
In June 2014 a very distinguished scholar was publicly wondering: “Is the Abbott government Fascist?” He felt justified in asking the question by the observation that “Since the last Federal election, people have been shocked at where Australia seems to be heading. So where is Australia heading? Towards fascism? There are straws in the wind.”
He is in excellent and learned company. L. W. Britt’s fourteen defining characteristics of Fascism have been re-examined by A. Broinowski, G. Hassan, U. Eco, P. Cannon, and others.
They agree on identifying the basic characteristics in Australia: nationalism, disdain for human rights, scapegoating as a means of unifying, supremacy of the military, sexism, controlled mass media, obsession with national security, religion and government intertwined, protection of corporate interests, suppression of labour power, disdain for intellectuals and the arts, obsession with crime and punishment, rampant cronyism and corruption, fraudulent elections – and those categories accompanied by pathological lying. They are all there, the experience of one year of Abbott government.
Some of those characteristics are buffoonish: the re-introduction of Imperial titles of Dame and Sir. No one rejected the ‘honour’ by the way! The intention of the person responsible for such retrograde ‘reform’ must be regarded as indicative of a mentality of vassalage.
Further, there is a feeling of a predominant form of ‘exceptionalism’ – not in the American style, of course; no Australian leader would attempt to justify him/(her ?)self on the ground that Australia is exceptional, established by God. Historians such as Biggs, and Clark, and Reynolds, and Ward still have readers and students to speak of invasion, the theft of the land, the unimaginable suffering of Indigenous People, the imposition of Christian bigotry and forced conversions, along with genocide. Daily, the ordinary people are presented with, reminded of life in the greatest country of the world, and everything is the greatest, the most successful, in a grandly inebriated ‘Australian way of life’. Australians like to think of themselves as generous, fair minded to a fault and willing to help foreigners who are less fortunate. True, somewhat. They tend to ignore that every country crafts itself around a national myth which incorporates its own unique virtues, believing instead that only Godsownland is for real. Isolated and protected Australians frequently have difficulty in realising that virtues and vices are pretty much evenly distributed among most countries – including Australia. But Australians can also be ignorant, bigoted, small minded and brutal, if the foreigner who seeks help is dirty – and not by choice, without documents, a ‘queue jumper’, and arrives in a way which is not ‘fair go’. If in addition s/he is Hindu, there is a problem. And the problem becomes a pest if s/he is Muslim.
Real-Australians, those born here or those who have assimilated the rhetoric for lack of discernment or for personal convenience, may not know much about the ‘unitary executive doctrine’, whereby the authority of the government chief executive – the Prime Minister – is virtually unlimited, particularly in time of national emergency. And it is he (hardly she) who proclaims it.
Declaring a national emergency is itself conveniently the responsibility of the chief executive, meaning that s/he can de facto grant himself unrestricted authority. It is a prospective very much far away from a regime of prevailing human rights for all, particularly if the ‘popular’ view is that a Bill of Rights could be harmful if administered by ‘un-elected’ people.
The ‘unitary executive doctrine’ was developed to its extreme by ‘jurists’ in Germany in the 1930s. It was described as the Führer Prinzip – leader principle in English. It leads to the consequence that the government can do no wrong and cannot be held accountable precisely because it is the government. Against it there is a rudimentary form of revenge at elections.
As to having a real, modern, republican, secular, direct, responsible democracy ? Well, wait a minute, that is not a spectator sport! There is no such thing in the ‘Mother of Parliament’! Go back where you came from!
So, to conclude, it is not beyond the realm of probability that Abbott may wish to reward “a very tough and competent political operator [such as Morrison, who is] also an extremely decent human being.”, as he said on moving Morrison from Immigration to Social Services. Morrison’s new brief is to apply the same brazen brutality to welfare recipients. The Australian corporate élite is demanding an end to “entitlements” in order to force welfare recipients to take any work available, and drive down the wages and conditions of the working class as a whole.
Morrison’s task is to enlist supporters for policies to restrict eligibility for social security, condemn people to utter destitution and reduce government spending as part of a broader austerity agenda. Access to payments such as unemployment benefits, disability support pensions, aged pensions and family benefits will all be targeted. Will the minister who ‘stopped the boats’ be the one to ‘stop the bludgers’ next?
Perhaps, an elevation to the House of Lords may not be out of sight. That would place Morrison out of Abbott’s sight, too.
After all there is ‘precedent’. Stanley Melbourne Bruce, was first made 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne and in 1947 he became the first Australian to sit in the House of Lords; in 1960 Richard Gavin Gardiner Casey, was made Baron Casey of Berwick in the State of Victoria and became the second Australian to be ‘elevated’ to the House of Lords.
It would be consonant to the Führer Prinzip that similar ‘honour’ should be bestowed, on delegation of a tired Hanoverian, by her consort: Philip – originally a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.
Arise Scott John Morrison, Lord Sixwords of Cronulla!
But why Sixwords? Simple: Eine Sprache, ein Gezetz, ein Kultur – translated into ‘One Language, One Law, One Culture’ for the benefit of the ‘boys of Cronulla’, Morrison’s grand electors.
Dr. George Venturini has devoted sixty years to the study, practice, teaching, writing and administering of law in four continents. He is the author of eight books and about 100 articles and essays for learned periodicals and conferences. Since his ‘retirement’ Dr. Venturini has been Senior Associate in the School of Political and Social Inquiry at Monash; he is also an Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Social Research at Swinburne University, Melbourne. He may be reached at George.Venturini@bigpond.com.
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marwill10 -
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diannaart -
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Kaye Lee -
mars08 -
Salstarat -
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Jennifer Meyer-Smith -
Gregory T -
Annie B -
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jagman48 -
Kyran -
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Florence nee Fedup -
diannaart -
Annie B -
Annie B -
Kaye Lee -
diannaart -
diannaart -
Annie B -
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Jennifer Meyer-Smith -
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Salstarat -
Jennifer Meyer-Smith -
diannaart
Return to home pageGerry Harvey is lining himself up to be a Knight at Scott Morrison’s round table (Remember Wewelsburg Castle, where during the Second World War SS Leader Heinrich Himmler brought together his senior officers, even installed a round table, and coats of arms for his SS ‘knights’?)
Gerry’s recent comments on helping the disadvantaged included “You are helping a whole heap of no-hopers to survive for no good reason. They are just a drag on the whole community.” Surely this endorsement of the Governments attitude to welfare recipients guarantees him a place at the table of SS Minister Morrison.
With sentiments like this, it may only be a matter of time before before euthanasia kits will be able to be picked up from Centrelink.
What is happening to our Country? In only a few short months it is nearly unrecognisable.
(This is a copy of a post I made on my political Facebook page. I tried to boost the page but Facebook rejected it.)
“It’s the responsibility of government to try to put policies in place which over time will allow people to improve their situation. But we can’t abolish poverty because poverty in part is a function of individual behaviour.
We can’t stop people drinking; we can’t stop people gambling; we can’t stop people having substance problems; we can’t stop people from making mistakes that cause them to be less well-off than they might otherwise be.”
Tony Abbott 15/3/2010
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2010/s2846485.htm
You can’t say we didn’t know what we were electing
marwill10, Harvey’s comment was not made “recently” as you claim. It was made 3 prime ministerships ago back in 2008. This view did not stop Harvey contributing to charity. While it is not a sentiment I particularly agree with, there is a certain logic to it.
Kaye, there is nothing untrue in those statements by Abbott. Some people do make unfortunate life decisions. To what extent, and for how long, should they be carried?
I would hope that we would help anyone who needs our help for as long as they need it. We can most definitely afford it and the fact that one in seven Australians live in poverty and over 100,000 are homeless is shameful as is the gap between our standard of living and that of our Indigenous community.
I heard Joe Hockey one day trying to justify why he was targeting pensioners and welfare recipients and he replied that they receive more from the government so obviously spending cuts would have to come from there.
What he, and the entire Abbott government, refuse to acknowledge is that the tax concessions given to the wealthy cost us a hell of a lot more, as do the tax avoidance schemes that Rupert so cleverly used so, instead of us getting tax from the profit he made here, we had to give HIM $882 million for having good accountants who shifted his money around (on paper).
Stop targetting the people who live on $39 a day and start looking at those who get $598 a second without having to do a damn thing.
As for Abbott’s statement….
We had gambling reform laws. Morrison’s predecessor Andrews rescinded them because the gambling lobby make huge donations to the Liberal Party.
We had an Alcohol and other drug advisory board and Tony canned it.
He also canned the anti-smoking campaign and I am expecting plain packaging to go very soon as Leyjonhelm is in the pay of the tobacco companies and he has an enormous amount of power for someone who got in on the donkey vote combined with illiterate Liberal voters.
And have you noticed the number of companies who, when going broke, make sure their CEO and board get a huge payout before they declare the company bankrupt to avoid paying their creditors.
Give me a break.
But Kaye, when we have the Abort Gov and their priority is to buy billions of dollars worth of war planes from the Yanks, that are Lemons and we get them in ten years, tones has to be kidding, the Yanks have taken him for a ride on them, how many Aussies living in poverty and on the streets are going to die from starvation, hypothermia, lack of medical care, or just plain murdered like they are because they are vulnerable living on the streets, the collateral damage will be enormous if SS Morriscum gets his way, and you have the ” red neck experts” agreeing it’s ok to starve people, this country has truly lost the plot and it’s sad, very sad…..
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Here's John Howard making an "unfortunate decision" :
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2014/12/20/how-john-howards-tax-cuts-undid-his-protege-tony-abbott/14189940001389#.VKebcfmSyao
Unfortunately it is now hurting Pensioners, the sick and children.
Thank you for these articles examining the career of Scott Morrison – never going to read such analysis on the MSM.
DSP is already a minefield for those unfortunate enough to find their health impacted.
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/2794783/dying-man-still-must-job-hunt/
Strap yourselves in as we watch Abbott’s “extremely decent human being” undertake the welfare of many more powerless people.
Good that Abbott gave us that qualification – we are now prepared.
diannaart,
As I have mentioned before, I am currently dealing with Centrelink on behalf of my son. I was told he could only receive the DSP if his condition was stable and likely to remain so for two years. He could only receive sickness benefits if he had a job to go back to which he didn’t because he had to quit it when hospitalised. He couldn’t receive Newstart (for three months) because he had saved too much money. When I gave Centrelink the medical certificate from the hospital they rejected it because the system can’t handle a certificate for longer than three months so my son was also told to report to an appointment at Jobsearch even though he was still in hospital.
On discharge, the hospital gave him a few days supply of medicine he needs. I just went to the chemist to replenish and the bill was $394 because he is a general patient still.
He is 23 and has been struggling with this medical condition requiring uncountable surgeries for many years. He has juggled studying and work around operations. In October he had to have major surgery, spent over two months in hospital, and will be out of action for the foreseeable future with many medical treatments to come. I pay for private health insurance for him and he still lives at home and shares my car and has no assets. I feel that we have and are helping as a family and that he has done all he can but now that he needs some help he is being pushed from pillar to post.
I feel for the young man you described. The system wants to label him, and my son, as leaners.
Could I add, if I had put my son’s money into my mortgage, like Rupert did, we would all be much better off. But probably Rupert needed the money more than us.
“We will strive to govern for all Australians, including those who didn’t vote for us. We won’t forget those who are often marginalised, people with disabilities, Indigenous people, and women struggling to combine career and family. We will do our best not to leave anyone behind.”
~Captain Halfwit McDumdum. September, 2013
What I find absolutely incredible about the nauseating, staggering hypocrisy of this loathsome fascist government is that every single member of this grasping, self entitled LNP government has, at one time of their lives, been a recipient of generous government funding! Abbott, Pyne, Hockey et al received their tertiary education FULLY GOVERNMENT SUBSIDISED by Australian taxpayers under the enlightened Whitlam government .. YET these same recipients of our generosity are determined to treble the cost of tertiary education for our youth! The arrogant, cigar chomping Mathias Cormann’s mother spent the first 20 years of Mathias Cormann’s life (in Belgium) living on Belgian government welfare because Cormann’s father was a hopeless alcoholic and could not afford to support his family! Yet, this despicably conceited sociopath has the unspeakable audacity to try and deprive struggling Australians of the same privilege! So many of these narcissistic, self centred LNP politicians were NOT born in this country, STILL cling on to their dual citizenship (against Article 44i of the Australian Constitution), have NOT spent years paying taxes like the rest of us and, instead, are sucking us dry on enormous salaries and the accommodation/travel rorts that they do not deserve. They are nothing more than totally corrupt oxygen thieves and parasites who are completely without empathy or compassion for anyone. The LNP – the ME ME PARTY – has done so much damage in such a short time it will take us DECADES to recover. Australia has become the mean spirited, parochial haven to xenophobic racist bogans … a shameful country under the tyrannical, fascist rule of the worst, most condemned, moronic psychopath in the western world.
Salstarat, am I right in assuming you don’t like the scumbags? Where does the information about Cormann’s early life come from? Is there a reference which could be used to authoratively, make such claims in, say, a letter to the editor to the MSM? If we started to write such letters, about the hypocrisy of all of the scumbags, maybe we could start to get the message out to the bogans because I suspect there are still many voters who are sucked in by the “end of the age of entitlement” rhetoric and who, even if they dislike Abbott, think what the Government is doing needs to be done. After all you only have to read some, thankfully a minority, of those who comment on these articles. Not preaching to the totally converted, yet. Apart from that I agree with almost every word you wrote.
Hi Ricardo29, what makes you think I don’t like these LNP scumbags, Ricardo … lol! Here is the clip from the Sydney Morning Herald dated 2nd May 2014, a cloying article that seeks to elevate Mathias Cormann into hero status but which only accentuates the ruthless ambition of the man. Read the second sentence and learn that this man came from humble beginnings on social welfare for the first two decades of his life which is NOT a crime and I am not judging his mother or family on this issue. However, I am disgusted that this very same man who received church and state funded welfare benefits for the first two decades of his life has absolutely ZERO COMPASSION for struggling Australians! The stark hypocrisy of MPs within the LNP is absolutely staggering!
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/mathias-cormann-a-tale-of-two-lives-20140502-zr37g.html
Morrisscum may HAVE a task to demonise the unemployed, disadvantaged and marginalised like he endeavoured to do with asylum seekers. (ANNOINTED by RABID ABBOTT ofcourse.)
BUT, there is ONE major difference that a CREEPY BASTARD like Morrisscum might have overlooked.
AND that is, the people (living, breathing and voting) that he now intends to bastardise ARE actually voiceful. No more, sweeping under the carpet. No more, deteriorating to the lowest common denominator.
BECAUSE Morrisscum ole mate, the very people you want to vote for you and your reprehensible government in ALL likelihood, have representatives in the varied demographics for whom you pretend to administer (let’s be honest YOU ugly, slimy, cancerous man).
It’s the lifters job to lift the leaners and lean them against the wall, It’s the governments job to supply the ammunition.
Well said Jennifer Meyer-Smith. …. I believe his wings just might be clipped – a lot, with his new portfolio – and I cannot believe for one moment, that he doesn’t see his appointment as Minister for Social Services, as a demotion. Which in many a sense, it actually is. It takes him away from his ‘international standing ‘ which he abused mercilessly – going against International Law, the High Court of Australia — AND getting away with it ………
………… ( I will NEVER understand that – and why it cannot be corrected ). NO-ONE should be above the law. … I sincerely hope Andrew Wilkie succeeds somewhere, with his petitions to the Courts, here and in the Hague. His experience as an army intelligence analyst, may very well come to the fore also ….
———
@Salsarat …. your comment about Australia …….
Australia has become the mean spirited, parochial haven to xenophobic racist bogans … a shameful country under the tyrannical, fascist rule of the worst, most condemned, moronic psychopath in the western world.
It is the ‘tyrannical, fascist rule etc. ……. moronic psychopath who is mean-spirited, xenophobic, racist and shameful. Very definitely shameful – on all counts.
It is NOT Australia ( or it’s people – generally ) that is like that, at all. …
It would be many of the LNP followers who swallow the crud, hook line and sinker, but there are thinking, caring Australians here – of all colours and creeds – and who do NOT like what is happening under this tyranny. And many of them are Liberals I might add. ….. who are beginning to dislike being associated with this rabid mob. … they are feeling shame.
Australia and the Australian Government are two totally different things. ….
Never used to be – but are now.
Damn you know one day we might get some good news.
With this lot every day is more and more of a disaster.
We are watching the ship sink as the water splashes over the decks while the bilge pumps are in reverse filling the hold with crap.
Trouble is they are the bastards with life boats while the poor and marginalized do their God given duty and drown in poverty.
What upstanding Christians we have for our corporate oligarchic dictatorship.
I can honestly say that after 66 years I have never felt such despair. Never felt more ashamed about my wonderfull country. This vile man and his co-horts do this to me. I do wish it was just a nightmare and I will wake up and it would be better. But alas.
Dr Venturini’s writing style is certainly impressive. Having read and re-read the articles, I find, like many others and said best by jagman48, an overwhelming sense of despair. I recall being told of the “stages of grief” which include weeping, anger, rage and other stages, which are meant to lead to acceptance of the grief. Can this possibly apply when the grief is for decency itself? When the acceptance of the cause of the grief makes me complicit in the demise of decency?
Over the course of my journey so far, I have had dealings with legal and governmental processes from many different perspectives. It always fascinates me that the best lawyers are the ones who invariably bend, but do not break, the laws. Our treatment of asylum seekers, over the past few decades in particular, is a shining example of legalese at it’s very worst. The one constant from “both sides” is that we must stop the boats to stop the people smugglers and break their “business model”. This has, since Howard, morphed into a dog whistle vilification of the asylum seekers as being complicit in the smugglers operations. So, we incarcerate the asylum seekers to break the model. If you take a step back and look at the mountains of legislation introduced to redefine our borders (exclusion zones etc) redefine the identity of those entering the country by the manner in which they entered the country and all the other legal “trick’s” performed for this nonsense, I believe you are left with an unsaleable premise. What legal doctrine, anywhere on the planet, requires that you incarcerate the “victims” (asylum seekers) to punish the “criminals” (people smugglers).
I understand this is a very simplistic view but, until you define what you are actually trying to do, your “legislation” will accrue at an alarming rate and resemble nothing more than a pile of bandaids on a mortal wound. In this case, I think the mortal wound will be our decency.
Take care all
Kyran,
I am moved by your compassionate words. We share the same grief for the suffering and exploitation of asylum seekers, most gruesomely by our ruthless governments of both persuasions but especially the LNP Degenerates.
However, in all the “stages of grief”, I want to hear growing voices of action. When something is wrong, it must be changed and made good.
Luke.Hartsuyker.MP@aph.gov.au. This man was on TV news yesterday, oozing hatred for the unemployed. Saying that new rules will make it harder for them to survive. Appears this government has cut thousands off benefit for not turning up for appointments with job agencies. Nothing about refusing jobs.
He was raving on about it not being government money, but his money.
I wonder how many are the ill and disabled they are transferring to unemployed. How many are mentally ill. Demonising of welfare seekers has been truly launched.
At the end of his interview, the station called for example of those rorting the system.
As one young person said, they take no excuses, not even doctors certificates. As I understand, the agencies rarely offer jobs, but go over ground already covered.
@Kaye Lee
I fully understand your son’s experience – having fallen ill while still employed and then winding up retrenched (my health no better) to finally arriving on a DSP – I could never fathom the reasoning that one is only eligible for sickness benefit if one has a job to go to – surely being too ill to work is the primary reason? I was helped by the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service (CRS) at least they provided a ‘paper trail’ which enabled me to apply for DSP – I’d much rather be working – that would mean I am no longer suffering a chronic illness. As I am an older person I do not suffer the additional discrimination that your son is experiencing. Our federal government must like ‘leaners’ as its policies ensure that people who could recover remain helpless!
This must not be an occasional talk – treatment of the ill and disabled must continue and the lies about welfare recipients countered at every opportunity.
@jagman48 …….
Your comment : I can honestly say that after 66 years I have never felt such despair. Never felt more ashamed about my wonderfull country. This vile man and his co-horts do this to me.
There is a well known tenet in psychology, which states that one can only be affected by another person or persons – IF they ( the recipients ) allow that to happen. In other words, in this case, the Government cannot ‘do this to me [you]’ unless we permit that. There are many ways of dealing with it, but unfortunately some who are perhaps depressed or ill, do not have the energy to fight off bad feelings and rotten ideas perpetrated by another party. That is a portion of the sad and wicked part of it.
Completely and utterly turning my back (physically) upon a person who is being verbally abusive or just plain nasty – is not only effective, but is cathartic. That’s just one way to negate the horrors that seem to be invading you at this time. In the case of the PM or Morrison – keep the remote in your hand, and switch it off for 3 minutes or more – to negate and ignore his words, no matter what they might be, if you watch newscasts.
We should take the responsibility to deny that part of our nature that is somewhat perverse, which has us ‘needing’ to see what he ( whichever one ) is saying THIS time. Since the Morrison episodes in passing a Bill that is against ( in fact ) the law …. my first sight of him on TV made me feel physically ill, and beyond angry. I have never allowed him to invade my sight again. …. same with Pyne.
@ diannaart & Kaye ….
I have read both here and on other independent networks, Facebook etc., the horror expressed about what is perceived to be a ‘new ‘ measure to demoralise people who have a disabilty and seek assistance from the Government for that disability. That being, that one must attend a ” Government appointed Doctor ” as well as submit certificates, explanations, dates of specialist appointments, letters from etc. etc.
21 years ago, I was put onto a Disability Pension – which rolled over to the Aged Pension at age 65. I did everything required of me – INCLUDING, visiting a Government appointed Doctor – who had an office in a large building that housed Centrelink and a couple of other Government Departments near a main shopping centre.
It was an ABSOLUTE requirement to attend that Government doctor – way back then – so nothing has changed, in that regard. …… It is certainly NOT a new idea at all.
It was not, I might add, a pleasant experience. …. He sat and studied me intently, without speaking for what seemed like ages …. ( after asking a few questions and reading the appropriate paper-work.) Finally, he nodded and signed the application, and I was silently shown out. It was only after that, I could begin receiving the Disability Pension.
It is possible, some new rules and regulations will be REQUIRED of Government Doctors, to be far more harsh in dealing with applicants …..
With this current Government. …. that might well be the case, but I have no way of knowing.
How is someone who has no personal knowledge of a patient able to assess the impacts of episodic illness?
Annie B
While I was reading Kaye Lee’s comments, I was wondering just how could the government make applying for the DSP any more onerous, demoralising and I believe in many cases, illness exacerbating, a process? I mean this rhetorically – of course they can make the procedure worse – but to what end? The vast majority of people on DSP are there because they have no alternative – the very few who somehow manage to run the gauntlet and are not entitled are too few in number to be wasting government (taxpayers’) money. Better to help the majority than harm the majority.
Kay Lee
Episodic illness is difficult to predict for ANYONE. Our dear leaders know this. It is simply another tactic in ‘loading the dice, ‘stacking the deck’, another ‘hurdle to jump’ – sometimes I feel we are just mice in a maze laughed over by evil scientists – except these people eschew science!
Good question Kaye ….. I wondered that myself. And still do, for certain types of disability presentation.
The assessment by the Government doctor I saw, was ( I presume ) made on the few questions he asked of me, the reading of neurologists’ recommendations / GP referrals – the medication I was on . … etc. etc. and ( I presume ) the probability that Work Cover would never cover me at work, for any epileptic episode I might have while at my employment …. Being employed with diagnosed epilepsy ( severe and frequent at the time and written as such ) – not permitted to drive for 3 years – he most likely considered all that too.
I could have been driven to work by a co-worker, but the company could not or would not cover it, ( Work Cover ) …. and therefore rejected my continuing to work – even on a part time basis and on medication. … And they needed me to finish a specific project at the time ….. but would not risk it. … ( The enormous basket of flowers they sent me, was of some comfort. )
I don’t recall work cover came up in any questioning, but the doctor no doubt would have known that Work Cover insurance would most likely not be available. … Serious injury can result from a seizure – way too many ‘ifs’ about it all.
There WAS no knowledge of me, and the doctor in question, made it very plain that he wished not to have any personal knowledge – in other words – not to be too involved in too much discussion of any kind.
He was there to approve or disapprove, according to what was presented to him. … in my case it was probably more simple than in others. ,,,,,,,, Once an epileptic, always an epileptic. …. It is well under control now, but I NEVER know when I next might have another seizure. …… my last was 4 months ago, and Boxing Day 9 days ago, was very iffy. …. I do get a warning ‘aura’ … thank heaven, and can lie down – most times. – – I have 3 types of epilepsy.
Aside from that, and several other medical situations – I was upright, standing, walking and able to function perfectly well – but was categorised as ‘disabled’.
Hope that helps your query.
@diannaart ……
It is certainly onerous, and a whole heap of red tape …… which could under this rabble Government, be made much worse ( as I have previously indicated ).
And you are right – in my own case, there was no guarantee that the pressure of visiting ( with, and driven by a close friend admittedly ) this ‘Government Doctor’ might not have produced a seizure, there and then – or later. ….
I was having them frequently at the time, and cannot recall if that doctor visit brought one on, or not. !! Could well have though.
And in the case of someone with a disease that is difficult to manage, I would imagine the whole thing could make it much worse. …. Have a very depleting effect on the person being ‘assessed ‘.
It is NOT a good experience, but has been around for years. … I think Labor was in power 21 years back, weren’t they ? …. Paul Keating ? I stand to be corrected on that.
And you are right – better to help than harm the majority. … The few who rort the system, are not worth any of this – now or back then.
Annie B
I do know I get far less migraines now (which were not part of my ailments).
I think it was Paul Keating. Neither the 2 major parties appear reasonable in their treatment of vulnerable people. The big difference is that the Libs are unabashed, while Labor, seemingly, pretends to care.
If I recall correctly (and that period of my life tends to be a bit fragmented) the funding to the CRS was reduced under Rudd, with no further improvement – I had recommended this service to others only to find that when I was a client the CRS had way more flexibility in its range of services.
Overall, our welfare system is regressing.
Hear, hear diannaart. It further regressed under Jenny Macklin too, especially with regards to Newstart and the Parenting Pension rights of single parents.
Let’s face it …
Morrison has what it takes to succeed abbott as leader of the LNP …
He ticks all the boxes, and LNP types instinctively know he’s their man.
Will the Australian voters warm to him?
Don’t ask me … I always thought abbott was unelectable …
@Crypt0 …..
In a joking way, but also seriously …… shut uppa your face please !!! 😉 ….
Morrison ticks boxes designed for ??? …. I don’t know where, but it ain’t here. … Maybe the northerly reaches of Korea would welcome him ?
There would need to be a massive further swing to Liberal & National Party types than there is now ….. for ‘Australian voters to warm to him’ ?? and I doubt that will happen – seriously.
……. How the HELL could anybody warm to such a creature – of such cruel persuasions, perverse actions, and an ( at best ) suspect religious ideology. ( not to mention the nasty, vile visage ).
SM will ( very very hopefully ) fall on his own sword in the long run. … In fact, when it comes to survival, and that is what he might dare to challenge and try to change for Australians, nature will prevail, survival is sacrosanct and the first instinct of humans – and he’ll be able to do absolutely NOTHING about that. …….
….the loathesome bastard.
@diannaart ……
I am very pleased to hear that your migraines have diminished now. …. They can be a shockingly cruel pain. Have had cluster migraines myself, but they are absolutely NOTHING like the gosh-awful pain that a true sudden migraine brings about. … My own mother used to writhe in agony with migraine.
At the moment, our welfare system seems definitely to be regressing. And both parties are to blame – for these rules and regulations – in order to catch the rorters. ….. I suspect though, they ( both parties ) put these onerous requirements in place – to STOP future rorters. … spending squillions to catch the horse before it bolts.
And, there is a distinct and palpable ‘ fear ‘ in the community at this time – uncertainty, depression and a feeling of being abandoned … that gives rise to the sense that welfare is regressing.
It may be – seems to be …. but I have always subscribed to ‘what goes up, must come down’ … and vice versa.
In the long run, let’s hope it evens out – somehow. ….. Perhaps with a change of Government, it will ????
cryto0, are you mad? Scott MoralsNone has all the electoral appeal of a nationalised castor oil enema! The man is a soulless cold blooded demonic psychopath who parades his unholy style of Christianity around in the manner of the worst, most nauseating sanctimonious bible bashing hypocrite! Only the most gormless, idiotic, dumbed down racist BOGANS would cheer the likes of Abbott, Morrison (and the rest of the sociopathic LNP cabinet) on now! They are miscreants sinking in a filthy sewer of their own unconscionable corruption. They have been PROVEN to be pathological, serial LIARS without peer. Just when you think this disgraceful, reprehensible government could not stoop any lower, they just keep digging and digging. Abbott fell out of the STUPID TREE and hit every frigging branch on the way down yet there are STILL idiots out there that think he is the new Messiah. Morriscum is nothing more than Abbott’s hired assassin … the pathetic attack dog Abbott uses to push through the amoral, inhumane and callously cruel policies that Abbott hasn’t got the guts to force through himself! MoralsNone is a thug, a bully with delusions of grandeur. Morriscum KNOWS he is the most hated man in Australia, he KNOWS he is a crawling disreputable hypocrite, he KNOWS he is internationally despised and condemned for his callous disregard to society’s most vulnerable people …. this would explain (but NEVER condone) his over-the-top, frothing at the mouth reactions to anyone who “dares” to question his horrific crimes against humanity! There are serious concerns about Morrison’s sanity … he is, undeniably, a psychopath but there are many people who are noticing that his over-reactions are becoming more and more unhinged.
Quite frankly, the man needs to be put into an industrial strength straight jacket and sent on a one way ticket on the next NASA Mission to Mars where he can do the least damage …. all jokes aside, Morrison is mad, bad and DANGEROUS! Australia needs him GONE and the world needs him GONE – his presence in this toxic government is an affront to humanity. Mind you, there is not ONE person within the LNP cabinet that has a single redeeming feature – they are all sociopaths with TWO priorities: to feather their own nests and be self serving minions to the richest, most corrupt individuals like Rinehart, media moguls like the predatory Murdoch and multi national corporations. The LNP are going to force through the plutocratic agenda of the IPA through hell and high water. As Keating said, if Abbott doesn’t get his own way (like the spoilt, tantrum throwing little shit that he is), he will WRECK THE JOINT …. and that is exactly what he is doing!
@Salstarat
100% agree.
Your “attack dog” metaphor regarding Morrisscum’s relationship to rabid Abbott made me visualise Morrisscum as a big, fat, ugly dog with a wide, fangy mouth, salivating with long drools of saliva dripping down to the ground. This is all while he’s tied up on a leash waiting for Rabid to let him go and frighten some more vulnerable people.
@Annie B
Thank you. My migraines are entirely stress induced – not so frequent now that I am not being bounced between Centrelink, Human Resources and a variety of supposedly helpful retraining schemes (it did not matter if your were a farm hand, technician or office worker, everyone got the same Interview Training course!).
As for a change of government – LABOR TAKE NOTES! Otherwise the senate is going to be a very diverse mix indeed.