Sir Tony delivered a eulogy at Saint George’s funeral…

Oh wait, that’s right. Tony was never knighted because that republican, Malcolm Turnbull ruined everything by abolishing the knighthoods which were the ‘crowning’ glory of Abbott’s legacy. I’m sure Tony had it all planned out. After Sir Prince Phil, Duck of Edinburgh, we’d have these in the following years:

1. Sir John Howard and Dame Gina Rinehart
2. Sir Rupert Murdoch and Sir Cardinal George Pell
3. Sir Andrew Bolt and Dame Peta Credlin
4. Sir Alan Jones and Sir Tony Abbott

After all, it would be rude to knight yourself in your first term of office and you can say a lot of things about Tony, but he certainly knows his place.

Anyway, Sir Tony delivered a eulogy at George’s funeral and it certainly made me think again about the misplaced hierarchy in the Catholic Church. Not only, it seems, should George Pell have been Pope but I suspect that he’s replaced St Peter in Heaven and Jesus’ place at God’s right hand is looking a little shaky.

Pell, according to Tones, was the greatest man he ever knew and was the victim of a modern-day crucifixion because not only should he not have been found guilty, it was outrageous that he was even investigated. After all, he never took an interest in investigating priests accused of wrongdoing, so why should anyone investigate him. George, according to Tony, was a saint and there should be (and this is a direct quote in case you think I’m going too far):

“There should be Pell study courses, Pell spirituality courses, Pell lectures, Pell high schools, and Pell university colleges. Just as there are for the other saints.”

Of course, George’s brother, David also got to say a few words among which was the wonderful bit of advice:

“We implore you to rid yourself of the woke algorithm of mistruths, half-truths, and outright lies that have are being perpetrated. Do your research.”

Ok, I could spend many hours trying to unpack that and I’d still be unsure what exactly a woke algorithm is. After all, by definition, an algorithm is a set of rules in a calculation which isn’t something we’d think of as sentient and therefore it can’t be woke, any more than George can.

And putting George to one side, which is probably a good thing, the narrative from his friends and family seems to be that he was a great man, intelligent, aware and astute, but completely unaware of the priests committing deplorable acts on children. It wasn’t this that made the left persecute him but his stance on a range of issues and the fact that he wasn’t afraid to take them on over climate change which led to the police, the DPP and the jury, as well as the accuser all conspire to have him wrongfully charged and convicted and the High Court, not only decided that this decision should have given a reasonable doubt but that they completely exonerated him and, unlike most verdicts announced that he definitely didn’t do anything wrong.

The problem is that it’s the whole system that’s at fault and, whatever you conclude about Saint George, it’s the system that fails the vulnerable. In spite of the sycophantic ramblings of. Tony Abbott, in the end, Pell wasn’t that important a figure in the big picture. Oh sure, he got to be the “third most important Catholic” and that should warm the cockles of our Australian hearts because we should be patriotic and admire such an achievement, even through I doubt that many people could tell us who slipped into number 3 with the passing of Pell.

Just like Robodebt, it’s not the fact that they thought they were clever enough to get away with their unethical conduct and not get caught; it’s the belief that even if they were caught, they were powerful enough that it would all just blow over with no consequences. When the Royal Commission gave its scathing assessment of Pell’s behaviour, so many people shrugged and said that’s just one opinion.

But instead of holding the powerful to account, large sections of the media join with them in attacking these “woke” dragons who are destroying society with their removal of Charles from the $5 note. Don’t they know that the monarch has always been on our five dollar note going right back to Captain Cook’s circumnavigation of Australia (I know, ok, I’m quoting Scotty!)

It’s not that we’re racist, we just think that our $5 should have something uniquely Australian like our King on it.