Last month, Scott Morrison addressed the Lowy Institute, declaring his government will lead the charge in asserting the authority of nation states over unelected international institutions.
“We should avoid any reflex towards a negative globalism that coercively seeks to impose a mandate from an often ill-defined borderless global community. And worse still, an unaccountable internationalist bureaucracy,” Mr Morrison said.
“Only a national government, especially one accountable through the ballot box and the rule of law, can define its national interests. We can never answer to a higher authority than the people of Australia.”
He warned about a new order that sought to “elevate global institutions above the authority of nation states to direct national policies.”
“Under my leadership, Australia’s international engagement will be squarely driven by Australia’s national interests. To paraphrase former prime minister John Howard, as Australians, ‘we will decide our interests and the circumstances in which we seek to pursue them’.”
The not so subtle subtext was ‘you can’t tell us what to do on refugees, human rights, climate change, and all that other sustainability crap’.
Moving right along to today, and the deputy leader of the Liberal party, the grinning Treasurer, is giving a speech at the Australian National University where he will call for the reinvigoration of the World Trade Organisation and for the International Monetary Fund to change its governance structure to reflect the larger role of emerging economies, particularly those in Asia.
“Given Australia’s strong strategic, political and economic ties with key partners both near and abroad, we are well placed as a nation to play an active and constructive role,” he will say.
“We need to reclaim that spirit as we pursue multilateral and plurilateral arrangements that embed the concept of openness in their rules and norms and support a broader rules based order.”
Like the Paris Agreement?
Like the Refugee Convention?
Like a Human Rights Charter?
Like letting witnesses testify in the International Court of Justice?
To paraphrase John Howard, ‘we will decide which rules we will follow and the circumstances in which we will tell you anything’.
If we say we are smashing our emissions reductions targets, then we are, and any figures from our departments saying otherwise haven’t spun the per capita and GDP lines hard enough. All we need to do is issue a shitload more temporary visas and our per capita emissions will go down even further with no effort. That’s what I call efficient.
These guys really should stop giving speeches. Stick to the photos, boys – it’s yer best thing.
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Thanks for explaining what he meant by that gobbledegook, Kaye. I had no idea! 😀 Should have known it was just more arrogance from our authoratarian leader.
The committed fascists and breathtaking arrogant fools in the LNP absolutely REFUSE to listen to the experienced credible scientists, steadfastly REFUSE to listen to renowned economists (like the Nobel prize winning Joseph Stiglitz who has loudly criticised the LNP’s appalling mismanagement of Australia’s economy) and REFUSE to listen to the people of Australia whom the LNP treat with sneering, condescending contempt! No other government in our history (with the exception of the war criminal, John Howard) have managed to defund, annihilate and destroy SO MUCH in so short a time.
It has only taken six short (devastating) years for the Wrecking Ball Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison circus to go on a campaign of such wilful, methodical destruction, it has changed the face of Australia and altered who we are in the eyes of the world. Outlined below is just a SMALL list of the devastation the LNP have caused and links to further published chaos under their catastrophic mismanagement:
**QUADRUPLED our national deficit to more than ONE TRILLION DOLLARS,
**completely destroyed the longest river system in our country, ie the Murray/Darling river by handing over unlimited water to the greedy predators in the cotton growing industry in the middle of one of the worst droughts in our history. This unspeakable act of criminal vandalism by the notorious, wreckless Barnyard Joyce, went on to seriously impact desperate farmers down river and had disastrous consequences on Adelaide which city relies on the (once) great Murray River for its water supply!
**the LNP continue to turn Australia into an international laughing stock and have now just about destroyed our once fine international reputation. We are now known, internationally, as a shallow, climate-change-denying nation of xenophobic racists who, despite every international law on the fair and just treatment of asylum seekers, have chosen to indefinitely lock up desperate asylum seekers (including defenseless little children) escaping from an illegal war that WE helped to create in Iraq and Syria;
**Morrison has received world wide derision and scorn for treating our island neighbours with such open, blatant contempt that our country has now become the Pariah of the Pacific,
**waste countless BILLIONS of hard-earned taxpayer dollars on ridiculous weapons of war, eg ludicrous submarines (providing jobs for the French and NOT Australians) which will become obsolete before they are completed,
**shut down Australia’s enviable motor vehicle manufacturing industry by REFUSING to provide government subsidies (despite the fact that EVERY government in the countries that manufacture cars subsidises their car manufacturing) – this insane move by the short-sighted idiot, Abbott, cost Australia THOUSANDS of jobs within the car manufacturing industry and within RELATED industries! This action from a government who brags to keep industries and jobs in Australia – what outrageous hypocrisy!
**the countless MILLIONS of dollars defunded from public school education, Medicare and health!
**the relentless patriarchal misogyny that sweeps through the LNP at every level;
**the LNP’s ongoing totally corrupt, politically-biased association with their propaganda ministers in the Murdoch dynasty which goes on and on remorselessly attacking the ALP and the Greens whilst printing NOTHING about the appalling failure and escalating fascism of the LNP;
**the LNP’s ongoing perverted association with the cold blooded neoliberal billionaires in the IPA which nefarious, undemocratic and unelected organisation have so much power and undue influence over the agenda and policies of the LNP!
**the callous inhumanity by the LNP in its breathtaking mistreatment of asylum seekers, the poor, the homeless, the unemployed – non-stop virulent attacks that have allowed the worst, most heartless and cruel people in our society to crawl out from under their rocks and give them “permission” to vent their hatred and scorn on the most vulnerable people in Australia!
**the absolute REFUSAL to address climate change issues DESPITE the fact that hard evidence has been presented by credible scientists all around the world and we are – right at this minute – experiencing the WORST most devastating fires in our history. Climate change is NO LONGER ON THE HORIZON – it is HERE AND NOW yet we have a deaf, dumb and hopelessly blind government too stubborn, too stupid and too arrogant to admit that they are DEAD WRONG! Their inability to address these issues is KILLING our environment and causing the death of Australians and the rapid extinction of countless Australian native animals!
The list goes on and on as outlined by The Guardian and even news.com on their expose of Abbott:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/southern-crossroads/2014/sep/05/abbott-first-year-environment-climate-ten-worst-decisions
https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/the-series-of-disasters-that-have-wrecked-the-government/news-story/6505aa1bec77e761e2882f1c0871dc49
The current Australian government is iincrementally increasing insular policies and legislation that will curb any criticism, protest, access to information, or rationally and evidence-based strategies.
In the current climate emergency it can demonstrate NO significant and clearly delineated plan to deal with such future catastrophes or to mitigate the effects of climate change, which is an obvious contributor to what has become an increasing trend towards weather extremes. Indeed, one of its ministers even write off this ideas as just a tactic of the Greens to muddy the waters and push their own agenda.
There has been considerable discussion about this government’s win over the ALP. Lots of blame has been aimed at Bill Shorten and his ambitious policies. At the same time, praise has been heaped on Morrison for the LNP win.
In fact, with the exception of the Greens, the ALP was the only political party to offer a comprehensive policy agenda. The LNP had none at all, unless you can so call its normal practice of favouring the wealthy and large corporations at the expense of the bulk of the community, particularly those who are disadvantaged.
The ALP policy platform was wide-ranging, rational, equitable and progressive. Had it been put into place then Australia would have a chance of regaining its status as a nation of caring and welcoming; of an equitable rule of law; of adherence to the principle of open discussion and civil liberties; of collaboration and partnership with other nations for the improvement of human relations and well-being – not, if at all, simply for profit.
Morrison has extended the demeaning of the financially and skills disadvantaged with his comment about “give it a go and get a go”. None of the denials of this put down of the disadvantaged can be sustained under logical examination. Amanda Vanstone’s squirming and cowardly attempt to defend Morrison’s view as applying to something else was one of the most cowardly and obvious instance of right wing false bifurcation used as means to dig themselves out of a hole.
That this government will ignore the plight of millions of Australians living at or below the poverty line whilst investing billions in military hardware that is generally obsolescent before it can even enter service and very often needs massively costly upgrades before it can achieve that for which it was purchased, is a sad indictment on right-wing ideology.
That this government places more stock on the profits of an unscrupulous Indian company, known for wrong-doing, and provides backing for it to mine for coal, regardless of the known and undeniable impact on native species and the environment, is yet another example of the ‘profit before people’ tenet that lies at the core of this government’s ideology.
All of these factors are reasons why this government has no mandate and does not deserve to exercise the control that it does. It and its predecessor governments over the last half dozen years have tripled Australia’s debt, yet have the gall to proclaim a surplus. Smoke and mirrors is its tactic.
Sadly, the growth of populism and the simplistic acceptance of selfish and discriminatory policies appeals to far too many Australians and so this government was elected. Helped, of course, by smear campaigns against ALP candidates, lies about ALP intentions, and false advertising to capture the Chinese vote and that of others.
The he worst aspect of this government and the majority of its members is their continual lying, The direct lies are enough to deserve censure of these dishonourable members but when the sleight of hand deceit, the attacks on the media, the abuse of the FOI Act and redaction of documents to the point of worthlessness, the manipulation of statistics & other figures such that they obscure or even reverse actual facts, and their failure to ever answer a straight-forward question with a straight-forward and honest answer – it is clear that the members of this government are neither honourable, rational, service orientated, caring of those without, or possessed of any creative solutions and vision for the future.
It was a sad day when Neo-liberalism arrived on our shores and it is even sadder today that so many people are fooled by it and have voted against their own interests by voting in this despicable, myopic, dishonest, self-serving and incompetent government.
I’ve said it before and I’ll state it again, we WILL have a revolution, and I’m hoping it won’t get ugly but I doubt it. We will have to employ every possible tactic to rid our great country from the most fascist, ignorant, and most corrupt “government in our history. The media are gone, all the agencies of government have been corrupted, the AFP, ASIO, and the rest are all in the fascists pocket. The ABC is now the state run mouthpiece for the fascist and state police seem to have gone the same way. Nothing is left for us other than a revolution.
It is clear to Blind Freddie that Scummo cannot comprehend international treaties and the responsibilities that attach to them. But would somebody please explain me how a failed professional tennis player has any academic training or practical experience in financial matters sufficient to be in charge of the national Treasury?
A very good summary of where we are at Kathryn and Nonsibicunctis.
We are a country led by incompetent and unethical people who lack the intelligence and foresight to take us into a brighter future.
Great comments, Kathryn and nonsibicunctis. Awesome contributions.
A great ideal, ‘not for one but all’ but, arguably, scummo went to the election with the successful policies they had lied about, almost un-opposed., during the last 6 years.
The alternative government, Labor had a suitcase full of poolacies and the loonies had climate change and adani to frighten the workers, who didn’t have input into shorten’s suitcase, into diabolus melius nosti??
Albo can start now and clear up the rabbott’s debt lies or sit and wait for a leader who can shine..
Question; why are grey cars proliferating on our roads despite the evidence from optical science that the low visibility of colourless shades increases the risk of accidents, and the economic evidence that car manufacturers profit from vehicle collisions?
Answer, because most people are illogical morons who eschew the tedium of evidence in favour of confidence marketing.
.
Nonsibicunctus,
Thank you, that was a well weighted ream of succinct summary sense.
haha crow, your are funnier than, lord. Have you had enough of baiting the 90% of us non-loonie morons and used your casual observation to find a minority set of morons? A simple search would show you that 92.5% of cars are not grey but like climate change near enough is good enough, and we know what you mean.
ps
I heard a bloke talking about bush fires and he was in your moron group because he was talking about ‘fire’ and obviously was unaware that the real and present danger to life was the smoke that nearly killed him..
woftam,
Haven’t I asked you not to divert your drivel in my direction?