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Strong points? I don’t think so

I keep reading that the Coalition will play to their strong points in the upcoming campaign which, according to some, are national security, the economy, cost of living, and something that hovers around vaccine rollout/post-pandemic recovery/getouttamyface freedom.

National security gets talked about a lot, mainly as a reason to block any scrutiny of what the government is doing.

Contracts are gifted without tender to obscure companies. Arms purchases are made involving eye-watering sums, all cloaked in a veil of secrecy. We export weapons – who knows what, who knows where?

Does anyone seriously believe that a few manned subs that might be delivered in several decades time are a deterrent to a supposedly imminent invasion by China?

Meanwhile, in response to our ham-fisted shirt-fronting in the media, China imposes trade sanctions, cutting off markets for our exporters and crucial supplies for our importers. So much for ChAFTA.

Diplomacy is for girlie-men – let’s get those great big armoured land vehicles for… ummmm…

Refugees and asylum seekers who have committed no crime are held hostage in the name of national security.

Instead of being strong on national security, they have angered China, alienated the French, neglected our neighbours, abandoned Afghani helpers and refugees, and outsourced control to the US/UK military machine.

At least the economy is going well… for some.

The final budget outcome for last financial year was a deficit of $134.2 billion. Gross debt is $855 billion and climbing, with deficits forecast for at least the next ten years. According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, the tax cuts coming in 24-25 will create extra debt of 276 billion more by 2030-31.

We are the only G20 country to have increased debt by more than 200 per cent since the year 2000 – 221% according to the IMF – yet we are slashing revenue purely so the Coalition can say they cut taxes, not because it will bring a national benefit.

We experienced the first recession in thirty years even with the government pumping hundreds of billions into the economy through measures that saw many profitable businesses pocket a huge windfall courtesy of the taxpayer.

Despite all that government spending, there are more than 3.24 million people or 13.6% of the population living below the poverty line. That includes 774,000 children or more than 1 in 6.

Homelessness decreased during the pandemic when extra support payments were available but is now increasing again since that support has been wound back.

Wage growth has been stagnant. In the September quarter, growth in the wage price index was only 2.2 per cent, which is still below the rate of inflation with real wages going backwards even though unemployment is at low levels.

Headlines in The Australian tell us that energy prices are at an eight year low – which means they haven’t yet got down to what they were when we had carbon pricing. Headlines elsewhere point to petrol prices being at seven year highs, largely driven by even higher gas prices.

Putting the economy in front of public health must have sounded like a good idea at the time but, as per usual, we were unprepared for the inevitable result of that experiment.

ScoMo tells me there are millions of booster shots in the country but the earliest appointment I could get was for February and I can’t find a Rapid test for sale anywhere. PCR testing is now being reserved for those who are sick because the wait times for results are so long.

It’s all very well to open up but no-one can find uninfected unexposed staff as we let it rip. But we won’t mandate anything because the anti-vaxxers and the conspiracy theorists and religious fanatics and the bovver boys want the right to infect whoever they please with no-one telling them what to do in this new age of do-nothing government.

Everything is either someone else’s responsibility or someone else’s fault while the newspapers laud Morrison’s strong leadership, Frydenberg’s popularity, and Barnaby’s retail blokiness.

Everything will be fine if we all row together, united in our broad church of personal responsibility, reading the talking points with one voice.

Just don’t mention climate change, or bushfires, droughts, floods, coastal erosion, bleaching reefs or freak storms. Don’t be distracted by water security, biodiversity or endangered species.

Point to the reports and Royal Commissions and reviews if asked about endemic sexual harassment, neglect and abuse in the aged and disability care sectors, and the deaths in custody of Indigenous people and why they fill our detention centres. Consultation is ongoing in order to reach consensus before recommendations can be considered and trialled and reported back on to the committee.

Pork-barrelling is investing in electorates, rorting expenses is within guidelines, branch stacking is encouraging political engagement, photo shoots are connecting with the local community, attendance at sporting and cultural events is absolutely necessary for our lawmakers to network..

The Indue card and Robodebt show how much we care about getting people into jobs.

Any form of integrity or anti-corruption body would be a kangaroo court who destroys the careers of innocent people, crippling government largesse. A Voice to parliament would be a racist third chamber just after money and land for nothing. We’ll get to the religious freedom bill after their prayers are answered and the evil one is defeated.

ScoMo spoke of receiving a sign from God in the shape of a photograph of an eagle – divine endorsement for his ascension to high office.

Perhaps he should take heed of the warning in Jeremiah 49:15 “Now I will make you small among the nations, despised by mankind. 16 The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks, who occupy the heights of the hill. Though you build your nest as high as the eagle’s, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.

 

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21 comments

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  1. David Stakes

    Managed to get a Booster for Jan 12th, just keep out of trouble as much as I can. My son who works in a Woolies store is picking up more shifts as permanent staff fall sick. Just got t hope he does not bring it home. It worries me at the amount of Delta which is out there, all these infections are not Omicron. Government needs to come clean.

  2. GL

    “I keep reading that the Coalition will play to their strong points in the upcoming campaign which…”

    Honesty, integrity, fiscal mastery, caring about the…oops, wrong party.

    Lying, cheating, dirt, corruption (if not outright criminality), fear, Rupert, pork barrelling, Murdoch, the slow ongoing takeover and installation of a right wing religious/authoritarian dictatorship…the list goes on and…

  3. Cool Pete

    Here’s something we need to remember, and, yes I know the circumstances were different, BUT, nearly 120 years ago, Britain and Japan signed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance (as part of that, Japanese cruisers escorted Australian troops to battle in Gallipoli and Europe), under which, if British colonies in the Pacific were threatened, Japan would come to their aid and that of Britain. And, Churchill redirected Australian troops to what was then Burma to assist British garrisons.
    The question needs to be asked, even if there is a common language, what is the logic behind Australia signing a security agreement with a country 20,00kms away? Firstly, in the unlikely event that China invaded Australia, an amphibious landing would not be successful as China would have to split its forces! And, if China invaded, and Britain came to our aid, Egypt would hardly say, “Oh, certainly, you can come through the Suez Canal. We’ll wave you through.” So, British forces would either have to come down around the Southern Tip of Africa or South America, or through the Panama Canal! It would make more sense to sign a defence agreement with a neighbouring country! Uh, say Japan.
    The Coalition is still basically farting from the Botty songbook when it comes to action on climate change!

  4. Michael Taylor

    It’ll be amazing how many “good points” the mainstream media will round up once the election campaign is in full swing. Unfortunately, these alleged points will be nothing to address all the wrongs.

  5. Kaye Lee

    It’s all in the cherry-picking Michael.

  6. Phil Pryor

    Coalition strong points?? How about backstabbing, double crossing, laziness, lying, more lying, extreme prejudicial lying, superstitious self appointed righteous lying, dogshitskulldumb lying, climate policy lying, B Joyce rootem/drinkon/leave’em lying, Peter Duckwit-Futton futility and ignorance lying, contracts lying, budget and finance lying, Taylorthieving and S Robber incompetent imbecilic lying, and Lying about never Lying!!!!! Flush the shit, remove the rottenness, wipe the nation’s botty, bury the brown logs, eliminate the superstitious raving frauds and fantasists, Muzzle Merde Dog’s maggoty misfits, save this Nation.

  7. Terence Mills

    Barnaby Joyce claimed that Australia is in imminent danger of defaulting on its government debt.

    We’re going into hock to our eyeballs to people overseas. And you’ve got to ask the question how far in debt do you want to go? We are getting to a point where we can’t repay it.

    That was when Barnaby was Finance Spokesman for the coalition in opposition when our government debt was a fraction of what it is now. Under the economic management of the coalition, Australia is now the only member of the G20 to have increased debt by more than 200 per cent over a period that includes the dot.com recession, the global financial crisis and now the coronavirus recession.

    Don’t let Scotty or Frydenberg ever tell us that they are more competent at managing our economy.

  8. corvusboreus

    Robodebt maths.

    Robodebt was (mal)administered by ministers Morrison, Porter, Tudge & Roberts.
    Initially it spent around $606m to ‘recover’ $785m ($179m, a tidy profit).
    Then legal realities hit as the highest court in the land ruled that the process was illegitimate in formulation and illegal in implementation.
    They got the money maths completely wrong, then compounded theer incompetence by breaking the law in assuming rather than proving the existence of debt.
    The final amount the courts ordered paid out amounted ton$1.8 billion, including $751m in direct refunds, thus amounting to a loss of over $1.6 billion(+$179m – $1.8b)

    Even ignoring the issue of government agencies systematically breaking the law to wrongfully persecute vulnerable citizens, wasting over $1,600,000,000 on bungled basic maths defies any definition of ‘responsible economic management’.

  9. Kaye Lee

    cb,

    For what it’s cost to keep the Biloela family incarcerated, we could have bought them their own island resort.

    Then there’s the compensation paid to the refugees we kept locked up illegally in poor conditions and the Save the Children staff ScoMo falsely accused of coaching children to self-harm. Not to mention the endless court cases and appeals fought to keep people locked up or to overturn court orders.

    And let’s not forget the new fit-out for Border Force with black uniforms and sidearms and more medals than the military.

  10. GL

    Here’s an idea: if big business is whining and wringing their hands about restrictions why the bloody hell don’t they put their hands into their deep pockets and…oh wait, that could affect share prices, profits, and bonuses…in that case keep whining and wringing your hands and pushing for the tax payers/gubmint to pay for Omicron test kits. Duh, silly me.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/30/state-induced-chaos-business-groups-call-for-less-restrictions-even-as-australias-covid-cases-soar

  11. Wayne Turner

    COALITION strong points = LIES they repeat non stop,aided by their MSM,who report them unquestioning.

    The COALITION’S so called strong points, are lies.

    Our mediaocracy continues…

  12. Michael Taylor

    I’m half expecting the Murdoch media’s adoration of Morrison to be lifted to living legend status akin to China’s 1966 claim of Chairman Mao’s record-breaking swim of nearly 15 kms in 65 minutes, or like North Korea’s claim that their former leader sunk 17 holes in one (or thereabouts) the first time he ever played golf.

    Yup. Scotty can do all that.

  13. Henry Rodrigues

    Now here’s some bad points. Starting with the 46% of braindead Australians who still approve of these arsewipes, Twiggy and the other fat slob from his part of the world, who donate frequently and sizeably to Scummo and his crooked party, the crinkled old scroat and his army of slimy maggots, who defend and cover up his fuckups and outright misdeeds, the born again dickheads stamping their their feet and swaying to their version of pious soundings, hoping that Scummo will lead them into the glorious world of riches, temporal and divine. And never forget the rusted on pricks who would ignore all their own past stupidity and continue to put their faith in a useless incompetent bastard, who lies straight to their faces.

    These actually are the ‘good’ points Scummo and his party are relying on.

  14. Terence Mills

    I have just heard that :

    National cabinet has agreed to a new definition of a COVID-19 close contact to mean someone who has been with a confirmed case for more than four hours within a household.

    Now, I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer but what about in the office or other workplace , how does that work ?

  15. GL

    Terence,

    Scummo doesn’t really give a shit about things like that any more, there’s an election looming so he just has to keep looking after number one. Reality? Who needs it in the fantasy bubble that is the LNP.

  16. Kaye Lee

    So today, the Queensland government has published the delayed Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) that covers land clearing for the 2018-19 year.

    During those 12 months, landholders cleared 680,688 hectares. To give the amount some context, Australia’s national greenhouse gas inventory estimated landclearing in 2018 calendar year was about 370,000 hectares nationwide. In that year, the Commonwealth government also claimed the land sector was a net sink in the order of more than 20 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide.

    Our claims of emissions reduction are total crap.

    https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/management/mapping/statewide-monitoring/slats/slats-reports/2018-19-report

  17. margcal

    KL: Meanwhile, in response to our ham-fisted shirt-fronting in the media, China imposes trade sanctions, cutting off markets for our exporters and crucial supplies for our importers. So much for ChAFTA.

    But let’s not forget …..
    We still have our very, very good, bestest friends the USAmericans. We didn’t get to fill our export contract orders to China so those friends did it for us.
    The cheque’s in the mail. Isn’t it?

    With friends like these …….

  18. Kaye Lee

    NSW reports new record of 21,151 new cases and 6 deaths

    I hope ScoMo and DoPe are happy with their plan to ignore the health advice and nurture the economy rather than the people.

  19. corvusboreus

    KL,
    So in 2018-19 Qld cleared nearly twice as much native vegetation as the entire nation in total?
    That’s an unbelievable achievement!

    I remember a few years back when environmental worker, husband and father Glenn Turner was brutally murdered by a Croppa Creek farmer who was illegally felling trees, and BarnabyJoyce called the atrocity ‘a reflection of community anger’ that showed a need to change legislation.
    By that reasoning, dope growers and meth cookers should start gunning down drug squad cops in order to force the hand on drug reform.

    Our PM is a globally derided compulsive liar whose favourite pastor is currently up on charges of covering up serial child rape.
    Our deputy PM is a deranged drunk with a long history of infidelity and sexual harrasment.
    Our previous AG is an accused rapist who takes brown bags on ‘blind trust’ and his replacement threatened to slut-shame female ALP staffers based solely on rumour.
    Ministers sidelined for blatant corruption and incompetence are cycled back into other ministries after brief spells of token penance.

    I despair that many/most of the people I share this rocky boat with either don’t know or don’t care about the consistent displays of deliberate dishonesty, incompetence and straight out malice.
    I suspect this is due to a combination of deliberate constant shifting of the ethical Overton window inducing moral fatigue, and people being too overwhelmed by an incessant gish-gallop of crapulent acts to be bothered paying any more attention.

    A cursory aquaintance with the vaguest details of the robodebt debacle alone (breaking laws and wasting copious revenue to wrongfully persecute vulnerable citizens) should render the current coalition completely unelectable , but I suspect that next election the hotplate touchers will once again be drawn towards that comfortingly familiar warm red glow.

    Ps, the current freedom of information case undertaken by Damian Warren against the fed gov over robodebt is one worth watching.
    He is appealing a move by the gov to block access to documents detailing communications between beurocracy and ministry leading up to implementing the illegal scam.
    It looks like the most likely avenue to enforce any ‘personal responsibilty’ on those directly responsible.

    Pps, happy new year, good health and fortune to you and yours, and thank you for standing strong and staying smart.

  20. Kaye Lee

    cb,

    I understand why people turn off. It is exhausting. It is endlessly disappointing. Every statement must be fact-checked. Important reports are either buried or released when everyone is distracted by other things. The amount of money being spent on court cases fighting freedom of information directions is staggering. As is the amount spent on torturing refugees and fighting court orders to stop it.

    Everything is judged by its effect on the economy right this second. No future planning like what will happen when we stop wearing masks and the entire workforce is infected or exposed. Or what will we do about testing when tens of thousands of people are being infected every day.

    And one that may interest you….

    Dominic Perrottet is one of 12 children and, at the age of 39, is about to have his 7th child. DoPe takes his personal responsibility to overpopulate the planet very seriously.

    HNY to you too….and until we get knocked off our orbit or the sun explodes or we all die of COVID or bake to death, maintain the rage!

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