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The Unwanted Guests

By 2353NM

We’ve all seen the movie or read the book that has, as a part of the plot, a group of relatives who are reluctantly invited to the wedding only because they are family. Frankly, no one really likes them due to their boorish and overbearing attitudes. Stereotypically, while giving the (usually unwarranted) impression of moral and financial superiority, the unwanted are guilty of attempting to monopolise the conversation, force their morals and ethics on others as well as harassing and bullying others for disagreeing with their particular world view. Regardless of the real reason for the family gathering, in the unwanted’s opinion, ‘it’s all about me’. Typically the storyline will have the unwanted come in late, create mayhem and disruption then leave after dropping a clanger or two on the assembled guests as a farewell ‘present’.

It’s not hard to make comparisons with this plotline and Australia’s behaviour at the recent Pacific Forum in Tuvalu. According to The Guardian who interviewed Fijian Prime Minister Bainimarama

Morrison’s approach during the leaders’ retreat on Thursday was “very insulting and condescending”

“Yesterday was probably one of the most frustrating days I have ever had,” he said of the leaders’ retreat, which lasted for nearly 12 hours and almost broke down over Australia’s red lines on the climate crisis.

“After yesterday’s meeting I gathered [Morrison] was here only to make sure that the Australian policies were upheld by the Pacific island nations,” said Bainimarama.

“I thought Morrison was a good friend of mine; apparently not.

“The prime minister at one stage, because he was apparently [backed] into a corner by the leaders, came up with how much money Australia have been giving to the Pacific. He said: ‘I want that stated. I want that on the record.’ Very insulting.”

Bainimarama then went on to suggest that Morrison was pushing the Pacific towards China.

The basic problem here is that Morrison is sitting on both sides of the climate fence. He and the LNP have painted themselves into the corner through pandering to various self-interest groups and whichever way they turn, they take the risk of disaffecting a significant group of people, funding and supporters. As Katherine Murphy discusses

Campaign calm down is part of Morrison’s ongoing effort to straddle two domestic constituencies: the coal communities who worry Labor has abandoned them in the service of climate science, and Liberal voters in the cities who think climate change is a real thing, and the government should do sensible things to try to avert it.

To the coal communities, Morrison projects a disposition of “I’m on your side”. To moderate, rusted on, Liberal voters in the cities, Morrison regularly accepts the science of climate change, and signals he is not crazy retrograde on this stuff, like Tony Abbott was.

Morrison can’t be seen to be agreeing to any actual commitment that accepts climate change as a reality for want of offending a large group of his supporters, neither can he argue the opposite as there is a significant group of LNP voters that disagree with that position.

This might be OK politically in Australia, but when the highest point in your country is 4.5 metres above sea level, as is the case in Tuvalu, political issues in Australia probably aren’t considered to be as important as concerns around the potential for your homeland to become uninhabitable, arguably with some justification. The Tuvalu Government’s website discussion on the mitigation required and underway to hopefully address some of the issues resulting from climate change is here. It’s well worth a read.

While Morrison’s behaviour didn’t attract many positive comments, his actions pale into insignificance with some of his fellow travellers. Exhibit one is Alan Jones who told Morrison to shove a sock down the throat of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for the horrific crime of disagreeing with Jones’ hard-line conservative position on climate change. Jones seems to have a problem with female leaders as he also made extremely personal and disparaging comments about former Prime Minister Gillard and berated the CEO of the Sydney Opera House Trust live on air for failing to allow advertising to be projected on the sails. Fortunately, others who have the authority to determine Jones’ fate finally made a stand threatening one more outburst would result in Jones’ contract with Macquarie Radio being torn up.

Exhibit two in the shocker of the week where diplomacy went out the window along with a lot of credibilities – we had the Deputy Prime Minister McCormack wanting to take us back to the days of cargo cults by claiming:

Pacific island nations affected by the climate crisis will continue to survive “because many of their workers come here to pick our fruit”.

Clearly, Australia’s current leaders don’t want to get along with our ‘Pacific Islands’ family and we also have radio announcers that believe they have so much anointed power and authority they can insult a foreign leader without fear of repercussions.

No movie script would go that far.

What do you think?

This article was originally published on The Political Sword

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5 comments

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  1. Phil Pryor

    Too many political. church, social, corporation and other leaders have been negatively indoctrinated, seduced by the filth of avarice as though that were a virtue. Morrison, a misguided, mendacious, maggoting misfit, has had his lying and perverting of intellect highly polished, akin to B Joyce’s member’s end, the glans penis, where’s my Venus. Too many leaders have aspired to get up and in to thwart others, cash in, develop networks, absorb praise, gloat and glow. Inflating the ego to colossal proportions is the end, the great fascist/narcissistic domineering. What turds they are, never serving decently, unless there is most of it for them, the cronies, fellow travellers, in crowd incestuous idiots. The rise of loudmouthed egofixated empty, inadequate fascist fools should be and must be opposed. Reality, facts, fair assessment, intellectual honesty, perception, foresight, too often missing from greedy wannabe public figures who fail us and the planet. The Morrison types feed the glowing brown anus of corporate ascendency, the bottom line soiled.

  2. Patricia

    Morrisons raison d’être is money. Money for himself, money from donations and keeping taxpayer money from those who need it.
    Morrison thinks that he can act like Trump and get away with it like Trump does in the US. Trump only gets away with it because his voting base are intellectually and morally challenged and because the POTUS is still (for some unknown reason) referred to as the “leader of the free world”. What an absolute shocking misnomer.
    As an Australian I, and many other of my kind, take huge umbrage at the very thought of Trump being the leader of my country, but Morrison, who has little in the way of real intellect, lots of cunning but not much else, no moral base and no compassion or empathy seems to think that being like Trump will make him into some kind of god like leader.
    My view, think again Morrison, you attract the kind of bogan that Trump attracts but those of us who have a larger view of community and country see you as just another clown.

  3. Alan Nosworthy

    McCormack crows that said fruit are “grown with hard Australian enterprise and endeavour” as he massages the self regard of his fellows. Presenting the actually “hard” work of picking as a benevolence rather than an essential
    task the enterprising will endeavour to have someone/anyone else do for minimum wage.
    The force of Saint Josephs parable of the enterprising lifter and the sweaty tired leaner is strong in this one.

  4. wam

    The xstian(jews and muslims) men cannot risk their families thinking of their faith. We know that the pragmatic adherents, to bible based religions, can lie, as long as it is for god. They will do anything to protect such lies and to avoid any questions as to the beliefs that drive their political decisions. Time to change the concept of protecting the secrets of religion and having open debates on faith.
    ps
    NM can any scientist deny climate change is a natural occurrence and has been changing for billions of years?
    Why are we worried?
    Could man’s releasing greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuel that nature sequestered be a concern?
    When we know why venus is the hottest planet, why aren’t we worried.
    The choice of words is important, who remembers the carbon price when it became carbon tax and an effective election catch cry for the rabbott?
    Gillard got the ABC and labor to use price on carbon but it was easier to say tax. He won on a lie but natural climate change is true? Is the term ‘climate change’ a loser? Check your lnp websites?

  5. Bronte ALLAN

    Great article 2353NM! It seems that SloMo is between a rock & a hard place–how good is that? He definitely cannot be “for” Climate Change in the eyes of all his inept, lying, flat earth, climate change denying idiot COALition mates, nor can he be”against” Climate Change if he wants to keep all the Pacific Island peoples etc on side. Just what can this buffoon do? Oh, that’s right, he will use his personal acquaintance with whichever stupid happy-clapper quasi-religion he needs to, & it will all be alright. Won’t it?

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