Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing.
. . . . .
Oh, When will you ever learn?
Oh, When will you ever learn?
The mind works in mysterious ways!
For some reason, this Pete Seeger song slipped into my thoughts earlier today – immediately followed by the question
Where on earth has the Australian Opposition Party disappeared to?
Now I am fully aware of the dilemma faced by the Labor Party.
Unless circumstances take an unexpected turn, the Murdoch media will support the Coalition and denigrate the Opposition – just as Morrison praises Liberal NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, lauding her to the skies and supporting her allowing the SCG to be used for the next Test Match, while demonising Labor Victoria Premier Dan Andrews, and ignoring the fact that Victoria’s most recent cases of infection have come from NSW!
And the Murdoch Media in most parts of Australia controls a majority of the media outlets!
Perhaps some hidden memory of the words of the song was triggered by the ‘what goes around, comes around’ nature of the Pete Seeger verses, matches the circular nature of the COVID-19 infections.
We are so not out of the woods!
Just as the current hiatus could have been put to good use in developing urgently needed policies to avert the worst consequences of global warming, but was not, so too our current situation is the result of ineffective leadership for the country from a Prime Minister who chose to pass the buck to the Premiers and Chief Minister, while demanding to be congratulated whenever things turned out well.
We need a national policy on quarantine because that is an issue firmly in the national domain.
We also need a much more serious discussion on the universal basic income concept, as it could have been the perfect solution to our current economic mess with its many seriously damaged damaged lives.
We need an Opposition which is actively criticising – and praising when praise is due – the government policies.
Is it so scared of putting forward alternative policies in case they will be stolen?
If it has publicly proposed them and – in the unlikely event that the Coalition does make use of them – they are put into effect, and are successful – then what is going to stop the Opposition from drawing attention to the fact that they are pleased to see their policies being put in place and reap some benefit?
There has been some publicity recently over a connection between Industry Super and a non-paywalled online publication, The New Daily, (TND) which has been going now for some 7 years.
As print newspapers die out, and people must, increasingly, turn to the internet for the latest news, Albanese would be smart to direct press releases exclusively to TND and the ABC.
As a political fence sitter (as noted elsewhere – mother Tory, father Labour) I am amused to see how those who follow the Murdoch media see the ABC as ‘lefties’, while those who see themselves as lefties bewail the way the ABC has moved to the right – which tells me the ABC has probably done its balancing act moderately well!
One of the jobs of a national news outlet is to hold the government – of whatever flavour – to account. That is not showing bias. That is doing its job, because, goodness knows, few governments, if any, are above criticism and the Murdoch media only ever offer at most muted criticism!
Morrison’s only skills are in marketing and he uses them most often in marketing himself.
Peter Beattie designated himself as a media tart.
Scott Morrison is a media hog!
He will get as much personal publicity as he can get.
Labor has got to smarten up, throw out Joel Fitzgibbon, who is loudly opposing acceptance of action on climate change, develop an effective set of policies in this regard – enough European countries have done so to provide a viable model – concentrate on policies which will win votes – inequality is increasing apace and not many Labor votes will be lost if the ultra-rich are taxed more heavily – and, above all advertise the errors in the way the Coalition has handled the pandemic.
It is a fair bet that Morrison will choose an auspicious moment in 2021 to call an early election – he has virtually signalled this by saying he won’t – so Labor has got to have already outlined, and headlined succinctly, a viable policy platform.
If it is already in the public domain, they can start answering question immediately, not in the heat of an election campaign, and have more time to counter the lies that will be generated by those attacking it.
In recent days I have spent quite a bit of time with people who are trying to promote the concept of lived experience in terms of developing policy which meets needs. For example, NDIS is being delivered by people who have no lived experience and have not run their procedures through with people who have had lived experience. Hence the list of failures and disasters.
Labor must be aware of this need and make sure it consults appropriate people in developing its policies.
I do not belong to any political party, but, if I could find one which believes in social justice and has a truly effective concept for a national ICAC, I would be a foundation member!
Too many people have suffered severely under this government – and are continuing to suffer – and they include Australian citizens, many of whom are in the arts and entertainment industries, who have performed to raise funds for others, like after the 2020/21 bush fires, but who have been given no support by government; foreign nationals on work visas with no work.now available; refugees deprived of freedom to a greater extent than murderers, and those caught out overseas who have definitely not been returned to Australia by Christmas!
We need a ray of hope that the Coalition can be voted out – so we need an effective Opposition!
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