From Indonesia with Love

Source: Nicholson Cartoons

I for one am shocked, SHOCKED, that Australian’s spies might be spying on people.

A news story hasn’t shaken me this much since I found out SAS Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith was awarded the Victoria Cross for killing people. I thought he received it for services to current affairs programs.

The revelations published in the Guardian this week really hit home for me. The Defence Department facility allegedly used in the phone tapping is near the farm my pet dog went to live on when I was 12. The thought of it being used for nefarious purposes is utterly bewildering.

Political correctness gone mainstream

Bloody PC hippy Source: smh.com.au

The popular view of political correctness is that it is an exclusively left wing phenomenon.
Two seasonally appropriate examples of “political correctness gone mad” are craven shopping centres removing Nativity scenes so as not to offend Muslims and bushfires caused by Green/ALP opposition to backburning.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison made use of this public perception on Monday when he defended his use of the term “illegal arrival” to describe asylum seekers who arrived by boat.

The microparty’s over

Source: The Australian

It’s lazy to start with a cliche but this week’s ululations over microparties elected to the Senate is a perfect example of how long a week can be in politics.

First lets start with the victors. On the morning of the election Frances and Bridget Abbott’s father warned against “toying” with minor parties because “we need a strong and stable government”.

However, by Monday senior Liberal Senator George Brandis was championing diversity, saying “it’s sometimes refreshing to see that the major parties don’t have a monopoly on access to Parliament”.

Tony Abbot vs Kevin Rudd vs Darryl Kerrigan

Superman and Jesus were asylum seekers

Visit the Refugee Rights Action Network WA to learn more.

 

A lesson in Meaghernomics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3ZNXGaYK9I&t=01m34s

In 2007 Western Australia was booming. Tradesmen were driving around in gold-plated utes, a handful of nickel could buy a small island and a two bedroom shack in Karratha cost half a million dollars.

Then in 2008 the GFC happened. Mines were laying off contractors, nickel was worth less than magic beans and we had to spend Federal money at Harvey Norman to keep the national economy alive.

Yet that only quietened the boom to a dull roar. By 2010 the only price higher than iron ore was that of a cup of coffee, except there was nobody left to serve these extortionate beverages because anyone with less than a doctorate in nuclear physics seemed to have gone FIFO.

The unpopular crowd

Source: http://www.laberal.blogspot.com.au

You could fill a dictionary with the array of adjectives currently attached to our federal politicians, few of the complimentary.

However, despite the role call of misogynists, alleged fraudsters and rugby league fans, the one sin you can’t accuse our parliamentarians of is populism.

Predictions for the Australian federal election

August 9: Despite high media coverage of his plans to clone dinosaurs and rebuild the Titanic, Clive Palmer says he won’t be making anymore policy announcements until he pays his late fines at Civic Video.

August 12: Broadcast of a Q&A election special is delayed when squeals from Malcolm Turnbull fangirls interfere with the microphones. The program eventually goes ahead but several young ladies have to be revived when Malcolm pops his collar.

August 15: Former Labor MP Craig Thomson hires an expensive QC to successfully defend charges he used a union credit card at a brothel. Thomson celebrates with Champagne, Destiny and Nikki.

Workplace safety in Canberra

All the nuance that’s fit to print

For me the standout aspect of the interesting times that have beset Australian politics recently was a line in Julia Gillard’s concession speech on the effect gender had on her term in office.

“It explains some things. And it is for the nation to think in a sophisticated way about those shades of grey.”

It was refreshing to hear one of our leaders acknowledge, albeit belatedly, that some issues are beyond black and white. That we as a nation might be able to appreciate the complexities of a situation.