To everyone—I watched the play-out of Australian politics on TV the last two days with its predictable commentary from the ABC. To run around asking the opinions of people on the streets and then obviously selecting something reflecting ABC bias is hardly good journalism. However, I think the change of Prime Minister was a well-planned, ‘in-house’ event! The policy was ‘Turnbull must go’ and he was deposed, Dutton was never the planned person to replace him but the two who were elected Prime Minister and Deputy in that order. It was a charade played out for the gullible voter—Morrison and Frydenberg emerged as ‘the good guys’. The suspension of the House of Representatives was interesting in the performance of the Opposition, they behaved like they were goaded with a ‘shit-stick’.
Then the ABC broadcast moved to the Senate around 2 pm ... what a performance by Senator Wong. Labor, in both Houses, were crying “What about the Australian people?” Well, blow me down, do they really care?!
The broadcasting of the Senate opened the way for Senator Hanson to deliver a ‘serve’ on the ‘self-serving’ antics of both parties. Bravo Pauline! Then Senator Bernardi had his say and it was an indictment of the Liberal Party and why he resigned. He warned much worse was in store for the Australian people in the form of Bill Shorten after the next election. I must agree!
The Greens di Natali then got into the act, o boy, what hubris. Senator Hinch’s contribution added little value to the debate and after that I turned the telly off. Somebody obviously decided Malcolm Turnbull had passed his used-by-date and he must go, and because he is a ‘tricky b’, who was going to give the move some momentum? Peter Dutton had the courage to start the ‘ball rolling’... you must keep in mind ‘party politics’ is a dirty business and Dutton will be forever a marked man in and out of the Party Room. You might have your ideas on the rights and wrongs of Australian politics, but this is the reality of the situation we have inherited! Nothing wrong with that: If you cannot change leaders without bloodshed then what is the alternative? Most importantly, if you cannot remove leaders, then you will have a tyrant on your hands and that could be much worse!
It was interesting to note Warren Entsch signed the petition and appended ‘for Brendan Nelson’ to the signature... now that was a well-deserved knife in the back for Turnbull. Peter King was apparently present to see the ambitious Turnbull go under. King loyally served the Liberal Party and Turnbull ousted him for nomination in the ‘safe seat’. Such are the rewards for loyally serving the Party. Nothing new in that; Bob Hawke did the same thing in the Seat of Wills and it demonstrates what you appear to learn as a Rhodes Scholar! We visited Arthur Chresby (MHR Griffiths, Holt Government) about the time Malcolm Fraser (another bloody Malcolm) knifed someone. Arthur said “the way to the top is paved with political corpses who also have ‘friends’, consequently there is always someone ready to stab you in the back. ‘Loyalty’ to one’s colleagues is not a political party trait!
How do we make the best of a bad situation and improve it, or even can we improve it, full stop? I certainly don’t support a fixed term between elections nor do I believe we should put up with bad government for a minute longer than the time it takes to organise the next election, indeed, perhaps voting every 6 months could be the only way to keep politicians honest or in check. It has been an interesting week.
LRC - 27 August 2018