Whingeing with the stars.

bushfirebill Uncategorized

Whingeing Australian2

Mandy Vanstone is off and running in the New Year with a whinge about… whingeing.

“Australians used to joke about whingeing Poms but I fear we have adopted that rather unattractive trait as our own. True enough the federal Parliament, indeed most of the parliaments, did not cover themselves in glory in 2012. I am not defending that.

It is just interesting that so many people who are happy to put the boot into parliamentarians do not appear to have tried to excel in their own work. We have a new class of people who appear quite happy to just be critical of others for not meeting the excellence bar.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/stop-whingeing-and-get-up-early-to-beat-the-january-blues-20130106-2cb3k.html#ixzz2HESSRlyr “

Yes, it’s the old “Parliament is a disgrace” gambit, and no, Mandy doesn’t ascribe blame. She just has a whinge that the parliament is a joke. By parliament” she means Question Time.

But the truth comes out in her statement: “I am not defending that.”

Why would Mandy feel she owns some of the responsibility for the goings on in QT? She’s not a parliamentarian anymore, so it can’t be that.

But Mandy is still a Liberal, and it’s the Liberals who have gone out of their way to wreck QT and this parliament. No wonder she feels it necessary to – almost – apologize.

Pointless points of order (most of which are struck down); defiance of the Speaker resulting in record numbers of ejected members; heckling and all the rest of it are all played out to a bored Press Gallery, sitting in their reserved box seats like so many indolent Roman patricians, who maintain the fiction that QT is the most important gauge of governance… why?

Because they can. They have the privilege of the ringside seat, so they flog it for all it’s worth. What’s important – and pointedly, exclusive – to them, is what rates in parliamentary and political coverage.

So it’s all QT’s fault that the nation has turned into one whingeing, seething mass of dummy-spitters, says Mandy.

Wrong. It’s the trash-talk about everything – the economy, industrial relations, retail sales, and yes, parliament – that does it.

It is self-evident that a government concerned with re-election, running the country, keeping the economy on an even keel and passing its legislation through the parliament, would NOT wish to trash-talk its own efforts to maintain peace, order and good government (Can-Do Campbell, with his notable “Queensland is the new Greece” ejaculation, being the exception that proves the rule).

So who is doing all the wrecking?

It’s the side of politics that never has anything good to say, that puts out the message to do nothing – sit on your money – until they get into power, that makes up outright lies about the effect of the Carbon Tax, that threatens continuous elections just to restore us back to “Australia, circa 2007”, that says interest rates are always too low or too high, that tells us no matter how good this month’s figures are that next month’s will be the worst on record, that introduces scandal, smear and outright abuse of the Courts in shady efforts to alter the numbers in their favour, that plays with the lives of boat people just to score political points… in short, the side of politics that never stops whingeing and moaning… they are the ones to blame for the depths to which our nation has sunk.

Once upon a time there may have been a point to it. There was a chance that if they could king hit the government early, convince the independent members to switch sides or express “No Confidence” in the government, we might have had to go back to the people (who elected the hung parliament, after all) and sort it all out. That option expired by about mid 2011.

After that it was just a mindless pursuit of bad polls for the government so that their captive journo mates could write up the next election as a lay-down misere. If the result was so certain then there’s no need to talk about government policy because the government won’t be around long enough to carry it out. There would be no need to talk about Opposition policy because Oppositions don’t “do” policy until the campaign. With no need to consider either government or Opposition policy, we could get down to The Vibe, such an easy ride for all concerned.

  • Writing about The Vibe means you can just spew out whatever comes first into your empty head and pass it off as critical analysis.

  • Writing about The Vibe means you can run the next election endlessly, day after day, week after week, quoting the same polling numbers each time, saying there’s no hope for the Prime Minister.

  • Writing about The Vibe means you can fill columns with you personal political biases, your likes and dislikes, and get it into the newspapers.

  • Writing about The Vibe permits you to dismiss the government and to treat the Opposition as the government-in-waiting, or even the co-government, even though the Opposition has never won a substantive vote or passed a serious motion in the House for the entire time since 2010.

  • Writing about the vibe means you can then blame the government for all this, or at worst, not have to blame the Opposition.

Unfortunately, writing about The Vibe has a downside for it purveyors. Your readers lose faith in you, they stop buying your newspaper, you go broke. As for the wrecker-politicians, their approval ratings tank to almost unprecedented levels. The Economy sags due to low confidence levels. The nation stagnates.

The critical 5% of punters who make up the difference between a vibrant economy and one in the doldrums are too miserable to get out of bed in the morning – Mandy uses this exact “Get out of bed scenario”. They don’t go shopping, or get to work. What should have been an optimistic, energetic place to live becomes a dull ache somewhere in the backs of people’s minds.

Funnily enough, I agree with Mandy, at least half agree with her.

There does need to be a resurgence of confidence and a cessation of whingeing. But it has to come from a recognition of the causes of the nation’s ennui. Australia needs to get a grip on itself and recognize that its salvation is in its own hands.

Confidence is highly under-rated as an economic output. We talk of prices and supply, taxation and industrial relations, market forces and government stimulus, but rarely do we consider confidence as anything more than some kind of waffly feel-good/feel-bad indicator, a product of an economy.

Confidence is not just a product of an economy, it is also equally its driving force. None of the other indicators matter unless the punters have enough confidence to literally get out of bed in the morning and believe their efforts will make a difference, and that their participation in the economy and society will benefit them, their families and ultimately, their society.

When conservative politicians continually trash-talk the economy for no good reason other than political advantage, a spike in the polls, a quip they can make about Pink Batts on Q&A, and when this results in too many people taking them at their word and staying in bed, the consequences can be serious indeed. We’re seeing that now.

A media that’s suffering decline seeks to spread its own misery to the rest of the country. Conservative – Liberal and National in particular – politicians continue a bad habit of negativity whose chance of success expired years ago. Economists, congenitally conditioned to never saying “Bet the house on this” take the easy option and tell their clients and readers, “Put you money under the bed, and then lie in that bed and stay put.” Here’s why: no economist ever got sued for advising their client to be cautious, even stupidly cautious.

Sound familiar?

Our economy is among the best in the world, our dollar is a reserve currency, our life style is rated No. 1, our debt is low, interest rates, taxes and unemployment ditto, we are on the Security Council doing good work around the world, our Treasurer wins prizes for his accomplishments, our Prime Minister is lauded all over as a Boadecia-like figure in the cause of women’s rights, big initiatives – the NDIS, Health and Education reforms, the NBN, anti-tobacco measures and many more – are either in train, or planned in a professional manner with proper consultation and hard bargaining… yet we are told we may as well stay in bed because Craig Thomson looks like he may have used hookers ten years ago, or the PM had a shoe malfunction, or her arse is too big.

Sound familiar?

The commentators are continually wrong about almost everything. Their predictions are laughable, and their errors are grievous. The government will fall, Rudd will come back, the states will never agree, the money can’t be found.

Sound familiar?

It’s not just Question Time or the parliament. It’s a national malaise, infectious and malignant, spread by political and business forces that have a vested political interest in maintaining their cosy pasts, to the detriment of their own present and future self-interests.

Working an extra hour and a half a day – Mandy’s suggestion – should not be the cause of recovery from this illness, it should be the result of it. But it can only become a reality if the conservative political forces that have so far been spreading it start helping to clean it up.

And to do that we first have to face the reality of where this disease is coming from, keep the carriers and spreaders of it from office, and drive a stake through the cesspits they have in place of human hearts.

663 thoughts on “Whingeing with the stars.”

  2. Goodness me

    Wagga Wagga was 30.1 degrees at midnight. Now at 35.4 degrees, and gusty winds. Bega on 39.1 degrees just after 10am

  4. Good morning, Tragics / Boozers from a blissfully-cool Melbourne (yes I feel guilty).

    C@tmomma,

    C@t the barmaid has opened the doors of The PUB for business to let the early risers in for their first sherbert of the day

    What’s this nonsense about sherberts? Ain’t this PUB run on the old wharfie lines?

    (Mind you, I’m about to ask OH very nicely for another cup of coffee 😉 )

  7. If the Govt were to “fight fire with fire” (& I for one would dearly love to see it) they would be drawn into Abbott/Credlin’s chosen battle ground …& we would see more of the ‘false equivalence’ …..’he said/she said’ …’they’re both as bad as each other’ bullshit.

    Instead, Govt has largely ignored …or only responded in a muted way to this obvious provocation. Let Abbott/Credlin expend all their ammo …let them pummel the Govt. over whatever is the agreed ‘issue du jour’ dreamt up by their resident Baldrick strategy genius. Let them expend themselves as completely as possible until they are exhausted (both metaphorically & literally)

    The effect of the Govt ignoring Abbott/Credlin’s ‘cunning plan’ is now showing signs of working in the wider electorate as the issues become more trivial …and the behaviours more desperate. Voters aren’t stupid …they are beginning to see through this strategy and certainly have Abbott pegged as a dud who will do anything for a political photo-op. Many women now see him as ‘creepy’ …hardly a vote winning characteristic.

    The Govt counter-attack will be launched much closer to the election …when they can see the whites of their enemies eyes …and the sweat running down their panic-stricken faces.

    This will be in the form of a bombardment of policy projectiles …and it will be un-relenting.
    Gonski & NDIS will be bedded down with the release of the budget in May. The NBN will be rolling out to more & more voters who desperately want it …and are not fooled by Turnbull’s ridiculous (non) policy & hollow promises. Action on climate change will increasingly be seen as vital & MRRT will being bringing in some much needed revenue as commodity prices continue to recover. All the other progressive policies are up & running …and the asylum seeker issue is largely neutralised. The economy is performing very well despite uncertainty in US & Europe …& more voters are starting to open up their wallets/purses.

    Voters will not take kindly to Abbott’s stupid promises to repeal MRRT & Carbon Pricing legislation …& they fear his threat to “demolish” the NBN. Can anyone seriously believe that taking compo for Carbon Pricing off folks …including the $18,200 tax-free level …is a vote winner?!!

    The Govt will go on the offensive after May …and comprehensively over-run an opponent which has little or no policy ammunition to defend itself with …no-one will be interested anymore in their lies/smears/scare-campaigns …it’s P.O.L.I.C.Y. …stupid!!

    Julia is doing Abbott & Credlin …..SLOWLY …no wonder she’s looking happy and confident 🙂

  8. markjs1, you make some good points, but for the record the AS is NOT neutralised IMO. It is still a vote loser IMO. the voters blame the government, despite the other parties not passing the Malaysian Solution

  9. Victoria, that is behind a paywall, but it is good that at least they are running with it

  10. Just back from giving the plants a drink before they have to tough it out outside for the day, and I’m feeling drier than a plain Arnott’s biscuit myself! 😀

  11. Recommend the Susie O’Brien article linked to above by victoria (thanx for that 🙂 ) …Will need to do the Google trick as it’s pay-walled …

  12. Andrew,
    To your points about Asylum Seekers. Maybe it’s just me, but I have noticed that the stunts out of Manus and Nauru by the advantage-seeking asylum seekers there and their enablers here in the Refugee Support Network Industry, such as the ‘smuggled out’ footage about how hard they are doing it over there, and info breathlessly supplied to the media about their ‘self harm’ episodes, are not being as hyperbolically reported by the media as they once were.

    Now, that tends to indicate that a bit of the steam HAS gone out of the issue, if only from the Green Left perspective. However, as the Opposition skillfully were positioning themselves just to the ‘Right’ *cough* of The Greens, last year, when they were saying how much they twuly wuly cared about the Human Rights of the refugees, *cough* again, what it therefore is saying to me, combined with the boat arrivals not being reported at the top of the bulletin any more, is that there is still a backlash in the community against the, what we now know were Middle Class & job opportunist, boat-borne asylum seekers, but a lot of the steam has definitely gone out of the issue.

    Which is a good thing, IMO, because it may mean that the government can now successfully implement a saner policy, now that it is not at the beck and call of, the media, the Refugee Industry, the People Traffickers, and an opportunistic Opposition on this matter.

    Btw, did you see former Liberal Senator & Environment Minister,Ian Campbell has joined Sea Shepherd and The Greens, I think I heard the announcer say today?

  14. Statement by BOM

    Large parts of central and southern Australia are currently under the influence of a persistent and widespread heatwave event. This event is ongoing with further significant records likely to be set. Further updates of this statement and associated significant observations will be made as they occur, and a full and comprehensive report on this significant climatic event will be made when the current event ends.

    Click to access scs43.pdf

  16. markjs1,
    I may have to concede *ouch!* that you are probably correct about the government being seen to just be Taking Care of (Government) Business, while the Opposition caterwauls away in the background.

    However, might I just refine my point and say that there must be some killer attack ads ready to go when the election is called, because, lord knows, there is plenty of ammunition that Abbott and Co. have supplied for them, and to not take advantage of them would verge on criminal neglect by the ALP! 😀

    Yes, they must additionally do more of the positive stuff as well, but last election they were spooked by Abbott’s line, which he has already repeated this time, that “This will be the filthiest campaign ever from the ALP!”

    Well, guess what? In saying that, the Liberals and the Nationals didn’t hold back on the filth for one scintilla of one second in their election campaign, I can still remember the ‘Train Wreck’ election ad. Yet, there was the ALP, believing that the electorate wanted a ‘clean’ campaign, looking like Miss Marples had been their Campaign Ad Director.

    Well, that’s just bollocks! And I hope the ALP just do a balance of good, self-promoting ads, and ‘Slice and Dice’ the Liberal and Nationals ads.

    Oh, and during the year, they have to be on their toes to fully take advantage of any and all missteps by the Coalition, and surgically go for the jugular. No ‘Hyperbowl’, just precision surgical attack, and then move on and leave the carcass swinging in the breeze. 😉

  17. i wish some one would mention global warming,, but no one from the gov, as the critics would

    say blah blah

    where are the scientist on this. not speaking out

  19. Schtang @Schtang (1 Min ago)
    @TurnbullMalcolm sorry big Mal you can’t win the NBN debate -its necessary 4 the progress of this country. We know this is all Abbottspeak

  21. Is it the presentation in my specific browser, or is there now no date stamp on each comment.

    If date stamps have been deleted is it please possible to reconsider.

    For lurkers and occasional posters who visit here 2 or 3 times a day, it is hard to find where your last visit ended.

    And it is impossible to easily refer to a previous but non recent (in the last hour or so) post you might wish to comment on.

    Thanks.

  23. David,
    It’s a bit like the old Gish Gallop(yes, that again! 😀 ). The Tories have perfected the art of spewing so many outright lies and half truths from their mouths, every single hour of every single day, that to answer them all would be an exhausting and time-wasting exercise. They do have a government to run, as you say, but they also need to get out their own messages to the electorate.

    I think, as long as they pick and choose the canards they shoot down, that should be sufficient.

  25. psyclaw,
    We’re working on the Date Stamp problem. We all find it annoying too. And I don’t like the Edit button which appears at the bottom of each post. But we are Blog Noobs. Be patient. 🙂

  26. C@tmomma ….that was then …this is now …& they’ve got a different CoS + John (NO PRISONERS!!) McTernan as Julia’s Dir of Comms…

    I’m looking forward to the carnage!! 🙂 🙂

  27. C@tmomma,

    Are you sure that the Edit button is visible to everyone? As far as I’m aware, it should only be viewable by moderators.

  28. victoria,
    I keep wondering about all the water the floods brought to Central Australia. Has it all dried up with this heatwave? I hope not.

  29. As predicted here…

    Tony Abbott ‏@TonyAbbottMHR
    I’m now on my way to Sydney to be on standby with my local fire brigade. Important to follow fire warnings and advice today

    Will I change my gravatar to Nostradamus? No some things are just toooooo predictable!! 🙂

    laocooniii permalink
    BK
    what will next weekend’s advertorial expose of Abbott’s gentle side be?

    My money would be on a balancing stunt; he would not want to be considered a “girlie-man” afterall

    Tuesday in Sydney is forecast to be a hot 38 degrees. Do you think Abbott would be above having a photo opportunity with his local bush fire brigade? I don’t

    https://pbxmastragics.com/2013/01/05/six-years-on-and-nothings-changed/#comment-5436

  31. CTar1, and all suffering from high temperatures,

    Keep safe, hydrated, and as cool as possible. Don’t forget water and shelter for your pets. Check on elderly/infirm neighbours.

  33. The RFS mob that Abbott hangs around must really hate him. He’s hardly ever at home in Sydney so he’d hardly ever turn up for routine training or whatever. He just uses them for publicity. His lack of up-to-date training would also be a real hazard when there’s serious action.

    I don’t know what the RFS have to do but one of my sons is in the local SES and he has to attend a weekly meeting plus be on call and there’s also the occasional full day of specialised training. I would think RFS would be the same.

  36. RT @lizfoschia Fire reported in an electrical substation building at Lucas Heights nuclear reactor. Four crews at scene and Haz Mat.

  37. Re Barry O’Farrell and the fires. While everyone else is talking about the need to get out before it is too late, or what can be done to protect property by way of preparation, or risk mitigation in general or general situational updates, the only thing O’Farrell can talk about is punishment. Fines for this. Prison sentences for that. Yes, pretty boy, we know it’s a crime to start fires, especially in conditions like these. But does he have to bring out the punitive aspect EVERY time?

    Some reasons
    1) He is continuing to operate under instructions from his ultra right wing masters. Fires aren’t the only things he bangs about re punishment. It road behaviour, social behaviour, public transport behaviour, not swimming between the flags. Always threatening to lock someone up for breaking the social order. And never following through.
    2) He has some authority figure issues. In particular, those where he sees himself as commander in chief. There are people who can help him with this. He should order one of his people to set up an appointment for him.
    3) Diversion. Coming across as the tough guy during a dangerous period is simply a “look at me” exercise. The perilous period will presently pass and folk will again notice that this guy actually doesn’t do anything. It will be two years in March. Luckily for him, Obeid and his mates are still in the news but there are now signs that Obeid has links into the Liberal Party,by way of Back Door Benny and the Balmain Tigers Rozelle development schemozzle. I think Bazza can see some dirty water ahead, as well. But that will be chicken shit if a fully fledged disaster occurs and blame can be apportioned to his cutbacks.

    So we can expect some more talk of fines and chokey time from Baz for at least two years.

  38. Roy Orbison,
    Don’t forget ‘Uncle’ Arthur Sinodinos has also been snared in the Obeid Business Associates net:

    Three years later, in November last year, Mr Costa was appointed chairman of AWH, replacing Liberal Party heavyweight Arthur Sinodinos, and issued with 6,250,000 shares, or 5 per cent of the company…

    …The real potential to earn serious money was AWH’s repeated attempts to persuade the government to privatise Sydney Water’s activities in the north-west of the city.

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/costa-obeid-and-the-water-firm-20121214-2bf8e.html#ixzz2HLD7ChFZ

    I’m wondering whether ‘Uncle’ is still on the board, if not Chairman any more, or whether he made one of his ‘strategic exits’?

    If still on the board, then whether he has been in the ear of O’Farrell re Privatisation of NW Water?

  41. leone,
    Don’t the RFS only get a call out if there is an actual fire? So wouldn’t Tony Abbott just be sitting at the RFS Station?

  42. Roy Orbison (from last night),

    They like to make jokes about how we white devils can’t fit into the tunnels although it is amazing that anyone could.

    My daughter attempted the tunnels last week. She’s 5’9” and curvy – NOT fat. She made it through the first two, then had to bail out. To be honest, I was astounded that she even tried: she suffers from claustrophobia.

  44. C@Tmomma
    I really hope Abbott would be just sitting in the fire station fire or no fire. I would hope he’s just be put on operations duties if there was action and not allowed anywhwere near the fire fighting.

    The last thing real firies need in the middle of a bushfire is an attention-seeking show pony with a camera crew getting in the way.

  47. Voters will not take kindly to Abbott’s stupid promises to repeal MRRT & Carbon Pricing legislation …& they fear his threat to “demolish” the NBN. Can anyone seriously believe that taking compo for Carbon Pricing off folks …including the $18,200 tax-free level …is a vote winner?!!

    The way I see it is that many (if not most) have “beaten” the Carbon Tax.

    There are compensations for electricity price rises (with many suppliers offering extra discounts) and other consumables, plus inflation has not gone up by as much as was anticipated. Many businesses have absorbed either all or some of the costs. Then there is the tax-free threshold increase.

    As I said, many punters may well be ahead, scoring a nett gain in income.

    This is also reflected in polling that shows a solid majority either haven’t noticed the Carbon Tax affecting them, have looked but can’t see much change for the worse, or who admit to being better off.

    It’s disappointing that the proportion who admit to being better off (pretty low at around 5%) is probably far too small. A lot more than 5% are better off, it seems, but don’t want to concede that.

    So why would the voters give a tick to having these compensations taken away? What possible reason would they have for giving back what will soon come to be seen as “entitlements” that exceed the extra expenditure they are designed to cover?

    Because the Carbon Tax is killing Australia?

    Not really, when a majority think it’s been a pretty benign irritant to their hip-pocket nerve.

    Because Global warming isn’t real?

    Ahem… ask the people in Tasmania who just had their homes burnt down, the ones in NSW who may experience the same thing today, or farmers out west who are already experiencing pre-drought conditions.

    Read the newspapers. I’ve noticed that, generally speaking, newspapers are leading the way in dismissing climate skepticism and are going full tilt with stories – about Arctic ice, the Siberian tundra, storms in America, rising sea levels, deaths from heatwave conditions in Europe and so on – that support the reality of Global Warming. Andrew Bolt aside, Global Warming is, again, the new black.

    Because “Gillard lied”?

    Hardly! This is the flimsiest possible reason for voting away Carbon Tax compensation and essentially starting again with the half-baked “Green Army” plan of Abbott’s.

    I wouldn’t think people were THAT petty-minded about a comment made in the heat of an election campaign, before the knife’s edge result was made known, three years before in 2010, when considering how they will vote in late 2013. It defies logic, and sanity that voters would hate a Prime Minister so much that they seek to punish her for saying something that, admittedly, turned out wrong, but which – in its reversal – delivered so much good policy and profitable compensation.

    Of course, I am perfectly happy for the Opposition and their bigoted clones at the likes of 2GB and the Daily Telegraph to continue to monster Gillard on this score. It will waste otherwise valuable time and campaign energy trying to convince voters they should give up the carbon nest egg that Labor has provided them.

    As fires rage and water supplies dwindle (Sydney, for example is now below 90% – a 10% fall in a few months), especially if water restrictions are imposed again and the desalinations plants are ramped up many minds will concentrate on the reality of Climate Change. This goes double for rural-based voters, west of the Great divide, who are already seeing record temperatures and significant shortages of rainfall.

    The Murray-Darling plan has kicked off. Measures have been started to combat Global Warming (a long process), tax concessions, rebates, discounts and compensations are in place for voters to do with as they wish.

    And don’t forget that reducing electricity consumption is entirely up to the consumer. It’s a case of legal tax avoidance. The more you help yourself, the less tax you pay, however indirectly. I still believe that there should be a chunk of money devoted to popularizing conservative, “smart” electricity consumption. From talking to my grandsons, they are already being indoctrinated in the kinds of measures households can take to reduce electricity usage.

    Use the resource Julia!

  48. Update on Lucas Heights fire:

    Australia’s nuclear research centre says a minor fire risk earlier now under control; wasn’t linked to the weather. Faulty wiring. #nswfires

  49. Just a weather update from NSW the mid-north coast. The official temperature here in Port Macquarie is now 33.3. A smidgeon over the expected maximum of 33. It will probably get a little bit higher but the nor-easter has arrived and should keep things bearable until late this afternoon.

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