Nacht und Nebel

Fiona Uncategorized

(Image credit: Wikipedia)

Fifty days ago, the Australian electorate blinked, and chose a Coalition government led by Mr Abbott – devout Catholic, Rhodes Scholar, Oxford Blue, sometime journalist, advisor to former LOTO Dr Hewson, exercise junkie, father of “not bad-looking daughters”, self-proclaimed political offspring of Mrs Bronwyn Bishop and Mr John Howard – a man who counts among his political and spiritual mentors B. A. Santamaria and Cardinal Pell.

The government as a whole, and Mr Abbott in particular, are deeply indebted to two powerful individuals, Mr Rupert Murdoch, and Mrs Gina Rinehart. The debt owed by the new Federal government and prime minister to Mr Murdoch in particular is extraordinary, and is most likely to be paid through the sale hand-over of the NBN and, possibly, the privatisation or abolition of the ABC. Mrs Rinehart’s rewards are the repeal of the MRRT, the “liberalisation” of 457 visas to enable the employment of ever-cheaper labour in her mines, and an open-slather approach to exploration and mining, maybe even in national parks, and to coal seam gas fracking. After all, what else is the environment for?

So, what has the new government achieved over the past 50 days?

  • Abolished the Climate Commission.
  • Sacked three departmental heads.
  • Sacked the NBN Board.
  • Announced the privatisation of Medibank Private.
  • Appointed the head of a major business union to chair the Commission of Audit which also includes (gaia help us) Ms Amanda Vanstone. Mr Tony Shepherd also chairs a company that has substantial contracts with the Commonwealth.
  • Announced a witch-hunt judicial enquiry into the Rudd Government’s home insulation scheme.
  • Cut disaster relief payments in the middle of major bushfires in New South Wales.
  • Denied any possible connexion between bushfires and climate change.
  • Released draft legislation to repeal the MRRT, which also (among other things) repeals
      • – the schoolkids’ bonus
      – the low-income tax superannuation contribution
      – geothermal exploration provisions.

    Then, and worryingly, are

    1. The increased demonisation of asylum seekers arriving by boat by requiring the Immigration Department and detention centre staff to call them “illegal arrivals” and “detainees”,
    2. The militarisation of border protection, which is the excuse for
    3. Attempts to restrict information about the arrival of asylum seekers, and their movement to and from various places of detention.

    What we are witnessing is an attempt – by shutting down sources of information, whether they are bodies like the Climate Commission, or reports in real time of boat arrivals – to keep Australians ignorant of the real state of affairs, and ultimately and as soon as possible to silence dissent. How long will it be before there is federal legislation of the type Queensland Attorney-General, Mr Bleijie, released two weeks ago – legislation that has the potential to control what people wear, what music they listen to, maybe even what books they read and films they see? How long will it be before all Australian courts are effectively instructed to do as they are told by the government that – in Mr Newman’s words – they should come down from their ivory towers and make decisions in line with community expectations?

    Silencing dissent sounds to me very like Mussolini’s third principle of fascism:

    1. “Everything in the state”. The Government is supreme and the country is all-encompasing, and all within it must conform to the ruling body, often a dictator.
    2. “Nothing outside the state”. The country must grow and the implied goal of any fascist nation is to rule the world, and have every human submit to the government.
    3. “Nothing against the state”. Any type of questioning the government is not to be tolerated. If you do not see things our way, you are wrong. If you do not agree with the government, you cannot be allowed to live and taint the minds of the rest of the good citizens.

    Prime Minister Abbott has made it clear time and time again that he will not brook questions, he will not brook debate, he will not brook dissent. He is, as Jeff Sparrow points out, a cultural warrior par excellence. He has no compunction about establishing the slush fund, ”Australians for Honest Politics”, that resulted in the jailing of Pauline Hanson. Is it beyond the bounds of possibility that he might act in a similar way to anyone who dissents, disagrees, or differs? It may seem ridiculous in 21st century Australia even to ask such a question. However …

    … remember,

    Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

    Remember Argentina in 1966, Chile in 1973, Germany in 1933.

    Nacht und Nebel has happened before, and will again unless we heed Martin Niemöller’s words:

    First they came for the communists,
    and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

    Then they came for the socialists,
    and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.

    Then they came for the trade unionists,
    and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

    Then they came for me,
    and there was no one left to speak for me.

    883 thoughts on “Nacht und Nebel”

    2. This little black duck

      Becky and Andy front page splash on tomorrow’s issue of the GG for sure 😆

    3. You know,the thing that antagonises me about the election is, that the public knew damned well about Murdoch, understood his goals, also the general conservative policies of war, denialism of science and logic, meltdown, thievery and austerity for a long time, Yet had they the unmitigated gall to still vote for it.
      You understand the brits votingf or Cameron after Blair, but what excuse the people of this country, in2013?

    5. ALP National Secretary, George Wright addressed NPC today.
      I picked it up by chance and when the questioning started and things got interesting,a damn storm knocked out the ABC tower. If it gets repeated, from the little I saw it could well be worth a watch.

    6. Paul,
      With respect, I don’t think the general voting public had much idea of News Corpse’s activities in the UK. From the time the story broke, in June/July 2011, the Limited News outlets in Australia were limited, if not entirely stumm, about the whole affair (in every sense of that word). You also couldn’t expect any of the RW shock jocks to say anything about the subject – so doing would be to commit heresy, to invite the Sun King’s anathema.

      And that would never do.

    9. The general public had no idea about whatever Murdoch had been up to in the UK. They don’t pay any attention to local news, let alone what happens overseas. Let’s get away from crediting voters with intelligence they don’t have and let’s accept the ugly truth. Most Australians are dumber than a box of rocks.

      Today I saw this piece about voting which made the same old assumption about Australians not voting because they were disenchanted with both sdes of politics.

      http://theaimn.com/2013/10/29/where-did-all-the-voters-go-and-why/

      That’s not true. People didn’t vote because they couldn’t be bothered, they just didn’t care. You heard the same old stuff everywhere during the election campaign – all politicians are the same, they all tell lies, politics is boring, I can’t be bothered with any of it.

      Maybe Australians had it too good.There was nothing to be passionate about. Maybe a year or so of Abbott will bring them to their senses. The hip pocket nerve is very sensitive, after all. But I doubt it, they will just blame it all on Labor. Why do you think Abbott is so busy bad-mouthing every single thing Labor did in the last six years?

    10. I think it was the Rudd Wars that did it, Paul. You’re right in one sense. It was only the lunatic fringe that had any confidence in Abbott and as George Wright said, Loughnane ran an incredibly disciplined campaign hosing down any potential implosions before they got anywhere.

      But I’ve got to say that the cooperation between Murdoch troops, the Liberals and the rest of the MSM led to a very successful campaign in demonising Gillard. The groundswell I’d picked up, and it was echoed by my friends from their contacts was that there was a lethal hatred of Gillard. It was essentially a media bubble, and most people I challenged on it seriously struggled to find a reason other than the perennial (and false) fallback that she “lied about the carbon tax”. It was reinforced in some way through Rudd’s playing both victim and rival. It was the most powerful emotional thing I’ve known since Lindy Chamberlain. I can understand some losing their nerve.

      I’d still like to have tried, of course, because the substance of her policy delivery stood in sharp contrast to Abbott’s hollowness. Even hating her as they did, she’d still have seemed more credible. But perhaps many were like my brother, a single-issue voter who wanted SSM. He hated Gillard with a passion. Why he imagined Abbott would take him closer to his goal, I can’t work out, but he voted Liberal. It doesn’t give me much sense of Karma to see Abbott and Brandis lining up a High Court appeal on the ACT law. Abbott will do the country far more damage than just that stance. I’m just saddened that people get taken in by this media crap.

    11. Gorgeous Dunny,
      Has your brother said anything about the Federal Government’s High Court challenge?

    12. As far as the ABC web site is concerned Rebekah Brooks could be a bar of soap.

    13. Monsieur Duck,
      I’m tempted to include “Rebekah Brooks” and “lather” in the same sentence, but to do so would be in poor taste.

    15. Bit of rain about to hit here.
      Lovely top the pool and tanks up.
      WE are coming into the dead time for politics now, especially after a recent election.
      Xmas school holidays will take over and people don,t care atm as long as it isn’t in the news everyday.
      The libs are playing this well.
      Keep quiet. Don,t make waves and slip your agenda through, while nobody notices and the MSM let him.

    16. 7.5 playing The Idiot’s Bitter Sweet nonsense in Afghanistan. Who writes that rubbish?

    17. Oh yes, Fiona. He and his partner are outraged. My other brother said, “Well, you voted for them. What did you expect?” I stayed out of that but agreed with the fury on Abbott and team.

      It has had the effect of liberating his thought process a little. He now sees Hockey as clueless. Eight months earlier he’d argued that Hockey’s windbaggery made sense. He knows that their climate change attitude is appalling. So, too late perhaps, the veil has lifted.

    19. Gorgeous Dunny,
      Too late for 2013, but with luck he, his partner, and many many others will burn slowly over the life of this government and exact their revenge at the next federal election.

    20. Fiona

      I’m tempted to include “Rebekah Brooks” and “lather” in the same sentence, but to do so would be in poor taste.

      Riffing Ali G .It’s cos she’s a ranga innit ? 🙂

    21. Kaffeeklatscher,
      That angle hadn’t occurred to me. Nevertheless, it’s worth adding to the mix. So to speak.

    22. leonetwo

      Same old. Under The Rodent even the GG got into outrage mode reporting how scummy the same company that ran the detention centres were. Little things like making women made women apply for “a second sanitary pad” . The rules this scumbag company applied were the same as those applied to max security prisons. There is no reason to believe the weevils have changed their policies.
      A bit of Serco stuff.

      As well as thanking God for his success, CEO Chris Hyman is a Pentecostal Christian who has released a gospel album in America and fasts every Tuesday.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaytzykSQzk

    23. The storm BK just missed was not all bad. It allowed a mad bastard to…..

      Surfer takes on ‘biggest wave ever ridden’ after storm

      A surfer may have set the world record for the largest wave ever surfed after riding an estimated 100ft wave off the coast of Portugal

    24. Fiona,
      Thanks for posting the George Wright talk to NPC.
      I only watched the q and a section. Probably from the point of view of “vindication” I wanted someone to ask a follow up question along the lines of “…Well if polling under JG was so poor, how much could be attributed to the white anting?…’
      That didn’t get asked.
      But after listening today and reflecting over the last 6-7 weeks, I think we lost simply because of the old line “Disunity is death.”
      We can argue about why there was disunity , but the bottom line is that’s why we lost.
      Not all will agree with me, but my take on the future and the control of the MSM by a few, is that we use social media for information sharing. However, on its own that isn’t enough to counter the influence of MSM.
      Wright talked about one on one interaction with voters and in my opinion the way we can help with this approach is by volunteering if we have the time..
      Wright seemed quite positive about this approach but it’s labour intensive.So the more helpers,the better

    25. Well, he would, wouldn’t he?

      A spokesman for Environment Minister Greg Hunt says the appointments were made under the former Labor government and that the Minister has ordered an immediate probity inquiry.

      http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-29/reef-board-members-in-conflict-of-interest-claims/5052558

      Let’s see what the little turd does with this:

      A debate is currently raging about the pace of port developments in the World Heritage area, with Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt to decide in December whether to allow a port development at Abbot Point that would see 3 million cubic metres of mud dredged and dumped.

    29. Abbot point already shifts coal and if they going to expand ( and they are) better to do it at a terminal that is already up and running.
      No impacts from the operation so far.
      Can’t oppose everything

    30. Joe6pack,
      I’m geographically confused – thought it was somewhere near Broome.

      You are right: if it’s already there, then expansion WITH CARE is better than somewhere else.

      How is Ned doing? Has he sworn off pursuing, catching, and consuming these purty li’l creeters

      for life?

    35. Saw that 7.30 beatup, they made a point of getting “linked to Eddie Obeid” in early, the impression I got from Sales at the end is that Hunt’s only interested in enquiring into the Labor pollie but I might be wrong there. That’s the way it’ll end up, of course.
      I don’t follow the Obeid saga but it often seems to me that Obeid & a couple of others engage in these vast sweeping, far reaching conspiracies… in complete isolation. It’s not felt necessary to explain that in order for these grand events to take place others must be involved.

    36. Actually I just went to a wool seminar at the local golf club. I need to do this very so often to mind myself of the debilitating conservative nature of some of our farmers.
      Meanwhile, the member from Goulburn is digging her heels in

    37. OMG the BBC have a new program out dedicated to out PM. Ricky Gervais is the host and it is called “An Idiot Abroad”

    41. I do not think i have the energy for a post mortem on the ALP loss/lnp win. I think everyone might be a bit drained. It feels like flogging a dead carpet trying to push the progressive cause for the pig-ignorant selfish wilfully stupid losers in our society who vote lib because it might mean an extra 10 bucks a week in their pocket

    43. You have to hand it to the Nationals, they try so hard to be relevant. I still haven’t got used to hearing the NSW government referred to as ‘the Liberals and Nationals government’ by our local state Nats member for irrelevance. Now the newly elected federal MP for Lyne is talking about ‘the Abbott-Truss government’, Ugh. It sounds like a surgical appliance – the Abbott Truss.

    45. Leone,
      I don’t think any of them looks ecstatic – such smiles as are evident look forced.

    46. Does he ask or does he just grope the nearest female? If he tried that with me he would be clutching his family jewels.

    47. Puffy,
      If he tried that with you he wouldn’t have any family jewels to clutch! Or, if he did, they would be charcoal 😉

    48. Leone,
      Abbott-Truss?

      Now you mention it, there are all sorts of religio-medical/surgical opportunities. The mind boggles (well, moi’s does).

    49. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/coalition-mps-set-to-cross-floor-over-tony-abbotts-paid-parental-leave-policy/story-fnihslxi-1226749205482

      Coalition MPs set to cross floor over Tony Abbott’s Paid Parental Leave policy
      Steve Lewis News Limited Network October 29, 2013 8:30PM

      TONY Abbott faces a tough challenge getting his signature paid parental leave scheme through Parliament with at least two Coalition senators indicating they may vote against the $5.5 billion program.

      In the first real test of the Prime Minister’s authority, Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi and the Nationals’ John Williams have signalled they may vote against the “Rolls Royce” scheme.

      And they are not alone. News Corp has spoken with a number of Coalition senators who are privately critical of the election promise to provide women with six months full replacement pay.

      Veteran Queensland LNP Senator Ron Boswell has told colleagues he will find it hard to back the scheme while Barry O’Sullivan – who will take Barnaby Joyce’s Senate seat – harbours similar concerns.

    50. At least we can see where his hands are this time, In some photos it’s a bit of a worry.

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