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”

    1. Bushfire Bill,
      That’s a treat to be savoured tomorrow, as I won’t be long out of bed.

      Paddy,
      We are equal felines … we think …..

    2. Hey Paddy, Hatton Vale is not your usual haunt is it? I though you were a bit closer to the coast.

    5. I watched the Palmer interview. I bet Ms Sales wishes she’d taken maternity leave starting last Monday. Palmer demolished her, it’s about time someone did.

      I’m just not sure what to make of Palmer. I think he has fooled a lot of voters, there are going to be some disappointed people soon.

    6. Msadventure2
      my normal abode is Kallangur near the North Pine River. I am away for work at Mulgowie and Grandchester

    8. I’m just not sure what to make of Palmer. I think he has fooled a lot of voters, there are going to be some disappointed people soon.

      It wouldn’t surprise me if Palmer tips a bucket on Campbell Newman, and is then had up before the Commonealth Parliamentary Privileges Committee.

      Other measures to shut him up would be a long suspension from the House – weeks if necessary. Minders might be assigned to shadow him, and to object whever he opened his mouth (“I move that the member be no longer heard,” etc.) and so on.

      Howwever, in my opinion, this will only elevate him in the public’s mind and could backfire badly.

    11. The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.
      Edward R. Murrow

      How true are those words in the context of our recent elections.

    14. And of course not forgetting…
      Our major obligation is not to mistake slogans for solutions.
      Edward R. Murrow

    15. When my mother and I went to a screening of Good Night, and Good Luck in February 2006, we said to each other as we walked out of the cinema that it should be compulsory viewing at least for all Australian school and university students. The number of people around us who agreed was interesting – but then, it was Canberra.

    19. I’m just not sure what to make of Palmer. I think he has fooled a lot of voters, there are going to be some disappointed people soon.

      I’m still waiting for the penny to drop for the voters that elected Abbott’s mob (and reinstating pre-decimal currency isn’t out of the question, either.)

    20. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

      The portents are not too good for Holdens. Abbott will undoubtedly miss the immeasurable capabilities of his former Shadow Minister for Industry, etc.
      http://www.smh.com.au/national/holden-exit-in-next-few-years-is-inevitable-say-ministers-subsidies-cabinet-division-looms-20131031-2wma7.html
      This will fit nicely into Abbott’s “minor adjustments” to Fair work legislation undertaking. Stand by.
      http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/toyota-takes-urgent-action-on-local-manufacturing-20131031-2wlm7.html
      Little Big Man has kicked a hornets’ nest. It had to happen.
      http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/31/bikie-laws-a-short-sighted-lunge-for-redneck-support-tony-fitzgerald-says
      If Gillard’s policy was a “carbon tax” then this is a “road tax”.
      http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/cameras-to-earn-millions-of-dollars-from-speeding-south-australian-drivers-on-south-eastern-freeway/story-fni6uo1m-1226750887331

    21. Section 2 . . .

      Nice try, Tone.
      http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/31/tony-abbott-defends-science-credentials-minister
      Oh dear! The allures of the flesh come into the Brooks/Coulsen trial.
      http://www.smh.com.au/world/rebekah-brooks-and-andy-coulson-oversaw-phone-hacking-during-secret-relationship-20131101-2wmas.html
      Waleed Aly with a thoughtful contribution on SSM.
      http://www.smh.com.au/comment/nsw-bill-is-about-marriage-just-not-equality-20131031-2wlxb.html
      PM Credlin’s squirrel grip is becoming ubiquitous.
      http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pms-department-keeps-first-briefings-secret-20131031-2wllw.html

    22. Section 3 . . .

      David Pope with a Roman Abbott dismissing the CC report.
      http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/cartoons
      Alan Moir on electronic eavesdropping.
      http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/alan-moir-20090907-fdxk.html
      David Rowe is being a little unkind to Barnaby. But deservedly so.
      http://www.afr.com/p/national/cartoon_gallery_david_rowe_1g8WHy9urgOIQrWQ0IrkdO
      Cathy Wilcox has a solution to live export problems.
      http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/cathy-wilcox-20090909-fhd6.html

    24. Section 2 . . .

      Mental giants on FoxNews show their true colours.
      http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2013/10/31/video-foxs-stossel-argues-obamacare-let-insurers-discriminate-women/
      They get so carried away with people who will not toe the religious test line.
      http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/american-legion-yanks-park-funding-after-ath
      Some of these sheriffs and their supporters think they are above the law.
      http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/trial-florida-sheriff-misconduct-cha
      Ed Shultz explains why the success of Obamacare is a big problem for the Repugs.
      http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017155637

    27. Abbott’s petty, vindictive dumping of just about everything Labor set up continues. Yesterday the GP Psych Support (GPPS) Service got the chop, to be replaced with absolutely nothing. Today it’s the Inspector-General of Animal Welfare, to be replaced with absolutely nothing.

      THE Abbott government has scrapped an animal welfare inspectorate announced by Labor to oversee the live export industry, amid fresh evidence of cruelty towards Australian animals overseas.

      Labor announced in July it would create a new statutory authority, the Inspector-General of Animal Welfare, to provide independent oversight of the live export system.

      But Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce today revealed the Coalition would not proceed with the idea.

      http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/coalition-dumps-live-animal-exports-watchdog-as-new-cruelty-claims-emerge/story-fn59niix-1226750557990#sthash.zdh1N79s.dpuf

    29. Australia is becoming another Las Vegas, where the Mob takes over and corrupts everything, from dogcatcher, to the police and defence forces..

      Fairfax is learning that News and the Coalition took them for fools. Fairfax toadied and grovelled, through the likes of Kenny, Hartcher, and Stutchbury in their newspapers and tried to run a mini-me operation with their shock jocks… all to no avail.

      Ditto for the ABC, relentless in its slavish reproduction of News Ltd. story lines and beat-ups.

      But how many times did we see concerted efforts regarding stories of these two institutions?

      Abbott, the Whirling Dervish, the boxer, knows the virtues of “the old one-two”… a story appears in the morning, and by lunch time there’s a press release. By Question Time there is a brace of interrogatives feeding off the frenzy, so that the evening news can be dominated by the furious zeal of the questions, and totally ignore the usually reasonable answers. By the time 7.30 and Lateline go to air the Labor government’s in the shit again. Most of these one-twos were sourced from News, not from Fairfax or the ABC, no matter how hard they tried.Fairfax and the ABC merely joined in the fun.

      Now they find themselves on the outer.

      Fairfax hardly scored an invite to the PM’s secret dinner – Paul Sheehan and Gerard Henderson, the two resident Fairfax loonies being the exceptions. No place at High Table for Kenny, Coorey or Stutchbury, though. And as for Peter Hartcher, all that man-love for Kevin Rudd against Julia Gillard went to waste. The door was slammed in all their faces.

      The ABC fared even worse. Not only was Tony Jones told publicly on his own show that the ABC was to be gutted… er, “made more efficient through an elimination of waste”… but Barrie Cassidy had to hand back the guernsey and meekly retreat into the fog of Insiders, after being – ever so briefly – elevated to the role of unpaid head of something to do with Old Parliament House. We don’t know where Chris Uhlmann has gotten to. Perhaps he’s having a lie down with the political fishes?

      They, the supposed top political experts didn’t know what we know: the Coalition never forgets and never forgives, especially a Coalition headed by Headkicker In Chief, Tony Abbott. They would have seen the sycophancy of the ABC and Fairfax as a weakness, not strength, all the better to be exploited, and then discarded.

      Someone finally stood up to Leigh Sales last night. OK, so it was Clive Palmer and he’s a bit of a fruitcake himself, but I derived extreme pleasure by seeing that “brandname” harridan, full of herself, pompous and bitchy to anyone who’s not Tony Abbott, demanding answers to her questions as she screams, “I’m asking the questions here!”, hit for six by Palmer, obviously enjoying himself. I’m not sure about Palmer in the long run, but he sure knows how to handle the media. His basic strategy seems to be: “I’ve got something to say and you can shut up until I’ve said it.” If only Julia had been so down-putting with Leigh Sales… but that’s history now.

      All in all, the media make-up is now seen to be dividing into two camps: News Ltd., and The Rest.

      Perhaps we’ll see some results from that. Perhaps not. I’m almost past caring but it would be nice to know that someone at Fairfax has a backbone, and someone at the ABC has something resembling fire in the belly… before they all go down the toilet, that is.

      http://www.smh.com.au/comment/compliant-media-fed-on-leak-soup-and-other-titbits-20131031-2wlvb.html

    35. Yes, it is an interesting piece, with some good talking points.
      However, this bit is pure lazy cliches with no meaning.
      ” Self-sufficiency has produced a growing number of citizens who want the public sector to stay out of their lives, and to avoid the nit-picking intrusions of the nanny state.”

      I have never ever heard anyone who wasn’t a rightwing nutter, use the term ‘nanny-state’.

    37. GD,
      Yes, grassroots is an important foundation, but without doing something about our media ownership laws this country is, to be polite, stuffed.

      The next time the ALP have gov’t they should bring in tough media ownership laws, no matter the squeals and gnashing of teeth. The fact that a sick mind like Bolt’s, which is locked into agw denialism, should get a major share of the print media words on climate issues with no recourse offered to climate scientists is abhorrent. It will, and one could say already has in the latest bushfires, lead to deaths of Australians.

    38. GD
      Did Latham call a bunch of right-wingers ‘Nazis’?

      This last group is particularly interesting. It appears to have been influenced by the cultural norms of northern European politics. Here I’m thinking of names like Abetz, Brandis, Bernardi, Cormann, Bolt, Albrechtsen, Akerman, Roskam, Switzer and Weisser. This is Australia’s right-wing hunting pack, a group of activists who share in common climate change denialism, a strong interest in race issues (especially concerning Muslims), a hatred of public broadcasting and a determination to police what they see as the integrity of Western cultural values.

    41. He did in everything but name, Leone. Evasive enough to avoid a legal suit but not hard to get his meaning and it is serious food for thought.

    42. Leone,It’s OK, the abbott will get down on his knees and apologise for the previous government’s spying activities…..just goes to show that the likes of Assange and Snowden are capable of starting World War 3 by passing on stuff they’ve hacked or stolen from a Govt because they think we all have a right to know.

    46. Good morning all. The 2 articles about spying on Indonesia only mention a couple of dates. A general 1980’s then they mention 1999. Neither article even tried to pin it on the previous Labor government. Telling?

    47. Latham makes a VERY interesting point.

      Look at the policies, sure, but if you want to know where they’re coming from… look at the names.

      “… a cadre of rusted-on political obsessives, who represent the “authoritarian right” in Australian public life.

      This last group is particularly interesting. It appears to have been influenced by the cultural norms of northern European politics. Here I’m thinking of names like Abetz, Brandis, Bernardi, Cormann, Bolt, Albrechtsen, Akerman, Roskam, Switzer and Weisser. ”

      http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/30/labor-australia-not-dead-yet

      We all know Abetz’s antecedents, Uncle Otto straight out of Nazi Central Casting. But what about the others?

      As they sat on their Daddy’s and Mummy’s knees, what sweet nothings were whispered into their ears to make them the people they are today?

    48. Bushfire Bill,

      First cab off the rank:

      Cory Bernardi: Born 1969. Son of an Italian immigrant father who came to Australia in 1958 aged 16 – worked his way from David Jones’ food counter to running his own hotels and restaurants. Closely associated with extremist Dutch politician Geert Wilders – though failed to meet with Wilders when the latter visited Australia in February this year. Mentored by former Senator Nick Minchin. Really really likes Tea Party tactics.

      An interesting comment:

      Sinead, with whom he has two sons, aged ten and 12, says they have the perfect marriage because they’re “both in love with the same man”. “Cory obviously has this huge belief in himself … If you didn’t love a guy who was so in love with himself you’d have a lot of trouble living with Cory. Life – I don’t think he’d mind me saying this – it’s all about Cory. I am all about Cory, and he is all about Cory, so it makes it easy.”

      Sources: http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2011/december/1348009680/sally-neighbour/all-about-cory

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Bernardi

      Next instalment to be published soon.

    49. bushfirebill

      I recently saw a doco about the lead up to the liberation of Paris and all the “Is Paris Burning ” thing. Uncle Otto got a mention and even a spot in a recreated scene. Apparently he was “an extremely cultured man who spoke perfect French” . The main thread of the narrative was efforts by a Swedish businessman Raoul Nordling to save political prisoners and dealing with General Dietrich von Choltitz to minimize bloodshed and damage. Nordling had gone to see Uncle Otto get help but Otto just gave him a fob off and on the way out saw the newly arrived Cholitz for the first time.

    50. “As they sat on their Daddy’s and Mummy’s knees, what sweet nothings were whispered into their ears to make them the people they are today?”

      The knee I worry about is Ljenko Urbančič who controlled the Hornsby branch of the Liberal party the same branch John Howard, Bronwyn Bishop and Tony Abbott were all a member of.

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