The Scion, the Wheat, and the Cabinet – Afterword

Guest Author Uncategorized

So, you thought you’d read the last of Malcolm B Duncan’s “The Scion, the Wheat, and the Cabinet”? Think again, my poppets!

(Image Credit: Wedding in Tuscany)

The Chronicles of Nadir

As told from the grave by Tom Lewis

Tale the First

The Scion, the Wheat, and the Cabinet

Afterword

The battle had been fought. Sir Alfred Deakin looked down on the carnage. It had come to this: Amanda had escaped and now ruled in Rome on a diet of pasta and Chianti. Peter had decided to take his balls and go home or go home to a ball or Tanya or something. Alexander was bored (well he’d been bored a number of times, actually, but Oxford was like that). Little Lucy was looking forward to the move to Kirribilli House but she didn’t know how long the children would have to spend in storage before they got there and she wasn’t completely certain they should go to Shore anyway. St. Ignatius was more her style and she had no objection to Loreto for the girls.

But the carnage was truly terrible. Severed limbs, red everywhere (particularly under beds), even on the head of Jules of the Galliard and Ruddy was the colour of the day. The Lady Jadis was packing and the Dwarf – well, the Dwarf was so depressed he just couldn’t stop powerwalking – round and round the harbour he went, closely followed by a soon-to-be unemployed Corder, who now regretted signing the AWA. Still, he thought to himself, with the super, if he had his choice, he wouldn’t work.

A long line of former Senators and Members of the House of Representatives queued outside Centrelink in a line over a kilometre long (what with their STAFFERS and a few cats trying desperately to avoid Little Lucy’s husband). The Cabinet Secretary was close to suicide, and a pall of smoke rose from Menzies House. Those of the Party who were left Pyned for the old days.

Was this the end of an era, the end of an Empire, the end of the Land of Nadir?

Sir Alfred thought not. There would always be a Nadir – it just depended who was the incumbent. After all, there had been a Nadir in the time of Keating. Sir Alfred didn’t like Jules of the Galliard; in fact, he hated everything she stood for and he could not stomach Prince Crispian so he was terribly frightened for the future of the land he had adopted as his own and ruled for a time. Yet he would wait with trepidation and see what that future held. Could that future see Prince Crispian lay charges over – wheat?

(Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

623 thoughts on “The Scion, the Wheat, and the Cabinet – Afterword”

  1. Someone has to post this, I suppose. I had to go to Facebook to find the entire thing, the media are just giving bits.

    Abbott’s statement on Malcolm Fraser –

    Our country has lost its 22nd Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Malcolm Fraser.
    As our nation’s leader between 1975 and 1983, he restored economically responsible government while recognising social change.
    In a long and active retirement, he maintained a keen interest in our country’s direction.
    The constitutional crisis of 1975 was one of the defining political events of our nation.
    Malcolm Fraser held true to the belief that his actions were in the best interests of Australia. He was determined to ‘turn on the lights’ and restore Australia’s economic fortunes.
    The greatest win in Australian political history confirms that he had correctly read the mood of the public.
    The friendship he built in later life with Gough Whitlam spoke volumes about the character of both men at the centre of the crisis: in their own different ways, they were both fierce Australian patriots.
    Under Malcolm Fraser’s leadership, self-government was conferred on the Northern Territory, the Commonwealth Ombudsman was established and our first Freedom of Information laws were enacted.
    Following the Hilton bombing, he established the Australian Federal Police. Later, he introduced legislation to establish a crimes commission following the Costigan Royal Commission.
    He commissioned the Campbell Report of 1981 which laid the foundations for eventual deregulation of the financial system.
    Under Malcolm Fraser’s leadership, Australia was an unwavering opponent of apartheid and after he left office, Malcolm Fraser continued to work for the end of apartheid. His subsequent appointment to roles with the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations reflected his high international standing.
    He had a deep interest in the advancement of indigenous people.
    He banned sand mining on Fraser Island. As well, the first Australian sites were placed on the World Heritage List and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was declared.
    He welcomed the re-settlement of tens of thousands of Vietnamese people in Australia who have subsequently added a rich, new dimension to our national life.
    He was rightly proud of his government. As he said when he conceded defeat: Australia is handed over… in as good a condition or better condition than any other Western country in the world.
    Flags will be lowered to half-mast today and on the day of Mr Fraser’s memorial service. On Monday, the Parliament will honour our 22nd Prime Minister.
    Throughout his life, Malcom Fraser was supported by his wife Tamie. All Australian prime ministers and governors-general have benefited from her continued work with the Australiana Fund.
    The sympathies of all Australians are extended to Tamie and their children and grandchildren

  8. I think whoever wrote that statement has used it to push the government’s agenda, with a couple of mentions of restoring the economy and a little hat-tip to Abbott’s alleged fondness for indigenous affairs. A sly dig ot two at Labor governments as well. Cold, impersonal, mean and petty, saying the right things but in a weaselly way that omits praise. If Abbott didn’t write it – I don’t believe he is capable of writing anything but his own signature these days, so great is his insanity – then it was certainly done on his instructions.

  9. gigi
    Abbott’s problem is that in later life Fraser’s view on societal matters were entirely opposite to those of himself.

  16. What I would like to see at Malcolm Fraser’s memorial service..: I’d like to see Tamie Fraser march resolutely up to Abbott as he is making his false-sincerity eulogy, snatch the speech off the podium and throw it to the ground, then give Tony a beaut , full slap across the face and demand he “get the hell out of her sight”..and then turn on the GG. and demand what is the use of him, when he “allows the country to be taken to hell in a handcart !…even a drunken sot was of more use as a GG. then yourself!…You should be ashamed”…and it gets broadcast – ALL OVER THE WORLD !

  17. Abbott might not – probably won’t – be asked to speak at Fraser’s memorial service. These things are usually organised by the family of the deceased, as Gough’s was. I don’t think the Frasers will be keen on having Abbott say anything.

  20. Fiona.

    No, no, no, not Alan Ramsay !! The bald-headed old swell is that little twerp Howard…..An appearance of Alan Ramsay on TV is very rare these days, and I must say his remarks on Fraser’s passing were a welcome break in the rubbish spruiked by the idiot Cassidy et al.

  22. I’m starting the Friday evening thread a bit early. If anyone wants to repost any of their comments from here, please feel free.

    NEW THREAD

    Comments here will close in 15 minutes.

Comments are closed.