The Terrier Has Fangs

Guest Author Uncategorized

The indomitable Victoria Rollinson has done it again. Skewered – better, defanged – Turnbull.

(Image Credit: Wixxy)

Malcolm Turnbull would love voters to think he’s a fluffy white dog who wouldn’t hurt a fly. How can a man who adorably blogs on behalf of his dogs be anything but a harmless, gentle, kind Prime Minister? How can a man who wears a leather jacket on Qanda not be a man of the people? How can a man who wants to stay living in his multimillion dollar mansion on Sydney Harbour to be close to his grandson be anything but compassionate, socially progressive and committed to quality education and healthcare for the whole community? I’m sorry to disappoint the hopeful progressives who really want to believe Turnbull is the messiah. But isn’t it best I tell you now before you give him a chance to do a whole new term of harm? Turnbull definitely is NOT the messiah. Turnbull is a very naughty boy.

It is not entirely Turnbull’s fault that voters don’t realise how extreme his free-market ideology is. I think the problem is that voters assume that it’s OK for Turnbull to be right-wing when it comes to the economy, whilst also being sort of warm and fuzzy in a social sense. But this charade is just that: a charade. In the recent past Turnbull has been busily differentiating himself from Abbott. But when it comes to the free-market-loving part of the values Abbott and Turnbull share, Turnbull would go much harder and faster on the free-market bit, where Abbott spent more of his energy on social conservatism. Remember WorkChoices? Turnbull’s free market values means he believes this attempted assault on workers’ rights didn’t go far enough. You think Howard was scary? You ain’t see nothing yet!

If you were watching the Grand Final on Saturday, you might have missed the idea floated by this cute little terrier of a PM’s Treasurer, Scomo, that the States really should start thinking about letting private companies run hospitals and schools. Shock horror! ‘But wait!’ I hear all the supposably progressive Turnbull lovers say, ‘that’s just Scomo being Scomo and still swinging the Abbott-wrecking-ball. That’s not our cute cuddly Turnbull’. Get real people. Turnbull chose Morrison to be his government’s Treasurer. He made the decision not just because he needed Morrison’s voting block to win the Libspill. Stop the wishful thinking. Turnbull chose Morrison as his Treasurer because they SHARE THE SAME IDEOLOGY. The desired end point for people with these values, values Turnbull has been very up front about, is that the free market solves all social problem, that there should be no government intervention in the economy, including any welfare of any kind, and therefore everything becoming user-pays. In this world, the more money you have, the more healthcare and education you get. See how well this works out for the mega-rich Turnbulls of the world? Funny that. You might be thinking, it’s OK, Turnbull’s never going to get that far. But just imagine the damage he could do if he only gets some of what he wants. Imagine the wreckage strewn in that path!

Don’t be fooled by the idea that Turnbull is centre-right, or, as I’ve even heard some very mistaken lefties say, that he’s ‘left’ on social issues. The truth is, he has to be pro-marriage equality because this position isn’t just electorally desirable in Wentworth, it is electorally 100% necessary. Turnbull might say the right thing about climate change action too, but surely you noticed he never crossed the floor in Abbott’s government and helped to destroy climate action. Instead, he supported expensive and useless Direct Action, which he now plans to keep even though he’s in a position to end it. In fact, Turnbull will say and do whatever he needs to say to make himself look however he needs to look to win votes. Sorry to disappoint, but the tooth fairy isn’t real, Santa is your parents and it’s not possible to be both right-wing-pro-free-market and socially left-wing. Being socially ‘left’ means that schools and hospitals are run for the good of the people, not the good of the market. Turnbull’s free market position means he’d happily let the market rip public hospitals and schools out of the hands of the public and into the hands of the highest bidder for the greatest profit.

When progressives realise what it really means for the country to have a free marketeer in charge, and they realise it’s actually impossible to be economically-right and socially-left at the same time, and when they don’t agree with Turnbull that healthcare and education should be run at a profit, they might realise their progressive vote definitely does not belong to Turnbull. ‘Privately run’ hospitals and schools is a very steep, buttered slope towards the end of free-for-all-and-all-alike hospitals and schools, which quickly leads to hospitals and schools only available to those who have the means to pay. I assume this is not an outcome progressives strive for?

So please, I’m begging you, don’t be fooled by the smarmy exterior and the cheesy grin. Turnbull is giving Australia a hug while stealing our public owned services and workers’ rights from our back pocket. Turnbull is a Prime Minister who looks like a cuddly terrier, but when you get to know him, you see he has fangs. Please be careful with your vote Australia. Turnbull has neo-liberal-sharp-as-diamond fangs. We’ve been bitten badly enough by Abbott. Please don’t now give the Turnbull terrier a chance to bite us even harder

AIMN)

240 thoughts on “The Terrier Has Fangs”

  2. Reclaim Australia wouldn’t be “radicalising” our yoof, now, would they?

  11. That Laura Tingle article in the AFR appears to be putting Brian Credlin (I know, his last name is hard to spell), as the culprit in the awful politics that have been played, since 2004, and absolving Toxic from his part. This is how history gets rewritten, folks.

  13. “used to have Dragnet and others like it on radio “…Was that the Danny La Rue half hour?

  14. The chatter about contamination on Mars was to do with the rover. It was not allowed to explore near the wet areas for fear it would contaminate whatever water was there with earth germs.

    That’s not unreasonable (though possibly pointless given that Earth and Mars have “swapped spit” on several occasions over the last few billion years…) The Viking probes back in the 1970s were sterilised to avoid contamination of their biological experiments, but I don’t think the rovers have been cleaned to the same extent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_protection

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveyor_3#Apollo_12_and_the_remote_possibility_of_interplanetary_contamination

  21. Good grief! It’s all the MEDIA’s fault!

    Bananas wasn’t too keen on a regional solution when she was in opposition.

    ​Refugees who travelled to Australia by boat could be permanently resettled in the Philippines under a deal being negotiated, but senior government sources fear the premature leaking of the deal to the media could see the proposal scuttled.

    The deal, reported to be worth about $150 million, would be similar to the one Australia struck with Cambodia to send refugees processed on Nauru to the impoverished nation. However that deal collapsed with just four refugees opting to resettle there at a cost of $50 million to the Australian taxpayer.

    Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has accused refugee advocates of undermining the Cambodia deal and this week confirmed the Australian government was looking to forge similar resettlement deals with other countries.

    Fairfax Media understands the Coalition government began discussions for another deal with the Philippines under the leadership of former prime minister Tony Abbott.

    The deal was first reported by News Corp on Thursday, citing Foreign Minister Julie Bishop as saying: “The governments of Australia and the Philippines have long co-operated on irregular migration, people smuggling and human trafficking.

    “These issues are important to both countries, and to the region.”

    Ms Bishop raised the matter with her Philippine counterpart at the United Nations in New York but no final agreement has been struck or signed.

    A senior source told Fairfax Media the talks are still only at an “in-principle” level and expressed fear that the leaking to the media could put the whole deal in jeopardy.

    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/coalition-government-in-talks-to-resettle-refugees-in-the-philippines-20151008-gk4u5m.html

  22. Mark Kenny – what a load of rubbish

    There’s an atmosphere of fear hanging over this government, fear of losing the next election, fear that Turnbull will, again prove himself an incompetent fool of a leader, fear that someone will drag up all the scandals from Turnbull’s dodgy past. There is now also the added extra, deep, simmering resentment from sacked ministers, Abbott himself and the mob who did not want Turnbull.

    Turnbull became PM by a very slim margin. If five or six people who voted for him should change their minds he’s toast. He’s there on sufferance. He does whatever he is told so he can stay afloat. Those ‘new ideas’? Brain farts from ministers, fed to obedient back-bench minions who repeat them to the press gallery. When all those proposals fall over or are laughed at who will get the blame? The minions who allegedly thought of them in the first place, never the ministers responsible.

    Let’s not forget the important thing – Turnbull has not yet announced any new policy or any change of direction. His big announcement on domestic violence was not his own work. The funds had been allocated in the budget, the plans had been worked out months ago, Abbott had not got around to making the announcement. The defence Hawkei thing? Kevin Andrews worked on that, Turnbull and Marise Payne got to make an announcement of work carried out by the Abbott cabinet. The appointments to the Climate Change Authority? Abbott approved those, not Turnbull.

    Turnbull is running on Abbott’s old plans and policies. There has been nothing new, as Abbott correctly keeps telling whoever will give him air time. Turnbull did deals to become PM, dodgy deals. He will stick with existing policy, no matter what. He has reneged on his support for same sex marriage and an ETS to keep his backers happy. He has promised the Nationals there will be no change to the Marriage Act and no ETS or carbon price during his time as PM. That means after the next election too, should he win it. (God forbid!) Voters who foolishly hoped Turnbull would bring in a new golden age are slowly waking up and realising nothing has changed, nothing will change. The Turnbull/voters honeymoon looks like being very brief.

    Too many voters hoped Turnbull would be softer on asylum seekers. Why they believed that is a mystery, but they still hoped. Turnbull has destroyed that hope too. he is so gutless, so bound by obedience to his backers that he can’t even pick up the phone and tell Dutton to get that poor young woman out of Nauru and into an Australian hospital for an abortion. He just has to ‘pick up the phone’ He can’t. He won’t even talk about the issue.

    But Mark Kenny tells us it’s all sunshine and lollipops in the government now that Tony, Peta and Brian have gone. He has not noticed that Peta is still there, for the time being, sharing Tony’s office, still running him, as always. Even that has not changed.

  23. Ricky Muir on the TPP.

    The role of the Government under a representative democracy is to represent the will of the people, not to negotiate a trade deal in strict secrecy, sign on, and then tell the people they are supposed to represent to accept it. That form of governing has a name, and it’s certainly not called democracy.

    If it is supposed to be so good, show us, show the people of Australia and let it be scrutinised thoroughly

    http://www.senatormuir.org.au/news/please-vote-against-the-tpp

  24. Coalition government in talks to resettle refugees in the Philippines

    ​Refugees who travelled to Australia by boat could be permanently resettled in the Philippines under a deal being negotiated, but senior government sources fear the premature leaking of the deal to the media could see the proposal scuttled.
    The deal, reported to be worth about $150 million, would be similar to the one Australia struck with Cambodia to send refugees processed on Nauru to the impoverished nation. However that deal collapsed with just four refugees opting to resettle there at a cost of $50 million to the Australian taxpayer

    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/coalition-government-in-talks-to-resettle-refugees-in-the-philippines-20151008-gk4u5m.html

  26. Leone

    I know Mark Kenny is all for the lnp, but I was pleasantly surprised by his last couple of paragraphs, where he was almost positive about Shorten, or at least he didn’t dismiss his importance. I expected a positive story about Turnoff, but say again, I was pleasantly surprised he was negative about Shorten. One small step……

  27. I’ll post this reply to my denouncement on the Marohasy denier blog as an example of the contrary “science” we have to deal with. This person is an “old hand” at denying human induced climate change and has developed a unique tactic of using authorised data to “back” his absurdities. To try and use the same scientific data to correct him is only to exchange pointless lunges with your foil against his in a contest of fencing..and given that I envision him spending an awful amount of time sitting, searching through the internet looking for favourable data, it takes the one thing he totally lacks to counter his arguments…: On-ground experience.

    I argue against him and his likes with this (see below) :

    ” Neville October 7, 2015 at 7:02 pm #

    JC I know I’m wasting my time, but I’ll try again. Here’s the BOM rainfall graph for South OZ since 1900. I’ve set it for average rainfall and you’ll note the biggggg 17 drought from about 1922 to 1939. Now the IPCC tells us that the impact from co2 should be seen after 1950, but for S OZ the last 65 years has been wetter than the period 1900 to 1950.
    I know this is a problem for you but that’s the data you have to deal with. Sorry it disproves your rant. But the long term data does show that S OZ has been cooling for the last 7,000 years and rainfall has been reducing as well. See Calvo et al study using Alkenone proxies off SA coast.

    http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/change/timeseries.cgi?graph=rain&area=sa&season=0112&ave_yr=A ”

    Neville…as much as i would truly like to say in regards to your BOM. graph ; “Oh..that’s alright then..I fully accept your premise!”…I can’t..because, you see, while you are looking at a monitor screen and seeing “bounty”, I am looking out a window and seeing that the bounty has slipped away…and no figures on a page is worth a scrape of cocky-cack to a drying environment.

    And as ..I.. have said before..here, any rain at or below 5mm. is not worth putting on a list of averages…as a matter of fact, I would now lift that amount to anywhere under 10mm. as the showers that would deliver that amount are so long in between drinks, and the ground so dry at any usable depth, there is “nothing in the bank” for growing plants to draw upon to make that small amount, which will evaporate in little more than one hour for a low amount and half a day for the higher amount giving little more than false hope in the most important time of the growing season.

    So that “averages for SA.” , drawing as it must do , from the wettest areas of the state, have no meaning for what was once the medium to marginal farming districts of the state. and it is there that the effects of the totally erratic weather patterns are most felt…there on the front-line of the effects of climate change..or rather HERE, where I am sited. Your graph would be seen as a joke to most people in the area as they witness the shutting down of storage silos, shops and businesses that service the areas..An insult to the families who have invested generations into farming enterprises that now are at risk or have already folded, been broken up and moved away. Your ; “Nothing to see here folks” an insult to the many traumatised families who have seen fathers and brothers suffer the pangs of guilt at failing in a climate beyond their capacity to manage and feeling the blame for the loss of a multi generational farming enterprise that once gave high profit to their fathers/ grandfathers, now can barely sustain the mortgage on the high-cost tooling-up of machinery and cropping borrowings.

    It is a ghastly joke and a foolish gesture to break into jocular song at what must be the makings of a funeral march..and with your clumsy gesture at rationalising such a decline, yours is just such a joke and the shifting of a decimal point or a minor percentage to “prove a point” is of negligible balm to a declining prospect.

  28. Fiona

    Yes, I retweeted a meme that had been posted yesterday. Ricky Muir says wtte that the TPP should be shown to all, and everyone should have a say, it’s called democracy. I would try and find the tweet but I don’t know how.

  29. Why post this?

    Geologist Reports Major Oil Find in Israel; Firm Stays Mum
    http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.679315

    For good reason, it helps explain why Australia is involved in the US-led bombing of Syria.

    Genie Oil is part owned by Rupert Murdoch.
    Murdoch is using his media empire to justify the US bombing of Syria.
    This oil is vitally important to Israel.
    Murdoch and the other major shareholders in Genie Oil will make a lot of money from this discovery.

    It gets more interesting.
    The Golan Heights is Syrian territory illegally occupied by Israel. The area borders Syrian territory which is controlled by Syrian anti-government rebels.
    http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151007/1028142336/israel-golan-heights-oil-discovery.html

    Israel has been assisting the Syrian rebels.
    https://www.rt.com/business/317906-oil-golan-heights-israel/

    You can work the rest out yourself. This country is involved in a war which has little to do with the freedom or safety of the Syrian people, and an awful lot to do with oil, money and rich investors.

  30. 2gravel
    I didn’t find Mark Kenny’s comments on Shorten all that encouraging. I will be more interested when he writes an article about why Labor deserves to win the next election.

    In 2012, when we were at the same stage in the political cycle, a year out from an election, the MSM had already been telling us for a year that the Coalition would win the 2013 election. Now, with a government that is the worst I can remember, one that deserves to be thrown out and deserves to be cast into the political wilderness for decades, all we get is a few grudging remarks along the lines of ‘Labor has a few policies’, with no mention at all of Labor’s chances of winning an election. It’s still all negative comment on Labor and gushing praise for Turnbull.

  31. Questions raised over Malcolm Turnbull’s use of private email server

    Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull continues to use a non-government email server, raising questions over its security, whether it is being used to conduct official government business, and if it is being used to subvert freedom of information laws.
    The Prime Minister’s office confirmed on Friday that the PM — previously outed as an avid user of the self-destructing messaging app Wickr — was continuing to use his private email server after taking over the top job from former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
    The confirmation followed a report in The Australian in which the News Corp newspaper said that the PM was using his private email server to communicate with colleagues and journalists

    http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/questions-raised-over-malcolm-turnbulls-use-of-private-email-server-20151008-gk4vep.html

  33. Leone

    I sincerely hope you don’t think the media would support Labor, if you do, you are going to be severely disappointed.

    I remarked on Mark Kenny’s few paragraphs of weak support in Labor because it is very rare to read someone not totally rubbishing of Labor. As I said one small step….

  36. 2gravel
    The media will never support Labor, they never have. That’s why I’m not getting enthused about Mark Kenny adding a few grudging words about Labor having policies to his gush about the government.

    I’ve been around too long, seen too much bias, have become too jaded and cynical to be encouraged by some grudging words.

  37. Mark Kenny’s ( cough) support for something Labor is simply a RWNJ feeling grumpy about Truffles being too “liberal” over some issue(s)

  39. kk
    You asked over the road last night if things were “going to plan”. Well I’m very pleased to say that they are.

  40. Somali victim of Nauru rape likely to receive abortion in Australia, says Peter Dutton

    Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has given strong hints a Somali refugee who says she was raped on Nauru and wants an abortion will be brought to Australia for the specialist treatment but has hit out at the public campaign supporting her request, saying it is of no help to her case

    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/somali-victim-of-nauru-rape-likely-to-receive-abortion-in-australia-says-peter-dutton-20151009-gk547k.html

    Dutton decided to ban Troy Newman in a matter of hours, approved the visit of Gert Wilders in a few days, but has been faffing around on this decision for ages. All he can do at the moment is ‘hint’.

    I am one of the 55,000 who signed George Newhouse’s petition. Nice to know Dutton considers us all unhelpful.

    There was a veiled threat to Turnbull in that presser – a softer line on asylum seekers would bring back the boats, so don’t do it, Malcolm.

    Dutton is also putting out misleading information about Christmas Island and detainees in all offshore detention centres. He wants us all to believe that asylum seekers have become ‘hard’ and are playing up because his government has revoked visas. He is trying to give the impression that asylum seekers are a rabble who cannot be trusted and seems to be implying that the young woman in question must be of dubious character. A typical scumbag Dutton act.

    Here’s the truth.

    The government has been moving criminals to Christmas Island, mixing them with asylum seekers who are still detained there. The criminals are people who have finished gaol sentences, had their visas revoked and are awaiting deportation.

    Christmas Island detainee numbers almost triple in five months, despite Government’s promise to scale back
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-24/number-of-christmas-island-detainees-triples/6802836

    Sex offenders bashed at Christmas Island detention centre after Border Force ruling
    http://www.smh.com.au/national/sex-offenders-bashed-at-christmas-island-detention-centre-after-border-force-ruling-20151006-gk2ksb.html

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