The
Blowfly is a curious insect and finds some satisfaction searching for the
realities in his pitiful life.
For
some time now the carbon tax has been on the political agenda and in people’s thoughts.
It
first happened during John Howard’s reign over the hearts and minds of
Australians.
But
it was the ALP who got to run with that hot potato.
Our
present PM thought that it was deserving of bipartisan support and that taking
it forward without the support of both sides of politics would be divisive and
damaging.
She
let it be known, after she called the last election, that she stood by that
view and her policy was not to proceed with a carbon tax during her time as PM.
However
she did not get the majority she sought from the electorate and in order
to form a government she had to bargain with the Independents and the Greens.
Out
of this process came a changed policy position-----the Greens would only
support her if she initiated a carbon tax.
The
Opposition Leader, one Tony Abbott, seized on this variation and was able to
label her a ‘liar’.
The
Blowfly’s Oxford dictionary defines a lie as ‘a statement the speaker knows to be untrue’.
The reality of
this situation is that when Julia Gillard set her policy on the table she was
committed to no carbon tax during her reign. This would be consistent
with her previous views and advice to Kevin Rudd on this matter.See also http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/taxing-the-truth-why-we-must-not-let-abbotts-dogmas-lie-20120706-21mlz.html#ixzz1zzQ5wJd
However,
a clever Rhodes Scholar, very familiar with the work of Nazi propaganda
minister Joseph Goebbels since his university days ,was able to turn Gillard’s
change of direction into a ‘lie’ and by simply repeating it often enough, many
Australians have been encouraged to label Julia Gillard as a liar. And with the
assistance of Alan Jones many Australians now taunt her as ‘Juliar’.
Then there is the reality
of the promoter of this line.
Tony
Abbott has access to a dictionary and would’ve used it on a few occasions
during his tertiary study.
It
is, by The Blowfly’s reckoning, Tony Abbott who has told the lie and is the
liar.
He
has either promulgated a statement about Julia Gillard that he knows to be
untrue OR he does not know the difference between what is a lie and what is the
truth.
If
he is a Rhodes Scholar we would need to give him some credit for being able to
use a dictionary.
So is it possible that
our Opposition Leader does not know the difference between what is a lie and
what is the truth?
The
Blowfly humbly submits there is some evidence for this.
Let’s
return to the carbon tax.
Abbott
has maintained that the carbon tax will be the death of our economy. He has
visited all manner of businesses around Australia pushing this line. His
shock-jock ally Alan Jones has supported this claim.
Abbott
has said that Whyalla will be wiped off the map. He has talked in terms of a
‘cobra strike’ and a ‘python squeeze’. His oratory has been indeed colorful.
But
all the time he has been saying this we have the Treasury telling us that it is
going to be insignificant.
As time goes on it is
apparent that the carbon tax will not cause the sky to fall in and that Tony
Abbott has been filling our heads with ----dare I say it---lies.
The
Treasury estimated the impact of the GST accurately and there is no reason to
believe that they would get the carbon tax wrong.
But
for some reason Abbott has taken a position at odds with Treasury and has been
able to promulgate this view widely in the community---with the help of his shock-jock
friends!
If
Treasury is wrong then I suppose we could acknowledge that Abbott had not lied
to us.
But
Treasury appears to possess a better reputation and track record for predicting
these things than politicians of either persuasion. Sure Treasury is not
perfect, but overall, we would have some level of confidence in them to get
these matters right.
So, to my simple brain,
the reality seems to be that Abbott has promulgated a lie and may
therefore be called a liar.
…………………………………………………………….
Abbott
has also been known to say that ‘this is
the worst government ever’.
He
repeats it just as Goebbels would’ve. The theory is that if you repeat it often
enough then people might start believing it. His shock-jock friends also repeat
it frequently.
But
here we have a minority government that has passed approximately 380 pieces of
legislation since they came to power!
Now
you don’t do that if you are the ‘worst government ever’.
If
you had a majority like Campbell Newman, has in Queensland, where getting
legislation through is a fait accompli, then you might have all the
circumstances necessary to become ‘the worst government ever’.
However
when you are a minority government you have to garner the support of members outside your party to get your legislation
through the Parliament.
This
the Gillard government has done.
Weaving
a pathway through the views and interests of the Independents and the Greens
means that the legislative program has obtained wider cultural support than a
majority government would’ve needed.
The reality is
that the process of government has had to be truer to democratic principles
than probably ever before in Australia’s history.
And
as Steve Bracks has pointed out recently this governmenthas got some
significant reforms across the line. These include
· The
establishment of a national broadband network with a view to being a leader in
world-wide connectivity
· Pricing carbon
emissions with a view to moving Australia towards a more sustainable economic
future
· Reallocating
the proceeds of our mineral wealth around the community
· Rehashing the
mechanisms and formulas for funding education so that Australia might generate
the skills it needs for a growing economy
· Creating a
national disability insurance scheme
Now
while it is true that not everyone in the community might support these reforms
the reality is that they have come into being through a hung parliament.
It
is reasonable to say that this government must be quite a reasonable government
in that it is able to muster the parliamentary support it needs to pass its
legislation.
That is the reality!
Again
we might then observe that Tony Abbott is a liar.
He
is making statements that he knows to be untrue.
……………………………………………………………………
We
then revert to the future of our country.
Tony
Abbott has continually described our economy as weak ----except when he
travelled to the UK.
The reality is that our
economy is quite strong.
Now
here is the rub.
Abbott
is continuing to troll the line that everything the government proposes would
ruin our economy but everything the Opposition does will strengthen it.
The
Government rightly or wrongly has committed to balancing our budget quickly.
In
order to do that it has sought to make some savings in the Defence area.
Abbott
has criticized these as not being in the national interest.
Again
The Blowfly’s simple brain figures that in the event we are not at war with any
nation we might re-allocate some resources to some of the areas where we are
otherwise at war----especially economic war!
We
need more skills to man our mining industry. We need to find ways of supplying
the growing Asian economies. We need to find ways of developing new
technologies that we might be able to sell to the rest of the world. And we
need to do all this with an ageing economy.
As
well we need to be able to deal with the enormous costs of using fossil fuels
as our energy needs double and treble and our population increases.
But
Abbott last week “committed an Abbott government to restoring defence spending
back to 3% real growth per year, subject to improvements in the budget.”
The reality is
that his promise does not mean a thing.
The Opposition, in reality,
has not got a clue as to how they will fund all the promises Abbott has made.
And
in any event he can ditch those promises “should budget circumstances dictate”.
The reality is
that Abbott is simply doing and promising what he can to get votes.
He
is hoping that Australians are, in the majority, dills.
Abbott
is hoping that we are not good at deciding what is reality and what is fantasy.
…………………………………………………………………..
And
now for one of the finest lies of all!
Abbott
continually refers to asylum-seekers who come by boat as ‘illegal immigrants’.
Jon
Faine on the ABC has challenged him on this. Julian Burnside QC has challenged
him on this. But he continues in this vein.
The reality is
that it is not illegal to seek asylum.
The
Opposition leader also talks about this problem in terms of ‘border protection’.
This
term is normally associated with invasion.
Remember
the bombing of Darwin. We needed border protection there.
Do
these people come bearing arms? No!
So again the reality
is that it is the Opposition leader who is promulgating a lie.
And
he knows exactly what he is doing.
He
is trying to change the perceptions of numerous realities that Australians face
in order to get our votes.
We
might be a bit dim (as Barry Jones once inferred), but hopefully not that dim!
That reality would
indeed be unacceptable.
Even
for an insect!
Question is “ It’s time for 2GB to sack Alan Jones”? Already sign this petition with 74, 842 supporters, we only 158 Needed. Hurry up???
ReplyDeleteALAN JONES MUST GO!!!!Is this THE most disgraceful article ever published by Daily Telegraph ??? Absolutely disgusting comments by Alen Jones.
ReplyDeleteLet’s everybody NEVER FORGET that Alan Jones is one of Abbot’s “go-to” shock-jocks when ever he needs his “EGO” stroking.