Tony Abbott's Parallel Realities

The Blowfly shifted garbage tins recently and found that , for a little while, politics was not as important.

However changing ‘homes’ has provided a new perspective on many aspects of that part of our daily lives that politicians fill.

The Blowfly has mentioned before the likelihood that these daily happenings are simply an illusion because in behind ,in space and time, is another reality.

We may discover this reality in due course and we may not.

But it is always there! Taunting us! Deceiving us! And leading us to believe that what we see is what we get.

One person who is aware of this is Tony Abbott.

He has a parallel reality and he is very aware of it.

From the perspective of most mortals Tony seems to have done all the right things to move this Government firmly to a position where it as perceived as being on the ropes.

And, more importantly, Tony is seen to be a shoe-in to be our next Prime Minister.

But Tony trained for the priesthood. He was made aware of the illusions that surround us. The Catholic Church has been responsible for many of those illusions. Remember the one about the Earth being the centre of the Universe? The one that was sustained for centuries due to the efforts of the church?

Tony knows that a parallel reality  is that at any moment the cards could crumble against him.

For instance, a well-meaning and unusually vigilant reporter may string together a more substantial series of actions and events tying our former Minister for Industrial Relations into a web of intrigue with the Craig Thomson affair. There are several stories already circulating about the unusually close relationships between some of the key individuals and Tony.

Another possibility is that a vigilant journalist (could there be two vigilant journalists in Australia I hear you asking?) manages to put together a robust chain of events tying the Opposition into the undermining of Peter Slipper.

And what about his closest allies, the troops in the National Party?

What would happen if they suddenly found courage and decided to rejuvenate their party so that the interests of the people in regional Australia were genuinely looked after?

The Coalition agreement has always been taken for granted.

But it was not always so!

Many people in the bush don’t really appreciate a political leader who is simply a weather vane.

That’s because they know that the wind could turn against them at any stage.

It used to be called “economic rationalism” and it tore the heart out of many regional communities. Schools closed. Subject choices diminished. Telstra offices closed. Road grant allocations declined.

That’s why Windsor has championed the NBN.

He knows it is one way that the playing field can be leveled between city and country communities.

And Abbott wants to tear it down!

Tony’s parallel reality (and one that he is creating) is quite extensive.

He is out there expending a huge amount of energy talking the economy down (when we have one that is the envy of most other countries).

He is also telling us that the ‘carbon tax’ will totally stuff our economy (just like the ALP did with the GST when John Howard sought to introduce it).

Abbott also told us he wanted a ‘gentler polity’ (but just in case you haven’t watched Question time for a while, he is setting about destroying the integrity of the Parliament).

He makes much of Gillard’s broken promise not to implement a carbon tax (but has been exposed as doing anything but sell his backside to form government himself). Presumably if he had formed government there would’ve been a few substantial broken promises as well.

Abbott by any measure should be well ahead in terms of popularity.

But he is not.

And many of his party are concerned by this!

They see the illusion.

But they are prepared for him to sacrifice his energy, treat the Australian populace with disdain by uttering his three-word slogans, tell lie after lie and to suffer the greatest indignity of all-----to be replaced when the election is called---- by the true Messiah!

After all, in the words of Bill Hayden, ‘a drover’s dog’ could lead the Coalition to an election victory now.

Surely! 

Or is that another illusion?

Abbott's paradoxical approach to wooing women voters!

The Blowfly is enjoying watching the Opposition leader’s attempts to woo women voters.

Firstly we have the parental paid leave scheme. At a time when Tony Abbott is denying a company tax reduction to companies he is introducing a parental paid leave scheme which is likely to be a bigger impost on businesses.

But he needs the female vote!

And now we have the possibility of taxpayer-funded subsidies for baby-sitting!

It is apparently one of his ‘aspirational’ policy initiatives that he would like to get on the table to show how caring he is about working women.

Whether it gets implemented will depend on what the Productivity Commission reports and whether the Government can afford it.

But in the meantime he continues to play the ‘bully boy’ and be quite aggressive with our first female Prime Minister. As do other members of the Opposition! Christopher Pyne particularly!

If Tony Abbott cannot see the paradox of this then we should review our understanding and perceptions of his capacity to lead our nation.

Because what it means is that he will resort to symbolic gestures to deal with sections of our community rather than reflecting on his core approach and adjusting it to their real needs.

In this case, women want to see that he is consistently attuned to their value as human beings.

You don’t demonstrate that by saying that the PM ‘has a target on her head’.

The Blowfly can only imagine how my mother would've regarded that comment!

The Blowfly would've been dead-meat.