Australian Politics
A narcissist government
When narcissists get something wrong they aways blame other people, never themselves. Leftists have many narcissist traits. See:
https://www.simplypsychology.org/narcissist-accountability.html
andhttp://jonjayray.com/leftism3.html
So the events described below are vivid evidence of how narcissistic Leftists can beEveryone knows the story of the boy stealing apples in the orchard. When confronted by the farmer, he simply holds the apples behind his back and declares, ‘Who? Me?’
Our current prime minister fits the description of that boy very well. But his colleagues are doing an impressive impersonation as well. As Chris Kenny would say, their theme song should be ‘Not Responsible’. The rule of thumb is never cop anything on the chin; rather blame someone or something else, preferably the previous Coalition government.
You really have to laugh. In the last election campaign, Albo made much of the fact that the buck would stop with him when in government. ‘If I become prime minister, I’ll accept responsibility each and every day, not always seek to blame others.’ Yeah, right.
It’s been a wild ride. I’m tempted to award a prize for the best alternative to the dog ate my homework. ‘I’ve been travelling in the car’ is a strong contender. This was the excuse pathetically given by the Prime Minister for not commenting on the arrival of an illegal vessel to our shores. I guess because he doesn’t have a mobile phone or a phalanx of minders keeping him up to date.
And then there was this clanger: ‘This is not my proposal, but the Australian people’s proposal’, thereby diverting blame for the thumping No vote he received in the Voice referendum.
To confirm that he is still in top ‘boy in the orchard’ form, Albo recently declared that, ‘I don’t comment on court proceedings overseas to which Australia is not a party.’ This was in reference to the absurd proposal of the dubious International Criminal Court to issue a warrant for the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, for war crimes.
Barely drawing breath, Albanese then started banging on about the overseas court proceedings involving Julian Assange. I guess he never actually promised to be consistent but that should surely be a sine qua non for any head of government.
Given that the leader sets the tone for the rest of the team, it’s hardly surprising that other team members would follow his lead in blaming anyone or anything other than themselves. Heaven forbid that they should actually take responsibility for their own actions.
How many times have we heard Home Affairs Minister, Clare O’Neil, blame the ten years of neglect by the Coalition government for her inept handling of her portfolio? (B1 also frequently uses the ten years of neglect line.) Gosh, she even had to commission an ‘independent’ review or two to criticise the handling of aspects of the migration program by the Coalition government, so we would be convinced. Of course, she had no idea what those reviews would conclude, no idea at all.
Her offsider, the hapless Andrew Giles, has developed one skill during his time in the outer ministry – attempting to throw his department under the bus for the multiple errors that he’s made. You know the sort of thing: the department didn’t tell me; the department failed to keep me informed; the department misled me.
As for the howler about drones tracking the movements of released asylum seekers, if he had thought this through, he would have quickly realised that it was an absurd proposition. But it probably sounded like solid precautionary action by one of the weakest ministers in living memory. That’ll show them a thing or two, he doubtless thought.
The fact that drones were not being used for this purpose was surely an acute embarrassment, even for a man of the left whose real aim in entering parliament was to usher in a gentle and compassionate treatment for asylum seekers, even ones who had committed heinous crimes. (Not their fault, you must understand.)
But here’s the thing: throwing your department under the bus carries real risks. The bureaucrats will always know more than the minister and they don’t appreciate their hard work – pause here for laughter – being disparaged. There are plenty of examples littering the annals of political history where the careers of ministers have been ruined by revengeful Sir Humphreys.
Giles is also wont to blame Peter Dutton for his current problems. Dutton as home affairs minister simply didn’t cancel enough visas, evidently, even though he cancelled many hundreds of them.
One example of Dutton’s strength in this portfolio was his refusal to allow the father of celebrated Richmond footballer, Dusty Martin, to enter the country from New Zealand. Mr Martin had a criminal record as long as the Nile and Dutts would simply not be moved to allow him to enter the country, even to watch his son play a Grand Final.
And even ScoMo, who was as weak as water on most issues when he was prime minister, was not having a bar of the New Zealand government’s plea to keep Kiwi criminals in Australia if they had a strong association with our country. It was only when Albo came to office and the compliant Giles, who is a strong factional mate of the PM, sloppily drafted Ministerial Direction 99 to appease fellow lefty-luvvie, Jacinda Ardern.
And then we come to Billy Boy, Bill Shorten, Minister for the NDIS. He has been around the corridors of Parliament House for some time and so he knows all the excuses. The recent information about the massive rorting of the NDIS and the infiltration of criminal groups has led Shorten to blame this entirely on the Coalition.
Well, he’s only had the job for two years. Who could expect him to have achieved anything substantial in that short time? (Speccie readers, perhaps.) The fact that Shorten emotionally rejected the Coalition’s sensible suggestions to stop some of the rot within the NDIS – independent assessment, benchmarking plans – is quietly forgotten.
Then comes the news that Services Australia engaged the services of a speechwriter for the minister costing the taxpayer a cool $620,000 for a two-year contract. Given that newspapers pay one dollar per word (or less or nothing at all), this sum was simply outrageous. We were also informed that all those zingers – yep, most of us missed them – in the minister’s speeches were his own work. Obviously, zingers would have been extra.
But Billy Boy was not taking any responsibility for this outrage. It was Services Australia’s fault. He didn’t have anything do with negotiating the contract and he was unaware of the sum of money involved. Who? Me?
It’s a very long time since a minister resigned in response to an acknowledged mistake. Ian McLachlan, who is an old-school gentleman, resigned in 1998 as defence minister when he inappropriately received some information.
To be sure, there have been ministers sacked or demoted since that time, but the idea of a senior member of the government falling on their sword because of a serious error now looks like a remote possibility. The most incompetent ministers will now grab any lifesavers floating by in order to retain the perks of office – and these days, these perks are substantial. Another case of following the money.
https://www.spectator.com.au/2024/06/ive-been-travelling-in-the-car/
******************************************************Act now on reckless power, says union buster Chris Corrigan
We have a building union so drunk with power that it thinks it can run football -- and threatens a football organization if it does not obey
Australia’s original union buster Chris Corrigan has called for “reckless” union power to be curtailed by the competition watchdog before further damage is done to the economy.
Mr Corrigan, who led a bitter battle with the Maritime Union of Australia in the late ’90s that shook up industrial relations on the waterfront, told The Australian from his home in Switzerland that the power of unions was unique in Australia because of their control over the ALP, referencing Bob Menzies’ “faceless men” accusation of the 1960s.
He said CFMEU boss John Setka’s threat of a work-to-rule on AFL projects including the Hobart stadium underscored the need for additional powers for the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to rein in unions.
The CFMEU threatened the football organisation over its appointment of Stephen McBurney as head of umpiring, due to his previous role as a union watchdog.
“It’s the most lopsided situation,” said the former chair of logistics giant Qube Holdings.
“Even the smallest companies are subject to ACCC surveillance but massive unions can do what they want.
“If a power company threatened to cut electricity to the AFL in the way (the CFMEU has issued threats against building sites), they would be sanctioned and not allowed to do it. This is not just about unions amassing power but using that power.”
Mr Corrigan said a handful of powerful unions had been targeting essential industries for decades and hurting productivity.
“Every Australian will be feeling the impact of this through inflationary pressure that is subsiding in other countries but not in Australia,” he said.
“Union power in Australia is unique around the world because of the structure of the ALP which makes the party beholden to unions. I am old enough to remember Bob Menzies talking about the faceless men of the ALP.”
Mr Corrigan said he had been calling for the ACCC to be given powers over unions since the 1990s. “They need the mandate to do it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the TWU’s demand for Virgin Australia’s owner Bain Capital to explain why it was considering an architect of the unlawful Qantas outsourcing as Virgin CEO has failed to attract the support of other unions, and has been condemned by Coalition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie.
The revelation former Qantas chief operating officer Paul Jones was one of two short-listed candidates for the top job at Virgin was considered “alarming” by the TWU, which wrote to Bain Capital seeking more information.
Senator McKenzie said it was concerning to see unions had become more militant and emboldened under the Albanese government, “to the detriment of Australian businesses”.
“We cannot return to the dark days of union-controlled domestic airlines with stifled competition and strongarmed investors that ultimately led to the duopoly that still exists in the skies of Australia,” Senator McKenzie said.
“The TWU is practising mission creep here. Public comments go beyond its remit as a representative body for transport workers, in seeking to influence the investment decisions of businesses trying to run profitable, sustainable and safe airlines.”
Other aviation unions were reluctant to support the TWU, declining to comment publicly. However, it is understood that privately other unions believed the TWU was overstepping the mark given its relatively low levels of membership at Virgin.
About 25 per cent of pilots are TWU members with the majority of the remainder part of the Australian Federation of Air Pilots.
The Australian Services Union, Flight Attendants Association and AFAP would not comment on the TWU’s demand.
Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association federal secretary Steve Purvinas said they would work with whomever Bain Capital appointed as CEO.
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Aussie nuclear expert Rob Parker 'cancelled' after single tweet
A nuclear scientist who claims he was axed from presenting to hundreds of guests after a single, critical tweet from renewables advocate and investor Simon Holmes a Court highlights the fraught debate around Australia's energy future.
Rob Parker, who holds masters degrees in nuclear science and civil engineering, has also been a member of Engineers Australia for 30 years. He was due to present 'How to avoid an energy blunder Down Under' to more than 400 guests at an Engineers Australia webinar last Wednesday.
'The talk had been planned and signed off on months before,' Mr Parker told Daily Mail Australia.
'Emails from head office all the way to the Newcastle office - where the talk was to be hosted. All the approvals, everything was done.'
But 24 hours before he was due to speak, the Teal's number one financial backer Mr Holmes a Court posted on X: 'Seriously @EngAustralia? You're hosting an anti-renewables event for @NukeForClimate? i would have thought your body was dedicated to improving understand [sic], not muddying the waters!'
Just minutes after the tweet went live Engineers Australia responded on X: 'Thanks Simon. This event has been pulled. This does not meet our guidelines and we are investigating how it was scheduled.'
That tweet was quickly deleted by Engineers Australia after Mr Homes a Court deleted his original tweet upon learning that the event was cancelled. Engineering Australia then sent an email to the guests registered for the event stating 'this event was cancelled due to the speaker being unwell'.
Mr Parker told Daily Mail Australia it was entirely untrue that he was sick and he never suggested to Engineers Australia that he was. He only found out he was banned from the event he'd been invited to speak at via social media.
'They cancelled it on X before even bothering to contact me. I was all ready to go. This was a knee jerk reaction to Simon Holmes a Court winding them up on X.'
Mr Holmes a Court rejected Mr Parker's claim saying: 'The event was cancelled before my tweet. The reporting on this issue is false.'
Mr Parker says the misleading and false excuse given by Engineers Australia for banning him - claiming that he was sick - is a breach of their own code of ethics which calls for integrity amongst members.
'They don't even live up to their own standards', he said.
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Major apology millions of Australians deserve
We are owed an apology for Covid vaccine mandates.
Mounting evidence shows the vaccines were rushed, less effective than you’d expect of a jab, and, in some cases, dangerous.
The whole premise of mandates was to protect the community. But these vaccines didn’t stop contraction or transmission of Covid – so what exactly were we protecting?
Sure, it may reduce your likelihood of catching Covid. But that should be, and should always have been, your decision.
If you were jabbed then what did it matter whether the person at the table next to you in the pub wasn’t? You’d taken your own precautions. It’s up to others to wear the consequences of their own decisions.
There are plenty of treatments that can help prevent and reduce the severity of myriad other diseases but the government does not force you to take them to participate in society.
Even former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth now admits he hasn’t had a Covid vaccine for two years.
If one of the most high-profile doctors in the country won’t do it, why would the rest of us?
And most of us haven’t. By May last year, nearly 17 million Australian adults had not had a booster in the past six months.
The sky has not fallen.
News.com.au’s Frank Chung recently detailed the death of 34-year-old Katie Lees less than two weeks after receiving the AstraZeneca Covid jab from vaccine-induced thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome.
She had severe clotting in the brain and became unconscious, being put on life support. The plug was eventually pulled and she died.
At 34, her risk of death from Covid was minimal but in order to go about normal life, thanks to government-imposed rules, she – like the rest of us – had to be vaccinated.
Where there is risk of death or serious side-effects for a medical treatment there is no justification for force or coercion.
But that is what happened and no one has apologised.
AstraZeneca was pulled from Australia last year and its manufacturer discontinued it worldwide last month, saying demand had dropped because of the availablity of newer vaccines.
It followed an admission in a UK court that the vaccine could be deadly.
When the US Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer vaccine for use in December 2020 – long before it was largely rolled out in Australia – it admitted there was no “evidence that the vaccine prevents transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from person to person”.
The federal government set up a $77 million compensation scheme for Covid vaccine injuries in December 2021 in a clear admission of the possible dangers.
About $7 million worth of WorkCover claims have been paid to vaccine-injured people in Victoria who were required to be jabbed by their workplaces.
The last regular report of Covid vaccine safety by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, in November last year, showed 139,654 known adverse reactions.
And Dutch researchers have now sounded the alarm about a possible link between Covid vaccines and excess deaths.
The academics, in a paper published in BMJ Public Health this month, wrote that excess mortality following the introduction of Covid vaccines was “unprecedented and raises serious concerns”, that data on deaths linked to the vaccines was murky and “simultaneous onset of excess mortality and Covid-19 vaccination in Germany provides a safety signal warranting further investigation”.
Excess deaths in Australia were 6.1 per cent higher than expected for the first eight months of 2023 and 14.1 per cent higher than expected in the same period the year prior.
So when will the apology for mandates be forthcoming?
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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
https://immigwatch.blogspot.com (IMMIGRATION WATCH)
https://awesternheart.blogspot.com (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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Evelyn Rae, a conservative Australian political commentator
Sahara Ray is undoubtedly a good-looking woman. Since she is Australian-born there is even a possibility that we may be distantly related. I hope she recovers soon from her encounter with Guillain-Barré syndrome
Margo Robbie -- a beautiful australian
My son Joe at ANU
One of the happiest pictures ever -- Cleo Smith, aged 4
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