by JOHN MIKKELSEN – THERE has been a media pile-on against Victoria’s One Nation Leader Warren Pickering after he fronted up and admitted to a wayward past.
But, he emphasised, he had turned his life around and – 20 plus years later – he was a different person today.
- All sitting and potential MPs should be subjected to random drug testing.
- What a can of worms that would open!
- Drug users in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
There’s a quote I remember from my Sunday School days that was brought to mind by this political hit job: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
Those words were spoken by Jesus when Scribes and Pharisees brought a woman accused of adultery to him.
STONED
With a crowd gathering, they asked if she should be stoned according to the Law of Moses, apparently trying to trap him into breaking that law.
Jesus stooped, wrote in the dust on the ground, then stood up and gave his famous reply.
The accusers walked away one by one, starting with the older men. Jesus told the woman he did not condemn her either, and told her to go and sin no more.
Fast forward to today and Jesus would probably be accused of misogyny and bigotry for not addressing the gathered crowd as “he, she or they”.
But religion aside, I think there is a direct parallel with the media pile-on against Warren Pickering, who freely admitted taking illicit drugs in his 20s.
The media conference, in which he was supported by his daughter and step son, was sparked by front page stories in The Australian newspaper featuring his former wife, who made some startling accusations against him.
The media also claimed that Victoria’s State Revenue Office had ordered him to repay a $13,500 First Home Owner Grant in 2010.
According to One News Australia: “Warren Pickering fronted the media in Melbourne on Tuesday and explicitly answered every allegation The Australian had dragged across three desperate front pages.
“He confirmed contacting the Victorian State Revenue Office that morning, receiving definitive proof that the first home buyer grant inquiry was fully resolved on September 23, 2010, when he and ex-wife Jo Scott sold the property.
“He shut down the ice claim completely, named the minor drugs he used during his youth, and clarified that he stopped prior to joining the Australian Defence Force, having fully disclosed his past in his application…”
It wasn’t only The Australian, with other mainstream media also joining the attack and claiming he should be excluded from standing as a politician or possible Premier.
These include some presenters on News24 (formerly Sky News Australia) such as Andrew Clennell who launched several attacks.
Others have been more sympathetic and forgiving, including News24’s Peta Credlin (a Chief of Staff to former Liberal PM Tony Abbott) and her colleague Paul Murray.
In a wide-ranging interview on Paul Murray Live, Pickering confirmed he had stated he was willing to undertake random drug testing, and suggested the same should apply to all other Victorian election candidates.
Amen to that, and I would go one step further and suggest, if past drug use is such a concern, the same rule should apply for all political candidates and sitting members at State and federal level.
Wow, what a can of worms that would open!
Let’s face it, how many of us can honestly put our hands up and swear that we have never done things in our youth that we wouldn’t be ashamed of – or that might have been illegal?
Not me, but taking illicit drugs isn’t on the list. I recall a party I attended as a young journalist when two colleagues tried to talk me into trying marihuana: “Come on John, it gives you a great, laid-back feeling…”
“No thanks, I’ll stick with beer”.
They kept drinking too while smoking their smelly joints while Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon boomed from the stereo. Before long they were spewing their guts out. A valuable lesson.
ILLICIT
Meanwhile, wide-spread sewage testing today reveals the extensive presence of illicit drugs, and the NSW Government could be accused of encouraging drug taking among youths by approving pill testing at music festivals, paid for by tax payers.
(Good one Premier Chris Minns, just as your gun buy-back scheme has not stopped shootings on Sydney streets and in homes every other day.)
Obviously, hypocrisy rules in politics and when it comes to the leader of the pack, I couldn’t go past our esteemed Prime Minister.
Take Anthony Albanese’s recent attack on One Nation and Pauline Hanson.
In a recent speech to the Labor faithful in Queensland he claimed “One Nation would do and say anything to win votes, including bending facts, spreading misinformation and turning Australian against Australian”.
Three words, Albo!: “Pot, kettle, black”.
That’s pretty rich coming from a man whose frequent fibs, porkies or “position changes” have included an assurance prior to the last election that “yes for the fiftieth time” there would be no changes to Capital Gains Tax or negative gearing.
Or that power prices would fall by $250 by 2025.
Or that The Voice referendum “is not a matter of special treatment or preferential power. It’s about consulting Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples on the decisions that affect them. This is simple courtesy, it is common decency”.
Yeah right, we all know how those have panned out with house prices dropping drastically and rents rising after the recent Budget changes to CGT and negative gearing.
Household power prices have surged by about 40 per cent and The Voice was overwhelmingly rejected in every Australian State.
There is also the “melongate” podcast scandal, with Albo denying he was figuratively juggling the Japanese PM’s “melons” in front of his chest after references to Pamela Anderson.
And now there is the mounting “pork barrelling” scandal involving $409m (or 73 per cent of Labor grant funding) directed to targeted and marginal seats.
This, of course, includes a $6m grant to the Marrickville Golf Club in the PM’s electorate, where he holds an honorary membership and owns a house within a handful of metres from the fairways.
LINKING
Peta Credlin and other media have now highlighted a long history of public record announcements linking the Prime Minister to the venue.
But back to the issue of whether Warren Pickering should be eligible to run in the Victorian election.
I think that’s a given and any contrary claims are politically driven.
I’m not saying he would make a better premier than the capable young Liberal Leader Jess Wilson who appears to have progressed to the Right on some issues she might have previously taken a more woke approach.
She has confirmed she fully supports her Party’s plan to abolish Victoria’s Indigenous Treaty, despite previously breaking ranks as the only State Liberal MP to back The Voice.
She now agrees the new treaty creates a parallel, or a separate system of government in the State.
Meanwhile, Victoria’s new Labor leader Ben Carroll is struggling to escape the taint of the Party’s shady backroom deals, claimed links to the CFMEU, roads full of destructive potholes and the mountain of debt he has inherited from former leaders Jacinta Allen and Dan Andrews.
So, the Victorian State election on November 28 should be a very interesting litmus test for the next Federal election.
Especially following the recent wins by One Nation in the WA seat of Secret Harbour, Farrer in NSW and gains in the SA elections.
Bring it on, but remember the old adage, “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”.PC
Good on you Warren Pickering, well done.
You have revived memories I have tried to forget. The gentlemen do their lines and then close off electoral office toilets for “personal” use. No one has any idea of the depravity of some of these people.
I can name names. I can also provide first-hand written accounts of the MPs and staffers involved.