HOW long will Australians tolerate politicians abusing their powers, while under-performing in so many areas under their responsibility, such as education? We live under a constitution based on the eternal rule that power tends to corrupt. An increasing number of Australians suspect the Wuhan virus is being used to create fear and thus an acceptance of draconian solutions used to win elections and even to maintain opinion polling ratings.
THERE used to be a statutory office whose very name struck terror into the hearts of those who feared for their sanity, now or in the future. This was the Master in Lunacy. Threats were frequently made that “men in white coats” were ready to take anyone away for behaviour or even comment judged irrational. We may well wonder what the Master would think of those who govern us today.
NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean has responded callously to the resignation of Liberal Party colleague Craig Kelly telling him “good riddance”. Mr Kelly is the latest of a string of conservatives who have departed an increasingly radicalised Liberal Party.
PILATE’S contemptuous dismissal of truth echoes down the ages. Those who, like Pilate, wash their hands while authoritarians try to gag anyone they insist must not speak, ignore what distinguishes civilisation from the evil alternatives. The search for truth is dependent on freedom of speech. As Robert Menzies warned: “Today’s truth is frequently tomorrow’s error…. If truth is to emerge and in the long run be triumphant, the process of free debate – the untrammelled clash of opinion – must go on”.
LIBERAL backbencher Craig Kelly has endured heavy backlash from political opponents for his wary stance of the government’s immediate COVID-19 vaccination plans and his sharing information on potential vaccine supplements. The outspoken Liberal member of parliament for Hughes said he is not an anti-vaxxer but he prefers a “wait to see” approach to learn from other vaccination trials before throwing his support behind the government’s move to vaccinate as many Australians as possible.
THE politician who has overseen more death and economic destruction than perhaps any premier in history has claimed to have the nation’s highest standards. With 820 COVID-related Victorian deaths – compared to 89 for the rest of Australia – and his State this week returning to total lockdown for a third stint, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has reached new levels of political spin.
QUEENSLAND premier Annastacia Palaszczuk played the first notes from the State sovereignty provisions of the Constitution as a rousing electoral anthem, after renaming them “Up Yours Australia, Queensland is Closing Its Borders”.
I RECENTLY read a useful poster for employees of Australia’s Workplace Mental Health Institute which describes 15 signs that you may be in an abusive relationship.
STATE politicians have continued their hysterical response to Coronavirus – instead of easing their approach as the germ became better understood. Rather than “flatten the curve” and “protect the vulnerable”, as was their initial intent, elected officials have instead acquiesced as public sector bureaucrats flattened the economy and protected their own careers.
WHY do politicians so often make decisions based not on judgement but on computer modelling? This is notwithstanding the telling observation attributed to the great Anglo-American statistician, Professor George EP Box, “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” It’s like all those pundits and commentators who were sure that based on faulty polls, Bill Shorten would win the last Federal election.
