Humble servant of the Nation

SSM survey takes the cake

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There are lots of problems with the forthcoming same sex marriage postal survey but the biggest one is voters are essentially voting blind in the absence of a bill.

Why do we not have a bill? You’d have to ask the Turnbull government. If you ask me, I’d say the Turnbull government doesn’t have the backbone to put one up and give some useful form of definition to what we will soon be checking the boxes of in the coming weeks. But that’s just me.

Right now we have a fierce debate going on about something we do not know and cannot possibly divine and this, of course, has led to a lot of talk about nothing.

The rather tedious example being shuffled about and one mirrored in the United States is the one associated with wedding cake bakers (they call themselves designers now but I’m not falling for that one) and whether some of them have the right to withdraw their services to same sex couples who are preparing to tie the knot.

Full column here.

213 Comments

  • Dismayed says:

    Did anyone notice that over 65% of the small rise in GDP figure this week was from Government Spending? The headline figure of 1.8% is half of the Pre 2013 average. No surprises.

    • JackSprat says:

      The figures revolving around growth are a pile of crap Dismal.
      Take large scale immigration out of the picture and we would have been in recession many times.
      Look behind the employment figures and you will see a pretty grim picture.

  • Dismayed says:

    From the last one. Hear Hear Bella, Hear, Hear.

  • BASSMAN says:

    A lot of money was lost over the High Courts decision. Eminent QC’s and SM’s read it wrong.

  • Huger Unson says:

    Baker, butcher or candlestick maker, they all want the trade. As if someone is going to knock back a sale, unless severely provoked. Like the time I tried a kosher butcher in St Kilda. I went to insist on a non-discriminatory purchase of lamb chops, but I thought better of it when he moved round the counter. His shop, his choice, so be it.
    Anyway, the benefit of face-to-face retail is the social engagement and the possibility of good info on the side.
    I was the only customer at my butcher at 8am today. I’d picked a leg of lamb from the display and the assistant was deboning it for me. He directed my attention to the Tigers poster in the middle of the front door. “That’s the boss’s. Where’s my Bombers poster, though?” The boss came out then and told us the Essendon poster was at the shop on the other side of the road, the pharmacy. Get it? I didn’t, at first, but I’m pretty sure the gag would have lived on through the day and may be still viable tomorrow. Gary & Craig would’ve replayed it for the pensioners getting their two snags and mince for 3 burgers.
    The lamb slow-cooked to perfection, by the way. $40 I paid, for not having to put up with the trite & robotic “Enjoy the rest of the day” on the way out. Which is another reason why I use the self-checkout at Woolies.
    I agree with the guts of it, Jack. What’s the question and more to the point, what’s in the Bill?
    Enough of that, time for Stan Grant, he’s a winner.

  • JackSprat says:

    I know that Australia Post is totally inefficient in every aspect other than the pay rate for their CEO where they break all records.
    But why does it take until November for the poll to close?
    From what I can gather, most people have made up their minds.
    It is a long long time to ignore all the rubbish that is going to come out from both sides.

  • Bella says:

    If a chosen baker refuses to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, then okay. Bit silly for growing your business, but okay.
    Find another baker.
    Simple. 🕊🎂

    • Dwight says:

      Arlene’s Flower’s v. Washington State is also waiting for certiorari to be granted. It’s likely the Supremes will accede and bundle the cases.

    • Boadicea says:

      Exactly, Bella.

    • Razor says:

      Spot on Bella!

    • John O'Hagan says:

      That’s a perfectly sensible attitude, Bella, but I think JTI’s point is that even raising this issue in the context of the marriage equality debate is a red herring. It is already unlawful to offer a service to the public but then refuse to provide it on discriminatory grounds. As Jack says, if you don’t like that, you should probably get out of the service industry, but either way it has nothing to do with the law on SSM.

      On that, I notice some on the anti-gay side of the debate are already resorting to the “argument” trotted out so often lately in the context of Trump/Brexit/deplorabiliy etc: that the only reason they vote the way they do is because they don’t like the hoity-toity tone of the other side. Apparently, conservatives cannot be held responsible for their reactions to progressive campaigning, which should therefore cease, although it seems this only cuts one way. Or, as Kathy Bates said to her captive in the movie Misery, “See what you made me do!”

      • Bella says:

        You’re right, it is a red herring.
        The survey is a smokescreen anyway giving this government time to avoid doing what they’re elected to do and that is to govern for all & pass laws for all.
        If JH could narrow the definition of marriage in one foul swoop without fanfare, then changing it back by the same method would have saved a hell of a lot of our cash though.
        Respecting couples who are of the same sex and who want to marry each other should make our society in general that much stronger. Equal. Finally.

  • Henry Blofeld says:

    You say PM Turnbull hasn’t a backbone, Mr Insider. You certainly got that right. He is so frightened of the Right Wingers on this Same Sex Marriage issue he’s fobbed it off to a Non Binding Postal Survey. I doubt any Surgeon in our great Country would be able to locate Turnbull’s backbone! Having said all that I do like Cake but not Wedding Cake as after 3 Marriages, the last going well after 5 years, am now “gun shy” as they say in the Westerns. But it will be great to see the Cake Making Industry get a boost if and when Gay Marriage becomes law.

  • Lou oTOD says:

    You’ve written some funny articles on Fridays Jack, but this one takes the cake.

    It brings back memories of my one and only wedding. We dutifully packed the bottom tier of the cake after the wedding in Sydney, and took it back to Hobart for careful storage. It was resurrected for the first anniversary, but the knife went straight through a void. The hungry little house bugs had eaten the lot, and we were left with the marzipan casing.

    Now on the rights and wrongs of wedding cake supply, perhaps it should be a secondary question on the SSM survey. Whatever you do though, don’t raise it with John Hewson.

    • Dismayed says:

      I will take Dr john Hewson over any coalition leader since 1993.. Any of them.

    • Penny says:

      We didn’t have a wedding cake, we just gave our guests fantastic food, wine and beer in a friends back garden. We left earlyish ( as you do on your wedding night) and came back the next day to the party still going.

      • Dwight says:

        Cake? Don’t think that’s on the list of things I have to worry about. I think I’ve had two pieces of cake in the last three years since I had 3/4 of my stomach removed.

  • Dismayed says:

    Oh and I recall reading articles regarding the economic impact of allowing people to marry those they choose as life partners. The economic boost is somewhere north of $2 billion per year to the economy. Yes.Yes Yes.

  • Dismayed says:

    This is one of your best JTI you must be getting some “spring” into your step. This is very muck like your articles from yesteryear. Great stuff.

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