Humble servant of the Nation

The real question is should governments govern?

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When the time comes for me to scratch away at the voluntary postal plebiscite, I will be voting no. And I say so presuming the question is “Do you approve of the Coalition government spending $122 million of taxpayers’ money to save it from itself?”

Really, that is the question. Or it should be.

The Turnbull government is acting against its own interests. This nationwide opinion poll runs contrary to everything the Liberal Party believes in. Even the party’s manifesto says so. Not that they call it that in order to avoid any ideological misapprehensions. They deign it a platform and in that document, replete with more motherhood statements than a 10 minute harangue from Mia Freedman, there sits this rather incriminating phrase: “…that government exists to serve people and not the reverse.”

But here we are engaging in an unproductive and divisive exercise for no good reason other than the Coalition government will erupt into terminal brawling unless the people bail them out for a couple of months before the next round of fussin’ and feudin’ begins.

Full column here.

224 Comments

  • Milton says:

    How much would the plebiscite they wanted to hold cost?

  • Boadicea says:

    smoke: from previous blog.

    You missed the point I was trying to make – not too well obviously.

    Yes, I know Tasmania used a generator that gobbled diesel. Luckily someone foresaw potential disaster and had the generator running befire the lights went out.
    My argument is that Weatherill may have done better to take a deep breath, be sure he had a plan that would work – before knocking down the power station.
    With all those generators running he has negated the pipedreans of the next two years anyway. He’s a fool.

    • Dwight says:

      The inability to think through the consequences of one’s actions is supposed to end when someone reaches their early 20s. However, extreme ideological types think they can actually live in the castles in the air that they constructed.
      Here’s my latest talking point: http://fortune.com/2017/06/26/seattle-minimum-wage-policy-study/ And before anyone picks a fight based on a magazine article, yes, I downloaded and fully reviewed the study. It’s solid research.

    • Dismayed says:

      Yvonne, SA Jay did NOT knock down any power stations. The Privately owned companies decided to shut them down. Have you ever seen a fact? During one shedding event last year the AEMO decided NOT to fire up the Gas fired generators. That was a failing of the Federally run Market Operator. The Same AEMO who provided 4 reports to show that the Power Transmission lines knocked over by 190km/h winds was the cause of the system black event. Plus the Wind power generators did not spike like the gas turbines did which is what further pushed the system into shut down. Oh and what do you know the AEMO site is showing SA again has the cheapest power in the country. Along with the power storage the government is installing GE TM2500 hybrid turbine generators not “diesel” generators as being reported by the Liberal party member Michael Owens who continues to write false information for the Australian. You need to get someone to explain what facts are to you, you seem to have an aversion to the facts.

      • smoke says:

        and now there are publicly owned generation assets….. let’s see what that does for prices

      • Razor says:

        What is the average cost of power in SA Dismal? One of the dearest in the world actually. You do understand with peaks and troughs the average price is what counts?

      • Razor says:

        Also you forgot the bit about not having enough reliable base load power to look after themselves therefore they had to rely on a single interconnector that tripped out because the SA stuff up was about to stuff Victoria.

        Nobody on this blogs cherry picks like you do.

        • Dismayed says:

          Wrong as usual razor. By the way it is the cost of GAS that sets Electricity prices. You are conveniently over looking the fact there is a National electricity Market. Talk about cherry picking HAHAHA. The Power went out because the Privately owned Transmission lines were knocked over by 190km/h winds. Any other information is false. That is probably why you continue to repeat it. You know no other way.

      • JackSprat says:

        And the reason why the privately owned power stations closed down Dismal?
        Come on give the full story.
        They were forced out of business by the preferential treatment given to the renewable lot is the short answer.

    • smoke says:

      yeah got it B….just remember the NEM hasn’t finished wreaking havoc….

  • BASSMAN says:

    How will I know when The Trumper is REALLY SERIOUS. Simple….when the stock market drops 20% overnight. I just hope Kim and Trumper sort this out peacefully Bald.

  • Huger Unson says:

    Shrinking relevance is a curse of age, Jack, you may have noticed. Keeping up is Der ständige kampf.
    I’ve posted my latest – in very fetching bomber jacket, snakeskin boots, plugged into Princess Leia headset, thumbing away at my phablet – at Snapchat for your ☠ or ❤.
    Ps, my personal detailer, who once did KRudd, reckoned the black sneakers with white trim would’ve been the go.
    Pps, if I wasn’t so committed, this caper would be a joke.

  • Henry Blofeld says:

    Greens leader Richard Di Natalie totally with the pixies as usual as he urges Australia to ditch the US/Australia Alliance. We stand with the USA and have done for over 100 years. Di Natalie would be the first to scream if we were attacked and no one came to our aid. He’s a dill class 1 and a real menace in fact to Australia’s Security. No wonder the Greens have been around for over 30 years yet the Australian Voter still shuns them.

  • Boadicea says:

    For those saying we should have a parliamentary debate as to whether we should invoke the ANZAS alliance if Kimmie attacks Guam – with due respect, I don’t think we’d have the time to go down that path! This would need a decision in 5 minutes – which our parliament is clearly incapable of.
    Furthermore, for those jumping up and down about the notion of standing by the USA, I presume they would feel relaxed about the USA just sitting back and watching if Kimmie decided to attack us instead?

    • Jack The Insider says:

      If there’s one thing Trump likes it’s a five minute decision process. Just read that he sat in a briefing from Jim Mattis, on Korean peninsula, was half way through background and options when Trump grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. As Mattis continued Trump reportedly pointed the remote at Mattis, trying to mute him. May be apocraphyl for all I know but be grateful quality people like Mattis are there.

      • Penny. says:

        And of course there’s that report in the New Yorker that Jared Kushner has said “that Kim Jong Un is totally unqualified and inexperienced for the job and only got there through family connection…and that’s called nepotism”. Ah if only it were true….lol

    • Trivalve says:

      PM can make the decision – just ask JWH (but we’re talking about Truffles, not Howard)

    • Penny. says:

      ANZUS….

  • BASSMAN says:

    Is Malcolm governing? I saw him in step with M.Payne on the news saying we are at war if the USA is, according to our ANZUS agreement. The Big Scare….of course its a BIG LIE….the ANZUS treaty does not oblige us to join in any war with the USA but that is all the Libs have at the moment. Hopeless on policy. As for Uncle Sam jumping in to save us if we are attacked, well the wording in the ANZUS agreement is the USA would ‘consult’ us not automatically set the launch codes. Howard asked for USA help in Timor and never got it. We would gain more respect from the USA if we turned them down every now and then according to military guru Hugh White. Now THAT would be governing. And how about a plebiscite on going to war whilst we are at it? That would be leadership!!

    Yes, as soon as there is a terror threat or a world hiccup the Looters quickly jump into war mode and start rattling their sabres….and that is all they can do as they are a policy vacuum. We are not a world power and we should not try to be. I don’t see any other countries jumping to attention as quick as we have. Like Howard, any sniff of a war and we gotta be first cab off the rank to be head legs and arms in it every time. No doubt Shorten would do the same or cop the wedge. Then again we are lucky Abbott is still not PM. He would have launched his own pre emptive attack on Mad Kim Jong as he was going to with Putin!

    • Trivalve says:

      Liberal government Bassy. Budget crisis? Can’t afford to fund unis or Gonski? Labor’s debt? Graaak!

      But war!? We’re IN!

      • Dwight says:

        Former US State Department lawyer, Patrick M. Norton, argued the fifteen nations other than the United States who contributed forces to serve under the Unified Command were technically party to the Armistice.

        “The armed forces of some twenty different governments fought in Korea. Since the U.N. Commander signed on behalf of all governments participating on the UN side, nineteen of these governments should properly be viewed as being parties to the Armistice,” he wrote in a 1997 academic paper.

  • Milton says:

    Cool! Viceland is showing Batman 6.30-7.30 tonight. A must record.

  • Razor says:

    Vote! AND VOTE YES!

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