Finally, it is over and the results are in. The result of the same-sex postal survey is entirely predictable and mirrors polls taken over the last five years. The question remains, why has the will of a large majority of the people been ignored by the parliament for so long?
This has been an entirely unnecessary vox pop of the Australian people on a question so few are actually invested in. It has been ugly and divisive. The best thing we can say about it is at last it is done.
It should never have happened. The parliament should have acted or indeed it might not have acted and we would all be a lot better off than we are today. But the political needs of the Coalition had to be sated and so the Australian Bureau of Statistics was dragged into oversee a $122 million non-binding, voluntary postal survey that may yet come to little or nothing.
The cost of it has to be counted more than in simple dollar terms. It has to be measured somehow in more nebulous but more important ways. The loss of national unity, a lid lifted on bigotry and prejudice where discrimination against one group of people was openly countenanced by community leaders.
Full column here.
It has already started in the Senate. Beastiality Bernardi raised a series of motions and many government senators supported his ridiculous cause.
$400 US big ones for an inferior DaVinci – tell em they’re dreaming. Jesus Christ may have been many things but I’m sure God wouldn’t have made him cross-eyed. Put that in the lounge room and all 50 guests would believe the picture was following their every move. And the sfumato’s all wrong as well.
All very well for you to dismiss the “DV” as we call them. Try to understand the problem facing collectors who made squillions in windfall oil profits in the gaming of the Middle East.
Where does a chap get his cred? You can only have so many manses, super yachts and personal aircraft. To snag a DV is a coup and suitable displayed or even quite deliberately kept from the view of guests , some of whom will be common enough to beg to see it, will give the lucky new owner a cachet amidst peers, if fleeting, he or she would find hard to get normally.
You don’t want to buy some quirky stuff by that bald Spanish whatisname bloke do you?
The shame that it had to come down to this is ameliorated by the result. Shame we still have a lucrative industry based on superstition and fearmongering still extant. But there you have it.
Good to see most of the naysayers pragmatic enough to acknowledge the wishes of their constituents! Chuckle. No doubt they will be able to sort it out with God on t’other side. Good luck with that. Hell’s not real flash apparently.
Master stroke by Turnbull. The cost? Piffling amount. Would barely buy a decent house in Point Piper.
Well said old bean. Pragmatism at its best. Now bugger off that’s my role! 😁
Comforting post there, Mr Baptiste, you always represent a “steady pair of hands” in any crisis dear fellow. Juts like my hero POTUS Trump!Cheers
Should we be surprised the major naysayers are labor voters, Jean.?
Naysayers …….. context, their constituents, read elected members. Get it?
As to the voters. No we shouldn’t be surprised, religion again. Sigh.
Not sure that’s the case Milton. The electorates that recorded No majorities are, I think areas with a high immigrant population, who do not, publicly at least, condone SS relationships.
Seems the military coup in Zimbabwe was to get rid of Grace before she usurped power.
South Africa set to provide a safe haven for them which would piss a great part of that nation off – they are dealing with a corrupt president of their own who becomes more Mugabe-like with each passing day.
Report that Grace had recently taken a jeweller to court for not supplying the 100 carat diamond she had paid for.
Dear God, how much does a diamond that size cost? I certainly hope the jeweller took the money and ran! Meanwhile most of Zimbabwe starves and the unemployment rate is 90%.
Almost worthless over there Boa. They’re lying around on the ground everywhere and the currency halves in value every ten minutes
Sad Triv – Rhodesia/Zimbabwe was once the food bowl of Africa. He should certainly be had up for criminal activities
Instead he’ll be holed up in some mansion with the zillions he stole off his people to spend . Grace will no doubt take care of that aspect of exile – if they get them to leave, that is.
Now that most of the tumult and the shouting has died (except for an earlier notable comment on here) and we wait for the machinery of the parliament to grind on, perhaps its time for a touch of kindly, light-hearted, best wishes be offered to all those who are now on the cusp of being able to eagerly move on with their lives.
A couple of lines from that old movie classic ‘My Fair Lady’ come to mind – “I’m getting’ married in the mornin’…” and “Just you wait ‘enry ‘iggins, just you wait”.
Carl. A proposition. “Will you marry me?” Before you drop your teeth in the porridge I see an opportunity here. It would be too competitive to vie for first same sex marriage, but it occurs to me the very first same sex divorce with attendant publicity and surely a contract for a lucrative exclusive would be a cinch.
I suppose a bit of wooing is in order here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-0INi8ziCw
Ah well. I’ll ask Henry.
Make no mistake.
It’ll be a slippery descent into bestiality, and, perhaps, even dancing, from hereon in.
Nothing wrong with a good Polka TO.
From hearsay TO it’s not a descent into bestiality. Many require a ladder!
Well, we’re on a roll. That’s a plebiscite that should arouse considerable interest.
Penny (prev blog)
I too have listened to Fran Kelly for many years. My alarm radio is set to Radio National and I listen for a couple of hours every day. It’s also better for international news.
I find Kelly has an annoying habit of interrupting or overtalking her interviewee – seemingly anxious to get them to say what she wants to hear.
I’m always relieved when she’s away and a replacement is on who allows the subject to answer the question uninterrupted. Sabra Lane is a good one, Geraldine Doogue another. And some of the blokes whose names I can’t think of right now.
The question that apparently annoyed Boy George had to do with whether he thought his, and other’s like David Bowie, gender bending had had an affect on children at the time. Not surprisingly really, in today’s climate, he decided to opt straight out on that one. He was there to be interviewed on his current tour and took exception to being spoken about in the past tense.
Fair enough Boa. I just got really annoyed with Bassman’s comment afterwards. I quite like Fran Kelly and had a good chance to listen to Radio National when we were travelling around the country. I read an article on Margaret Throsby yesterday that made me sit up and feel my age. She has been with the ABC on both radio and television for 50 years! Before that it was just blokes. I don’t ever remember questioning why we didn’t have more female news readers and presenters even 40 years ago….
We just had television “hostesses” like……ummmm, see I can’t remember their names now.
Remembered one of the ‘blokes’ Penny – James Carlton – always good to listen to – and conducts interviews really well..
PK, Sabra Lane, great…Fran is hopeless at interviewing pollies on economical issue she does not have a clue. Big Arnie continually cons her with gross and net debt (quotes net debt for Looters, gross debt for Labor. Emma Aberici should have Frans job or Mrs Jones. Fran should go back to singing in bands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JRvtJfeXB0
Sheesh JB – maybe Tony Burke should stick to his guitar too!
Out of all of them Mrs Jones is simply the best.
When she stood in for Leigh Sales her interview style was a hundred times more hard-hitting. Sales too often giggles & worse, she whispers the reporters name like they aren’t at all as important as her.
Can’t agree with you on this, it’s right that the country had it’s say too often the electorate is ignored once the bums are on the seat.
Too often they want our vote and then the “you can’t be trusted” attitude pops up, guess what.
In some ways, Tracy, I think this has been even more successful that it may have been if just parliament had voted on it. The populace has ”ownership” of a good outcome and no-one can ever say ”whatif”
it is interesting that the No voting electorates are not full of traditional Catholics or Christians, or red-neck rural deplorables, but mainly new arrivals to Australia, often from the ME and Asia, the Muslims, and especially in Bruce and Bennelong, the Chinese, and a few Indians.
The Catholics were always going to ignore their bishops on a matter of sexuality, as they have been reliably doing for fifty or so years.
the others were always more likely to vote no, because SSM is just not much of a viable idea in much of asia and certainly not in the Arab or Muslim world.
The Arab world has some very strange ideas on human sexuality and homosexuality in particular. I listened to a speech on this topic from none other than Ignatius Jones who had recently returned from a long stay in Doha arranging some massive public celebration in the UAE. Much of it was unprintable but very funny. I woud have paid good money to hear it but as it happened it was delivered in a Redfern pub.
Pleased to read old Ignatius is still going strong in his new(ish) caper; a showman to his toenails. Would like to hear that speech.
now that would have been worth burning an afternoon for.
had to do a swag of research into homosexuality in the Arab and Muslim world for some cases back in the day, and it was very odd indeed.
Hard to reconcile it being illegal and execution of gays with gay sex being ubiquitous.
Not to put too fine a point on it, mate, it is quite ok to pitch but very, very wrong to catch.
So how do married couples go booking hotels etc in places like Dubai?
I’m sure I read once that Arabs were right into homosexual sex before marriage – they expect their women to be virgins
Depends on who owns the hotel. If they don’t have a mini bar, don’t go there unless you have a copy of your marriage certificate.
As for homosexuality in the Arab world, it’s the ME’s worst kept secret, along with some other perverse sexual practices I won’t mention here on Jack’s family blog. Gay nightclubs are not too underground in places like Dubai, and in poorer countries like Yemen & Oman homosexuality is fairly commonplace because of economic factors. If you can’t support a wife you stay single until you can so temporary homosexuality is a choice many make, very strange. North Africa is much the same, it is common in the poorer countries like Egypt, Libya & Algeria.
Don’t know about the pitchers and catchers theory Jack, maybe in the eyes of the law one is less serious than the other, but most are switch hitters I think.
Marriage not it so common though
Mack, a bit worrying too if your young sons are blue eyed and blonde. Never let them out of your sight
Rhys, i don’t think Carmen Lawrence fits your model, nor does Anna Bligh, and Joan Kirner and Julia Gillard certainly don’t.
Could probably add Cheryl Kernot, Kristina Kenneally, Anna Palaszczuk to the list