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.
Made a foray to Bennelong yesterday to see how my dad’s handling the marriage crisis. At the airport I encountered Sam Dastyari , as far as I could tell. Can report that Sam made his way behind me to the Qantas Gold Lounge. Not the Chairman’s Lounge where the notorious, rich and famous are normally ushered. Not the Business Lounge. The Gold Lounge.
Man of the people.
Man of the Chinese people.
HA! Nice!
true enough too
on that line how’s the Julie bishop glorious foundation travelling?
What can I say, the Chinese people love Julie so much they keep giving her money.
The expense account must not be working all that well!
Jeez Jack, I think GetUp Patricia has highjacked the comments over the wall!
She does seem to have a lot of time on her hands.
I asked her once if GetUp! pays her by the word or by the number of posts. Didn’t get an answer.
She came out with the cracker yesterday that 50% of the Barrier reef was already dead.
You’ll find there is no subject on which Patricia doesn’t consider herself a leading expert.
That’d be enough to make anyone dismayed, Razor. Self included.
Hey!
Yes I noticed that too. Who is,she?
She has an offsider named Anna, and the post obsessively on anything left/right. Both confirmed Trump haters, and on some stories they’ll respond to each and every post. Terribly fact challenged, both of them, and because of that convinced beyond all doubt of their opinions.
If they’re NOT working for GetUp, they’re in the public service.
I’m not privvy to these comments but I do find it amusing that Get-Up is immediately blamed for any & all dissenting posts.
Anyone who’s actively involved with that movement would not seek to name themselves Get-Up nor would they receive payment.
I agree Bella, I looked at her comments out of curiosity, there’s no way she works for GetUp. Sorry but people are allowed to have different opinions and put themselves up as experts if they choose to do so, most of us on here do and I haven’t seen any accusations of any of us being paid to do so.
Come on guys same old story, don’t like her, don’t read her posts.
Whop it up ’em Patricia. Make ’em take it!
patty says ok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLIkM4wvcC8
Choosing Tim Paine and Shaun Marsh looks similarly poor, almost Turnbullian judgement on the face of it from the Australian selectors. Cameron Bancroft’s form is excellent, but Renshaw probably deserved that one last chance on his home ground.
Puts more pressure on the four front-line bowlers without an all-rounder like Cartwright or Glenn Maxwell in the eleven, too, so extra stupid.
I think it is about getting Test experience and maturity into a squad. The Ashes is no time for youth development. Renshaw was stiff but Bancroft is in top form and if you’re going to pick a debutante make sure he goes in in good nick. Personally I would have gone with Mitch Marsh at 6 but the selectors are saying, we have the bowling to get the job done so we need to bat deep and that makes sense. I have a piece on The Aus today but haven’t put it up here yet. I’ll put the thing up in its entirety tomrrow.
It’s a bloody great read JTI.
Turnbullian judgement! I’m going to use that Rhys if you don’t mind.
Feel free. I may have partly nicked it off Paul Keating (or been inspired by).
only pick an all-rounder if they can get a game as either,
or if your batting or bowling is so strong you can afford to have a weak number six or average fourth bowler.
or if they are best chance in the circumstances.
I always think a spare half-decent medium pacer – and not just the odd part-timer who rolls their arm over in the nets or club games less often than a blue moon – is always a good idea in any side (especially in Brisbane and Perth), especially if the depth outside the squad isn’t all that deep and they can help reduce the workload of the front-liners.
Predicated on them being able to bat well as either opener or in the middle order.
I can’t see a fifth bowler/part timer having any impact at all. They’d be lucky to bowl at all at the Gabba. Australia has a world class four man attack going in. It will be enough.
Contingency planning is rarely a bad thing.
Could be a green-top with all this rain.
I would have liked to see Renshaw play the Gabba test Rhys.
I’m with you Milt.
It was foretold when in India that Renshaw would struggle to hold his spot but no one wanted to listen. As before I can live with Bancroft. But young SACA opener Weatherald did what the selectors asked and made plenty of runs , so too young Lehman so to Maxwell with 4 half centuries. Klinger and Cowan both have far superior records to S. Marsh who is basically the same age but the former 2 have been told they are too old? M. Marsh has made just about as many runs as S. Marsh this year. S.Marsh may well make runs but he will soon be injured again. Hohns is the problem every time he gets onto the selection panel. I am with Warney the selectors again look panicked even before a ball is bowled.
I love to argue with you but cannot pick a hole in that. They’ve obviously decided the 4 in the attack are it and bugger the rest of the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EkksZis3S8
worth a listen every now and then
That’s good work.
I read that the bloke who may replace Mugabe is nicknamed ‘crocodile’. I can only interpret that one way.
A somewhat more competent thug, essentially.
Looks like they going to have to frog-march him onto a plane.
I’m on my way to Mall, Jack, to poll punters in the checkout queue.
My question: “What do you think of Zimbabwe?”
Tomorrow I’ll ask: “Do you think recalcitrant youths who steal other people’s stuff, do home invasions & destroy public property should be locked up?”
I’ll let you know.
as the dust settles on this postal survey, i think it ought to count as a success.
the TV coverage indicated a lot of joy around and lots of photos of happy people, even some who had decried the whole idea as an attack on themselves personally.
so much better than a High Court decision, and we will still get to see photos of MPs looking far too pleased with themselves, for those who enjoy that sort of thing.
the seat by seat results also show us more accurately where opinion lies on this.
the Catholic Bishops get a reminder that their flock, even the devout among them, having been ignoring the hierarchy on matters to do with sex since Pope Paul handed down his encyclical in 1968 or so.
the Gay activists get a wake up that Catholics and other Christians are not generally anti-gay, whatever a few blowhards might say.
I might add that if the activists had bothered with a close look at say Catholic education they would have known this.
Agreed, jack.
In a perfect world a vote of this sort would not have happened but it’s far from a perfect world, which is sort-of the point. Given the general contempt in which politicians (and to a certain extent, the judiciary) are now held, a pro-SSM position arrived at through the parliament or the courts would have been viewed with a pretty jaded eye, even by many supporters.
This result – a nationwide thumbs-up to freedom of lifestyle and choice for people of all gender inclinations – is 24-carat, irrefutable proof of public support. It is unassailable. That won’t stop some people trying to discredit it but even they won’t believe their own lies.
It may not have been the best spend of public money, but it was a long, long way from the worst.
Well reasoned response jack.
We’ve been dudded. Apparently you will only be able have one or the other. A same sex or heterosexual marriage.
I wouldn’t have bothered voting if they had made that clear.
Now we are all bloody confused buddy!
Oh, sorry Tucker. More information.
http://www.slang-dictionary.org/Australian-Slang/Be_dudded
What’s wrong with that? If you wanted to marry a female donkey it would be heterosexual marriage yeh? If you wanted to marry a male donkey it would be same sex marriage yeh? Don’t see a problem JB.
Mack, either way it’s up the…
Never mind
You don’t understand. You cant do both. Are you sure it’s OK to marry a donkey Mack?
That will be in the Mark II update, polygamy.
Apparently so Dwight. Nothing wrong with that of course, except polygamy remains illegal. So much for the excitement.
How do the fundamentalist Mormons go on a same sex component in their marital arrangements? Is it worth enquiring? No, probably not, the “fundamentalist” part may be a bit misleading.
Brigham Young thought it was OK.
Isn’t it you remain legally married to one wife and let the others live with you on welfare?
You could be right mate.
Sounds like a plan.
Well you’ll just have to do some navel gazing, or whatever it is you cake and it eat it types do, Jean and either make a choice or straddle the fence.
Have you got an answer from Carl yet or is he stringing you along?
No reply yet. No news is good news. I’ll give him another 24 hours and then ask Henry.
So JB, you wait for the confirmation of the ‘YES’ vote, you then step out of the closet and cast the net but you’ve only ever had eyes for HB from the get go. And all the while here is me thinking you’re me old mate. You know not what you have done but I forgive you nonetheless.
Oh dear. It was a scam Carl. One of my best I thought. You weren’t seriously considering consummation! Oh dear oh dearie me.
He couldn’t wait Milton, now he’s angling for HB. I’m crestfallen.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/crestfallen
Mmmm, well, there ya go….
Horses hoof and all that, thought you’d get a kick out of it JB.
The butcher’s hook horses ie.
harrumph
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/paradise-papers-elephant-in-the-room-still-dead-still-unnoticed/
How do they stay out of the spotlight? Why, they own the spotlight.
I think the idea of a postal survey has many possibilities for further use. We could vote to see if Jews or Aboriginal people should have the same rights as everyone else. Or people with blue eyes. Or people who are left handed. Or people who like country and western music. Why should any of those people have the same rights as me? Especially if they like country and western music. I want my vote NOW.