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

  • BASSMAN says:

    I wonder if the plea of ignorance employed by Mad Barnaby Joyce and Canavan would satisfy the Centrelink Robot or the Taxation Department? Worth a try! When the 2 Greens were found out they did the right thing. Not the Looters though. They will have to be dragged out kicking and screaming. And Dimidenko Bishop? She has a short memory when her mob tried to bring down a govt with Godless ‘Utegate’ Grech, Ashby….and add on the cruelty they inflicted upon Slipper who turned out to be one of the best Speakers in years. Yep they used and taunted him as well. Just like when Abbott charged taxpayers $600 to attend Pete’s wedding. All govt. business maaaaaate like those taxpayer-funded bike rides.

  • JackSprat says:

    What would happen if Kimmie made every parliamentarian in Canberra a citizen of North Korea?

  • Henry Blofeld says:

    That Guam looks a nice place for a holiday, Mr Insider. I have never been there but we might just pop it on our “to do” list. Kimmie Jong un may well have spiked a lot of Tourist interest in this beautiful place and only about 5 hours from Oz too.
    http://www.visitguam.com/

  • Henry Blofeld says:

    Strewth, Mr Insider, are there any real Aussies in the Federal Lib/Nats? “Another Coalition MP is facing questions about her entitlement to dual citizenship, Fairfax Media can reveal, with Liberal Ann Sudmalis urgently seeking to clarify her status.As the citizenship crisis engulfing the Federal Parliament deepens, and coming just a day after Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce announced he was a dual national of Australia and New Zealand, Fairfax Media has confirmed that Ms Sudmalis has been in contact with the UK government to clarify her status.”

  • The Outsider says:

    I see that the Donald is running true to form in failing twice to unequivocally denounce the inbred KKK fools in Charlottesville , preferring instead to talk up his achievements and denigrate a captain of industry, the CEO of Merck, in the bargain.

    It’s heartening to see that even some Republicans are rebuking Trump for his neutral response to the tragedy.

    • Razor says:

      He came out pretty strong overnight TO. Heard it on RN this morning. Actually named the KKK and a few others.

      • Gryzly says:

        A tad late and pushed and then threw in a red herring later to stir the pot. He is an absolute oxygen thief.

      • The Outsider says:

        Too little, too late, Razor.

        I don’t know what you heard, but Trump’s second address about Charlottesville sounded to me as though it was just tacked on to a speech about what a brilliant job he was doing on the economy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsrHZUQOrjQ

        It seems clear that Trump begrudgingly took a stronger stand the second time round because of the media and public backlash following his initial response. Furthermore, Trump failed to make a public declaration that he didn’t want the support of white supremacists.

        • The Outsider says:

          Razor,

          I’m just watching Trump now reaffirming his Saturday comments that both sides were essentially equally to blame for what happened at the rally.

          The key issue here is that Trump has been willing to unequivocally condemn Muslim/Mexican terrorists, sometimes without any real evidence, but not provide similar summary judgements in the case of proven far-right terrorists.

  • The Outsider says:

    We drove from Ottawa to upstate New York (Finger Lakes) over the weekend, which was sort of interesting. One thing I noticed was that what we call “Rest Stops” in Australia are called “Text Stops” in New York State. Are people in the US really that addicted to texting? There’s a policy of three strikes and you lose your licence.

  • Trivalve says:

    Politics getting funnier by the minute. Pistol and Boo cartoons abound. Julie Bishop thinks the Trans-Tasman relationship is at risk! Priceless!

    Craig Thomson. Who remembers Abbott and Pyne sprinting for the doors to nullify his vote? Ashby and Slipper…

    Karma and hubris in spades. Karmbris or huma?

    • The Outsider says:

      Priceless indeed, TV.

      Not Bishop’s finest hour, in her Chicken Little moment. Jacinda Ardern, OTOH, handled herself very well.

      • John O'Hagan says:

        Bill’s phoning some bloke in NZ to check Barnaby’s bona fides is Truffles’ idea of treason. “Conspiring with a foreign power” to “steal government”, no less. This show just writes itself.

    • Bill Grieve says:

      Seems like it’s a case of every dog has it’s day …

  • Milton says:

    I note that Tony Abbott will be voting the same way as Jack!

  • Huger Unson says:

    Jack, can the expression “flash as a rat with a good tooth” be applied to anyone regardless of gender?
    I’ve got a hatful of nominees, but the day isn’t over yet, more’s the pity. Oh, the pity, the mindlessness of it all. What have we done?

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