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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Breathe in and relaunch

Image Lonely Planet

We were so positive and dynamic. We were full of good ideas, chatter and an evolving sense of self. Then came September 8th and all was silent. The pain was palpable. The deep seated anger has not gone away. People continue to be short of expletives and really vulgar metaphors to describe what is going on. No one likes Tony Abbott, to put it mildy. We are full of disbelief at the destructive nature of his manner of operation and his total incapacity to articulate considered and well thought out views. No science. No climate science, no right to seek asylum, no women, no information, no diplomacy, no NBN. The list is endless. From the time he walked in he has worn DeBono's black hat in a very stark and startling way. We never fail to be revolted and dismayed. His team is not governing. They are ungoverning. They are taking our strengths, our icons, our voice and blotting it all out. We had a productive,positive, international image and place and now our world is looking at us as though we have gone mad. Our international friends are still being our friends. They keep trying to show us the way. Canada sent a letter to congratulate Mr Abbott on his carbon tax repeal. He read it out in parliament obviously having not one skerrick of an idea that the Canadians are world leaders in carbon reduction schemes and are really hot on renewable energy. His post modern approach means he describes our knowledge and then makes us adhere to that which then determines our behaviour. Our main stream media is a no news media, we seem powerless to prevent the abuses of democracy around the country and the removal of the organisations and companies we need to stay sustainable and viable as a nation. The media cannot be blamed for this. They demonstrated on a daily basis that Mr Abbott's team had no real policies, no real thinking, no vision and were inept. Still we voted for them. But did we? Most of the votes did not go to him. It's the way seats are distributed. Then we found out nothing is being done about blatantly dubious tax claims, the vested interests with mining and media , the inappropriate tweeting at government  sanctioned level, the right for people to seek asylum, social justice policies and initiatives and the not so small matter of missing electoral votes. There is no sense that things are being followed through in the right way. The opposite in fact. The thought this will continue for 3 years is untenable. We just cannot carry on like this. We had the energy to fly and go a long way and we were full of enthusiasm. We are now stuck in a quagmire with the increasing knowledge this may well be quicksand and we do not have one thing in this country we can turn to. Not a leader, not the media, not the laws, not the constitution - although that is telling that our constitution makes no mention of a prime minister and cabinet. Maybe there was a reason other than the much preferred "assumption" explanation. We have returned to our parochial stance and given we live in a global situation now it is no wonder we feel all wrong. We are being pushed to accept what is going on and yet, the international community can see right through it. We have been going along with it. We haven't found a way to change anything as yet. A big lesson for us all. This ungoverning might have traction in our parochialism but on a world stage these people just do not stack up.

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