The case of the hiding cabinet 2013

Image: Courier Mail

It's not going to work. It's 2013 and we are not buying into it.  In two weeks the Abbott government is already making itself superfluous to requirements because it is old, stuffy and glued in its treacle cabinet behind closed doors. Hiding out is hardly a practical approach to governing let alone a desired one. South Australians are well used to a government which doesn't talk to them or anyone else and just makes decisions which are irrelevant. One of our most progressive premiers, Mike Rann, who had the state booming, stopped talking to us and went into his own little world and no longer connected. The upshot was he became superfluous to us. We had no idea what he was thinking. The decisions he made were not meaningful to us and most of what happened just annoyed and angered us more and more because things were happening and we were not included. We are a democratic state. What we think and what we want is important to the process of  governing.  Australians are generally well educated and on the ball. It doesn't explain how we managed to vote in the Abbott government but I think if you look at the real numbers you will see most people did not vote for him or his party. The win came from the Coalition and the distribution of seats. Were the ALP to do the same thing, they could win, too. Then there is the matter of a corrupt and biased media which we are abandoning. NZ may well have noticed they have had more visits from Australia over the last 2 weeks. Other countries around the world will probably notice their news sites are getting more visits from Australians. A huge proportion of Australians are bilingual and multilingual so those who can read news elsewhere will. We currently do not have any news. We don't have a paper which can just bring us facts and correct information about events in Australia.There is even a media belief that "balanced" news is wrong!! Our papers pick a politician or key figure and shoot them down and try to ensure they never get up again. We have lost so much talent and expertise this way and we know it. The anger of the morning of September 8th has not gone away. No one wants to talk about  the election. If they do hear or see Tony Abbott then , generally, a barrage of swear words and invective comes out. Then an apology. It is unable to be contained and that is the problem.  So many people just cannot bear to look at Tony Abbott and so many people just cannot stand him. He makes them feel ill. That is something which will not change and so there is a credibility issue here for the government. There is a prime minister whom no one takes seriously, no  one is listening to and no  one wants. He exacerbates the situation by locking 18 men and a woman in a hide and seek game in cabinet. Other unpopular prime ministers have had a side or quality which can be highlighted. Tony Abbott's is that he is fit. Fit for what?

The convoy of no confidence 2013

Image ABCNews23

The media are rattling hollowly around their cages. I have never seen Australians as angry as I have this weekend. They may not seem it when you meet them but the fact the election is not a topic for discussion on Monday morning, it has been totally sidelined, the fact that people are getting the facts really clear on Twitter and Facebook is full of rude and vulgar messages about what we have done as a nation means Australians have drawn a line in the sand. We are not going to take this. People are angry Tony Abbott was voted in because he simply does not have the skills to work at that level and that was demonstrated well by his behaviour in parliament over the last 6 years and then the lack of capacity to show articulate and well considered policy. He has nonetheless been voted in. Not by much. Labour has the primary vote and so any notion they have not done well is nonsense. The price we have paid for biased , interfering and unbalanced media is the loss of two credible Prime Ministers. There is a third in the wings who is hog tied by the conspiracy of silence in the party and then the knowledge the change we have been offered is the change right back to the Howard era. So many of them are the same. They were ousted solidly in 2007 for a reason so people are angry they are back. People are angry we have someone who has no credibility and we are angry we stood by and let it happen. The media wrote the script and ascribed our roles. Sunday morning was a bitter, bitter taste. Britain investigated its press. France went through  the nonsense of its silly President who was not cut out for the job and have gone for someone very conservative even though he is from the socialist party. Australia then has elected an odd assortment of people into the senate some of whom are coming back to haunt us from the past and so there is a real feeling of uneasiness. Those who did not vote for Tony Abbott do not understand why you would let him be in charge with all the case evidence before us and those who did vote for him thought what? Nobody knows because nobody anyone knows voted for him. This election was corrupt. There were too many chiefs and not enough indians, too many cooks who spoiled the broth, too much scrutiny of some and none of others. The stuff of linguistic and advertising study. The election has been called a wash up in the news and yet The ALP experienced the single smallest seat-loss of any outgoing government since McMahon in the early 70s. Media are trying to interfere in the choice of a new Labour leader. Don't you think they'd have enough sense to leave well alone and keep their big noses out? Some are advocating that politics be taken off the main course in media and that people should take themselves off social media. Labour still has the primary vote so who is saying Kevin Rudd did a fine job in spite of a very brutal media bashing? Who has acknowledged that Julia Gillard actually kept this lot under control but couldn't contain the relentless stirring of rumours by the media? Who has noticed we can't think because everything is shouted at us? This election was the most corrupt I have ever seen because it was neither fair, nor balanced nor reported without opinion.One by one competent politicians are targeted and taken out. The Greens got quite a bashing too and yet the so called disaster for Adam Bandt did not occur. We are angry all of this is misreported, misrepresented and then ends us up in a place we have absolutely no wish to be - no respect , no pride , the laughing stock of the world and no leadership choices. The world watched it happen and saw what we did. This is why Australians have taken to some very colourful expression of their feelings. It has hit hard. We have some lessons worth learning but we need to learn them without interference. A psychologist says we shall find it hard to accept - someone quite rightly pointed out that many will simply never accept what has happened and the repercussion of that in Australia will be interesting to say the least.

Caucus catastrophising

 Image: Keepcalm

He's leaving.  She's leaving. It's a shambles. It's going to fail. He's an idiot. She's an idiot. Now look what he's done. Now look what she's done. It's useless. It's hopeless. Well, that's done it now. We are all doomed. Okay - Simon says, "Do this!" and you will all feel better.

You have got to be joking. I am so fed up with the moronic, asinine media commentary on parliamentary change. Yes, there is change. It's 2013. Things change. It's called life. Someone does this and then someone does that. Surprising , isn't it? It's not all cause and effect. If you work in some service organisations then you often see a change of personnel along with a change in leadership. It often is the time which gives people a chance to assess their current situation - AND MOVE ON. A lot of people  these days work gruelling days and the politicians in a hung parliament have not had an easy time of it. It has been a tough call with a big agenda , often a lack of pairing and then a requirement to just be there because it has not been business as usual. It has been an intense 3 years where everyone has had to put in. It means they have grown, they have learnt a lot and that probably they want to do something different now. There should be some fresh faces. There should be some opportunities for others to learn the ropes and get used to what it is like on the next rung of their career ladder. Some people are lifetime politicians. Some will use that parlimentary training ground to move into other service areas like Brendan Nelson has with great success and Malcolm Fraser. Some organisations have a change of leadership and personnel on a regular basis. Try working in a big supermarket. Try retail. Long, arduous hours,  practically no notice of when you will be shifted to another store. A new boss on a regular basis. Know what? Australians have learned to manage this and they have learned to adapt. They have also learned you cannot stop people from making decisions about their lives nor can you stop some organisations from playing musical staff. On the one hand it means you have to be professional and learn to honour the position and work with anyone. On the other hand it creates exit points for staff and  leaders alike. Then there are those who just stay. They keep a sense of perspective but you don't need many of those. You do need mentors and old hands to enable the fast tracking of the younger ones. I feel  no sense of things falling apart. At the end of a parliamentary session before an election these people who have some fine skills will look at their options. Good on them.  Good luck to the ones who will come in and offer their skills maybe at the next level or from other areas of expertise. The one thing we don't need is stagnation. We need to keep moving because we have sustained ourselves , hung parliament and all through a very trying global time.