The end of an era

The funeral is over, the Queen has been buried beside her parents, her sister, and her beloved husband. So ends the second Elizabethan era. I think history will treat this remarkable woman kindly. She lived through tumultuous times; the abdication of her uncle, the second world war, the death of her father when she was only twenty-five, the cold war, the fall of the Soviet Union, the moon landing, the terrorist attack on New York in 2001, and the latest pandemic, to name a few, not to mention the on-going dramas within her own family.

We watched the funeral. I doubt we will ever see such a spectacle again, a person loved and respected all over the world. I loved that Elizabeth ensured that those closest and dearest to her got the best seats and that provision was made for anyone who wanted to be a part of it, could. There was the famous queue of people lining up for many hours to view the lying in state at Westminster Hall, and then the thousands lining the streets of London and at Windsor to watch what was essentially a military parade. With a few tear-worthy additions, like the corgis and her elderly pony, Emma.

I discovered that towing the gun carriage carrying the coffin goes back to Victoria’s funeral. It seems the horses were spooked and reared, nearly spilling the coffin. One admiral stepped up, declared he’d sort it, and had naval ratings do the job.

It’s good that the royal family have taken another week off. They all looked exhausted, both physically and mentally, keeping a stiff upper lip under the public glare.

Now life goes on. We’re facing rising inflation and rising interest rates, and, of course, demand for rising wages. It will become a self-feeding circle, as it was in the seventies and eighties until Bob Hawke struck an accord with the unions to end the cycle. Mind you, mortgage rates in the eighties got to 18% (around 5% now) and the inflation in 1980 was 14% [1] (now about 6%). I can’t help thinking the media should really stop with the gasp shock horror tactics to get a few likes.

Prime Minister Albanese has tried to put a firm lid on any suggestion for a referendum on Australia becoming a republic in his first term in office, preferring to concentrate on delivering the Voice for aboriginal people.

(To those going ‘huh?’ “The Indigenous Voice to Parliament (The Voice) is the proposed new body of separately elected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, perpetually enshrined in the Australian Constitution, which would “have a responsibility and right to advise the Australian Parliament and Government on national matters of significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples” [1])

Sorry, Albo. It’s one more bit of virtue signalling.

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, a proud indigenous woman who tells it like it is, recently wrote an article about the Voice. It says it all, really.

“What’s the point of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament when Parliament won’t even listen to the Indigenous voices it has?

Why do we have to keep going on and on, explaining to a white fella from Marrickville that Indigenous Australians don’t need ANOTHER Indigenous voice in parliament, we need you to listen to the voices Australians have already sent there.

It’s clear though, Albo doesn’t want to hear the voices of Indigenous people, he wants to hear the voice of his own Indigenous mates.

He only wants to hear the voices of people with one hand patting him on the back and the other stretched out for cash.

If he wanted to do something to ACTUALLY HELP vulnerable Indigenous people, he wouldn’t create more bloody bureaucracy filled with the voices of inner-city lefties.  

He wouldn’t pitch an ill-defined and divisive constitutional change.

He wouldn’t put up a “simple” question in bad faith.

He may as well be asking, “are you going to let me do what I want or are you a racist?”

Disgusting.

He wants more government control and some social credits for all his “hard work” giving Indigenous people a voice.

We don’t need you to GIVE us a voice mate, we HAVE a voice.

Many Australians of ALL backgrounds have worked hard WITH Indigenous people to help improve lives, to give a good education, to help create jobs and livelihoods that reduce dependence and help ALL Australians stand on their own two feet.

We have our own voices – you’re just not listening to them.

The Australian people, without any mandate, already elected ELEVEN Indigenous voices to parliament.*

DON’T MANDATE MORE, LISTEN TO THE REPRESENTATION WE ALREADY HAVE.

Albo – put your Akubra back on the hat rack, pull your finger out and get on with addressing the REAL problems.

Address the cost of living, address the energy crisis, get to work fixing the problems of homelessness, alcoholism, domestic violence, drug addiction and fatherlessness that ACTUALLY hurt Australians.

Don’t waste all of our time virtue signalling your way into guest spots on TV game shows.

Man up. Listen to our voices. Get to work.

Yours for REAL solutions,

  *[total indigenous reps in parliament is 4.8%, Indigenous Australian population 3.3%]