From ‘It’s Time’ to ‘It’s a Mess’

I think the Australian Federal election to be held on 3^rd May will be one of the most important in all the time I’ve been on this planet. I remember well how delighted we all were when the shambolic years following Sir Robert Menzies’ retirement was finally ended with a resounding Labor victory in 1972. Tall, eloquent Gough Whitlam with his telling ‘it’s time’ slogan won over everybody. Including me.

It was the start of what went on to be probably the worst government in Australian history. Gough and his troops did a few excellent things for social services (as is the Labor way), abolished university fees – and basically f**ked up everything else. Even the university fees reform was unsustainable and was quietly corrected by a much, much better Labor government under Bob Hawke. More about the Whitlam years. Even I, a rusted on Labor voter, voted Liberal in 2025.

Many years down the track I think Anthony Albanese and his bunch of cranks would give Whitlam’s mob a run for their money in the race to the bottom.

You’re asking me why I think that, aren’t you? Well, since you asked…

Albo promised us our power bills would be $275 pa better off by 2025. He said that 90 times in his election campaign. He didn’t deliver and power prices have risen steadily since he took office. Power, of course, affects shops and businesses, as well as you and me. So all other prices rise. Albanese’s answer? Subsidise and give out handouts. That’s handouts from tax payers’ money. (Our money) It solves nothing, just papers over the cracks.

If he wants to solve the issue he has to stop with the net zero nonsense. It’s never going to happen. While the sun resolutely insists on setting every day, and the wind refuses to blow just right, depending on ‘renewable’ energy is a nonsense. The government has even recognized that by delaying the closure of Victoria’s coal fired power stations. Apart from that, where’s the sense in destroying hectares of bush and (precious) farmland to build solar and wind farms, and then put in thousands of kilometres of power lines to join them to the national grid? Why not build HELE power stations or nuclear plants at the existing sites?

We are driving our once-vibrant economy into the ground for no gain. Aussies are now paying on average 18 per cent more for rent, 30 per cent more for groceries, and over 30 per cent more for power and gas. We’ve had the biggest fall in living standards in the developed world, and we’ve just recorded the highest annual number of small business bankruptcies on record.

 Even if you want to believe that man-made CO2 is driving climate change, unless China, India, and the USA do something about their emissions, we’re wasting our time. Increase the use of renewables by all means, but do it over time, ensuring there’s enough base load power to cover nights, overcast days, days when the wind doesn’t blow, storms, cyclones… etc. Maybe use gas to help with a transition. Everybody else is building HELE and nuclear power stations that use our coal and our uranium. Why aren’t we? Australia is the biggest exporter in the world of LNG (Liquid Natural Gas). Why are we reduced to importing gas?

Let’s stop dividing our society. How about addressing issues on the basis of need, not the colour of somebody’s skin. Stop with the three flags. We have ONE Australian flag. The other two (aboriginal, and Torres Strait Islander) might be appropriate for cultural reasons but not on the same par as the national flag.

Let’s stop flooding the country with millions of unskilled migrants. That’s one of the main reasons why young people can’t afford to buy a house. Not enough supply, too much demand, and a need for further infrastructure like roads, schools, and medical facilities.

Do something about defence. China is sabre-rattling, its navy sailing around our continent with not even a finger-wag from Canberra. What about the live firing which was picked up by a captain on a Virgin flight heading for New Zealand? By international convention, the Chinese were supposed to tell our government if they intended to do a live firing exercise. They didn’t. We didn’t even have a warship out there shadowing the task force. And referring to our PM as ‘handsome boy’? I don’t think the Chinese could have handed him a greater insult.

Our spending on defence is woeful in these dangerous times. Are we really sitting on our hands waiting for a few American submarines to turn up in the 2030s? And waiting for the Americans to rescue us if anyone does attack? In that respect, Trump is right – allies have relied on the Americans for too long. It’s up to us to defend our shores. How about bringing in conscription? That might help solve our ongoing youth crime crisis.

Albo’s response to Hamas’s attack on innocent civilians in Oct 2023 was met with a slap on the wrist from the PM and the Foreign Minister. Nothing has been done about the rising tide of antisemitism. In fact, 3,000 Gazans were given visas to come here with only a modicum of checks. This government clearly supports the push for a “two state solution”, something which the Palestinians have refused on many occasions. I support Israel and I’ve said that more than once.

There’s probably more, but that will do.

Australians, please, please do not allow yourself to be distracted by the shenanigans in the USA. Peter Dutton is not a Donald Trump lookalike (thank goodness). We have a very different political system here. The Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party in government, not a separately elected official, and the PM’s ministers are all members of parliament. The PM cannot nominate billionaires with no credentials to posts in the cabinet. (Although at the moment almost all of Albo’s ministers have never had a job outside the union movement or politics.)

Think hard about what you want from the next three years. I think it’s fairly obvious which way this household is swinging. Neither of us thinks that Australia can survive another three years of Handsome Boy and his circus.