Tony Abbott has again succeeded in getting us to focus on what’s unimportant
Some
politicians – Tony Abbott an expert among them – realise the importance
of dictating the terms of public discourse. That is, to get us talking
on issues they want us to talk about, which are usually to avoid the public engaging on issues that might actually
be important to them. A recent and telling example; the aforementioned
had large numbers of the voting public satisfied their family would be
$550 a year better off under a Coalition Government after the dastardly
‘carbon tax’ was repealed. You may recall it was never mentioned that
many of those same families would annually lose $1,400 with the
Coalition’s scrapping of the Schoolkids Bonus. The $550 saving was
mentioned by Tony Abbott how many times?
Tony Abbott had succeeded in getting people to focus on the unimportant, and he was successful for doing so.
He has now done it again, though not with any intent.
Every important issue his government needs to address; be it social,
economic or environmental has slipped off the public lip since Prince
Philip’s bizarre knighthood was announced. The widening gap of equality
in this country, and one for which the government was damned for, seems
to only be an issue of importance pre January 26.
Three days later we are not only still talking about Prince Philip’s
knighthood, but also the immediate fate of the man who bestowed the
knighthood upon him. These, naturally, make delicious talking points but
they are a deflection from what might appeal to us on voting day.
Namely, the messes this government has made (which I’m sure they’d be
happy not to have us mumble about them).
AIMN reader Colin thinks the same way. A friend commented to him:
“I’m
amazed at how quickly we as Australians jump on something so trivial,
yet we sit by silently on some of society’s biggest challenges with
nothing more than a whimper for fear of upsetting the perceived public
majority or being branded alternative, or even worse, a bigot! I
guess I’m just disillusioned with people and I think what we really
rate as important in life these days are those which cater to our
selfishness”.
Which leads me to the point of this article, Colin’s response, which he sent to The AIMN and has approved its publication:
I
agree that you have every right to feel disillusioned and I think many
Australians have been feeling the same way for a very long time.
However; for this issue not to be a political debate is a tall order,
because it is our Prime Minister who has opened this ridiculous can of
worms.
On
the surface it may appear to be “trivial”, and let’s be honest, how
many of us really care about knights and dames (an award discontinued by
the Hawke Labor Government) – I think that this is the very reason that
everyone is so pissed off – ‘knights and dames’ are simply not an
important or relevant national issue that should be high on the Prime
Minister’s to do list!
It
was a brazen Abbott that declared during the pre-election campaign that
he wanted “to be known as the Prime Minister who keeps commitments” and
who went on to pleadge “we will be a no-surprises, no-excuses
government, because you are sick of nasty surprises and lame excuses
from people that you have trusted with your future”. Yet since coming
into power the Coalition have surprised us by, for eample:
- doubling
the deficit by changes to government spending and changes to government
assumptions. Blown the deficit out to $40.4 Billion by 15 December
2014. - providing us with the highest official jobless rate in more than a decade.
- defunding
peak organisations that advocate for the poor and oppressed, including
Homelessness Australia, Financial Counselling Australia and National
Shelter. - abolishing ‘Medicare locals’, despite a promise to not cut the health budget.
- breaking the election promise of no cuts to education by cutting funding for trade training centres in schools.
The
list of cuts and broken promises goes on, and on, and on (and despite
the regression of government services – the deficit just goes up, and
up, and up). Everybody should acquaint themselves with the list Sally McManus keeps of the wreckage and broken promises. It is worth a look.
As far as the list of broken promises and wreckage goes, you simply can’t make this stuff up. It contains documented, undeniable FACTS (just like the evidence of Climate Change).
But
‘credit’ where ‘credit’ is due – they have ‘stopped the boats’ of
course, however, at an enormous cost. The deaths of two young men (Reza
Berati 23yo and Hamid Kehazaei 24yo) plus scores more being physically
injured, the ongoing mental anguish suffered by men, women and children
at the hands of our ‘successful’ government. And how much are they
spending on all this?
Furthermore;
the serious and internationally damaging claims that laws have been
broken by the government while jeopardising the lives and safety of
asylum seekers. It is beyond human decency to treat people this way.
From separating a mother from her 4 day old baby; leaving a baby with a
defective pacemaker on Christmas Island for 2 months; refugees being
forced to queue up to 4 hours for toilets and food on Manus Island; and
claims of a cover-up of violent PNG police-army clash with refugees on
Manus Island. The shameful list is extensive. You can see a list of
these ‘shame files’ here.
Despite
the evidence that this appalling government is rotten to the core, and
has not even remotely delivered what it has promised; we have a Prime
Minister preoccupied with dragging the country back 30 years with
trivial matters such as knights and dames!
So
yes, the Australia Day announcement of a non-Aussie as our newest
knight may seem ‘trivial’ compared with the real issues we face,
however, when considered in full context with the current state of
affairs rolled out by the Liberals (and the ongoing bizarre and
patronising priorities of Abbott), then we all have every right to be
angry and concerned about this latest gaffe.
The alarm bells should be ringing loud and clear!
Before January 26 the alarm bells were ringing loud and clear. Tony Abbott made them stop. It’s time to ring them again.
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