Australian Trump supporters betray those lost on MH17

Newly elected One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts is off on his Christmas holidays. He and his family are going to the United States to visit relatives. And whilst I strenuously disagree with his politics, I wouldn't wish Senator Roberts and his family anything other than a happy trip.

It won't all be fun and games, though:

Because like pretty much all of Australia's new, and newly emboldened, alt right, Senator Roberts is just smitten with President Elect Donald Trump. From One Nation leader Pauline Hanson toasting Trump's victory with champagne in front of Parliament House (way to show you're in touch with ordinary workers there), to Cory Bernardi proudly wearing a Make America Great Again cap and saying the same sentiment should apply to Australia, to George Christensen, elated by Trump's victory and pondering the lessons to be learned for us, they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude. They believe he stands for what they believe they stand for: the triumph of the ordinary voter over political elites, refusal to conform to that ghastly political correctness business, a refusal to back down from your beliefs, and of course, opposition to the spread of Islam and the fervent belief that Islam is inextricably bound with terrorism.

Yes, they absolutely hate terrorism. The threat of Islamic terrorism is so great that all Muslims should be barred from entering the country, any practice of Sharia law banned (does this include, say, aspects of Sharia such as observing Ramadan? How would this be enforced - does Senator Hanson plan to pop over to people's houses and force feed them?) Halal certification outlawed, and who knows what other measures to oppress and marginalise one of the world's major religions. There's a terrorist threat, you see. We cannot take any chances.

Except that the last major terrorist horror involving Australians was when 27 of them were murdered when flight MH17 was shot down with a Russian missile from Russian controlled territory in 2014.  If you don't hear much about it now, that's not surprising. No one on the alt right seems to care much about these Russian terrorists, the Russian president who is resisting all attempts to investigate or bring the perpetrators to justice, or that the new US President they just heart so much has such a cosy relationship with said Russian President he may well be said to be tacitly allowing terrorism himself. The alt right, so incensed by Islamic terrorism, seems to care not a whit about Australians blown from the skies by terrorists if the terrorists are white, Christian and friends of friends.

Whatever else I'll say about Tony Abbott - very little of it good - at least he acknowledged that Putin himself must be challenged to take responsibility for the downing of MH17 and allow the process of international justice process to take place. The alt right don't do that. And every time the likes of Pauline Hanson or Cory Bernardi sing the praises of Trump - when Trump is at least aligning with the man ultimately responsible for the slaughter of their fellow citizens - they show the hypocrisy of their anti-terrorist agenda and a callous disregard for truth and justice.

This may seem like a long bow to draw. It's really not. If Pauline Hanson can refuse to so much as share a takeaway snack with one of her fellow Senators because it's Halal, and Halal funds terrorism, then it is hardly spurious to question Senator Hanson's adoring regard for a President who is happy to let the terrorist deaths of her fellow Australians slide. If President to be Trump is to prove himself as an international strongman who is tough on the deaths of Americans and their allies, he needs to be making it clear in the strongest terms to Putin and Russia that they cannot cover up for the MH17 atrocity any more. There is no use claiming "well, Trump isn't even in office yet, we have to wait and see what he does, he'll raise the issue MH17 then". He won't though. Whether or not Russia rigged the election or what, there's something fishy going on, and Trump won't risk his Presidency by angering the regime that helped get him there.

The wheels of international justice turn very slowly. It took many years for the perpetrators of the Lockerbie bombing to be brought to trial; countless other atrocities are never held to account. But there will never be any justice for those lost on MH17 as long as the international community is too cowed, complacent or controlled* to demand Russia cooperate with an international investigation. And the relatives of the Australians lost on MH17 deserve better than to watch their politicians' adoring support of a President who's just going to let this one slide.

Breaking Point

Baby G turned four this week.. We spent the day in a peaceful seaside town, and he was gifted a Transformers set and surfboard amongst other things, had chicken schnitzel at the club for dinner, and ice cream cake, and fell asleep with all right in his world, as we reflected once more on how very lucky we are to have him.

 The next day the world woke to the heartbreaking picture of a little boy who will never be four, Aylan Kurdi, drowned on a Turkish beach, fleeing the war in Syria along with his mother and brother, who also died. A little boy who was no less deserving of a peaceful place to grow up and a bright future to look forward to than G, or any other child.

The world reacted with grief and horror, the current refugee crisis personified in the tiny body clad in his little red shirt and blue shorts, alone and wet on the sand.

We needed a solution, some way to help these people fleeing a situation more appalling than most of us could imagine, so bad they would risk their lives on flimsy boats to escape. Our Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, had one. Europe could stop asylum seekers drowning by stopping the boats, as Australia claims to, turning them back to where they began.

Think about it.

Abbott would have sent the boat Aylan was on back to Syria.

Back to ISIS. Back to ISIS, whom he has called a death cult coming after us, compared unfavourably with the Nazis, and wants to Australia to bomb.

And this is what Abbott would deem to be the humane solution. Death where we don't have to see or hear about it. That is what Abbott calls keeping people safe.

We’ve reached the breaking point. There have been many, many terrible things about the Abbott government, and almost nothing of worth. But this is the limit of what any decent person can consider tolerable. I’ve always said I don’t hate Abbott, just his policies, and if we wait it out he will get his just rewards at the next election, tossed out unceremoniously on his bony old behind.

No more. Abbott’s comments today have left me in shock, and I thought there was nothing he could do or say that was bad enough to shock me. The man is deluded, showing signs of a severe deficit of rationality, let alone compassion, which makes him a danger to himself and others – and the nation. He must go, now, by whatever means possible. Can we petition the Queen to sack him? Surely she has enough compassion and reverence for decency not to let Australia founder under this muppet. Time for a revolution in the streets? An Australian spring? I don’t know, I don’t want to. I’m busy, and tired. But if that is what it takes. Abbott is dangerous, and crazy, and a disgrace to Australia, and we have to do something, anything, to get rid of him. If anyone has any ideas, tell me. Let's work  together on this.

As for you, Aylan, a little boy who deserved better, I'm sorry. I'm sorry your life ended this way, and I'm sorry for our Prime Minister, who would send you back to what you lost your life escaping from.

Bronwyn Bishop, Phony Solicitor

So Bronwyn Bishop, the worst speaker the Australian House of Representatives has ever seen, was finally forced to resign yesterday, after weeks of condemnation for her brazen digging in the public till, from taking a helicopter ride to a party fundraiser when it would have been quicker to drive, to commandeering limousines to attend a night at the opera. Don't let the door hit your butt on the way out (actually, she retains her generous MPs salary and lavish superannuation, so she can still grift safely for the rest of her life).

So we know she was greedy and thoughtless. But it seems she's also a fraud. Wanting to know a bit more about what lead to this national nonsense, I headed to her Wikipedia article, where I saw this interesting information:

"Bishop undertook a five-year LLB program at the University of Sydney.[3] However, she was deemed ineligible to continue after failing a number of subjects multiple times.[4] Bishop failed a total of 11 subjects over six years.[4] In her first year in 1960, she failed all four core subjects. In 1964, she failed four subjects again, and repeated them in 1965, in which she failed three again. The policy of the University of Sydney at the time was that a student was required to show cause why they should be allowed to repeat a subject for a third time, and Bishop was deemed ineligible to continue."

There's no mention of her ever completing the degree at the University of Sydney or any other institution. Now, I know uni can be a tough time in a young person's life and I cast no aspersions on Mrs Bishop for struggling with her studies. But haven't we always been told that prior to entering politics, she was a solicitor? That's what it says on her official parliament house biography. Yet interestingly, unlike other University of  Sydney law graduates, such as Tony Abbott, Tony Burke, Malcolm Turnbull and Joe Hockey (Christ there's a lot of them), there is no mention of a law degree or any other degree, nor is she listed as a University of Sydney alumni.

In order to become a solicitor in NSW, you must first complete (not, you know, repeatedly fail out of) an accredited degree, complete practical legal training requirements and be issued a compliance certificate by the Legal Profession Admission Board. Without a law degree, this couldn't have happened. (Edit: there's some indication here that she was allowed to take, and passed, the Solicitor's Board exams anyway, which seems akin to being allowed to do a hospital internship though you failed medicine).

So in what capacity, what way was she a solicitor? You cannot just call yourself a solicitor when you're not qualified, or even if you are working as a law clerk. You can't fail a medicine degree or be a medical secretary and call yourself a doctor. Was she practicing illegally, or (as far more likely), just embarrassed about her lack of qualifications and stretching the truth to make herself look better?

But if Mrs Bishop has never qualified as a solicitor she has no right to call herself one, certainly had no right to campaign as a candidate with the aura of stability, authority and commitment that calling herself a solicitor implies. Enough of the phony solicitor career, Mrs Bishop, unless the legal profession is not what you meant by calling yourself such.

On Bob Ellis

Yes he was perhaps the Piers Akerman of the left and could be a bit grumpy and crazy at times (I have seen this first hand and can attest) and yet. When I read "First Abolish the Customer" at 19, it was a political awakening, a fundamental shift in my consciousness, and it set me on the political path I continue today, and my enduring hatred of the stifling parasitic cancer of economic rationalism. (Studying social science, then social work, at university, I think I have referenced that book in every essay I've written). And so it went: Ellis's words and books have been there to illuminate and enlighten every major political event in the nearly 20 years (dear god, so long) since, the proudly defiant Ellis shelf on my bookcase.

And now he is dying, and it feels like the pending loss of a grumpy uncle. perhaps, whom you nevertheless had great affection for, and the liver cancer he says will kill him means he will never see the end of the Abbott government. Not here to make his predictions and divine pronouncements, not even to see his personal nemesis Bronwyn Bishop get the justice that must be coming. Not here to inform, infuriate and amuse.

And I feel like crying, and I never would have expected that.

And so it goes.

Libspill Defeated, We All Win

I never thought I'd be saying the words "thank goodness Tony Abbott is still Prime Minister", but here we are. With Tony Abbott seeing off a motion to spill his leadership yesterday, we're all ahead.

The media would be popping champagne corks - Australian sparkling wine, anyway (cutbacks) - knowing that though Abbott may have survived, his leadership is now mortally wounded, and almost certain to face another spill in months to come, guaranteeing plenty more copy that just about writes itself; "new PM Turnbull guides Australia to stability" does not for scintillating news make. Julie Bishop can rub her hands together with a glee not felt since she was screwing dying asbestosis victims, knowing that the party and electorate have been softened up for her to take a tilt next time - that is, if the Liberals could quite handle a female leader.

The few remaining Liberal voters are head since they can point to yesterday's result and say "see? Abbott defeated the motion! We didn't change prime ministers. We're not as chaotic as the other lot." And the rest of Australia are winners, since keeping Abbott in office as long as possible is the best chance we have of turfing the Coalition out at the next election and trying to repair the damage done. No post war Australian Prime Minister has survived a party room challenge and gone on to win the next election:

Abbott of course is putting a brave face on things, claiming that "good government starts today", as opposed to the Coalition continuing to fight the third year of the 2013 election campaign (a pity; after some sophomoric stumbles in '14, they seemed to be really hitting their stride on the "chaos, deficit, pink batts" thing).

Really this is the best outcome we could have hoped for. We knew an Abbott government would be a horror show of epic proportions; but just think how much worse it would be if they were evil and competent. If we are forced to have an ideological Murdoch puppet run the country for the next 18 months, let it be this brain damaged buffoon staggering about desperately trying to string a sentence together and constantly watching his back; the last thing we need is Abbott looking ahead to a right wing future.

Your Gluten Free, Carbon Neutral, Salted Caramel Guide to the Libspill

So as we all know, after months of chaos and dysfunction from the Abbott government, at 9am the Federal Liberal party MPs will meet to vote on a spill motion. But what does it all mean? Ask someone with a D in first year politics to clear it up.

What started all this?

Last week, WA backbencher Luke Simpkins sent an email to his fellow federal Liberal party MPs, announcing that he would be launching a spill motion at the next Federal party meeting on Tuesday 10 February (said meeting now brought forward to 9am tomorrow in the latest unpopular move by Abbott, who claims he is wanting to "end the uncertainty").

Are the Libs voting on whether Tony Abbott should remain as Prime Minister?

No. The motion being voted on is whether the senior roles in the party should be vacated ("spilled"). 

So what happens if the vote passes?

The Liberals will be required to vote for a new leader, deputy leader, treasurer and so on. MPs will be able to nominate themselves for these roles and the party will vote. Obviously the vote everyone gets excited about is for the leader, as whomever wins will become the new Prime Minister. At this stage, Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull are looking the most likely candidates. 

What happens if the vote fails?

Why, Abbott will continue his glorious reign. But seriously, even if the spill motion is defeated, the damage to Abbott's credibility and authority is apt to be terminal, and it would be likely he would either resign or lose a spill in a few months. If this happens, it is more likely that Julie Bishop would stand for leader, untainted by the stink of having knifed Abbott first time out. 

And in the longer term?

One of two scenarios - the eventual new leader can either attempt to legitimise their regime by calling for an early, double dissolution election; or they can ride out the current term of the Federal parliament, which states that an election must by held by January 14, 2017 (although the chance of a midsummer election is extremely slim and it is certain the poll would be held late November at the latest).

Where is my phone?

Check the pants you were wearing yesterday. The ones in the wash.

 See, I was right. Aren't you glad you found it in time?

What do you want to see happen tomorrow?

To be honest, I am kind of disappointed; I was hoping to see Abbott go to an election and lose, and now it seems unlikely that will happen - as above, even if he survives tomorrow, he's unlikely to be able to see out the term. You never know, though. It was always going to come to an inglorious end.

Liberal Losers

There's an old cliche that no one ever went broke underestimating the stupidity of the general public. I'm not so sure. Because the Liberal and National parties are losing, well, everything by treating the general public like idiots. Greedy idiots. If you want to know everything about how the right sees the public, just see how they carry on when they lose.

The line goes from the LNP and their media supporters that their massive electoral failures are due to an inability to effectively get their message across. They have solid plans to rejuvenate the state and federal economies, but voters just won't accept that, won't join in on making the sacrifices required of us all in this time of economic difficulty.

And it's this that's making the electorate shake their heads in dismay. Not just the "latte sippers" of the left (and we should all start referring to right wingers as coffee obsessives; what's with their fixation on people's choice of hot beverage? It's not like there haven't been Gloria Jeans' in Penrith forever; lattes are hardly the sole provenance of the inner city elite. At least a few of the slightly more aware columnists are now referring to "tapas munchers". Anyway, speaking of elites, how much do you think these Murdoch columnists and talkback hosts get paid? Does Miranda Devine go down to the RSL on cheap schnitzel night then put $10 on Queen of the Nile? Has Andrew Bolt ever waited till Domino's Cheaper Tuesday to get pizza?).

Apart from the few rusted on Abbott supporters left, everyone can see that the government's budget, and the government itself, and the state governments in Queensland and Victoria, have failed because of arrogance and unfairness, not an inability to get the message across. The Liberal-National coalition and the commetariat that support them are too out of touch to

And Tony Abbott says politics is not a popularity contest. Actually, in a democracy it kind of is. Abbott knows what's best for Australia; as he told talkback host Ray Hadley this morning "it's about our people, it's about what's best for them". And he doesn't care what they think.

If he ever did.

Tony Abbott was a devastatingly effective opposition leader, but as Prime Minister simply devastating. If good opposition leader means bad PM, and the inverse, maybe we can hope that Bill Shorten will be one of our greatest statesmen, or at least finish out a term, which may be all be can hope for from here.

How Prince Phillip Got His Knighthood

SCENE: mid-January, a meeting at the office of Prime Minister Tony Abbott to discuss who shall be appointed to a knighthood under the revised Australian honours system. Present are the Prime Minister himself; his Chief of Staff Peta Credlin; secretary of the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Michael Thawley; Abbott's Chief of Communications Mark Simkin; Deputy Secretary Dr Heather Smith; adviser on Honours, Symbols and Territories, Peter Rush; and numerous administrative and advisory staff.

The decision to award a knighthood to retired airforce chief Angus Houston was met with general acclaim, but the issue of who else is to be honoured has stalled after several hours of at times heated discussion. Everyone is looking forward to getting out of there when Credlin says "I don't know, why don't we just give it to Prince Philip or something?"

There is general mirth in the room. Abbott sits quietly for some long seconds, a half smile on his face, his eyes slightly glazed and his head bobbing in that way he does, before joining in with a chuckle. "Look, I think that's a really wonderful way to honour his service to the country".

The room explodes with laughter. Sweet baby Jebus, Abbott thought they were being serious. Finally, Thawley manages to splutter out between gasps of laughter, "mate, it was a joke!"

Again, Abbott is silent for some moments until he realises the mickey has been taken out of him. A dark thought comes to mind. I'll show them, he vows to himself.

The Two Types of Climate Skeptic

There's two types of climate change skeptic you see in the depressingly frequent "debates" on this issue.

The first lot aim for an (non-warming) air of legitimacy, with sites such as Watts Up With That and the very official sounding Non-Governmental Panel on Climate Change. They have their celebrity spokespeople such as Lord Monckton, and their own science too, with claims of manipulated figures, heavy use of phrases such as "anthropogenic", "natural cycles" and "global cooling", claims climate scientists are only in it for the money, and of course the oft-repeated claim that global warming stopped in 1998. (And it's always adorable when online commentators lose track of how many years it's been). They're a small group with a hell of a lot of funding on their side.

The second lot, though...they make no pretence at evidence or credibility; they simply don't see the need. They say things like "well I don't think the world is getting hotter I remember very hot days when I was a child but people call you dumb for having a different opinion!" (there's usually more than just one exclamation point, but I'll spare you). When I first heard someone say "climate change is rubbish, I remember lots of hot days when I was younger", I actually thought it was a joke, but it's true; these people honestly think their memories and anecdotes are equivalent to the weight of scientific evidence, that one can have feelings and opinions on scientific facts. John Oliver said it best:

I wouldn't care, except that these people vote, and they helped to vote in a government with a disastrous record on the environment, and they are utterly incapable of understanding why this is wrong. Where has the education system fallen down that the most basic concepts of logic and deduction are beyond these people?

It's hard to say which group are worse. The ideologue brigade, for all their money and influence, are thankfully dismissed as kooks by most in the media and government. The "I knows what I knows" crowd might actually be worse, unshakable in their convictions that they are entitled to an opinion on climate change and the whole thing is bunk by so-called experts whose doctoral degrees aren't worth anything compared to memories of hot days in childhood. There will always be lots of stupid people, and in Australia they're compelled to vote, and we see the disastrous results (God help us all if the libertarian anti-vaccination movement gets traction).

What we need is better education. Not just the kind of teaching climate science as fact which leads to howls of "brainwashing!" from the right, but education on the basic concepts of logic and deduction, how to distinguish opinion from evidence, feelings from facts. This would have other benefits, too - how do people who can't distinguish emotion and logic serve on juries, for instance? Alas, this change to the curriculum is unlikely to happen under the current government - and until that changes, on this and so many other matters, god help us.

Newcastle Hosts The Climate Warriors

It's pretty irritating living next to the coal train line in the shadow of the world's largest coal port. The outside walls of our house are constantly covered in a later of coal dust. I have to wash the dust out of the laundry baskets every time we use them (and yes, we do regularly do laundry). I quit smoking over five years ago and don't have asthma, but I've a constant hacking cough that spurs strangers to tell me "those ciggies will kill you, you know", and endless chest infections.

So that's not much fun, but it's even to scarier to think what happens at the other end of the coal chain, such as the lethal air pollution in Beijing cause by burning Hunter coal. More dire, if possible, is the very real and immediate threat that Pacific Island nations could disappear entirely due to rising sea levels - destroyed by climate change caused by the very coal seen for so long as the lifeblood of the Hunter.

So a group of activists from the threatened nations known as the Pacific Climate Warriors have vowed "we are not drowning, we are fighting", and came to Newcastle to take on the world's biggest coal port and show the very human reality of what stands to be lost. In the face of our head-in-the-sand federal government and a Prime Minister who declared this week that coal is good for humanity, hundreds of locals showed up to lend solidarity and join the canoe blockade of the coal port. I decided to give the canoes a miss - didn't want to sink one of the darn things - but headed along to lend my voice. The day's events got underway with a Welcome to Country, then a prayer from a minister from the Pacific Islands, then the climate warriors performed a blessing of the canoes which was very moving and drew great applause (though one little man found it all too much and burst into tears because "the man was loud" - bless).

In a reflection of the reality of the situation, there was then advice on what to do if arrested for carrying out non violent civil disobedience , with many protesters writing the lawyers' numbers on their arms. The formalities over, the first canoes hit the water. Now, at this stage the police had kept a fair distance, but then word came through the first departing ship was due to come through, they took a more active role, with the rubber duckies and jet skis seeming to herd the protesters away from the approaching ship. As Luke Pearson, founder of Indigenous X (whom I got to meet!) said, we have the sight of the police protecting corporations from the public. It seemed fairly benign - the police were bringing canoes and protesters onto the rubber boats and bringing them to shore, but then letting them go - but it got me to thinking.

A frequent argument seen against this and other protests of its kind is that, whether or not you agree with what the coal industry is doing, they are carrying out a legal activity and should not be impeded. There's two issues here. First is the confusing of legality and morality - smacking is legal whilst medical marijuana isn't, and I'm firmly of the belief it should be the other way around; legality is not an indication of worth. But more crucially is that the law just isn't fair. I've seen commentators say the protesters should take legal means, such as petitions, to change laws they disagree with. But that's to ignore the enormous and inequitable influence vested interests have in society. The coal industry has enormous influence in Australia - especially in NSW, where we have Liberal governments at a state and federal level, so strongly entwined with the interests of the mining industry they deny the threat of climate change and seek to shut down the renewable energy sector. When the law is unfair, you can try to change it; when the mechanism behind the law is unfair, civil disobedience becomes the only option.

Not that I engaged in civil disobedience myself. I stupidly neglected to bring sunscreen, and despite knowing I needed to leave stayed put for nearly three hours, to which I have a terrible sunburn. So I missed that later in the day ships were unable to get through the blockade, and also apparent injuries to protesters at the hands of police (which police have denied). There's a real momentum here, and I look forward to participating in more actions in future.

To donate to the climate warriors, click here.