Lessons in Cynicism

Shane incarcerated...

G'day Possums,

a few shots from the town of Clunes illustrate this week's rant....

Christian Porter, channelling his inner Scrooge, has decided that reducing the time unemployed people under 25 have to wait for benefits from a proposed six months to one month is a real winner!  Belying his Christian name, Scrooge Porter also thought that young carers have, beyond their caring role, a "mutual obligation" to attend courses and do "work-for-the-payment" which will, he prophesied, eliminate "inter-generational welfare dependency."

Scrooge didn't elaborate on where the jobs would be found for these who have  "... a great ability, particularly for young people to find jobs quickly.” He also made no mention of the fact that most new jobs are part time and many are now being filled by 457 visa  overseas entry people or that there is currently one position for every 17 unemployed.

In a previous incarnation Scrooge was the State Treasurer and Attorney General of Western Australia, a state which despite it's mining boom, during his tenure, was going broke.

He is also one of the most prolific users of his parliamentary "entitlements" racking up some $229,579.27 since 1-1-15 on top of his $250,000.00 p.a.  (approx) salary.

A fresh idea...

Another Sand Groper (aka, West Australian) making his presence felt unnecessarily is ex SAS officer with  a colourful past,  Handy Andy Hastie.

Handy has stuck his head above the parapet to fire a few blanks about religious freedoms being under attack if the Marriage Equality plebiscite is won by the "yes" vote.

"The government was interested in marriage because it produced children", he said, "....with broken marriages leading to increases in welfare and bureaucracy." " We are not seeking to redefine parliament. We are seeking to redefine marriage."    What any of this has to do with marriage equality and human rights is anyone's guess... but Handy Andy's fundamentalist religious background  means that he feels oppressed if we all don't think like him.

The ABC's "Gruen"  did a superb analysis of the advertising methods that will be utilized, particularly by the likes of Handy Andy and his faithful followers if the plebiscite goes ahead and it really blew this lot out of the water.  Perhaps Handy's hardly credible, confused spoutings  were an attempt at a  pre-emptive strike ?

 

perrenial values...

More of Oz's Xtian values were on display with a poll showing that 49% of Australians think that Muslim migration be stopped!  And that, had The Harriden, Hanson's supporters had more brains in their voting behaviour, One Notion could have had 6 senators elected instead of four.

To add to the ugliness permeating  the country, Truffles told the UN what a role model we are for the rest of the world with our excellently cruel concentration camps for refugees. Truffles explained, "...you don't have the public licence to have a generous humanitarian program and of course you are simply providing a product for people smugglers to sell and we must deprive them of that – as we have done so in Australia." He also cynically indicated that we will take Xtian refugees from South America instead the Muslim ones we're currently torturing on Manus Island because they are probably no longer in a fit state to be anyone's neighbour. ... and that even though, we still have around 9,000 of the 12,000 Syrian (Xtians) to process that Rabid the Hun said we'd take 12 months ago, we are still in his mind a humanitarian and egalitarian beacon of the first order.

 

Clunes

"There are two things that I have always observed to be in singular accord, supercelestial thought and subterranean conduct."    Michel de Montaigne.

Hoo-roo  Petals,

Shane