You're F***ed, Tony - The AIM Network

You're F***ed, Tony - The AIM Network

You’re F***ed, Tony

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  January 30, 2015
  
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Guest blogger Ross Sharp explains why . . . and he pulls no punches.


From awful to f***ed in
the space of one brief week, Prime Minister Tony Abbott, our Dear
Leader, the walking, talking testicle of contemporary Australian 
political life, and embodiment of everything that is, and has been
wrong with it these last several years, has morphed toot sweet from the
once proudly simian gaited and throbbingly tumescent Cock ‘O’ the Walk
and King of the Hill to flaccid impuissance, an instant noodle
body-slammed into a bowl of his own steaming hot faeces.


Communications Minister and former Prime Ministerial hopeful Malcolm Turnbull now wakes every morning, and smiles, broadly, deftly tap-dancing his way from bed to shower, belts out a chorus or three of “Puttin’ on the Ritz”, follows it up with a softly gleeful rendition of “Singing in the Rain”, and fantasises about ramming the thick, block head of his most loath’d nemesis Cory Bernardi into a wood-chipper.


Foreign Minister Julie Bishop tingles with coldly exquisite
anticipation at every paragraph of ridicule and criticism of Abbott she
reads, licks her lips, and trippingly tra-la-la’s her way down to the
nearest high class fashion district to shop for new blouses and matching
pearls, some sensible shoes, and other items of elegantly understated
garb to best befit a Prime Minister in impatient waiting.


Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, still with steel in her veins,
and who bore the brunt of Abbott’s base, savage primal brutalism, and
never once cracked under his  witheringly incoherent barrage of gonad-driven misogynistic hatred and contempt – “Make an honest woman out of her” – finishes watching another episode of “Game of Thrones”, lets her hair down, throws back her head, erupts with peals of glorious laughter.


North American citizen and billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, Tweeting fool, boils with decrepit and aging rage and demands, DEMANDS, to blame it all on the barren bitch who runs Abbott’s office (the women are destroying the
joint), instructing the always compliant polyps who cling to the
increasingly desiccating organs of his Fish Wrapper Paper Empire to
confect some righteous outrage over the whole goddamn thing, GODDAMMIT!,
and help him elect a new Prime Minister to his liking. News Corpse.
Morality on page one, tits on page three, on page thirty-seven, you can
find an advertisement for sex call lines where a fifty-two year old
woman on a disability pension will mimic an eight year old in a school
tunic so that you can masturbate into a sock for sixty bucks, all major
credit cards accepted.


“Quality journalism”, I think he calls it.

“There is something about the state putting the power to
bully into the hands of subnormal, sadistic apes that makes my blood
boil” (Gore Vidal).

You’re f***ed, Tony.


F***ed.


It’s delicious.


Clap hands. Clap hands.

Ross Sharp regularly presents an assortment of copacetic delights and vents his spleen on his own blog site: Smelly Tongues

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Laugh and the world laughs with you — Abbott’s overseas knightmare –

Laugh and the world laughs with you — Abbott’s overseas knightmare –

Laugh and the world laughs with you — Abbott’s overseas knightmare

Alan Austin
|

Jan 29, 2015 1:11PM

|  

 

 

Freelance journalist Alan Austin takes a look at the world’s thigh-slapping reaction to Tony Abbott’s decision to knight Prince Phillip.

Tony Abbott has defended his captain’s pick of Prince
Philip for Australia Day honours against the “electronic graffiti” of
social media, but print publications around the world have joined in the
fun.


The Diplomat in Japan suggested
this was yet another gaffe by a gaffe-prone PM. Its piece was headed
“Good Knight, Mr. Abbott?” and sub-headed “In another misstep,
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott knights Prince Philip”.


It went on:

“After his government’s cuts to the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation and the Special Broadcasting Service, Abbott
has essentially put the nation’s satirists out of work. Even John
Oliver, a Brit, would have a hard time making the Australian prime
minister appear any more ridiculous than he does on his own steam. Right
now it is about all he seems to be doing well.”

The Independent in Ireland headed its story, “Australia’s PM Tony Abbott defends ‘joke’ decision to award Prince Philip Australian knighthood”.


Another Irish newspaper, The Times, was amused by Abbott’s approvals:

“The only person Prime Minister Tony Abbott consulted
before awarding an Australian knighthood to Prince Philip was former
defence force chief Angus Houston — who was also knighted. And the only
person Mr Abbott consulted about knighting Mr Houston was Governor
General Sir Peter Cosgrove, who was knighted last year.”

Germany’s Bluewin seemed also amused: “Prinz Philip ist jetzt auch ein Ritter”  — Prince Philip is now a Knight. It continued:

“As the British Prince Philip collected the nation’s
knighthood, Australia’s conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott
collected the nation’s ridicule.”

Other German reports highlighted ”Ein Premierminister in der ‘Zeitschleife’”  — A prime minister in a time warp.


Switzerland’s Neue Zuercher Zeitung headed its story, “Tony Abbott’s Griff in die Mottenkiste”, which translates as “Tony Abbott’s grip in the mothballs”.


The pun is clarified later:

“Abbott brought the knighthood tradition out of mothballs last year, earning him criticism for being a royalist.”

In Holland, the Elsevier reported that “ministers in the Australian government are surprised, angry and disappointed —  verrast, boos en teleurgesteld  — at the decision by Prime Minister Tony Abbott to appoint Britain’s Prince Philip a knight”.


The Guardian in Britain emphasised
the “anger and derision among colleagues” Abbott has copped. It added
“conservative columnists and supporters have joined a chorus of scorn”.


The Telegraph highlighted possible political fallout:

“The move to honour Prince Philip has been widely
ridiculed and has fuelled speculation about Mr Abbott’s future as leader
of the ruling conservative coalition.”

Britain’s Mail Online focused
on Rupert Murdoch’s leading role. It detailed the media mogul’s
original fulsome support for Tony Abbott, his recent criticisms of the
PM, his current courtship with Julie Bishop and his latest opinions on
knighthoods, leadership and top political adviser Peta Credlin.


Coverage in France reflects bemusement at the whole archaic
royalty business. Outlets reported at length the derision, scorn and les sarcasmes de beaucoup generated.


Le Petit Journal claims
this controversy will allow Australian republicans to revive the debate
about modernising the country, “starting with abolishing ties with
British royalty”.


Indonesian and Malaysian outlets relished the Australian PM’s embarrassment.


“Australian PM Faces Backlash Over Royal ‘Knightmare’”, led The Jakarta Globe. Both it and Kompas emphasised the ridicule from Abbott’s colleagues, who called the decision “keliru dan bodoh”  — wrong and stupid.


Reports in south-east Asia also used headlines with “Australia PM in time warp”.


The Straits Times
ascribes the “time warp” expression to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten,
to whom it attributes also: “I wasn’t quite sure it was serious until I
realised it was.”


The conservative New Zealand Herald played
it straight with support for the embattled PM across the strait. Its
sympathetic piece was headed “Australian PM Tony Abbott promises wider
consultation over future knighthoods”. It insisted “he weathered an
avalanche of criticism over his decision to make Prince Philip an
Australian knight”.


But then it ran a delightfully disrespectful cartoon:

The story has also been covered in Denmark, Pakistan, the USA and elsewhere.


This follows great hilarity over Abbott’s inept performances in Davos in January last year and the recent viral John Oliver video.
An earlier story that generated an extraordinary response worldwide
also involved Tony Abbott: the famous misogyny speech by Julia Gillard
in 2012.

Abbott, or He Who Would Be Flinged! - The AIM Network

Abbott, or He Who Would Be Flinged! - The AIM Network

When I made various predictions about Mr Abbott’s time as PM, there were those that scoffed. But I hate to say I told you so.


Ok, all right, he hasn’t actually declared the ACT the true Vatican
City, and declared that not only is he the one, true Pope, but I
consider the Prince Philip thing slightly less likely. And slightly more
bizarre. So I’m putting that one down as a win.


Anyway, I’m about to make even more predictions based on getting
three and a half  out of the ten I made about Abbott  have turned out to
be true. (All right, it doesn’t sound impressive, but being completely
wrong most of the time never stops politicians, racing and footy
tipsters or economists. Even Steven Keane keeps predicting a crash to
housing bubble in Australia, and eventually he’ll be right. The fact
that he’s been predicting it since last century won’t stop him from
saying, “I told you so, that house you paid a whopping $250k for back in
1998 is now worth a mere $1.3 million after the crash. I told you to
sell back when it was worth $400k!”)

• Abbott will call a double dissolution in the next couple of months
  in the hope of forcing Murdoch to back him rather than risking a
  leadership spill so close to the election.
• No Murdoch journalist will write a word until after Murdoch has tweeted.
• Julie Bishop will have lunch with Murdoch where they’ll discuss whether she can become PM after Abbott wins the election.
• Murdoch will agree that it’s a fine idea, before ringing Bill
  Shorten to say that he’s always thought that he was a damn fine man, and
  – once he’s elected – could he perhaps ensure that those hot-heads in
  the Labor Party don’t do anything to upset his business interests.
• Shorten will play both sides of the fence.
• George Pell will tweet that social media is evil and only Abbott can save us from this electronic graffiti.
• Abbott will lose the election.
• Turnbull will suggest that, if you get tired of Bill, that he’s
  available as a compromise candidate for PM, because he’s pretty much
  prepared to say whatever he’s told so long as he’s given clear
  instructions.
• Christopher Pyne will become Opposition Leader because nobody else will want the job.
• At his first press conference, Pyne will say that he’s happy that
  Bishop will be his Deputy, because she’s done such as exceptional job as
  Speaker.
• When told that the Bishop who’s his deputy is Julie, not Bronwyn,
  he’ll claim that he didn’t read the final vote, and he’s happy with
  anyone who’s prepared to be his deputy because the important thing is to
  make sure people know exactly how much money Labor have wasted since
  being elected.
• Pyne will say that there’s no evidence of climate change and that
  there have always been polar bears floating on icebergs past Cairns.
• Rupert Murdoch will bet some other billionaire that he can make Pyne PM within three years.
• Bill Shorten will be surprised that no matter what he does, nobody likes him.
• His wife will tell him that it’s surprising, because they don’t even know how bad his breath is.
• In 2018, Christopher Pyne will declare that he’s been elected Prime
  Minister, but this will later change because – before he’s sworn in – 32
  Liberals will move to the cross benches, saying that their best chance
  of being re-elected is as an Independent who actually says something
  intelligent instead of having to justify whatever crap the leader says.
  One of them will say, “Been there, done that, was given the T-shirt in
  the hope that I wouldn’t speak to the media, and this time I expected at
  least a better attempt at a bribe!”
• Abbott will drop dead and leave a dying request that he be buried on top of Rupert Murdoch.
• Rupert will point out that he’s not dead, but others will point out that Abbott was aware of this at the time.
• Peta Credlin will write an expose of her time in Canberra.
• Christopher Pyne will try to give her a knighthood, in spite of the fact that they were abolished in 2015.

Yeah, all right. But who’d have believed that Abbott would try to
knight a Duke? I mean that can’t even be passed off as a chess move.

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Tony Abbott Wakes With Nagging Feeling He Gave A British Monarch A Knighthood Yesterday

Tony Abbott Wakes With Nagging Feeling He Gave A British Monarch A Knighthood Yesterday

By The Shovel on January 27, 2015

Prime Minister Tony Abbott woke up this morning with a thumping
headache and a vague recollection of awarding a racist Greek Prince
Australia’s highest honour.


Frantically texting friends to see if he really had made a total tit
of himself, Mr Abbott was by late morning starting to piece together
just what happened on Australia Day.


A Liberal party confidant, who did not wish to be named, said he broke the truth gently to Mr Abbott.


“I told him, ‘yes you may have given Prince Philip a knighthood on
the spur of the moment. But don’t worry about it too much. Most people
probably didn’t notice or have forgotten about it already anyway.
No-one’s really talking about it today’”.


Another insider said the last he saw of Mr Abbott yesterday, the
Prime Minister was riding around on a make-believe horse, wearing
nothing but a paper crown and shouting ‘close the drawbridge and man the
cannons!’


Those close to Mr Abbott say he has a reputation for hitting it
pretty hard. In 2013 he ran a 4-week election campaign bender and later
couldn’t remember anything he said.


For more breaking stories, follow The Shovel on Facebook and Twitter or sign up for email updates at the bottom of this page. 

It's over. It's now impossible to satirise Tony Abbott

First Dog on the Moon

Abbott acknowledges internal critics but likens social media to 'electronic graffiti'

Abbott acknowledges internal critics but likens social media to 'electronic graffiti'

PM says he has had some ‘candid conversations’ with colleagues over
his performance and tells reporters they should not pay attention to
‘electronic graffiti’

Tony Abbott at a flag raising and citizenship ceremony in Canberra on Monday. Photograph: Stefan Postles/Getty Images 

Gabrielle Chan

Monday 26 January 2015 14.55 AEST
 

 

Tony Abbott
has acknowledged unhappiness within his ranks, saying he has had some
pretty candid conversations with his colleagues over the break but
dismissed social media criticism of his performance as “electronic
graffiti”.


Facing increasing internal dissent over his recent performances, such as backflips over Medicare, Abbott promised “a more consultative and collegial government” in the new year, while admitting he had not consulted his colleagues on the knighthood for Prince Philip.


He said many government members had raised a range of issues,
including electoral matters, the government’s achievements but also
“unfinished business”.

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“We’re going to crack on with that,” said Abbott.


“As you would expect, I have pretty candid conversations with my
colleagues,” Abbott said. “And this isn’t supposed to be just a ‘yes
sir, yes sir, three bags full’ exercise. Obviously we’ve had some pretty
candid conversations about all sorts of subjects.”


The prime minister said while he took enormous pride in the
government’s achievements last year, he would also learn the lessons of
2014.


“You can always do better, and a couple of the things that obviously
we need to do better is we probably need to be a more consultative and
collegial government in the 12 months ahead. I think we need to be more
conscious of the realities in the parliament, in the 12 months ahead.”


Acknowledging internal grumbles, his assistant treasurer Josh
Frydenberg urged his colleagues to “stick together” and get behind their
leader, as Abbott had earned the right to lead.


“Politics is a team sport,” Frydenberg told the ABC. “If you disrupt
that team harmony then it absolutely costs you at the ballot box and I
think my colleagues are very conscious of that.”


“We have a captain in Tony Abbott who’s earned the right to that job.
He was outstanding in opposition and through his leadership Labor got
the lowest primary vote in 100 years.”


Frydenberg’s comments came as the prime minister created another
storm of criticism on Australia Day when he asked the Queen to bestow a
knighthood on her husband, Prince Philip. Abbott acknowledged he did not consult his colleagues on the decision, agreeing it was a “captain’s pick”.

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And he dismissed criticism on social media, referring to it as electronic graffiti.


“Look, I’ll leave social media to its own devices,” Abbott said.


“Social media is kind of like electronic graffiti and I think that in
the media, you make a big mistake to pay too much attention to social
media.


“You wouldn’t report what’s sprayed up up on the walls of buildings
and look, as I said, social media has its place, but it’s anonymous.
It’s often very abusive and in a sense, it has about as much authority
and credibility as graffiti that happens to be put forward by means of
IT.”


Abbott has been trying to replenish the government’s flagging stock since late last year, with little success in the polls. He is due to lay out his government’s agenda for 2015 in a speech to the National Press Club next week.


Abbott used the Australia Day press conference on Monday to send another message to his colleagues.


“Obviously this is the start of a new year,” Abbott said.


“Every year is important, but this year is particularly important.
Today we celebrate our country’s strengths but we’ve got to acknowledge
that we can always strive to do better and to be better; at an
individual level, at a corporate level, at a national level.


“And it’s important that the government build on the achievements of
2014. It’s important that the government learn the lessons of 2014, and
that’s what I’ve been talking to my colleagues about, as you would
expect.”


Abbott again raised the issue of “Labor’s debt” and said without
tough decisions “the risk is that we will become a second-rate country,
living on our luck”.

 

 

PM Abbott awards imperial bauble to Prince Philip: Time to end the farce

PM Abbott awards imperial bauble to Prince Philip: Time to end the farce

Glenn Davies 26 January 2015, 11:00am 1,109 63

AustraliaPoliticsRepublic

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Official announcement of Prince Philip and Augus Houston's knighthoods and some of the reaction

Just when you think Tony Abbott's decision in 2014 to
restore imperial knighthoods couldn't become any more bizarre, the prime
minister uses the Australia Day's honour list to award a knighthood to
the Queen's consort Prince Philip. History editor and Queensland ARM
convenor Dr Glenn Davies reports.



THE MONARCHISTS have been asking
themselves, with theAustralia Day honours list announcement upon us and
the Queen’s Birthday honours list in June, who should be nominated for
an AK or AD award? 



The real question is: would Prime Minister Tony Abbott dare name any
knights ‘n dames in 2015 after the level of satire it inspired last
year.



The answer is: "Yes".



In the lead up to Australia Day 2015. there had been no media about the awarding again of any Australian imperial honours. The Australian of the Year awards had been well publicised but not the possible "Knights and Dames" appointments.



On 27 March 2014, I wroteabout
how Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the former director of Australians for a
Constitutional Monarchy, announced the return of imperial honours for
Australians. On 19 March 2014, on the Prime Minister’s recommendation, Her Majesty The Queen approved amendments to the Letters Patent for the Order of Australia to reinstate appointment of Knights and Dames of the Order of Australia.



At the time, the PM said he believed this was:

"... an important grace note in our national life."

For the first time since 1986, “pre-eminent” Australians were to be honoured as Knights and Dames in the Order of Australia. 



David Morris, national director of the Australian Republican Movement described the return of knighthoods as

“... turning the clock back to a colonial frame of mind that we had outgrown as a nation.”

The three Australian "Knights and Dames" created last year were: The Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO, former Governor-General of Australia; His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd), Governor-General of Australia; and Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO, Governor of New South Wales.



Today it was announced the second and third AK’s to be awarded in the restored Knight of the Order of Australia division are His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston (retd).One is currently the Chair of the Council for the Order of Australia, and the other … well, the husband of the monarch.



As a palace spokeswoman said:

"Knights and dames in the Order of Australia are approved by the
Queen on recommendation of the prime minister. We wouldn't comment
further on the process."

Still, it’s rather glaring as to which has the greater conflict of interest.



The monarchists have been excited about turning the clock back and been suggesting names for knighthood such as tennis great Rod Laver
MBE, the living Victoria Cross recipients, Australian Nobel Prize
winners (even posthumous), previous GG’s, retired Generals and Chief
Justices.



Interestingly, one of the only two pre-1985 AK’s living is Prince
Charles and, with the provision that a knight can be a non-citizen, I’d suggested good money could be laid on Princes William or Harry receiving a knighthood in 2015 for having turned up
in Australia a few times. On that logic, perhaps one should also be
given to Prince George, who showed us exactly what he thinks of the
ex-convicts with his instantly disdainful chuck of the toy bilby at
Taronga Zoo. There’s even the depressing thought Rupert Murdoch (now a
U.S. citizen) could be in line for a knighthood!



I was not far off though. Instead it was the Grandfather Royal, Prince Philip, who received an AK for his contribution to Australia throughout
the Queen's 62-year reign and it was his his long life of service and
dedication PM Abbott chose to be honoured by Australia. Special mention
was also made of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards in Australia, which he said had positively influenced the lives of hundreds of thousands of young Australians.





It was Prime Minister Gough Whitlam who axed knighthoods in 1975, only to watch Malcolm Fraser reinstate "Knights and Dames" a year later.



Then, in 1986, Prime Minister Bob Hawke abolished the category all over again. John Howard
is understood to have rejected the idea of reinstating "Knights and
Dames" on the grounds that the endless chopping and changing was
undermining the dignity of the honour. Many of his advisers also
believed the Liberal Party would be mocked and seen as out of touch with
modern Australia. (Howard is reported today as saying he did not agree with the restoration of these titles and would be unlikely to accept one.)



In the Australian honours system, appointments to the Order of Australia confer recognition for outstanding achievement and service. The Knight/Dame of the Order of Australia is awarded
for extraordinary and pre-eminent achievement and merit in service to
Australia or humanity at large. It is now the nation’s highest award.
Governors-General become a Knight or Dame of the Order of Australia by
virtue of their appointment as Governor-General. In addition to
Governors-General, there will be a maximum of four appointments a year,
excluding honorary awards to non-Australian citizens.



However, when Prime Minister Abbott named outgoing Governor-General Quentin Bryce a dame and her successor General Peter Cosgrove a knight the satirists had a field day.





Australian historian James Curran wrote in the Canberra Times, 31 March 2014 that

'In the symbolic landscape of Australian civic culture, Tony
Abbott’s restoration last week of Australian knights and dames perhaps
stands as one of the most pompous, pretentious, nostalgic and
self-indulgent prime ministerial decisions in a generation.'

The re-establishment of the Imperial honours was done quickly and
without consultation by PM Abbott with his Federal front bench, let
alone the first two recipients.



IA columnist Bob Ellis statedthat
Prime Minister Abbott wanted to distract and deflect, as well as punish
and shame his Opposition counterpart and abruptly came up with his plan
to ennoble Quentin Bryce.



Senior correspondent Barry Everingham wrote that former Governor-General Ms Quentin Bryce
heard of her “elevation” on the ABC's 8.30am radio news and that the
Queen heard from an aide who was contacted by a member of the Australian
media. Everingham also observed that
Prime Minister Abbott trashed vice-regal protocol in the last moments
of the term of Quentin Bryce as Governor General, at the same time as
causing grave offence to the monarch.





And as contributor Clint Howitt argued:

'Tony Abbott's abrupt decision to bring back imperial honours has
driven a wedge through the body politic from the vice-regal office
holders, through the rank and file members of all political parties and
through the voting public.'

Imperial honours are divisive and are out of touch with modern, multicultural, egalitarian Australia.



Professor Geoff Gallop, the national chair of the Australian Republican Movement, said today:

“This decision to appoint more knighthoods is the end result of
the politicization of the system under Tony Abbott. We had a perfectly
good honours system run by Australians. Placing the Knights and Dames
system over and above that is demeaning the worthiness and opinions of
Australians."

On 27 March 2014, when PM Abbott introduced the archaic British
aristocratic titles above the Australian national honours system,
Australians flooded the Australian Republican Movement with such
overwhelming numbers the Australian Republican Movement server was on the verge of crashing.



David Morris, national director of the Australian Republican Movement, stated at the time:

"Since Mr Abbott’s announcement about 'knights and dames', our
annualised membership growth rate has spiked to about 5000%. Many are
re-joining, having previously been members. Many are people who say they
voted for Mr Abbott’s Government but are dismayed by his personal
decision, apparently made only in consultation with the Queen."

Perhaps another own goal by the Prime Minister may be good for the movement towards an Australian republic.



In an Australia Day eve book launch speech, Leader of the Federal Opposition, Bill Shorten urged
Australians to support an Australian republic and head of state,
arguing it would reflect the nation's "modern identity, our place in our
region and our world". We now appear to have two federal political
leaders divided clearly along monarchy and republic lines.





If our identity today is Australian, then surely our national honours
should be thoroughly Australian. It’s time to make the case for
Australia to have a head of state that is one of our own — not someone
from the other side of the world.



We should be advocating a fully and unambiguously independent Australia, no knights or dames required. How ridiculous!



Find out more about the Australian Republican Movement at ouridentity.org.

In Praise of Tony Abbott - The AIM Network

In Praise of Tony Abbott - The AIM Network

In Praise of Tony Abbott

• 
  
  January 23, 2015
  
• 
  Written by:
  Edward Eastwood
  
• 
  19 Replies

• 
  Category: Politics
• 
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• 
  
  
  Edward Eastwood
  
  
  
  

Now before you start screaming, and wondering what kind of drug is this stupid bastard on, let me take a moment to explain.


Yes, it’s true I have been mainlining schardenfreude and it’s heady
stuff, the real deal, not that synthetic crap you’d score from some guy
called Sir Rupert behind the dunnies at the Melbourne Club.


Happily, there are many more like me and it’s all due to the efforts of Tony Abbott.


You see without Tony Abbott, the Left in Australia would still be languishing somewhere in the 1990s.


Abbott has been able to unite the Left including the more moderate
sections of his own party in a way that no other Conservative politician
including Menzies or Howard could ever do.


What may be termed as the ‘traditional Left’ with its union
affiliations and working class support base had been in steady decline
during the Hawke-Keating years and all but disappeared during the Howard
regime aided and abetted by the ‘small target’ stance taken by Beasley
and Crean.


Generational difference also played its part. Generation X, “bred in
modest comfort and now housed in universities” felt no affinity with
unionism nor with being ‘working class’ but rather were drawn toward
Howard’s promises of a ‘relaxed and comfortable’ middle-class.


Who need unionism with its connotations of entrenched corruption and
grimy fingered belligerence? Middle-class welfare and family tax
benefits A and B were the go, and access to easy credit provided the
lubricant for purchase of the house, the 4WD, and those oh so important
private school fees.


No one wanted to question what the price would be for this bourgeois bonanza least of all Howard and Costello.


Generation Y followed dutifully in Gen X’s footsteps.


This is not to say that Leftist activism ceased, but the younger
generation were drawn to the Greens rather than the ALP, and while the
traditional unionists fought and won their last great battle in 1998
against Corrigan over the Wharf dispute, they also saw the writing on
the wall, took their redundancy packages and got while the going was
good.


Nor did the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years see any revival of the Left’s
fortunes and arguably the continued vacuum allowed on one hand, the rise
of a meglomaniac with little talent and on the hand, a competent
politician hamstrung by an appalling sense of timing.


Enter Tony Abbott.


Abbott’s short-comings have been well documented on this site and in
the MSM over the past few days so there’s no need to regurgitate them.


What Abbott has done from the outset of his government, is to provide
the impetus for the emergence of a new and most significantly,
intergenerational Left.


Almost single-handely, Abbott has provided the glue for the cohesion
of young and old, middle class and working poor to unite in opposition
to his government’s policies.


The fact that a Conservative politician rather than a Progressive has
been able to tap the vast well-spring of voter dissatisfaction and
frustration with Neo-liberalism which has been building steadily over
the past decade and a half is a delicious irony. (note to self: no more
schardenfreude this arvo or you’ll have to go and have a little bit of a
lie down).


Moreover, this new and united voice has served as a clear prompt and reminder to the minor parties.


For the Greens it’s an indication of continued and growing support
and this is evidenced by the outcome of the recent Victorian state
election.


For Palmer United and the independents its a firm reminder not to
waver in their opposition to the LNP’s deliberate determination to
destroy the very foundations on which Australia has been built, for to
do so is political suicide.


The emergent New Left bears little resemblance to the traditional
Left save for its concern with social justice. As argued above, it is
intergenerational in a manner that the old Left could never achieve.


It is new media (social media) savvy and it has found its found its
voice, one which carries across the globe in an instant, and more
importantly it is the voice of a collected people from all walks of life
as they unite in concern for the fate of their society and of the
planet.


While its likely that a new Left would have emerged in the near
future, under a more moderate leader it is unlikely that it would have
occurred so swiftly or with such determination.


So as the Wreck of the Hesperus that has been Abbott’s leadership
sinks beneath the waves, let us give a brief moment of thanks to the
individual who, in his determination to divide the nation unconsciously
provided the tinder to the flames which are now engulfing him.

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