SurfcoastWombat

I can understand why the po-faced Peter Dutton would never change his stance on refugees but we have a Prime Minister who claims he is a Christian. He is seen being a ‘happy clapper’ at his Horizon Church and seems to believe that God actually listens to him. He even wanted his pastor to accompany him to America when he went over to meet Donald Trump. I never did understand why. Scott Morrison has also recently admitted that he lays his hands on people in a religious manner. If he is so committed to his Christianity, then I suggest he reads the Bible where he will find many references to how we should treat one another. The fact that he is insistent that the Biloela family must stay in detention and will never be allowed to live in Australia, tells me that he is a total fraud. And this man is our Prime Minister.

The ABC’s role is to present the news in as equitable a way as possible.  This isn’t always easy.  From time to time it has to hold the Federal and State governments to account.  This is their obligation to the public.  Whether the governments are Liberal or Labor is irrelevant.  The ABC mustn’t and shouldn’t show bias and I think it does a pretty good job most of the time.  But it seems Michael Kroger doesn’t think so and he wants Ita Buttrose’s head.  He has in his career dished out the dirt when it suited him but obviously takes offence when it has his Liberal party in its sights.  Sadly, I think the day will come when a Liberal coalition government in Canberra will sell off the ABC and then we will have another rag controlled by a powerful newspaper magnate.  I hope I will have reached my ‘use-by date’ before that happens.

The ABC’s role is to present the news in as equitable a way as possible.  This isn’t always easy.  From time to time it has to hold the Federal and State governments to account.  This is their obligation to the public.  Whether the governments are Liberal or Labor is irrelevant.  The ABC mustn’t and shouldn’t show bias and I think it does a pretty good job most of the time.  But it seems Michael Kroger doesn’t think so and he wants Ita Buttrose’s head.  He has in his career dished out the dirt when it suited him but obviously takes offence when it has his Liberal party in its sights.  Sadly, I think the day will come when a Liberal coalition government in Canberra will sell off the ABC and then we will have another rag controlled by a powerful newspaper magnate.  I hope I will have reached my ‘use-by date’ before that happens.

I have watched with considerable interest how the Federal and State governments have behaved during this pandemic and I feel that one of the casualties is loyalty.  It used to be the case whenever there was a clash between Federal and State governments, that senior politicians would remain faithful to their State and electorate.  But neither Joshua Frydenberg nor Greg Hunt are showing their support for Victoria.  I suspect that Frydenberg is cosying up to the Prime Minister because he seems to be, at the moment, the heir apparent when Scott Morrison decides to step down.  I won’t complain if he is ever the Prime Minister because it’s about time we had a Victorian in the job.  But he mustn’t forget what John Howard did to Peter Costello.  Howard was never going to hand over to Costello because Costello is a Victorian.  I doubt very much that Scott Morrison will hand over to Frydenberg for the same reason.

Both my wife and I received phone calls this morning alerting us that Anglesea was a hotspot and that we mustn’t go out not even to buy a take-away coffee.  It’s strange that people in their 50s and 60s seem to think that their doddery parents don’t know how to look after themselves.  But fair to say that we felt exactly the same way when we were their age!  We thought we knew everything then but only now do we realise that we didn’t – but we do know a lot more now.  We are, of course, grateful that our children care about us.  And we did buy our takeaway coffee – after all, it hasn’t made much of a dint in their inheritance.

I concur with all the letter writers who are asking “have we learned nothing from the previous lockdowns?”.  We are battling a pandemic that has the potential to kill millions of people across the globe.  To date we have done a fantastic job despite the incessant carping from various people and organisations.  Of course there have been mistakes and always will be but I wonder how much better we would have done if everybody had followed the advice of the health professionals.  Wear a mask properly, use the QR codes etc even if it you don’t think you should.  Remember – if the Covid gets you, you’re a lot time looking at the lid (of the coffin).

As a young man in the 1970s, I had aspirations to go into politics.  I wanted to do something that might make a difference.  My then wife was supportive but said she wouldn’t vote for me.  She was a committed Labor voter whereas I had Liberal leanings back then.  Many years later, looking back, I was grateful I didn’t pursue a career in politics but today I feel that maybe I should have.  After all, where else could I stand up in front of TV cameras and cast aspersions under Parliamentary privilege on some poor person on the other side of the chamber, stretching the truth every which way, and get away with it?  It is pure theatre.  And I would have a lot more money in my retirement super fund than I do today.

It seems to me that the focus in Canberra by both of the major parties is winning the next election.  Meanwhile a Victorian man completes his hotel quarantine in South Australia and returns to Victoria only to find he has caught the virus whilst in quarantine.  Once again we are now tackling yet another outbreak as a result of hotel quarantine.  It might be working 99 percent of the time according to some politicians but we want it to work 100 percent of the time.

The politicians in Canberra need to heed former Queensland Premier Bob Borbidge’s belief when asked what makes a successful politician – his response was “making society a better place”, one of the reasons he was a firm supporter alongside John Howard of gun control.

So stop worrying about the next election – make society a better place by taking full responsibility for your obligations to all of us.  Build at least one other quarantine centre and get on top of the vaccination rollout.  Neither party will get my vote otherwise.

IOC official John Coates says that the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead. “The desire of the athletes is as high as ever. We want to give athletes the opportunity to compete.” I’m sure it is but how will the athletes feel should anyone die from Covid as a result of the Games going ahead?

China is increasingly being seen as a threat to Australia and it will remain a threat while we continue to antagonise them for the sake of political posturing.  While we continue to  misunderstand China, we will not resolve this situation.  We need to understand its history.  Around about 1900, the Chinese peasants rose up against foreign intervention in China and were eventually supported by the government.  This led to the Boxer Rebellion but a joint attack by several countries including Britain, America and Germany defeated the rebellion.  As a result China was banned from importing weapons for two years and paid a massive amount of money in reparation costs, among many other impositions.  Many Chinese cities in Northern China were occupied for more than a year by the foreign forces and many atrocities took place.

China was humiliated and it has never forgotten that and seeks retribution – rightly or wrongly.

In my humble opinion, if there is a war in the near future between China and America, China will win hands down.  The Americans haven’t been very good at winning wars lately.  China is pressing ahead in Hong Kong and the day will come when they will take over Taiwan which they believe is their right.  There is nothing Australia can do to prevent this.  But it is time that we stopped thinking we are a Western country.  Australia might have been ‘invaded’ by the British but our First Nations people are the Aborigines and we are in the Asian sphere – not the West and it is time we behaved as such.  We need to enter into serious diplomatic dialogue with the Chinese government and keep the Cyclopic politicians out of the discussions.  We also need diplomats who speak Chinese fluently.  Truth be known, China needs us for many reasons but not on our aggressive terms.

[Note:  I base this letter on my experience as a Chinese translator in the 1960s when I was stationed in Hong Kong and on revived memories I received by reading Stan Grant’s brilliant book “With the Falling of the Dusk”. ]