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Abbott’s threats outshine Kim Jong Un
Volume 32 #16
September 27, 2017
Logic fails over no vote Why are we not hearing the full-on biblical case against gay marriage? The strange thing about the No campaign is that their arguments are about everything except the case at hand. The simple question of why gay persons should not have equal rights is avoided, and instead there is a barrage of propaganda about irrelevancies such as religious freedom, sex education, free speech and the green-left conspiracy to destroy civilisation. The question is being avoided because it cannot be answered. Either you fudge the issue by inventing far-fetched and imaginary consequences, or you appeal to tradition, the ways things have always been done. This latter approach quickly leads to justification by scripture, which is why it is not being used; the No case fears that appealing to what religion has to say about marriage will not convince any undecided voter. Hence we are being exposed to the hand-wringing Helen Lovejoys ‘thinking about the children’ and the certifiable Cory Bernardis thinking about bestiality. This seems to be a missed opportunity for religious people, so I would be happy to supply the biblical arguments about marriage – if they were clear and ethical. Unfortunately what is clear is not ethical and what is ethical is not clear. Deuteronomy chapter 22, for example, is rich in marriage references. There we learn that if you falsely accuse a woman of not being a virgin on her wedding night it will cost you a one hundred shekel fine. On the other hand if you truly accuse a woman of not being a virgin on her wedding night, she’ll be stoned to death at the door of her father’s house. After passing through the related matters of adultery (stoning) and fornication (more stoning) the chapter ends with the words, ‘A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor discover his father’s skirt.’ It is amusing to read pious commentaries on this and other difficult passages in the Bible. The general tone is that such prohibitions were once necessary but we don’t need to examine them too curiously now. It is not surprising that promoters of the No case don’t wish to fight their battle on such unpromising ground. However, with most people returning their ballots long before the deadline of November 7, we will have to endure pointless weeks of TV lies served up in place of honest argument by the so-called Coalition for Marriage. David Lovejoy News tips are welcome: editor@echo.net.au
A
BC news flashed the headline last Thursday: “Abbott headbutted by SSM supporter.” For a delirious moment I thought that Malcolm Turnbull had finally run out of patience with his sniping, undermining, wrecking tormentor and replied to his latest provocation with a full blown Liverpool kiss. But alas, it was not to be; the Mad Monk’s fat lip was just the result of a drunk Tasmanian anarchist going a little over the top in his quest for freedom of expression. Turnbull was as conciliatory as ever, deploring any such incidents as unfortunate aberrations in the debate, to use the word loosely, that had been thrust upon him. So Abbott will continue to play the role of the Liberals’ Kim Jong Un, escalating his threats in the certain knowledge that Turnbull will not, cannot, respond. Abbott dominated the start of last week’s news cycle with his declaration that he would be ready to lead a band of insurgents to cross the floor of parliament if Turnbull dared to put forward even a modified Clean Energy Target as suggested by the chief scientist, Alan Finkel. ‘The party,’ thundered the member for Warringah, ‘may have to save the government from itself ’ – a line ominously reminiscent of General William Westmoreland, the US commander in Vietnam who boasted that he had been forced to destroy a village to save it. It is not at all clear how many in the party share Abbott’s conviction: some reports say six, others ten. But they are definitely a relatively small minority, and given very few are prepared to name
– indeed, the more worthwhile is appears, the more brutally it must be bashed down. Thus Shorten’s offer of an olive branch, a negotiated solution that could have the support of substantial majorities in both government and opposition, is utterly off the table. In fact, if Turnbull could come to an arrangement with Shorten, Abbott’s rebels would become
exploited by the privatised companies, the excessive retail margins and, most recently, rises in the wholesale price of gas. Turnbull himself claims to champion renewables, especially his beloved Hydro 2.0. But the facts are irrelevant to Abbott; what matters is the war, even if his determination to pursue it at all costs is utterly irrational – indeed, it is literally MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction. Presumably AbEven a handful of [MP] nutters would bott still hopes to overthrow be enough to produce a crisis that his supplanter and resurrect his own interrupted regime. This Turnbull would be lucky to survive is clearly delusional, but even by Mungo MacCallum if it happened, what would be the consequence? The melancholy example of talked about the gravity of any numerically irrelevant; energy backbencher crossing the floor could again become a bipar- Kevin Rudd is there for all to against government policy. ‘It’s tisan issue in the manner the see. When a desperate Labor reobviously a dramatic loss of industry (and just about every- placed Julia Gillard with Rudd, discipline inside the govern- one else) is pleading for it to be. they were hoping to save not But the politics make this the government, but the furniment and it’s a serious attack on the authority of the leader- impossible; if Shorten voted ture: Rudd, an ostensibly popuship,’ he warned when it ap- with Turnbull as Abbott voted lar figure, achieved a dead cat peared possible that some of against him, the shit would re- bounce, and then succumbed. his colleagues might attempt ally hit the fan. Thus, yet again, Abbott, generally disliked (and to bring on a bill to enable Abbott’s bluff (if it is a bluff ) not only by Astro Funknukle same-sex marriage without a will not be called; Turnbull Labe) would sink without trace, plebiscite, or even a postal sur- will continue to negotiate on taking a large chunk of the coavey. And he’s right, which is his knees before those who are lition with him. Most of his parliamentary precisely the point of his threat. determined to destroy him. Absurdly, he even said at colleagues, except the vengeful And there is to be no compromise – not even a hint of one point that the party was has-beens of the far right, have subsidies for renewable energy, of one mind, totally united to come to realise that if there is although coal is, as always, sac- deliver affordable, reliable and to be a replacement (and there rosanct, something to be cos- sustainable energy. Well, per- is no real push for one) it will seted, cherished and protected haps, but they have very dif- not be a recycled failure like at all costs, especially the cost ferent ideas of how to go about the former incumbent. And the to the taxpayers. He has no ac- it, and some, like Abbott, re- polling is turning around even tual plan, and certainly not one gard this laudable aim only as further; the demand for Abbott that would produce any benefit a means to make Turnbull’s life, to retire from parliament and to consumers in the next few as Shorten correctly said, hell. politics is steadily growing. The attack on renewables But none of that matters to years, but that doesn’t matter. Abbott is not about policy; is, essentially, fraudulent. As Abbott, and eventually Turnhe is about tactics, the need to Rod Sims of the Competition bull will have to deal with it, ensure that Turnbull is com- and Consumer Commission to find the guts to tell his prepelled to continue the hyper- pointed out last week, renew- decessor the time is up. In the partisan attacks on Bill Shorten ables make up less than one end, it may be easier – and a and indeed anything and every- sixth of the increases in power lot more useful – to deal with thing that Labor might propose, prices. The real culprits are the Blackout Bill than with the however worthwhile it may be gold-plating of poles and wires Abominable Abbott. themselves (and those are the lunar extremists) it may well be that not all – in fact barely any – would go through with Abbott’s ultimatum. But that does not really matter; even a handful of nutters would be enough to produce a crisis that Turnbull would be lucky to survive. Abbott knows this, of course: earlier in the year he
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12 September 27, 2017 The Byron Shire Echo
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