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Managing editor David Donovan introduces Independent Australia’s first Open thread. Make a comment on any topic; share your news and stories, suggest a topic for IA to cover or even ask us a question.
There’s been a lot happening over the last 24 hours: Kathy Jackson gets dumped and charged by the HSU; Tony Abbott has been licking his wounds after his latest mauling at the hands of Australia’s formidable female broadcasters; and part-time Liberal Party strategist – and full-time dinosaur – Grahame Morris comes to his defence by calling ABC interviewer Leigh Sales a “cow”; how ineffably witty, what? Of course, Morris is the same silly mungbean who called for Julia Gillard to be kicked to death back in late April; I wonder, can you see a pattern in there somewhere? Hmmm…
Anyway, by popular demand – that is, someone suggested it to me on Twitter (thanks @CuppaT2!) – I am opening up this thread for general comments about anything at all from our most erudite group of commenters (HB, MS, OJ et al). Oh yeah, nearly forgot, if you want to ask me any questions about IA or anything else, please feel free.
(Don’t forget, you need to register with IA to comment, but this literally only takes a few seconds.)
Over to you…
27 Comments
Dave, try to put Bilbo out of business i see
Never! I adore hobbits and halflings (though I am not overly fond of their hairy feet).
Excellent idea for an open thread, David, and since you have mentioned Grahame Morris I will start with him.
From so far back – which is more than I want to remember – I have never seen Morris smile. Maybe I’m wrong and deep inside he is a very funny guy because there have been many occasions when I considered him to be a joke.
Humourless people will go to any length to appear funny but someone should have told him a long time ago that calling a woman “a cow” is not humour.
Unfortunately, Morris has not advanced past the knock-knock jokes and one can’t tell him any other kind of jokes, especially jokes about people who don’t get jokes.
It’s rates time again which always reminds me of the systemic corruption of local government-at least I believe it to be so. I of course can only provide anecdotal evidence but I feel sure there is a story there for a competent investigative journalist to pursue.
Higgs, despite people like David Speers saying apologising for Morris, saying he is just a “character”, I agree with you. I believe he is nothing more than an old-fashioned bully and a misogynist. It is a sad inditement on the Liberal Party and the Murdoch media that they do not disown him for his repeated obnoxious gaffes.
Kilgore, you are probably right, but unfortunately we don’t yet have the resources to adequately cover local politics.
Here’s a suggestion by a newie to this site re a new National Day: we need to get away from the colonial connotations of Australia Day (could be ‘Settlement Day’ in future) and the notion of Anzac Day as an alternative (too specific to become our national day); as a sign that we believe in Federalism, let’s choose the present Canberra Day (second Monday of March) as our new Australia Day. While I’m at it: a new flag could be just a yellow Southern Cross on a green background.
hey that pic would have been perfect if Morris head was poking out of the cows rear…Libs just don’t comprehend how stupid they look and sound, Morris joins a long list.
Nice ideas Charlot, I think you are onto something.
I just want to say keep it up Julia come back smiling day after day let it all roll of your back. You are doing a fantastic job one day you may be appreciated for the elected prime Minister of this country that you are. It makes me sick to hear these men and sadly women also, trying to demean because you are a woman.
Same on them all
David I’d like to hear your thoughts on Larry Pickering’s crusade?
I myself have found it unfathomable how he’s garnered so many followers, men & women. Are all these people blinded by a little bit of celebrity stardust?
His comments & cartoons in particular are despicable & degrading & not just a swipe at Julia Gillard but women in general, yet he has many women followers who laugh just as heartily at them.
I’d like to get your thoughts on the site & his crusade in general?
Leisa, I thoroughly agree with your comments. I find Pickering’s brand of “humour” offensive and objectionable. He is exactly as Gilard described him and some other vicious rightwing bloggers. His following, sadly, is reflective of a pretty large segment of our society that don’t wear sunscreen around their collars and must go out in the sun a lot… What motivates him? Late middle-aged bigotry and misogyny, I suspect, mainly. But also, one shouldn’t forget he ran for the seat of Fraser as a Liberal in 1974 and has been campaigning against Labor, through his cartoons and in other ways, on and off ever since. His brand of “humour” seemed less obnoxious and angry back then, I seem to recall, though maybe we were just harder to offend back then…
What a great idea. Here you go, IA's first Open Thread: http://t.co/KUAvhkSI — IndependentAustralia (@independentaus) @leftturn2013
Here’s a suggestion – Can the audio ad that starts playing as soon as IA page loads.
Very annoying. Absolutely a turn off.
I know you need money, but the cost of this one is that most who have a look at the front page will not stay long. Then you’ll have nothing to sell.
Thanks Godotcab, Those ads only happen on particular ads – not very often – and you, the consumer, do have the ability to turn off the sound of on your computer. Better still, go to the ad and click the sound off – we will get money for that. Even better than that, why don’t you make a donation to IA so we can afford to get rid of that ad network?
After a visit to parliament house for the first time yesterday I was in awe. It is amazing to think that we have this system of democracy that is delivering a stable, prosperous society. But my disappointment with some politicians was also magnified. How can some politicians, Abbott in particular, stand in that great chamber and not take it seriously. Because I have come to think him and some others really see it as a game. It should be a place for serious and sober discussion, a contest of ideas and policy, but they are so immersed in the political system they see winning government as the end rather than the means. No doubt this is amplified by the media who report on the mechanations of political parties more than their ideas. Cassidy’s “Insiders” is a prime example reporting of politics like a game, and it is ironic that it is followed by “offsiders”, a show about sport…
I had the pleasure of watching SBS’ documentary last night called”go back where you came from”. the same format as the last series was used, only this time there were better known Australian faces, Among them Peter Reith, Angry Anderson and Michael Smith (shock jock) on the other side of the argument were a female comedian who delights in getting up Reith’s nose(my apologies for not remembering her name or the others in favor of refugees)those being the recently resigned commonwealth ombudsman and a bikini model.
They were first taken to the homes of refugees in Melbourne where Smith had a go at a refugee who came here on a false passport and when he arrived promptly informed immigration officials it was false and requested asylum, he was 13 at the time. Reith and Anderson were totally unmoved by the stories these folk told and basically wanted them to go back to where ever.
The second part of the exercise was to send half of the six people to Mogadishu and the other half to Kabul, Well, what a delight it was to watch Reith and Anderson in Kabul. There Reith met a man who had been on the Tampa when Reith was defense minister. The man had languished on Nauru only to be told along with 300 odd others “you are not coming to Australia” and promptly sent home. Them an had made acquaintances with 7 other Afghans while on Nauru, all of whom told officials that they would die if sent back. He is the only survivor, he changed his name, constantly switches addresses to stay alive. When confronted by this Reith was totally unmoved. during the meeting they were told it was no longer safe to be there and the three Australians left to returned to their guard compound. That was the only time that Reith was moved, or rather it appeared that his bowels were. It’s OK to send back someone to certain death, but don’t place Peter in that situation or he will do a dummy spit and threaten to go home if it happens again. Peter Reith , you were unimpressive as a politician, unimpressive as a minister and after last night definitely unimpressive as a human being
I also watched last night’s program on SBS and will continue to do so over the next two nights.
I agree with you Oscar, that Reith seemed to be unmoved when he was confronted by a refugee that had been sent back to “where he came from”. Anderson didn’t have much to say (could he be wavering on his stance?)and Catherine was deeply moved by the whole interview. She obviously feels that whole of the refugee problem is so immense that it looks to be insurmountable, something that I feel that many, many people in our country feel also. So how do we help all of those misplaced persons fleeing from all of the lawless countries?
We can’t help all of them of course, but we can certainly learn from programs like this. People are fleeing persecution, they fear for their lives and those of their families. They will do whatever it takes to try to reach a place of security, one that offers a new life for them and their families. They are not illegals.
One can only hope that we, as a nation, can keep on accepting more of refugees – they really do mostly turn out to be wonderful hardworking people who are just so greatful to be accepted into our wonderful country.
I live in an outer western suburb of Melbourne where there are many many refugee settlers. I watch my grandchildren mix with the children of these refugees. I see the parents of these children talking together and making the newcomers welcome. I see the local school encouraging this dialogue by holding a mealtime meet and greet where everyone was asked to bring a plate. The variety of food was wonderful. The kids loved it as it was held in the new school hall that was built from the BER funding.
I can only hope that the people who watch the rest of the series on SBS who feel the way that Reith, Anderson & Smith do, will do so with a more open mind. One that can feel some compassion for those people who are fleeing from persecution. There is no quick fix for this huge humanitarian problem, but at least the latest move by the current government is trying to address the problem. Only time will tell whether it will or not. At least this government has a leader who is willing and able to change when things aren’t working.
The thing as I see it is with these detention centres is that refugees should be processed as quickly as humanly possible. That they have proper access to legal, medical and education for everyone. We can’t take everyone, but upping the intake number is sure a step in the right direct. Those that are accepted, we should make welcome and help them to assimilate into our society, without having to lose their customs and identities.
Looking at some of the Facebook comments for Go Back last night I was dismayed just how much racism still exists out there though, however we still have to keep trying to bridge the gap with educating programs like the ones on SBS.
May I make a suggestion? How about changing the greeting from Howdy to G’day?(gidday) Just sounds more Strine.
As to grameme morris, to me he sums up everything that is wrong with the liberal party, a bunch of born to rule bullies without a decent or empathic bone in their collective bodies.
How about a competition to come up with a more apt name than the INSTITUTE OF (NOT SO VERY) PUBLIC AFFAIRS? We already have the Institute for Passive Asphyxiation (when spruiking for Big Tobacco), the Institute for Poppycock & Agitprop and the Institute for Pathetic Assertions. I vote Gee turn the best one into a cunning cartoon!
Words have impact on all of us. The impact depends on the words we use and the words we hear. Also the words we read have an impact on us and can influence our thoughts so we must always be alert to the possibility that journalists will attempt to persuade us to support their view by the use of negative or positive words.
In today’s The Australian, Dennis Shanahan wrote an opinion piece titled “And another political skittle falls for the PM”.
I will only quote the first two paragraphs as this is sufficient to outline Dennis Shanahan’s negativity of words and phrases relating to Julia Gillard.
“JULIA Gillard has knocked over her last political skittle – she has dumped the floor price on carbon to quell a growing rebellion from industry.
The Prime Minister has capitulated once more on a policy after doggedly opposing it and berating those who stood for a reasonable or pragmatic position. Again, it has left a sense of confusion and doubt about the government’s grip on vital issues.”
“knocked over” – implies clumsiness
“dumped’ – is an undertone to litter, misuse, disorder
“growing rebellion” – revolt, upheaval, mutiny against the Labor government
“capitulated once more” – implies inability to govern
“doggedly opposing” – stubborn (reinforces capitulated once more)
“berating those who stood for a reasonable or pragmatic position” – intimates that those who disagree with Gillard are reasonable therefore she is unreasonable
“left a sense of confusion” – implies disorder, chaos, bedlam
“doubt about the government’s grip” – implies mistrust, misgiving and indecision.
Dennis Shanahan should get out a bit more rather than sit in his dark room studying a dictionary of negative words by candlelight.
David,
Thanks for taking up the suggestion of an Open Thread. I appreciate IA’s responsiveness.
The ABC should have dropped Morris like a hot potato after he made the disgraceful “kicked to death” remark. But, like the also-disgraced Peter Reith (funnily enough another Liberal), the ABC keeps flicking him in our face.
Sandi,
How about the Institute for Polluting Aunty.
Good one Cuppa!
19th April 2013.
There is a story doing the rounds today that Tony Abbott’s Director of policy, Mark Roberts, made a comment to Andrew Penfold, a former investment banker who is now chief executive of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation. The comment was if the Coalition are elected this September, they would ‘cut the throat” of Mark Roberts. The story was reported by News Limited journalist Peter van Onselen (PVO). If the comments put forward by PVO are true, then there are several questions to be answered.
I don’t believe the comment was regarded as a suggestion that murder was contemplated. Moreover, I believe it relates to funding for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation. My take is that Mark Roberts may be aware that the Coalition intends to cut funding to this organization in a yet to be announced budget cut as part of the Coalitions policy budget funding. Tony Abbott has been on record saying that he, more than anybody, supports Indigenous Australians, even to the point of saying how he spends time in the NT doing work amongst the indigenous people to more fully understand their plight. If TA intends to cut indigenous spending, when will he announce it.
The second interesting thing to take from this story is the PVO comment that Mark Roberts offered to provide an “inside source of information” on the LNP. Why does this not worry TA that there may be a rat amongst the LN Party machine. I remember the MSM labeling Peter Slipper a rat, and they wanted his head on a platter. Based on the attacks on Peter Slipper, will TA sack Mark Roberts. Surely he must based on TA’s current “Modus operandi”
DD, the following suggestion for an article you may find appropriate comes from my years as a workplace training developer and its frustration with what schools turn out.
Things I’d like to see taught in school.
The use of the apostrophe. Turning anything with an “s” on the end into a possessive is becoming more and more common. And it would be nice if kids could spell.
Home economics. Once it was a thing taught in girls’ schools. I’d like to see a core subject of this name taught to everybody right through high school. But the curriculum would include not cooking and sewing. It would be money management, household budgeting, the uses and pitfalls of all kinds of credit, the means by which marketers extract the maximum from buyers, and so on, almost ad infinitum.
Basic ethics. Not religion, but the fundamental ethic upon which religions base their credo and have made all but unrecognisable. The “do unto others” principle can be taught to all without infringing anyone’s self-righteousness. It’s common sense anyway.
Common sense. You can’t measure common sense, but you can measure its results. And you can teach it, or at least teach its process. It’s called logic. Imagine what a different world we would have if everyone understood the principles of cause and effect. How it would affect child discipline. This and basic ethics are aspects of the same thing.
Alternatives to television. Little kids should be conditioned to believe that TV is NOT the prime source of information, a mother replacement and babysitter. It’s a poor substitute for real life and what’s to be learned on prime time and kid’s shows is more likely to be bad attitudes and poor manners rather than necessary knowledge. Even television itself sometimes shows kids that would rather play with the box it came in than the TV itself.
How many kids toys remove the need for imagination and deductive reasoning?
Of course, these are all things that should be taught by parents. But nobody taught the teacher. There’s another subject.
I suggest you place a permanent “handy” link to this open thread on the main IA entry page.
I’ve been reading IA daily for some months, but only recently became aware of the presence of this open thread.
It tends to get buried away by the continuous flow of new articles.
Have noticed some posters saying they don’t know where else to their off topic comments/announcements.
Also;
Could you give us a longer comments history list?
Last 5 entries is insufficient – 10 or 15 entries would make it easier to follow commentary.
Great to meet you and your colleagues in Melbourne last Friday. I was surpised at the demographics. I expected a younger crowd. I can say that as I am one of the “older” crowd.
However my point relates to “independence”. Seems to me IA runs a strong anti Liberal and certainly anti Abbott line. Maybe by default? In that regard pleasing to hear you are supporting ‘Independents”
In regards to the current Government I really wonder why otherwise rational people remain so loyal. The Governmenmt have made political blunder after blunder and shown themselve to be politically inept.
This is tragic as they have good policies…mostly
If anyone wants examples of their ineptitude in adressing their policies I will send you a list of them. But here is just one….. their moral U turn on overseas detention, and then outrageously deeming ourselves as Australia’s third biggest recipient of our own foreign aid to pay for those randomly sent to sh*tholes overseas , leaves me deeply ashamed. More to the point…they didnt even blush when they abandoned the moral high ground previoulsy claimed for years and correctly so … . Shameless …Julia!!
Abbott’s budget reply speech was a disgraceful bit of theatre- very little detail – carefully scripted to ensure all his options are open after the election. I see another “Costello Review” on the horizon, then “unavoidable” cuts and sales of the peoples assets to balance the budget.
I was disappointed the speaker didn’t call the cheer squads to order – the organised applause squads should have no place in budget speeches. Just more evidence of Goebells tactics- reminiscent of 1930′s political scene – how far down the road are the open air rally spectacles?.
The ABC 7:30 interview with Hewson was a real cop-out- why wouldn’t Abbott or Hockey front to explain their alternative proposal?? Such a gutless presentation by the ABC.
With no numbers or costings, promises are meaningless- as we no from previous experience with LNP “core” and “non core” undertakings.
The repeal of the ETS and MRRT leave a big hole in finance incomes that can only be filled by service cuts and asset sales.
The environment takes a back seat of course, we know the LNP consider climate change is low priority – corporate profits take precedence.
Removal of red and “green” tapes is code for trash the environment for profit!
We will enter hard times if LNP are elected – the Murdoch dominated MSM will ensure bad news is suppressed; only LNP good news will be trumpeted – until he gets what he wants – the NBN.