More horrific revelations about rape in our parliament over the weekend. A second and third woman has come forward to level rape allegations by the same Liberal staffer. The PM’s office has sunk into a swamp of lies as senior officials are exposed as knowing about Brittany Higgins early on. Higgins herself has triggered a full federal police investigation which the scum will welcome given they can now hide behind the phrase “I don’t want to prejudice the investigation”.
My reading is that PM Morrison is fatally wounded as things stand. Every time he opens his mouth it’s another indictment. It doesn’t matter what the subject is or whether you agree with him or not. If he defends your interests then that puts you on the side of Morrison’s (alleged) rapist protection racket.
A large majority of Australians likely feel the same way. Common decency and fairness are bedrock traits of Australian identity. Whether it’s true or not, they want to see themselves this way.
So, what now for a sinking Government? It has two remaining options. The first is to go the transparency route and force Morrison to resign or be rolled. Peter Hartcher on the weekend:
The crime against Brittany Higgins sits unanswered. It is unanswered in the specific case of Higgins, but it is also unanswered in the wider case of the Australian Parliament. Until this alleged crime is answered for Higgins in particular and answered systemically by the Parliament for Australia, it is a standing challenge to the legitimacy of the government, the Parliament, and the exercise of power itself.
…to change behaviour, incentives must change. Sharkie is right. The idea of an independent body is one way to change behaviour. We can be guided by successful precedents.
After decades of politicians rorting their expenses, the solution was the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Agency, which is now operating well. After decades of parties squabbling over claims that their opponents are guilty of “black hole” budget costing disasters, the solution was the Parliamentary Budget Office, which is working brilliantly. The solution both times was an independent, expert umpire operating with high levels of transparency.
The Government does not have the moral substance. It is more likely to pretend through series of inquires past the next election, as we saw over the weekend with Morrison’s newly discovered fake outrage. If polls collapse then perhaps.
But the Government has another problem, at The Guardian on the weekend:
A senior staff member in Liberal MP Craig Kelly’s office continues to work in his role despite multiple young women – some as young as 16 – coming forward to NSW police to allege inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, including an instance of unwanted touching, and despite an apprehended violence order being granted in one case.
And The Saturday Paper:
‘I was a staffer, and so was my perpetrator’
“What Australia seems wilfully blind to is that each of its enclaves of power has a misogynistic, patriarchal power structure that enables the oppression, vilification and sexual abuse of women.”
Eighteen months after publicly reporting her assault, former Liberal staffer Dhanya Mani explains why
We can expect a ceaseless drip of this stuff going forward. It will come from the “me too” dynamic, as well as the media’s and Labor’s dirt files.
So, the second option for the Government will be to deflect and distract, much more Morrison’s style. We are already seeing moves that way. The Nats dropped a nuclear power chimera last week that got no traction. Better for the Government is the great Facebook distraction. Even I fell for that this week and the media has such a conflict of interest on the issue that it can run as a much bigger story than it really is. For instance, Christian values promoter, Paul Kelly, saw fit to ignore the rape protection racket running parliament in order to focus on Facebook.
But that wont last, either. Facebook holds the whip hand. The hypocritical media has tried to bully it into paying for content but it has instead walked away from carrying it. Why not? If it were a supermarket carrying newspapers and it said ‘no thanks’ would anybody care? Facebook will lose a bit of revenue out of it but it was going to lose that anyway if it paid. And an Australian precedent that rolls out globally as Facebook paying for content everywhere would be far more damaging. Facebook has taken the China route. It’s going to make an example of what not to do out of Australia.
So, ScoMo’s rape protection racket is going to need something much bigger and darker to pull the wool over our eyes. What might it be? Perhaps ten new coal and nuclear power plants for QLD? The pandemic might deliver a new crisis. But that’s based upon luck and vaccines are not the Government’s friend. There is also China. Morrison could seek a bigger stoush which would certainly wedge Labor.
This is where my thoughts turn dark. The Government has another “nuclear” option in its own dirt files. It could start drip-feeding these into the press. For years, there has been a gentlemen’s agreement between the parties and press to keep dodgy behaviour in the parliament secret. That’s why the recent 4Corners material so upset the Government. Labor infractions are certain to exist so the Government could shift towards a Trumpian mutually assured destruction strategy that drags Labor into a bottomless pit of disgrace. That’s better for it than being exposed by itself.
You can always gauge the remaining shelf-life of any politician by the degree to which the population still listens to them. Once people shut down to the PM’s words owing to boredom, disenchantment, or datedness, it’s all over. In Morrison’s case, it is far worse. When he opens his mouth, a rising tide of disgust drowns his words. The Government may reason that if the rape protection racket can embroil Labor then the polity will stop listening to Canberra altogether and reset voting intentions to default.
As we’ve seen around the world, the psychological damage by the pandemic to humans unhinges populations. Australians have been compliant. But it has cost them money, lifestyle and routine. All of these things result in anxiety and anger. Morrison’s rape protection racket has presented the PM as an obvious target for the projection of this collective angst (which is in no way intended to mean that he does not deserve it). One way to remove himself from disgrace is to disgrace everybody else. In a battle of shamelessness, Scott Morrison will win hands down.
We may be on the verge of the ugliest year of Australian politics that anybody can remember.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
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I have noted many times over the past year why
Life is grim in Antiameristan
There is a country without official recognition
Just so long as it’s abundantly clear who held the trigger in their hand when the detonations started.
Let the war begin. This government needs to be bombed into surrender.
It’s a pity labor and the greens want to play politics with this.
Labor has a record… Bill Shorten accused of rape, Tanya P,s husband drug offences.. did she repot him.. no., Peter Slipper was a grub and labor promoted him to the speakers role, two other labor member accused of sexual misconduct and one of stealing offences all swept under the carpet by labor’s protection racket.
Yes the alleged rape was a disgrace, the accused got sacked, the young lady did have the opportunity to report the offence but chose not to , to protect her job prospects, her reputation, the fact that very poor decisions were made by her at the time of the offence knowingly being where she should not have been , yes it was a disgrace but why is it now her employers fault that she got raped .. well it wasn’t.
The government cannot win on this and it just shows that a disgraceful act by a man and a stupid decision made by a young lady and security people all becomes part of the problem..is this the government’s fault.. no way.
Nobody is having a go at the government over the act.
The subsequent shuffling-of-the-deck, banishing a young woman off to WA to “keep her quiet”, the ongoing cover-up, and complete and utter lack of any accountability over the sordid affair is beginning to approach the point.
Pointing out “but what about that lot?” does absolutely zero to address the current issue.
I’d just like to point out that Peter Slipper was a Liberal MP holding the Sunshine coast seat until the LNP decided to shaft him and parachute Mal Bourgh/Borg/Burg whatever his name was, into that safe seat.
Slipper was a product of the LNP not Labor.
On the Facebook page, why doesn’t Joshie have a chat with his new best friend Mark Zuckerberg about Facebook paying their share of Australian tax on their Australian income.
Even though scumo is at odds with FB on behalf of Murdoch, his overriding dogma is still ‘Taxes and laws are for the little people’
A third woman is alleging sexual assault.
https://twitter.com/Lisa_Wilkinson/status/1363467651033440261
There is simply no way that Scott Morrison or his office didn’t know.
The first reported rape was buried because it was two weeks out from an election.
Yah he’s got a penchant for supporting rapey people/organisations ala Hillsong. Real piece of work is scummo.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/28/sexual-abuse-victim-of-hillsong-founders-father-blasts-pm-for-supporting-brian-houston
Pedo apologist. That smug grin is hiding more than just disdain for the poor.
Naturally. Couldn’t risk that at election time.
DLS is right “When he opens his mouth, a rising tide of disgust drowns his words.”
I dont know what to say about ScoMo anymore. I just dont 🙁
Boomers are entitled.
He’s not a boomer.
He’s Robodebt, JobSeeker and now this.
Boomers are lucky.
Deja vu this morn, same spot same time same bat channel.
Way out the back by myself N.C.Curl, shark nearby, Seemed smaller than the 7 footer last time though.
R^pehider?
[email protected], rorting, rooting. The three R’s of the federal government’s policy platform.
yeah, pretty sure he’s just an older Gen-X?
However, temperamentally, he’s cut from the same stoic cloth as Boomers.
Isn’t it amazing the pile on when the rape occurred out of working hours when two people both had known that they were breaching their employment agreement by being where they were at a time when Parliament House was essentially closed …. still can’t understand why this is the government’s fault…ho I remember the hand bag hit squad of labor and the greens now has a massive opportunity to waste parliamentary time and the huge expense of committees, police and probably the court.
No I don’t support rape or any mistreatment of any person but there were two people that caused all of this both knowing that they were wrong to be where they were and out of the control of their employer.
Let’s just get the police to do their job and drop all of the confected outrage and move on.
No I don’t support rape or any mistreatment of any person but there were two people that caused all of this both knowing that they were wrong to be where they were and out of the control of their employer.
Uh, no.
When there’s a rape only one person is to blame. The rapist.
It’s the Government’s fault because it would appear the Government is stuffed full of people who tried to cover it up, protect the alleged rapist, enable his ability to attack others, and trying to smear the accusers to undermine their credibility.
She was 24 – barely out of school, in a new job with a superior who plied her with drinks then promised to take her home in a taxi, having done this multiple times previously – a practiced predator.The self-interested cover-up, collusion, and complete lack of ethics and empathy at the highest level for this young girl is a new level of appalling.
But you don’t get any of it DW. You’re on about the same level as our illustrious prime minister.
Put a sock in it.
He’ll still win.
Indeed, he will win. As he mugs (yet again) about “Jenny and the Girls”, surprising numbers of people imagine that’s a real human being expressing genuine emotions. Anyway, the ugliest year has to be 1975.
Nah, under the LNP since 2013 the corruption has been relentless and growing.
That’s just ugly for us, not politics.
I think “shameless and blatant” would be a better description.
+1 They’ve managed to take corruption and lies to a whole new level.
1975 is the year that all politicians in Australia learnt, in no uncertain terms, that you will not get to have a career in politics and rule if you antagonize organised money and power.
The dismissal layed the foundation for the end of any kind of real Democratic representation for the majority of Australian people.
The message was clear.
Represent the interests of the plebs to much and you will be shut down.
Todays submission to the desires of Corporate Plutocracy and the accompanying corruption of our political process today was a predictable out come of those events in 1975.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/23/gough-whitlam-1975-coup-ended-australian-independence
+100000000
Vale Gough, vale Australian Democracy
Well said. Yep, Vale Gough – a giant in every way. Voter disillusion and ennui with politics ensued thereafter and has grown every year since.
Excellent article, thanks for posting.
Yep, it’s because he takes such good photos.
https://mobile.twitter.com/wolftickler2000/status/1363125649532051468
We all know people who fall for this crap. Just thank Dog we didn’t get the full Scummo plumber’s crack.
@MB I just had a mouth full of coffee when I read that.
This! You only have to beat the opposition who are hopeless.
+1 So long as he keeps house prices high all will be well
Most Australians don’t want high/er house prices.
Most Australians don’t want a Labor government again. That’s the problem.
Traitor. All *true* Australians want high/er house prices!!
Our ships must all sail in the same direction – Don Licio Lucchesi.
Most australians want affordable housing *for others* and higher prices *for themselves*
There does seem to be a growing public sentiment that house prices have gone too far, yes – I’ve noticed it in the last couple of years, too. Even many of those who used to cheer it on are no longer cheering it.
They’re only ~20 years too late, but better late than never, I guess.
Prices have gone from ridiculous to insane in many places. I can see many lives being ruined if/when it fails.
Then again, government are so committed to it, we’re all going down with it I’d guess.
Are those people now securely ensconced in their own homes with manageable mortgages ? Might explain the change of heart.
It’s not that house prices have gone too far…it’s that everything else hasn’t gone far enough thanks to massive imports of cheap labour and outsourcing to the cheap labour. When the fighting starts this will end, could be a while though.
The ugliest ever year of Australian politics? Nah, that would be 1932 or 1972, not 2021, for sure.
This is a good thread.
https://mobile.twitter.com/ethicalmartini/status/1363269241714053125
There is simply no way that Scott Morrison or his office didn’t know.
The rape was buried because it was two weeks out from an election.
“Common decency and fairness are bedrock traits of Australian identity. Whether it’s true or not, they want to see themselves this way.”.
Wrong DLS. That died out following waves of massive immigration. You are behind the times on this one.
I agree. For two reasons. Changed demographic, and too many rats in the cage, all fighting over too few resources.
There is nothing good about immigration for the plebs.
Trenchant observation.
The now mythical ‘us’ that once truly existed is no more.
Seeing ourselves in that reflection emphasizes our disappointment and shame.
Straya has become the 21st century version of Hotel California. You can always check out but you can never leave.
I guarantee there’s more common decency and fairness in the plebs than the elites.
A fish rots from the head.
I don’t think that an immigration-based cultural shift has caused us to stop being fair and decent – we’ve been toxic stoic arses for as long as we’ve been here. Sure, we’ve got some good traits and runs on the board ethically, but I wouldn’t characterise us that way.
Prosperity compensates for character.
yep.
I hear what you say, but I remain more cynical.
The electorate may well tolerate a “rape protection racket”, as you put it, so long as house prices keep rising. I hope I am wrong.
We shall see.
This.
And there’s no reason to blame immigration for our society’s moral decline – look at the whinging, self entitled opponents of fairness in this society – the property and bank shills, the greedy franking creditors…they are true blue aussies. We did this to ourselves.
Immigration is 100% to blame for every single problem Australia’s got, ironically including having Morrison and the LNP government.
The naivety of the big Australia left is astonishing.
All this was occurring before immigration became a hot button topic for romantics and is embedded in the core of mainstream orthodox economics … yet some will fat finger the hand maiden politicians or the success of indoctrinating generations of people as a failure – of them – to *think* rationally[tm] …
The fundamentalist pro business [corporatists] and market survival of the fittest mob got what they wanted … but yeah its a immigration problem …
“The fundamentalist pro business [corporatists] and market survival of the fittest mob got what they wanted”
Yeah. Via immigration.
“All this was occurring before immigration”
Not that I noticed it didn’t.
“yet some will fat finger the hand maiden politicians or the success of indoctrinating generations of people as a failure – of them – to *think* rationally[tm]”
I’m not doing it skip. Go with the clear speaking huh?
Seems you were asleep for a few decades.
Nothing mattered skip, until we had to compete to buy a house, compete to find a parking spot, compete to find a job, compete etc etc etc etc.
You can’t have extreme pressure on house prices, tollways, medical specialists, and everything else that’s now fked about Australia without immigration.
Immigration is at the very core of what the elites have used to fluff their own wealth at the expense of the stupid plebs voting for it.
I’m not sure how you can dance around that.
It was backed in decades ago, many cheered on at the time, and now some want to blame imagination for what markets markets markets has turned out to be.
“many cheered on at the time”
Immigration? No they didn’t. That’s not what I saw.
Australian plebs made a fatal error continuing to vote for big Australia Labor.
Elites infiltrated Australian politics to turbo charge their wealth via immigration.
The Labor party betrayed the plebs and took the money. The most disgraceful politicians in Australia’s history.
One important purpose of mass immigration is to enfeeble the opposition to all the corruption by weakening social ties.
If you look at this curve it can be seen that juicing property prices is an old game, long before it was validated by Hayek et al. But there is no doubt the modern economic machine took it and turned it the stuff global fortunes are made of.
https://www.ppic.org/publication/californias-population/
(it’s also a very good predictor of what the plans are for Australia)
Trouble is, only our coastline is habitable for millions of people.
Environmental parties like Greens and Labor would never agree to high immigration.
Unless of course, the elites could get in there and make them woke. Which is exactly what happened.
The elites were always there, they have just become more brazen and open as the place has turned to $#1t.
Cynical snake
For sure, but they have to become more brazen because now their model of transferring wealth to themselves is really starting to hurt the existing population.
A rising tide lifts all boats.
How small our piece of the pie is has become more obvious as the pie shrank.
Nonsense – immigration has brought some problems, sure, like any change can; but we’ve been comfort-loving toxic stoics since we (immigrants!) got here. I say this as a True Blue anglo Skip.
Threaten our sense of comfort, and we’ll crucify you. Put tax perks in that list, and many other things.
Sure, we’ve got some good traits but, boy, we like to ignore our gaping wounds!
You have great wisdom, Know Idea. Nobody cares as long as house prices keep climbing.
Welcome to Straya.
I look forward to the political flyers which says
“You wouldn’t let your daughter within 10 meter of this man, why would you for for him”.
To keep him in canberra, as far away from her as possible.
No one goes voluntarily to canberra. 🙂
3rd alleged rape reported by same fellow in Canberra today. LNP is starting to look like a church.
well they figuratively screw over and financially rape Australians every day, what’s surprising that they actually do it?
Wouldn’t you say the victims seem a little old for it to be a church?
The metaphor is not precise but we have repetition, we have moving of the offender with few if any consequences, we have this notion of being above the law, we do not have consent and we have cover ups.
Interestingly, we also have the mob in full spittle-flecked flight before the High Court tosses the case out 7-0.
“spittle-flecked flight” Noice!
This applies within a vast number of organizations. See the RC into child abuse.
That too was a massively effective event.
“.. My reading is that PM Morrison is fatally wounded as things stand. …”
Wishful thinking.
There are plenty of people he can throw under the bus before declaring the stables are clean.
Plus the ALP are not going to go there.
Scotty will skate until the ALP grow a brain and some policies.
Labor are heading the threats of that gargoyle Senator Michaelia Cash,
https://youtu.be/brSSfl1STLE
She sure is a strange creature, that one.
She seems right on top of the rumour mill !
A falling LNP government absolutely won’t result in a Labor government. Australia’s not doing that again.
In the dog eat dog environment Labor’s helped create via immigration, their brand is of no use to a greedy, selfish society.
Labor essentially destroyed their election hopes via their own stupid policies.
“In the dog eat dog environment Labor’s helped create via immigration, their brand is of no use to a greedy, selfish society”
Quoted for truth
The vote for independents and minor parties will be interesting if the majors are on the nose and the media/news sector has been shook up by the fight with big tech.
I agree. This could be the best thing for Australia for a long time. Destruction of one or both of those disgraceful parties is essential for Australia’s survival IMO. Both is better.
Good call .
Go the Greens !
My you did let your dark sense of humour off the leash today.
https://www.seabreeze.com.au/img/photos/other/17307998.jpg
Probably shouldn’t joke, but so far we’ve had the creepy male feminists at the greens sex pesting, we’ve had the IPA wannabe alphas of the Liberals sex pesting, I assume the hollows of Labor tried sex pesting but couldn’t get it up.
“Common decency and fairness are bedrock traits of Australian identity.”
Not anymore, like the first time Aussie will vote for Scummo because they’ve ‘got a mortgage to pay’. Just look at how gleefully everyone lays into the unemployed in this country, the silent majority is selfish and nasty just like our leader.
ScoMo has a significant interpersonal awareness issue….
Three weeks ago I would have thought the ScoMo LNP government a monty to be reelected – mainly off the back of the 100 billion pumped into making the economy look alive, which I think a chance of continuing into the end of the year……
But no, ScoMo has again underlined his complete lack of empathy. And I reckon this time it is terminal.
The complete avoidance of sympathy for the fire fighters last summer, and the complete inability to cope with someone who stated honestly that he didnt want to shake his hand, flowed seamlessly into someone who was and is quite prepared to see Stranded Australians hung out to dry – and that is currently working as a drip feed on his credibility too.
And then there is the interpersonal/sexuality based culture of parliament house. The 4 Corners doco just touched the sore, and most of the public knew that 1. The place is a cesspit and 2. ScoMo doesnt want to address it because there is greater chance that some of the cesspit players are likely to be ‘family values’ toting tories of the type he leads, and there are enough within the LNP who know that much of the phenomena – although seeming a straight male exploiting females kind of dynamic – is actually a right to get away with anything kind of dynamic which almost all Australian management is part of, and doesnt like to be questioned about, which is likely to generate hitherto unturned issues across politics, the management of public services, and across the corporate world at executive levels..
His press conference response to the issue will guarantee that it remains live as a public focus for some time to come. The forthcoming ‘review’ – no matter what form it takes – will of course identify (as far as any sentient member of the public is concerned) that chunks of the political establishment, and possibly the public sector have had a focus in ‘managing’ the issue on keeping the events from becoming larger in the public domain rather than addressing what has happened to a young political staffer who was given the choice of ‘You job or your rights’ – and ScoMo’s public credibility is likely to get a further grilling every time he is asked a question about it.
It only takes for a virus variant to take root in Australia that is AstraZeneca resistant and he is toast.
I’d say his only real choice from here is to craft a hyperboom so boomlike that people will forget just how creepy he can be…..
More broadly Albanese may have a better interpersonal sense but is wedded to a party of ideologues with little traction in the world outside inner city Sydney or Melbourne. We would have to be worth a punt on getting another 1 or 2 seat majority
Yes, yes, hyperboom. Supersize me!!!
Yep. It’s interesting that most of the people that post comments on this site are men. I’d hazard a guess that most of the readers are men, and the comments skew toward that 50% of the population.
Neither the Libs or Labor have a strong first preference vote, at around 30%. With such low first preferences, it doesn’t take many votes to either flip a seat or elect a third candidate.
Among the Lib leaning professional women I know, Scomo’s recent performance has gone down like a lead balloon. It’s a reflection of the behavior they have witnessed from senior men, throughout their careers. With those voters, Scomo has been lumped in with Barnaby and the rest of the clown squad.
The voting intent doesn’t have to change everywhere, only in small numbers where it counts.
It’ll be like Kennet vs Bracks.
Exactly. Great comment.
Though Labor are so hated in the regions, they’re suffering the same problem.
Perhaps the best scenario is unfolding, with LNP or Labor governing a minority government where SENSIBLE independents pull the strings.
More independents sounds good
Arthur,
Lib leaning professional women generally live in very safe liberal or very safe ALP seats.
They will make no difference.
What matters is the marginal seats and you might be surprised how they (including the women) view this incident let alone whether it affects how they would vote.
Blaming the victim is the great Aussie past time.
They made a difference in Warringah. But you do need the right candidate.
It depends on the State. In Victoria, the leafy middle LNP stronghold suburbs have been assaulted by so-called ‘densification’, through aggressive rezoning by the former LNP gov. All those apartments have brought in younger non-LNP voters.
There’s a real red hot anger seeing what were nice places to live strip mined. The feeling toward Scomo feeds into that.
In the recent council elections we turned the historically blue voting wards from LNP to Green. The Green candidates were decent middle aged professionals, with a long history of local community engagement.
Edit: The Vic Labor Party is bigger on outer suburban rezoning, and former industrial rezoning.
Good call, Arthur. But for all you know there may be quite a few women on here that don’t post and don’t identify themselves for the very reason that the comments skew towards the male view – such is life.
No different on MB than anywhere else.
Edit: this reply to your earlier comment on MB male membership obviously.
Dont overestimate the moral priorities of the electorate. So long as house prices continue to levitate, the rape of the youth by the gov, big biz, lobbies and various other LNP approved ‘lifters’ out there can move from the figurative to the literal on the parliament house front lawn and nothing will happen.
Agreed. I suspect, unfortunately, the greater electorate will not twig to the true nature of the problem until the actions of the elite are far more egregious than they are now.
Another tailwind to a change in electoral attitude is the mountain of private debt that is continuing to be accumulated. How do you regulate human behaviours? The time-honoured way is by making humans indebted. And of the types of indebtedness, financial debt is up there for effectiveness.
Oops! “tailwind” should read “headwind”.
Another storm in a tea cup to deflect from real issues. wonder if there will be an independant enquiry, a royal commission perhaps. I wonder if the report’s conclusion has already been written and now just need to cherry pick some facts to support the narrative. Wonder if we will hear about toxic masculinity, patriarchal constructs, mysogyny, a culture of bullying and harrassment, victim shaming, sexism, systemic thisism, institutionalised thatism, coverups …… well get reruns of gillards heroic mysogyny speech, ohhh she was right all along.
Oh, i forgot to mention endemic. These reports always refer to endemic levels of something. And enduring. How about, endemic and enduring (insert cliched victimhood term)
It’s posts like these that show why, if there are any women MB members, they neither identify nor comment..
Government ministers covering up alleged rape(s) is a storm in a teacup?
That’s an interesting perspective.
The Identity politics brigades will continue be as grating as they always are.
It was interesting to see their hysteria over Barnaby Joyce’s supposed hypocrisy when leaving his wife for a younger woman.
Sure his actions weren’t in line with stated conservative beliefs that one stays with their partner for life,…but considering we arn’t living in 1952 anymore Barnyard’s display of serial monogamy by shacking up and having a kid with the first partner he hooks up with after his decades long marriage is hardly the story of a conservative persons decent into sexual permissiveness and perversion.
Serial monogamy is arguably the new conservatism.
So even though I see Barnyard as a corrupt prick who probably deserves to be jailed and certainly kicked out of office, I found the ferocity and hysteria, from “Progressives” over the hooking up of 2 consenting adults weird and very anti progressive.
These rape allegations on the other hand are a straight up disgrace and need to be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Rape is an unacceptable extreme crime of violence.
Beyond the reprehensible nature of the crimes themselves is the way in which senior members of our Government have clearly enguaged in trying to cover up such crimes, on multiple occasions it seems, with threats and intimidation.
This should be totally unacceptable to you whether you consider your self a Progressive or Conservative.
LNP voter, ALP or whatever.
https://twitter.com/THE_Russell/status/1363267519725801474?s=19
“Reynolds says Brittany was encouraged to go to the police.
THEN THIS EXCHANGE:
Brittany: “Well, what’s the process for coming back to my job?”
Reynolds: “Well, you wouldn’t.”
At the very least Reynolds has to go.
Lets hope she drags that National embarrassment, Scott Morrison, down with her.
The rape is terrible. Its the surrounding storm that the liberal party has complicitly created an environment that “enables” this that is the storm in the teacup.
So You think calling out a culture that gets serial offenders (rapists) of the hook through a conspiracy of silence and the threatening of victims,…is a “storm in a tea cup”?
Wow.
Don’t let Barnaby off the hook so quickly. The serious complaint against him by Catherine Marriot was swept under the carpet very quickly and only a few media outlets like Crikey are game enough to bring it up. In fact, Fairfax last week was talking about how he’s nearly got the numbers to challenge McCormack again!
The mind boggles at how you can get this:
Beyond the reprehensible nature of the crimes themselves is the way in which senior members of our Government have clearly enguaged in trying to cover up such crimes, on multiple occasions it seems, with threats and intimidation.
But not this:
So even though I see Barnyard as a corrupt prick who probably deserves to be jailed and certainly kicked out of office, I found the ferocity and hysteria, from “Progressives” over the hooking up of 2 consenting adults weird and very anti progressive.
All that alt-right trash you consume rots your brain.
Its very Easy Smithy
The first concerns the violent crime of Rape and the other is an anti progressive “sex scandal” involving 2 consenting adults.
Maybe you’ve got brain rot due to the partisan echo chamber you have enclosed yourself in.
If Vicky Campion was a man your mob would have celebrated Barnyard’s coming out and overlooked the abandonment of his wife and family.
Your hypocrisy and ideological [email protected] is as bad as Barnyards.
The first concerns the violent crime of Rape and the other is an anti progressive “sex scandal” involving 2 consenting adults.
You need to re-read your own words. I quoted the relevant ones for convienience.
The “progressive outrage” about Barnaby was his blatant hypocrisy in basing his political image (and justifying policy choices) around “old fashioned values”.
Let me give you an analogy that might work. The problem with Barnaby was like a politician basing his campaign on being strongly anti-corruption, then using subsequent inside knowledge on policy and actions to make strategic property or stock purchases.
He seems to be adhering to those “Old fashioned values” with Vicky does he not?
Either way why the hysteria?
As for actual corrupt and illegal behaviour. Id love to see Barnyard brought down for that.
The guy is a Prick.
But to long for the affair/divorce/remarriage to bring him down is petty and quite pathetic.
A completely un-progressive and hypocritical appeal to the same grubby politics you call out whenever “They” do it.
Your as bad as each other in this regard.
He seems to be adhering to those “Old fashioned values” with Vicky does he not?
Pretty sure he seemed to be with his first wife as well. But how is that relevant ?
Either way why the hysteria?
What hysteria ? People rightfully called him out and condemned him for the gross hypocrisy of both gaining office and making policy decisions based on a professed code of behaviour he quite clearly didn’t adhere to. THAT was the political problem.
It is bizarre how hard you are working to ignore this point.
But to long for the affair/divorce/remarriage to bring him down is petty and quite pathetic.
Pretty sure plenty of people were talking about his bad behaviour before that.
A completely un-progressive and hypocritical appeal to the same grubby politics you call out whenever
What does this even mean ?
I’m happy to talk about my own opinions, but I have zero interest in whatever other people’s opinions you want to project on me.
“but I have zero interest in whatever other people’s opinions you want to project on me.”
LOL!
Same goes for your,… “All that alt-right trash you consume rots your brain.”
Same goes for your,… “All that alt-right trash you consume rots your brain.”
O.o
I’m replying to things you’ve actually said.
You’re speculating and projecting hypothetical opinions.
Barnyard was about having a new floozey on the side while he’s telling the p00fs they’re wicked. Barnyard was also about giving said floozey not one but two $180k jobs for doing absolutely nothing except polishing his knob then getting her onto stress leave when she got up the duff.
Nobody cared about his affair except for the sheer hypocrisy of him. Also the why I suppose. Good God girl, just why?
He’s probably hung like a can of Chum.
Well said Ermo, and agree with you over that pr1ck Barnaby – didn’t get the hysteria over the affair either.
Nevertheless, it seems the rarefied and glorified life of of politics is often game-over for the boring (older) wives remote from all the glamour and egos in Canberra, raising the kids alone in the burbs……when all’s said and done, just another tawdry office romance of an older man with a young, impressionable staffer, ho hum
I suppose it’s pointless highlighting – again – that the “hysteria” wasn’t about “the affair” ?
So long as he pretends to care he’ll be just fine.
We have become a nation that only worries about what is good for themselves, not for what’s good for society as a whole. Shame on us.
You have to at least know how to do something in order to be good at faking it.
Reckon he’ll still call an early election? 😂
yep. the Australian reported this morning he’s gone up in the polls – says it all, dunnit?
“So, ScoMo’s rape protection racket is going to need something much bigger and darker to pull the wool over our eyes.” it’s already happening before our eyes, witness last night’s tennis behaviour.
Mysogyson is going 100% Trump. He’s going to use big data and subtle nudging to create an atmosphere of ‘its us against the libtards’ – being deliberately weak on sexual assault, like breaking up the family court, is leveraging the exact same dynamic. All the pieces of sh!t who hate progressives but don’t like Liberals will lap it up…
Being a bogan while getting vaccinated is the same deal, all the anti vaxxers will cream themselves over the bogan face mask, while all the pro vaxxers will seeth…
Ah, a *true* Strayan bogan way is to have everybody else around you vaccinated first and enjoy a free ride of the resulting herd immunity, without ever exposing yourself to any possible dangers of side effects.
He doesn’t have that option, still needs to calm the boomer grannies
Progressives are just naive children giving away their own privilege with no long lasting benefit to anyone else.
Adults know there’s not enough to go round, so you’ve got to take yours at the expense of others.
Grow up.
“Adults know there’s not enough to go round, so you’ve got to take yours at the expense of others.”
This is the root cause of everything you rail against…
Right? Fvck Toads be Wanke
You understand so little of the world, how people function and think, yet put yourself out there as some pseudo intellect. You’re an idiot.
Hey, just out of curiosity, how much of your bitcoin are you dedicating to philanthropy?
None? Hypocrite.
Nah mate, *you* do that, don’t gaslight me motherfvcker! LNP troll
Hypocrite? WTF are you talking about when did I ever say I’m all for philanthropy you gaslighting arsehole? Govt should take your money and do that…
“All the pieces of sh!t who hate progressives”
I’m telling you why I hate progressives. They’re dishonest.
“progressives” is a trigger word for me, and many others, and we can’t hear what they want whether it’s sensible or not. It’s gone way too far, and is hurting genuine causes.
You understand so little of the world, how people function and think, yet put yourself out there as some pseudo intellect.
From the same bloke who thinks a ‘coalition of Independents’ could hold a Government to account. 😂
drsmithy
“From the same bloke who thinks a ‘coalition of Independents’ could hold a Government to account”
No, from a bloke so desperate to get Australia on a good path, I’d jump at anything that destroys Labor.
I know. Humans are humans. They’re easy to understand and that’s what they’ll do when you add more people.
Why can’t you understand the young then? Moron
I do understand the young. I’ve got kids.
When my son was 4, he thought he could fly. When he was 2, he ate his own poo. Both times an adult had to intervene.
Then when kids are about 20 to 30, they think they can save the world, without a seconds thought about the reality of ….”the way humans function and think”,…. INCLUDING THEMSELVES.
So, again. How much of your bitcoin are you dedicating to saving the world? Or like all the other wealthy inner city Greens and Labor voters, do you just want everyone else to be progressive ? You’re dishonest mate, just like all the progressives.
I’m not a progressive arse wipe I’m a destroy the boomers and their enablers. Ie you….
Yeah you are, everything you say is from a progressive perspective.
“I’m a destroy the boomers and their enablers. Ie you”
How you going to do that? vote Labor and Greens for more of the same immigration?
I’m neither a boomer nor enabler. Almost everything I stand for opposes them. You however….”vote Labor and Greens for more of the same immigration”.
True. They’ll wake up eventually when ther’es no food on the plate – too late – then the thin progressive oh-so-generous-and-civilised veneer will slip and they’ll behave as everyone always has when faced with scarcity.
Which is, presumably, why we should ALWAYS be acting like we’re a hair’s breadth away from starving ?
God Vanstone is just horrible.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/linda-reynolds-doesn-t-deserve-criticism-her-response-to-higgins-rape-claim-was-textbook-20210221-p574dd.html
Not a single mention of the perpetrator being allowed to carry on as a Liberal hack.
Thanks Working Class for highlighting.
Aside all the other stuff, the fact she is defending Reynolds show how poor her judgement is.
That article was great. It is a perfect example of how a rape apologist works in a position of power.
“Veteran journalist Michelle Grattan described Higgins’ decision to go public as “the cluster bomb she’d tossed – in media terms, a highly organised operation with a kit of information circulated to news organisations”. Plenty of alleged victims understandably think hard about reporting a rape. Plenty take a long time to decide to pursue the matter with the police. Not so many have an organised media offensive. In whatever way they come forward, it takes great courage.”
Using other people’s quotes to attack someone’s credibility/intentions whilst feigning support is absolutely hideous.
You are 100% correct, she is a monster.
Like ‘Saturn Devouring His Son’.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_Devouring_His_Son
They eat their own.
That should be the “artwork of the day” this afternoon
She’s a Scummo in skirts
So, ScoMo’s rape protection racket is going to need something much bigger and darker to pull the wool over our eyes.
Are we forgetting the protection racket the MSM runs for #scottyfrommarketing and the LNP? I haven’t seen today’s Herald Sun, but I’m willing to bet $50 there’s at least one op-ed – maybe even from Saint Bolt himself – that’s starting to lay the groundwork for saving ScumMo from the fall out over this. Bolt’s already penned one last week as a warm up saying we “should trust the justice system” (this is the same system that he bitches about when it suits him).
The whole FB thing is a drama and a distraction. The NMBC was all about further entrenching the dominance of News Corp and Nine/Fairfax into the digital world. If the media want to sook over the government putting forward terrible legislation let them complain to their bosses.
Are we forgetting the protection racket the MSM runs for #scottyfrommarketing and the LNP? I haven’t seen today’s Herald Sun, but I’m willing to bet $50 there’s at least one op-ed – maybe even from Saint Bolt himself – that’s starting to lay the groundwork for saving ScumMo from the fall out over this. Bolt’s already penned one last week as a warm up saying we “should trust the justice system” (this is the same system that he bitches about when it suits him).
+1
It’s hard to lose when basically everyone of influence is on your side, either explicitly or tacitly.
It’s not ugly if it is revealing the parties for who they really are. It may be our Picture of Dorian Gray year. Will the public be repulsed enough by what they say to make the parties and their accomplices in the media feel like they need to change to survive is the probably the more pertinent question.
Think you have your answer on where Labor is going with this
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/deeply-disturbing-third-woman-claims-sexual-assault-by-staffer-brittany-higgins-accused-20210222-p574mq.html
I suspect the water isn’t so muddy on Labor’s side if this is going to be their approach…
I’m just hearing that a 4th women has said she was harassed by the guy.
Anal probes of ministers in question are warranted
That’s an attempt to disguise a personal foible as public duty.
Well done, straight out of the conservative party play book.