It’s hard to find a silver lining in a global pandemic, but if there is something positive to come out of Covid-19 in Australia it may just be our attitude towards welfare recipients.
Right now, people are scared for their lives and their jobs. Businesses are being forced to close their doors, many are going broke. We all know that.
What we don’t know is whether we are headed for a recession or a depression.
So perhaps now is a good time to scrutinise who is gifted with tax exemptions and who we prop up with millions of taxpayer dollars.
As sure as the sun rises, every morning the inbox of someone working for a parliamentarian will have in it an email with the talking points for the day.
Recently in federal parliament there was a speech that flew under the mainstream radar. Not because it didn’t cover an important topic, it did, but perhaps because it didn’t relate to coronavirus, sports rorts or bog roll.
Like many, I was surprised when on the morning of the 26th February, the Andrews government announced a duck slaughter season in Victoria.
I wasn’t the only person who lives in regional Victoria who was surprised either, even Jeff Bourman, of the Shooters and Fishers Party, said in relation to the reduced length slaughter;
We all know them, people who seem to be able to put off the inevitable for what seems an eternity, and others who are like Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption “who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other end” and seem to have all their sins forgiven.
Recently there have been two high-profile cases along these lines that readers here will no doubt be quite familiar with.
This month I was reminded of a time when Russell Crowe got himself a crew cut, donned all the Nazi regalia and starred in a little flick called Romper Stomper. It was a film that was highly controversial and confrontational at the time.
In a few short weeks historic legislation comes into effect in Victoria. July 1st marks the day that much of the Andrews Labor government’s puppy farm legislation will start to become noticeable to the public.
On July 1 there will no longer be any doggies in the window of pet stores in Victoria, with the sale of dogs and cats no longer allowed in retailers. Stores can however still run adoption days.
It’s election time at many unions around the country, and if there is one thing you can count on, there is seldom a shortage of interesting candidates.
One such candidate, running for the Finance Sector Union National Secretary position is Nick Perna.
Way back in May 2012 a bloke called Psy was showing us Gangnam style, Hollywood was showing us its diversity with Men In Black 3, and one of our current backbenchers was Opposition Leader and telling us all about the virtues of a heroic whistleblower named Kathy Jackson.
It was a controversial time in politics.