THE "RESIGN, JEFF!" REVIEW |
RJR 6 | 5 May 1994 | Melbourne, Victoria |
A Chump's Odyssey: Obliging Hellenes Greek-style Premier "It is the right of an individual in a democracy, which ironically has its base in Greece, to be able to speak out ... those who say you cannot, are overlooking the bigger principles of freedom of speech." Jeff Kennett, Electra Palace Hotel, Thessalonika, Greece, 15 April 1994. Thus spake our glorious leader on the occasion of his visit to the birth-place of democracy. Meanwhile, democracy back home was being cast to the wolves of commerce, while "speaking out" was becoming the privilege of one man: the Premier. Was Jeff aware of the disturbing contradictions in his pronouncement? Or was he so bedazzled by praise from the Greeks for his stand against FYROM that he suspended what little judgement he has? Taking advantage of his swollen head, they worked and shaped the yokel from Victoria to perfection. By the time he got to Thessalonika, the Premier was completely unaware that his hands were clutching his ankles every time he spoke. Through his delusions of grandeur, Premier Kennett has aligned Victoria and Australia with Greece against some 50 plus countries who find the Greek blockade of FYROM an act of nationalistic aggression. And all that to secure votes. Only a fool would believe the Premier had loftier aims in mind. The wonder is that he didn't press on to Belgrade to forge business deals with the Serbs, the only other intransigent aggressor in the region. PRO VICTORIA Victorian Exodus a Boon for Kennett"s "New Singapore" One wonders if the Kennett Government isn't actively promoting the exodus of Victorians from this state. Ronald Conway, an author and "psychologist," published an article in the Herald Sun on 21 March, in which he seemed to think 140 people a day heading North [since updated to 150] wasn't such a bad idea. Dismissing possible causes such as "cutbacks in government spending in areas such as education and social service, retrenchments in the public sector and the trend to privatisation" as mere "grumblings," he went on to suggest that these deserters were probably Labor voters, "recipients of the Cain-Kirner government's largesse." (You can see why we put inverted commas around psychologist.) With this kind of thinking given the respectability of print in of our dailies, the suspicion arises that the Premier is indeed doing all he can to get rid of Victorians. Perhaps he wants to establish a state wiped clean of people who can think for themselves, replacing them with "can-do" fodder whose interests remain comfortably within the bounds of master and servant. Since the intellectual stimulus permitted in this "New Singapore" will rarely rise above grunts of excitement every time someone hits the wall at Albert Park, or the shallow sentimentality portrayed by the latest from Andrew Lloyd Weber, barely educated servants will have little to do with their leisure time but consume. Encouraged by master-owned, sex-based advertising, they will gladly substitute old fashioned investigations into life's meaning with the purchase of goods manufactured and distributed by their masters. It all sounds pretty neat ... if you're a visionless, exploiting, power-hungry philistine. Which is exactly what the Kennett Government is. The wrong being done to Victoria may take decades to right. The exodus does not look like letting up. One can only hope, in the end, that the Kennett Government will, sooner than later, be seen for what it is: a gang of hucksters for whom totalitarianism is more expedient than democracy. RESIGN, JEFF! Jeff and Marie: Blood on Their Hands The Kennett Government's brutal reforms of MICA mean that Victorians can no longer count on the Melbourne Ambulance Service. The time has come for people to take life saving courses, such as St. John's, and when in any doubt as to the seriousness of a family member's health, bundle them off to the nearest emergency hospital in their own car. After a Hard Day of See Alan playing with his train and tram set every night, kicking some over, writing Liberal graffiti on others, oh, what fun! Now he's stepping on a station and squashing it: nobody can go there again! Yes, this is how the clever little man comes up with new ideas to make commuter life more miserable. Look, now he's being mean to immoral, pram-pushing single mothers by removing helpful conductors! See the Coalition's happy homunculus kicking his little legs with glee as he wipes out an entire way of life. Heil Jeff! • U.S. GUFFAWS AT CHUCKLEHEADS OFFER. The American State Department responded with derision over Premier Kennett's offer to help them solve the Greek-Macedonian crisis. Pilita Clark (Age 21/4) reports the following Reuters transcript of a press briefing: "'The Premier, believe it or not, of Victoria, Australia, has offered to come up and help mediate and help solve the Macedonia question.' "State Department Spokesman Mike McCurry: 'That issue?' "'Yes, would you believe it?' "Mr McCurry: 'We've got a few other (problems) if they are volunteering.' "As Reuters then records, 'cross-talk, laughter' took place before the briefing moved on to other matters." • NATIONAL PRESS CLUB DISGRACED BY PRESENCE OF LEE KUAN YEW. Right Wingers throughout Australia, including our own Jeffrey Gibb, thrilled to the visit of Singapore's Aussie-bashing dictator. Believing, as they do, that law and order--and not fair and equitable treatment of all people regardless of race or religion--is the only way to insure safe conduct to and from consumer outlets, they wonder why Australia doesn't adopt his methods. Methods such as terrorising, jailing and forcing into exile any opponents, the use of barbaric punishments--including the execution of drug addicts and the flogging of teenage vandals, and the neutering of the press. Add to this the fact that the man "has a fondness for eugenics and whacky elitist theories of social engineering," and it's easy to see why Australia's right longs for the same power. They want the responsibility for their own lives to be subject to an autocrat, to take orders, to cleanse their neighbourhoods of riffraff--the same riffraff that their policies begat. But there is a historical hitch. Singapore may be squeaky clean now, but, like the people in the iron curtain countries so recently liberated, all those decades of the denial of freedom of expression will surely unleash chaos once Lee Kuan Yew's dictatorship is brought down. People can only be forced to be one-dimensional for so long. (Based on an article by Mark Baker, Age 23/4.) • NURSES: STATE GOVT TIPPING BEDPANS OVER UNSUNG HEROES. Why is it that governments are so relentless in penalising the women and men who look after the ill and dying? Like teachers, they give and give and give and in return are given poor wages and treated with little respect. Now it appears that because of budget cuts, nurses are running the risk of being sued by patients who receive substandard care. There has been an increase in complaints against them because of pressure to "do more with less money." Who can work effectively under such conditions? Are we about to see the mass resignations of nurses, as well as ambulance paramedics? And who will replace them? Jeff and Marie are lucky they can afford the best. (Based on an article by Julie-Anne Davies, Age (24/4.) • ANZAC DAY CHEAPENED BY KENNETT BLUSTER. Jeff wouldn't have a clue about the meaning of Anzac Day. Like the Greek-Macedonia issue, he simply used it to achieve his own ends. His attack of the opposition leader in Parliament over the latter's no-show at the Anzac Day Breakfast (he wasn't invited) was niggardly grandstanding of the lowest order. And his intimidation of small business--threatening them with retaliation if they didn't close--was unfair in the extreme. Why, then, didn't he order the cessation of racing, gambling and football? If one business has to close, they all should. And finally, he had the gall to march alongside Australia's elderly heroes, when his contribution to safeguarding this country amounted to little more than slobbering in the footsteps of his commander as they inspected brothels in Asia. Where is this man's leadership? He likes to think of himself as a strong leader, but, again, he wouldn't have a clue. • WHO IS LEONIE BURKE REALLY LISTENING TO? Councillor Anne Murphy seems to think she's listening to people, and by 'people,' we suppose the good Cr. means the ratepayers in all those councils Leonie is happily playing chain saw massacre with. But a taxpayer-funded letter Mrs Burke wrote to more than 2500 residents of St Kilda, shows that instead of listening she's telling. True to the doublethink methods of totalitarian regimes, she accuses "some councillors of making highly misleading statements about possible cuts in services, statements made by community leaders who should have known better." No doubt she's referring to naughty Tim Costello, the man for whom democracy is more than a word to look up in the dictionary. She goes on: "I am deeply saddened that the debate about local government reform ... has descended to this level." Poor Leonie. Like Jeff's Gang, she just can't understand why the rabble dare to question her government's policies, let alone motives. "It is far too important a debate to be trivialised by the statements of a few individuals." Debate? What debate! She is also concerned "the claims made by these trivialisers have caused unnecessary fear of change in the community." Trivialisers? Who is trivialising the needs of residents all over Greater Melbourne, if not Leonie Burke and the conscienceless swine she works for! (Based on an article by Anita Quigley, HS 25/4.) • PRIMARY SCHOOL TESTING: USING KIDS TO MARKET SCHOOLS. Education as the foundation for the acquisition of knowledge has had its day in Victoria. Schools are now market entities based on cost-saving and maximum return. In its unceasing attempt to emulate the mistakes of the U.S. and the U.K., the Kennett Government now wants to introduce standardised testing of primary pupils. That it was a disaster in the U.K. is of no interest to the Born Yesterday Boys currently in power. Sheena MacLean (Age 26/4) reports: "Professor Alan Bishop, associate dean (research) at Monash University"s faculty of education, says testing is part of the competitive business-type approach to education that was introduced in the Thatcher years. Schools were encouraged to compete and to publish their test results, which led to the much-criticised league ladder of school performance. The problem with rankings is that schools that perform well can become overcrowded, and that those that don't do so well--usually those in disadvantaged areas where there is often a desperate need for schools--can close." Spokesmen for the State Government say that won't happen here, the test data will be kept confidential. But with a government that recently saw fit to give confidential police records to their mates in another state, who is going to believe them? An elitist group of privileged schools with teachers and principals--distracted from their roles as educators--busy competing for increased funding and enrolment is exactly what the government wants. That has been obvious from day one. And the introduction of primary grade testing is just another step on the way. |
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