And once the new year’s eve fireworks have been cleaned up, it does not look promising.
Scott Morrison has made it clear that he is not about to embark on some Damascene road in which serious and sensible policy issues will be addressed – he told us what he was going to do in the last election manifesto, and that’s that.
And how good is it. Australia is the best country in the world and don’t you forget it – this has just been confirmed by the latest cringe-worthy tourist promotion aimed at America, and you can’t argue with the marketing.
And moreover you don’t have to, because the latest lot of statistics show that Australians, collectively, now have more wealth than they have ever amassed. Well;, some of them do; the ones who own a lot of investments and own one or more overpriced houses are doing very nicely, thank you.
Australia’s rich list is burgeoning – the fear and greed index to which conservative economists cling is a picture of rude health – the dreaded politics of envy are vanquished, the class war is clearly in excellent shape. Pity about the rest of us.
The media, who are obviously not like the rest of us, remain determinedly optimistic. Editorials around the nation adjure us to be optimistic – technological change is forging ahead, improving life expectancy, health outcomes and education standards across the globe. And this is true – it has always been true.
But even those wearing the most rosy coloured glasses have to admit that there are what Morrison and his troops delicately describe as headwinds. Internationally, liberal democratic values are in trouble, especially over much of Asia and the Middle East. And the malaise is spreading to those we have always regarded as invulnerable — countries like the USA and yes, Australia, have had their human rights drastically curtailed, and the trend seems to be accelerating rather than diminishing.
And beyond that, the overwhelming threat of climate change has not substantially abated and is unlikely to in the new year. As a result we can confidently predict more disasters to come, both natural and man-made – although nowadays climate change is making that distinction increasingly blurred.
In Australia, of course, this is irrelevant – the irrational Barnaby Joyce is not the only reactionary determined to prevent reform, or even debate. Much if not most of the coalition is still stuck in denial, persisting on what it calls a stable policy of masterful inaction – the parodic term for negligence and impotence.
And this pervades ScoMo’s administration, which makes even a hint of a better future unlikely. History is now against us: for years now we have been going backwards on the economy, on social policy (particularly education) and perhaps most damagingly on national prestige. From being seen as a trailblazer, Australia is now considered a laggard; if not an actual pariah, a voice which no longer demands any respect in the world’s councils.
And Morrison is not worried – in fact he rather glories in it. He appears to have adopted Barry Humphries definition of xenophobia: love of Australia. New year, schmoo year. How good was the old one?
Mungo MacCallum is a veteran political journalist and commentator. His books include Run Johnny Run, Poll Dancing, and Punch and Judy.
mungomccallum@staging-johnmenadue.kinsta.cloud
Comments
17 responses to “MUNGO MACCALLUM.-And so, gritting our teeth and holding our noses, we prepare to face 2020.”
‘History is now against us…’
These words should be set in stone in the approaches to Parliament House .
We are way beyond ‘Wake Up, Australia.’
Stupid, greedy, self centred Australians voted this bunch of thugs back in so we all have to suck it up. Albanese is ineffective so I don’t hold out hope of a change at the next election.
Too bad for Australia.
Isn’t it about time we stopped using the cutsie, folksy “Scomo”? Morrison is neither cute nor folksy nor daggy. He is merely Scotty from Marketing.
That ‘plays’ Terence: Scotty from Marketing – I’ve got it.
And “Smoko” does have the ring of something quintessentially Aussie ..
But – “Scotty” ?
Nah: reminiscent of a cutesy family pet.
How about “ScoM” ? – slightly Keatingesque ?
As large parts of Australia are burning, an essential sense of perspective is almost absent. As carbon emissions are increasing (https://www.csiro.au/~/media/News-releases/2019/global-carbon-emissions/GlobalCO2FFEmissions2019.png), Homo sapiens (?) is fundamentally altering the conditions which allowed its evolution, and that of a myriad species, on Earth in the first place. Future humans, should such survive, will regard what is done at present as the biggest crime ever committed.
Andrew Glikson
Earth and climate scientist
Exactly, AG. …Homo sapiens? As they say in the Kimberley: Binij na.
I agree that this country is seen globally as a pariah, bereft of any decent democratic principles. Yes Jay Weatherill was great on investing in alternate energy but we now see Morrison has approved oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight. I’m not young and remember crossing it in a large liner without stabilisers; the Bight is extremely rough and we all know what BP’s oil catastrophe did to the Mexican gulf.
It’s also obvious a sharp-toothy, well-funded Commonwealth ICAC is desperately needed but the LNP NSW Government has just slashed its ICAC funding (further after Baird). Wonder why?
We’re not even allowed to call our country the Commonwealth anymore and the coat of arms needs a drastic redesign. I’d put an oil rig and a lump of coal in place of our kangaroo and emu. Others could offer ideas! Dead Murray Cod?
Repeal s 116 Constitution (are we allowed to say ‘Constitution’ still?)
Abolish Tourism Australia and re-establish informed State Travel Bureaux, whose staff know the country they’re ticketting.
Repeal s. 51(xxvi) Constitution, and every existing paid ‘Advisor’ on ethnic issues. And more…
Nice insights, thanks JP.
It could be that our principle free Prime Minister does find a way to reverse course. “Here are my principles, if you don’t like them I have others.” It will all be about drought resilience, jobs in the regions, looking after koalas etc not climate change but we will get a change.
If Korea, China and Japan continue their reductions in coal imports and moreover in China’s case replace some of the remaining imports with Russian coal and gas, while Indian imports are collapsing there will be little he can do to protect coal jobs and he will have to find a new theme.
“A week after Donald Trump used a speech to the United Nations to declare the future belonged to patriots, not globalists, Morrison echoed the American president’s nationalist tone, telling the foreign policy thinktank “only a national government, especially one accountable through the ballot box and the rule of law, can define its national interests”… “But Morrison said it did not serve the national interest “when international institutions demand conformity rather than independent cooperation on global issues”.https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/03/scott-morrison-echoes-trump-as-he-warns-nations-must-avoid-negative-globalism
One wonder whether he was referring, among other, to international agreements about climate change?
We’ll hear ‘the national interest’ until it comes out our ears this year – someone in ‘Policy Formulation’ has heard of it now and sees its All-Purpose usefulness… this means repeated references to it in Legislation, too.
It will be recycled endlessly in relation to grubby deals over resources especially in seas to our north and north-west.
‘in the national interest’ … as in ‘1984’.
Keep up, Mungo – he’s “Smoko” now. [grin]
I entirely agree with your post; but I believe you should also be saying something about Smoko’s having commenced, some time back, to model his government on the current illegal fiasco in the US. I mean, they “refuse” to release Barnaby’s SMS posts sent during his laughable tenure as whatever it was to do with water ?
Of course we all know there were none: that’s not the point.
It’s the refusing that sticks in my craw. Who gives this pack of useless people the right to refuse to release anything ?!
The Electorate did, Margaret-Rose. And now we just have to suck it up, Princess?
This should tell us something about the Alternatives.
I think not. Even those who elected the conservatives weren’t giving their vote so as to enable refusal of FoI requests, surely !
But I take your point about alternatives: I was foremost amongst those who didn’t want Shorten as PM. Still, when it comes down to it, you have to vote the party line if you want the party in ..
Amen to all that, M-R.
But we have to bust the myth of the ‘party line’ – that’s what they count-on, that’s how they succeed, that’s how Bob Hawke, Cry-Baby PM, sorry: Sensitive New Age Public Figure, kidded himself that it was alright to cover-up the rape crimes of Bill Landeryou. It took a John Cain to get rid of that one, ‘tho’ not for that reason. And have you noticed? the Dillon v d’Alpuget challenge to the estate of RJH has been politely not-spoken-further-of in Australian media.
If only the coalition’s approach on climate change was inaction. It’s actually worse than that – instead, they have actively sought to undermine the international movement towards doing something.