September 13, 2021
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Ballad of a hollow man:
He doesn’t wear a mask, and he doesn’t hold a hose.
He doesn’t order vaccines, because he’d rather strike a pose.
He doesn’t act on climate, the weather ‘aint his role.
And he doesn’t read the science, lest it hurt his mates in coal.
He doesn’t ponder rape claims, he leaves it to his men.
He doesn’t talk to women, he just takes the word of Jen.
He doesn’t answer questions, and he doesn’t feel the shame.
He’d rather take the credit, and let others take the blame.
He doesn’t lead the nation, that isn’t what he’s for.
He’s there for uncle Rupert, till we send him out the door’
[The Byron Shire Echo, September 8, 2021, p. 40]

Anonymous
September 1, 2021
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The reinvention of the Liberal party as the heroes who "freed" Australia from lockdowns, and the media's happy compliance with this revisionist narrative, is the thing that is finally going to break my brain. Related to this, the way the Coalition is weaponising mental health as a way to position themselves as the lockdown-ending heroes is particularly galling from a party that has shown such flagrant disregard for the mental wellbeing of young people, and the community more broadly. Yes, many young people are struggling and we need to address that. But using their distress for your own political gain, and ignoring everything we know about the responsible reporting of self harm and suicide to hammer your opponents, is reprehensible. Facts matter. I'm hearing many politicians and media commentators say suicides are on the rise in Victoria because we've been in lockdown so long. Wrong. Deaths are actually down on last year. Every suicide is tragic. But it’s complex and multi-faceted. Publishing the names and faces of children who have died by suicide, without the permission of their families, to make a political point about lockdown, when you have no idea of the complexity of that young person's life, is contemptible and nothing to do with caring for kids. And if the Liberals care so much about mental health, why did they oppose the mental health levy, as recommended by the Victorian Royal Commission to fund a broken system? Why does the Coalition demonise trans kids and fight all protections for the LGBTIQ community? Why did they hound marginalised people, sometimes to their death, for Robodebts they didn't owe? What about the mental health of children seeking asylum, locked up in indefinite detention? Why remove JobKeeper when so many are suffering mentally because of financial struggles? What about the mental health of women fleeing family violence, who have nowhere to go because your government has systematically ripped funding out of family violence and homelessness services? You don't get to suddenly claim mental health is a deep concern for you and your government when your track record shows you have actively pursued policies that have caused profound psychological damage to so many Australians. Stop using mental health as a political weapon. [https://twitter.com/jillastark/status/1432854963596578823]

Jill Stark
August 29, 2021
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Over the years, I have met, reported on and/or interviewed every Prime Minister, from Menzies to Turnbull. Some I knew well. Others barely at all. Menzies was a silver-tongued liar who took us into the disaster of Vietnam. McMahon, often labelled our worst Prime Minister, was a treacherous backstabber despised by most of his cabinet. Howard also lied us into a futile war and aroused our worst instincts of greed and racism. Abbott was a nutter. Turnbull talked the talk but never walked the walk. Of Labor PMs, Hawke’s cabinets were loaded with dazzling talent. Keating was brilliant but eventually lost touch with the people. Rudd blew it on climate change; Gillard on same sex marriage. But however flawed, all these Prime Ministers had a vision for the nation, of what we might become. They had policy ambitions, a sense of direction, a concept of the demands of leadership. Morrison exhibits nothing of this. Scratch the surface and there is nothing there. He is a glib charlatan, a mountebank, a sideshow juggling act, an empty and frivolous collection of slogans and clichés. He is, beyond any doubt, our worst Prime Minister.

Mike Carlton
August 28, 2021
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[On Scott Morrison] Has an Australian political party ever elected a man or woman so characterless to be its leader? So ignorant and open to corruption? So unaware of truth and transparency? (His lying has indeed become pathological.) So insensitive to those who cannot help themselves yet amenable to furthering the interests of those who can? So willing to endorse and foster inequality? So illiterate when it comes to science and technology? So oblivious to the needs of women that he needed the advice of his wife? So against change. So inept at policy formation and its implementation. So prone to the language of absurdity. So self-righteous in attitude toward others. So aggressive and dismissive of those who seek fairness and equality. So out of touch with a modern pluralist society. A person so unsophisticated in deep worldly insight or discernment, yet profoundly devoted to his religion.

John Lord
August 1, 2021
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Morrison has lost control of the virus and vaccine narrative. He is losing control of the economic narrative as we now risk a double-dip recession. He has accepted Barnaby Joyce back with no conditions – indeed, let him start to dictate climate and other policy. He has failed to deal effectively with claims of rape, bullying and harassment in Parliament House; has normalised pork-barrelling, corruption and wasteful expenditure; denies responsibility; is quick to blame others; and ignores the need for reform in response to the great social challenges of Indigenous recognition, child- and aged-care, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, mental illness and domestic violence. [The Saturday Paper, July 31st, 2021]

John Hewson
Bitnami