Hi. I am Greg and I want to grumble about last week’s grumble!
Last week I took a cheap shot at the new Federal Minister for Social Services, Scott Morrison. Now it is true that his record in overseeing our immigration regime – where secrecy ruled and meta-policy goals appeared to override any compassion for desperate individuals – does not fill one with hope that understanding and appropriate support for vulnerable people will be cascading down through Centrelink offices any time soon.
However, my grumble was bad politics – not because now that he is Minister we should speak nicely and announce our willingness to work constructively with him, but because it cedes the Minister too much power.
Anyone remember Graham Richardson – right-wing headkicker in the Hawke-Keating government? He did not have an environmental bone in his body, but as Environment Minister he protected swathes of precious old growth forests. Why? Because community groups mobilised to make it politically attractive to protect those forests.
So if we want to promote the interests of vulnerable and disadvantaged people, we need to stop begging whatever Minister is in power to do the right thing – or hoping that we get a “nice” Minister.
We need to mobilise popular support for the values that promote community over competition, or at least an inclusive growth that leaves nobody behind.
We need to make targeting the poor politically unpalatable.
If we do that, then it won’t matter – or at least will matter far less – if the Minister is a hard arse, a conservative Christian or a supposed social democrat who still believes that punitive and paternalistic Income Management is a good thing.
It’s called power. Exercising it is not always nice, and it is harder than whinging, but it trumps policy and compassion every time.
So yes, I am grumbling about Scott Morrison as Minister, but I am grumbling more about the fact that we let it matter.
I am Greg and I am grumbling.
Greg's Grumbles can be heard on Radio Adelaide during SACOSS' Small Change program - 6pm every Tuesday night. 101.5FM or online.
Tuesday 27 January 2015
Tuesday 20 January 2015
51. Carbon Tax
Hi. I am Greg and I want to grumble about the carbon tax –
not yet rested in peace.
Now the politics of the carbon tax have always been odd. The
political left that usually advocates regulation to fix market failures supports a market
mechanism like carbon pricing to change behaviours and provide economic
incentives to address climate change.
Conversely, the usually free-market right opposes the market
mechanism of a price or tax on carbon and either prefers the otherwise hated
government intervention of “direct action” – or simply thinks that all the
science about climate change is wrong (while presumably all other science is
right – although with budget cuts to the CSIRO, I could be wrong on that one).
But it appears there is more to carbon tax politics. Late
last year Clive Palmer and Nick Xenophon seemed to be keeping a door open to an
emissions trading scheme – which was where the carbon tax they voted out was
supposed to lead us.
And then Tony Abbott weighed in with his now infamous answer
as to what, as Minister responsible for the status of women, he has done for
Australian women. What has he done for women – well he abolished the carbon
tax.
Apparently it is a panacea for many ills, but on hearing this
I was reminded of the famous Monty Python scene in the Life of Brian when the
Jewish nationalists – who would no doubt now be called a terrorist organisation
and we would be giving up our civil liberties to defeat them – were considering
what the Romans had done for them. But unlike aqueducts, sanitation, roads, medicine,
education, and law and order, the answer in modern Australia is simpler.
What has the government done for women: it abolished the
carbon tax.
What’s it done for the economy: it abolished the carbon tax.
What’s it done to secure a sustainable revenue base for
government: it abolished the carbon tax. Oops – own goal.
What has the government done for world peace: well, it
abolished the carbon tax (and stopped the boats).
And what has the government done for vulnerable and
disadvantaged Australians? Bugger the carbon tax - on the eve of Christmas, the
government cut millions out of community support programs and gave us Scott Morrison as
Minister!
Yeah, I am Greg and I am grumbling.
Tuesday 13 January 2015
50. Men
Hi. I am Greg and I want to grumble about men – collectively, as a group.
As we know, to our horror, last week 2 masked men barged into a newspaper office in Paris and gunned down staff because they did not like the satirical content of the paper, while an accomplice attacked that bastion of Zionist imperialism, a local supermarket in Paris. Before Christmas we had our own terrorist holding a Sydney café at gunpoint – with tragic results, and then there was the unspeakable massacre of children in the Pakistani school. All conducted by men – as were the Boston marathon bombings, the London underground bombings, the Bali bombings, the World Trade Towers – the list goes on.
I know you are probably thinking that these crimes were not about them being men – but it makes as much sense as thinking about these as Islamic crimes. Obviously not all men condone or commit violent crime, but nor do all Muslims. And nor is such terrorism confined to Islam – anyone remember Timothy McVeigh or Anders Breivik? And yet we speak about Islamic terrorists, not “religious terrorists” or male terrorists.
Obviously there is a difference in that these recent crimes were perpetrated by people claiming it was in the service of Islam, a claim rejected by most Muslims. But equally obviously, there are fanatical women in Islam – and with all sorts of beliefs – but they are far less likely to use the gun or bomb (notwithstanding the current “manhunt” for Hayat Boumeddiene, whose position in the terrorist saga appears to be defined by her relationship [girlfriend] to the male terrorists). So, given that it is overwhelmingly men that perpetrate such atrocities – “Islamic” or otherwise, surely gender has some part in the explanation?
As songwriter Judy Small asked long ago in the wake of another massacre “why does gunman sound so familiar, while gun-woman doesn’t quite ring true”?
Of course you may think I am confusing correlation with cause. The fact that it is men mostly that commit violence does not make men or masculinity the cause – and it certainly does not mean that all men are to blame.
But I wonder if we take the same approach to Islam? Or do we really believe that there is something inherent in the content of Islam that drives such terrorism? About a billion Muslims would disagree, but I could also point to texts, rituals and beliefs about masculinity that show and create a disposition to violence.
And meanwhile, each week in Australia, another woman dies and more are made homeless as a result of domestic violence.
I am Greg, I am grumbling about overly-convenient categories.
This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast.
First Broadcast: 13 January 2015
As we know, to our horror, last week 2 masked men barged into a newspaper office in Paris and gunned down staff because they did not like the satirical content of the paper, while an accomplice attacked that bastion of Zionist imperialism, a local supermarket in Paris. Before Christmas we had our own terrorist holding a Sydney café at gunpoint – with tragic results, and then there was the unspeakable massacre of children in the Pakistani school. All conducted by men – as were the Boston marathon bombings, the London underground bombings, the Bali bombings, the World Trade Towers – the list goes on.
I know you are probably thinking that these crimes were not about them being men – but it makes as much sense as thinking about these as Islamic crimes. Obviously not all men condone or commit violent crime, but nor do all Muslims. And nor is such terrorism confined to Islam – anyone remember Timothy McVeigh or Anders Breivik? And yet we speak about Islamic terrorists, not “religious terrorists” or male terrorists.
Obviously there is a difference in that these recent crimes were perpetrated by people claiming it was in the service of Islam, a claim rejected by most Muslims. But equally obviously, there are fanatical women in Islam – and with all sorts of beliefs – but they are far less likely to use the gun or bomb (notwithstanding the current “manhunt” for Hayat Boumeddiene, whose position in the terrorist saga appears to be defined by her relationship [girlfriend] to the male terrorists). So, given that it is overwhelmingly men that perpetrate such atrocities – “Islamic” or otherwise, surely gender has some part in the explanation?
As songwriter Judy Small asked long ago in the wake of another massacre “why does gunman sound so familiar, while gun-woman doesn’t quite ring true”?
Of course you may think I am confusing correlation with cause. The fact that it is men mostly that commit violence does not make men or masculinity the cause – and it certainly does not mean that all men are to blame.
But I wonder if we take the same approach to Islam? Or do we really believe that there is something inherent in the content of Islam that drives such terrorism? About a billion Muslims would disagree, but I could also point to texts, rituals and beliefs about masculinity that show and create a disposition to violence.
And meanwhile, each week in Australia, another woman dies and more are made homeless as a result of domestic violence.
I am Greg, I am grumbling about overly-convenient categories.
This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast.
First Broadcast: 13 January 2015
Monday 5 January 2015
49. Christmas Presents
Hi. I am Greg and to begin the year, I want to reflect back and grumble about Christmas presents.
Not being one for celebrating deities of either the religious or commercial kind, I headed for the hills for Christmas – literally. I was staying in a small town at the foot of Mt Buffalo in Victoria, and on Christmas morning a few hardy souls pedalled up the mountain to enjoy the grand views of the alpine plateau.
About half way up two cyclists cruised past me like I was not moving. I was relieved when I got to the top to find that they were half my age, but on returning to where I was staying, there were a couple of teenagers riding their new bikes around the park. No doubt that was a Christmas scene repeated around the country, but the catch here was that these were electric bikes.
Now electric bikes can be good and useful – but do healthy teenagers really need an electric assist to pedal the largely flat terrain that a 20-inch bike wheel will traverse?
We hear the messages about childhood obesity, we know the benefits of exercise to mental and physical health, and you don’t have to wear lycra to enjoy the simple pleasure of riding a bicycle. And yet, here were these kids whizzing around the park on their carbon-unfriendly toys.
Ok, an electric bike is still a better present than a computer game or an I-something, but really – if one has to buy-into the Christmas consumer culture (and that’s a whole grumble in itself!), is that really the best that can be done?
And so, to the two guys who passed me on the way up to Mt Buffalo, and especially to the pair on the tandem I saw the day before pulling a trailer over Mt Hotham – chapeau!
And to all those who trundled, walked, jogged or swam over Christmas – well done.
But for those whose Christmas presents encouraged sedantry lifestyles, or just thoughtless and wasteful consumerism: hmmm.
I am Greg and I am grumbling.
This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast.
First Broadcast: 6 January 2015
Not being one for celebrating deities of either the religious or commercial kind, I headed for the hills for Christmas – literally. I was staying in a small town at the foot of Mt Buffalo in Victoria, and on Christmas morning a few hardy souls pedalled up the mountain to enjoy the grand views of the alpine plateau.
About half way up two cyclists cruised past me like I was not moving. I was relieved when I got to the top to find that they were half my age, but on returning to where I was staying, there were a couple of teenagers riding their new bikes around the park. No doubt that was a Christmas scene repeated around the country, but the catch here was that these were electric bikes.
Now electric bikes can be good and useful – but do healthy teenagers really need an electric assist to pedal the largely flat terrain that a 20-inch bike wheel will traverse?
We hear the messages about childhood obesity, we know the benefits of exercise to mental and physical health, and you don’t have to wear lycra to enjoy the simple pleasure of riding a bicycle. And yet, here were these kids whizzing around the park on their carbon-unfriendly toys.
Ok, an electric bike is still a better present than a computer game or an I-something, but really – if one has to buy-into the Christmas consumer culture (and that’s a whole grumble in itself!), is that really the best that can be done?
And so, to the two guys who passed me on the way up to Mt Buffalo, and especially to the pair on the tandem I saw the day before pulling a trailer over Mt Hotham – chapeau!
And to all those who trundled, walked, jogged or swam over Christmas – well done.
But for those whose Christmas presents encouraged sedantry lifestyles, or just thoughtless and wasteful consumerism: hmmm.
I am Greg and I am grumbling.
This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast.
First Broadcast: 6 January 2015
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