33. Knights and Dames

Hi. I am Greg and I want to grumble about knights and dames. Yes, it is predictable, and in the week since Lord Abbott’s non-surprise policy, there has been much derision of the re-introduction of imperial-style honours.

And rightly so. But do such things really matter?

It is a bit pathetic, slightly embarrassing, but mostly it is just funny.

But what I actually want to grumble about is who gets the titles of Sir and Dame. Any honours, whether they are Australian or British imports, are supposed to be about recognising great service to the community, but do the retiring or incoming Governor-General really qualify?

I don’t mean personally, but I thought the position of Governor-General was itself a sort of recognition of service, and a very well paid one at that at around $400,000 per year. Do we also need to knight them?

Quentin Bryce’s career before being Governor –General included being a successful barrister, a CEO, a senior government official and Governor of Queensland. All well remunerated. Similarly, the new resident of Yarralumla has been well recognised and rewarded for his high-profile military career.

Both G-Gs have contributed community service beyond their careers, but mostly their qualification for honours are their career achievements. Well, I am sorry, that is just their day job.

Lots of people make enormous contributions in their day jobs - creating the infrastructure, goods and services that we all use, and they are rewarded and recognised far less than those most likely to be knighted.

So, if we are going to have a system of honours, could we recognise people who make a contribution to our community beyond their day job?

There is no shortage of them – volunteers who keep community groups of all sorts running; those who care for relatives, neighbours and sometimes strangers; and activists who spend their lives being ostracised for trying to make the world a better a place.

All these people give up time and money to make their contribution. No wages, no social recognition, no rent-free cottages by the lake. And no knighthoods. 

Of course sometimes these community contributors (usually the safer, more conservative ones) get minor honours, but as we have seen with our be-knighted governors-general, the big honours are reserved for those who have already been recognised and rewarded.

To those that have, shall be given. It is called a class system.

I am Greg and I am grumbling.

And vale Tony Benn – a champion, but not a knight or Lord of the realm.


This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast.
First Broadcast: 1 April 2014

27. Biases and lots of other things

Hi, I am Greg and I want to grumble about lots of things! As the political year ratchets up, there has been so much to grumble about in the last week or so. There was our PM attacking the ABC for reporting asylum seeker claims of abuse, followed by a litany of Coalition MPs complaining (again) about the Labor-Green bias of the ABC – in the same week that our national broadcaster aired serious corruption allegations against building unions. But why is it that the scandal is about dodgy people in the unions, but not also the dodgy builders who paid them the alleged bribes. Sounds like bias to me.

Then there was Andrew Bolt complaining (Advertiser, 30 January) about racism and claiming to be indigenous (he really doesn’t understand race or structural power does he?). And on Mr Bolt’s other favourite subject, what about the weather? Another record heatwave to follow the all-time hottest year in Australia last year. It’s unpleasant, but at what point do we move from a discussion of weather to one of climate change – or is that a biased question?

Apparently not biased however is the recent government appointment of another of the diaspora of the right-wing think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs. This time it was Ted Lapkin to assist in dismantling the national charity regulator that was set up just 18 months ago with support from the sector and on recommendation of about a dozen official inquiries.

And on the other side, what are we to make of the current state Labor Party TV adverts with the normally calm and thoughtful Jay Weatherill bouncing around unnaturally like a cross between Peter Garrett and a thunderbirds marionette. Given that he is trying to convey the achievements of his government, it’s a distraction which says again that the political image-masters are valuing impression over substance – and doing it badly at that. And then along came Don Farrell. Hmmm.

Meanwhile, across the border the WA government is sanctioning the slaughter of sharks and the NT government is shooting crocs in bloody retribution against innocent creatures. As we sprawl into their territory and tame or kill whatever confronts us, I am left yet again to wonder, how much room are we to leave for the other 99.999% of the planet’s species?

So much to grumble about, and so little time. I am Greg and I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast.
First Broadcast: 4 February 2014

7. The Cabinet

Hi, I’m Greg and I want to grumble about Tony Abbott’s new cabinet. Yes, I know it is predictable grumble, but I am not actually going to grumble about the embarrassment of having only one woman in Cabinet. Nor am I going to grumble about the stream of commentary and Twitter outrage at the notion of quotas or some mechanism to promote women. Apparently these are an attack on merit and individual rights, as if there are no social processes and power structures which disadvantage women or define merit in a gendered way. But I will leave that alone.

I am not even going to grumble about the fact that the Ministry is never appointed simply on merit as there is always a juggling of positions and balancing of numbers, between factions in the Labor Party or party wings in the Coalition, and between country and city representatives, between members of the Liberal and National parties, and between members of the upper and lower houses. If I did that, I would have to wonder why gender balance could not be included in that balancing process.

Alternatively I suppose, I could just accept that this was in fact a merits-based process and that there are just far fewer women than men with the skills to be a Cabinet Minister – but then I would have to spend my weekends painting picket fences and tinkering with the FJ Holden in the driveway. So I won’t go there either.

What I really want to grumble about is that in the lead up to the election, the Coalition’s Policy for Disability and Carers promised that there would be a “Minister for Disabilities and Carers”. Now apart from the problem of the name focussing on the disability and not the actual person living with a disability, I searched the new Ministry and there is no Minister for Disabilities and Carers. There is a someone with responsibility for the NDIS (Mitch Fifield, the Assistant Minister for Social Services), but that is not the same thing. I checked the fine print of the original policy statement, and it says that, and I quote “The Coaltion will put all policy and programmes for employment of people with disability under the Minister for Disabilities and Carers”. This is clearly beyond the NDIS (which thankfully will return to that name rather than the ill-fated Disability Care), but the title of the proposed minister is capitalised, suggesting a separate Minister – not subsuming the position in a broader portfolio.

Personally I am happy to be rid of portfolios where we had the Minister for A,B,C,D, E, and F, but having a dedicated voice at the cabinet table is important. And this Cabinet has no singular voice for disabilities – or for mental health for that matter as it is subsumed into health. But unless this is the first broken promise of the new government, we still wait for the appointment of a Minister for People with Disabilities and Carers – which would be a great recognition of the importance of the issues and of people living with disabilities. And who knows, we could even have a woman appointed as Minister.

But until then, I am Greg and I am grumbling.

This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-7/
First Broadcast: 17 September 2013