Blog Back.

Back again with a tip for the election date and a potpourri of thoughts concerning politics and society. First up, I noticed this report in The Age a while back. Chip Goodyear couldn't resist a little crack at the great unwashed as he headed back Stateside with a big bag of loot after years at the top of the now BHP Billiton tree. Apparently, Australians just don't realise how bloody good they have it.

"I read the papers complaining about health care this, or something else, but the facts are that it's a very high quality of life in Australia and the vast majority of people around the world could only dream of the opportunities that they have here," he said.

One thing I am quite certain about is that he has very little to complain about... "when he leaves the country after nine years — five of them as BHP's chief executive — he will be carting home a shareholding worth close to $60 million. His share rewards are in addition to his annual base salary and cash awards, which in the 2007 financial year were $2.03 million and $1.72 million respectively".

Thanks Chip, the peasants are grateful for all you haven't given us. Next time I sit in emergency, waiting 8 hours for a bed, I will try not to moan so much.

Here we are still in perpetual election mode. Obviously the running of government is a pretty slack job. The wheels just keep turning, though our P.M. and Ministers are on the road all the time, and have been for over a year. And fools keep making a case for them being underpaid. The money being spent every day on election propaganda, dressed up as community service announcments, is scandalous. Bushfire Bill a blog commentator has put his finger on the great "heist".

"Howard is not failing to call the election because there is so much more pork to hand out to his cronies. This includes the “information” ad campaign. It doesn’t matter if it fails. The moolah will have been paid out - at full freight - just in time for the discounts to the party to arrive, come the campaign. The cronies are minting money and it’s all coming from our taxes… pissed up against the wall.

He still needs a parliamentary session to lock in some legislation (nuclear waste disposal, anybody?) that will bind a future Labor government or force it to pay millions, if not billions in reparations to the cronies. forget nuclear power. That’s a trojan horse. The aim is to get the ancilliary industries up and running. The rest is diversion (which many are falling for by arguing about the siting of power plants).

The aim is not to win the election. That might be a bonus, but it’s not of paramount importance. The aim is to shovel out as much money as possible into the hands of urgers, sycophants, business cronies, advertising gurus and suchlike. It will all be repaid whether or not the Libs win… after the election… and in private, in the form of jobs for the boys, consultancies, positions on various boards, discounts to the party on election campaign ads, donations to the party and backdoor deposits to Swiss bank accounts.

The aim isn’t to grease the palms after the election. They’re already being greased, and plenty. What we are seeing is one of the biggest heists in Australian history, right in front of our noses."

Sums things up you would have to say.

A diversion next to the speech made by John Buchanan at politics in the pub which apparently made everything he has said or done since totally without value. I would have liked to have heard more.

Now for the election date prediction stolen from Damien Kingsbury who really seemed very confident about it. December 3rd with a visit to Yaralumla in the next few days to save a return of parliament, next week. And a special thanks to Bilegrip Admin for their kind words and always compelling blog.