Gratuitous Advice #auspol

The blogosphere is full of commentary about why our government is on the nose and what they/we can do about it.

Gratuitous advice is my speciality - so here is my contribution about what has gone wrong.

The PM's first speech in the job was the highlight of her reign - she was looking good for an hour or two - but things have gone downhill ever since.

This small list of failure is in no particular order - merely what has emerged from my head after a glass or two of lubricant.

* The Afghanistan adventure was always going to be trouble for whoever occupied the Lodge. Little Johnny made commitments that he shouldn't have and when he was flicked we expected Kevin and then Julia to pull the troops out. But they didn't and they won't. Because it's Uncle Sam pulling the strings - and deciding which of their wars we participate in - not our government or PM.

* Julian Assange is in strife and under house arrest in the UK and we expect our government to support and stand up for him - because he is an Australian citizen. But our PM and AG won't do that. They appear to be actively working against his interests. This generates a very clear signal to all Australians about what they can expect if they happen to find themselves in political trouble while abroad.

* Our PM made the most cringe-worthy speech to the US Congress - so bad that we are still embarrassed to talk about it. If ever there was a point where she lost the thinkers - this was it. Just appalling.

* One of the architects of the putsch that resulted in the current PM deposing her predecessor has been exposed as a serial leaker of Australian secrets to the US Administration. Bit of a step up from when he was a fast-food cook I suppose. And he was one of the party power brokers ;-)

* The PM also made a silly speech to the business elite - about how unemployed Australian's need to get off their bums and get back to work. Someone should tell her that it’s never very clever to blame the victims for their plight. Especially if they are looking to you for some help.

* And the PM and her Treasurer have been suckered into getting the budget back into surplus next financial year - all because they have been done over by a slightly more politically astute opposition. The social cost of this particular failure will be enormous.

* The PM has allowed/encouraged the US to establish a military base on Australian soil near Darwin - and told Australian's about it after the event. And she and the NT Administration think that is a good thing because of the *greenbacks* it will inject into the community. Which dimwit thought it was a good idea to abandon our sovereignty for a few pieces of silver and some trinkets? Isn't that what the original Australian's did on the arrival of the first fleet in 1788? That turned out well for them didn't it? FFS.

And on it goes - seemingly never ending.

Some folks think that the carbon tax is the reason for Labor's unpopularity - but that's unlikely. Australians are a practical and pragmatic people - they know that there is an environmental price to be paid for decades of fossil fuel burning. They want the climate fixed and our planet to be habitable and will be prepared to make personal sacrifices to ensure that. Relatively few Australian's are stupid enough to think there is no cost or that it’s easy.

For a government that develops its policy around focus group polling they have done some remarkably dumb things which annoy a lot of people - and it looks like it is going to come back to bite them next year.

The real reason that Labor is on the nose - is because they stopped looking out for the people - and have been captured by a belligerent foreign power. It's also particularly galling that the foreign power in question is the world's most aggressive warmonger.