Oliver Cromwell said “no one rises so high as he who knows not whither he is going.” Then adding the Peter Principle “Every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.” We appear to have a combo of both as this relates to Canberra.
This describes the last four Prime Ministers from Rudd to now. Turnbull is yet to be tested, but current indications are he is in the same camp. I am praying like mad Turnbull can pull a rabbit out of a hat and set a clear path to secure our future. It will be a bleak few years ahead if he can't.
Yes, I am including Tony Abbott. He stopped the boats (with the help of an excellent Immigration Minister and Services support). He removed the carbon tax. He signed Trade Agreements (once again driven by the Minister responsible). But, then he lost his way and I for one had no idea where we were heading. After reading some of Tony's recent ramblings I can’t help thinking he suffers from an inflated opinion of his achievements. This is particularly true when it comes to fiscal management. Add Tony to the delusional list.
People voted for loopy Clive Palmer. In a media release on February 15 Clive claimed the credit for saving the country from austerity. He has also claimed he kept the North Queensland economy going. I'm sure the 200 plus who just lost their jobs wouldn't agree. Clive also stated "There has been little discussion or attack at any policies of our party.” Clive also mentioned there were no attacks what he’d achieved in Parliament. Correct and there are reasons for that. He doesn’t have any policies only grandiose plans and mission statements. None of which could ever be delivered. As for the positive achievement side, he hasn’t any. Based on recent reports Clive is trying to do deal with crossbenchers to form another party. Are we that stupid to vote for this again? Clive is another one for delusional list.
I can’t muster the will to start on Labor, Greens and the rest other than to refer back to Cromwell’s quote. It describes just about every one of the useless lot we have in Canberra. There are a couple of exceptions, but that is all. I'm fast forming the view we need to turf the whole lot out and start again. But then, I guess there is no guarantee we'll end up with anything better. After all, we the people voted them in. Senate wheeling and dealing being the exception.
I could go on and on but to be frank, I am making myself more depressed thinking about the state of the nation. I wouldn’t mind betting I’ve depressed you as well. That said, we do deserve better than we are getting.
We need a strong government as well as a strong opposition. Less of the personal power plays. Less of the fractional wreckers. Less of the negative media. More of the what, when, why and how. More things being delivered. Less of the politics for politics sake. We certainly need a whole lot less of the blackmail driven self interest. There has to be some acceptance that not everyone will get everything they want. Above all we need a clear vision of what we are doing, when we are doing it, why, how and very clear indicators that we are on track. At the risk of depressing myself even further, I just don’t feel confident we have the people in place to do it. I hope to hell I’m wrong.
