The Pseudo Energy Wars, Saving Julian Assange And Demise Of The Liberal Party

New Politics: Australian Politics

17-06-2022 • 40 mins

The biggest war is not the one in Ukraine – there are no generals in this war, there are no medals to hand out, and it’s possibly a war without end. And, of course, it’s a war that’s been concocted by the mainstream media and the Opposition, mainly to put pressure on the new Labor government. Yes, it’s the energy war, which is a war on public sensibilities and could end up being a war on the credibility of the media.

For nine years, the media barely focused on the failures of the Liberal–National government to formulate an energy policy between 2013–2022 and now they’re shaking their fists at Anthony Albanese for creating not just an energy crisis, but firing the first shots in a fictitious energy war. And it’s not just energy: refugees are arriving by boat! For nine years, these were “on water matters” that couldn’t be reported, but now it’s open slather, with media reports now claiming that people smugglers in Sri Lanka are telling their clients Australia is now very welcoming of boat arrivals.

One area the new Labor government can act upon is Julian Assange: he’s been languishing in a British jail for over three years and Albanese – when he was Leader of the Opposition – did say that he couldn’t see the point of the continuing incarceration of Assange. Well, now he’s the Prime Minister, and now is the time to act. And also cease the prosecution of four whistleblowers in Australia – Jeff Morris, Richard Boyle, David McBride and Bernard Collaery – there’s no point to these prosecutions either, and it’s time to drop these cases.

After each election, all political parties – whether they win or lose – assess where they went right, and where they went wrong. And the National Secretary of the Labor Party, Paul Erickson, has outlined all the reasons for why Labor won the election, and why the Coalition lost – eight key points – and the Coalition would be wise to listen in and take on these points. Free advice is probably the best advice.

And is Scott Morrison the worst Prime Minister in Australia’s history? It’s an easy answer: a Prime Minister who won’t be remembered for very much, squandered a massive amount of political capital built up during the pandemic, kept on repeating the same mistakes over and over again – and didn’t learn from any of these mistakes – and then lost an election the Coalition didn’t need to lose and shouldn’t have lost. If only they displayed some level of competence. But they didn’t.

So, yes. An easy choice for the worst Prime Minister. Come on down, Scott Morrison, come on down…

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