A Pox on Both Your Houses!
Both the Liberals and Labor are facing lacklustre results in the federal election, after their abysmal performance on various levels for the last two years.
“A pox on both your houses!”
That famous line from Romeo and Juliet looks like being dusted off by voters at next month’s federal election.
Like Shakespeare’s character Mercutio — who curses the families whose rivalry has left him mortally wounded — the Australian public feel let down by Labor and the Liberals.
People are hurting, and angry, and they want vengeance. A pox on both your houses!
And it may just happen.
With the release of the latest Newspoll, political pundits are predicting that for the first time in Australian history, neither Labor nor the Liberals will command even 40 per cent of the primary vote when the polls close on May 21.
This would effectively end the two-party system that has dominated Australian politics.
Newspoll shows Labor at 37 per cent and the Coalition at 36 per cent. Never have both major parties been in the 30s so close to polling day.
The remaining 27 per cent of voters have indicated they will vote for one of the minor parties, or for an independent. (Greens 11; Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party 4; One Nation 3; Others 9)
That’s more than a quarter of the electorate who have given up on Labor and the Liberals.
What is going on?
I’ll give you three thoughts off the top of my head. If you think I’ve missed something, hit the comments button at the end of the article, and let me know.
COVID Clampdown
Firstly, people are irate about the assault on civil rights that the nation has endured over the past two years.
Never mind that somehow, as if by magic, the need for Covid restrictions all but disappeared the moment the election was called. People are angry about what was done. They have not forgotten, and they have not forgiven.
Our Liberal PM will argue that it was the state premiers (most of them Labor premiers) who oversaw harsh lockdowns, vaccine mandates and border closures. But the fact remains he was Prime Minister through it all.
And he didn’t even whisper an objection.
When peaceful protestors were being shot with rubber bullets, the PM said not a word.
When law-abiding citizens were being visited by police over innocuous social media posts, the PM stayed silent.
When parents were separated from dying children and when families were banned from attending loved ones’ funerals, the PM was missing.
Labor premiers (predominantly) turned the country into a police state while the Liberal Prime Minister looked the other way.
A pox on both your houses.
Climate Crock
Second, people are angry that both parties are intent on crippling our economy by signing up to the UN’s climate suicide note.
Conservatives once trusted the Coalition to save Australia from climate policies that would end the competitive advantage we have thanks to abundant and easily accessible supplies of coal and gas.
But the Liberals, like Labor, have now committed to net zero emissions. The result is net zero votes.
A pox on both your houses.
Trans Insanity
Third, while not quite championing the LGBTQ+WTF madness that is infecting our country’s institutions (as Labor do), the Liberals lack the courage to oppose it.
The Prime Minister won’t sponsor a bill to protect women’s sport, though personally he shares the views of blah blah blah. Whatever.
When Liberal candidate Katherine Deves spoke out about the need to protect women’s sport, a dozen Liberal MPs demanded she be dis-endorsed.
Meanwhile, the Labor leader agreed, but through gritted teeth, that men cannot get pregnant, almost as if he was too afraid to say it with any conviction.
The media class think the transgender issue is trivial. It’s not. People in the suburbs — with children in public schools where this thing is being pushed — want an end to the confusion bought on by the gender goblins.
But neither Labor nor the Liberals have the courage to take a stand.
A pox on both your houses.
The polling has barely shifted in the two weeks since the election was called. Political staffers and campaign strategists know this, and they are worried. People have made up their minds and are barely watching the campaign. We could care less.
The Australian public, bloodied and bleeding from a tumultuous couple of years, will finally have their say on May 21.
What will they say?
“A pox on both your houses.”
___
Originally published at The James Macpherson Report.
Subscribe to his Substack here for daily witty commentary.
Photo: News Corp
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As disciples of Christ, we are called to partner with God’s best purposes for life. By fortifying our will with a powerful why, we set ourselves on a path towards victory.
The Preferential Voting system means that where the primary view is directed is less important.
What is really important is which major party is placed before the other (or conversely – which major party is placed last).
I can’t understand how everyone (and every employer whose employees) who received Job Keeper payments isn’t grateful to Scott Morrison (ScoMo) for helping avoid financial and mental ruin.
Job Keeper is the reason that Australia avoided a major recession and more people are not taking their lives.
I hope that the Liberal Coalition forms a minority government with Pauline Hanson (who has always fought against the vaccine-mandates) holding the balance of power.
James,
Scott Morrison appears to be unfairly condemned.
Below is a link to a senate committee on covid 19 national committee.
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/COVID-19/COVID19/Interim_Report/section?id=committees%2Freportsen%2F024513%2F73986
Feel free to read in full. Some excerpts are:
7.13At times, the Prime Minister singled out individual states led by Labor premiers for criticism over decisions to impose internal border measures. This fractured the national response, fostered unnecessary partisanship and ultimately led to a breakdown in the National Cabinet as a consensus body.
7.18After the National Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister announced that, ‘[a]ll leaders agreed that children should go to school tomorrow’,12 directly contradicting the previous announcements by state and territory governments.
7.22In late May, the Prime Minister criticised these border measures, claiming that ‘the expert medical advice at a national level never recommended internal borders within Australia’ and that ‘it’s not good for the economy’.19
7.23The Prime Minister’s commentary implied there was no medical basis for these restrictions. However, on 21 June Deputy Chief Medical Officer
Dr Nick Coatsworth clarified that ‘the AHPPC actually hasn’t had a position on border closures’ and that ‘we will continue to leave that to state first ministers’.20
7.24When Queensland and South Australia announced on 30 June that they would not reopen borders to Victoria over concerns about increasing community transmission, the Prime Minister made critical remarks through the media, suggesting ‘you can’t just shut Australia up every time there’s an outbreak’.21
7.25Despite South Australia and Tasmania also implementing strict domestic border control measures, the Prime Minister reserved his harshest criticism in public comments to the Premier of Queensland and the Premier of
WA.
7.26On 10 September, the Prime Minister initiated what the Queensland Labor Premier described in Parliament as a ‘coordinated campaign’ in which he ‘intimidat[ed]’ and ‘bull[ied]’ her.22
7.27The Prime Minister later noted that it was ‘hard to draw any … conclusion’ other than that Premier Palaszczuk’s decision to refuse a particular exemption application for a person to enter Queensland from the ACT was ‘inhumane’.23
7.33On 11 August, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly said that WA’s border closure ‘has no doubt been somewhat protective’, indicating that the Commonwealth understood that domestic border closures had prevented the spread of the virus.30 In light of this statement it is concerning that the Prime Minister was openly pushing premiers to open up their borders despite their local health advice not to do so.
7.34In the end the illusion that National Cabinet was a consensus-making body with solidarity amongst members collapsed and on 4 September, in a press conference about state border measures the Prime Minister said National Cabinet ‘needed to evolve’ because ‘we’ve decided that this notion of 100 percent, absolute consensus on any issue is not a way that the National Cabinet can indeed work’.31
7.35The Prime Minister’s criticism of state border measures and partisan attacks on Labor premiers undermined the ability of National Cabinet to work as a Westminster-style cabinet exercising solidarity and collective responsibility. The committee sees this as a failure of leadership from the Prime Minister at a time when the country desperately needed genuine cooperation rather than partisanship and division.
Where is the church in the trans debate and the culture wars?
At Easter the church is calling out for climate change action. A joint statement signed by church leaders for Easter can be found at the following links.
https://religionsforpeaceaustralia.org.au/?p=14882
“As our political leaders continue their election campaign this Easter, we welcome them to our churches and call on them to take powerful action to preserve and protect God’s creation by:
Halving carbon emissions this decade, in line with the recommendation of scientists and targets of our major trading partners;
Transforming our energy system towards 100% renewable electricity while delivering a planned and just transition for energy workers; and
Investing in programs to support communities on the frontlines to plan, prepare and adapt to the extreme weather events.”
Are we writing letters on culture war issues (specifically gender theory education in our schools, trans debate, climate issues) to the editor of national, state or local papers? Are we tweeting etc? Are we publically supporting Catherine Deeves and her family who are suffering because she speaks out. Are we willing to bear this cross too?
Do we let our politicians know what we support?
Lets not just complain between ourselves: we need to speak out, to lead.
Further references FYI of the public Easter message from our religious bodies, and climate change generally:
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/church-leaders-ask-political-leaders-to-take-powerful-action-on-climate-change/
The Easter message from the churches is for us to act on climate change.
Even charities like Tear Fund are promoting education proclimate change through churches.
https://www.tearfund.org.au/resources
The UK Anglican church writes on climate change promoting the accords.
https://www.churchofengland.org/about/policy-and-thinking/our-views/environment-and-climate-change/why-you-should-act
This way of thinking has permeated commerce, insurance, banking, big business. It is now endemic in the commercial ether.
Where is the church in the trans debate and the culture wars?
At Easter the church is calling out for climate change action. A joint statement signed by church leaders for Easter can be found at the following links.
https://religionsforpeaceaustralia.org.au/?p=14882
The churches write:
“As our political leaders continue their election campaign this Easter, we welcome them to our churches and call on them to take powerful action to preserve and protect God’s creation by:
Halving carbon emissions this decade, in line with the recommendation of scientists and targets of our major trading partners;
Transforming our energy system towards 100% renewable electricity while delivering a planned and just transition for energy workers; and
Investing in programs to support communities on the frontlines to plan, prepare and adapt to the extreme weather events.”
Where are we?
Are we writing letters on culture war issues (gender theory, trans debate, climate) to the editor of national, state or local papers? Are we tweeting etc? Are we publically supporting Catherine Deeves and her family who are suffering because she speaks out. Are we willing to bear this cross too?
Do we let our politicians know what we support?
Lets not just complain between ourselves: we need to speak out, to lead.
Further references FYI of the public Easter message from our religious bodies, and climate change generally:
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/church-leaders-ask-political-leaders-to-take-powerful-action-on-climate-change/
The Easter message from the churches is for us to act on climate change.
Even charities like Tear Fund are promoting education proclimate change through churches.
https://www.tearfund.org.au/resources
It concerns me that a part of our donated $ to help those suffering is being diverted to educating us on climate change. We receive this education already from multiple sources and are already paying through our taxes via federal and state subsidies to wind, rooftop solar, solar farms, green hydrogen, and direct funding of education in schools and universities, Snowy 2 etc.
The UK Anglican church writes on climate change promoting the accords.
https://www.churchofengland.org/about/policy-and-thinking/our-views/environment-and-climate-change/why-you-should-act
This way of thinking has permeated commerce, insurance, banking, big business. It is now endemic in the commercial ether.
James, thank you, I think you have hit the nail firmly on the head. For me the central issue is that both Liberal/Nationals and Labor never once quested the globalist narrative and ditched Australia’s democracy at a stroke for over two years. The legacy media were complicit by never asking probing questions. So, both Liberal/Nationals and Labor, are in my view, equally guilty of selling our freedom and trashing our economy for decades. The Liberals must now stop claiming that they are the party with sound economic management, that used to be the case, but sadly it is no more.