Retribution

The fall of a tyrant is once again filling our TV screens; this time in savage reality as Moamar Gaddafi is dragged from a drain, pummeled, man-handled, and his half-naked, bloodied body delivered up to his captors.  Shortly thereafter he is shot dead.  Humiliation and brutal, unexpected death.  Retributive justice ? execution ?  But no mercy.   Having lived by the sword he died by the sword, like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden before him.

No mercy for these tyrants the last of whom died this week, at a time when we commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Siev X disaster. There was no mercy for the hundreds of men, women and children who perished on Siev X in the sea ten years ago, either.

And no justice yet for these innocent victims.

Pyrrhic Victories?

Against all the odds the PM has legislated to impose a price on carbon (a task attempted without success by four previous political leaders).  This was a considerable achievement.  However, the Opposition leader has 'pledged in blood' (!) to repeal this legislation as soon as he achieves office.

In the meantime the PM has had to give up on her plan to maintain off-shore processing of asylum-seekers arriving here by boat, after the High Court ruled this processing illegal.  The Opposition refused to support new legislation to empower executive government to maintain off-shore processing, even though they support off-shore processing  too.  Not sure who failed here.


We will have to wait to see the repercussions of the actions of the PM and the Opposition leader his week.


But if the Opposition is elected to government in 2013, it would appear that the PM's carbon pricing legislation will  be repealed, rendering today's achievement meaningless.    But an Opposition victory on this matter could prove to be messy and difficult to realise and will bring with it its own painful, political price.  Perhaps we will see new tax slogans appear, as the compensation for the costs of the clean energy legislation are withdrawn.


And could it be that, if the Opposition comes to government, it too may have to embrace some sort of 'Malaysian solution' as the only off-shore processing option available to them to stop the boats in the face of the inevitable court challenges to Nauru?


Pyrrhic victories all round this week, except for the asylum-seekers, of course.

Australia fair?

A 14 year old Australian is arrested in Indonesia for possessing cannabis and this makes headline news here, causes Ministerial statements and considerable public anxiety over the imprisonment of a minor, while his actions are investigated.  Meanwhile, back in Australia, 79 under 18 year old boys are arrested off our shores, sent to an isolated Australian centre in the middle of nowhere and imprisoned there in high security, under guard 24 hours a day.  Their crime ---seeking refuge in our country.
But their imprisonment and future fate hardly raise a murmur here.

UPDATE:
Pure Poison doesn't want to suggest that 'we have more sympathy for an Australian boy imprisoned in Indonesia than an Indonesian boy imprisoned in Australia (who’s not even alleged to have committed a crime) out of anything so base and repugnant as racism… but '.....
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Of Things Being Various

Yesterday an award-winning collection of poetry Of Things Being Various (40 Degrees South Publishing) was launched in the Hobart Bookshop in Salamanca Square.   This book showcases accomplished and engaging poems from Karen Knight, Liz McQuilkin, Liz Winfield, Christiane Conesa-Bostock and Megan Schaffner. 
Yet more evidence of the vibrant arts scene in Hobart.

Quip of the month

People who live at the foot of a mountain seldom climb its slope.

  (Trudeau)