The Age/SMH Good Weekend supplement this weekend has a feature on Joe Hockey. The second paragraph includes this entertaining explanation of why Hockey bought a farm in Far Northern Queensland:
I want my kids to know where the beef and the chicken in the supermarket comes from. I don’t want them to take things for granted, and certainly not lecture others on how they should live their lives unless they understand a bit about the challenges other people face. I want to be sure they know about hard work and sacrifice.
Naturally, this got me to wondering how well Joe does in living up to the expectations he has of his children. So far, it seems he hasn’t done too badly since March 2002, when this media release appeared on his departmental website at Industry, Tourism and Resources:
AIRPORT WORKERS SHOULD SHOW RESTRAINT
The Minister for Small Business and Tourism, Joe Hockey, today called on airport workers that will walk off the job today, to put the tourism industry ahead of their own self interest…
If you’ve got an idle moment or two, maybe you could help me out with more recent examples of Joe wagging the finger or even in full on lecturing mode. One stipulation - telling Labor - either Federally or at the State level what they should be doing, doesn’t count.
I hope he takes them along to the slaughterhouse too to see where the ‘products’ of his new farm end their lives.
Yes, nothing like a visit to the slaughterhouse.
One of the highlights of our primary school years was being allowed to tour the abottoirs. A most exciting experience for us kids, (though anything which required a few days off school did have appeal).
No man, the chicken slaughterhouse is the place if you want to freak meat eaters out.
Abbatoirs are all noise, clanking of the chain ,bellowing and sharp knives.
The chook processing plant starts with the vision of the white plastic aprons on the workers who are standing in the room where the birds are suspended by their feet .
Then the heads dip into the electrified water to stun the birds then straight into the decapitating machine.
White walls, white ceiling ,bright lights and blood everywhere.
I can’t think of any examples off the top of my head but I’ve been amused by Hockey’s comments about Howard lately.
First was the Bradman comparison (will Howard finish on a duck and do a Bruce?)
The latest is him comparing John Howard to Billy Hughes and staying in the Parliament for years. Hughes was a rat (how appropriate for the rodent) and caused troubles for the UAP and the Liberals as he wanted to regain leadership.
From memory Billy Hughes belonged to every political party except the Country Party, when asked why he responded along the lines of “You’ve got to draw the line somewhere”.
What about all the other stuff in the supermarket, how will his kids know where all that comes from?
Ken’s been to the BWF.
Looks like nothing has changed since 2002. Now he is upset that unions will be in a position to make decisions in regard to council amalgamations in Queensland.
Looking at his press release closer he has stuffed up. Joe Ludwig is in fact a Senator and not the person Joe Hockey thought he was speaking about. Confusion seems to be a trait of all Liberals these days.
I also have doubts whether any of these statements are true.
This was a response to a question in the last sittings of the Queensland parliament. It seems Hockey like the Queensland Opposition Leader wants to have all the Council workers subjected to workchoices. Apologies for the formatting.
Mr BEATTIE: I make no apology for looking after Queensland workers. If there are three councils,
for example, what these transition committees provide is that there will be two representatives—
presumably the mayor or another representative—from each council and there is a representative of the
workforce from each one of those areas. These transition committees are designed to ensure, as much
is humanly possible, that the transition is done smoothly. I have sat down, as has the minister, with a
number of these transition committees, because as we moved around and talked to councils we also
spoke to the workforce.
We want to ensure that in the transitional stage with regard to issues such as the putting together
of councils that council workers do not need to move from one area to another. We want to ensure that
the service they currently provide is provided where they live. How do we do that? We ensure that the
workforce is represented. Let me make it clear that we are about looking after the workers who work for
these councils, and I make no apology for ensuring that the unions are represented, along with the
mayors and the councillors, for one good reason: every one of the concerns of the workers who work for
these councils needs to be taken into account. That means, for example, job security. It means not just
job security but also where they live and where they travel to. I do not want local workers to be uprooted
and moved from one town to another. What I want is for them to stay in those towns and in those
communities, and the best way to ensure that is to ensure that the workers are represented to look after
where they live, where their families are and where their children go to school. That is what I want to do.
I say to the Leader of the Opposition: this is about ensuring that every one of those communities
has a say in ensuring that the council workers who currently live there stay there. That is what this is all
about. It is about ensuring stronger councils but it is also about looking after the workforce. What the
Leader of the Opposition’s question exposes is that those campaigns run by the National Party are
designed to undermine the union movement and the workers. This is about bringing in WorkChoices
and stripping back the rights of workers. I say to anyone who works for a council in Queensland:
understand that my government will look after you; the opposition wants to destroy your security. Those
opposite want to bring in WorkChoices. It has been exposed. The Leader of the Opposition has now
shown his hand. He wants WorkChoices for every worker who works for every council in this state.
I will do everything I can, and so will my government, to protect the workforce. If the Leader of the
Opposition is asking me whether I stand behind this, you bet. I cannot understand the opposition’s
strategy. The opposition spokesperson got up today and supported that penalties remain to fine
councils. That is what the member for Warrego did. He tried to fine the councils.
I would have thought he’d have eaten a few whole cows and chickens around them, but…
Maybe given the vegetarian comments here - maybe he wants to shows them some “Onion Bosses”
Patricia Karvelas of the GG leaps ahead of the field today, with this report:
Damn it, she’s not even supposed to be an entrant.
Ah, yes, indeed, and you can tell Uncle Joe is thinking in terms of policy not cynical electoral calculation:
Gummo,
I’m “off topic”, as you have framed it, BUT I’d like to see a better understanding of farming, and country life generally, among my city cousins. Having lived in rural/regional Victoria for almost 3 decades - refugee from Melb - I am thoroughly sick and tired of city iggerance about how agriculture, horticulture & country communities work.
Just a few examples where most city folk have no idea: volunteer rural fire brigades, households on rainwater tanks, the exigencies of farming, Landcare’s contributions to better practices, high take-up of computer-based management & planning tools by farming families, the rise of women in farm management, confusion about drought and rainfall,….
cheerio
Correction:
to say “city cousins” was a bit broad - I suppose I meant those fourth cousins who spout in newspapers, metropolitan radio, metropolitan TV; and the fifth cousins in the Canberra Press Corps
cor, Corps, corpus, dead yet?
Ambigulous,
I don’t wants to ruin my good mood by getting into a country vs city argument.
Suffice it to say that in the past couple of days Uncle Joe has displayed an interesting double standard on who can be lectured on how they should live without understanding the challenges they face. Lecturing farmers bad. Lecturing the unemployed - acceptable.
A rural person once remarked that the horizon of “The Age” is located at Collingwood (obscure inner suburb). I think it’s fair to say that many city folk have no bloody idea. So while Minister Joe may hector, lecture, cajole and spout…. I still think he has a point about getting out in the bush to see what it’s reallly like.
cheerio,
chin up
that’s the spirit!