Comments for The Piping Shrike

Comment on Accountable to whom? by Al.

Al. — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:30:19 +0000

Come on Rob, we can take it … just say it .. say it … say it ….

Labor. Yay ! Yay ! Yay !

: )

Comment on Accountable to whom? by Al.

Al. — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:24:03 +0000

He’s still to announce ! …

Comment on Accountable to whom? by Al.

Al. — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:23:30 +0000

As I type this, Oakeshott is STILL going on..

blind Freddy can work out just a minute into his speech … that a govt for next 3 years..

he’s gone labor !

Comment on A vacuum is not ‘democracy’ by nick

nick — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:18:57 +0000

see club troppo ‘my take on the debacle’ and comments within piping ….

Comment on Accountable to whom? by Riccardo

Riccardo — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:10:10 +0000

As TPS suggests, our constitutional system has basically evolved from a feudal “the King needs some nobles to provide soldiers for his wars” into a power sharing through a parliament that originally favoured the King, then favoured Parliament, then favoured the trusted few advisors who got seats in Parliament, then favoured capitalist interests, then was forced to democratise to prevent labour unrest, and has finally morphed into form of entertainment for a small section of the population who get agitated about public policy, while the rest are forced to pay enough attention briefly every so often, a bit like your wife or husband prodding you to comment on a TV show or sport that they like but you don’t.

Reality is all the economic policies now controlled by unelected bodies, foreign policy is delegated to foreigners (a self-managing policy!) the huge body of legislation already enacted guides a lot of bureaucratic behaviour, and no interest group is able to make a case for action broader than their own interests without being seen for what they are.

And Australia is living in a time of broad prosperity where it is hard to confect a crisis that would justify radical action.