Son of a Gun! What Calibre is That?

Posted on May 7, 2013 by patriciawa

Tony sticking to his guns! Thanks to Alan Moir for permission to use his cartoon

While throughout Australia most folk are in bed,
Tony Abbott is fretting over something he said.
Not “When you deliver, you’ll be fully paid.”
That is a promise he knows can’t be unmade.

Journos are crowing over lines they’ve been fed.
There’s even a ‘libber,’ not easily led,
Loves his planned six months paid maternity leave.
His polling’s improved like you wouldn’t believe.

The Labor scheme – for rich, poor, married, unwed –
All the same, even career gals powering ahead.
What Gillard has given they think no big deal
Because Abbott’s offering has far more appeal.

But those on the right think his plan’s far too red,
A shiver of doubt through some Liberals has spread.
They’ve told their dear leader he must face facts –
For businessmen levies are worse than a tax.

His IPA ‘mates’ want the policy shed.
“Close to Rupert now, Tony! Watch how you tread!”
Peta’d said firmly, with her usual advice,
“ Before you open your mouth, please, please, think twice!”

In Canberra now, wide awake, not abed,
Tony paces his room, feeling all muddlehead.
What had he been thinking of earlier today,
That some inner compulsion forced him to say?

He can’t remember; was it something he’s read?
He knows he’ll regret it till the day he’s dead.
That’s it! One word! Calibre! All about guns!
Not women and babies …… unless …… they have sons!

width=300

NOTES

In the past that phrase ‘son of a gun’ was considered to be a term of abuse since it initially described the bastard sons of shipboard whores born beneath the gunwales and destined like their parents for a lifetime at sea. My sense is that nowadays there’s more than a touch of grudging affection in it much as the term ‘bastard’ can be used with a grin, meaning ‘old rascal.’ But ‘bastard’ can be used in an unequivocally abusive way too. Tony Abbott, with his many admitted failings, but obvious assets (ie the backing of Rupert Murdoch, MSM and big business) and uses to the Coalition is probably more often seen by them as ‘a son of a gun,’ who seems to get away with near murder. But to Labor and the left generally he is an outright ‘bastard,’ with no redeeming features.

All sorts of theories have been floated about Tony Abbott’s fitness to be Prime Minister. Today I realized that none of the theories about his misogyny or bullying character are valid reasons for arguing his unfitness for office. Nor his limited intellect. Nor suggestions that he is racist, or wanting to wage class war. Even that he has fantasies about conducting eugenics experiments if he does get into government. This last was suggested today when he talked about his paid parental leave plan being really aimed at women of calibre. Although he hadn’t initially explained that to Joe Hockey or to the businessmen who run the corporations he plans to levy for the funds to pay for his plan. I understand now why he hasn’t been able to do that adequately and also why he hasn’t explained how he came, almost by himself, to espouse a scheme which is thoroughly approved of by a strong feminist like Eva Cox, and likely to find support amongst the Greens.

This contradiction of his plan being approved by feminists and conservationists on the extreme left and much disapproved of by his traditional supporters on the right in the big business lobby is surely what has led to unhappiness in his own party and resulted in near mutiny in the ranks by a back bencher, Alex Hawke. This resistance to his leadership may or may not be unexpected for Abbott but no doubt has caused him considerable stress and even more so as it emerges that the Institute of Public Affairs has been encouraging Hawke and now Mal Washer and Dennis Jensen, both of WA, to oppose the PPL policy. And, I submit, added to what must be an already confused mental condition.

Imagine his state of mind. There are other pressures on him all the time, apart from leadership issues, and this week particularly so with the gun control issue being such big news in the United States and the conflict in Syria becoming so critical. At the same time he is expected to be across the economy, the looming Budget, Reserve Bank decisions and god knows what else! Right after he’s had to meet so many disabled people and their parents while listening to Julia Gillard go on about the NDIS and reminding everyone that what has happened to these poor souls could happen to any one of us. Does she think he doesn’t know that? He suddenly realised that this week! He could fall off his bike and suffer brain damage in the blink of an eye! The Polliepedal, always a great pleasure for him, could suddenly have become a thing to dread at the start of a week when he’s expected to smile and kiss dozens of babies while having tea and bikkies with their mums!

I think we should lay off Tony Abbott for a while and help him to find his way out of what is obviously a confused state of mind. So what if calibre is a word he’d normally use when talking about guns to other men. Guns are headline news right now in the States, after all. He knows you wouldn’t normally talk about women of calibre! That was just a slip of the tongue, a mixed metaphor, from a man showing signs of being under too much pressure pressure. If he were a Public Servant he’d be eligible for a year’s sick leave! Think about that, Peta!

COMMENTS:

gravel2, 08/05/13, Patricia, Another great pome, well done again. 🙂

Nasking, 09/05/13, GOOD POEM PATRICIA…BUT YA SEE…THEY WANT TO CREATE THIS IMPRESSION THAT AT TIMES ABBOTT IS TOO ‘RED’.

Ad Astra, 09/05/13, Patriciawa, That is such an apt pome. Thank you.

Anonymous 10/5/13, Brilliant, Patricia.

Migs 11/05/13, Your pomes are great. I love them. I saw not only irony in your last line but a real dig at Abbott’s misogyny. Well said.

Patriciawa, 12/05/13, Mother’s Day today so all we women of calibre will be getting recognition all over the world. But I just found this picture and asked myself was Tony Abbott thinking of these sort of women whom he meets all the time in his working life?

Real Women of Calibre – Penny Wong,  Tanya Plibersek,  Jenny Macklin,  PM Julia Gillard, Kate Lundy,  Kate Ellis,  Julie Collins.          (Photo for The Monthly by Tim Bauer)

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

On Yer Bike, Tony!

Posted on April 28, 2013 by patriciawa

0727d75f8f1a8c7affd347dc7d726145

Does Tony Abbott deserve a medal,
Riding on the Pollie Pedal,
When what’s really in his head’ll
Likely cause a major scandal?

While all along the cyclists’ way
The media scrum’s there every day
Recording what he has to say
What he really thinks he hides away.

Like – how to get more and more votes?
Keep counting those illegal boats!
That should bring in some headline quotes
And keep the Greens at Labor’s throats.

Talk about our coast’s defences
As the main event commences,
Keeping up PR pretences,
While calculating his expenses.

He’ll claim each night for a motel,
Not like Craig Thomson in Dobell,
No chance our Tones will go to hell.
He’s cleared that with Cardinal Pell.

He’s not increasing his own wealth!
He is helping the nation’s health,
Not by preaching, but more by stealth,
A good example, like himself!

So it goes on, mile after mile!
The ALP daren’t be so vile
As to criticise, swallow bile.
Peta Credlin is one big smile.

Lib_Policy_Bike

Liberal Policy Advertisement devised by Bushfire Bill

NOTES

Pollie Pedal, the well known national annual charity bike ride has started in Adelaide on 28th April, and participants will ride 1,000 kilometres through South Australia and Victoria to finish in Geelong on 5 May. When Carers Australia proudly announced the launch of their much publicized, and dare I say it, exploited, fund raiser by Tony Abbott they also told us that

Since its inception fifteen years ago Pollie Pedal has raised over $2.5 million for a range of charitable organisations.

Correct me if my sums are wrong but after my very generous rounding out, after all expenses relating to its promotion are costed, acknowledging that the hundreds of participants meet their own expenses and appreciating all the work by thousands of local volunteers along the way, I make that an average raising of a paltry $165,000 each year. I use the word paltry advisedly because I know how careful one should be about belittling the work of charitable groups and their volunteer helpers, particularly one like Carers Australia who do such worthwhile work in the community. But I feel that they could be achieving a great deal more if so much of their energy were not taken up in promotion of the Pollie Pedal each year and they focussed instead on that work and their other less high profile fund raising efforts. Donations from 2GB and the Liberal Party alone, forget about the Labor Party and their other high profile sponsors, so prominently named on participants’ spandex outfits could mount up. Even personal donations from many of the prominent citizens who participate in this event could very quickly raise 2.5 million dollars in one year, but over fifteen years? There are, of course, other benefits than financial from this event. But last year journalist Malcolm Farr seemed to think that most of them accrued to Tony Abbott,

the first and major one being that he got to personally meet and chat with the locals in some of the country’s most marginal electorates.
The other two benefits are to help charity, and, he says, to set a fitness example for those who should have healthier lifestyles.

Tony Abbott himself acknowledges all that. As he told the Herald Sun

“For 15 years now, travelling through small towns, stopping at pubs and cafes and staying at caravan parks, Pollie Pedal has enabled me to engage with people in ways that are rarely possible through politics-as-usual,”

He went further to say that

“The other nice thing about the Pollie Pedal is that travelling on bikes and staying in caravan parks suggests to those who are familiar with it that politicians are not quite the creatures of luxury or the indulgent people that at least some of our critics like to think.”

All of which would be quite acceptable had Tony Abbott like many riders stayed with the original commitment to meet their all their own expenses. But it seems that many of his personal expenses like an expensive new spandex outfit each year and other equipment is met by sponsors. As well, he has always claimed from the Commonwealth a daily entitlement for accommodation which this year is over $350 a night. This, in spite of his firm statement that

“every rider, politicians included, pays $100 a day to cover expenses and is expected to raise at least $500 in personal sponsorship.”

Like many people on the left till now I’ve followed the Labor Party line of not criticising Tony Abbott’s efforts in this charitable event, even though media coverage has always been more about Abbott than Carers Australia, but listening to Barry Cassidy, Adele Taylor and Gerard Henderson describing it as ‘campaigning genius’ as he cycles through so many marginal seats, and how it has become a huge fund raiser finally stuck in my craw. Particularly when I think of Peter Slipper or even Craig Thomson being crucified by Abbott and the LNP over travel claims. A pome emerged. If my outrage has muddled my thinking so that my quotes, facts or sums are wrong, I am open to correction. As I am open to suggestions for a suitable image URL to illustrate my post as I always like to do.   Well, as you can see from above Bushfire Bill has provided the ideal image.

POST SCRIPT  06/05/13,    We learned today from Mr. Abbott that he has committed to participating in the pollie pedal event whether or not he becomes Prime Minister.  That’s good news, isn’t it?

COMMENTS

Truth Seeker, 29/04/13, Patricia, another fine verse, And I, like you, get pretty peeved at the hypocrisy of all the photo ops in the guise of charitable and community works that the Abbott purports to do. I really believe that there is no truth or decency in the man (?) or in fact in the entire LNP. God help Australia if the enough people are fooled into voting for him Keep up the good work. Cheers

Harry A Boniface,    11/06/13,     Thank you patricia for your ‘ rhyme for the time’. Apparently, you are also a`verse to the Abbott aberration.

Patriciawa,     08/10/13,     Sadly, it didn’t matter how ‘averse’ I was to him, Tony Abbott still became Prime Minister, and it wasn’t long before he was defending his dodgy expenses claims, and those of some of his ministers.    Go to The Pub – http://pbxmastragics.com/2013/10/06/theyll-never-destroy-the-truth-of-me-2/comment-page-9/#comment-96219 where it seemed appropriate to reproduce this pome and got these comments.

Foreverjanice,    October 8, 2013 at 6:36 pm

Excellent pome, Patricia – you’ve got your mojo back!

2Gravel,     October 8, 2013 at the Pub  

Patriciawa,  Well worth reprising that pome –  excellent then and has improved with age.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Julia Gillard Has a Heart of Oak!

Posted on April 1, 2013 by patriciawa

 

Is this a harsh old dowager queen?
The Oz says that is how she’s seen,
Describing her as tough as teak,
Inflexible, hard, in Newspeak.
I’d say she has a heart of oak,
Warm, likeable as any bloke.
Often described as a hard head
Our PM is far from heart dead.

She is strong, forthright, no fibber;
Role model for any Libber.
Though no militant feminist,
Or an environmentalist,
She’s progressive and does care.
Attempting always to be fair,
Embracing those who need a hand,
Never afraid to take a stand.

Questions on why she’s not married
She has very lightly parried,
Echoing another Welsh red head,
A dowager queen who stayed unwed.
PM Gillard’s no Tudor, born to rule,
But she sure comes from that gene pool.
Hang on to her Australia,
Her big heart of oak won’t fail yer.

NOTES

In this weekend’s Australian I saw a headline above a grimly resolute picture of Julia Gillard – Tough as teak and as flexible. There followed a very unfair article stating among many other unflattering things that the PM is seen as a hard cold dowager queen. I had always feared Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s strength and resilience would one day be used against her, because it implies a lack of warmth and femininity. Cassandra Wilkinson says it plainly.

Julia Gillard’s notorious resolve is now widely viewed as a negative in the eyes of the electorate.

Reporters and feature writers have decided to write about her strength in a derogatory way, like this back handed compliment in the Age. Simply put…..Gillard is indestructible, says Mark Kenny who thinks that Labor should ‘find a way of somehow parlaying Gillard’s toughness into leadership strength’ and that ‘having stuck with her, it has nothing to lose from trying.

There is one Age article sincerely praising Julia Gillard’s strength, not by a journalist but by Professor Marilyn Lake who states very firmly that

The future belongs to Gillard, Tanya Plibersek, Penny Wong, Bill Shorten, Greg Combet, Mark Dreyfus and others with talent and forward vision. It also belongs to politicians who care about more than themselves and their careers, who care about climate change and the environment, as Combet does, who care about disability insurance, as Shorten does, who care about the state of our hospitals, as Plibersek does, and who care passionately about access to education as our Prime Minister does.

This reflects what I think is the truth about Julia Gillard – that she is a staunch leader of a talented team much loved by many of them and similarly admired by people writing to opinion columns in the mainstream media and out here in the blogosphere. Opinion polls seem designed somehow not to tap into these feelings. Certainly newspaper journos aren’t writing about it. No reporters or commentators picked up on the warmth of the response to Christine Nixon last Monday on Q&A when she said that Julia Gillard had been a good PM. The applause was widespread and sustained when she expressed the hope Julia Gillard would survive the impending leadership challenge and go on to prevail in September’s election.

Cassandra Wilkinson’s unkind comparison of PMJG to a harsh old dowager queen may well be a good omen. Many years ago Queen Bess knew that in her woman’s weak and feeble body beat the heart of a King. Julia Gillard has a heart of oak and knows it.

COMMENTS

2gravel, 02/04/13, Patricia, Well done, short and strong and to the point. Glad to see you back.

ad astra, 02/04/13, Patriciawa, What a lovely dedication to our Julia with her Heart of Oak.

lyn, 02/04/13, Patricia, thankyou for you most enjoyable pome along with your good wishes. Makes me sad though to see they are now being nasty about Julia’s strength. PS the twitters enjoyed your pome too.

Truthseeker, 02/04/13, Patricia, well done on another fine poem it certainly look as though you have got over your block, and back to what you do so well

dedalus, 02/04/13, Patriciawa, Bravo. I’m depressed by our depression, not by team Labor. When the mind focuses in Sept, the true position will be revealed. Onwards to victory!

denese 02/04/13, PM is seen as a hard cold dowager queen yes i read that to, i think any one who thinks like that have not read about queen liz from the time of her birth. i never saw her a cold in any way, she had to be very strong, thats all,

there is an amazing film clip with kate winnslett in u tube with queen liz portrayed near a flotilla of ship s, trying to make it to britian,
wish some one would embed that in the pub the inspiration is oresome

foreverjanice 02/04/13, You’re back on track, Patricia. Lovely pome about a lovely lady.

Kaye Sera 02/04/13, Lovely ode to PM

c@atmomma, 02,04/15, Patriciawa, Welcome back to the Author Club! Your words have the same sort of delightful lilt to them that you use to describe the PM’s character:
She’s progressive and does care.
Attempting always to be fair,
Embracing those who need a hand,
Never afraid to take a stand.

denese, o2/04/13 patrica do you have my original chat to you about that subject way back in 2010? i have always said that Julia remind me of liz the first. also i read a piece that queen liz had welsh ancestory, you never know. we need more of your peoms.

Patriciawa 03/04/13 denese, if you were writing as my say I see that it was yourself, confessions and kezza who inspired me to write about this very subject

Fed up, 12/04/13, Love the photo. I believe that the PM is getting over to the people, that grace that all talk about when they meet her face to face. Was noticable while in China. Love the relaxed videos of the PM and Chinese leader. They seem to genuinely like each other.

Martha, 22/04/13, wonderfull patricia, should be tweeted far and wide

Patriciawa, 22/04/13, Thanks, Martha. I’m hoping that friends will help with that. I just don’t have the time to learn how to text and tweet for myself right now.JULIA!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

That Damned Reclusive Liberal!

Posted on February 12, 2013 by patriciawa

We seek you here, we seek you there.
We journos seek you everywhere.
Crook? You can’t be! You’re never unwell!
Come off it, Tony! Come out and tell!
But no, you aren’t allowed out to speak
Ex tempore where you’re so weak.
So Peta’s got you under cover.
We’re patient though, we’ll wait, we’ll hover.

We’ll seek you here, we’ll seek you there!
We journos’ll hunt you everywhere!
The word is out. We’ll soon get a bell,
We’ll track you down. We know your smell.
Tony, call us! Give us a story!
Come on! Tell it! Make sure it’s gory!
Answer our questions. Don’t cut us short.
Don’t get sulky and act spoil sport.

We’ve sought you here, We’ve sought you there.
Till now we’ve sought you everywhere!
We’re nearly all Murdoch’s personnel,
Our main job is to give Gillard hell.
We know your plans could all head south
If you should put your foot in mouth.
So our questions now will be prepared.
Come on Tony, you can’t still be scared!

NOTES:

Yesterday Miglo at Cafe Whispers mocked Tony Abbott, The Invisible Man, running away from unscripted media scrutiny. I had to point out that this was more of the same from Abbott, this going incommunicado when he feels threatened. We at Cafe Whispers had posted a polliepome early this year when he didn’t want to answer awkward questions about the involvement of senior Liberals with Mal Brough in his scandalous Slipper imbroglio. His going into hiding then had reminded me of that jingle about ‘the damned elusive Pimpernel!’ I think Miglo thought ‘elusive’ was too kind, and used ‘abusive’ instead. Peta Credlin’s latest media management strategy cried out to me now for a re-write and a new title!

Samantha Maiden reported in the Sunday Telegraph that Peta Credlin wants to make Tony Abbott as small a target as possible between now and September 14th. Concerned that a media stumble could ruin his chances for winning an unloseable election she’s had him dump even his regular Friday morning soft interview on Channel Nine’s Today Show. Unsurprisingly this small target strategy and unwillingness to front the media has roused critical commentary from journalists and the public.

Q & A on Monday had quite a lively segment discussing Abbott’s reluctance to front cameras for unscripted interviews with Tony Jones driving the debate along after Sue Hoffman from Perth put it to the panel that….

Tony Abbott’s chief of staff doubts his ability to handle soft interviews on breakfast television leading to cancellation of his weekly TV appearance. So what do the panel think of his suitability as Prime Minister, which includes representing and negotiating for Australia and dealing with foreign dignitaries when he isn’t trusted by his own staff to manage 15 minutes on the Today Show?

Paul Syvret in the The Courier-Mail this morning attracted a lot of commentary with his scathing attack on ‘timid Tony Abbott’s tiny-target’ declaring that Action Man Abbott……. is running scared.

Not surprisingly the fifth estate weighed in too with bloggers like psyclaw and Victoria having their say about Tony Jones and his keen pursuit of the issue on Q & A on the Poll Bludger. I liked psyclaw’s comment that….. After all it just might be Tony Jones who ultimately gives Abbott his terminating come-uppance….

It’s a nice thought, but my own hunch is that with Rupert Murdoch’s stranglehold on our print media and other vested interests influencing TV and radio outlets Abbott will still be given plenty of soft interview opportunities. But that’s what pushed me into the last line of my pome. Surely, he won’t still be scared?

COMMENTS:

gravel3, 13/02/13, Patricia, well done, you have covered all the bases here. Indeed, it seems they will still continue merrily along and say how great he is.

Catching up, 13/02/13, “..I have so often been asked the question: “But how did you come to think of The … ‘We seek him here, we seek him there, Those Frenchies seek him everywhere’ It’s The Scarlet Pimpernel

Patriciawa, 13/02/13, Yes, Cu, it’s all there in in Wikipedia and I followed your link to there to enjoy a really nostalgic read. But when writing the pome it was just the jingle that came echoing back to me from almost seventy years ago. I think Miglo was right about that ‘elusive’ being too complimentary to Abbott, echoing as it did the character of the gallant Sir Percy, the Scarlet Pimpernel. I’d found everyoone of Baroness Orczy’s stories totally absorbing as a child and that jingle was etched in my mind. Possibly too kind to our Tony, but this is satire after all!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Mini Campaign – Product of a Mini Brain?

Posted on January 28, 2013 by patriciawa

Is this LNP mini campaign,
Product of someone’s mini-brain,
Planned for Abbott because Newspoll
Shows him still in a big black hole
With his PR team in despair,
Weeping, wailing, tearing their hair?
Or just another permutation
Of his varied self presentation?

Once just a guy who loved to surf,
Next he’s a new friend of the earth.
Then shown as a mighty runner
No one knows just when he’s gunna
Come charging in upon his bike,
Trying hard to sound statesmanlike
As he fights every big new tax
Like flames before his fireman’s axe.

In parliament, suited, dutiful,
No budgie smugglers on body beautiful;
Once strict RC, a man of prayer,
Has that gone up into thin air
As ladies line up for liberal hugs
And his help to store fertility drugs?
Margie joins them, she’s not silly,
Desperate for that house in Kirribilli.

Now this image ‘presidential’
Seems suddenly inconsequential.
As that ra ra Party rally,
Meant to prove a grand finale
To a quasi election launch
Ends with a rush up north to staunch
Can-do Campbell’s disastrous floods.
PS – TV shots so far aren’t a patch on Rudd’s.

NOTE

That last line reference to Rudd makes sense when you remember those images of him in last year’s floods with trousers rolled up walking through water with some family’s suitcase on his head. Shots a PRO would die for. From commentary in main stream media and throughout the web I think that’s all this mini campaign is perceived as – a public relations exercise. As such it’s generally considered pretty inept. It was Miglo’s piece at Cafe Whispers which prodded me into writing this pome. And comments like Sue’s over there which confirm my thoughts about his rushing off to Queensland for photo opps rather than to give a real helping hand.

COMMENTS

archiearchive 28/01/13, The pathetics are becoming more pathetic! When Abbott loses the election and gets sacked, along with his entire front bench, it will take a generation for the Libs to regenerate their talent.

gravel3, 28/01/13/ Patricia, another great pome. I wish I had your talent to concentrate on verse or something rather than sitting here and getting angry and frustrated at the abominable media coverage of politics.

Patriciawa, 29/01/13, Thanks, gravel. Yes, it does help keep me sane. I share your outrage re the manipulation of our media. Your support helps me too!

Catching up, 29/01/13, Has to be a mini fart, as I have been unable to locate a brain, no matter how small.

Scot Mcphee, 29/01/13, Abbott’s been doing two-minute sandbags up here. Yeah, that’s right, not actually helping, just posing for the photo and scarpering off like the rat he is. You’d think Newman (Abbott-lite) might learn from New Jersey’s Chris Christie, but apparently not.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Peta! Action Man Has A Better Plan!

Posted on January 10, 2013 by patriciawa

Where’s the cameraman? And Tony’s protective gloves? Why no mask? Or goggles?

Toby Abbott fighting fires
Gets all the photo ops his heart desires.
He much prefers this kind of story
To Peta’s drives for PR glory.

Easier here to look ridgy didge
Than storing ova in his fridge.
More fun too, dressed up to look tough,
Than all that father of the family stuff.

And why shouldn’t he claim expenses
Working on firefront defences?
These shots, though well away from flames,
Will validate his January claims.

And this bushfire emergency
Will help him solve the urgency
Of problems with the female voter
When he’s seen on stand-by rota.

Then their doubts will drop to zero.
Women love a big strong hero.
Yeah! This is a better campaign plan!
Besides, it’s the ‘Real Tony! Action Man!’

NOTES: Lots of media comment today on Tony’s firefighting exploits. Most of it cynical. I particularly liked this one from Clarence girl. Sue from Cafe Whispers encouraged me into writing a pome here and so cracking my writer’s block which has had me in its grip since I broke my wrist from a fall on Boxing Day, December 26th.

As Sue points out

As Tony is NOT on holidays he will be eligible to claim that travelling allowance, the one he claims when he volunteers himself to do his fund raising “pollie pedal”, about $345 per day.

And that has really got me thinking about the injustice of the continued pursuit/persecution of Peter Slipper over his travel claims as an LNP member and were defended by Tony Abbott, his party leader in 2010. Margo Kingston has pointed out how they pale into insignificance compared with Abbott’s own expenses claims, somehow wangled to be on ‘government business’ even when on so called charity activities, eg Pollie Pedal, or personal issues like book launch tours for “Battle Lines.”

COMMENTS:

2gravel, 10/01/13, Welcome back from your writers block, and you have come back with a vengeance. Way to go Patricia.

clarencegirl, 10/01/13 Still grinning at that ‘pome’, Patricia!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sleeping With The Enemy Does Not Pay!

Posted on December 16, 2012 by patriciawa

We learned from last week’s news in WA
Sleeping with the enemy does not pay.
Since two ill famed lovers’ recent parting
One of them still is badly smarting.
That’s clear as we hear the details from Adele
Of yet more drunken folly by Troy Buswell.
She seems not driven by this man’s rejection
So much as treachery in our state election.

Remember how this Green MP went to bed,
Not with an honest Labor party red,
But with a Liberal of repute so ‘blue’
At first no one believed the story true?
Then she confessed to her affaire
With Perth’s chair sniffer extraordinaire
Of course, the man was by his Party retained;
Without him government could not be gained.

Her team? They would have expelled the woman, Carles.
There was lots of anger, commentary and snarls.
But she turned Independent, ran for cover,
And supported the party of her lover,
In an open agreement guaranteeing supply
Allegedly with a secret clause whereby
For thus giving them now the upper hand
In future against her the Liberals would not stand.

That all happened in two thousand and ten,
There have been many developments since then.
ALP’s McGurk looks to win Fremantle
Now the Libs are running too and have dismantled
That much earlier commitment to Adele.
Unsurprisingly she’s willing now to tell
About the drunken escapades of her ex
Which reveal such odd proclivities in sex.

Barnett brushes aside as Labor’s ploy
This gossip around his ‘larrikin’ Treasurer Troy.
But tales have emerged about the ‘naughty boy’
So often that this time they really could destroy
All hopes for his government’s re-election.
Will this cause politicians some reflection,
Have them approach with more circumspection
With whom they sleep, confide in and trade affection?

NOTES: Troy Buswell, the scandal prone Treasurer of WA, is in the news again – for something he did over a year ago! But it has only just emerged in the media here, in good time for the up and coming election campaign in the New Year. Even eastern states newspapers featured the story written for our Sunday Times last weekend, 09/12/12, about Treasurer Troy Buswell’s drunken ‘dry-humping’ of a prominent Perth businessman over a year ago. The Sunday Times and the West have followed it up with comment from Premier Barnett defending his Minister from calls by Labor for him to be sacked. Yes, it is disappointing to hear about this, we read, but it happened over a year ago, at a private party, and will not mean he’ll lose his job. After all, said Barnett of his friend and minister…..

“….. Troy, you know, he is described as a larrikin, he lives life on the edge a little bit but he is also a caring and compassionate person.”

Barnett also queried the version of events as told by Adele Carles, the Independent MP for Fremantle, who only last week emerged to tell what she saw of it all when she and now ex-lover Troy were still living together. She features prominently in the reports in print, on line and in a headline creating TV interview on ABC News where she confirmed the dry humping episode which seems to have been a factor in their break up. It is indeed a bizarre tale but it follows other reported examples of bizarre behaviour by the State Treasurer in the past such bra snapping and chair sniffing.

Typically of Liberals throughout Oz we are seeing a shooting of the messenger as Carles is discredited and depicted as unreliable and emotional. Troy is the victim here! Buswell has challenged her account, more or less accused her of lying and is now suing her for defamation. I guess it’s one way to shut her up through the new two months of the state election campaign.

Not that it has so far proved successful as a strategy. Just a week later, 16/12/12, in this weekend’s West Australian has Adele Carles very prominently challenging Troy Buswell’s description of her as a disappointed lover. She is pictured waving around a letter begging her to return to their relationship which she claims broke up because of “”Troy’s alcoholism and psychological issues.” If the Soap Opera continues, she says, more such correspondence will be out in the open. Does he really want that?

Labor has already done its best to remind the public of Buswell’s unsuitability for public office and particularly the awful possibility that he could succeed Colin Barnett as Premier now that the Liberals’ main talent, Christian Porter, has resigned to seek Federal pre-selection. They’ve warned WA voters not to be fooled by his party’s efforts to rehabilitate Buswell’s image for the electorate, but voters in his seat of Vasse seem determinedly loyal to him.

When I first wrote here and at Cafe Whispers about the unlikely affair between Carles and Buswell when it was revealed, I characterised it as “Sleeping With The Enemy” and Sue commented…….

It will be an interesting seat to follow at the next state election.

How right she was!

COMMENTS:

kezza2, 28/12/12, Patricia WA, That poem’s very clever, considering your political expertise, regarding affairs of the heart. I’d really prefer the Coalition motive was uncovered more overtly. Wishful thinking, huh?

Victoria, 28/12/12, Brilliant. You have explained The state of play in WA perfectly. Very entertaining as well!

Patriciawa, 28/12/12, Hi Victoria and Kezza. I have mixed feelings about Adele Carles. Confessions is pretty straight down the line in condemning her, which I did initially. Fremantle is a very precious Labor seat since forever and I took my rage out on Adele in 2010 as I explain in my updated background notes on Sleeping With The Enemy. Besides the metaphor of ‘scarlet woman’ was too delicious to forego!

But since then I have come to like her and to see how she seems genuinely lost her head and heart in a mid-life crisis. She would have stayed with the Greens had they been less immediately judgemental and willing to help her keep the politics and messiness of two broken marriages separate. There are young children caught up in all that and I see her concientiously delivering hers daily to primary school down the road from here. She has obviously lived to regret her mistake and realized Troy’s nature will not change.

I find what she has to say about the recent humping episode wholly credible and I like her feisty response to Barnett and the Liberal Party which was initially encouraging Buswell to sue her, assuming she would back down. Well she hasn’t. And Barnett is now urging them both to make concessions and give the ‘undignified’ public brawling away. No wonder! It’s doing the Libs more damage than anyone expected. She’s given an unwavering version of events from the beginning. We’ve all made mistakes in our personal lives which wouldn’t look too good sensationalised in the modern media. Besides Labor will win Fremantle back! So my pome today reflects a rather different perspective. Here’s how I saw it then…….

Meera 31/12/12, Hi Patricia, it was nice to meet you the other day. I’ve enjoyed reading your blog, we share similar political views. When you are passing, and if you have time, pop in for a cuppa. Best regards, Meera

Patricia and Tacker walked past my door,
I said hello, though I hadn’t seen them before.
I told her I’m new to the street and don’t know
Any of my neighbours and it’s causing some woe.
She said you’ll meet others in the nearby homes,
But meanwhile, contact me at polliepomes.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We Want Our Speaker Back!

Posted on December 14, 2012 by patriciawa

Mal Brough ambitious office seeker,
James Ashby mercenary leaker,
Though their case could not be weaker
Still brought down a first rate speaker.

How could that have come to pass?
Remember Slipper kicking ass?
And doing it with gravitas!
In Oz speak that means ‘bit o’ class.’

It wasn’t just the way he dressed
In long black gown and fancy vest.
What had watchers most impressed
Was the end of uproar and unrest.

The Chamber filled no more with cries
Of outraged members screaming, “Lies!”
In other simple ways and wise
He brought calm; fewer lows, more highs.

Prissie Pyne, censured, had to use
‘Time Out’ to find the Members’ loos,
Fearing the Speaker might refuse
To let him rise to make more POOs.

He cut time-wasteful SSO’s
Used by Abbott against his foes.
Will there be many more of those?
If Slipper’s gone for good, who knows?

His talent is too good to miss!
Pollies! Make friends, shake hands, or kiss!
One thing you must agree is this –
Order in the House with Pete was bliss!

COMMENTS:

sue, 14/12/12, That is so good patriciawa. will you email a copy to mp slipper, i am sure his family would appreciate the kindness.

Ken, 15/12/12, Patricia – agree with the sentiments of your verse. Whatever one may think of Slipper’s personal life (and there are many things to dislike and criticise), what is often overlooked is that he did make a bloody good Speaker!

Pikiranku 15/12/12, Another terrific poem, Patricia, and I agree wholeheartedly with its sentiments. I’d almost given up watching Question Time (unthinkable for a tragic such as I am) because it was so frustratingly disjointed, inaudible and unedifying under Harry Jenkins’ watch. But Peter Slipper was just getting the whole place really into line and QT was well worth watching again when he was forced to stand down. A twofold incentive for the Liberals to get rid of him, I suppose – remove an effective Speaker who had the temerity to stand up to them and bring down the legitimate government at the same time.

Truth Seeker, 15/12/12, Patricia, nice one! I agree that Slipper was a very good speaker, unfortunately I think that the LNP threw enough mud to make sure that he won’t return, Sad really, as the time he spent as speaker was the best value that we got from Slipper since he became an MP.

He is our local member, and because of the way many here mindlessly vote LNP the chances are that unless something is done, we will end up with Brough who is one sad excuse for a man! Cheers

Miglo 15/12/12, Patricia, a gem. Loved this bit:

Prissie Pyne, censured, had to use
‘Time Out’ to find the Members’ loos,
Fearing the Speaker might refuse
To let him rise to make more POOs.


jane, 15/12/12, patriciawa, first class pome. Whatever we might think of Slipper personally, he was the best Speaker we’ve had in a very long time. Noone got away with disruptive tactics and the House was orderly and business like for the first time in months.

The current Speaker is pretty damn good, but Slipper seemed made for the job. However, it remains to be seen how damaged he has been by recent events and whether the Liars will have the gall to vote against him, should he again be proposed for the role as Speaker.

I think they may fear Slipper’s revenge if he does regain the post. I look forward to seeing the bastards savagely mauled by him in the event he regains the post.

Robynne, 15/12/12, Patricia, you have once again pomed the situation with delightfull prose and as a pome lover I do truly delight in every offering.

Talk Turkey, 15/12/12, I see you really have cracked the Rhyme Barrier, all quadrhymatical couplets!

But while I agree about the order Slipper brought to the House, but I don’t with the call for his return to the Speakership for more reasons than plenty, and it’s not going to happen anyway. Anna Burke is doing fine, it empowers women of course but to see her grow into the horrid job the Abborttians have made hers (remember Pyne tongue-poking her?) is an inspiration, and must certainly be intimidating, even more so than infuriating, to the creeps on Their side.

Ad Astra, 15/12/12, Patriciawa – Delectable pome.

Archie’s Archive, 16/12/12, […] saw your favourite West Aussie poet had another beauty the other day. About Slipper being a bloody bonzer Speaker.

confessions, 27/12/12, patriciaWA: Brilliant!!!

C@tmomma, 27/12/12, PatriciaWA, You’re doing a bit of ‘kicking arse’ yourself there, lady! Well done!

mari, 08/01/13, Patricia of WA I loved your verses on our missing speaker, so true

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

He Gets a Kick from Campaign!

Posted on November 22, 2012 by patriciawa

Tony Abbott is embattled,
Clearly he is very rattled.
Is he about to hit the wall?
‘Friends’ and foes await his fall.

His rivals pledge their loyalty
To him, as if to royalty,
Protesting that he is their liege
While all the time he’s under siege.

Murdoch tells him to persevere,
News intensifies the smear
And tales of doings sinister
In the past of our Prime Minister.

Abbott, being advised so often
His pugnacious stance to soften,
Swaps his daily verbal slaughter
For photo op with wife or daughter.

He’s no chauvinist from Hades,
He says, mingling with the ladies.
But still he has to hit out hard
With, “Gillard’s playing the victim card!”

‘Victim?’ Is he trying to inflame
The PM as he did with ‘shame?’
His popularity’s so low
Couldn’t he just have let it go?

But that’s too difficult a lesson
For him, an addict to aggression.
From fighting back he can’t refrain.
Abbott gets his kicks from campaign.

NOTES: No notes from me today. Instead I have to acknowledge the inspiration of briefly whose comment on The Poll Bludger blog, which I show below, got me thinking!

3028 briefly Posted Thursday, November 22, 2012 at 1:41 pm | Permalink

victoria, for mine, I think Abbott and his circle know that any attempt to re-construct his persona will fail. His bare-knuckle-fighter values are so strongly etched into the public consciousness that any attempt to change them is not only going to fail, it would make him look phony at the same time.

Besides, if you have always “emoted” aggression, anything also is going to feel feeble, even emasculating. So Abbott will not be able to carry that off, even if he thought it was a good idea. It is plain that Abbott has no “other” dimensions to his personality. He is doing the only thing he understands, which is to keep on oozing vitriol.

For Abbott, politics consists of just one thing: assaulting his enemies. There is no doubt that he sees and experiences politics as a permanent conflict – as a contest, a fight-to-the-end. In any fight, the antagonists experience heightened tension and arousal. In this case, the more adrenalin and testosterone and endorphins that are released, the more Abbott enjoys it, and the more he enjoys it the more frequently he must repeat the process. He is addicted to it. You might say, he gets his kicks from campaign!

Anything more from me is obviously superfluous, particularly when there is a wonderful cartoon like this from Fiona Katauskas of New Matilda

COMMENTS:

Truth Seeker, 23/11/12, Patricia, spot on, and one of your best. A good rhyme is just so satisfying to write and read.
BTW, thanks for your suggestion to Migs. Cheers

2gravel, 23/11/12 Another great pome, and great acknowledgement to the person you got the inspiration from. (TPS – Patriciawa – Another great pome, can I say “Ahh McCain, you’ve done it again.”)

briefly, 24/11/12, Thank you so much for the lyric, Patricia: supple, clear and precise. You have a very personal voice and response. It’s great to see

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Hitting The Wall!

Posted on November 14, 2012 by patriciawa

Tony Abbott is running for office,
The highest in all the South Land.
As the favorite of the bosses
He has his victory speech all planned.

But his rival is proving a tough nut,
Unexpectedly for a female,
Metaphorically kicking his butt,
And his strength is beginning to fail.

“It’s a marathon race, not a sprint,”
She’d whispered, all womanly and small.
Did he shiver and shake at the hint
That she’d tail him till he hit the wall?

Judging his manner and giveaway gait,
He knows now who’s setting the pace.
He is about to disintegrate
As Julia Gillard takes the lead in this race.

NOTES: This is a re-write of my earlier pome from last month, Running For Office which I revised for Cafe Whispers. It’s the result of a birthday breakfast at South Beach shed cafe with George, an old friend, when I was particularly buoyed up because things were looking so much better for Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her government and so much worse for Tony Abbott!

As long-ago distance runners we talked about that in terms of Julia Gillard’s comment on the ABC last July, mentioned in an Age article, that the carbon pricing campaign is

“… a marathon, not a sprint…..”

We agreed that she had been proved right. Tony Abbott has been steadily losing ground to Julia Gillard in the latest polls which reveal a trend, as regularly documented and discussed by the Poll Bludger, William Bowe. However, her remarkable personal resilience, her government’s legislative achievements and the soundness of the national economy must surely have been getting him down privately for some time, no matter how loudly he proclaims her ineptitude and her government’s failings to the public.

Ad Astra at The Political Sword noticed that Tony Abbott was not only losing ground in the polls and in the media but he was also deteriorating physically in himself. As a retired medical practitioner he wrote about it in terms of

“The inexorable disintegration of the Leader of the Opposition (which) continues apace.”

As a one time runner I remembered that comment of the Prime Minister. Tony Abbott often runs marathons, so he would be very familiar with the term ‘hitting the wall.’ That’s a sudden extreme fatigue, particularly feared by marathon runners. I like to think that Julia Gillard knew about this term and had already made a shrewd assessment of Tony Abbott when she observed that poor polling didn’t worry her because she viewed the struggle with him and the Coalition as more of a marathon race than a sprint. His supporters in the media like Samantha Maiden have certainly made that connection and are advising him to take a break, rest up. He is also seen to need some time out of the limelight since Julia Gillard’s worldwide PR triumph with her misogyny speech.

But none of the commentators suggesting that he take a break and rest up after Parliament rises seems to have realized how significant is that phrase ‘hitting the wall’ for Tony Abbott now! A few weeks ago he foolishly and flatly denied an anecdote recounted by David Marr about his time at the University of Sydney where he resided at the now infamous St John’s College. This incident during his days as a student political activist depicted him as a misogynistic bully. In the light of that story from his past the phrase, “hitting the wall” has a very different meaning!

The idea that he could have menacingly punched the wall behind the head of a woman who had defeated him in a student election seems very credible in light of what is generally perceived to be his character by his political critics. He has been trying to counter that reputation by bringing the women of his family onto the political stage to defend him but that has had little effect on his popularity ratings. All their protestations counted for nothing once he had pushed Julia Gillard into her passionate outburst with his loose talk about her government ‘dying of shame.’ Recent opinion polls leave little doubt that Australians generally thought his comments themselves were pretty shameful.

This little pome plays with the idea of Tony Abbott suddenly realizing that Julia Gillard has his measure and will out-run him. She will wear him down. He will hit the wall, metaphorically this time, of course, in this all important political race. He possibly knows deep within himself that he has, in fact, already done that once before. Proof that he has lied about punching that wall would lead to his immediate downfall. In any case, the now generally accepted assessment of him as a man capable of intimidating a female rival in that way has seriously undermined his reputation and weakened his chances of election.

POST SCRIPT @ 10.06 pm Perth Time. Just came across this comment on The Poll Bludger which I often read late at night! A comment made around twelve hours ago EST.

1640 Roy Orbison
Posted Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 12:44 pm | Permalink
BTW I caught a glimpse of Abbott on one of the morning shows this morning – not front and centre but in the background with a group of people – and I couldn’t help but notice how stressed and worried he looked. Perhaps he was just tired, but whatever it was, it was very noticeable.

I don’t have any evidence but my guess would be that the upcoming court case re the wall punching is the elephant in Tone’s room. That could bring the whole thing crashing down and I think he knows it. My other guess, based on nothing but observing his “character”, is that there are other skeletons about. Going back my Marist Brothers schooldays, he has the look of someone who is about to get six of the best.

COMMENTS:

2gravel, 15/11/12, Patricia, you just keep hitting the bullseye with your great pome’s, well done again.

COMMENTS from Cafe Whispers entry of 11/11/12

archiearchive FCD 12/11/12, And a Happy Birthday to you, Patricia. Thank you for another lucid post. Our Tones is definitely looking as though he has hit the wall. (I also used to run long distance in my youth – know all about that wall.

Bacchus, 12/11/12, If I get in now, it’s still your birthday in the West, so ♫ Happy Birthday Patricia ♬

Truth Seeker/Skeptical 12/11/12, Happy birthday Patricia hope it was a good one, and am glad to hear you are feeling much better now. I agree with your assessment of the marathon, and wrote about it myself in the 2013 political olympics.

Cheers and♩ 
♪ Happy birthday to you ♩ 
♪ Good post by the way Cheers!

silkworm, 12/11/12, Happy birthday for yesterday. And great post!

Miglo, 12/11/12, Another gem, Patricia. You are a rare talent.
When I hear of Tony Abbott and running I’m always reminded of his dash like a startled gazelle to the door in Parliament House when Craig Thomson crossed the floor.

Patriciawa, 1/11/12, Thanks, Miglo! Yes there are so many lovely instances like that and had I had more time yesterday I would have explored them, particularly that other running metaphor that came up – HITTING THE WALL! But what I wanted to do in response to your acknowledgment of my birthday was to post something here at the Cafe and to thank you for the encouragement you had given me in 2010 when I started writing the odd pome. It was your encouragement and attention at a time when you had your hands full in your own job and with this site which helped me find my way into a new late life career!

Your patient technical help with setting up my polliepomes site where I could collect all the pomes and the comments they received from your readers has resulted in the best reward of all – the PANDORA nomination for the National Archives. As well there are all the shared friendships of the internet, people like Lyn at TPS whose links are such a support and enrichment to all we like minded lefties!

I have slowed down a bit recently, so I can’t keep up a running exchange on a thread any more. This little pome seemed relevant right now and gave me a chance to talk about you. I am sorry that your health has brought early retirement to you, but I hope you realize how simply being more available at the Cafe makes you a great support for would be writers and a great resource and publishing outlet for more established authors like Archie.

So a big thank you to you and to all your readers and commenters who make such a difference to the political atmosphere of Oz.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment