Subject:
A main stream journalist speaking from experience and common sense
By Mike O’Connor, journalist
The Year that was ...or should NOT havebeen.................
One doesn’t like to speak ill of thedead but now that the Year of Our Lord 2023 has been consigned to history’scemetery, I can safely say that on New Year’s Eve I was glad to celebrate itspassing.
It was without doubt one of the moredivisive years in recent history thanks to a referendum that we never had tohave.
Twelve months ago we were warned a Novote would send a “bad message” to the world. That was the first of the manyinsults to our intelligence that we had to endure. It was left to Ray Martin tokick the final own goal for the Yes case by suggesting that the reason peoplecouldn’t understand it was because they were either stupid or dickheads.
It was the year when our faith in ouronce treasured Flying Kangaroo crashed and burnt as CEO Alan Joyce slipped outthe back door lugging a massive remuneration package.
Next month it is in federal court facinghundreds of millions of dollars in fines for allegedly indulging in false,misleading or deceptive conduct in selling tickets for “ghost” flights. How wasit ever allowed to come to this?
The ABC had a shocker, sacking 40 peoplefrom its news division including its effective and non-left leaning Canberrapolitical editor Andrew Probyn and then proudly announcing that it was hiring“cultural guidance advisers.”
What does a cultural guidance adviserdo? According to managing director David Anderson they “connect content makerswith appropriate resources to make culturally informed decisions.” You couldn’tmake it up if you tried.
Meanwhile ABC staff continue to pushpolitical agendas with headlines such as ”ABC Sacks Summer Host Overanti-Israel Activism” exposing a serious but all too familiar failure ofmanagement to manage.
There were brighter moments such as whenVictorians heard from the government that by banning them from cooking withgas, they’d be saving $1700 a year.
The point was then made that as theaverage gas bill was less than $1700, it was difficult to see how people couldsave more than they were spending.
Across the Tasman, cracks appeared inthe woke wall as Kiwis realised that Saint Jacinda Ardern’s much vauntedlegacy, she who performed the miracle of having a child AND a job, was amirage.
Its new conservative government has toldteachers to focus on literacy and numeracy, restore balance to the historycurriculum and ban transgender indoctrination from the classroom.
The government will introduce mandatorysentences and boot camps for hardened young offenders, public signage must beprimarily in English rather than Maori and plans for a Maori court system,health system, upper house or parliament, the protection of Maori seats inparliament and compulsory Maori history in schools have been ditched.
Albo, take note.
Back home, Federal Energy Minister ChrisBowen took off to trumpet Australia’s net zero, fossil fuel free future at theCOP28 **fest in the UAE. We can only hope he was out of the room when COPpresident Sultan Al Jaber said a phase out of fossil fuels would not allowsustainable development “unless you want to take the world back to caves.”
He also said Adnoc, the national oilcompany, was increasing production to a billion barrels a day and by 2050 wouldstill be pumping 850 million barrels a day. Over to you, Chris.
Back in Oz, visiting American authorSarah Churchwell said Australians needed to “have a conversation with ourselvesabout our colorism and the internalised white supremacy that Hollywood hasindoctrinated us with.” I knew there was something I’d forgotten to do.
There was one event in 2023 that nowcasts its dark shadow into 2024 and it’s the ongoing and increasinganti-Semitism now on display in our cities.
I never thought I’d see such mindlesshatred on display in our streets, people chanting “from the river to the sea”and urging the violent destruction of the Jewish state and all who live withinit.
A new year of itself prospers hope andas we wish each other health and happiness in 2024 it is worth remembering thatto continue to enjoy a life that is the envy of the world, it falls to us allto do what we can to make sure it stays that way, not only for us but for ourchildren to follow.
