This week the government of Australia really threw us all a curve ball. In reality it was just a bunch of old white guys throwing their weight around, because someone has to be accountable for the latest dip in popularity.
So basically the Liberal government have been a bit uneasy lately. Things haven’t been going well. Our former PM, Malcolm Turnbull, was never really popular with your everyday Australians. Things haven’t been all sunshine and rainbows in Parliament house and this week, it came to a head.
The supreme leader was challenged, by none other than Peter Dutton. Who? Yeah, I know right. This bloke was the minister for Home Affairs. What’s that? Nobody really knows. Anyway, it was basically a mutiny.
Old mate Mal was challenged by Peter ‘potato’ Dutton (he just looks like a potato okay? Cue the memes) and he actually SURVIVED! Is that even possible? Apparently it is. I mean, it was a close vote, there was only a few in it really.
For a grand total of 24 hours things looked solid. Life as we know it went on. But Potato was not satisfied. No. It wasn’t enough. He had to have another crack. He picked the phone up, made a few phone calls and gathered enough courage and support to challenge the leadership again.
Then, the leadership was up for grabs. A few hours, social media frenzies and a couple of amazing memes later, we had a new Prime Minister. Scott Morrison. Biggest WTF moment if I ever saw one. This was like when Steven Bradbury competed at the Winter Olympics and came out with gold all because everyone fell over in front of him.
You want to talk about the underdog. Our treasurer got the cookies. Wow, did not pick that one. I had my money on Julie Bishop. Imagine the hashtags. #JBish, ya girl. What happened Potato Pete? You challenged, did all the hard yards and then someone came out of nowhere and stole your thunder?
Basically like in uni or school, when you do group assignments. You do all the work and then the laziest person out of the entire group, who often turned up hungover and whose input was restricted purely to non-committal jerks of the head, and occasional grunts of agreement, gets all the credit?
Is this even real life? What went down behind those closed doors? Who even knows what is happening in this country anymore. We have one of the worst droughts in modern history, if not ever. Offshore detention centres garnering the attention of the UN, and the whole world is watching it unfold.
And then one of our most famous landmarks is literally dying (Nemo is about to find himself homeless, R.I.P Great Barrier Reef) and our government is fighting amongst themselves, with no regard for the Australians who pay their salary.
These are the people the country elected to run Australia and this is the best they can do? I’ve never been one to care about politics. You vote for the lesser of two evils. That’s the reality of the situation. If a snap election was ever called for, this might just be it.
I’m sure there is more to the story than what I’ve just skimmed over. But, this is what it looks like to everyday Aussies out there. That’s what they need to remember; Nobody cares about the intricacies of the situation. What we see is an unstable government, unable to support a Prime Minister to one full term (yeah Labor, looking at you too. Kevin remembers when you knifed him in the back Julia, you don’t get off that easy) and then telling us that it’s all gravy. It’s not.
And we are not impressed. Don’t believe us? Check out the memes Sco-Mo (nice nickname, Prime Minister). We elect you to run the country, not run it into the ground. Big difference. So get it sorted, figure it out. This isn’t about popularity anymore; it’s about not making this amazing country the laughing stock of the world.
A country that right now is on its knees because Mother Nature doesn’t think we need rain; Who seems to have lost its heart because we don’t see anything wrong with a 12 year old girl setting herself on fire in Nauru, we just turn a blind eye to it because you say, ‘they’re a security risk’.
We are about to lose something that is synonymous with being Australian and that brings in millions of dollars a year in tourists cashola to local businesses, because politicians in charge don’t seem to believe global warming is a ‘thing’.
Even though scientists are telling us the Great Barrier Reef is dying before our eyes. If you are okay with this Sco-mo…maybe we do need a new government after all. Because as a tax paying citizen, I don’t think it’s good enough. Not even a bit.