It’s been a big week of Twitter outrage and #auspol on Crikey’s socials. Let’s rewind to some of the week’s crowning moments.
Can Lambie be trusted?
It appears we’re once again relying on Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie to be the voice of reason and block the Liberal Party’s proposed university fee hike. But when we asked Crikey readers if Lambie could be counted upon to call out Education Minister Dan Tehan for his bitter attack on the university sector, the resounding answer was “no”.
In the words of one reader, “she talks tough, delivers nought”, while others drew comparisons to Lambie and One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson, believing she’d be easily talked around by the Coalition.
#WhereIsIta?
As the ABC confronted another grim round of job cuts, the buzz on social media was around ABC Chair Ita Buttrose and where exactly she’s been hiding. With “Where is Ita?” trending, we tweeted at Buttrose, asking her to fess up. But like her esteemed ABC colleagues, we were met with silence.
However, it appears that Buttrose may have been championing the ABC behind the scenes. This morning The Sydney Morning Herald published a story claiming Buttrose had sent a strongly worded letter to Communications Minister Paul Fletcher over the handling of the cuts. In the letter, Buttrose reportedly accused the MP of lying about ABC’s efforts to collaborate with SBS.
Morrison mimics Trump’s playbook
Prime Minister Scott Morrison showed just how little he really thinks of the national broadcaster yesterday when he lied through his teeth, claiming there have been no cuts to the ABC.
As usual, the internet was quick to call the PM out on his BS.
Cheap blows to the ABC
And because Twitter is filled with vitriolic, faceless trolls who revel in other people’s misfortune #defundtheabc has started trending. The likes of Mark Latham are absolutely jubilant that 250 people have lost their jobs, responding to the news in a particularly dirtbag way:
Sebastian’s star factor
Ex-Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian is the latest Coalition press conference prop, accompanying the PM as he announced the much-anticipated (and much-too-late) package for the arts.
Twitter users were irate, labelling Sebastian a “Liberal stooge” and no better than former TV presenter and current adviser to Scott Morrison, Scotty Cam.
Sky News was quick to label the singer “cancelled”. While Sebastian rushed to Twitter to apologise to his fellow artists, he also clarified that his appearance wasn’t meant to be political and that he has “no input into where the money goes”.
Disorder of Australia
Finally, it appears we may have broken Crikey readers’ brains by asking you to vote on the most outrageous Order of Australia recipient. For many, there were simply too many options:
In the end, it was former prime minister Tony Abbott who won a small margin over ex-speaker Browyn Bishop. She was followed by former senator, Labor right heavyweight and Sky News commentator Graham Richardson. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd placed fourth, receiving a measly 3.9% of the vote.
There’s people saying Guy Sebastian was picked as a ‘friendly’ celebrity because of a Hillsong connection (he’s a long time member?). I haven’t the journalism skills to research more thoroughly, might be worth a factcheck/peek.
For fans of King Morrison and those who have been duped into believing he really is an effective PM, Guy Sebastian is a good choice. For the critics of King Morrison the Stupendous, look behind the facade and it is really easy to find the manipulation of an electorate that is, to be blunt, utterly brain dead. Scott Cam was about King Morrison buying the support of the most visible tradie – as a means of currying favour with Australia’s tradies – or buying their votes.
Guy Sebastian is, as mentioned, a member of Hillsong, a talented and nice guy, so how was he going to say no to King Morrison. The aim is to dupe the arts and entertainment sector that Morrison was always looking out for them and feeling their pain; he just waited for the “right time” (yet another lie – musicians needed income support from the beginning of March. It is yet another example of Morrison using marketing tools to distract. I recall when Myer were planning to list on the ASX. I sort of pondered if the shares would be a good buy, but as soon as I saw Jennifer Hawkins being pushed as the “face” of the listing, I realised that the company’s aim was to distract us with “razzmatazz” and get the public excited.
Sebastian, unfortunately for him, has been used as a patsy to distract from the fact that Morrison didn’t care in the least for the pain of those in the arts and entertainment industry when countless artists, musicians and associated workers were totally abandoned under JobKeeper – and deliberately, since those sectors that missed out made repeated representations to Government.
This is a measure of just how truly awful and self-interested Morrison is – he, like Trump, cares only about boosting his support ratings so he gets re-elected (does anyone seriously think he planning to call an early election to cash in on his popularity?). The greater tragedy really is that people ARE duped by a lying, petulant, belligerent bully. My wife is an intelligent and educated woman – including some economics, but even she fell for King Morrison’s lie that the ABC is actually getting more funding not less – oh, she said, the ABC funding just isn’t being indexed! Like the rantings of the Hansonites, as long as there is a tiny kernel of something that sounds truthful, people assume that what is predominantly a lie is true.
Lambie? Give me a break. If Australia’s welfare as a nation is dependant upon her, we are in more trouble than we think. She, like King Morrison the Chameleon, has invented a new, caring, persona for herself, but the one thing neither of them can do is artificially boost their intellect and Lambie is not smart enough to realise how lacking she is in the brains department. She might be dogged, but she struggles to walk and chew gum at the same time.
Did we ever find out what was the overriding national security issue that swung Lambie’s vote on the Medivac issue? Didn’t she promise us she would reveal it all in good time? Still waiting.
It worked for Trump in the beginning but no longer hopefully. It will probably work for Morrison too if he doesn’t do it too often. It doesn’t make it right in fact It is morally despicable – not only does he lie, he does it on purpose because he knows there will be no consequences.
Social watch – what a great idea. Looking forward to reading more instalments.