Posts Tagged ‘NBN’

The Mating Season - Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Fly on the Wall at Friday Mash


Guy the Friday Mash Superfly was perched on a wall in the prime minister’s office when Julia and Wayne met with Bob, Rob and Tony, the three independents. Here is his exclusive report on this historic event.

‘Gentlemen’ said Julia ‘I’m sure you understand that the future of this great nation depends on us forming a stable coalition government and preventing Mr Rabbit and his mob from becoming a plague in rural Australia’

‘What concessions are you prepared to offer us?’ asked Rob

‘And how about doing a nude centrefold in our local paper?’ asked Bob

‘I beg your pardon’ said Julia

‘Only joking’ said Bob

‘But we couldn’t consider’ said Tony ‘going into a coalition with any party which wants to apply an ETS to farmers’

‘Well’ said Julia ‘of course we will be prepared to discuss that issue in good faith with you but Penny Wong assures me…’

‘Penny Wong’ exclaimed Bob ‘she’s not still around is she? I thought she got lost in Copenhagen’

‘Not just Penny’ said Julia ‘but also Peter Garrett will sit down with you to consider…’

‘Oh shit’ said Bob ‘don’t tell me Peter Garrett’s still stuffing things up. If he comes up to my electorate they’ll go batts. And you’re not considering an alliance with the Greens are you?’

‘As a matter of fact’ said Julia ‘Bob Brown and I have been having some mutually encouraging discussions’

‘Well if you want us’ said Bob ‘you can forget them. I’d get on better with red politburo members from China than green senators from Tasmania. What’s Kevin up to?’

‘Following his quite inspirational contribution to our election campaign’ said Julia ‘Kevin is preparing himself to take on a senior role in my cabinet’

‘You have to be joking’ said Bob ‘you’re not seriously considering having that wanker in your cabinet are you? He couldn’t organise a leak in a toilet. And who was the braindead buffoon who came up with that mining tax?’

‘Well actually’ said Wayne ‘I’m proud to tell you that Ken Henry and I are responsible for that landmark economic reform’

‘Are you mad?’ asked Bob ‘The only decent jobs in my electorate are in mining. What are the miners supposed to do instead, build thousands of bloody windmills?’

‘And we don’t think your population policy’s sustainable’ said Tony ‘We need all the asylum seekers we can get to achieve sustainable regional development. It’s no good sending them to Sydney. If that state Labor government stays in much longer it will be much more humane to send them all back to Afghanistan’

‘I get so tired flying backwards and forwards to Canberra’ said Bob ‘what about transferring federal parliament to Charters Towers?’

‘I’ll consider it’ said Julia ‘if it’s the only way I can remain as prime minister. Thank you gentlemen for a most encouraging meeting. There are so many points of agreement we can take forward into our discussions next week. And are there any final comments you’d like to make?’

‘Yes’ said Bob ‘about the allocation of ministries. Rob would like Regional Development, Tony would like non-Sustainable Population and Immigration and I’ll take Climate Change so I can stuff that ETS for once and for all’

‘Anything else?’ asked Julia

‘Yes’ said Bob ‘that broadband network’s a great idea. Do I need a computer to connect with it?’

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Return of the Prodigal - Thursday, August 12th, 2010

Kevin was the most profligate of political prodigals. His reckless spending spread like wildfire through Green Loans, pink batts, white elephants, COLAs, a national broadband network and stimulus packages of every possible sort and rort.

And as if that wasn’t enough there was another pressing reason for the Labor Party to cap and trade him. He was a prissy pompous pain-in-the-arse control freak whose poll numbers were falling faster than a worm when Tony’s talking.

The voice of the Labor Party’s faceless men began to be heard, although no-one could tell where it was coming from. They insisted that Kevin be dumped and prevailed upon sister Julia to do the dirty, without so much as a sailor’s farewell or a foreign ministry.

There was much rejoicing throughout the land and the sisterhood claimed PM Julia as their own.

All too soon however PM Julia started behaving like a graduate from the Joan Kirner School of Political Pantomime. She rang the wrong number in East Timor, resolved the resources tax issue with the miner part of the industry not the major and decided that a Citizens Assembly would make more sense on climate change than Penny Wong and Peter Garrett; at least she got that right.

Her crucial mistake was failing to foresee that although they rated Kevin the most pusillanimous of prodigals voters would be really pissed off with her for rissoling him because they were savouring the prospect of doing it themselves.

Kevin slipped away to the US because in comparison with the ultra profligate Obama he’s merely regarded there like someone who got carried away at a David Jones Sale.

He got offered a gig at the world palace of prodigality, the United Nations, but he was not to be swayed form his ultimate dream of perfecting prodigality in Australia.

Upon Kevin’s return the surgeons did their best to ensure he wouldn’t have the gall to do any damage to Julia’s election campaign. Despite frantic efforts by the Labor Party they still haven’t been able to get hold of Mark Latham to do the same to him.

Meanwhile Julia made a shocking discovery. Halfway through the election campaign she found she wasn’t herself. Then she had an even more shocking epiphany. The voters in Queensland preferred going in the wrong direction with Kevin than the right direction with her even if she became somebody else.

She perceived that the only way she could hang on to the PM’s gig was by bringing the prodigal Kevin back into the fold and persuading him to support her by agreeing he could make even more prodigal promises in this campaign than in 07..

And so the prodigal returned to rejoicing in the Coalition while the faceless men in the Labor Party lost even more face.

Julia is confronting the dilemma that her saviour hates her guts. And the prodigal Kevin has still to make it clear whether he’s returned to secure his own seat rather than save her arse.

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A Fourboding - Thursday, June 10th, 2010

Fly on the Wall at Friday Mash

This week Guy the Friday Mash Superfly took the relatively short flight to Kevin’s office in Canberra where he perched on a wall during a ‘kitchen cabinet’ meeting with Julia, Wayne and Lindsay. Here is his exclusive report.

What the f..k is going on?’ asked Kevin ‘you told me this super profits tax is a no-brainer and now there’s shit flying everywhere’

‘Don’t panic’ said Wayne ‘it’s only those greedy mining billionaires causing all the fuss. They’re spending squillions on their disgraceful advertising campaign’

‘It’s an absolute outrage’ said Kevin ‘they’ve become a branch of the Liberal Party. Tell the unions we need an extra ten million to support our campaign’

‘Did you know’ said Julia ‘that some commentators are already comparing our super profits tax campaign to John Howard’s Work Choices campaign’

‘They must be mad’ said Kevin

‘Wait a minute though’ said Lindsay ‘the super profits tax could cause workers to lose their jobs just like Work Choices’

‘You’ve got to be joking’ said Wayne ‘All that bullshit from Xstrata and BHP about canning new mining projects and firing people is an attempt to blackmail us into backing down’

‘Quite right’ said Kevin ‘The super profits tax is my policy masterpiece’

‘I thought it was Ken Henry’s idea’ said Julia ‘converted into a brilliant policy initiative by Wayne’

‘Whom do you think Ken Henry got the idea from?’ ask Kevin

‘Well me actually’ said Lindsay ‘but the way things are going Kevin you’re quite welcome to claim ownership’

‘Thank you’ said Kevin ‘Actually I got the idea from a communist policy manifesto in China’

‘Let’s move on’ said Wayne ‘What the hell can we do? If this tax falls over my budget goes down the tubes’

‘I think Kevin should do an address to the nation’ said Wayne

‘With respect’ said Lindsay ‘the reason we’re in this mess is that half the people don’t believe Kevin and the other half change channels as soon as they see him’

‘What happens’ asked Julia ‘if the mining companies decide to pack up and leave Australia?’

‘My budget will go down the tubes’ said Wayne

‘The situation would be really desperate’ said Lindsay ‘we’d have to consider reintroducing Work Choices’

‘Look’ said Kevin ‘I’ll talk to Twiggy Forrest and his mates and make them understand how a forty percent profits tax will help drive growth and investment in the mining industry’

‘Look’ said Lindsay ‘I know we say that in our advertising campaign but it doesn’t really make any sense’

‘Have you seen our latest poll numbers?’ asked Julia ‘They’re in the tank’

‘Don’t tell me’ said Kevin ‘that I’m behind Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister’

‘No’ said Julia ‘things are not that desperate. Give it another few weeks’

‘There’s no doubt it’s hurting our re-election chances’ said Lindsay’

‘To say nothing of my budget’ said Wayne

‘I’ve got a great idea’ said Kevin ‘let’s scrap the National Broadband Network and open our own iron ore mine instead which is owned by all Australians’

‘What if Aborigines hold the land rights?’ asked Lindsay

‘That would really stuff my budget’ said Wayne

‘Oh f..k your budget’ said Kevin

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