Satima's Blogspot: The Time has Come

Sunday, 25 November 2007

The Time has Come

Sunday, November 25, 2007 |

Posted by Satima Flavell

After eleven and a half years it's high time we had a change of government here in the Land of Oz. I am fairly cynical about politics and politicians of any shade, so I will not expect Shangri-La to manifest any time soon. However, there is always a honeymoon period when a new party takes power, so I hope they get stuck into some of the things they've promised - like improvements to health and education. Of course, they will be up against arguments from the state governments (this country is hopelessly overgoverned, IMO) but they can hardly do any worse than their predecessors:-)

I must admit to feeling a bit of compassion for the ex-PM, if he does indeed lose his seat, and it's looking very much as if he might. An ignominous end, but one that shows how little pollies learn from history. Apparently the only other Aussie PM to lose his seat while holding the Top Job did so because of an arrogant attitude to industrial relations, which is exactly why Johnny got his comuppance.

Our new PM-elect seems to be a decent sort of chap, full of energy and enthusiasm. And we have 5 senators from the Greens party in the senate, which has got to be an improvement. Maybe things will look up under the new regime. I certainly hope so.

And oh, Kevin, if you're reading this, how about a bit of a rise in the pension? I really can't live on $600 a fortnight. You'll be glad to know, however, that I've become involved in one of the last government's initiatives designed to get retirees back into the workforce. Whether or not employers can ever be convinced that people over 50 are worth employing, of course, is another matter altogether!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...: Now that the Coalition government is gone at last, I won't have to make good my threat to move to New Zealand!; Sunday, November 25, 2007
Satima Flavell said...: Good. I would miss you. Although if we'd had the other guys in much longer I might've come with you!; Sunday, November 25, 2007
Bastet said...: Can't say I understand any of it, Satima. But then I wouldn't expect you to understand our bizarre system, that's for sure. I mean in 2000, the loser became president. How's that for ridiculous?

Glad that the Bush lapdog is gone for your sake.

Lynn; Monday, November 26, 2007
Jo said...: I am not political either, but know John Howard has not been popular with Annalou for a long time and it appears she was not alone. We have a Bush lapdog here in Canada too.

I was a retiree in the workforce for 6 years then things became problematical so I quit in high dudgeon, wherever that is.; Monday, November 26, 2007
Satima Flavell said...: High Dudgeon? I expect it's in the Black Country of the West Midlands, where my dad's folks hail from. They have all sorts of funny place names there including a High Arcal, so why not a High Dudgeon as well?[Grin]; Monday, November 26, 2007
Silly Yak Tales said...: It is not much of a honeymoon if you married the wrong one.
In Canada, just like the US, we had no honeymoon as it is bad marriage.

Hopefully this time in Oz it will be a good marriage.

Satima, I wanted to ask you about the pigs and ballet. Perhaps you could teach your pigs to dance the ballet and then let them run the country. I know for a fact pig could run my country better.; Monday, November 26, 2007
Satima Flavell said...: he he - another friend asked if I used to dance in Swine Lake:-) I think our pollies already do that so perhaps they are really piggies who've been enspelled by a wicked witch into thinking they're people. Of course, they manage to convince most of us they are, too:-(; Monday, November 26, 2007
Marilyn Z. Tomlins said...: Anarchism is best. Get rid of all governments.
Marilyn; Monday, November 26, 2007
Satima Flavell said...: If only people were all kind and decent most - if not all - of the time it wouldn't matter what form of government we had because any kind would work. Unfortunately we aren't:-(; Tuesday, November 27, 2007
anudhara rolph said...: I am just glad that we don't have to see John Howard on the tv all the time any more - that in itself is a good outcome. Though I was surprised to find that I felt for him loosing his seat! Yes Satima us pensioners definately need a rise.; Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Jo said...: Pensioners everywhere need a raise. It ticks me off to see our politicians awarding themselves raises of $40 odd thousand a year and we get less than that to live on.; Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Satima Flavell said...: Yeah - maybe we should start an International League for Pensioners! Pretty soon, they are going to have to start noticing us because within a decade we will constitute a large percentage of the electoral roll here in Oz and, I guess, in many other countries as well. The crazy thing is, governments admit that if you earn less than half the average weekly wage, you are at the poverty line, yet they pay their pensioners about a quarter of it.[sigh] And it's we single women of advancing years who suffer most, since so many of us found ourselves single again and unemployable in our forties and fifties.

OK, off the soap box now:-); Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Jo said...: OK I agree, lets make it an international League. Actually there is such a thing in North America, Canadian Association for Retired Persons or CARP and of course in the States it is AARP. They deal with all kinds of things for the older citizens although I don't ever remember them fighting for increased pensions.; Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Popular pages

About Me

My books

Buy The Talismans

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance

Follow me on Twitter

Share a link on Twitter

For Readers, Writers & Editors

Interviews with authors

My Blog List

Favourite Sites

Blog Archive

Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong, Australia

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've Lived - Sydney

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night

Inner Peace Blog

Versatile Blogger Award

Fabulous Blog Award

Search This Blog

The Time has Come

13 comments:

Some reviews of The Dagger of Dresnia

Goodreads reviews for The Dagger of Dresnia

Followers