Inside there's a green-tainted grin listening to the world's smallest violin

Is it not deeply satisfying that now, we who have been the scorn and previously inconsequential voice of protest to the unending prevalence of majority rule by the largest minority group: known only as the Baby Boomers, should now sit taciturn for one of the first times in our lives? Oh the joys that fill my heart to see a victory for those who wish to see a future in this world; not one of continued economic growth or 'rationalism', but one of mere existence. That those who have most profitted off the continued exploitation of the world's resources, and neglected to see how future generations will be fit to profit equally to how they have, that now they should be taking to the streets, whinging and whining. To filling the galleries of our national parliament, to interupt those democratically elected, like children who throw a tantrum when something doesn't go their way even though it was a result of their own actions. Oh how I laugh when I read the newspaper, and see in the media that "Australians" are unhappy with this "unpopular" tax, because this group of "middle-aged" (as put in The Australian) has-beens are somehow truly representative of all perspectives in this country. To this my heart is now truly very glad.

Of the bogan oldies of "no consequence" that rallied outside Anthony Albanese's office, to whom he so valiantly confronted as the mindless rabble that they were; of the old ditties who repeatedly interrupted Question Time with their "No Carbon Tax" chants, marched out of the galleries still chanting like little cry babies: I have watched as much of the news cycle as I could this past week and oh how I have soaked up every bit of it! How he who laughs last laughs hardest! This IS democracy people... Many may claim it is not, and they are the same many who have always held the majority of voting power in this country. I am not talking about Lefties or Rights: It's baby boomers. And for once, through the power of democracy, they find themselves no longer holding the balance of power in either house of parliament. Like squealing little piglets, our golden oldies, the majority of shareholders in businesses who own our carbon-intensive industries, cry foul at their lost stranglehold on Australia: how will they finance their "well-deserved" retirement now? Not only have they lost billions in "hard-earned" superannuation in recent years, but now they've lost their grip on Australian politics too. What is the world coming to?!

I do not deny that this new carbon-reduction scheme is not without its flaws - so is the nature of compromise in almost every way. Though this entry is not here to assess the pro's and con's of the scheme. It is merely to make an observation at how the tables can turn, and how the green hippies once the only typical protesters in the streets, are now replaced with those bordering retirement; Those who have 'earned' their retirement through laissez faire policies, who have lost their superannuation exploits through failing economic liberalisation, and can't bare the thought of leaving a planet with any hope for future generations before their time is up.

What's that you hear? It's the sound of the world's smallest violin playing sweet music to my ears!

...in pursuit of freedom

Standing, check. 10:36. He nods at me as he passes. I am an oddity. Perhaps I've been left behind? Turning, I take a deep breath. Made colder by the wind. Vibrations as I begin to roll. Did I do my wheels up properly? Too late for that!

The wind slows me. Overtaken again. I push on. Silence. My nostrils flare. Breathing. You cannot feel fear when your heart is glad. A childish happiness; planning and foresight is the folly of adults.

Names. Names of places. Somewhere... Nowhere... Like time, I go. I cannot see behind. I am free. For so long I have pursued this feeling... The world, now, I care for not.

I feel free.

Europe falling into economic crisis; Australia a world away...

So nearly a week on from the release of the details about Australia's new carbon tax, and not much has changed. Public opinion is no more fond of it than before hearing of the details, Julia Gillard is in no way more liked than she was before, and Australians everywhere, from all walks of life will be worse off.

The entire scenario I have just outlined is the fault of our Prime Minister (as well as the notion that our society always feels worse off than ever!) If you wanted to take advice from anyone about how to sell something politically, Julia Gillard is not the person with whom you should seek such advice.

I am already converted, and was so before the details of the tax were released. I didn't believe that any member of the public would be more than slightly worse off as this would have dire consequences for any government seeking re-election EVER. But when I tuned in to watch Q&A on Monday night, Silver Fox hosting Red Fox, I was appalled. There was one person early in the show who made a comment moreso than asked a question, as to how disappointed she was with how the message had been sold. And to justify this statement, Red Fox gave a response that equally meant nothing. I sat there frustrated, the entire hour, at how Gillard just waffled on...

First of all, Ms Gillard, the Australian public aren't interested in having you tell them what is in their best interests, or how this is the right package for them. You need to CONVINCE them of this. People don't trust you, haven't you realised that yet? Telling them what you think is best doesn't help this.

Secondly, using the words and phrases "carbon pollution", "positive energy future" , "only 0.7% of CPI" doesn't mean anything to most people. And saying them over and over again makes them mean even less. Are you saying these buzz words because you want to sound knowledgable on the subject? Or because you are afraid of saying something wrong that can and will be used against you? Either way, these phrases are not cutting through. Want to know why?

Third, you may think you're answering peoples' questions, but you're not addressing the underlying concerns which prompted them to ask in the first place. 1) People are worried about their jobs, and what will happen if they lose them. 2) They're worried about how the price of electricity, food, etc will increase and how this will affect them. 3) Many don't believe that you had a 'mandate' to introduce the tax... I could go on... But you need to address these concerns else noone will change their mind. Admit that jobs will be lost, even give statistics or estimates, but then counter them with how many jobs will be made and allow them all to compare this. Tell them how when the dirtiest coal power stations are shutdown, that new projects will be aimed to be developed in the same vicinity to allow re-training for jobs in the new industries. Reassure people that they can transition from a job in a polluting industry to a new job in a new non-polluting industry in the same location. Tell people that they are welcome to keep using their electricity as normal, but if they can manage to reduce their electricity consumption, they'll be less affected by the carbon tax, or potentially, if they cut their usage enough, will be better off with the compensation measures and actually MAKE money from the scheme?! And not having a mandate...

As NotGoodSheppard wrote in his blog yesterday, not only does the government of the day not legally need a mandate to introduce a policy, but have people forgotten that the Labor Party DIDN'T win the election??? Gillard formed government under agreements with three non-Labor politicians?!? In accepting a formalised alliance with the Greens to share governemnt, also accepted as part of the agreement to a specific condition (paragraph 6.1(a) of the formal agreement) that the government would form a multi-party committee to address pricing carbon; a committee which would be funded by the cabinet committee. This was the compromise of forming government. And THIS is how democracy works.

Aside from all of the details of the carbon tax, many people (including NotGoodSheppard, as well as an article in the Weekend Australian) are suggesting that the public need a carrot, not just a stick, to help the changes to occur in reducing emissions. I, too, can see the logic in this, and I think in some ways, the point I (briefly) mentioned earlier about highlighting how households can actually 'gain' money through the compensation packages by radically reducing their power bills (as one very specific example) can be made to be seen as a carrot (ie. You use less electricity, we give you money). However, I think it is hard to actually think of too many ways to offer carrots. Do you offer them as tax incentives? As some kind of credit system? I don't know. One thing I do know though, is that the continued scepticism of the public towards the carbon tax may ultimately do everyone (well, nearly) a big favour. Here's why...

Most people will tell you that the cost of living is worse than ever. This new tax will only make this worse. Correct? This has a flow on effect of reducing consumer spending as people feel they don't have as much to spend. Continued flow on effect is the RBA cut interest rates to encourage increased spending. Anyone with a mortgage will now have more $$$ in their pockets that they would previously have paid the banks, and this, my friends, is essentially the same as getting a payrise. IF, as Westpac has predicted, interest rates fall by 100 base points over the next twelve months, anyone who has a mortgage and is currently estimated to be worse off by the introduction of this carbon tax will now be better off due to the impact their reduced spending is having on the economy (along with various other economically contractionary forces happening around the world - but I hope you're starting to see my point).

Thus, in saying ALL of this (and I apologise, I have written a lot more than I planned on writing), the fiddly argument about exactly how much more toilet paper, or bananas, or electricity will cost each income bracket each year is flawed. There are far more influencial decisions, made in the global economy, or by the Reserve Bank, that have a far greater impact on the average household budget than the carbon tax will. So can we please stop whinging about how damaging this new tax will be to our hip pockets, and start re-addressing the reason we are even implementing it. If only the PM would start telling people the things they actually want to know about it...

Awake in my dreams...

Cold and dreary are my dreams of late. Sitting on a polished wooden floor. The room dark. The hum of the heater struggles to drown out the whisking of cars passing outside. Otherwise the silence would be deafening. The beams of red-lit signs creep through the closed blinds. Clothes outstretched across the room. My bed tonight. This is what I wanted. I’m still asleep, yet when will I wake?

I have spent the last month living out of a suitcase. Yet the months preceding this have felt much the same. Why is it, when you look back at the last six months of your life, it always looks tumultuous? Like it went nothing as to how you planned it? I feel I can always look back twelve months to where I was then, and to where I thought I would be in twelve months time, and observe just how wrong my predictions were. I am sure I am not the only one to feel this. I would make a lousy economist; worse a meteorologist!

Since making the decision to leave Vet, assisted by Centrelink’s decision not to assist me anymore, I find myself enduring endless misgivings about the roads I am choosing; the roads not chosen. Do not get me wrong: I have wanted this move to Hobart for quite some time, and am not sad for the decision to move here. Not yet. Rather, I have misgivings about things I am leaving. They are not possessions, or even places. They are feelings, and experiences.

Being back in Brisbane these last few weeks was enough to make me realise I no longer wanted to live in there. However, life has a way of producing random occurrences which remind you of things you’re choosing to ignore. I feel I am investing more energy into the things I choose to pursue these days, yet I find that my stay is always short. I miss vet, and I miss Roma. The latter I never thought I would say, but I think it’s because of the time, the energy and the effort that I have invested in these things; trying to make them work even when I know they’re not the perfect fit. I find I’ve just been getting settled in when my time is up to leave them… when the time comes to move on and try the next phase. I’ve met more people who I want to keep knowing. People who have changed my attitudes, changed my way of thinking and my way of feeling. Why must I leave these people behind too?

Ok Troy, so what’s the point. There is no point. I wasn’t trying to make a point specifically, but I just feel that for all the effort, I almost gain so much, but then don’t because of decisions and circumstance.

I am discovering that the price for thinking too much is really very expensive…

Over-hyphenation, self-indulged nostalgia and a critique of the Rise and Fall of the Greens

It was the days of sitting in an under-nourished, under-loved and under-appreciated classroom; under-valued, and what would ultimately lead to its eventual decommissioning. Sitting within a room half-filled, or half-emptied, of other wet-nosed and (over-socialised) tired-eyed students engorging themselves with their own self-existence and self-understanding. A middle-aged American-accented woman patrolling the single aisle that divided the room over-simplistically, deftly carving the class into acute divisions of opinions with subtle yet oblique questions that drew answers and new understanding for where we all sat on a densely-shaded fence of grey; bereft of black or ever white.

Such a road of self-discovery for my own political conscience is one I cling to fondly, but also one I find I seldom wander far from at any given point in life. Despite a sport-like interest that oft rivals even the most sport-crazed of my gender, it remains a complex path and one that has in many ways filled a void; hanging on the walls of the mind in a place usually pre-occupied with a typically over-zealous and (logically speaking) unfounded faith in some typical religious path. While I do have such views, albeit atypical, they sit along what can only be known as 'the road less travelled' by my consciousness. ~ I am still awaiting the arrival of a Spring yet capable of allowing such a seed to grow...

Regardless of such rants and nostalgia, continuing a new tradition of hours spent on a Saturday morning, squandering (relaxing?) my morning away over one-too-many cups or mugs of coffee, I felt the need to sit and write about the ascention of the Greens in our political system, and the predicament they now find themselves in.

As someone who understands himself as sitting somewhere to the left, with an idealisation of utilitarian extremism, yet acquiescent of a pinch of liberalism and a crack of libertarianism on an otherwise non-conservative palate; I support the Greens in a broad sense. However, recent events, including their increasing numbers in the two houses of parliament, of decision-making power within the government and the media scrutiny they are now finding themselves enduring - I fear for their survival in this Democrat-esc political climate. While I do acknowledge, and agree with, other commentary which points out that the native position on the extreme left differentiates them from the centrist-position of the Democrats, it also means that there is a need for them to undertake a different method for ensuring their survival rather than perceiving themselves as safe from the factors leading to the demise of Australia's last 'third major party'.

While I feel that the Greens can remain a very left party, they need to learn new tact for dealing with the media that removes their extremist rhetoric from their repertoire. They will not survive alone by stealing supporters only from the left of the fence: they must learn how to appeal to those on the right who can be agreeable to their ideas. While conservatives may be a lost cause, there are options available for inticing liberals and libertarians to their cause. Following roads which track economic management, business opportunity, and user-pays prospects can all be an irresistable lure to the right. But how do they achieve this?

The Greens top-ranked henchman Christine Milne does no favours in constantly promoting an activist-like, all-or-nothing long-term outcome approach, soaked up by the media and trumpeted around the halls of parliament and loungerooms alike: It has the scent of radicalism which falls kindly into the hands of an ultra-conservative opposition who can easily appeal to a conservative-inclined burgeoning and aging public. Coming out and saying that the coal industry needs to be shutdown doesn't help public policy, and it certainly doesn't help public debate... So stop and think about the possibilities! Think like a business, not a Green. Think like a conservative, and the status quo. Think about how you would survive with these policies, and then suggest your options to them as ideas. Let them abhor such ideas, only to then remould them as their own, original ideas (assuming you had some good alternatives for them)...

Yes, its great to say this, but what can I suggest? The most simple idea I can contrive, would still cost money, but the first to act will truly cash in on the early worm. It is quite obvious these days, that even should something go wrong from here, and the carbon tax and ETS fail, there will eventually be a price on carbon, and a cost to carbon emitters. If I were a smart business man in an industry that was likely to be adversely affected by such a regulatory incursion into the market, I would look at profiting from this instead. How could I change my business to incorporate the alternatives that are likely to be the 'new future'? I currently spend millions or billions of dollars on iron ore, on mining activities, etc - profits that I currently make are likely to diminish under such a new system. How can we redirect this to an area of the economy currently floundering with prospect and potential and become the early leader in such a field? Hello??? The whole point of introducing an economy-based mechanism (yes, a tax is still economy-oriented) is to encourage innovation. The sad thing is, businesses do not want to innovate... it is cheaper to wage media campaigns against the government. Yet if they spent this money on making new money, they may get the edge they are always chasing in their own market. Grow some charisma and convince your shareholders at your next over-glutenous meeting that this is the path to take??? Not only do we lack real political leadership these days, but leadership even within business is absent ...that's just one little bear's opinion anyway...

The Greens need to now mature as a party. They need to consolidate their newly-gained ground, work at appeasing their radical elements and start appealing to new subscribers that can cement their future as more than a viable alternative...