The LNP’s Septimana Horribilis
What an absolutely horrible
week it has been for Tony Abbott and his band of not-so merry ministers.
Vivien Fleming walks us through a candid recap of their comedic
episodes.
As a loyal subject of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, the Prime
Minister Tony Abbott should be conversant with Betty Windsor’s summation
of the year 1992:
“1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with
undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic
correspondents, it has turned out to be an Annus Horribilis“.
It should be no surprise, therefore, that our Monarchist leader and
champion of the return to imperial times, Sir Pository of Wisdom, should
have his own mini Annus Horribilis - the Septimana Horribilis. Defined by the Latin and Greek Roots website Vocabulary Lesson Plans as “a seven day period of horror, of shakiness, of the inability to act because of physical or emotional unsteadiness”, Septimana Horribilis is an entirely apt description for the last seven days of Liberal/National Party Government disorder.
Starting early in the week with George Brandis’ continued defense of
the indefensible – the proposal repeal of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act,
the Liberal’s fortunes fell into a mire within 24 hours when Sir
Pository announced on Tuesday that the Repeal was now off the table. We
all needed to draw together as “Team Australia”, the Prime Minster
argued, as he attempted to deflect criticism and garner support for an
equally as ridiculous proposal – that of telco’s retaining metadata for
two years in the “fight” against international terrorism.
Image courtesy of www.veooz.com
Sir Pository was quick to advise the Australian public that he first
advised radio shock jock, Andrew Bolt, of the decision to sideline
changes to s18C. It was important for the public to know that Sir
Pository is indeed beholden to his media masters and the formulators of
government policy. Who Abbott failed to advise, however, was the
Telecommunications Minister Malcolm Turnball, who’s portfolio pertains
to the S18C substitute – the metadata retention. And didn’t it show.
Both Sir Pository and Brandis appeared on television outlining the new
scheme’s proposals. They both contradicted themselves and confirmed to
the Australian public that they are electronic luddites.
Just when the Australian public thought that George Brandis had won the award for the year’s worst television interview on SkyNews, Eric Abetz trumped them all with his link between abortions and breast cancer on the Ten Network’s The Project
on Wednesday evening. Quoting studies which he thought derived from the
1950s, Abetz was quickly and roundly condemned by many, including the
Australian Medical Association whose President Associate Professor Brian
Owler, said “If he’s quoting papers from the 1950s, I suspect that’s
where he’s living.”
Abetz will be attending the World Congress of Families
event in Melbourne later in August at which the chief proponent of the
abortion/breast cancer link, Dr Angela Lanfranchi, will be speaking.
Also attending this right wing talk fest, in which single mothers are
condemned for not being part of “nuclear” families, will be our very own
Social Security Minister, Kevin Andrews. The Honourable Mr Andrews is
also conveniently a World Ambassador for World Congress of Families
which is considered an anti-gay group by the Southern Poverty Law
Center in the US. Is it any wonder that single parents will be amongst
those most disadvantaged by this year’s Federal Budget?
Just when we all thought nothing worse could happen, The Daily Telegraph yesterday
exposed that the Liberal Party bought the domain name,
abbottlies.com.au, on the day of the May Federal Budget. As outlined in
yesterday’s post on The Abbott Proof Fence,
this domain redirects to the national Liberal Party website.
Independent media sources have been quick to run with the story, with
articles appearing today in the Australian Independent Media Network and New Matilda.
All sources agree that this is an admission by the Liberal Party that
Tony Abbott does indeed lie. If this was ever doubted, just refresh your
memories with this interview between the then Opposition Tony Abbott
and the ABC’s Kerry O’Brien in which Sir Pository confirmed that only
carefully scripted statements by him could be accepted as Gospel Truth.
This week was indeed Abbott and the LNP’s Septimana Horribilis. As a new week dawns we can be sure to be treated to more gems from the annals of Sir Pository of Wisdom!
This article was first posted on Vivien’s blog The Abbott Proof Fence and has been republished with permission.
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