wow. when a career politician does his darndest to regress and reverse the political maturation and the engagement of Australia with Asia begun by Hawke and most emphatically advanced by Keating, and tries to recreate the “we love Her Majesty” days of Empire glory that was the Menzies era he grew up in, then we should all APPLAUD? Australia certainly did not need then and does not need now to be so firmly stuck in the old world, the English speaking world, at the expense of its growth as a regional power in its own area. Asia, get it? Asia and Oceania.
Howard didn’t 'keep the country with the Commonwealth" as you put it. nations can become independent and remain with the Commonwealth. the Queen is a historical relic with absolutely no relevance to modern Australia, yet little johnnie whinged, cried and weaseled his way to making sure that Australia kept her as head of state. what on earth for? he oversaw little in the way of economic growth that came from his own mind or his own hand. Keating laid the best foundation for an Australian profitability boon, partly by floating the dollar and loosening investment, tax and trade caps, and the resource hunger of Australia’s neighbours such as China took care of the rest. meanwhile, the Howard government’s total lack of credibility on the environmental front have made us a laughing stock internationally, taken away any credible stance we may have offered to the rest of the world with regards to sustainable industry and primary production, done untold damage to our wetlands and our ability to cope with climate change and water loss, and thus ruined our farming heartland for good, and put us behind the 8 ball in terms of our continued reliance on coal and oil. as well, the split between the rich and poor increased dramatically on his watch, money was shifted from the poor to the rich via private schools, tax breaks, and superannuation entitlements. he totally shafted Australian basic and advanced research and development (and i should know as that personally got me to leave), increased distrust among the various religions and ethnicities in the country… (the cronulla riots or the woeful treatment of Aborigines ring any bells?). and so on and so forth. he did turn Australia into the local US lackey and ‘deputy sheriff’, losing much of our status in the Oceania and Asian regions as a result. he did lick the arse of the Chinese and sell out the country at the ‘lucrative’ (to him, but cheap to the Chinese and terrible in hindsight) gas deal with China, as only one example of his shilly-shallying interference and ineptitude.
and you supported this fool? maybe Chen was right to get rid of your advice then. Menzies is a man to look up to for so many things, the White Australia policy not the least of them.
Did you ever stop to wonder why the fellows on the job
Refer to Robert Menzies by the nickname Pig-Iron Bob?
It’s a fascinating tale though it happened long ago
It’s a part of our tradition evey worker ought to know
Chorus
We wouldn’t load pig-iron for the fascists of Japan
Despite intimidation we refused to lift the ban
With democracy at state the struggle must be won
We had to beat the menace of the fascist Rising Sun
It was 1937 and aggressive Japanese
Attacked the Chinese people tried to bring them to their knees
Poorly armed and ill equiped the peasants bravely fought
While Australian water siders rallied round to lend support
Attorney General Menzies said the ship would have to sail
“If the men refuse to load it we will throw them into jail”
But our unity was strong - we were solid to a man
And we wouldn’t load pig-iron for the fascists of Japan
For the Judas politicians we would pay a heavy price
The jungles of New Guinea saw a costly sacrifice
There’s a lesson to be learned that we’ve got to understand
Peace can only be secured when the people lend a hand.[/quote]
Proving yet again that a little knowledge is dangerous.
