Hints of hypocrisy

| July 5, 2011

It is only human to abhor a trait in others which we fear might be alive in oneself. In my case, that is hypocrisy. It is something I watch out for in my own behaviour, generally successfully, though not always.

Because of that, I have finely developed antennae to help me detect this trait in others. Here are a few examples.

First, states such as Western Australia and Queensland, which, having been mendicant states for decades, dependent on the charity of others – mainly New South Wales and Victoria – suddenly forget the charity extended to them when they become rich as a result of a geological accident that has given them rich ores to mine and export. In fact, their sin is triple, because it blends ingratitude, hypocrisy and hubris, hubris because they should know that there is no certainty in this world and today’s rich state might be tomorrow’s mendicant state, again.

Second, Tony Abbott, who has for months been demanding that the Prime Minister seek the people’s mandate over the carbon tax proposal and then finally proposes a plebiscite to do just that. Where is the hypocrisy, you ask? Is it not hypocritical to say one thing and to do another? Because that is just what Mr Abbott has done by demanding that the PM seek a vote on the carbon tax, which presumably he would expect her to abide by, and then to say that he would abide by the result of the plebiscite only if the answer were no. Shades of Joh Bjelke-Petersen there, who once famously declared that he would take Queensland to the polls as many times as it took for the electorate to make the right decision – that is to vote for him, of course.

Third, Australia’s apple and pear growers and the elements of the farming lobby who support them in their effort to prevent Australia from importing apples from New Zealand. Australia’s farmers are always vocal when they perceive that other countries keep their produce out by unfair means. What do they think they are doing now? They have been keeping NZ apples out for 90 years on the strength of an outbreak of fire blight in that country in 1919. The best evidence is that there is no certainty that fire blight is not already present in Australia. In fact, in 1997 there was a report of the disease in the Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens.

Moreover, research has established that mature, healthy fruit from orchards with no fire blight symptoms are unlikely to transmit fire blight from one country to another. And, the evidence is that New Zealand is now free of the disease. So, Aussie pear and apple farmers, please practise what you preach.

Fourth, Twiggy Forrest and Gina Rinehart and their multi-millionaire ilk, who bleat about the mining tax, but also constantly have their hand out for government subsidies, support and protection, at the expense of Australia’s taxpayers. As I have said before, if they don’t want the mining tax, then they should pay out of their own pockets for all the existing and future infrastructure they need to continue building up their personal fortunes. Alternatively, if they want us to pay for that infrastructure, as we do, then they should pay what they owe, keeping in mind that the minerals they dig and export do not belong to them, but to us.

Lastly, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Immigration, who in Opposition belaboured the then Howard Government for its callous treatment of refugees and have now out-Ruddocked Phillip Ruddock, with ever increasing disregard for good policy, morality, ethics and the Australian fair go. It is sad to see the Labor Party engage in dog-whistling of the worst sort, targeting the lowest common denominator and living in fear of doing what they know is right.

To all of you fellow sinners, I say, join with me and see the error of your ways, because it is never too late to make good the wrong we have done and the sooner you start, the sooner this country will be the place it should be, the land of Fred Hollows and Gus Nossal, Vincent Long Van Nguyen, Frank Lowy, Victor Chang and Angus Houston – and all the other refugees and migrants who have come here to make a positive contribution and have done so, often despite great adversity. Not the land of free riders, destroyers and moral vacuums which I fear we are at risk of now becoming.

 

Patrick Callioni is a former senior public servant, with the Queensland and Australian Governments, and is now the Managing Director of consulting company, Enterprise Intelligence Pty Ltd, which specialises in helping business to do business with government and vice-versa. www.enterpriseintelligence.net.au.

 

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