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Gareth Thomas's avatar

I eagerly await Bowen and Albanese being awarded the same gongs in a few years.

The entire awards industry is an amoral circle jerk.

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Ross Curtis's avatar

King's gongs, Queen's gongs for politicians - nothing but self-congratulatory folly designed to prop up the cabal's status as control merchants. No disrespect to those community-minded citizens who truly deserve recognition. The latter should receive people's awards to avoid muddying the waters, and isolate the so-called democratically-elected.

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Chris's avatar

Thanks for this Rebekah. My wife suicided in 2019, pressure from Centrelink's Robodept bots over a supposed $11,000 debt being a fairly big part of the weight she was under at the time. I should have known there were more than just her, didn't click until I read your article.

As I read the title of Scomo's autobiography, vomit came to mind, and then I saw the rest of your sentence! He's in for a big surprise when he find's out that God's faithfulness includes justice for hypocrites too.

God bless and keep you Rebekah, keep up the good work.

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Rebekah Barnett's avatar

Oh my goodness Chris, I'm so sorry. My family too has been touched by suicide, though not under the same circumstances. I'm just so sorry.

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Marie-Rose's avatar

So sorry you've experienced this indescribable shock and heartache Chris.

I know no words can console under these circumstances, but my heart goes out to you for all your grief and sadness. Just horrendous.

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Louisa Crosslé's avatar

And don't forget that on his return from Hawaii, & during the fires, Scomo forced several reluctant fire fighters & victims to shake hands with him. Disgraceful.

Awards should be off the table for those who are 'just doing their job'

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GeeCee's avatar

If you didn't already have reasons to doubt politicians credibility, these 'awards' leave zero doubt!!

Thanks for the ride down memory lane Rebekah, and for keeping us informed as to the dystopian reality...

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Marie-Rose's avatar

Just when I thought I could no longer be shocked by corruption and power, along came The Plandemic and all it's accoutrements. All that has come to light, made anything I'd ever known regarding politics, seem trite.

Let them have their letters after their name, their medals and trinkets, as we all see so plainly, "THAY" drink from the same cup of subterfuge.

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Luise Pearson-Bernoth's avatar

Thank you again Rebekah for your lawyer- like summary of the crimes committed by Scummo. Reading back over the 2 former premiers lists of crimes was a head spin too. I have seen injustice in Australia over my more than 60 years alive but this is all so f------ blatantly ' in our faces injustice' and abuse of human rights, it beggars belief.

It's hard to believe that any monarch who hands out awards to 4 such men, including Skerrit, was not trying to rub it in that we were powerless against the first attack. It was a shock attack, we were not prepared for it and we were already stressed with this reportedly 'terrible disease'. Until we realized the disease was not the terror, the response to the 'disease' was the terror. No morality, no ethics, no integrity, pure scum. And such hypocrites!

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Mike Kulas's avatar

Just how surprising is it that crime is skyrocketing in every demographic? With the overt flouting of long standing laws and codes of conduct by the so called lawmakers, crime in all its forms is .... 'normal'.

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Antipodes's avatar

AC is now totally debased.

Not worth the recognition it once rightly deserved

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Mike Pappy's avatar

A well deserved lashing 👊

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Tim Hinchliff's avatar

Hi Rebekah just an FYI the link under "extreme Covid policies - which other governments did not implement" leads to a Wikipedia about the bush fires which I suspect is not what you meant.

The only reason I know is (in typical Aussie/kiwi competition)I was checking to see if your crazy cousins from over the ditch were on that list, given New Zealanders didn't meet a draconian COVID policy they didn't like and we are currently dealing with our former dear leader's vomit inducing book on how to be a kind and utterly vacuous totalitarian.

At least you guys can slate scomo without being accused of mysogyny.

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Rebekah Barnett's avatar

Thanks Tim I’ll amend now!

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Mike Pappy's avatar

😆😆 On Scomo’s deflecting responsibility of broken promises regarding mandates:

“…only to go full Shaggy - “it wasn’t me” 😆😆

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Barry Kissane's avatar

A fitting description of this terrible decision. (I think Paul Keating is the only PM to be offered the honour and to refuse it. Hardly realistic to expect Morrison to behave with any shred of decency or integrity, I guess: we learned a lot about his character during the Covid years.) While I can ignore Morrison - a serious contender for our worst ever PM - it worries me a lot that awards to people like him serve to debase the genuine achievements of many women and men granted the awards on the grounds of actual merit. [As an aside, it is irritating to have to go through a validation process now to make a comment here - “for my own security”. (!!) Is there seriously a well-founded concern by Substack that some (demented?) person might be impersonating me??]

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Evad's avatar

Yes, false/undeserved praise undermines the value of merited praise. But rewarding mediocrity has been happening for a very long time.

I am wondering whether the special formal recognitions given to COVID players like Dan Andrews, Brett Slutton, Mark McGowan and Scomo (not to mention their enormous retirement payouts, in an environment of substantial general economic hardship) are calculated to further humiliate the public and enhance discontent in a way that reduces resistance to the erosion of nations as we know them (borders, sovereignty, currencies etc) and acceptance of their replacement with world government.

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Barry Kissane's avatar

Several wrongs don’t make a right, so I hope your wondering turns out to be incorrect. We long for genuine leaders, but we’re certainly not going to find them internationally - at least I hope people realise that.

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Judy Soper's avatar

Excellent article Rebekah.

All very dispiriting.

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Evad's avatar

Reading between the lines (and even on the lines, themselves:)) it seems the 'religious' and 'right wing' Scomo did not leave a favourable impression on you, Rebekah. The big question on everybody's mind is whether you rate Jacinda Ardern (feminist darling who currently appears to be on a biography-promoting tour of the planet) better. She gave NZ loving and compassionate leadership, after all ... apparently.

What about Albo, Macron, Trump and Starmer?:)

Let's face it, a politician is a politician is a politician ... and always has been.

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Mike Kulas's avatar

They do not work for us and we don't know exactly who they work for. Very bad actors selected for their lack of authenticity, empty promises yet no solutions. All designed to demoralize the citizenry. To quote Gerald Celente; Politics is Hollywood for ugly people.

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Evad's avatar

Demoralize, indeed.

Puppet masters unknown, as you write.

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Rebekah Barnett's avatar

I don’t like hypocrites - irrelevant of their religion. The big question on everybody’s mind eh 😂 I only know about Ardern’s Covid performance of which I have a very dim view as I’m sure you would guess. I don’t know much about the rest of her policies.

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Evad's avatar

You shall have to buy and read her very honesty biography to find out.

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Chris Pepper's avatar

King Charles is an attender at the WEH so of course he recognises those who do their dirty work.

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Evad's avatar

Has anyone noticed the way supermarkets are attempting to sell their price increases as being due to supply problems which are, in turn, due to seasonality or extreme weather events? A link is seemingly being established in the minds of people between high prices of items and 'climate change'.

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