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Dear valued reader,
I’m Garry Linnell and I’m here to help.
As the federal election looms, we’re about to be swamped by cliches, crying babies and crazy claims that don’t add up.
So this week ACM (proud publisher of The Canberra Times) has launched a new national newsletter, The Echidna.
Every weekday morning I’ll be around, along with my fellow contributor Fiona Katauskas, bringing our spiky little friend to your inbox.
Echidnas are smart, perseverant creatures, good at smelling out something rotten from a long way away. And boy is there a lot of pungency in politics.
Our goal is to be like the marvelous monotreme, to expose the absurdities of the election campaign, and have a good laugh along the way.
We also want to make you think.
So join us for the ride. Sign up now, and also tell us what you want to hear and see in this campaign?
Australia is at the crossroads and never have your insights, opinions and predictions been more valuable.
Send us an email. And keep in mind what a wise person once observed: A lot is said about politics. Some of it is complimentary. But most of it is accurate.
Cheers,
Garry Linnell
Need more convincing? Here's a sample of what you can expect from THE ECHIDNA...
Why swingers get all the sticky, icky perks
Who wants to become a swinger? It’s a tantalising prospect no matter how straight-laced you may be. After all, what is the point of loyalty and life-long commitment when swingers in modern Australia have all the fun and get far more than the rest of us?
Traditionalists navigate roads pocked with potholes. Swingers get shiny new car parks next to refurbished train stations. Traditionalists watch their kids play sports on weed-infested ovals. Swingers get spanking new stadiums with heated changing rooms and cafes serving subsidised gluten-free ketogenic lattes.
No wonder more of us are adopting a swinging lifestyle when it comes to politics. At the last election the number of those staying true to one party continued its long-term decline according to the Australian Election Study – a university-led project that has tracked voters for more than 30 years. Less than a third of those interviewed said they now followed their party’s how-to-vote card.
This record-low disenchantment with our political process has much to do with pork barrelling – the time-honoured but highly dishonourable practice of doling out funding in return for votes. The major parties do it because it often works: one study into the 2019 election found Coalition seats received $1.9 billion of discretionary grants compared to little more than $500 million for Labor electorates. Defence Minister Peter Dutton’s Dickson electorate received $43 million. The neighbouring Labor-held electorate of Lilley received $900,000.
Yesterday we had Coalition claims that a promised Labor spending spree to upgrade roads and refurbish swimming pools and sports clubs will favour marginal electorates. What a surprise. Once again, swingers will be winners.
At least Labor has promised a national anti-corruption body that will serve as a standing royal commission into “serious and systemic corruption in the federal government”. But this long-awaited body will have its work cut out. Pork barrelling is an orgy of entrenched bribery and with 151 lower house seats up for grabs, it has more sweaty, red-faced participants than a game of Nude Twister at a real swinger’s party.
Late last year former premier Gladys Berejiklian told NSW’s Independent Commission Against Corruption that “I don’t think it would be a surprise to anybody that we throw money at seats to keep them.” The statement barely raised an eyebrow. Swingers, with all their benefits, are the new majority.
THEY SAID IT: “The punters know that the horse named Morality rarely gets past the post, whereas the nag named Self-Interest always runs a good race.” – Gough Whitlam.
