QUAD COUNTERQUAD

  In my view, it is highly likely that we as the modern Australian human population, of whatever ancestry, European, Aboriginal, post World-War 2 migrant or whatever, stand today at one of those watershed points in history at which decisions which may seem trivial at the time turn out to have massive and largely unforeseen consequences. I refer to the likely fate of Australia’s population of macropods; our kangaroos and wallabies.   I use the possessive pronoun ‘our’ because they are part of the Australian landscape and ecology, every square morsel of which is under ownership claim or sovereignty or notional control of somebody. There is a massive purge of the macropod population underway, largely and deliberately kept away from public attention as a matter of government policy and media compliance.   Added to that, the only people in favour of the massive ‘cull’ presently in progress are those with some sort of financial stake in it, and who stand to make short-term gains by runni

  QUOTING the intellectual giants at Quadrant Online (and probably Quadrant offline as well): "… No matter how much you might resent it, you have to admit the scaremongering has been absolutely first-class, judging by the results. Many of us have been reduced to whimpering sadomasochists, grateful for the beatings administered to our livelihoods, our relationships, our hopes and dreams, our self-reliance and self-respect, and quick to spank those with a different outlook on life. "We’re in a Fifty Shades of Grey scenario, or perhaps a Tarantino film: state premiers have us handcuffed to a chair and are repeatedly punching us in the face with one hand, then applying a soothing balm with the other, saying 'Look what you’ve made us do'. "'Half the population are now imprisoned in their homes, not because of the tiny number of Covid cases, but because of the brutal overreach by the moronic authorities who can conceive of no other way of dealing with them …&

  I refer the readers of this blog in their multitudes to Peter Smith’s article ‘Authoritarianism in the Air’ to be found at https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2021/07/authoritarianism-in-the-air/ . Smith, a frequent Quadrant contributor, begins with the statement: “Up until a few days ago I was sticking with Glady Berejiklian. This current ridiculous lockdown tested my resolve. But then, I thought, let’s look at the unenviable position political leaders have put themselves in.” He ponders who he might vote for in NSW next time around, and says “One Nation, Fishers and Shooters, informal, who knows? It is dispiriting if one dwells on it.” As far as I have been able to determine, after its formation and the usual internal squabbles, the party that began as ‘One Nation’ became ‘Pauline Hanson’s One Nation’, or PHON, leaving nobody in any doubt as to who owned it, and who formulated 100% of its policies.   This leads me to the inescapable conclusion that one can be anti-authoritaria