Victoria Rollison's Blog, page 9

Bad Foundations, Bad Economy

A house with bad foundations is a bad house. I don’t care how nice the hedge is out the front, I don’t care if it has air-conditioning, polished floorboards or, for that matter, an industrial-sized $6,000 toaster. If the foundations haven’t been built solidly, everything on top of those foundations is bad and liable to […]

The Green betrayal

The last three years of Liberal National government have been absolutely nightmarish. Their ideological wrecking-ball has crashed through every imaginable progressive policy area. They have been ferocious in their quest for small government and a neoliberal economy that benefits only the wealth and privilege of the tiny few at the top end of town. You […]

Breaking the Dog Whistle

You can’t blame the Liberals and their communications strategists for believing the demonization of refugees is a vote winner. The rise of Pauline Hanson, who stole votes from the Liberals, Howard’s success with Tampa and ‘children overboard’ in 2004 and Abbott’s ‘stop the boats’ election win in 2013 have given the Liberals a sense of […]

An Open Letter to Peter van Onselen

Dear Peter On Monday you asked this question on Twitter and seemed quite flabbergasted about the situation, so I thought I’d do you the favour of writing to you with some answers so you don’t do what you threaten and completely give up. Because we need you! ‘How in the name of God is it […]

Duncan versus Malcolm

How might Malcolm Turnbull’s life have turned out if he was sexually abused as a child, which caused him to suffer post-traumatic stress, making it difficult for him to get a good education and find a good job, leading him to part-time work on the minimum wage, failed relationships, living with his mother in a […]

How much is that doggy in the window?

Turnbull’s budget is almost identical to Abbott’s 2014 monstrosity. Let’s just bed down that fact right up front. All the hopeful expectations of change, of the turd being polished good, of a more grown up, less nasty, spiteful government, of economic literacy, environmental friendless and social progressiveness have all been washed away with Turnbull’s ideological […]

Sally Faulkner: Victim of Domestic Violence

As a nation, Australia has come a long way in its understanding of, and lack of tolerance for domestic violence. The tireless campaign by Rosie Batty has been a huge part of this. There have been major steps forward in police procedures to deal with domestic violence cases, in urging women to report abuse and […]

Boom!

Point Piper PM is giving people the booms all over the place. Promising an ideas boom, but delivering instead a booming stinky mess, you can see the disappointment written all over the faces of Australians as their worst fears are realised: Turnbull is the same Abbott. But now, instead of just having a turd of […]

Out of ideas

There’s a reason why Donald Trump’s rallies amount to hate-fest pep-talks empty of any actual policy ideas. It’s the same reason his Republican opponents are finding it difficult to differentiate themselves from each other, or from Trump. And it’s also why our very own Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has become chief-ditherer, the-dog-ate-my-home-work, ‘I’ll-get-back-to-you-about-that-budget’, culture-wars-advocate without […]

How did Trump happen?

I am terrified of Donald Trump. If he wins the Republican nomination, which he looks likely to do, he will no longer be able to be sidelined as the ‘joke’ candidate, as someone not representative of mainstream views. So what does Trump’s rise tell us about modern American values? How has a country who used […]