Politics shits me. It is like watching toddlers throwing shit at each other in the sandbox, except these are the morons that we put in charge of running the country. If you’ve been lucky enough to be living under a political rock in recent months you would have missed the whole insulation farce (garrett-gate) that is currently the nit-pick topic of choice for anyone wanting to take a stab at the Labor government, or more specifically Peter Garrett.
The problem was the government had this you-beaut scheme where you could get insulation installed in your home, I’m not sure of the specifics of the deal, don’t really care either. I believe (don’t quote me) that two types of insulation were being used, the regular pink batts made of fiberglass and some sort of metallic foil, both had ‘issues’. The ‘issues’ arose when the homes in which this insulation had been installed started spontaneously combusting. Why? Apparently it was Peter Garrett’s (the minister ‘responsible’ for the scheme) fault. Really?
The homes in which this insulation had been installed started spontaneously combusting. Why? Apparently it was Peter Garrett’s fault. Really?
To be fair I don’t like the guy, don’t really like any other politicians on either side of the floor, but how exactly is it his fault. Was he pushing the installers up the ladders into the roof cavities? Was he up there himself installing the insulation? Was he providing the gap-riddled training to the installers which neglected to mention that perhaps exposed wiring could pose a problem with the metallic insulation material?
Yes, not only were people’s homes so well insulated that they caught fire, but the installers themselves were being electrocuted while installing the material. Really? And that’s the ministers fault too? Really? How exactly? Yes, I can see how you could (wrongly) direct blame at the owner of the house which contained this exposed wiring, or towards the electrician or builder who oversaw the original wiring of the house, but the minister who is simply the figure(skin)head for the scheme. Really? C’mon, fair shake of the sauce bottle.
The two choices are the blandest, most embarrassing man on earth or a big-eared psychotic pseudo-religious nutter.
As a result, the scheme got scrapped, Garrett got the boot, his portfolio got reassigned and he now gets to sit on the back bench and enjoy not having to deal with the media on a daily basis and instead gets to fling insults at whatever the opposition says. Well, I assume that is what back-benchers do, what else is there for them to do. They have to justify their massive salary somehow.
I *love* that this is an election year. It means we get to sit through all those *brilliant* slagging-off campaign commercials later in the year as Labor and the Liberals play the national game of “my excessive spending is more irrational and illogical than yours”. To be honest I’m not even sure what the point in voting this year is, particularly when the two choices are the blandest, most embarrassing man on earth or a big-eared psychotic pseudo-religious nutter. I might vote for myself.