A salutary lesson for business concerning the dangers of participating in an interim prime minister’s frenetic electioneering…….

Virgin Australia learning the hard way that drinking the Kool-Aid offered by Scott Morrison on the federal election campaign trail is not a wise decision,,,,,,,,,

Sunday Telegraph, 4 November 2018, p.4:

Australia’s heroes — Defence Force veterans who have selflessly served the nation — will board aircraft first and be formally acknowledged before take-off in a bid to further entrench national respect.

The Digger dedication plan will take place on all Virgin Australia flights and will be announced today by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Taking Mr Morrison’s plan to provide veterans with a US-style military card that gives discounts on petrol, food and even weddings a step further, Virgin Australia will honour former servicemen and women with a priority boarding process, and alert passengers via a public announcement that heroes are on board.

Both announcements come as The Sunday Telegraph, News Corp Australia, Foxtel and HarperCollins launched a joint #thanksforserving campaign to encourage the community to honour those who served.

Mr Morrison said Virgin chief executive officer John Borghetti understood why Australians were so proud of ex-military personnel.

“We acknowledge the important contribution veterans have made to keeping our country safe and the role they play in our community,’’ Mr Borghetti said. “Once the veterans have their cards and lapel pins, they will simply need to present them during the boarding process.” It will be rolled out when the ­system of new cards — or digital ID — starts early next year.

Mr Morrison said the idea got a “thumbs up” from him.....

AAP Bulletin Wire, 5 November 2018:

The Australia Defence Association says veterans would prefer Virgin reinstate discount airfares for ex-service men and women to tokenistic public thanks.

A leading veterans' group says Virgin's plans to offer ex-service men and women priority boarding and in-flight thanks "smacks of tokenism".

The US-style idea has also been derided by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, who described it as an "embarrassing" marketing ploy.

Neil James from the Australia Defence Association said practical action would be much more welcome than "tokenistic" public thanks.

"If you really wanted to thank veterans you'd reinstate the service discount abolished in the early 1980s," he told AAP.

"Some veterans would be embarrassed by this - in fact, many would be - and some of them with psychological conditions, you actually risk making their problem worse."

Mr James said the airline's idea was a symptom of a deeper problem.

"That is there are so few Australians now with any understanding of military service and war," he said.

Virgin Australia, Twitter, 5 November 2018:

We are very mindful of the response that our announcement about recognising people who have served in defence has had today. It was a gesture genuinely done to pay respects to those who have served our country. 1/3

Over the coming months, we will consult with community groups and our own team members who have served in defence to determine the best way forward. 2/3

If this process determines that public acknowledgement of their service through optional priority boarding or any announcement is not appropriate, then we will certainly be respectful of that. 3/3

Like Donald Trump Scott Morrison is a politician who should keep his tweets to a bare minimum

This is a classic example of a badly through through tweet.

Scott Morrison apparently thinks gender is recorded on drivers licences and, having failed to check his own NSW Drivers Licence, he tweeted this belief to the world.

[1/2] A Liberal National Government will never remove gender from birth certificates, licenses and passports – who are Labor kidding? Get real. https://t.co/CLk70qL3rI

— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) October 31, 2018

This was a typical response on Twitter.

So, memo gallery journalists: when the politicians fume about removing gender from driver’s licences, maybe one of you might quietly point out that it isn’t there now.

— Jonathan Green (@GreenJ) October 31, 2018

Yes, that’s right. The states not federal government issue drivers licences and as can clearly be seen on this NSW mockup – although the current licence application form asks for full name, residential address, date of birth and gender – only the first three appear on the actual drivers licence issued.

Image from Nambucca Guardian

Yes, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison gets more Trump-like with each passing day.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's hypocrisy as a self-professed Christian and as a politician gets called out

Kelso Lawyers, 23 October 2018:

On 22 October 2018, Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologised to the thousands of survivors of institutional child abuse.

There’s no refuting the power of a sincere and considered apology. As Mr Morrison delivered his apology from Parliament yesterday, emotions were high and many tears were spilled. He made promises of a National Museum for a place of remembrance and a commitment to “bring some healing to our nation and to learn from our past horrors.”

Yet, there was something off about his speech. As Mr Morrison acknowledged the good work of Julia Gillard’s Royal Commission and the commencement of the National Redress Scheme, it became apparent that this was one big advertisement for the widely criticised National Redress Scheme, dressed-up as a national apology.

The sentimental words and heartfelt delivery by the Prime Minister were not enough to mask the stench of the hypocrisy in the air. “The National Redress Scheme… recognises the impact of past abuse and provides justice for survivors,” he said. Mr Morrison went on to list the ways in which child abuse impacts victims, acknowledging that some turn to drugs and crime. He stated, “A sorry from a nation that seeks to reach out in compassion into the darkness, where you have lived for so long”, adding that “One survivor says it was like becoming a stranger to your parents – mental health, illness, self-harm and addiction followed.”

At one point, Mr Morrison paused and questioned, “Why was our system of justice blind to injustice?” As he lamented over the failings of the past in one breath, and praised the National Redress Scheme in the next, his own blindness to present day injustice was more apparent than ever.

Might it be the log in his own eye impeding his sight?

For a Government which supposedly understands the plight of institutional abuse victims, the Scheme which it created is tragically and inexcusably unjust. Despite the clear connection between childhood trauma and substance abuse and crime in adulthood, the National Redress Scheme seeks to specifically exclude victims with a criminal history from redress. Nowhere in its recommendations, did the Royal Commission propose excluding victims on this basis.

This is only one example of bias and injustice in the National Redress Scheme. In reality, it is an obstacle course designed to reduce liability for Churches and Institutions. It’s not what Julia Gillard intended.

Fortunately, victims still have hope as the National Redress Scheme is only one option for compensation. [my yellow highlighting]

This is the man and politician that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison seeks to emulate

Make no mistake, former Immigration Minister, former Treasurer and, current interim Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, is consulting the political playbook of this narcistic, entitled, pathological lying, corrupt, misogynist, racist and socially, economically & politically destructive U.S. president, Donald John Trump......

US President  Donald J Trump Image The Australian

Birds of a feather flock together

Scott Morrison's favourite facile sound bites

Australian (interim) Prime Minister and Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison speaks like the failed advertising industry executive that he is,

By now his favourite slogans and their meanings are becoming obvious,,,,,,

The New Daily, 21 October 2018:

“We believe in a fair go for those who have a go.” (Those making money deserve to make more money.)

“We believe that the best form of welfare is to have a job.” (Welfare should be cut back.)

“We believe it is every Australian’s duty to make a contribution and not take a contribution.” (Everyone on social welfare is a bludger – a particularly telling twisting of John F. Kennedy’s “don’t ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”.)

“And we believe this, you don’t rise (sic) people up by bringing others down.” (Taxation is bad and progressive taxation is particularly evil.)

Add to these the following:

"You don't get children off Nauru by putting more children on Nauru through weaker border protection policies," (I will not let the children on Nauru leave to resettle elsewhere with their families, even though resettlement in third countries is one of the aims of Australia's offshore detention policy)

"[I want] to see how we can get greater investment in what I call 'fair dinkum power'; that’sthe stuff that works when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’tblow." (let’s ignore the science behind renewable energy and pretend that other OECD countries haven’t successfully integrated high levels of renewable energy into their national power grids)