How would you sell membership to Club Australia?
So 2020 still has time left on the clock. What’s it going to throw at us?
Radio-active spiders? A new strain of poisonous ants? Asteroid strike?
I’ve got a hot tip for ya:
Western Australia secedes.
(That’s not a typo. That “secedes” as in, leaves the Federation, and becomes its own nation state).
That’s Western Australia, riding off into the setting western sun, flipping the rest of the country the bird.
“See ya losers.”
If you live on the east coast, this is just going to sound like another one of Uncle Jon’s boozy ouzo rants. But if you live in WA, you know what I’m talking about.
There’s a strong and brewing strain of political separatism. WA has its own identify. It has its own culture. It’s independent of the broader Australian identity.
If you live in Sydney and Melbourne you don’t get this, because you think you are Australia. You think what’s happening on the East Coast is the Australian experience. You forget that other places exist.
West Australians find this self-centring pretty annoying. They feel like they’re the forgotten cousin of Federation, and they really wonder what membership of Club Australia actually gets them.
Arguments that WA pays more than its fair share – either in tax revenue or resource exports – get a lot of political traction.
This has all been brewing for a while.
But now Covid has accelerated the whole story.
WA is finally finding some benefit in its isolation. The tyranny of distance has become the blessing of distance. Covid hasn’t taken hold.
And so, unsurprisingly, they want to raise the draw-bridge. They don’t want any Coviddy easterners coming over and spoiling things.
The Feds don’t like it, obviously. All along there’s been a tension between Canberra and the state capitals. Canberra has responsibility for the economy – and for underwriting the unemployed, so they want the economy to remain open.
The states have responsibility for hospitals and schools, and so want to prioritise keeping people safe.
This tension exists across the country, but it’s overlayed on existing political fault lines in WA.
And now the whole concept of borders becomes interesting. For most people our state borders were pretty meaningless. They were just random lines where the number plates changed colours.
But now they’re significant. Now they mean something. They could even be a matter of life and death.
And we are having to look at where our allegiances lie. Is it to our community, to our city, to our state, to our nation?
What are we willing to accept in the name of the greater collective?
I mean, what argument would you put to WA if it wanted to run it’s own show? If it said that it was sick of Federalist bullying?
“Aw don’t go guys. It’d be lonely without you.”
(I think the most forceful argument is collective national defence, but that’s not an issue that directly impacts most people lives… yet. 2020’s not done yet.)
And what happens if WA starts heading for the exits? Who’s next? Tasmania? Darwin? Far North Queensland? Northern NSW? Fitzroy?
What exactly is it that holds this nation together?
I’m not sure I have the answer.
But seems like it might be a good time to start asking the question.
JG
V says
What holds this nation together? The ocean.
JOHN LINN says
We have one flag to identify our land. It is time for open dialogue to find out and rectify if need be, the reason that WA seems to want to abdicate. I guess WA could argue that it places more into the Australian Economy by her exports, BUT that is also the case (by a lesser degree), as South Australia. We have a National Defence System such as the AUSTRALIAN ARMY, the AUSTRALIAN NAVY and THE AUSTRALIAN AIRFORCE all AS A PART OF OUR NATIONAL DEFENCE SYSTEM.
i AM AN AUSTRALIAN BORN CITIZEN (and proud of it) and I cannot understand why WA would want to leave the Federal System of Australia..
Bill says
That’s a witty comment from V!
Bill says
Is this the CCP operating a divide and conquer strategy? (Amongst other things!)
Helena says
Jon, you sound like a Communist with your question……..
“What are we willing to accept in the name of the greater collective?”
When the Individual is less important than the whole, No One is safe.
Australia is in a silent war being taken over by the CCP. Daniel Andrews has been selling Australia off, doing deals with the Communist China Party and is destroying our Economy for their final blow.
The Covid Tactic is running to plan, with fear removing any logic that most Australians may of had, to notice all the discrepancies that just Does NOT add up.
The only thing that can hold this Nation together are the people.
How bad does it have to get before people have had enough, to stop complying with their own slavery without questioning just like the Jews of Nazi Germany?
V says
So, who are now Jews, and who is now Nazi Germany, according to your allegory?
Helena says
Jews are the people of Australia. that is how the people of Australia are being treated the same as the Jews were treated.
Nazi Germany is Dictator Dan that is ordering the police to arrest people for not following his directives, for voicing their right to speech a different narrative to him, for going to the Freedom Day March, which comes under “The Crimes Act 1914, section 28 which is about the peoples Right To Protest.” which is not against the Law. and all the laws that Daniel Andrews is breaking under The Bio Security Act 2015 and The Public Health and Well Being Act 2008. The Police do not have the right or the Law to Fine people only a Health official can and the Individual has to be identified as a Infectious Disease Risk and a Court order has to be produced and explained to the Individual written down on the court order. this is only one Law of many that are being broken. But the police are are getting away with it because the people do not know the Law or their rights and neither do the Police who are Totally Ignorant as well. There is a National Class Action underway. You can find all the info here https://www.advocateme.com.au Anyone that has been harmed in any way because of the Lockdown can join. When you look at the list of human Rights violations and the many ways that people have been harmed, it refers to everyone in different forms and to different extents.
When Freedom Of Speech is gone, and the Leaders are not following The Law, what protections do you have left?
V says
Mr Jon Giann, I must express deep condolences to you if you have subscribers who can think that Jews in Nazi Germany were “treated the same” as Australians in Melbourne.
John Linn says
Defence of Australia, especially along the coast in north western Australia is vital. We have had illegal infiltration before along that coastline, and fortunately the Navy, Air-force and the Army were there to assist It was fortunate that we had the fighting Force to do this, but (1) what is Western Australian Government going to do when they don’t support the Commonwealth group of States. As a Duchy State they will be responsible to the protection of the coastline.against infiltration by illegals..at their cost They don’t own the Defence Forces, and therefore will not have the use of such to deliver collective defence.. I think the Western Australian Government needs to take a deep breath–then a cold shower, Followed by some collective thinking for the mutual benefit of all in this great Country., and forget about the me–me–me–, situation which to me as a laymen seems very selfish, and driven by greed.
Shane G says
John you have said a massively descriptive word in this phrase and that is The COMMONWEALTH !!! The Commonwealth of Australia parlaiment has a better ring to it than the Australian Government.
Do people forget that we are a part of the commonwealth with laws and such handed down and still in force today.
Or has it been hidden so well as to say that the younger generation have no idea of it`s existence.
Helena. says
Shane you are Spot on when you speak of the COMMONWEALTH.
It has been purposefully replaced and hidden and the great majority of people do not know the difference between The Commonwealth of Australia and the Australian Government. or the magnitudinly difference that this has made to Australia and its people, or the treason that has been committed by all Governments mostly after 1973 with the creation of the fictional Queen of Australia that replaced Queen Elizabeth the II and then further entrenched by The Australia Act.
This was the reason that the Australian Government stopped teaching the 1901 Commonwealth Constitution in schools and people now do not have a clue of what they had (their protection and rights) and what has been taken away from them. If people only knew the law that is still there for them AND EXISTS but has been vacated and that our POLITITIONS HAVE CREATED this parallel SYSTEM OF Corporate Law that the country is being run by with Australia being Converted into a Corporation that is Registered in Washington DC.in which the whole legal system is operating under We would not be where we are today with our Great Country on the verge of take over by the World Agenda. and people having no clue of what their rights are and having no understanding of how they have been stripped away from them.
If Australians do not start questioning things, stop being compliant and so trusting of the Corporate Criminals that act as Ministers in our Parliament, and just say no to all these unlawful mandates that the Government has implemented on them, these demands will only increase, they will not subside and NOT go away as Daniel Andrews has implied, and Freedom as we knew it will Never be ours ever again and the younger generation will not ever understand what Freedom was. .Life as we have known it here in ‘The Lucky Country” will never return and will be vastly different.
Its time for people to stop being Fearful, of the police, fines, other people, being seen as different ,a virus that the Terrorist Government has created and start living and creating the life they want from Love and what their heart and intuition is telling them. Its time to make a stand, and Unite together Australia and get our country back on track before it is Completely destroyed.
Roger says
Many have witnessed the NZ response to Covid and were impressed by how rapidly they bought those life saving measures into place. The reason was 1 central government. No provinces or states to argue the point. Maybe it is time to look at abolishing State Governments (think of the cost saving)
Greatly increase the powers of local Councils. For the last 25 years or so the area I live in ( Sunshine Coast ) constantly votes for the Libs but Labor wins the state elections and our area gets left out of the funding loop. The Gold Coast votes Labor and reaps massive benefits, think roads and rail and infrastructure generally. There are many benefits to having a single tier of government. It would do away with all the different state laws re licensing and qualifications. For instance the Murray/ Darling fiasco would have been sorted a long time ago without state interests coming in to play.
Although would miss State Of Origin footy!
Jenny Kuech says
I have been saying for years, get rid of State Governments.
With the way communications are now they are unnecessary.
Tim Ellis says
“And now the whole concept of borders becomes interesting. For most people our state borders were pretty meaningless. They were just random lines where the number plates changed colours.
But now they’re significant. Now they mean something. They could even be a matter of life and death.”
I was disappointed to read this Jon, as it suggests that you have been successfully indoctrinated by the fear campaign that has been running since day 1 of this Covid-19 fiasco. But perhaps is it worse for you because you live in Victoria.
Covid-19 is not a valid reason for shutting the economy down. It’s just not dangerous enough and there’s more than enough evidence to support that statement. WA has been making noises about secession for decades. This is just the latest excuse to make noise about it again.
Back at the beginning of the 20th Century, with communication being so slow and inefficient, it made sense to have various command and control centres. However, the reasons for having different States with their own duplicated systems in place and their own powers has slowly dissolved. It is now more inefficient and expensive to operate the country in this manner. State Governments are a financial burden that no longer needs to be carried and cannot be justified. There would be a very significant financial benefit from doing away with State Governments and their infrastructure and increasing the capacity, role and responsibility of local governments.
If an American or a Russian asks me about my nationality, I don’t say I’m a South Australian; I say I’m an Australian. How many people know what State Cathy Freeman or Fred Hollows were born in and lived in? We generally know them simply as Australians.
However, it might be a good idea to leave the State Boundaries in place. After all, we all enjoy State of Origin, don’t we?