- The Guardian
- Issue #2168
Generative opportunities
This probably isn’t a problem for many of our readers, but if you ever really want to say “Hey, times are tough, we’re going to have to sack a lot of you” to workers in a business you’re running, unlamented former Australian National University Vice Chancellor Genevieve Bell is here to help. What she said to ANU staff was that the university was “facing headwinds in its operating environments.” This means that times are tough, although ANU management was about $60 million out in its estimate of how tough. Bell went on. The “headwinds” gave ANU “generative opportunities”, which meant Bell could sack a lot of people, after which everything would be hunky dory.
Arbitrary private power
A blast from the past here. When Milton Friedman, one of the patron saints of the neoliberal mentality view that everything is a market and markets make everything better, came to Australia 50 years ago, he described union efforts to preserve nice old buildings as “arbitrary private power.” The decision to participate in the ‘Green bans’ was taken by democratically elected union officials representing thousands of workers.
Firebrand
Barnaby Joyce is back in the news again, delighting mainstream media commentators who prefer focussing on a near-annihilated Coalition to holding Labor to account. Joyce has been described as “a political firebrand” by one hack, presumably because ‘narcissistic blowhard’ is too hard to spell.
Aspiration, backing
The Australian Liberal Party is looking more rubbish than usual and is engaging in some ‘soul searching.’ That means some of them are experimenting with racism and climate denialism while the others are being ‘moderate’ and waiting for Labor to make a mistake they can use.
There’s no shortage of opinion-mongers with time on their hands willing to offer the Libs un-asked-for advice. One of them wants to revive a Howard-era term and says the Liberals should be a movement supported by people who believe in “backing aspiration.” For Howard, it meant pressuring workers to give up on solidarity in return for the possibility of future personal wealth.
This paper believes in backing aspirations too. Specifically, we back working people’s aspirations to job security, safety at work and a habitable planet.
Clever
In a recent listicle of ‘reforms’ he liked, Nine journo Peter Hartcher described HECS/HELP as “a clever scheme to make sure that no one was denied entry to university because of a lack of money.” The Hawke government’s scheme was always about saving the government money, and has led to people putting off tertiary study because they don’t want to start work with a giant debt hanging over their heads.
Engaging and elevated
Someone from gambling company Sportsbet recently had the pleasure of promoting their company in a lecture to Monash university students about design. “Believe me,” they told the assembled knowledge-seekers, “we’ve got plans to make it more engaging and elevated.” This term is Sportsbet for “addictive and profitable.”
Don’t worry Sportsbet. We believe you.
Clear statement
Tony Burke says establishing envoys against antisemitism and islamaphobia is “a really clear statement that you don’t get licence for bigotry under the shroud of freedom of speech.” If it’s really such a clear statement, Burke shouldn’t have to spell it out. In the case of his antisemitism envoy, the appointment was also a pretty clear statement that the Albanese government doesn’t mind spending over a million a year on someone who supports the bombing of Palestinian hospitals.
