Views in Verse on Aussie democracy! (or is it?)

We like to think that life in 'the olde penal colony' is about as 'liberated' as it gets these days.

And, I guess, no-one is complaining either. But perhaps we just don't. Complain, I mean. We make the decisions these days ...don't we? We have 'personal rights'...





I say this after mulling over this weeks debate on ABC's Q&A program. (No, not bloody Clive - that was the week before!).

The subjects debated were as many and varied as always ...given they are 'thrown into the ring' by the crowd.

A few common threads did come together however around the opening and the closing topics: 'assisted suicide' and 'abortion'. It was clear to all and sundry in the studio that the very 'personal' nature of these matters really called for 'personal' decisions.

Paul Kelly (the revered journalist & feature guest on the program) very soberly reminded the passionate throng in closing that these matters are not 'personal' but are matters that have to be decided by 'society'; interesting choice of word as this gathering appeared to me to represent a very good cross section of 'society'.

What he meant of course was that such social mutterings indeed need to be ratified by our government and the processes that underpin it. Thereby the influences that control it - policy, strategy, media, churches, conservatism, vested interests, lobbyists, short term thinking, Eddie Obeid, Clive Palmer, or ...indeed, failure to make that "courageous decision, minister" (ex 'Yes Minister' BBC TV series).

The subject didn't come up. But I can't help but throw 'gay marriage' into this mix as well. Being supplementary to these matters in that 'we - persons in society' would love to change the 'status quo' of this matter as well. However we cannot influence it at all either, as our politicians are too busy 'rabbiting on' about matters that quite frankly no-one should really need care about at all (eg: a budget - due process - duh!).

Kevin Rudd campaigned in 2007 on a 'for gay marriage platform' and yet then lost interest as soon as he was elected. Julia Gillard, in going forward with it, dismissed it summarily as "not happening on her watch".

So, it kind of takes me back to where we started with the convicts and the imperial masters way back in our colonial days. There is only one group making decisions and it sure isn't the convicts. But hey we 'convicts' make our own decisions these days ...don't we?

Is this democracy? Perhaps, I'd better start this again. I don't think it is.

What the hell is wrong with our political system? More to the point ...what is right with it? All this current comment re '24x7' media is becoming increasingly pertinent - no one is game to make a decision as someone out there mightn't like it.

There is a new factor here we bring - 'social media'. We can influence, but we can't change. Maybe we just have to try a little harder. Our regimental cigar smoking 'masters' also need to find a way to deal with it (other than the ostrich approach) as it isn't going away soon.

This current senate stand-off with the budget is relevant in only one real way; we elect these people and give them a mandate to make decisions. They need to be able to make them or we really will have a society in crisis and everyone will have to just make their own 'personal' decisions.

But somehow I think that is what is happening anyhow! So why the hell should people feel guilty over making their own personal decisions then worry about getting thrown into jail for doing so?

Bloody stupid eh? But what would I know ...and what right have I got? ...my forefathers were convicts. I've paid taxes for forty years though. Mmm ...perhaps I'd better start over.

Might start a senate party campaigning on 'personal rights'.

PS: Clive, you'd better stop watching the headlights soon 'laughing boy' or you'll get run over by a mighty big truck (perhaps you feel you are bathing in a spotlight!) You should know Aussies don't suffer fools for too long mate!

Right of Passage

It's your time 

Lovely boy

your hard work's almost done

Acceptance wasn't easy

in a school designed for some

Your progression has been honest

Your plans so well thought through

Adulthood came quickly 

from your trials

Yet it'll take time

Lovely boy

to see a fairer state

In a society
designed just for some

Why do politicians we elect

hide so well from truth?

Can we allow this 

mere 'opinion on the run' ?

Own the space

Lovely boy

look to those who lead

Accept things that can't be changed

yet fight for what you need

Equal rights are there for all

no matter how it sometimes seems...
Don't let anybody
keep you

from your dreams!!!

Forwarded from my iPhone - Grahame J Flynn

views in verse on 'the team'

Jarryd Hayne the best player in world rugby league today. A pacesetter with both the Australian and NSW teams but needed to consistently carry his NRL side till yesterday...Parramatta ... down 12-0 at half time needing to win to remain in semi finals race:

Parramatta 22 Manly 12




Parramatta, once the pride of Australian Rugby League with the most committed supporters in the game, has a heritage that includes some of the greatest players the game has seen : Thornett, O'Reilly, Lynch, Sterling, Kenny, Cronin, Price, Grothe, Ella, Hindmarsh. But of recent times, they have struggled to say the least.

But not their superstar fullback Jarryd Hayne. And, when he plays really well, they usually win. The rest of the side though to say the kindest thing one can ...do their best to try and keep up with him.

Yesterday, facing elimination from the finals race 'the team' appeared down and out at half time. Even their most ardent supporters would've said - "they haven't turned up today". Manly, are of course, one of the leading sides this year and have always 'done their darndest' whenever facing 'Parra'. Given that they were the greatest of rivals throughout the 70's and 80's. The competitiveness is always there still.

Whatever happened yesterday, we now know that every player who came out for the second half played with the level of commitment that was required. The same commitment that Hayne (who some say  to be perhaps the most complete player to ever play the game) showed in recently re-signing with the club that had given him his start. A rare thing today given the level of professionalism needed in this game.

The crowd also rewarded the team in turning up in record numbers for the last home game and they roared, and roared, as Parra mounted their comeback; with memories of the old Cumberland Oval warmly rekindled where once all the great players before Hayne worked their magic in decades gone by.

'Oft-seen faces'

Sitting on this craggy ridge...

Gazing at my fallen bridge...

The weather's hit me hard this year...

Not sure where to go from here?

Take this rambling road, our sole traverse

Has a mind of its own and a devils curse

Some days I have what it takes I'm sure

but others...

Well ...I'm not so sure

When it's not the floods

it's the constant sun

40 plus brings you right undone

Just reaching the cattle's often tough

Priming them ...I can't do well enough

Can I take this another year?

What will the banker say I fear?

These are times that stop you dead

And cop-outs nag 

So deep in your head:

Is there a fortune to be had?

Would my life be rich and glad...?

In shiny cars in far off places?

Save this farm and these 'oft-seen faces'?

(but you know...)

Surrender is for mugs & fools...

What use downing trusted tools

Where barriers may block our way

Belief arrives with the coming day

And although life can torment you

these 'oft-seen faces' see you through

They will always sustain you

The ones you love will see you through

Grahame J Flynn - Sent from my iPhone

Views in verse on relationships

Relationships need to be 'Win-Win'


Anyone in business will tell you that a relationship will only survive as long as it's 'win-win'. 

Unless people are willing to compromise, best to accept the inevitable and get on with something else.









A toxic relationship may survive the short term but can often destroy the combatants who are trying to make it work ...even then it may still be doomed. Such relationships are often founded in false or unrealistic objectives.

Relationships need to be Win Win! 

If this is all so second nature to us in the objective business world, why does it sometimes seem so hard to recognise in our home lives? It perhaps takes an 'objective look' in the mirror before even engaging with others.

There's no secret to it.

The Gnome's Secret

Even the gnomes are smiling
Since you came back home today
It's a tough world that we've lived in
Since the day you went away
I hi- five'd the milkman
Down at the gate
as he bounded along his way
Even the gnomes are smiling
You've come back home to stay

The cats were moody
The dog was blue
The goldfish...
he just stared
The jug and the fridge both went on strike
Unconcerned about how I fared
The 'soaps' were crap
My beer went flat
My neighbours all seemed to leer
My friends stayed away
Seemed the whole damn time
My appetite went all queer

I thought that a movie 
might brighten me up
The plot changed half way through
Instead of the usual good guy stuff
De Niro became the stooge
I went on a date
To try my luck
No substitute for you
She started heckling
And poking fun
never seen
such a maudlin fool

I went looking for you
Tried your mum's
Now that was a big mistake
She came right at me
I stumbled back
And stepped on the garden rake
It flew right up
Knocked out a tooth
See the one missing right here
Then to follow it up
Joan king-hit me 
With a mighty clip to the ear

Went to the doctor to sort things out
There must be a cure for this
I tried to express it
But he couldn't guess it
Said son I think it's the 'flu
I said Doc you're kidding
It's this life I'm living
Now I've blown fifty dollars as well
Should throw out a shingle 
Just like you
I've got advice to sell

But now 

even the gnomes are smiling
Since you've walked back in today
It's a tough world we've lived in
Since the day you went away
I hi-five'd the milkman
Down at the gate
as he bounded along his way
Even the gnomes are smiling...

Hey ...why's that cab in the lane?

from the desktop of Grahame J Flynn Views in Verse

Views in verse on Clive Palmer

Clive Palmer 'the populist'

snidely 'second guessing' the easy winners 

Wit and policy 'on the fly'

Racism - It's a hit and miss affair

Several commentators mentioned of Clive's appearance on ABC's Q&A panel the other night - where he had so cleverly picked up on the  'populist winners' as they were delivered from the audience. Easy pickings!

How he had garnered the easy points that were there and just cast them into his policy bag as he went along ...just another night at the office.

Until he delivered a colourful rant against 'Chinese Bastards' as the debate went on. This was then seen as: a side issue, to do with his company problems, more just Clive being Clive. Perhaps not.

If you roll it up with all the other populist points he tucked away during that debate ...this I suggest was just another. As soon as he sensed though how poorly timed it was, he then attempted to 'wrap it up in a blanket of concern' re: communism, "shooting their own people", buying our ports...facts instead of his summary views.

Clive Palmer, just like Pauline Hanson before him, has a mistaken belief that all Australians if given the chance will respond to a racist call. I suggest that Clive was simply 'tucking another populist point in the bag' when he second guessed himself on racism as soon as the words slipped from his mouth. The tirade that followed was then camouflage for what he had unwittingly allowed to creep into his agenda . Quick wit and 'policy making on the fly' are strange bedfellows.

But why did he then carry on so to such an extent? He knows that that he cannot afford to be compared with Hanson. She proved that Australians will think through the real issues over time and see racism calls for what they are. Bunkum!

I blogged on 'White Australia policy' in this country only five days back. It is well and truly buried and so will Clive be if he allows himself to put up side by side against Hanson. People will readily see a lot of comparisons to her that will not speak well to his judgement. Voters at the end of the day in this country, once the fanfare is done, try to seek out 'integrity'.

Perhaps the 'populist' Messiah has fallen at the first turn...

There is a chap in a social club to which I belong who regularly emails around racist rants to 'all and sundry' on our common email list. He has been admonished time and time again by return emails. But he just doesn't get it. Regardless of what continues to happen, he just keeps sending them. He believes in his heart that everyone thinks the same way he does. He will keep doing it. Somehow he filters out the reality. Sad really.

Just getting back to Clive as he delivered his rant about "Chinese bastards" ...sitting right next to him was Penny Wong . I was embarrassed for you Clive and if per chance you don't think to apologise to her ...I will right now. Sorry Ms Wong. He knows not what he does.

The Others

You took me in when I needed help

I know that you are my friend

He vouched for me also at that time 

A ready hand to lend

She too was like a sister to me

Without asking a thing in return

But it's not about them of whom I speak

It’s the others that I spurn

I didn’t mean you, when I spoke of ‘a plot’

I didn’t mean him, involved he’s not

I didn’t mean her, I’d be needlessly hurting

It’s the rest of the others to whom I’m referring

It’s all the others, who offer a threat

It’s all the others, whose intent I get

It's all about them, their motives aren't true

I know this just simply, because …I do!

from my desktop Grahame J Flynn

Views in Verse on political intransigence (and ALL that goes with it)

I watched the ABC's Q&A tonight...

A panel of big name & no-name Aussies up for comment on current issues

Conclusion - Talk is great guys but hey...

It's time to DO SOMETHING!



The Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss was there as the spokesman for the 'everything that could go wrong has gone wrong ' nearly one year in office Coalition government of Tony Abbott. Given the array of issues tabled there was little that could really stick to Mr Truss as so much seemingly needs doing. Funnily enough a great smokescreen.

But look lets get a little more focussed here. A little John West. What are things that really matter?

There was an underlying fear of unemployment in the room - fear of an economic indicator increasingly peddled currently about that has about as much statistical accuracy as odds on the horses. However the dissonance remains. The mood in of late has been peppered by such things as closure of the car industry, offshore outsourcing and a realisation that manufacturing in the traditional sense is all but gone.

However, one needs to look through the whipped up scenarios of doom... and focus on the BIG issues. What must be done ...not what can't be ...nor what probably won't ever happen.

Nevertheless, my only really galling moment watching the program was when Mr Truss offhandedly expressed the view that we simply need to focus on the right types of industries so as to ensure employment. We - who is we? More importantly - when? The time to act has come. And his timing could not been worse than today.

Mr Truss's cavalier comment came on the same day that CSL, one of our largest and most successful biotechs (one of the industries we are talking of rebuilding on), advised the media that its' manufacturing will be moving offshore along with (firstly) 500 jobs. They cited all the usual reasons (all valid by the way - tax, red-tape, inflexible labour force). Thereby, the benefits of making these products, innovatively developed here over the past decades, will be lost to its' local workers.

The addressing of all these key issues are the 80/20 things that the Government needs to be getting on with - the rest, yes - just noise.

But Mr Truss, Mr Abbott (wherever you hide these days) Joe (perhaps its all getting too hard) and the remainder of the highly mandated new Government of 2013, it is time to hit these pressing 80/20 issues and FIX THEM!

No stress ...just do what has to be done.



One day at a time

Lots a trouble in the world my friend
That's something that we all know
Seems to me that we hear it each day
But it ain't gonna stop the show
Cause dwelling on the downward spin
Only makes your misery grow...

So when people say:
"Nice to see you old mate...
how are you going today?"
Might be the sky is falling in
But I just simply say...

 I've been living my life
One day at a time
Just watching the sun
Rise and fall
Life sure is good
When all that you do
Is done for your one and all
My family and friends
Mean the world to me
I listen when I hear them call
I'm living my life
One day at a time
Winter spring summer and fall

Too much talk about
religion and war
And money that's for sure
It's all just 'cock and bull'
The glass is half empty
Seems all of the time
whenever man is it full?

So when people say:
"Nice to see you old mate...
how are you going today?"
Might be the sky is falling in
But I just simply say...

 I've been living my life
One day at a time
Just watching the sun
Rise and fall
Life sure is sure good when
All that you do
Is done for your one and all
My family and friends
Mean the world to me
I listen when I hear them call
I'm living my life
One day at a time
Winter spring summer and fall



Sent from my iPhone - Grahame J Flynn