Thoughts from a Bulldozer Driver

Each Anzac Day, my family along with millions of other Australians rise from their warm beds before daybreak to attend a local Anzac Day dawn service. These services take place in almost every city, town and locality across Australia and New Zealand. We pause to think about what Anzac Day means to us, and to the nation.  The young men and women who went to fight in foreign lands did so in support and defense of one simple idea: freedom. Freedom to speak, think, act and live their lives without interference from tyrants or oppressors. They fought for a society where they didn’t need permission from a government authority to enjoy a lifestyle of their choosing. They fought so that their children and our children could inherit a world that was better than their own, and where personal choice and personal liberty mattered. And now here we are, just a couple of generations later, and I can’t help but feel that we don't fully understand exactly what freedom is, or what it actually means....

A party divided: the struggle between grassroots conservatism and top-down factional control. We’ve all had those moments where something happens that seemingly makes no sense. Something that makes you shake your head, and try to work out the “why” behind it. Usually the issue de jour bounces around in your head for a while before being shoved to one side by the priorities of real life. The original perplexity becomes a curiosity, then a footnote, then forgotten. But not this time. A couple of days back, Jess Wilson (who?) suddenly appeared as the new Liberal leader in Victoria. Brad Battin, the former leader, was hardly a conservative powerhouse, but he had finally been making some progress, albeit slow and quiet. He even edged ahead of Jacinta Allan in at least one preferred-Premier poll. After years of the Victorian Liberals wandering in the weeds as an “opposition in name only,” backing the Government on everything from Covid to climate change, they had finally installed a leader w...

I’m not so sure why the murder of Charlie Kirk is playing on my mind so much. A day has passed since he was shot at an event, in front of a couple of thousand people who came to hear him speak and debate. I believe his wife and children were also present. I can only imagine what they are going through right now. While I don’t share their obvious religious devotion , I am sure that their faith is helping them through this unimaginable horror. So I’ve been thinking about Charlie’s murder for a day and a half now. It’s really troubling me — more than I thought it would. What does his murder say about our society? I have never listened to one of Charlie’s podcasts or watched one of his shows, although I’ve caught bits and pieces that inevitably pop up on social media from time to time. I did search up Charlie’s reactions to the South Park episode that made fun of him. He took it exactly how I thought he would — he laughed at the satirical take on him. Charlie was trying to make a di...

So, Mr Albanese and Labor have been returned to Government with an increased majority. (Somehow they increased that majority with a primary vote of less than 35%. Go figure). The opposition coalition, primarily the Liberal party, were hopeless during the campaigning. But that's another article for another day. The first order of business for the returned Albanese government was to wipe 20% off some students’ HELP (Higher Education Loan Program) debts. Mr Albanese was very pleased with himself on social media and pitched the initiative as "fair" - some relief after years of high indexation and cost-of-living pressures. I saw the post on FaceBook, and I’ve thought about it for a while. I’ve thought about my own kids. And honestly? It's made me a bit cranky. I’m not angry at the students. They signed up to study, took on a debt, and now they've been told they won’t have to pay all of it back. I don’t blame them one bit for taking the win. Most of them are just doing ...

D uring a Facebook-based conversation, shortly before the US election, a friend said to me, “It’s really disappointing that you support Trump!” His post continued with common tropes: “He wants to be a dictator …” “He wants to replace all government agency heads with people loyal to him and the dollar …” “He's a mad loose cannon…” and, of course, “(Trump) may well lead the world to WWIII or economic ruin, or both.” He also threw in a couple of new ones: “He has given foreign powers access to US national security and nuclear sensitive information.”  And finally: “Economic studies have stated that the US debt will increase to more than double the current amount within 12 months.” For the record, I have no problem with people challenging my thoughts that I post on Facebook, X, here on this blog, or in conversation. It’s through discourse and conversation that ideas are shared and I always enter a conversation thinking that I may just learn something. As I’ve said, I’ve changed my mind ...

Our connected world is very convenient. The things that you can do with your phone were unthinkable just twenty or so years ago. For example, I have a very handy banking app. Not only can I get instant account balances, I can check upcoming regular transactions, past transactions, I can even apply for a loan on my phone. I can suspend my cards if I lose my wallet, or suspect that there’s something nefarious going on. I am also able to self-restrict my own purchasing. Not just “how much” I spend, but what I spend my money on. I can ban my own spending on things like gambling, or overseas purchases, should I wish. Good idea, isn’t it?! At least one other Australian bank has taken their app a little further. It actually calculates how much Carbon emissions your purchases are responsible for. Handy for those who want to keep track of their personal carbon footprint. My boss recently bought himself a new ute. From his phone he can track the vehicle's information, things like engine tem...