Thoughts from a Bulldozer Driver

  On the October long weekend this year (2022) I attended the Australian CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) event in Sydney. The ticket to the event was given to me as a gift from my loving and outstanding adult children. Previously, I had toyed with the idea of attending CPAC, but decided against due to budgetary constraints. I have attended a few conference-style meetings over the years for the purposes of business, sales, personal development and workplace training. But other than a couple of small local meetings, this was to be my first political event, especially of this size and nature. Being someone who isn’t that “outgoing”, I was quite anxious about attending such an event on my own. But my misgivings were quashed as soon as I arrived at the venue in Darling Harbour. Everyone, and I mean everyone that I met, spoke to, interacted with was incredibly friendly. The atmosphere was one of positive energy and genuine interest in the thoughts of others. I met engine...

 I’m convinced that the National and Liberal parties are being controlled by morons. It seems to me that the Lib and Nats of late have been spending way too much energy listening to / taking advice from Multi-nationals businesses, local focus groups, Twitter and our biased Australian legacy media pack. The people that they are clearly not listening to is their grassroots base, their members, those interested but non-vocal individuals that Morrison referred to as the “quiet Australians”, and Menzies called the “forgotten Australians”  The Libs almost lost an election under Malcolm Turnbull, and then they did under Scott Morrison. These two inept Prime Ministers were more interested in personal promotion and ambition than actually serving the people of Australia. They both suffered from a lack of conviction and neither had a clear vision for our country that they could successfully articulate to the Australian people.. They took from the office far more than they ever gave. Turn...

  On New Year's Eve 2019, My wife and I were getting ready to attend a party at a nearby town. Just as we were packing the esky, my phone rang. It was my employer who I was expecting to catch up with that night and find out what he and his family have been up to over the last couple of weeks since we commenced Christmas holidays. He told me that our presence was requested to assist with what would become the infamous 2020 Bushfires. My Boss, Duncan, operates a family-owned earthmoving business. I had worked for him for something like nine years operating scrapers, skid steers, wheel loaders, truck & dog tippers and crushing plants. But most of my time was operating bull dozers.  The Dunn's Road fire was out of control, and the RFS and State Forests wanted our dozer to make and clear roads, build fire breaks, clear tree-lines , remove obstacles, etc. So, I packed a bag with a few day's change of clothes, a lunch box, and set off to Rosewood in the foothills of the Sno...

Time to Vote So Mr Morrison has called the federal election for 21st May 2022.  If you’re like me (and thankfully not many people are) you may be wondering how to vote in this election. This is actually the first time that, four weeks out from the election, I haven’t yet decided where to cast my vote. For background, I’m a right-leaning conservative. I dip my toe into the warm and welcoming waters of Libertarianism occasionally, but I’m closer to the centre than that. Conservatives believe in individualism, self-reliance, free trade, minimum government, minimum taxation, freedom and personal liberty. Back to the election; People tend to forget that they aren’t actually voting for Mr Morrison or Mr Albanese. While those two are the leaders of their respective political parties, you and I do not get to vote for them (unless you are reading this as a resident of their respective seats). We get to vote for our local representative in the lower house (House of Representatives) and also ...

 A massive protest rally took place at Canberra on the 12th February 2022. The day before the rally I was talking to a neighbor over the fence, and he asked me what I was doing on the weekend. When I told him I was going to Canberra to attend the protest, he laughed and asked, “What on earth for?”  Fair question, and one that I struggled to form a coherent answer to. In my own mind, I knew why, but expressing why proved difficult. So, in this page of scribble, I will attempt to work out exactly why. You know that sinking feeling that you get in your gut, a feeling of dread, fear and anxiety? You might get it when a highway patrol car flashes and turns to follow you to a stop. Or when you accidentally send an email to the wrong recipient. Or maybe when you get home and your wife has “that look” in her eye - you’ve done something wrong. You know the feeling. Two years ago, I got that feeling when a news broadcast announced that, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, a state gove...

Guess what? I’m on Novac’s side.  Novac Djokovic applied for an exemption to the vaccination mandate, in an anonymous submission overseen by a panel of six doctors, as well as the Victorian Department of Health. He was subsequently cleared to attend and play at the Australian Open. Novac applied for, and was granted, a Visa before he stepped onto any plane bound for Melbourne. He knows the rules. He’s no stranger to traveling to a foreign country. He’s done it before. To me, if the above is true, and I’ve seen no evidence to the contrary, Novac’s detention is no more than political posturing by inept, directionless, bumbling and incompetent State and Federal Governments.  Novac Djokovic is a political prisoner. The reason that people are hating Novac right now is because of two reasons. Firstly, (unsurprisingly), because of inaccurate and inflammatory reporting by our pathetic legacy media. Secondly,  he has turned a mirror onto the Australian people. Novak has the guts t...

I’m sure we’ve all had events and happenings that change you. Big or small, for whatever reason, they force you to consider your position on things, and can sometimes change your mind. Hopefully these changes are for the better, for you and the people surrounding you. Thirty years ago, a significant event, and a subsequent conversation, changed the way I thought about some important things. I was working in a retail store in Wagga Wagga. I was only there for a short time, however during that eight or nine months I became good friends with one particular workmate, Mark. When I look back, it seems that we shared very little in common. I think it was our slightly different humour that we both appreciated. One of the things that my workmate and I had in common was an admiration for the music of Queen. One day, my workmate walked over to me and said “Did you hear? Freddie Mercury is dead”. The world had learned only one day earlier that Freddie was suffering from AIDS. To be told that he wa...