Tag: John Howard

Lake Burley Griffin becomes a friend.


I had the alarm set for 5am on Sat morning but Tress was up at 4.30. I decided to get up a few minutes later and just before 6am, we were in the car and started the trek up again. We only made a couple of stops for toilet and coffee and by 1pm we were at Burton and Garran Hall again. It was great to see Kiddo again.

We unloaded the stuff we brought up with us, and then Kiddo jumped in the car and we took the much shorter drive across town to Campbell to our B&B (sort of). After lunching at a Korean joint at the Civic we went to the shops for a bit before going to Weston Park at the Lake Burley Griffin, for a walk/jog. The little black jedi had a whale of a time as we let him run around off lead for a while. The late afternoon scene lakeside was really nice and it was just great for the 3 of us (plus the little pooch) to be there together. The lake is huge and to get to know this place takes quite an effort.

That night we went to the Civic again, and looked for a place for dinner. We settled on “The London Burger and Beers”, a place bustling with young people. The burgers were gorgeous, as were the salads. We were to return the following night as well – another discovery of a nice eatery in Canberra. Later that Saturday night we drove to the Old Parliament House which had an architectural projection type of show on, and the building was opened as well for touring so we walked around and outside the building and it was really late by the time we got home.

On Sunday we went to the Old Bus Depot, went to the Fyshwick food markets for lunch and then went back to the Lake, this time to walk around the Carillon and also took a ride around that area on a paddle bike which took all 3 of us (and Scruff). The bike was christened “John”, a reference to John Howard. All of the bikes were named after past Prime Mnisters of Australia and we saw “Billy”, “Paul” and “Malcolm” go past us. As far as past Prime Ministers go, I cant wait for a “Julia” to appear. The Lake has truly become something more familiar. It is very large and I guess it will take loads of effort to know it really well.

We went to the Crossroads church on campus (at the Manning Clark Lecture Theatre) on Sunday evening, then went back to the London for a late dinner. We again drove around to catch more light projections on buildings and went to the National Gallery.

On Monday morning we spent some time in Kiddo’s dorm room, with some housekeeping stuff and then went to the “Scholar” – a Chinese restaurant for Yum Cha. It was pricey but the food was very good – another discovery of a good place in Canberra.

We left Canberra close to 3pm, and got back to Melbourne just after 9 – a record time for us. I guess we have become accustomed to the drive.

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The Crossroads church was very impressive, content wise. All of the songs were unfamiliar to us but they all had strong emphasis on Christ, the cross, the Gospel message and such themes. There were very little material on power for us, our needs, how much he means to us… in other words, the worship was all about God, not about me or us. What a refreshing change.

The message (“The King’s Speech” – Matthew 5 & 6) was also Kingdom centred and focused on what it really means to be godly and not just religious – again it was all about taking the focus away from us and turning to God.

It was a refreshing change, again.

So often, our church life is centered on ourselves – what the church can (or even ought) to do for us. If a church somehow misses the mark in terms of addressing our daily needs, we turn our backs and maybe even become bitter. I guess when we have needs which appear to be overwhelming and no one seems to care it would appear that we have a legitimate expectation that the church ought to do something. Maybe to a large extent the church ought to, and perhaps the local church ought to take its eyes off lofty notions like discipleship and mission and tend to the daily needs of its flocks. To some church goers, that would be a reasonable ask. Can we discuss discipleship without caring for members’ needs? I dont know.

I’m not sure I know how to deal with needs of church friends and “quasi church” friends. Especially needs of Christians who have been Christians for a long time. Life in Australia is often busy with cares of everyday living. One wakes up and goes to work, comes home and potters around the house with 101 things to do, leaving the “big jobs” for weekends. Many take up further courses of studies like yours truly and whatever free time in the evenings is taken up by work on these studies. Weekends see us catching up with more everyday living stuff – grocery shopping, house cleaning and other such or related chores. Then we have a little bit of time to catch up with friends and be socially alive. Often this means dinners on Sat nights or lunch on Sunday arvo. Either event means more time needed to plan, shop, prepare,  clean etc. Often this has to be rotated around so that different friends of different family members get time spent on them and we maintain our social networks that way, no matter how pained or little “value-add” in terms of strengthening these relationships.

One cant be doing that on every weekend either as some weekends are taken up with other stuff which invariably crop up – school events, weddings and birthdays, farewells, or even spending a Sat night at home catching up with work or with each other at home.

So the best one can do is maybe spend a bit of time, every few weeks, with some friends. I dont know if that is enough. I dont know if it is reasonable to expect more. It does become a bit of a pain when one has to work all these out, just to be satisfied that we’re ok. I would have thought it is a no brainer but apparently not.  Maybe we are meant to give up our everyday living demands, so that others can have their needs met. Maybe the answer lies in foregoing everything just so your friends are kept happy. I have to work that out further. Maybe keeping some friends happy requires a bit of effort. Much like getting to know Lake Burley Griffiin well.

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Kevin 07 – Revisited?


There are reports Rudd is considering a challenge against Gillard. I had to remind myself what some of the misgivings against Rudd were, back in Nov 2007. I had these thoughts then…

 

After midnight on 21/11, no electronic election campaign advertisements would be permitted. I don’t know if there is a similar blackout from the print media. On television and radio however, we would not hear anymore election campaign advertisements after tonight. Well, for the next 3 years anyway.
The last 3 Labour Prime Ministers have all been very flawed characters. By and large however, you knew who they were, before they became Prime Minister.
With Gough you knew his social agenda. It may have been the ideals of that time for state support nearing total state welfare which sounds repugnant to present thinking and his total, take no prisoner attitude as he steams ahead with his agenda may have seemed suicidal. For that he may have seemed irresponsible. He may have been an idealist, but irresponsible. Yet he made no bones about it. Everyone knew what he was on about. He didn’t try to manipulate anything to project a different image.

With Hawke it was the same thing. He was a womaniser and boozer. Yet he did not pretend to be something else. Keating continues to dish out his tongue lashings and continues to speak his mind about anything he has a view on. You always knew he would do that. I liked both Hawke and Keating. It was Keating who made it cool to appreciate antique clocks. If not for him, whenever I stepped into the antique shop of my brother in law (Daniel Ching) I would not have stopped to stare at these clocks.

Rudd however, is a different animal altogether. His public image has been a carefully crafted one. Just over a year ago I read an interview with him where he quoted Dietrich Bonheoffer extensively. He claimed to be devout Christian. I watched him spar with Joe Hockey, then the Minister for Human Services (or some ministry like that) and thought he was such an articulate, sincere and likeable man.

My perception of Rudd has changed. I now see him as someone who is prepared to lie about anything to get what he wants. Integrity is not part of his vocabulary. He’d go to a strip club and claim he’d forgotten (because he was too drunk). When I get drunk I want to sleep or pick a fight, not go to a strip club. Maybe he got drunk in the strip club, who knows? He faked things on television. Before an audience of mainly Muslims, he would not affirm his belief in Christianity (would not say Jesus is the Son of God). How can someone hold such polarised stance? You cannot say you are a devout Christian and express agreement with Dietrich Bonheoffer’s theological writings and then cannot bring yourself to confess Jesus is the Son of God. He’d say things for years which he would not permit his team to say, if it meant being against the grain of the moment.

He appears to hold no views, sways according to popular opinion and would not tell you the truth. In fact he would lie, if that makes him look good or better. John Howard may appear to be like a grumpy old man at times and his “liberal” (read conservative a la Thatcher) views may not always be agreeable to the average wage earners (like me) but you knew where he stands. With Rudd, his true colours may only surface if/when he becomes Prime Minister. It may mean 3 disastrous years which would take a long time to fix.

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Gillard and Najib Again


Did I say Julia Gillard is looking more like Najib Razak everyday? Here’s another example.

The Rural Development Fund of Australia has been funneled overwhelmingly to Labor constituencies. Over 70% of the $200million kitty has gone to Labor areas. Pork barreling is no strange deed in politics I guess and the Howard Government was also know to have done this, but I guess, this thread of parallels between these two governments are all too appalling clear to me.

Somehow I find myself switching off anything with Julia Gillard on. This morning in the gym, I was watching the Today Show on the treadmill as always, and the PM was on for almost 10 minutes. I had to switch to Seven’s Sunrise, much to my chagrin, that entire slot. I kept switching back to Nine’s Today and the PM was going on and on without giving any clear or honest answers.

I think her attempts to pin the asylum seeker farce on the Coalition is just shameless. It was all Rudd’s doing and in this matter, quite frankly the Coalition just cannot be faulted. Scott Morrison has been doing a terrific job and he has been the only politician from either side to point out the appalling record by Malaysian bodies such as RELA and the police, in their treatment of asylum seekers.

Although I haven’t lived in Australia all that long, I have lived through the Prime Ministerships of Bob Hawke, John Howard, Kevin Rudd and the current one. This current one is by far the worst I have seen. Get rid of her already.

 

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New Model Needed (Brilliant Skit)


If the ABC was Relevant (Part 44) (a John Clarke, Bryan Dawes skit).

(The  Customer)

[Scene: A car yard. BRYAN is perusing the stock.  He is approached by  JOHN]

John:  Morning! Looking for a new car?

Bryan:  Nope. Prime Minister, actually.

John:  You’re the third one this morning. Anything in  mind?

Bryan: You  know…….. nothing fancy, reliable, economical family model.  Something to get the country from A to B.

John: You  mean like a Howard?

Bryan:  Yeah….a little Johnny. Nothing flash, does the job. Low  maintenance, economical, sensible. Runs for years, no  troubles.

John:  So…. you used to have one?

Bryan:  Yeah. About 10 years. Great little model – don’t know why I got rid  of him – biggest mistake I’ve ever  made ….

John: What  happened?

Bryan:  Traded him in for a Kevin 07.

John: Big  mistake…

Bryan: Lot  of people bought it. Good political mileage.

John: How  was the Kevin 07?

Bryan:  Came with a $900 factory rebate – that was  good.

John:  Anything else?

Bryan: Not  much. Sounded nice but nothing under the bonnet. It was a  lemon.

John:  Didn’t stick around for long did it?

Bryan: Nah  – had a factory recall. Shipped overseas and was never seen  again.

John: What  was the problem?

Bryan:  Lots. But the final straw was the navigation system. Plug it in and it automatically loses its own way.

John:  Whatcha got now?

Bryan:  It’s a Gillard-Brown.

John: The  hybrid?

Bryan:  Yeah. The Eco-drive system – not a good idea. An engine that can’t deliver hooked up to a transmission stuck in permanent  reverse…

John:  Green paintwork with a red interior. And steering that always  lurches to the left for no apparent reason – that’s the  one?

Bryan: The Fustercluck model.

John: The only one they made, Bryan.  Not the vehicle of choice for the road to  recovery – but did they finish up fixing the navigation system?

Bryan:  Made it worse.  Turn it on and it does a press release, heads off in  all directions and goes nowhere.

John: So that’s why you’re here?

Bryan:  That’s right. I’m stuck with a government that’s wasteful,  expensive, ineffective and past its use by date.  I don’t suppose  you’ve heard of the “Cash for Clunkers” scheme?

John: Join  the queue brother.

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Merry Christmas Malaysia from Australia


Malaysia has been in Australian news recently. Australia under the Labor Government has been clutching at straws to formulate a credible policy in addressing asylum seekers who arrive on boats operated by people smugglers.

 Under the previous Liberal Government, John Howard’s Pacific Solution entailed escorting boats to Nauru, where they are processed for refugee status. This was a very clear signal to people smugglers that they could never deliver effective services to their clients as they would not land in Australia. The result was that the number of boats arriving plunged. When Labor abolished this and allowed illegal arrivals to land and be processed on shore, where different rules prevail, the number of boats shot up.

 For reasons which can only be political, Nauru and the Pacific Solution ala John Howard was cut adrift and Labor has been bobbing around for a safe harbour to berth a policy. Thanks to about $300million (1 billion Malaysian Ringgit) Malaysia has agreed to be Julia Gillard’s Nauru.

 The problem of course, was that not only would Australia fork out a lot of moolah (not that Malaysia is an un-greedy refugee processing centre of sorts who would be willing to accept less) but Australia also needed, under the deal with Malaysia, to take 5 refugees currently housed in Malaysia for every one asylum seeker Malaysia agrees to accept to be process for refugee status.

 We have agreed to take in 4,000 refugees for the 800 asylum seekers Malaysia agrees to process, and which we may take back anyway. This works out to be about $54,000 per person – Malaysia gets $165,00 (RM) for every refugee it has probably abused for years. What a deal huh? For Malaysia I mean.

 Congratulations Najib – you have struck yourself a winner, and all because (1) Australia is a generous benefactor with loads of compassion and (2) it is governed by a egotistical idiotic and profligate Labor Government. You are a very lucky beneficiary of this stupidity.  For Malaysia, Najib teruk but nasib baik.

 So it is really a win-win scenario for Malaysia. Malaysia has well over 90,000 refugees, who are subject to constant extortion and abuse by immigration and custom officers. After exacting callous release of their gratification from these victims, Malaysians stand to benefit by appearing to do Australia a favour, at a cool pay day worth RM1billion.

 So as Muslim countries beat each other up and cause their people to flee, yet more Muslim countries abuse them en route to some ex-Christian countries with lingering Christian values who for one reason or another, agree to provide salvation for these souls. If and when some of them eventually settle down they might then gripe about Christian values and say they should be given the freedom to rile and rant against western Christian civilisation.

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John Hewson and the Modern Leader


I watched Andrew Denton interview John Hewson last night. I wonder how he ever became a politician, let alone the opposition leader with an outside chance of becoming a prime minister. I remember him as the economics professor in my university, occasionally sighting him on campus. He appeared very serious and certainly very ambitious, but the type who would neither stand for rhetoric nor suffer any fools.

The GST was his brainchild. He of course lost the elections to Paul Keating and it wasn’t until the Liberals came to power under John Howard and Peter Costello that the GST came into being – was it in 1995 or 1996. I think few remembered Hewson as the person who brought it about. Sure it was Costello’s push and Howard’s deal making which made it happen but it all started with Hewson.

From the interview, it appears as though Hewson should have been the owner of the moniker “Honest John”, instead of Howard. It was his honest albeit disastrous answer to Mike Willessee’s (forerunner to “A Current Affairs”, even before Jana Wendt) question about whether GST will make a cake more expensive, which buried him. The political naiveté oozing out of that very honest answer was cringe worthy – I can’t imagine any politician going through such an intellectually honest but non media savvy answer but on the other hand I also cannot imagine Tracy Grimshaw asking either Wayne Swan or Joe Hockey a similar question today. Or maybe I can but the response would certainly be more media polished.

Hewson was a workaholic personified. He was working in Hill Samuels, the precursor of Macquarie Bank, while also working in the university. His 18 hour days and 100+ hour weeks saw 2 marriages crumble. Still only 60 years old now and often appearing as a political commentator on Fox, he appears to have mellowed a lot. He has always had that know it all look, creating an arrogant aura about his character, which of course was never going to help his political career, honesty notwithstanding.

What Hewson appeared to have patently lacked was what some of my mates would call “relational skills”. He didn’t seem bothered with what others’ agendas were, only with issues at hand. His objectivity was looked at as callous refusal to consider deal making. Leaders today are expected to engage people, often almost at all costs. If a leader concentrates on substantive issues at the expense of exercising “relational” elements, he or she is often viewed as an ineffectual leader. What this can lead to is leadership which is across opinions and feelings but lacking in substance. Hence we observe an absence of intellectually rigorous and robust policies or statements of values from our leaders today. Truth and objectivity requires time and hard work. Emphasis on “people issues” can come at the expense of neglecting this area. Perhaps the solution lies in knowing exactly what we want from our leaders – people who meet and greet and listen to you often or people who meet and greet issues and decide the right course to take.

Prophetic Word? Danger! Danger!


I have often doubted the modern day prophet, who whips up a sense of “wow” and excitement in a congregation, by their “prophetic word”. They’re often visiting speakers or just some de facto leaders of the wider church community who’d be visiting and given a cameo appearance during which some prophetic word would be dispensed to create a little excitement.
         Maybe they think the service has been a little dull, things have become all too predictable and regular so a prophetic word would be pulled out to add a bit of spice to proceedings.
         In our church, the pattern has taken this form. The “prophet” would call out individuals or small groups of individuals, and say individual 1 would go into some pastoral kind of ministry individual 2 would go into some prayer ministries, and so on. The opus moderandi works for groups too. Thankfully it hasn’t happened too often – I can remember no more than half a dozen occurrences over the past 3 years we’ve been in this church.
         With Nalliah’s spectacular miss, my doubt has been affirmed. Perhaps I can now change my name, unashamedly, to Thomas.
         Following my short and disrespectful previous entry, I received some “track backs” which lead me to some entries in some other blogs. These included the “Catch the Fire” blog.
         Maybe it is to lend credence, or maybe it is simply to maintain the momentum to Nalliah’s stab. Several others’ proclamations of similar “visions” were published. These included a Kenneth Copeland and a Karen Hetherington. They were called “confirmation” or “affirmation”. I’ve heard this principle before. Apparently when 2 or more independent persons heard or saw the same thing it was confirmation that the word was indeed prophetic, the flock can be at peace and be confident that the word would “come to pass”.
         Well, Danny, Kenneth and Karen all saw the same thing. Well they said they did. They said they saw John Howard and Peter Costello there, for the coalition’s 5th term. Rudd apparently came on strong in Karen’s vision but faded away, leaving John and Peter at the helm. Lo and behold – come to pass it spectacularly did not.
         John Howard has most probably lost his own seat and would retire from politics, never again to attract a crowd during his morning walks. Peter Costello looked dejected and demoralised when he gave a press conference yesterday, saying he would not be seeking to inherit leadership of the Liberal Party to lead the opposition. He seemed a little bitter, even. Maybe he genuinely believed the Nalliah mob and now regrets not being more aggressive in seeking to ask Howard to step aside to let him lead the election campaign. Therein lies my biggest reason for viewing these demonstrations of spiritual irresponsibility with anger and contempt.
         I don’t know if these self appointed prophets realise the sort of impact and potential destruction they wreak on the targets/subjects. When you tell someone you had a word from God that that person would undergo some experience or become something or undertake some tasks, how do you think that someone would behave subsequently? Does the behaviour not become affected at all?
         We all get ideas – sometimes they come in the form of visions in our minds. Depending on the company we have been keeping, the books we have been reading, the movies we have been watching, the news item which have been airing on the radio or television or simply on what we have been thinking about, these ideas and images linger and perhaps morph. Perhaps our consumption of stimulants also affects this.
         How can we be so presumptuous that these visions in our minds are necessarily messages from God to be dispensed to the recipients so readily? If I have been thinking about someone in church and I think perhaps that person should think about doing something, surely it is a huge jump – maybe even a whacky one – and highly presumptuous to say what I think is God’s message for that person? That surely is only my opinion. Several others may share that opinion. It is still only an opinion. It may be a commonly shared opinion. It doesn’t become a message from God – a “prophetic word” – just because we shared the opinion and we are all committed Christians.
         See what the Herald Sun newspaper got out of Danny Nalliah early November:
“If you have a party dominated by a secular Left-wing ideology, how could they then accomplish a morally sound agenda, which is Judeo-Christian-based?” Mr Nalliah said. (Herald Sun, 9 November 2007)
         Danny wanted a government which would deliver a “morally sound agenda”. I have no quarrel with that. I want the same thing. I don’t however, make presumptuous conclusions which equate what I want (which is a personal wish) to a prophetic word (which is God’s plan). Admittedly he is most probably a more godly man than me. That still doesn’t qualify his opinion for a prophecy.
         I think these gaffes are borne out a desire to entertain ourselves. Some of us think the gospel as presented in the Bible is perhaps too dull and unexciting we need to somehow spice it up to make it and the church more entertaining. Maybe they think that if you preach the same old message of God’s love and Jesus’ death and resurrection over a period of time it looses its attraction.
         Sprinkle some “prophetic words” however and things get a little more interesting. I mean it’s like the casino isn’t it? I say the little silver ball would fall on number 36 and it did, wow – that’s exciting! I say Joe Blog would have ministry “x” and he did – wow that’s exciting!
         The problem of course is that Joe may alter his life dramatically. And if the basis for this wasn’t God’s word but the opinion of ordinary men wrongly elevated to a “prophetic word” due to some delusions on the part of such ordinary men, it is a highly irresponsible and even reckless behaviour which should be censured. It harms that brother/sister and brings disrepute to the Kingdom of God.

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