The XYZ Editors can be a little slow some times. But in all honesty, it was always a foregone conclusion:
Bat21: XYZACT Correspondent
Well, it’s that time again. The weekend when Canberrans like to pretend that the territory is a democracy. Every few years, left leaning politicians of the ACT Legislative Assembly (a bizarre blend of Council and State Government that doesn’t perform either service particularly well) rock up much like Clintons in a welfare dependent electorate correctly assuming that all the suckers will vote for them because generations of living off the taxpayer teat have conditioned them to do so.
The ACT is a democracy in the same way that the ABC is unbiased. The only real uncertainty with either is whether the voices will be left, to the left of left, or left to the left of left. Liberal candidates only exist to maintain the illusion of democracy.
The Liberals could literally promise every man, woman, and child $7000 cold hard cash and actually deliver it if elected, and you could still be certain that our silly public servant army would opt for a Labor or Green candidate out of self preservation, while those without an APS rank languish without flex days, councillors, or being able to retire a few decades earlier than everyone else.
Should lightning strike and Liberal Jeremy Hanson wins, it won’t make much difference anyway. Hanson may be conservative by ACT standards, but compared to the few real conservatives around the rest of the country, he presents rather like a Heineken brewed under licence in Australia rather than in Holland; a poor approximation of a once powerful and trusted brand name.
Despite being home to the Museum of Australian Democracy, the ACT has yet to get a complete grasp on the concept. The average Public Servant will complain about absolutely everything, yet vote for the same group of criminals from cradle to grave while lamenting a lack of action.
It’s your XYZ.
XYZ Canberra Correspondent Bat 21 is trapped deep behind the enemy lines of the Australian Capital Territory, where believing that public service ambitions of one day securing eighteen years of paid parental leave per child to be a little excessive is likely to outrage the haves of the A.C.T., almost as much as trying to explain to them that casual employees don’t get any parental leave or sick days whatsoever. Bat 21 is ever fearful that his public service colleagues, who proudly proclaim that, “nobody I know voted for Tony Abbott,” will one day learn the deep dark secret that he once voted for the member for Warringah while living in the foreign nation of Cremorne.
Photo by OzMark17 