Unexplained redactions, withheld records and battles over testimony raise the question of whether Epstein-related secrecy protects victims or the powerful.
It's not just the efforts of Albanese, Chalmers, and Bowen that make this current government the worst in Australian history.
For never in our nation's history has a government contained so many people who appear so utterly clueless and completely out of touch with ordinary Australians.
EXHIBIT No. 1: 22-year-old Labor Senator Charlotte Walker
Just watch this bizarre video of this Labor senator eating a sausage roll, spraying crumbs everywhere, while singing a song about herself.
It raises a legitimate question: was she stoned when she filmed this and suffering from the munchies? Because it certainly has all the tell-tale signs.
Perhaps it's time to start drug testing our members of parliament before they vote on any legislation?
And remember: this isn't some teenage TikTok influencer. This is a Labor senator in the Australian Parliament.
The Senate exists to interrogate laws, test them against reality, and stop reckless ideas from becoming government policy. Senators are supposed to have the experience and judgement to understand second-order consequences. They are supposed to have the knowledge required to grill the Reserve Bank, the TGA, and other powerful agencies, while scrutinising government-backed projects such as Snowy 2.0.
They are supposed to grapple with energy security, economic policy, foreign affairs, and the defence of the nation.
And Labor sent Senator Walker.
Further, we expect our politicians to engage in vigorous internal party debate, challenging ideas and arguing over policy to produce better outcomes for the nation.
Can anyone seriously imagine Charlotte Walker sitting around the Labor Party room table debating the complexities of energy infrastructure, monetary policy, national security, foreign affairs, or economic reform?
And to think that taxpayers have already paid her more than a quarter of a million dollars in salary during her short time in the Senate, and by the time her six-year term ends, she will have pocketed at least $1.5 million.
That's just one example of why this country is sliding backwards.
EXHIBIT No. 2: Labor's Communications Minister Anika Wells
In a recent interview, Anika Wells complains about the "decline in trust" in politicians and seeks to blame social media.
Talk about being spectacularly out of touch.
Talk about living under a rock.
The decline in trust has nothing to do with an "algorithm".
The decline in trust is because Australians elected a government upon a promise of $275 cheaper electricity, and instead watched their power bills soar.
The decline in trust is because Australians have heard promise after promise from Anthony Albanese, only to discover that his word cannot be relied upon.
The decline in trust is because too many Australians no longer believe what they are being told by the political establishment.
The decline in trust is because the ABC itself has too often blurred the line between reporting and advocacy, creating a narrative and dressing it up as news.
The decline in trust is because millions of Australians came out of the COVID years knowing they had been misled and lied to by governments, bureaucracies, and institutions that demanded unquestioning obedience while shutting down legitimate debate.
The decline in trust is because Australians have endured decades of apocalyptic climate predictions while inconvenient real-world evidence is routinely ignored or dismissed, whether it concerns cyclones, polar bears, supposedly "disappearing" islands, droughts, or dams that we were once warned might never fill again.
And let's not forget another reason for the decline in trust:
Politicians who lecture Australians about "trust" while being embroiled in controversies over their own use of taxpayers' money.
Perhaps Anika Wells should stop blaming social media algorithms and start looking in the mirror.
Trust isn't destroyed because Australians are allowed to see what politicians are doing.
Trust is destroyed by what Australians see politicians doing.
Thought for the Day
“You Are Never Too Old To Set Another Goal Or To Dream A New Dream.” – C.S. Lewis
Craig Kelly was a Liberal Member of Parliament (2010 - 2022) representing the seat of Hughes. He quit the Liberals in 2021 over their failure to defend liberties during COVID. He currently serves as Director of the Foundation for Economic Education.
Unexplained redactions, withheld records and battles over testimony raise the question of whether Epstein-related secrecy protects victims or the powerful.
While Australians are being crushed by soaring rents and mortgage costs, Cabinet minister Anika Wells has turned the housing crisis into a social media skit with children’s collectibles.
