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Here's what's not on my mind when the electricity bill arrives in that ominous eco-friendly, recycled and recyclable brown envelope: hard core criminals released from immigration detention.
They don't come to mind when I pull up at the servo to find fuel is up 10 cents a litre.
Nor are they front of mind when I skirt the meat section in the supermarket, cursing the "discounts" on offer, wondering how $10 for 500g of diced beef could possibly be dressed up as a saving.
Hard core criminals released from immigration detention are the least of my worries and I suspect those of many others when, head in hands, I gasp at bank statements showing just how much the mortgage is costing.
And I doubt those poor souls queued up to inspect a mouldy flat which backs onto the railway line in a far-flung suburb, and asking most of their weekly pay packet in rent, are muttering darkly about hard core criminals released from immigration detention either.
Watching Parliament lately, I've wanted to scream at what had become the deafening hard core criminals metronome. For what seems like months now, two of the dreariest individuals in the history of politics - and I'm talking the world here, not just Australia - have dominated proceedings.
Tehan and Giles. Seriously, they'd send a mountain of amphetamines to sleep.
As we learned that former Home Affairs generalissimo and minister for foreign au pairs Peter Dutton also reinstated hard core criminal visas, it had become a pointless slugfest. Both sides are now in the frame for incompetence.
Besides that, the fuss over hard core criminals released from immigration detention or having their visas reinstated ignores one sobering fact. Our streets are already awash with offenders released from jail.
According to the Bureau of Statistics, there were more than 17,000 of them in the December 2023 quarter. We don't know how many could be regarded as hard core but we do know that 42.5 per cent of people released from our prisons will find themselves back behind bars because they've committed further crimes. But there's no moral panic about that.
So it's time to move on, to issues like the cost of living that's crippling Australians. To the housing crisis, which is denying young people hope of finding, let alone buying, a home. To our falling living standards and the creeping sense that we've slid into a recession - even if technically it isn't. Out here in the real world, it can seem no one in Parliament has noticed.
As Bill Clinton's political strategist James Carville said famously in 1992: "It's the economy, stupid!"
Carville's words should be uppermost in the minds of our politicians. Hang them over every door into the chamber if need be. Come election time, that's where the electorate's focus will be. Gotcha moments will have no bearing whatsoever.
Maybe, just maybe, the pollies have twigged. But even yesterday, as the national accounts revealed the anaemic state of the economy, the opposition asked only two questions about it. Any discussion about cost of living was triggered by the predictable Dorothy Dixers from the government benches. While we were spared the Tehan-Giles tedium, on the economy, the opposition was still largely missing in action.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Has the opposition banged on too long over immigration? Should it sharpen its focus on the economy? Will the release of immigration detainees or the reinstatement of visas to convicted criminals affect the way you vote at the next election? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Social media giants have been allowed to fuel a mental health crisis and booming scam industry while putting democracy at risk, News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller told the National Press Club on Wednesday. Mr Miller called for new laws with criminal sanctions to force companies like Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, along with TikTok and X, to comply with a "social licence" to operate in Australia.
- Australian TV personality John Blackman, best known as the Hey, Hey it's Saturday iconic voiceover artist, has died at the age of 76. Blackman worked in radio from 1969 but was best known for his 28-year stint as Hey Hey announcer and the voice of Dickie Knee.
- Medibank could face trillions of dollars in fines after the Australian Information Commissioner launched legal action over a major data breach. The 2022 cybersecurity incident that affected 9.7 million Medibank and Ahm customers saw hackers steal personal and highly sensitive information and publish it on the Dark Web.
THEY SAID IT: "The economy is the start and end of everything. You can't have successful education reform or any other reform if you don't have a strong economy." - David Cameron
YOU SAID IT: A trade war is looming as Chinese car makers dominate the world market. But the horse has already bolted.
Bill from Corlette writes: "I bought the cheapest full EV in Australia two months ago (GWM Ora). Great vehicle with seven-year warranty, fixed-price service for five years ($99), comprehensive insurance two thirds of my traded 2020 RAV4 hybrid and I charge it off my solar panels so running costs are next to zero. A great local run-around car. My wife bought a GWM Jolion two years ago, so two Chinese cars in this household and we very happy with them (although they can be a bit quirky). The writing on the wall is not always clear but we have made our decision."
"I have purchased in the past seven years two Chinese made SAIC utes," writes Dazza. "After the five-year warranty was up I traded the first one in (we named him Chairman Mao) and bought the second (Mrs Mao). What you get in quality and reliability for the price is fantastic. We live in Central Australia and I do a lot of off-road work in remote communities and a fair bit of four-wheel driving. The only issue has been a broken door handle. On top of that we tow a 42-year-old caravan (Milly) and have no problems at all. I certainly am not a Terry Tightarse, so all I can say is yep, value and reliability for half the price of other utes is a win."
Arthur writes: "I love my Mercedes c220 turbo diesel now coming up to 15 years old. The long life makes it very economical because depreciation, the major cost of owning a motor vehicle, is no longer a factor. The overall cost is important to me and more important than the country of manufacture. As you say the country of manufacture or the country which owns the factory is very likely to be China if you look long enough. China is conquering the world with the yuan."
"I know the Chinese will get better," writes Bill, who's no fan of China's petrol MGs. "I am old enough to remember that in the 1950s when Japan was making licensed copies of old British everything, the saying 'Jap crap' was true. But the Japanese had wised up by the mid '60s, and everything Japanese had higher design and build quality. Cars, radios and TVs, cameras, motor bikes. No more oil on garage floors. And I agree those small Euro SUVs are shit. Like you, I drove one on loan. You could program out the stop while stationary BS, but had to do it every trip. Agree about the seats and plastics. Wouldn't buy one if you gave it to me."
Craig, who loves his Chinese BYD Seal, writes: "As someone who teaches trade theory, it is not surprising that in general I would support free trade as it maximises the aggregate prosperity of both countries. However, another reason to support free trade is that it makes war, say over Taiwan, more costly to both parties and thus less likely. I think that the decoupling of the US and Chinese economies will make war more likely. This would be a war that would make the appalling situation in Ukraine look like a picnic in comparison."