Federal poll already taking its toll
“It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.” — Maurice Switzer, Mrs. Goose, Her Book (1907) I’M making the call now. Worst. Election. Campaign. Ever.
The big parties have not really yet fired a shot in anger in the run to this year’s federal poll but I’m already so over it. And all because of one man. Take a bow, Clive Palmer. In reviving his Palmer United Party as the United Australia Party, Palmer could have taken the high ground — playing against type, I grant you — and sought to engage voters with a platform and tone that were well-constructed and thoughtprovoking. Instead, he sought to hasten the dumbing down of Australian politics even further with his “Australia’s not going to cop it” ad blitz.
Leaving aside the legalities of his use of heavy metal band Twisted Sister’s ’80s anthem
We’re Not Gonna Take It, it’s not even a good version.
It has production values that would make primary school- aged filmmakers cringe, the vocal talent sounds like a bunch of mates in the outer at the cricket singing as a dare, and nothing says “catchy” like trying to cram an extra syllable into a song line — and failing. It’s high-rotation airplay has seen Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider take to Twitter and describe Palmer as “a low life, piece of kangaroo dung, criminal without an ounce of dignity”. Palmer returned fire in kind, tweeting that Snider was “an aging (sic) rocker with an affinity for wigs … obviously still trying to gain notoriety so people will come to his concerts”, and suggesting the song was a rip-off of the Christmas carol O Come, All Ye Faithful.
Then last month I, like countless thousands, received a text message — unsolicited — from the United Australia Party promising to “ban unsolicited political text messages which Labor & Liberal have allowed”.
In other words, Palmer’s saying, “I know this is bugging you but you have to elect me so I can stop bugging you”.
Say what you will about the man, but I never thought of him as a master of irony.
Last Wednesday, the UAP ramped up the fearmongering with a second text warning that my “freedom is under threat”, and all in the name of plugging a TV spot.
I am well aware that becoming another journo writing about Palmer is merely feeding the beast. Sometimes I hate myself.