Groucho, Harpo and Shocko

Shocko Frydenberg and Zeppo Waffle

Margaret Dumont, isn’t she the Defence Minister?

The late comic Richard Pryor had a routine that went something like this: A husband is in bed with an extramarital paramour when his wife bursts in and, quite understandably, becomes rather upset. Nonplussed as his doxy collects her things, hubby simply denies there is a naked third party in the room.

“Who you going to believe,” he demands, “me or your lying eyes?”

Pryor nicked the gag from Groucho Marx, who aired it first in Duck Soup, and gave it a risque update, which demonstrates there is always fresh life to be squeezed out of a good joke, no matter how old. Josh Frydenberg certainly seems to think so. On March 6, 2018, the Minister for Ruinously Expensive Electricity issued a press release which concluded (emphasis added)

Investment in renewables is part of the Turnbull Government’s technology neutral approach to delivering a more affordable and reliable energy system.

So, who are we to believe,  Minister Frydenberg and his green-tongued assertion that subsidies for solar constitute part of a “technology neutral” energy policy which makes electricity “more affordable”, or are we to believe our latest lying electricity bills?

Readers of today’s Australian will have some trouble swallowing the latter:

Energy consumers will be forced to pay more than $1 billion for rooftop solar installation subsidies this year, increasing power costs by up to $100 per household, according to an industry analysis.

Richard Pryor died in 2005 and the Marx Brothers are all long gone, but the legacy of Groucho, Harpo and Chico will never die while Shocko Frydenberg is on the job.

Subscribers to The Australian can read all about grossly inflated electricity bills being “more affordable” via this link or the one below.

— roger franklin

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