Hate media on the Convoy

The Courier-Mail on the “Convoy of No Confidence”.

Motley caravan of crackpots

Paul Syvret

CONVOY of No Confidence, or a cavalcade of carping self-interest?

Yesterday saw a motley caravan of trucks wend its way into Canberra, although all did not go according to plan at first, with AAP reporting the start was delayed "because of insufficient numbers".

Ostensibly organisers of the convoy are in the national capital to deliver a petition calling for a fresh election, arguing the 12-month-old minority Gillard Government has failed and fallen hostage to the Greens and Independents.

High on the list of gripes are the carbon tax, rising fuel prices and the Government’s ham-fisted management of the live cattle export issue.

Mind you, there is something of a logical anomaly in a bunch of truckies allegedly concerned about the high cost of diesel driving a few thousand kilometres to Canberra and back in a prime mover – just to have a whinge.

Anyway, along the way the convoy (which started out in various parts of the country) has picked up all manner of malcontents opposed to everything from gay marriage to poker machine legislation, imported fruit, climate change "alarmism", the mining tax, foreign investment and asylum seekers.

What you’ve got is not so much a Convoy of No Confidence but a caravan of crackpots – sort of an Australian version of the US’s "Tea Party" movement but on wheels.

Not surprisingly Tony Abbott (alongside the likes of professional carper Alan Jones) was due to address the planned rally yesterday – a protest that organiser Mick Pattel of the National Road Freighters Association has claimed is not a partisan political event. …

Memo to moaners: In its 12 months in office the Gillard Government has successfully passed 175 pieces of legislation, with not one Bill being rejected or amended beyond recognition. In short, there is no constitutional trigger whatsoever for a double dissolution.

Source:  The Courier-Mail

See also:

“The Thompsons go to Canberra” here…