“We'll pretend we've stopped the boats and the conditions under which we pretend they've stopped,” seems to be the motto of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's government.
Making asylum seeker boats disappear from public record appears to be Abbott's response to the vexed question of what to do about the fact that, having being elected on the slogan “Stop the boats”, they actually can't stop the boats.
No one can “stop the boats” — not without stopping the wars, genocide and repression that drives people onto boats to risk their lives to reach safety, no matter how extreme the obstacles put in the way.
After all, it is hard to get more extreme than genocide. Just ask a Tamil from Sri Lanka, whose genocidal regime is working overtime to prevent Tamils from fleeing to safety with the Australian government's active support.
And as the Australian government shows no signs of stopping its role supporting wars, genocide and repression, we can confidently assume asylum seekers will continue to need help.
After all, if we want West Papuans, for one, to stop arriving by boat or rocking up to our embassy in Bali, perhaps a good starting point would be to stop strongly supporting Indonesia's brutal occupation of their country. We might perhaps think about no longer training the Indonesian military special forces responsible for serious human rights abuses against Papuans. It is just a thought.
Instead, Abbott has settled on trying to make the problem disappear, like a magic trick aimed at children. It is probably fitting, since he has abolished the minster for science and seems to be trying a similar disappearing trick on climate change.
Perhaps Abbott believes we won't notice the growing reality of climate change if, by a clever sleight of hand, he simply abolishes any government body dedicated to the area.
Of course, the consequences of climate change — such as extreme weather and associated disasters — become a lot harder to hide when Liberal state governments like Barry O'Farrell's are so committed to disappearing the Rural Fire Service.
In his time in office, Abbott seems equally committed to making the Great Barrier Reef disappear, along with the public sector, social security and all left-wing university lecturers. All of which he may very well, if allowed to proceed with his agenda, have much more success at disappearing than asylum seekers or global warming.
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When I first heard that the US government was shutting down, I won't lie to you — I got out the champagne. This is a moment I've waited years for! Finally, I can send a fucking email without the bastards spying on me!
For the first time in many decades, Latin America will be free from the threat of US-organised coups. I expected the continent was celebrating by nationalising a few US companies and spending the revenue on health care, while happily knocking back a few Cuba Libres.
The people of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province could finally get the first decent night's sleep since the US president and Nobel Peace Prize winner ordered a huge expansion in drone strikes against them. The people of Syria and Iran could breathe easy as the US government's war threats disappeared.
Egypt's military will run out of US-supplied bullets to shoot protesters with. The people of Gaza could start counting the days until Israel's arsenal of US-supplied arms and chemical weapons runs out.
But no, it turns out the partial shutdown of the US government -- seemingly due to the far right of the Republican Party mistaking subsidies to private health insurance giants for “socialism” and panicking that gulags are next -- affects none of this.
No, it just means hundreds of thousands of public-sector workers are on forced leave without pay. About 1 million are being asked to work without pay (perhaps the Tea Party really do want to reinstate slavery) and crucial social security and other government programs relied on by the disadvantaged have been closed down.
Absolutely bloody typical. It says it all about the true nature of the US government really — it can't even shut itself down without screwing over millions of people.
[Carlo Sands is performing at a Sydney 鶹ý Weekly fundraising show, , along with Michael Hing, Twiggy Palmcock and Hannah Gissane. The show is on Sat, Nov 9, 7.30pm, at Addison Rd Community Centre, Hut 9 theatre, Marrickville. .]