Tuesday 29 November 2011

My Taxes at Work

Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory had a local government foisted upon it, despite, when asked to vote to decide whether it wanted one, responding with a resounding 'No'*

Since receiving the gift of our own local government, we have had plenty of opportunities to recognise how right we were to say, 'No', but Saturday's Canberra Times unveiled possibly the most vivid demonstration of our good sense yet:



The only silver lining to this nuttiness is the effect the news may have on the attractive, non-criminal classes. Possibly, on learning that tattoos are so eagerly sought among the inmates of penal institutions, they may reconsider their own aspirations to have their bodies covered in indelible daubings. Instead of defacing themselves, they will seek other avenues of pleasure, such as helping their elderly parents to do the washing up.

Actually, now I think about it further, perhaps I should support Ms Gallagher's initiative, for, if it does result in non-criminals eschewing tattoos, tattoos may soon become exclusive to the occupants - or former occupants - of jails. This could, in fact, turn out to be an extremely good thing: in the future, thanks to the ACT Labor Government,  it will become extremely easy to work out exactly who is who.

*   Here's the history, from Wikipedia: "In 1978, the Australia Capital Territory voted at a referendum on whether the ACT should be granted self-government. Voters were given the choice of becoming a self-governing territory, a local government or continuing with the Legislative Assembly being an advisory body to the Department of the Capital Territory. 63.75% voted to continue with the then current arrangement.[3] Despite the outcome of the referendum, the Parliament of Australia passed the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act in 1988 and the ACT became a self-governing territory in 1989."

2 comments:

  1. Doesn't it seem, of late, that government types are more in the business of coming up with obscure new angles to promoting public welfare, for the sake of seeming innovatively insightful, than they are for... I dunno ... governing? And, while I'm on the subject, I'm getting tired of radio interviews with experts who offer "surprising" links between things. Helping others has turned into a game of "I know more than you do." Just goofy. Look at Gallagher's grin in the picture. Grr.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have no idea why I'm defending her in any way, Chris - apart from the fact that her predecessor, the perpetually furious John Stanhope was even worse than she is - but in all honesty I have to admit that that is a particularly meanly chosen photograph of young Gallagher Ms

    ReplyDelete