I've been taking some interest in the media reporting of the so called "Swine Flu". The cynic in me says it is a great way to sell papers and get people to watch "news" reports on TV.
Does anyone remember the SARS virus of 2003 and how we "could" "potentially" see millions die?
Reports lately have often referred to the great influenza epidemic from 1918 which was apparently responsible for 100 million deaths! Yeah pretty serious. My great grand parents were so concerned they sent their eldest son (Charles) over to Canada to help reduce the risk of the family dying out. He went on to play ice hockey - lucky him (true story) and no-one in the family died (except from old age).
Last night on ABC-TV's Q&A show the SA Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young was asked to speak about a Greens proposal of putting a question on the ballot paper at the next federal election. The question would be something like, do you want Australia to become a republic...yes/no.
She was hammered by all sides!
HOW CAN WE THINK ABOUT BECOMING A REPUBLIC RIGHT NOW!!!??? They all shouted (Garret, Joyce, Goward). After all there's the "GFC" and "Swine Flu" to think about.
I think they forgot that the next federal election isn't until 2010 at the earliest!
I must admit to being a little astonished at the reaction from seemingly "rational" people.
So why do I mention this? Well the media have a habit of contributing to mass hysteria and this gives the pollies a chance to posture for attention and show how "great" they are at dealing with a "crisis".
How can we think about a republic right now....seriously.....what a joke! Here's a link to an independant view on the Swine Flu reaction. You may find it partly explains the reaction to the republic question on TV last night.
I'm not suggesting for one moment that the Swine Flu is not important - just keep it out of politicians' (who are mostly lawyers) control and we may just be able to deal with it.
