Mark Buckley

Mark Buckley is a writer based in regional Victoria. He has a particular interest in politics, history and ethics in public life. He blogs at www.askbucko.com

Mark's recent articles

Time to end the party of greed

Time to end the party of greed

When we look at the individual Morrison Government members we see very few who distinguish themselves from their peers. What we see is a collection of odd, socially awkward people, thrown together by a strange ideology which really sets them apart from our society. Birds of a feather really do flock together.

When did neglecting our elderly become the Australian way?

When did neglecting our elderly become the Australian way?

The nation is paying the price for Scott Morrisons decision to offer illusory freedoms over proper management of the Covid crisis.

'Freedom from government' has become a gamble with our lives

'Freedom from government' has become a gamble with our lives

Morrison is always scheming for political advantage, and he rode the wave of anti-vax and anti-lockdown rebellion cynically, until Omicron hit us.

As a fish rots from the head, so does Australia's democracy

As a fish rots from the head, so does Australia's democracy

A lack of accountability, incompetence, corruption, vilification, a shredded social fabric: the Morrison government is perhaps the worst in history.

Voter ID another step on the road to US-style dysfunction

Voter ID another step on the road to US-style dysfunction

Requiring ID to vote has caused disenfranchisement in the US, and the government's push for a similar law is aimed at suppressing the Labor vote.

The Liberals have undermined democracy and decency do we care?

The Liberals have undermined democracy and decency do we care?

Despite the Liberal Party's embrace of corrosive neoliberalism, the party continues to win elections. Australians get the governments they deserve.

The 'accidental prime minister' is making it up as he goes

The 'accidental prime minister' is making it up as he goes

When a politician rises to the top of his profession we expect that he or she has always wanted the job, and that he or she has meticulously planned every step along the way.

Would you trust Morrison to open up safely?

Scott Morrison has now been Prime Minister for over three years. That means he has spent more time in the job than Turnbull, Whitlam, Rudd, or Abbott did.

US defeat again and too little, too late by Australia.

The Taliban over-ran Kabul last night. They had been speedily advancing throughout Afghanistan for weeks. Despite the US spending trillions of dollars training and equipping the Afghan army it collapsed almost overnight due to corruption and poor morale.

Australia - a lucky country run by second rate people

Australia - a lucky country run by second rate people

Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck. It lives on other peoples ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise. That is a quote taken directly from Donald Hornes The Lucky Country. It was published in 1964.

1921: pandemics, racism, inequality a hundred years on

Considering what was making news a hundred years ago, we seem to be plagued with the same issues. Race, wars, gender inequality, pandemics; self interest still seems to drive those in power, and although we have learned to use weasel words to hide our real intent, we are not improving much.

It's the vaccine rollout, stupid!

Bill Clinton certainly had a feel for what worked in getting himself elected, and then re-elected. He knew that the electorate had one major concern, and all the other matters were just background noise. Cue Scott Morrison and his Government. The vaccine rollout, period. Fix that, and you are home. No more lockdowns, no more businesses going broke, no more daily press conferences, obsessively watching numbers of infections.

What Rupert wants, Scotty gives

My public posts are now unavailable on Facebook because the dopey Morrison Government chose to charge Facebook for linking to media websites.

Forgive them for they know not what they do: stop putting kids in jail

There are more than 600 children aged 10 to 13 in prison in Australia, 65% of whom are of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage. A private members' bill has been introduced to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14, yet it is opposed by Attorney-General Christian Porter. Surely Australia is ready to stop locking up children?

Government still comes up short

Governments were once terrified when budget night came around. Any increase in the price of cigarettes or a pot of beer, a wave of popular disgust would likely follow. Australians are coming around to the fact that governments are different now.

Some want voter suppression in Australia

While many of us in Australia are impressed with the state of our nation, especially when we compare it with our rich and powerful ally, the USA, we should not get too smug, with plenty of warning signs of some really bad American ideas about to be imported.

Australia's political talent pool more like a puddle

Once upon a time in Australia, the best and the brightest presented themselves for election. Now, it seems, Cabinet ministers are chosen on the basis of loyalty to whoever is sitting in the prime ministerial chair. And talent is in short supply.

Poor Fellow, my country, indeed: Trump's Australian fans.

Most of the democratic world agrees that the scenes in the Capitol were terrifying. But what of Australia's democracy? A government obsessed with secrecy, faux threats to security, MPs in the grip of the neoliberal sickness, and some who appear in thrall to the failed US President.

The Twerp Factory (IPA) wants to destroy the ABC

During the neoliberal boom of the 1970s and 1980s, it became fashionable to sell many valuable state-owned enterprises, often for a song, and usually to friends of the regime. Later on this would become something of a blueprint for the Russians, who created a whole class of thieving kleptocrats, who then went on to pillage Russias wealth, and waste it on buying fripperies, like English soccer clubs and Faberge eggs.

This rabble of a government

Jesus I am sick of this rabble of a government of ours if it is not making an ass of itself in its handling of relations with our biggest trading partner it is attacking the little blokes Super all of this is inspired by the twisted ideology of the IPA and the ASPI that leads it to think that we will all go to Heaven in the long run if we just follow Donald Trump and stamp out Communism and foreigners in general and anyone who does not contribute funds to the Liberal Party

How to rate key players in Team Australia?

2020 has been a tough year. Let us take a look at the list, where they are at, what they have produced in 2020, and what we can expect in season 2021.

Journalists need medals for reporting on such dull politicians

The late, great comedian John Clarke always said that the best actors he had ever heard were sports commentators. The reason, he explained, was that they were able to convey the impression, with the utmost conviction, that the outcome of a football match was crucial, almost a matter of life or death. And then, suddenly, the game was over, and life resumed.

Morrison, China and Aged Care

It has always been difficult to read Scott Morrisons motives. Many attribute his hard line policies and actions, and his intolerance of dissent, or criticism, to his religion, but that seems too simplistic.

Abbott - a national disgrace

Just when you thought it was safe to open a newspaper again, Tony Abbott is back in the news. This time he is in the UK, where the Brits have appointed him a trade envoy.

Privatisation - who's it good for?

Privatisation is one of those terms which politicians avoid using. That is because the public does not like the idea, or its outcomes. It can be used in a number of ways, but most of us regard it as meaning selling off a publicly owned asset, usually to the detriment of good government.

What went wrong with Aged Care?

The definite turning point in the quality and the humanity of Australias care of the elderly was the Aged Care Bill 1997 (Cth), introduced as part of the Howard Governments 1996 Budget measures. It was a huge failure.

Welfare state - do we even need one?

Welfare state, a concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of citizens.

Please, not an austerity government again!

If there was ever a time for a government to take the bit between its teeth and achieve great things, this is the time. The coronavirus has essentially picked up the chessboard, and thrown all the pieces up in the air.

Big disasters need big government

The continuing argument between the left and right in politics seems to be one which boils down to whether or not we believe in the power of big government to cushion the blows of nature, and to maintain our social fabric, in the face of steep odds.

Second outbreak of Covid-19 in Victoria

It is clear that, after our initial success in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, Australians are disappointed and even angry that we have been thrown back into lockdown. Rates of infection have, relatively speaking, shot up.

Is our alliance with America worth it?

Almost eighty years ago Prime Minister John Curtin prepared a New Years Eve message for the Australian people. It was written three weeks after the war with Japan had begun.

The Coalition is just following orders

To understand how and why Australia has ended up where it has, with a series of governments which seem to become more and more damaging to our way of life, year on year, we need only to look back to 2013. If you think they are waging a relentless war on the nations most vulnerable, they are.

Comparing land use in Australia

If we attempt to compare Aboriginal land use with those of the early settlers, we should broaden the meaning of land use. We must move away from the narrow European notion of agriculture and horticulture, to one which includes religious and cultural associations with the land, and one which allows the skills and the bounty of hunting and gathering to enter the picture.

Morrison throws the switch to vaudeville

Fresh from his redemption after The Great Bush-fire Debacle, Scott Morrison is reverting to type. In a farcical press conference he stated that Australias institutions and businesses were being targeted by a sophisticated state-based cyber actor.

2020 Honours list a sick joke

There are some moments in a countrys history when the bullshit becomes too much to bear. This years Queens Birthday (2020) Honours List is one such moment, where the entire apparatus of government and its lack of shame tip us over the edge.

MARK BUCKLEY. Arise, Sir Tony...

At the risk of beating the same old drum, this current Government seems to be heading steadily down the ethical and moral drain, ever since the unexpected election win.

MARK BUCKLEY. Scomo wrote us a letter of apology

MARK BUCKLEY. Scomo wrote us a letter of apology

I dreamed that Scott Morrison woke up one day, very recently, and was filled with regret. He was so overcome with regret that he wrote a letter of apology to the people of Australia. The gist of his imaginary letter went something like this:

MARK BUCKLEY. IPA is wrecking our democracy

The history of the IPA is curious. Many of the key players in its early years are either still around, or their children are.

MARK BUCKLEY. Morrison needs to finish the job

Scott Morrison has, in many ways, been saved by the coronavirus. At the end of February and heading into March, his public standing was at rock-bottom. Scotty from Marketing was jeered at every time he went out in public, and journalists were daily questioning his honesty, and his competence.

MARK BUCKLEY. The ABC is their new target

In 2018 two researchers from the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) wrote a book, entitled Why We Should Privatise the ABC and How to Do It.

MARK BUCKLEY. Scott Morrison's crisis management

Scott Morrison is proving to be adept at crisis management and Australia is benefiting. There have been missteps, and mixed messages, and the occasional catastrophic blunder (the Ruby Princess springs to mind), but in a global pandemic we have, along with our cousins across the Tasman, apparently slowed the progress of the virus.

MARK BUCKLEY. Meet John Roskam the real PM

I confess that I feel like a complete fool. I had heard bits and pieces about the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) for years, but I had always associated them with tired old culture warriors, like Gerard Henderson, maybe Bob Santamaria.

MARK BUCKLEY. It's a Health Emergency and we need to act

The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1920 bears a strong resemblance to the current pandemic. Although the actual virus causing the disease is different, the result of the infection is similar. It causes pneumonia, and people die in large numbers. It's a health emergency and we need to act. If we dont survive this, the economy is irrelevant.

MARK BUCKLEY. Booing is for babies.

In VFL/AFL football there is a time honoured tradition of the crowd being vocal during matches. Most of the watchers know the game, many have played the game, or aspired to do so.

MARK BUCKLEY. Christmas Island - A huge waste of money

Who is to blame? When one is looking at the current Government, and its ministers, and rating their general demeanour, competence, and ability to deliver decent, law-abiding administration, choosing the worst performers is tricky.

MARK BUCKLEY. Rita Hayworth via Graham Green

I started to cull my books recently. As old age approaches I routinely decide that I need to gain more space, and to really get rid of what I will never get around to reading, sort of like use it, or lose it.

Barnaby will never be PM

Many outstanding politicians are remembered for doing something special for their country, or perhaps for a lifetime of sustained effort for the country's benefit. Barnaby Joyce was named Australia's best retail politician by another politician - one Tony Abbott. Now that endorsement does muddy the waters somewhat, but a reference is a reference.

MARK BUCKLEY. A Tour of a Pentecostal Service

Each time Scott Morrison scandalises or shocks Australians with a new low in parliamentary, or Prime Ministerial standards, he is likely to completely blank any questions asked, or to make some sort of take it or leave it rejoinder to the questioner, especially if the questioner is from the press. He seems not to understand that the press asks those questions on our behalf, and are not attending simply to be independently insolent.

MARK BUCKLEY. Men of Australia Lift Your Game

Recently I heard Phil Cleary speaking on the radio, which reminded me of an interview of his I heard four and a half years ago concerning family violence.

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