{"id":6669,"date":"2020-09-02T15:43:07","date_gmt":"2020-09-02T15:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newpolitics.com.au\/?p=3813"},"modified":"2020-09-02T15:43:07","modified_gmt":"2020-09-02T15:43:07","slug":"aged-care-disasters-border-wars-belting-china-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/09\/02\/aged-care-disasters-border-wars-belting-china-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Aged Care Disasters, Border Wars, Belting China Again"},"content":{"rendered":"<img width=\"267\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newpolitics.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/belt-n-road-800x450-1.jpg?fit=267%2C150&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"float: left; margin-right: 20px;\" link_thumbnail=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newpolitics.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/belt-n-road-800x450-1.jpg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newpolitics.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/belt-n-road-800x450-1.jpg?resize=267%2C150&amp;ssl=1 267w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newpolitics.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/belt-n-road-800x450-1.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newpolitics.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/belt-n-road-800x450-1.jpg?resize=678%2C381&amp;ssl=1 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 267px) 100vw, 267px\" \/>\n<iframe scrolling=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/899261056&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>What does a government Minister have to do to lose their job? Losing control of aged care homes and allowing coronavirus to cause the death of over 400 people isn&#8217;t enough these days. How we long for those good ol\u2019 days when a Minister could be stood down for possessing a oversized teddy bear or filling out the wrong form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But that was <em>so<\/em> 1980s, and it&#8217;s now the year of the pandemic: 2020. Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck still remains in his job, but we&#8217;re really not sure why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The tedious and totally predictable border war continues, and while it&#8217;s not quite like the Battle of Stalingrad, the federal government (Liberal, by the way) is taking aim at the governments of Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria (Labor, by the way) over border closures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, apparently, \u201cwe&#8217;re all in this together\u201d, so (cynicism warning) it couldn&#8217;t be anything to do with the Liberal Government playing base politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And whenever this federal government is in trouble, it has two cards it can play: race and hate. This time around, it&#8217;s all about China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Belt and Road Initiative is a China investment program that Scott Morrison spoke glowingly about in June 2019 but has decided that he never said anything good about the program, never supported the Victoria\u2013China deal in 2018 (yes, he did), and will now veto these projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This all came out of the blue, and is all about ramping up pressure on Daniel Andrews and the Victoria Labor Government. Who\u2019s got time for the national interest or eliminating coronavirus when there are political points to be scored by using the Royal Flush of race and hate cards?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In shades of Orwell\u2019s <em>Animal Farm<\/em>, Liberal Party foreign investment: good; Labor Party foreign investment: bad. It really is as simple and basic as this, a philosophy implemented by a government filled with simpletons. It\u2019s like a Ship of Fools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Music stings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>Betty\u2019s Worry Or The Slab<\/em>, Hunters and Collectors<\/li><li><em>Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick<\/em> (Flying Remix), Ian Dury and The Blockheads<\/li><li><em>Should I Stay Or Should I Go<\/em>, The Grasslers<\/li><li><em>Stranger In Moscow<\/em>, Tame Impala<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3>Support independent journalism and get a free book!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>We don\u2019t plead, beseech, beg, guilt-trip, or claim the end of the world of journalism is nigh. We keep it simple: <strong>If you like our work and would like to support it<\/strong>, send a <strong>donation, from as little at $1<\/strong>. <\/p><p>And if you pledge $50 or more, we&#8217;ll send out a <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">free<\/span><\/strong> copy of our new book, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/newpolitics.com.au\/2020\/01\/22\/divided-opinions\/\">Divided Opinions<\/a><\/em>, valued at $27.95.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<!-- Begin PayPal Donations by https:\/\/www.tipsandtricks-hq.com\/paypal-donations-widgets-plugin -->\n\n<form action=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/cgi-bin\/webscr\" method=\"post\" >\n    <div class=\"paypal-donations\">\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"cmd\" value=\"_donations\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"bn\" value=\"TipsandTricks_SP\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"business\" value=\"accounts@armedia.net.au\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"return\" value=\"https:\/\/newpolitics.com.au\/thank-you\/\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"item_name\" value=\"New Politics Reader Contribution and Donation\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"item_number\" value=\"NEW POLITICS AUSTRALIA | ARMEDIA PTY. LTD.\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"rm\" value=\"0\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"currency_code\" value=\"AUD\" \/>\n        <input type=\"image\" style=\"cursor: pointer;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.paypalobjects.com\/en_AU\/i\/btn\/btn_donateCC_LG.gif\" name=\"submit\" alt=\"PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online.\" \/>\n        <img alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.paypal.com\/en_US\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif?resize=1%2C1&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>\n    <\/div>\n<\/form>\n<!-- End PayPal Donations -->\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/newpolitics.com.au\/2020\/09\/03\/aged-care-disasters-border-wars-belting-china-again\/\">Aged Care Disasters, Border Wars, Belting China Again<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/newpolitics.com.au\/\">New Politics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/newpolitics.com.au\/2020\/09\/03\/aged-care-disasters-border-wars-belting-china-again\/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=aged-care-disasters-border-wars-belting-china-again\">New Politics<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"267\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newpolitics.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/belt-n-road-800x450-1.jpg?fit=267%2C150&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" link_thumbnail=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newpolitics.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/belt-n-road-800x450-1.jpg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newpolitics.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/belt-n-road-800x450-1.jpg?resize=267%2C150&amp;ssl=1 267w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newpolitics.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/belt-n-road-800x450-1.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newpolitics.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/belt-n-road-800x450-1.jpg?resize=678%2C381&amp;ssl=1 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 267px) 100vw, 267px\"><\/p>\n<p>What does a government Minister have to do to lose their job? Losing control of aged care homes and allowing coronavirus to cause the death <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/newpolitics.com.au\/2020\/09\/03\/aged-care-disasters-border-wars-belting-china-again\/\" title=\"Aged Care Disasters, Border Wars, Belting China Again\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/newpolitics.com.au\/2020\/09\/03\/aged-care-disasters-border-wars-belting-china-again\/\">Aged Care Disasters, Border Wars, Belting China Again<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/newpolitics.com.au\/\">New Politics<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":555,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1772,1758,1773,1774,269],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6669"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/555"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6669"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6670,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6669\/revisions\/6670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}