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Bill Shorten on a bad hair day in Canberra .
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We all know
how Salome and her
alluring dance of the seven veils so pleased King Herod he
rewarded her with the head of John the
Baptist and a box of
Cadbury’s Magic Biblical Moments .
During Question Time in the House of
Representatives the other
day , Foreign Minister Julie Bishop
performed the mesmerising Mongolian Trotting Duck Dance
as part
of the Coalition
dual
campaign to get the
head of
ALP leader Bill Shorten
and also
influence the rerun of the Senate Strictly Ballroom
voting competition in WA.
Monotonously delivering the orchestrated message
that the ALP is anti-WA
because of the carbon and mining taxes ,
Ms Bishop was asked a Dorothy
Dixer about a Mongolian trade mission
in Australia . How on earth could this
possibly be used
as part of
the diabolical plot to
get
Shorten’s head on a platter
and convince WA
to put the boot into
the ALP, the
Greens, Palmer's United Party and any other pests who insist in exercising their democratic rights ?
Well,
jivey Guys and Dolls ,
Minister Bishop , a veteran
celebrity dancer and gnome botherer , bounded
up to the
despatch box
brandishing a song sheet and
railed against
the ALP , a large
brooch like the Star of India pinned to her lapel , obviously a bugging
device which will be
activated when she graces Timor- Leste
with a visit . Wonder
what Germaine Greer
thinks about Bishop’s clobber, bling
and hairstyle ? Any churnalist
is welcome to follow up
this angle.
Prancing about like
a French Apache
dancer , Bishop said the Mongolian
economy , like Western Australia, was driven by its mining resources . Mining companies , like Rio
Tinto , were welcome there . Mongolia’s fledgling
mining industry and its
economy had benefited from a “ failed mining tax”.
Now the peculiar connection between Mongolia and the
hysterical WA senate
election campaign became crystal clear.
With respect , Cyclops suggests
the spin doctor who got the
Foreign Minister to perform
the Mongolian Trotting
Duck caper should
be repeatedly beaten about
the head with
the jawbone of
an ass. Why ?...
Because a cursory examination of the
Mongolian mining situation raises
questions about corruption , extensive environmental damage , the stampede of investors
from China , Russia , the US , Australia and
elsewhere , all wanting
to cash in on the
copper, coal, uranium deposits , and the associated
massive pollution of the capital , the break down
of
society , widespread drunkenness.
The 2013 Global Corruption Barometer rated Mongolia one of the most
corrupt countries in the world , followed by Liberia . On September 16 of that
year the leaders of Mongolia’s Fire Nation (Gal Undesten in
Mongolian), an environment and human rights coalition, organized a mass
protest in front of the Mongolian Parliament.
They were protesting against
a proposal by the
government to amend legislation
with a long title - Law to
Prohibit Mineral Exploration and
Mining Operations at the Headwaters of Rivers , Protected ones of Water Reservoirs and Forested Areas. This was described as the only significant Mongolian
law protecting nomadic herders’ traditional lands and watersheds from further radioactive
and chemical contamination, diversion of
rivers and land-grabbing .
It was claimed mining companies
were ignoring the
law , destroying pastureland and watersheds , with no
government enforcement.
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Unhappy Mongolian herdsman fires protest at parliament .
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Of 10 protestors arrested, six
were detained on the charge “group attempt to severely threaten well-being
of society”. Defense lawyers argued that was no victim in the case but they were prohibited from mounting a substantial defense. One report said there was substantial
evidence that Mongolian
government agents used “dirty tricks” typical of thugs, terrorist organizations and
state security agents (e.g. C.I.A., Stasi, MI-6, SAVAK, F.B.I., etc.), indicating
the Mongolian state security
apparatus.
On January 21 this year , the six civil society leaders
were sentenced to prison. Defendants J. Ganbold, G.
Boldbaatar, D. Tumurbaatar, S. Dashtseren and Ts. Munkhbayar received 21
years and six months (reduced from 22 years and six months for time served
since 16 September 2013). The sixth man, M. Munkhbold was sentenced
to two years for supplying weapons. When the verdict and sentences were
delivered in court, the wife of J. Ganbold (suffering from ovarian cancer) fainted; others shouted and cried.
The six men, all 50-60 years of age, were reportedly interrogated under harsh
conditions in state detention cells. One of the six, J. Ganbold, was reportedly in danger of losing his hand after
police removed a cast and refused him medical treatment. When Mr.
Ganbold’s wife pleaded with the court
for her husband to receive treatment, the chief investigator derided her,
declaring that her husband and the others deserved to suffer, implying they were traitors of the state. Most of these leaders had previously been arrested in the long struggle
to defend Mongolia from what was described the hydra of Western industries of exploitation : mining, “development”, “nature conservation”,
and foreign “aid” and “charity”.
Foreign
Minister Bishop boasted that an “ Australia-Extractives Program” agreement
will utilise Australia’s expertise in Mongolia to help ensure
the benefits of the mining sector
help the entire population. It
would be nice to think this expertise will
be applied back home in
Australia. On top of this helping
hand , Australia has entered a $5million partnership with
the World Bank to
help “strengthen management of groundwater resources ” in the southern
Gobi region. If there is any money
left in the kitty , it would be jolly nice
if the Federal government
coughed up for an
in-depth
investigation into the impact
of fracking on our artesian waters , rivers , prime
agricultural regions , the health and wellbeing
of communities .
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Wearing a diamante Flacco kiss curl and flashing her ivories , Bishop in tete- a- tete with US Secretary of State John Kerry , who needs a short back and sides .
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