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Budget Farewell: What Abetz and Hockey wouldn’t let Abbot do
Dear NEVILLE, What a dog’s breakfast. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s office said the GP copayment was done and dusted.1 But within hours, senior party members from Senator Eric Abetz to Treasurer Joe Hockey were sticking with the policy (and throwing the PM overboard).2 This breach opened by the Government’s “policy chaos” is our moment to act — by making clear this Budget’s not coming back, just as Parliament wraps for the year. So next Wednesday, on the lawns of Parliament House, GetUp members will join with key political leaders and the Canberra Press Gallery for a not-so-fond farewell to the Abbott Budget, as it’s banished to the open seas. Complete with a ‘barnacle’-laden boat, we’ll strike champagne across the bow as the band plays, the choir sings and GetUp members wave white hankies adieu. With nowhere left to go in the Senate, we’ll ship Abbott’s brutal budget back to America, from whence many of its brutal policies came. But the heart of this event will be thousands of ‘Good Riddance!’ postcards from GetUp members from across the country delivered straight to Mr Abbott’s doorstep. Bringing messages from everyday Australians together with the political leaders who’ve blocked the Budget in the Senate, will be a show of national unity that no Government could afford to ignore. When Prime Minister Abbott promised Coalition MPs he would knock “one or two barnacles off the ship” before Christmas,3 he didn’t expect GetUp members to hang his policy barnacles off an enormous prop boat on the Government’s front doorstep. Our stunt will feed the media compelling visuals of a bungled Budget-boat bound for the USA, where many of its misguided policies were born, tried and failed. We’ve even brought in an entertainment expert with decades of experience to create the biggest spectacle possible – not to mention a film crew to record it all to share the fun nationwide. This media event will be the grand finale for 2014 of a hard-fought budget campaign, making waves in Canberra and in the headlines just as Parliament ends for the year. But it’s crucial that Australians from every state and territory are at the heart of it, by sending in their ‘Good Riddance!’ messages, to demonstrate the ongoing, widespread rejection of this unfair budget. Will you ‘jump on board’? https://www.getup.org.au/bon-voyage-budget For months, more than 100,000 GetUp members, and one million Australians, have marched, signed, shared, tweeted, emailed, called, and funded posters, billboards and TV ads, mapping out the multitude of ways the Abbott Budget harms our communities. From universal healthcare, to protecting our social safety net and keeping our universities affordable for all, we’ve banded together in remarkable fashion to pressure crossbench senators to stand strong against the brutal budget. Now 10 points behind in the latest Newspoll, the Government’s in panic stations.4 So in this key moment of Government paralysis and indecision, we’re going to send a message as clear as day: adios deregulated uni fees, so long Newstart waiting period, good riddance US-style healthcare. Click here to send yours! Thanks for all you do, PS – Our entertainment expert is charging full steam ahead, securing bargain deals to create a showy spectacle as Parliament draws to a close. There’ll be an enormous ‘barnacle’-covered boat, big brass band, choir, thousands of ironic farewell postcards and white handkerchiefs to wave for each and every attendee. Can you chip in help make this happen? https://www.getup.org.au/good-riddance References: |
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