Like the smirk on the face of the douche who just outbid someone by $1 on The Price is Right, so too is Clive Palmer enjoying the momentary rush of power that comes from realising your stockpile of fucks has finally run dry. The maverick senator – or, perhaps more accurately, the phenomenal pain in the arse – is seemingly making a habit of supporting whatever he wants, whenever he wants, without want nor need for agenda, logic, or even basal legislative knowledge.
Though as infuriating as it may be, it’s not without occasional benefit. His Palmer United Party-bloc of crossbench senators have taken to blocking the more controversial elements of the highly contentious Federal Budget, making Tony Abbott‘s job of fixing the budget emergency (you know, that one that doesn’t actually fucking exist) a hell of a lot harder.
The latest thorn-in-the-Coalition’s-side comes in the guise of the PUP announcing they will not support a GP Co-Payment in any way, shape or form. The Budget proposed that people pay a mandatory $7 co-payment when visiting the GP. Whilst part of this payment would have gone into a medical research fund of unprecedented scale, the scheme was lambasted by health experts who feared it would discourage people from visiting the Doctor when necessary, and unfairly impacted low income earners.
Both Labor and the Greens have previously stated they would not support any co-payment, and with the added votes of the PUP, this means that the scheme – along with the $3.5billion in budget savings it would have brought in; the priority goal of the Government – will now be blocked.
Meanwhile, Tony Abbott remains steadfast in his Government’s commitment to their highly controversial Budget plans, telling reporters, “We stand by all the measures in the budget.“
What should be becoming abundantly clear to the Coalition is that while they might stand by it, everyone else – the people they work with, and the people they’re supposed to be representing – certainly does not.
Photo: Stefan Postles via Getty Images.
