Thursday, March 21, 2013

Doing the Donkey* in the NSW Knesset 5

On the speech of The Hon. Robert Borsak, Shooters & Fishers Party, in the NSW Legislative Council, arising out of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel (PFoI) "study mission" 'debate' of March 14 (NB: The debate was resumed from February 28):

The Shooters Party representative, of course, just couldn't resist this cheap shot at The Greens:

"It is with pleasure that I join in debate on the motion of the Hon. Rick Colless regarding a recent study mission to Israel by the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel, which comprised parliamentarians from all political parties, except notably and for their own reasons, The Greens, who I might add are pretty good at coming up with adolescent views and superficial solutions but it appears are not really interested in some world fact-finding missions."  

Adolescent? How about getting your kicks by blowing away the wildlife?

And speaking of being blown away, Borsak just loved Israel:

"It has to be said that despite the constant and dangerous environment within which Israel lives, I have now found a third place in the world where I feel truly safe."

Let me guess:

1) Australia, where thanks to Baruch O'Farrell, he can blaze away at anything that moves, at least in the bush;

2) The US, where, thanks to the gun lobby, every Tom, Dick and Robert can blaze away, in the bush or anywhere else for that matter, as the spirit moves him.

Now that feeling truly safe jazz, WTF is that all about? Well, it looks like it's got something to do with daddy:

"As I have previously noted in this House, I am the son of a Polish Holocaust survivor. My father was involved in the intrigues of the local resistance movement in Warsaw and the Jewish Ghetto during the Second World War, and was later condemned to Buchenwald concentration camp, where he described his experiences at the time as his descent into Dante's description of Hell."

Now you've almost got to feel sorry for poor old Vic Alhadeff at this point. There he is, sitting in the visitors' gallery, feeling as pleased as punch, with another successful rambam under the belt and all of the rambammed singing like canaries - in the very seat of government no less - and bloody Borsak comes out with I am the son of a Holocaust survivor!

'No! No! No!' he must've screamed inwardly. 'The Holocaust survivor (TM) card is our card! If the Poles are going to start playing it, where's it all going to end? Will the Russians be next?'

Still, you've really got to hand it to Borsak, the man's an incredibly fast learner! So fast that he can go from knowing SFA about Israel, its history, or that of the Middle East in general, to full-on expert in just 5 days:

"What became clear as the tour progressed is that Israel is a state run by the rule of law. It has a supreme court, a national parliament... It functions as you would expect any democratic society to function... Its robust democratic process is healthy, thriving, interesting and intriguing, to say the least. Its location in the world also requires a large overt, and I am sure covert, state security apparatus that, unlike its neighbours, does not run the state or oppress and cow its citizens."

Yeah, interesting and intriguing, just like democracy in NSW where Borsak and friend, with just 3.7% of the vote, get to call the shots - literally.

Finally, a cheery thought:
Amount Robert Borsak 'earns' per day: $342.
Amount someone on Newstart receives per day: $35.

Next in the Doing the Donkey in the NSW Knesset series: David Clarke MLC on why Australia needs to get behind Israel 101%. Stay tuned.

[*See my 2/3/13 post Doing the Donkey.]

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