Written in 2007
Howardspeak is gathering quite a vocabulary. It’s a simple formula: take a well-known concept, add an adjective, change (reverse?) the meaning.
‘core promise’ = promise you happen to keep (as opposed to a promise, which you break)
‘not a racist’ = a racist
‘Australian multiculturalism’ = monoculture
‘all of us’ = not one of them
‘regional services’ = user pays
‘Howard’s battlers’ = swinging voters
‘rural Australia’ = swinging voters
‘small business’ = swinging voters
Remember Ned Kelly was a swinging voter in his day
‘social coalition’ = look after yourself
‘mutual obligation’ = work for your betters for nothing
‘welfare reform’ = robbing the poor to assist the needy rich
‘states’ rights’ = human wrongs
‘new tax system’ = tax breaks for the rich
‘business philanthropy’ = tax break for the rich
’employee entitlements’ = money employees aren’t entitled to which bosses can use for such important facilities improvements such as refurbishing the Boardroom.
‘conscience vote’ = not in Howard vocabulary
‘mandatory sentencing’ = mandatory imprisonment of black bastards
‘constitutional convention’ = method of keeping the conventional constitution
‘Australian head of state’ = UK head of state
‘stolen generation’ = rescued generation
‘Australian history’ = looking to a future without black arm bands
‘deep regret’ = no apology
‘past blemishes’ = no apology
‘practical reconciliation’ = it’s practically time youse black bastards reconciled yourselves to what we’re doing to ya.
Copyright © 2023 John Tomlinson