April 2014
Michael Leunig (Australian, b. 1945)
Meditation on two photographs
Friday April 25, 2014
in The Age newspaper
Spot on as always, Michael Leunig. You never fail to hit the mark.
The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, sitting in the cockpit of a replica Joint Strike Fighter (Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II) aircraft, having committed the Australian government to spend $AUD12.4 billion to purchase 58 aircraft from America, plus another $AUD12 billion for ongoing support and maintenance. All at a time when the government is raising the pension age to 70 years old, cracking down on disability pensions, forcing people to start paying to go to the doctors, cutting health, education and support for pensioners.
Defence Minister David Johnston defended the billions in spending – less than a month before Treasurer Joe Hockey delivers a budget with expected cuts to health and welfare, while Labour opposition leader Bill Shorten backed the purchase, saying the previous Labor government believed the Joint Strike Fighter was the “right way to go”. Both Liberal and Labour parties are as bad as each other. They put boys toys before the welfare of their people – of the under privileged, the vulnerable and the needy.
Look at the inane smile of this man, like the Cheshire cat with the cream, with his thumbs up.
What will they do next… start dropping bombs on refugee boats for practice. That would certainly turn the boats back.
Now I know why they call it the cock / pit. Now I know why I make anti-war images using aircraft!
Dr Marcus Bunyan
.
Please click on the photograph for a larger version of the image.
Art Blart _ art and cultural memory archive 
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