Shit, Albrechtsen’s right you know

I don’t mind right-wing commentators when they aren’t foolishly condemning the good intentions of unknown people they categorise as “The Left” while carrying on like card-carrying Liberal Party apologists with missives that are designed to provide literary fellatio of the the Party’s far right faction in NSW.

One of the worst offenders, Janet Albretchsen, has finally wiped her chin and come out with a good piece  in The Australian (yes, I said good and will shower three times) about the knee-jerk reactions by governments to tragedies.

The catalyst of her piece was calls for tougher boating laws after the tragic Sydney Harbour boat crash that killed six young people – despite the fact several existing laws were already broken in the leadup to the disaster including the boat being taken without permission; over crowding and the obvious involvement of alcohol.

She says that although the government seems to want to look like it is doing something to respond to the grief about such events, “Our sympathy for those killed and injured should not prevent us from recognizing that stupidity appears to have played a part in Thursday’s accident. We cannot and should not regulate for the lowest common denominator.”

The same thing happened happened here in Melbourne after the horrific crash in the Burnley Tunnel in which several cars, and three drivers where crushed and incinerated after a truck plowed through them. The state government immediately introduced laws to ban overtaking in the tunnel and discussed lowering the speed limit to a ridiculous 60km/h, well before the coroner released any findings.

Since then a truck driver has been charged with three counts of culpable driving, which showed how misguided the new measures were.

In her column Albretschen actually praises former UK Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair who criticised the ever growing blame culture.

Interestingly a lot of the people who comment on her column started with stating their disbelief that they actually agreed with her. Keep it up Janet, you might start earning some respect.