Nationals MP Michael McCormack to be stripped of 12 months’ salary
WARNING: CONTAINS FAKE NEWS
Michael McCormack has used inflammatory language in discussions about renewable energy. Photo: ABC News Matt Roberts
In a shock overnight raid on the Canberra lodgings of Michael McCormack, the Nationals MP has been arrested by the newly formed PPPPPPPPP - Parliamentary Police Patrolling Politicians for Provocative Propaganda and Public Purse Piracy.
McCormack faces two charges:
Uttering infantile, baseless opinions unbefitting high office, and using inflammatory, divisive language.
Wasting perfectly good public money on an unjustifiable parliamentary salary.
Any half reasonable person with at least functional intelligence would have read his recent comments on the ABC News website and surely thought, “There should be a law against this bloke.”
Well thankfully, there now is a law !
The ABC article is headed:
Dangerous anti-renewables rhetoric, bullying and intimidation creates growing chasm in rural communities.
The new laws which empower the PPPPPPPPP, state in part that any parliamentarians deemed to be unworthy of a parliamentary salary shall no longer be tolerated. Unfortunately, there is a huge backlog of cases to be addressed, but luckily, McCormack’s was dealt with quickly.
It is likely the veteran MP will be forced to repay his salary from the past 12 months and relinquish his seat immediately, in readiness for a by-election.
Below are untouched excerpts from the ABC News article.
Note the nonsensical comments by the former Nationals leader (in italics).
Divisions in rural communities over renewable energy projects are becoming increasingly hostile, fuelled by dangerous rhetoric and misinformation from politicians, activists and through social media.
There are growing concerns that the increasingly violent language could turn to actual attacks against landholders who host renewable energy infrastructure and renewable energy workers, with reports of verbal abuse and intimidation already occurring.
In an open letter published on Farm Online last week, a group of farmers wrote of the devastating impacts being felt by communities.
…
The open letter called out the divisive language used by politicians and called on national leaders to set a better standard, writing that “disagreement does not justify abuse”.
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Responding to the letter, former Nationals leader Michael McCormack, a vocal critic of the federal government’s renewable energy and net-zero emissions policies, said nobody should be subjected to bullying and harassment, but that politicians should not be held responsible.
“Nobody should be bullied simply because they are leasing their land for a green energy project,” he said.
“That said, when people are putting up these wind towers that are 260m high, and they are taking advantage of gaining a financial windfall from [them] potentially, and the land next door is being devalued as a result, and the farmer next door isn’t being given the same financial recompense.
“You can understand that there’s going to be agitation in these country communities.”
[ABC News notes] There is no evidence that wind farms devalue land; in fact the opposite can be true, with landholders and their neighbours receiving annual compensation that can increase the value of the property.
…
Mr McCormack said he was merely sticking up for people who had concerns about renewable projects.
“I’m not going to take any responsibility. I’m sorry. I’m just not,” he said.
“If kids are being bullied, I’m not gonna admit to that because I mean, why would I?
“Next minute, I’m being hung out to dry simply because little Johnny or Mary comes home a little bit upset from school because you know somebody has stolen their play lunch money because their father is putting up a green energy project.”