Morris Iemma: A Politician or Neighbourhood Thug!

I met Morris Iemma, NSW Premier, for the first time on the election day of 2003 state election outside one of the polling booths. I was shocked.

On the election day, all politicians behave themselves in a highly respectable and clever way.

He was acting as neighbourhood thug, and not a politician seeking to get the highest possible votes to keep his seat. He arrived to the booth in a very arrogant way, his nose was up touching the sky and surrounded with many of his supporters behaving as merely supporter thugs. He did not offer his hand to shake anyone’s hand, did not offer to help any voter and did not make any promise, even cheap deceiving ones.

He approached me, and I was helping his opponents, and said “anyone than Labor would need hundreds of years to snatch this seat from us”. I immediately shook my head in mockery and said “but Labor did lose Cunningham last year. It was very safe Labor seat for more than half century when your party behaved as thugs and ignored the people voting for them”

I was sure at that time that this arrogant “politician” who displayed no sense of political experience, would never climb beyond his current position. I judged this in a balanced pragmatic way.

A politician who lives on tax-payers money, should have acted in dealing with tax-payers better than this, to keep his employment at least.

But this thug was acting just as neighbourhood Al Capone gangster, using the argument that “you do not have any other alternative”.

Then I was shocked when he asssumed the top position in the state, after bloodless coup orchestrated behind closed doors in Terrigal.

But we say in Arabic “You bring curse on yourself”. And this is what happened.

The Terrigals, a newly formed Labor faction of mainly opportunists and named after secret meeting in the house of one of them in Terrigal, decided to absolutely control NSW Parliament. By appointing Morris, they actually decided to destroy their faction just shortly after its foundation.

The period of their control was marked only by scandals and chaos: fraud, corruption, sexual abuse (including child abuse), economic mismanagement, spreading culture of intimidation, bullying and racism... etc.

And I discovered more about Morris Iemma yesterday. In a visit to his electoral office, I discovered that it is not only him who is arrogant and ignorant. All workers at his office have the same attitude, or worse.

The worker there treated me as a criminal or at least beggar, who is hoping to get anything from this office. She treated me as parasite on them and the society. They forgot that they are the one who are getting the tax-payers money to help me and other residents of the area.

They forgot when they started to intimidate me when they could not fight my logic with similar logic that they are working in the office of the local MP and not at an office of ASIO or at correction service facility. They also forgot that I am a good law-abiding citizen, and not a criminal seeking some sort of amnesty.

The first thing that drew my attention at Morris’s office was the mono-colored ethnic background of the employees. At the office of one of the most multicultural seats in Australia, all the employees are very blonde, blue eye-colored and can speak only English. And the only English they are fluent in is the language of intimidation and bullying.

I compared Morris’s office with other MP’s offices.

At Tony Stewart office the picture is very different. The employee that I met earlier at the day was olive skin; spoke English with an accent, very polite and willing to help. She listened a lot, never lectured me and even went further to criticise the government action.

At the office of Ms Linda Burney, the atmosphere was very similar: very multicultural, polite and helpful. No intimidation or trace of any threats or bullying.

Usually the office of the local member is there (at tax-payers money expense) to help residents solve the obstacles they face or listen to their issues and try to address them (or take them into account and act upon them).

Usually, if the resident walks in the local member’s office with a bad image about the member or his party, he/she should walk out of the office with a better picture.

I walked in Morris Iemma’s office with bad image about him and his government. I walked out with a worse image.

Before I walked out the office, I swore to the employee there that I will soon move form the area which Morris represents its local member and in which they work as his employees. I also swore that we will do our best to get rid of such arrogant politicians.

Mr Morris Iemma,
If you think that Lakemba is a very safe Labor seat and it could take us hundreds of years to unseat you, you should think more. You should ask your colleague in arrogance and racism, Mr John Howard. He thought that Bennelong was very Liberal seat for about half century. Voters of his electorate sent a strong message last year to him, and to all arrogant politicians who acts as gangsters.

They sent him to the history dust bin, a lesson for you, Morris, to learn from.

And we have many alternatives.