When Chris Rock came to Perth for a gig a couple of years ago, he made a point of ensuring everyone in the crowd handed in their phones before the show started.
And considering he was playing at the Arena, it was no small undertaking.
But he knew it was something that had to be done, because these days it’s very easy for a comedian’s joke to be recorded on a phone, and then shared on social media where it can be taken out of context, and someone gets cancelled.
Now there is, of course an easier solution to all of this…
You just don’t say stuff that will get you cancelled in the first place.
It’s actually not that difficult.
But obviously Chris Rock doesn’t trust himself NOT to do that, hence the phone ban.
So why am I bringing all this up?
Well… it seems like the WA Liberal Party is taking a leaf out of Chris Rock’s book. Because it has banned all mobile phones at its federal election post-mortem meeting tonight.
About 200 Liberal members are expected to rock up at the meeting, and attendees have been told to switch off their phones to prevent any leaks to the media.
Now, far be it from me to suggest that this sort of lack of transparency, and embarrassingly old school thinking is what led to the Liberal Party’s downfall in the first place… no wait… I am suggesting that.
Exactly that, in fact.
And not only that, telling people you’re paranoid about leaks is probably the most sure way to guarantee a leak will occur.
So nice work on that one, idiots.
But in addition to the phone ban, people at the meeting have also been banned from blaming the Clan for the Federal Election result.
Remember the Clan?
They were the hidden society of Liberal powerbrokers in WA who played secret squirrels on whatsapp, and tarnished the Liberal brand in this state.
Why would they be given immunity? Well, they’re all still there, and probably are the ones who organised the meeting. So you don’t have to be a rocket surgeon to join those dots.
But you know what, I actually agree that continuing to blame the Clan is counter productive for the Libs.
The party has SOOOO many other problems… like literally ALL the problems and the Clan is just one part of that.
This is a political party that needs to take a long hard look in the mirror and realise that what’s looking back is a bunch of stale old white dudes.
There needs to be some soul searching, there needs to be some renewal of personnel and ideas, and there needs to be an admission that this mess that they currently find themselves in is entirely of their own doing.
And it was a long time in the making.
And if they can’t do all that? Well, the Liberal Party will become a joke funnier than anything Chris Rock said at the Arena that night.
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