June/July 2010

FAMOUS REPORTER 41

 

 

walleah press





GRAHAM ROWLANDS


Monumental

Oh yes. It was a landslide. Another landslide.
A foregone conclusion but it’s already a shambles.
I knew it would be, said it would. Haven’t you heard?
Yes. The bottle of wine on the Government jet.
The Minister & Co couldn’t resist the idea of
wine on the way back from the dry zone.
I don’t know. Cabby Savigong or something.
They’ll all vinegar to me. Creasoak. No bubbles.
Yes, up North. The Land Rights land. Aboriginal.
No, only one bottle. No, they weren’t drunk
in the dry zone. It was for the return trip.
No, it wasn’t taken out of the plane. Even
so, as soon as the wheels touched the ground
they were in the dry zone. Well, sort of.
That’s the point. Who knows who’s responsible.
The airport might or mightn’t be dry in the dry zone
the tarmac might be separate from the airport
& once the bottle of vino was taken on board
it might have been up to the pilot anyway.
The Crime & Misconduct Commission are conducting
their usual enquiry. It’ll be a whitewash.
They know which way their bread’s buttered.
Whose idea? Well, who knows whose idea.
It could have been the adviser to the Minister.
It probably was. She’s the one who took the rap.
There’s no doubt she took the wine on board
but the others must have known for sure-
the pilot, the Minister, whoever went along.
It’s not as if the Government jet’s a jumbo.
The Minister denied all knowledge & responsibility.
She’d deny all knowledge of & responsibility for
someone sitting next to her wearing a balaclava
& carrying a violin case. So guess what comes next.
The Premier sacked the adviser & then took off
to apologise to all & sundry in the dry zone
at tax-payers’ expense, of course. $9,000. Yes
the Minister tagged along but it was his show.
He can’t help himself. 2,000km & back. Mr Apology.
Finally, the adviser decided she’d had enough.
She hadn’t handed out How-to-vote cards for nothing.
So she leaked, blabbed. She went to the police.
Yes, she spilled the beans on her own Minister
& what does the Premier do? He reinstates her.
Would you read about it? I mean, would you?
Nothing much? Yes, of course it’s nothing much.
It’s an unholy bloody mess. A total shambles.
Talk about a stuff-up, a monumental stuff-up.
It’s a complete & absolute disaster.
 

Graham Rowlands' most recent book is his Collected Poems, published in 2009 by Lythrum Press.