One thing I have learned in my 68 years is that you are only as good as your opposition. If you have poor opposition, you don’t have to be great, but if they are pretty good, you must be better.
This theory seems to work on most things. Take my very poor footy career: I always tried harder and played better against better teams (I didn’t always win, but I played better). I had to, or I would have been more embarrassed than usual.”
Back in the day, if there was one good pub and one ordinary pub, the good one didn’t have to be that good. If they were both switched-on operators, everyone benefitted.
I remember the ‘Great T-bone War’ of the early ’90s between Mooloolaba Hotel and Friday’s. A 300g T-bone steak, nice salad with balsamic vinegar and chips, plus a beer for under $5. Awesome! If there was only one pub, the deal would have been $15 and not as good.
Supermarkets, airlines and most other businesses work on the same theory. Thank God for Virgin (or Qantas would be more crappy than usual) and Aldi’s ‘Good Different’. As Don Chipp famously said about politics: “Keep the bastards honest.” Car manufacturers are similar. Look at the value now, compared with Ford v Holden back in the day. Today, many good car makers mean quality and value are way better.
Are you getting my drift? Competition equals quality. So, where am I going with this? Federal politics, of course. For some reason, a number of my friends think I am a Labor supporter, which I am not, but I am guilty of supporting good governors of people. So, do I think our Prime Minister is a good one?
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Not really, but do not dare have a crack at me about his short-fallings when the Opposition is nothing but a shambles.
While at times Albo sounds like Daffy Duck, he has little to worry about from the other side. He doesn’t have to fly like an eagle when the mob across the other side are too busy impersonating a scene out of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (just YouTube any of their meeting scenes and you may recognise some similarities).
So, my right-wing friends, there will be no $5 T-bones until you lot get your house in order, and can you tell them to hurry up or Pauline could end up in charge. Geez, I’ve just gone off fish and chips.
Ashley Robinson is Mets Caloundra CEO, chairman of Thunder Netball and a lifetime Sunshine Coast resident.
