Brooke is on the TV, being a Minister!

She is going to talk to Jack on the TV!

It's hard to watch Jack on the TV without thinking to yourself:
How can anyone be that good-looking,
and also be even brainier than they are good-looking?
Talk about lucky!

But also, Jack works for the TV news.
So he probably isn’t feeling all that lucky right now.

Hello Brooke,
says Jack,
congratulations on being a minister.
Your time starts now.

Thank you, Jack,
says Brooke.

Jack says,
Brooke,
Australia has heaps more health and safety inspectors to go around their workers than we do.
And we have heaps more people dying at work than they do.
Do you think maybe we can take a lesson from that?

Jack is asking about people dying at work because Brooke is Minister In Charge Of Making It Harder For People To Die At Work.

Brooke says,
That's a good question, Jack,
and that is why I have got back-office people looking into it for me.
I want to find out what we are really talking about here.

Only,
Brooke doesn’t say back office out loud.
Brooke's government thinks back-office people are a total waste of space.

Yes, says Jack,
but Brooke,
even while you’re waiting for them to tell you,
don't you think that the bit about more people dying here
might be a big clue
that having more inspectors makes things safer?

No, I don't think that, Jack,
says Brooke,
because who knows what the answer will turn out to be
when the back-office people come back from their deep-diving?
It might turn out to be the best thing is
to get workers to jolly well pull their socks up
and make themselves safe,
instead of making employers sick with worry
about rules you can’t understand and no-one listens to.

Brooke thinks red tape and compliance are strangling our job creators.
Brooke and her party think that
you just have to let businesses get on with making as much profit as they can,
and they will know what to do,
because they don't want unhappy customers or dead workers.
Brooke and her party believe in market forces.
They believe market forces will bring us everything we need.
It is a bit like what we thought about Father Christmas when we were little.

Jack smiles his nice smile at Brooke and says,
Brooke it is now time to ask you about 90 day trials,
are you ready?

Brooke does not say,
I hope you won't fire me if you're not satisfied, Jack,
the way David Lange probably would have.

David Lange is a politician who used to tell jokes on TV.
He brought in market forces and then changed his mind
because of what it might turn us into.

Brooke was only 3 when David Lange died.
So maybe she does not know about telling jokes on TV.

Jack says,
Brooke why are you bothering with 90 day trials?
The back office people have done the studies,
and they say it doesn't make a blind bit of difference.

Brooke says,
We’ve listened to business and the mood of the boardroom, Jack.
And they all tell us
that they're really scared of hiring someone without this protection.

Jack says,
But that's just people telling you things.
What evidence do you have that 90-day trials increased firms hiring?

Brooke says,
We’ve listened to business and the mood of the boardroom, Jack.
And they all tell us
that they're really scared of hiring someone without this protection.

Jack says,
But that's just anecdotes, Brooke.

Brooke says,
No, they’re really lovely anecdotes
from our friends in business and the mood of the boardroom, Jack.
That's like,
you know,
getting a message from Jesus if you believe in Jesus

Jack doesn't ask,
So if your friends in business told you to jump off a cliff,
would you jump off a cliff, Brooke?
But it is a question that is sort of on his face.

It is time to ask Brooke what a life is worth.

What is a life worth, Brooke?
asks Jack.

I'm glad you asked me that, Jack,
says Brooke.

Brooke is glad Jack asked her that because
last year at a conference
she said that when the government was deciding whether to protect us from COVID, the value they put on human life was OMG way, way more than a Toyota Corolla.
So much more.
I mean, come on.

Brooke didn't use those words.
But it came out like that.
And that is why everyone has kept putting it on social media ever since and saying, OMG is she a replicant or something?

But Brooke has got a talking point ready for today!
It is the kind of talking point that says:
I dare you to keep going after I’ve used this.
It is the
There is a mother with young children dying of cancer,
I dare you to say she doesn't deserve to live
talking point.

Brooke says to Jack,
You can go on and on about how it was good and very important
that they protected us from COVID and saved lives.
But what about the lives that got harmed by not being able to see the doctor?
Take a look at my talking point, Jack,
I dare you
I double dare you.

Jack doesn't say,
Yes,
but did you not see what it was like in England and Italy and New York,
with so many people dying while they worked out what was going on?
Including young mothers with children?

Instead Jack asks:
But you have to ask yourself, don't you,
what if we hadn't protected so many people?
How many other people would have died?

Brooke says,
Look, it may have saved a few lives,
but it's hard to know.

Jack’s next question is not about what she would do if she found a turtle lying belly-up in the desert.
But this might be a good time to ask her.

Also, he does not say,
What kind of value would you put on yourself, Brooke?
What’s your number, do you reckon?

Also, he does not say,
Actually, the experts say that if you use age-mortality data and international comparisons, you come up with 20,000 lives saved.
That's a lot more than a few people, isn't it, Brooke?

And even though Brooke keeps saying,
over and over and over,
We want to simplify and clarify laws no-one understands
so that we can build back business confidence,
Jack never says:
What if your friends in business have it wrong, Brooke?
What if that's not what's holding them back at all?
What if what’s mostly holding them back is a woeful lack of imagination?

But one of the clever things about Jack,
who is as clever as he is good-looking,
is that he knows he doesn't have to ask every last question.

Previously in More Than A Feilding