So long as they continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance. Left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they had reverted to a style of life that appeared to be natural to them, a sort of ancestral pattern. Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbours, films, football, beer and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult."
So wrote George Orwell in "1984" - Chapter 7, page 67 - and what he wrote between 1946 and 1949 (the book was published in June 1949) is as true now and it was then. And who could blame them? It's pretty hard to feel inspired by party leaders as uninspiring as Albanese and Dutton.
Remember good ol' Paul Keating? Whatever your opinion of his politics, it is hard to find his equal as a parliamentary performer. Some of the most memorable zingers from the self-titled Placido Domingo of Australian politics would describe well this week's "Leaders Debate":
'Give him a valium'
'He's going troppo'
'All tip and no iceberg'
'Could not operate a tart shop'
'Could not raffle a duck in a pub'
'Like being flogged with a warm lettuce'
Yep, the last one best describes the way I felt at the end of it: "It was the limpest performance I have ever seen ... it was like being flogged with a warm lettuce. It was like being mauled by a dead sheep."
