<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>334073</docID> <postdate>2024-12-05 04:30:05</postdate> <headline>It’s not that nebulous a concept, Dave – it’s you!</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-334146" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KUTA-ACT-Stand-up-Peffer-Print-Promo-resized-e1732673081361.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Dave Peffer, the long-sufferable CEO of Canberra Health Services… “I think for a lot of our workforce… they're working hard and it's the system, this nebulous concept, that keeps letting them down."</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The mysterious </span><b>MR SHUSH CAPITAL</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, author/artist of the brilliant weekly comic strip KEEPING UP THE ACT, steps out of the shadows to complain that the local pollies are threatening his future; they're getting funnier than him!</span></span></p> <p><b>In 1973, American humorist Tom Lehrer famously gave up satire, stating: "Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize". Real life had trumped parody. </b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Of course, trumping parody is what many comedians are saying now about Donald Trump’s re-election. I get it and am beginning to feel the same about our own "forever government". </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I mean, how can KEEPING UP THE ACT top this glorious statement by </span><b>Dave Peffer</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the long-sufferable CEO of Canberra Health Services: "What I've seen in a lot of complaints is comments about how wonderful the nurses are, the Allied Health team members, the doctors; but people feel like the system let them down." </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The guy in charge of “the system†further explained: “I think for a lot of our workforce, they feel exactly the same. They're working hard and it's the system, this nebulous concept, that keeps letting them down." It’s not that nebulous a concept, Dave – it’s you. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This almost rivalled his ministerial boss, </span><b>Rachel Stephen-Smith</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and her announcement that, “I’m pleased to see junior doctors standing up for their rights at work. As a Labor minister, I see that as a positive!â€Â </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The fact that they were standing up against her department for these rights was a mere trifling detail. In fact, when I did a strip on this, I just used Stephen-Smith’s words, verbatim. I couldn’t top them for absurdity. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In following this disturbing trend towards stand-up politics, I’ve also been marveling at </span><b>Shane Rattenbury’s</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> new comedy schtick that he was never really part of the former Greens/Labor government. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Shane recently took to Facebook to complain about how hopeless the ACT government had been for renters, but took great umbrage when someone pointed out that </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">he</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> was that government, and that it was a Green who was minister for housing services. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But at least Shane allows hecklers at his stand-up. Our Chief Jokester, </span><b>Andrew Barr</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, curates his audiences in a manner that could give pointers to Kim Jong Un. His large comms team makes sure our dear, very dear, leader gets nothing but warm applause for bringing sunshine, lollipops and rainbow roundabouts into our dreary lives. It’s the political equivalent of canned laughter. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The opposition isn’t immune to these realpolitickles, either. We’ve all enjoyed the slapstick violence of the Libs’ long-running Punch and Judy show, where successive leaders take turns mishandling the baby while they beat themselves up. But now they’re going with the screwball stylings of the chuckler from Charney, </span><b>Leanne Castley</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Leanne started strong in her new role with her opening gag, two weeks after losing the ACT election – “I believe that it wasn’t a win and it’s time to admit that we did lose.†Got big laughs at the ACT Electoral Commission. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Leanne followed up with this further bit of observational humour – “We need to be listening to what Canberrans want from us.†Well, the kids snorted chocolate milk out their nostrils laughing at that one. Leanne is shaping up to be the political saviour Canberra needs to make the bleedin’ obvious great again!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And what of the indie newcomers? Well, the surreal humour of </span><b>Thomas Emerson</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is looking promising. Thommo has more than a touch of the Think Gardens to him, with his background running Praksis, a mind/body studio that “explores diverse modes of beingâ€. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But the earnest Emo plans to be more than just a Pilates reformer, he plans to reform the future! Yes, in his biggest stretch yet, Thomas Aspryness wants to introduce the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Future Generations Act</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to our little local council. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This would “carry forward a community-led vision for a Canberra for generations to come and ensure government decisions ultimately align with that vision, including through the establishment of a Future Generations Commissionerâ€. Quick, ring the Chris Steel batty-phone and see if Chris can wrangle Patrick Hollingworth’s number!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Of course, </span><b>Chris Steel</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the ACT’s Mr Bean if Mr Bean were a robot, is perhaps the most hilarious of all of our local stand-up politicians. His Buster-Keaton-like stoneface when the house falls on top of him while explaining why the house won’t fall on top of him, is comedy gold. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But, I despair about my future. How can I keep KEEPING UP THE ACT when our MLAs have funnier material? </span></p> </body>