‘I’m feeling so inner urban. Being cared for by a VCE student in a two storey terrace close to the beach, close to the city’. (Cecil Poole)

Dear reader, there is light in a lightness of touch. Enjoy this reflective piece from the esteemed Cecil Poole as he transitions from being  ‘country boy’ from the ‘Paris End’ of Tolmie to being the gadfly of Melbourne’s inner ring. And in  doing so he draws the circle fully round  the vexed issue of what to do with the electorate of Indi, post Mirabella.

Read on… (and for the children and infirm we promise no images of the erstwhile member for Indi)

‘I’d brushed most of the hayseeds out of my hair and off my clothes’. (recent daguerreotype of Cecil in rustic attire)

I’m feeling so inner urban. Being cared for by a VCE student in a two storey terrace close to the beach, close to the city. I have the ‘Mistress’ bedroom. To myself. Sadly. Vegan breakfast this morning, of course. Well almost vegan, honey and yoghurt probably not proper vegan, but fresh fruit, pawpaw, pear and passionfruit. My carer headed off for school and I crossed the road for a yuppy at the yuppy, taking the puppy with me. Sorry, should read a latte at the cafe. Checked the newspapers and the mums. And the slack professionals and unpaid writers, artists and actors.

Cecil transformed. “I was dressed in almost black, more grey really, still, super cool despite my tan shoes’.

I was dressed in almost black, more grey really, still, super cool despite my tan shoes. I’d brushed most of the hayseeds out of my hair and off my clothes. I’d come down from the country after drumming up support for our local independent MP, Cathy McGowan, the one who defeated the narcissistic Sophie Mirabella. Sophie is standing again, and, due to her despicable behavior, her party now think of her as her opponents do, which is to say, not highly.

archetypal village idiot.

I’m thinking of holding a ‘Sophie’s Going Away Party’, where everyone brings their favourite photo or story. I’ll let you know when it is on.

‘Well spoken, conservatively dressed and oh, so excited to be part of the democratic process’.

Oh, I almost forgot, we plan to launch our Greg Mirabella Support Group at this party. And we are wondering what Sophie will do next. Cathy McGowan has double the number of volunteers helping for this election than she did previously, however she is promising to “turn Indi (her electorate) orange”, which some of my friends suggest will cost her the Irish Catholic vote. Cathy talks of jobs, growth, local control, and has done a job respected by many in her electorate. She consults and listens with a fine ear, and acts with purpose and conviction. And she has demonstrable results. Where Sophie walked out of Parliament during PM Rudd’s Apology speech, Cathy made it her priority to offer her own apology to the nation through parliament.

The people supporting Cathy are just the nicest people, very much like me and the general Passive Complicity readership. Well spoken, conservatively dressed and oh, so excited to be part of the democratic process. We may not make waves, but we will certainly make ripples. We will talk of fairness but probably not of the unfairness of negative gearing, funding for private education and the inherent racism in the ineffective Intervention. We hate the banks but are wary of supporting Labor’s call for a Royal Commission. In fact if I want Cathy to tackle these issues then I need to show her that a number of people in her electorate want them tackled. That means I’d have to do some work. And really, I quite like the life here in Inner Urban Melbourne. Maybe I’ll just order another latte and grumble about democracy going to hell to whoever will listen.

I’ve got the time for that.

Cheers

Ed. We promise to publish a special edition in tomorrow’s post on helpful suggestions for the erstwhile member for Indi. All in good taste we assure you, but we have an inkling that she is destined for immeasurably greater things in a life beyond politics.