The Lament
     Of the Economic Goose
                                                                      
  First of all came Robin Hood
  His motives now seemed very good
  Later Followed in the States
  Big Al Capone and all his mates
  They prospered t'ill their terms of trade
  Extortion! labelled, were forbade.

  Our politicians, now more wise
  Keep prattling on, in their disguise.
  Of recent raids though, one still shocks
  They didn't have to pick the locks
  From our banks, to our surprise
  The charges just materialise.

   From Canberra they take the biggest slice
  While each State learned it, in a trice
  How meekly, their demands were met
  And promptly cast a wider net.
  With countless Council's near and wide
  There's nothing left for us to hide.


                                                                                   
2.                 


   M
eanwhile the golden goose we bred
  And through years of patient nurture fed
  Her plumage now, all but plucked
  Finds her very life blood too, is sucked
  So it should come as no surprise
  When told she's struggling to survive.

   But still the public hatchet men
  Keep whittling on, as is their ken
  Until one day at last we find
  Blood stains the wheel on which they grind
  And although sad, it must be said
  Our goose may very soon be dead.

 
Why should our politicians not be told
  That the last egg laid was not of gold
  Its substance just a freeman's toil
  And produce from the farmer's soil.
  But could her last egg, still be hatched
  Before its seen and too, is snatched.
 
                                                                                                   3.        
   T
he gosling's life, if to advance
  For all our welfare to enhance
  Requires politic change of heart
  More concessions, on the Union's part
  For the policies of late, have failed
  And our economic ship has sailed.

   For if our pollies had been right
  Would we be now in such a plight
  What will it take to teach
  These Icons, used to prance and preach
  But the situation, to be reversed
  Requires new moves, they've not rehearsed

 
  Now if the shackles were released
  And the wheels of business, newly greased
  The apathy with which we're cursed
  Could very quickly be reversed
  Then what improvement there might be
  In the state of our economy


                                                                         4.
   And if the statutes all were freed
  Of red tape, antiquity and State greed
  Then perhaps we could detect
  On our leaders, some spark of new respect
  For now at best, when they are praised
  The accolades are from their own ranks raised.

   What will it take to have them hold
  That all that glitters is not gold
  And while we mean no disrespect
  These claims we ask, can they reject
  Or will our new goose too, be shot
  Or less subtly strangled in its cot

   Meanwhile we languish in our sleep
  And suffer fools, without a peep
  Until at last, put to the test
  We can not let this matter rest.
  Wake up Australia! take a stand
  Of politics, your rights demand.

                               Rodd Sherwin    ©

                                       
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