Boris Johnson remains a mystery

It is hard to think of the good citizens of Great Britain and the United States as risk-takers. Yet the decisions they have taken in making Donald Trump and Boris Johnson their supreme leaders would reek of a gambling bent. These two are radical departures from their predecessors. I can’t imagine in my wildest dreams of Barack Obama building “that wall”. Theresa May, whom even her harshest critics would have to agree had enormous fortitude, just couldn’t face the idea of a hard Brexit. Johnson gives me the impression he is eager to stick his middle finger up at Europe and go it alone. It would seem he sees himself as a heroic figure out somewhere in the mould of Davy Crockett and Joan of Arc. Others see him as more akin to Oliver Hardy.

Beneath the veneer of the crumpled suits and the hair which travels in different directions, none of which resemble tidy, there lives a keen mind. At times it appears as if Johnson is trying to look as dishevelled as possible. It is his look. It is his thing. Having somewhat carefully crafted this look, he sets himself apart from the average politician. I suspect that is the position he coveted all along.

For me he still remains a man of mystery. I have no idea of his position on the Middle East, Iran, Russia or anything else bar Brexit because that has been his all-consuming passion and even obsession. British Prime Ministers are usually chosen after long careers where their views on the big issues are canvassed time and time again. Amazingly this guy is an open book and there is not much writing on its pages. No doubt at this point Trump would see Johnson as a fellow traveller although Johnson wants merely to withdraw from the European Union not build a wall to keep the Europeans out. North African’s are pouring out of their home countries and most of them see Britain, not France, as their desired destination. A big safety net in the social security system is a huge attraction for these people.

If anything, Australia’s welfare system is even more generous so is it any wonder that people to our north see us a very nice place to try and gain entry. Turning back the boats, for which due credit must be paid to Scott Morrison when he was Immigration Minister, worked a treat. Now the odd boat turns up rather than the flotillas of them that turned up a decade or so ago. We will never know how many boat people died at sea but it may well have been upwards of 1000. Leaky overcrowded old boats with dodgy engines were the order of the day. It was a shameful time in our history and we must all work to ensure it is never repeated.

Men in boats from Holland and England may have been the first white men to see this country but for 40,000 years before that our indigenous people were here. It may irritate some to hear a “welcome to country” at many functions but our first nation’s people deserve at least that.