Autumn dawns on a now volatile Trump world

As summer fades, Bazza contemplates the certainty of summers past upended and an autumn of uncertainty beckoning, writes John Longhurst.

Bazza eyed the only mangoes left on the supermarket shelf. The dull greens and purples falling short of their namesake; Pearl Mangoes.

He knew the flesh would be stringy as it struggled to absorb the last weeks of the fading summer sunshine.

He chose one and balanced it in the open palm of his hand.

Its small size was a sharp contrast to the weight and vibrant golden yellow orange of the peak summer, Kensington Pride Mangoes. The heaviness of those mangoes delivered sweet juice and abundant flesh.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

In peak summer, the Kensington Pride Mango was the centrepiece of his daily fruit salad bowl; brimming with lychees, cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums, passionfruits, trusted bananas and strawberries as well as blueberries and raspberries that seemed to be on a daily price roulette.

His nose twitched with the memory of lime juice and fresh mint from his herb garden added to his signature summer breakfast.

It all seemed an age ago and in a more assuring world.

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Without knowing the month of the year, he knew the duller colours of the new season fruits on the supermarket shelves signalled the end of summer.

He rubbed his chin and paralleled the changes with a now volatile world.

The certainty of summers past upended and an autumn of uncertainty now beckoned.

Disinformation and outright lies now dominated a mainstream media seemingly incapable of scrutiny or considered analysis. ‘To outrage’ rather than ‘to inform’ was the essence of ‘news’ with social media the eye of the ‘information’ cyclone.

Bazza bit his bottom lip.

At the start of summer, the U.S. was committed to supporting Ukraine in the war with Russia. This week it joined Russia in voting against a United Nations resolution that blamed Russia for the war in Ukraine and demanded the immediate withdrawal of its troops.

At the start of summer, the U.S. supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. By summer’s end, it advocates relocation of Palestinians to neighbouring countries.

In both cases, the needs of the populations are overlooked and excluded in the chase for mineral deals or waterfront real estate development.

Big policy ideas that pass the pub test

Bazza and his mates at the pub try to give Peter Dutton a hand to fill his policy void.

At the start of summer, it was possible to fly to New Zealand without having to redirect to avoid encountering Chinese live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea.

Domestic issues such as cost of living pressures, housing crisis, climate change, nuclear power and so on rattled around Bazza’s brain like a pinball.

Whatever happened to barbecues, beaches, beers and dozing through the cricket over summer?

He could even remember a time back in the 1970’s when the Acting Prime Minister, Doug Anthony, ran the country from a caravan on the North Coast of NSW while Malcolm Fraser took annual Christmas holidays.

These days it was a shuffle of diplomatic missions to Washington D.C. to advocate Australia’s position on proposed U.S. tariffs.

He returned the Pearl Mango to the supermarket shelf.

He sighed at the likelihood of next summer’s golden orange Kensington Pride Mango being name changed to the Trump Pride Mango.

John Longhurst is a former industrial advocate and political adviser. He currently works as an English and History teacher on the South Coast of NSW.