Patriot Realm

They say wisdom often arrives wearing old boots, sipping strong coffee, and wielding a spanner. Well, maybe they don't and I just made that up.

But my Uncle Pete was that kind of man.

A bewhiskered, big-hearted farmer who skydived despite chronic illness, helped us teenagers fix clapped-out cars, and somehow made life’s hardest truths sound like plain old common sense.

Today, of all days....his birthday...I remember a story he told that now rings louder than ever, in an age when governments dodge responsibility by hiring 'experts' and hiding behind consultants.

A lesson in responsibility from a man who never needed a whiteboard consultant.

Many years ago, my late Uncle Pete was approached by a woman who had come into some money. She was thinking of opening a coffee shop and wanted his advice.

“Do you think it’s a good investment?” she asked.

Uncle Pete didn’t rush his answer. He looked at her and asked,
“Have you ever run a coffee shop before?”

“No,” she replied. “But I like coffee. I’m a good baker. I think I could make it work.”

Uncle Pete nodded slowly and said,
“Are you prepared to lose all of it -  every cent -  on the chance you think you can run a coffee shop?”

The woman paused. “No.”

“Then don’t do it,” he said.

She didn’t. She bought a house instead. Brick and mortar. Safe. Sensible. Not flashy -  but solid. Her money stayed intact, and she slept at night.

I’ve been thinking about that story a lot lately. Because Uncle Pete’s wisdom -  blunt, honest, inconvenient -  is exactly what we’re missing today, especially in the halls of power.

Governments these days are filled with people who want the title, but not the test. The office, but not the outcome. The power, but not the risk.

They outsource decisions to “experts.” They form committees. They bring in consultants. They rebrand failure as “strategic repositioning.” And when things go sideways -  which they inevitably do -  the chain of accountability vanishes like smoke in the wind.

Let’s be honest. Much of what we’ve seen in recent years has been a slow-motion abdication:

• The Robodebt scandal, where politicians unleashed an automated debt recovery scheme on thousands of Australians, later ruled unlawful , but no one remembers who authorised it.

• The pandemic commissions, where no single politician can say, “Yes, I approved that.” From lockdowns to mandates, it’s all been smoothed over with the phrase: “We followed the advice.”

• The green energy gold rush, where entire national grids are being rebuilt on faith in modelling and consultancy reports. Who’s accountable if it fails? Apparently no one.

Too often now, leaders don’t lead ... they facilitate. They hire people to make the hard calls, then hide behind phrases like “best available advice” when the wheels fall off.

It’s not leadership. It’s cowardice with a press release.

Uncle Pete had health issues all his adult life -  adrenal deficiency among them -  but that didn’t stop him. Not when it came to life, laughter, or leaping out of planes. He once did a skydive that landed him in hospital for two weeks. Was it worth it? Absolutely. “I had a blast,” he said. His son had organised the whole thing, and I’ve no doubt that right now the two of them are up in Heaven, pissing themselves laughing about the day he truly leapt into the great unknown.

That was Uncle Pete - a dare devil unless money was involved. It must have been that Scottish gene Redhead and I are so famous for. 

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But here’s the heart of it: no one told Uncle Pete to make that jump. No committee. No consultants. No experts. It was his decision.

And that’s the crux of the problem today.

Because when you delegate without oversight -  when you let someone else steer and then act shocked when they hit the wall (or the ground) -  the fault is yours. Not theirs. Yours.

That’s what’s wrong with us right now.

Politicians stand at podiums defending decisions made by people we never voted for - consultants, advisors, public health officers, tech experts. When it works, they claim credit. When it fails, they shrug and say “we followed the advice.”

Well, next time you hear that…

Ask: Who gave it...  and who got paid?

Uncle Pete didn’t need a Royal Commission to know a stupid idea when he heard one. I just wish he had thought of that when he jumped out of the bloody plane... but there you go... maybe he was prepared to lose it? And I personally believe that is exactly what he thought.  " Too bloody right! " 

But back to here, today, this time and nowhere near a parachute drop. Or are we? 

My Uncle did not need a working group or a consultant’s report to see risk from a mile off. He just asked:

“Are you prepared to lose everything if this goes wrong?”

If the answer was no, the advice was simple:

Don’t do it.

Uncle Pete, you were right. And I reckon you and Dad and so many other loved ones are all nodding in Heaven. I hear you loud and clear.

“If you can’t carry the can, don’t pour the bloody drink.” -  Uncle Pete