What would Santa give a Bogan child for Christmas?

I know this article is supposed to be about 'what would Santa give Australia for Christmas if it were a child?' But what sort of child is Australia? To me Australia is definitely a Bogan.

Being a Bogan is not an economic grouping. Coming from the land of the cashed up Bogan (WA) has taught me that Bogans come with all sizes of bank balances. Nor are Bogans confined to any social grouping.

Being Bogan has nothing to do with education or lack of it. It has nothing to do with intelligence. It is more a lifestyle choice and a state of mind.

Boganism is about the choice to invent simplistic answers to every problem with no regard to facts, available information or evidence. This is coupled with a particular line of all-inclusive abuse that is based around the virtue of being under educated. Boganism makes choices made on facts and available information a crime to be loudly condemned.

A high profile exponent and ambassador for Bogan ideals is Alan Jones with his daily Bogan radio show. Firstly, Jones tells his devoted followers how he never got a university education and he is proud of it. Then he lumps everyone who does have an education and cares about anything as "lefty intellectual tree hugging muddle headed greenie ratbags," who should be put into a sack and dumped out to sea. And that is on a charitable day.

Alan Jones' line of abuse is interesting. It makes it a crime to be educated, to think about issues and consider facts and the evidence. At the same time, it reinforces that he doesn't have an education and doesn't need one. I am reminded of Einstein whenever I hear Alan Jones: "Every problem has a simple solution, and it is nearly always wrong."

A recent example of Bogan thinking were the comments by Barnaby Joyce on ABC's Q and A that the answer to global warming was to wear less clothing.

This attitude that it is a virtue to be under educated is spreading through our society at an alarming rate, aided and abetted by our modern day journalists. In a perverse way I agree with Carl Sandilands when he said, "you's have no journolistical ability."

Modern journalism has been reduced to the level of the gossip columnist. Who said what about whoever, who wants who's job, and the endless reporting of simplistic slogans with no basis in fact. Do modern journalists bother to do any basic background research these days? There are some who do report in a balanced way, but they are a dying breed.

Recently, a group of scientists went to Canberra to give a briefing to politicians on the effects of climate change. The scientists gave a media conference on the steps of Parliament House. The thrust of the argument centred on an explanation pursuant to scientific method and peer revue. Proper reporting would have done much to counter the Bogan propaganda that there is no 'proof' that global warming is real.

Near the end of the news conference the spokeswoman for the scientists said the she, and other scientist in the group, had received death threats because of their research. Of course, the only part of the news conference televised concerned the death threats received by the scientists. There was no reporting on the basis of the research conducted into climate change. There was nothing to counter the Bogan attitudes of Tony Jones, only the sensationalized reporting of death threats.

What kind of press do we have that embraces the Bogan concepts of ignoring the facts and evidence, in favour of spin based on ignorance? What kind of press do we have that gives all its coverage to the five per cent of the scientists who are doubtful about climate change and ignore the 95 per cent of scientists who say that they believe climate change is real and that human activity is at least a contributing factor?

Balanced reporting would mean that 95 per cent of reporting would concentrate on the effect of climate change and Lord Monckton and the like would receive five per cent of the coverage. But that will not happen in a Bogan Country.

Climate change is not the only area where the Bogans reign supreme, but it is the easiest to document because of the blatant disregards for truth and evidence in favour of blind prejudice. Other areas include off shore processing of asylum seekers and the economy.

Will Australia really become a haven for terrorists if we embrace the concept of treating refugees that arrive by boat the same as those who arrive by air? Do we have two classes of refugees? Do we have the lower class of refugee who can only arrange a boat trip and will end up in indefinite detention, whilst the upper class refuges, which arrive by plane, can live in the community whilst their claims are processed?

If a terrorist wanted to enter Australia would they really use a method of entry that was going to subject them to intense scrutiny? Why not just arrive on a tourist visa? This is much easier than arriving on a leaky boat.

In the area of economic management, Joe Hockey basically called Wayne Swan mentally defective when Hockey used the Bogan argument that if the budget saved two billion dollars but spent three billion dollars the budget went one billion dollars further into deficit.

What Hockey chose to leave out was the forward estimates of three billion supplied by the treasury, which gave a projected reduction in deficit of two billion dollars. It may have been that Hockey knew exactly what he was doing and read the Bogan nature of Australia. It would be really scary if Hockey thought he was telling the truth.

Alan Jones reinforced Hockey's tactics on Bogan radio and sound economic management became the object of ridicule.

So what would Santa give a Bogan child for Christmas? I hope Santa will delay Christmas and make it Christmas in July (2012).

On July 1st 2012 the sky will not fall in.

The introduction of the first stage of emissions trading will not cause economic collapse. Not only will the economy not collapse, but most of the Bogans will be better off because of tax reform.

On shore processing of asylum seekers will be an eight-month fact and Australia will not become the world centre for terrorism.

The best present for Bogan Australia would be undeniable evidence that their thinking is in error and that facts and evidence do matter. Hopefully that will come with Christmas in July.

But my guess is that Bogan Australia will find a simplistic reason why it was all Julia Gillard's fault that the sky did not fall in.