Restoring The Balance

When I first heard the radio show Restoring The Balance (“Considered Conservative Commentary”) on Triple J (Australia’s national yoof network) I wasn’t quite sure what to think. I was left with a confusing combination of questions running through my head, the most prominent being “Are these guys for real?”.

To be fair, I was doing some work on the computer at the time and only half paying attention, so I no doubt missed many of the more ridiculous comments and over-the-top jabs at left politics that should have screamed to me “this is satire”. So for a short moment, the show’s hosts Stirling and Spencer had me going.

Luckily, the next time I tuned in, my bullshit radar was more finely tuned, and I was able to pick up on (and appreciate) some of the more subtle sarcasm and nonsensical one-liners about the “loony left”. It can take some careful listening, but if you’re prepared to pay attention then you’ll be rewarded with some golden radio, ranging from:

• talkback with angry young ‘uns whose hearts are in the right place, but who fail to recognize the joke and end up making fools of themselves for being unable to articulate the ideals that they feel so passionately about
• the deliberately provocative espousal of old-fashioned ideals, including one instance where Stirling pleaded with Björk to “stop creating such disgraceful nonsense and put your unemployed ovaries to work by getting married and having some kids!”
• the hosts reflecting upon their private school education with nostalgia, mixed with random quips about their family trust and extensive share portfolio
• the referring to Labor politicians as “deluded”, “pinko” and “red”, and following this up with choice admiration and adulation of our glorious leader (if you listen carefully you can almost hear the smirks)
• the berating of all Triple J listeners as being hash-smoking, unemployed loaf-abouts, and a deriding of the ABC in general
• continual reference to global climate change as a “scientific hoax” and a “distraction”
• constant references to their commitment and dedication to their church life, in a (questionably successful) attempt to poke fun at the Christian right (possibly the most contentious line that they walk)
• a diverse collection of interviews. Some of these are a Borat-style mockery of right-wing nutters (achieved by walking a fine line between left-wing bashing and the asking of some insightful and awkward questions). But others produce, perhaps surprisingly, some very intelligent and educational discussions about topical political issues in Australia, occasionally framed with silly rightist jokes to remind everyone that the show is in fact a comedy (Stirling manages to walk a fine line that allows his more articulate interviewees to make their points about real issues while still having a laugh).

Tonight’s show had me laughing out loud when a listener called in to answer the question “What do you think about women in politics?” His response was that it was obvious that politics was the domain of gentlemen because of the terminology that was used — the words member, election, and poll all exhibited suspiciously masculine undertones.

Certainly a show that requires a bit of thought, but if you have any interest in Australian politics (and a sense of humour) then Restoring the Balance is definitely worth a listen, regardless of where you land on the political compass.

Triple J: Sunday 9pm AEST (or listen online).

posted: 06.05. 2007, 22:54 Comment (0)