A Poem by Michael Leunig

They’re privatising things we own together. They’re flogging off the people’s common ground.

And though we’re still connected by the weather. They say that sharing things is now unsound.

They’re lonelifying all the public spaces. They’re rationalising swags and billabongs.

They’re awfulising nature’s lovely places, Dismantling the dreaming and the songs.

Their macho fear of flabby soft sensations Makes them pine for all things hard and lean.

They talk of foreign market penetrations And throbbing private sectors. It’s obscene.

They’re basically unloving types of creatures With demons lurking underneath their beds.

You’ll notice that a necktie always features To keep their hearts quite separate from their heads.

So if they steal away the people’s treasure. And bring the jolly swagman to his knees.

They can’t remove the simple common pleasure Of loathing public bastards such as these.