To be honest, I'm not all that into social media. Email is OK, but it's 'old technology'. Facebook is marginally useful, but Twitter -- what does Twitter do? As far as I can work out, the News Corp hacks tune into what Rupert is putting on the airways because it's a good career move to know what's going on at HQ. But what about Shane Warne? Is anyone slightly interested in a cricketer who has passed his use by date? or Bono -- whoever he is.
But I do know what a trending topic is, and the trending topic is that Bob Carr will be Prime Minister. It's inevitable. In one of Rupert's more brilliant creations, Mx. the Melbourne afternoon giveaway -- no PA would miss an issue -- former Liberal opposition leader John Hewson said Bob Carr would replace the Ranga by the end of the year. 'Whether they go back to Rudd , and that's a big swallow with Bob Carr sitting in the wings,' Hewson told Sky News. "I wouldn't be surprised if Bob Carr wasn't prime minister by the end of the year.' (Mx 27 April 2012). I said this over a month ago.
To understand why Bob Carr will be PM, you must know two things. It is like night following day.
First, for all its faults, loyalty to the leader, etc, the ALP isn't a stupid organisation. All those marginal seat holders know with Julia in charge they are for the chopper. The ALP would lose every seat in Queensland except, perhaps, God help us, Kevin Rudd's. They know with Julia there they are stuffed, with a capital S. She has to go, and she will.
Second, you must understand that Bob Carr is an old Labor man. When I met him at a function protesting the Victorian Charter of Rights, I told him 'I didn't think there were any Labor men like you left, Bob. He replied 'I'm the last of the tribe, mate.'
Bob Carr says he doesn't want to be prime minister.
Bob Carr is telling the truth. He doesn't want to be PM. But he will. He will be PM for the same reason Bill Hayden quit the leadership before an election a drover's dog could have won. He will do it for the party. Bob Carr has nothing to prove, but he will save some of his mates. A drover's dog won't win the next election but Tony Abbott will - 'virtually synonymous' as my old mate John Rice would say.
Anyone saying the Ranga will lead the ALP to the next election is delusional. Like the old warhorse scenting battle, Bob Carr will saddle up for one last, epic struggle. And then he will quit politics and rest, because he's done his duty to the Party and his mates like a Labor man should.
Friday 27 April 2012
Tony Abbott: Carthage must be destroyed
Today I listened to the Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott deliver what was allegedly a speech that soon morphed into a policy statement. It was supposedly a speech on Australia's security policy, that could be more or less summed up as 'Carthago delenda est' or 'Carthage must be destroyed' as Cato the Elder ended every speech, or as Tony Abbott says at the end of every speech ' a Coalition will turn the boats around'. After near on half a century of involvement in the political process, I though was inured to cynicism and sheer bastardry but but I hadn't counted on Tony Abbott.
According to Abbott, if the boats are home ported in Indonesia, manned by Indonesian crews and registered in Indonesia, they will be resupplied and turned around. He will also pick up the phone and ring Nauru to re-establish the Pacific Solution. Quite frankly, I don't really care what they do with these boats. Sure, the people smugglers exploit the desire of vulnerable people for life in a richer and more peaceful land. My contact tell me it's not uncommon for the 'asylum seekers' to try three of more times to come to Australia. Once, when on the way home from the airport, I complained to the taxi driver how dull Australia is. 'If you think Australia is dull, you should go to my country, Afghanistan. We have wars, bombings, the Taliban, women are raped if they are not covered up. Personally, I prefer boredom any day,' he said.
Anyone who destroys their identity documents can rot in prison, as far as I'm concerned. We don't know who they are or what they've done. Of course, the current Labor policy is a dog's breakfast of compromises brought on by their own credulity and pandering to special interest groups.
My mother talks a great deal of nonsense and a great deal of common sense. When I said I just don't like just don't Tony Abbott because I've had too many Old Aquinians and Trinity College (both Christian Brothers schools) hockey sticks wrapped around my shins, she asked me what I meant. 'I mean he's an old fashioned Mick, Mum. She replied 'Oh, I know he's a Catholic and I don't like him either, most people don't. But I'm still going to vote for him.'
.
According to Abbott, if the boats are home ported in Indonesia, manned by Indonesian crews and registered in Indonesia, they will be resupplied and turned around. He will also pick up the phone and ring Nauru to re-establish the Pacific Solution. Quite frankly, I don't really care what they do with these boats. Sure, the people smugglers exploit the desire of vulnerable people for life in a richer and more peaceful land. My contact tell me it's not uncommon for the 'asylum seekers' to try three of more times to come to Australia. Once, when on the way home from the airport, I complained to the taxi driver how dull Australia is. 'If you think Australia is dull, you should go to my country, Afghanistan. We have wars, bombings, the Taliban, women are raped if they are not covered up. Personally, I prefer boredom any day,' he said.
Anyone who destroys their identity documents can rot in prison, as far as I'm concerned. We don't know who they are or what they've done. Of course, the current Labor policy is a dog's breakfast of compromises brought on by their own credulity and pandering to special interest groups.
My mother talks a great deal of nonsense and a great deal of common sense. When I said I just don't like just don't Tony Abbott because I've had too many Old Aquinians and Trinity College (both Christian Brothers schools) hockey sticks wrapped around my shins, she asked me what I meant. 'I mean he's an old fashioned Mick, Mum. She replied 'Oh, I know he's a Catholic and I don't like him either, most people don't. But I'm still going to vote for him.'
.
Saturday 14 April 2012
Would you prefer Murdoch or Fairfax prolefeed?
I can claim some acquaintance with the Murdoch and Fairfax organisations. While I have never been on their payrolls, I have freelanced for both. Neither experience was entirely happy, though I owe Frank Dunn, editor of the Sunday Times in Perth, an everlasting debt of gratitude for giving for a start in journalism.
Between them, the duopoly owns just about every paper, including suburbans, in Australia. The other minor player, APN, formerly Australian Provincial News, is in an intensifying Fairfax bear hug. Tony O'Reilly, the APN's controlling shareholder, is sinking further into the Irish economic morass.
As for the West Australian, most advertising departments regard editorial copy as only worthwhile for filling the gaps between the ads, and that is nowhere more evident than in the West Australian. After first taking over the West without paying a takeover premium, Kerry Stokes has lowered the West's editorial standards even further, something that was generally regarded as being impossible. The West was once one of the best newspapers in the Commonwealth
Prolefeed, for those have never read (or have forgotten) George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-four' is a Newspeak term to describe deliberately superficial literature, movies and music produced by Prolesec, a section of the Ministry of Truth. Prolefeed keeps the proles content and prevents them from knowing too much. Too much knowledge might cause the proles to rebel against their masters (or should we say betters?)
Who are the betters? The Age certainly has no hesitation in inflicting unending stories promoting homosexuality as a valid alternative to traditional family structures, while most of their readers -- that is, those forgotten people who part with their hard earned cash to buy the paper -- are voting by keeping their cash in their pockets. As for the Age's 'Top 100' coffee shops booklet (almost all in the inner city) -- who gives a stuff? The is that the Age is not long for this world. I'm a writer, I'm supposed to say it would be a tragedy, but they've never published anything of mine, so as far as I'm concerned the Age can go to hell, where it most deserved belongs.
As for Melbourne's other rag, the Herald Sun -- it doesn't deserve to be called a newspaper -- the editorial policy for the front page is said to be first run a scandal, second run a football story, or best of all, run a story about a football scandal. As for the Herald Sun's editorial page, this rag must be throwing off rivers of cash, can't they get a little variety? As for Mr Super Blog himself Andrew Bolt, could his arrival on the scene as Resident Conservative be linked to the sudden departure of Paul Gray, whose opinion pieces relied more on exposition than invective? Quite frankly it doesn't matter is the Proles are Left or Right, they still consume the same garbage. At least with the Herald Sun, as a newspaperman I'd have to say you don't have to endure the Age's maddening spills jumping all over the place with no logic at all. My best advice to the Age is hire some good layout men. The Herald Sun at least looks like a newspaper, even if it isn't one.
Between them, the duopoly owns just about every paper, including suburbans, in Australia. The other minor player, APN, formerly Australian Provincial News, is in an intensifying Fairfax bear hug. Tony O'Reilly, the APN's controlling shareholder, is sinking further into the Irish economic morass.
As for the West Australian, most advertising departments regard editorial copy as only worthwhile for filling the gaps between the ads, and that is nowhere more evident than in the West Australian. After first taking over the West without paying a takeover premium, Kerry Stokes has lowered the West's editorial standards even further, something that was generally regarded as being impossible. The West was once one of the best newspapers in the Commonwealth
Prolefeed, for those have never read (or have forgotten) George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-four' is a Newspeak term to describe deliberately superficial literature, movies and music produced by Prolesec, a section of the Ministry of Truth. Prolefeed keeps the proles content and prevents them from knowing too much. Too much knowledge might cause the proles to rebel against their masters (or should we say betters?)
Who are the betters? The Age certainly has no hesitation in inflicting unending stories promoting homosexuality as a valid alternative to traditional family structures, while most of their readers -- that is, those forgotten people who part with their hard earned cash to buy the paper -- are voting by keeping their cash in their pockets. As for the Age's 'Top 100' coffee shops booklet (almost all in the inner city) -- who gives a stuff? The is that the Age is not long for this world. I'm a writer, I'm supposed to say it would be a tragedy, but they've never published anything of mine, so as far as I'm concerned the Age can go to hell, where it most deserved belongs.
As for Melbourne's other rag, the Herald Sun -- it doesn't deserve to be called a newspaper -- the editorial policy for the front page is said to be first run a scandal, second run a football story, or best of all, run a story about a football scandal. As for the Herald Sun's editorial page, this rag must be throwing off rivers of cash, can't they get a little variety? As for Mr Super Blog himself Andrew Bolt, could his arrival on the scene as Resident Conservative be linked to the sudden departure of Paul Gray, whose opinion pieces relied more on exposition than invective? Quite frankly it doesn't matter is the Proles are Left or Right, they still consume the same garbage. At least with the Herald Sun, as a newspaperman I'd have to say you don't have to endure the Age's maddening spills jumping all over the place with no logic at all. My best advice to the Age is hire some good layout men. The Herald Sun at least looks like a newspaper, even if it isn't one.
Wednesday 11 April 2012
Be hardhearted with the handicapped
Brian Howe is, from what I know of him, a Christian motivated by altruism -- a former Uniting Church Minister, in fact. That's where we part company. I do not believe altruism is a sound basis for social or economic policy. I also understand Brian Howe, who was formerly Deputy Prime Minister in the Keating government and a member of the Victorian Socialist Left, doesn't like people disagreeing with him. He thinks they are evil. So I will reassure him that I am very, very un-PC -- or possibly evil -- as my readers are about to find out.
Today (11 April 2012) I heard Jenny Macklin, Minister for Disability Reform among other things, outline some of the thinking for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Following the talk, I rang the president of one political advocacy group, who is one of the most switched on people in Australia. He said he's never heard of it. When told him it would cost $6.5 to 8 billion annually in its start up phase, he was astonished. 'More than even more than the $6 billion Gonski wants to spend. Why haven't I heard of it?' was his reaction.
Now the Productivity Commission, which produced a report for the government, says there are 410,000 severely disabled people in Australia needing ongoing care and support, of whom 295,000 are currently receiving support. They say the current system is 'unfair, underfunded, fragmented and inefficient.'
You, like me, are probably wondering where all these disabled people came from. Australia has never had an epidemic, it's never suffered from a famine, the total people killed in wars on Australian soil number less than 1,000, there have been no great religious movements -- nothing much good -- or bad -- has ever happened here. As for inventions, I was told we invented the stump jump plow (not many stumps around these days) and the spectrometer, and of course you'll find one of those on every corner throughout the world.
The word in Young and Jackson's front bar is that there are four main causes of disability: back pain, obesity, psychosis induced by marijuana consumption and depression.
Now, an insurance policy must have a premium based on an assessment of risk and it must have an assessment system when a claim is made. If it doesn't have those things, it's not insurance, it's a levy. This raises some interesting questions: obesity and drug dependence are self inflicted. Back pain is known as Mediterranean back for obvious reasons -- it can't be proved or disproved, even by experts. Same for depression. What about mothers over 40? They have a higher risk of having babies with birth defects. What at are the premiums going to be for these people?
In Taiwan, a rich country I have seen disabled people with grotesque facial growths, burns victims with only the stumps of fingers and people who are obviously mentally disturbed begging for a livelihood. No one wants that. By the same token, the Productivity Commission figures are fanciful as a guide to earning a living. A disability doesn't stop someone from earning a living. From what I can see, it boils down to a takeover of State functions and vibrant private sector service providers by the Feds.
Today (11 April 2012) I heard Jenny Macklin, Minister for Disability Reform among other things, outline some of the thinking for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Following the talk, I rang the president of one political advocacy group, who is one of the most switched on people in Australia. He said he's never heard of it. When told him it would cost $6.5 to 8 billion annually in its start up phase, he was astonished. 'More than even more than the $6 billion Gonski wants to spend. Why haven't I heard of it?' was his reaction.
Now the Productivity Commission, which produced a report for the government, says there are 410,000 severely disabled people in Australia needing ongoing care and support, of whom 295,000 are currently receiving support. They say the current system is 'unfair, underfunded, fragmented and inefficient.'
You, like me, are probably wondering where all these disabled people came from. Australia has never had an epidemic, it's never suffered from a famine, the total people killed in wars on Australian soil number less than 1,000, there have been no great religious movements -- nothing much good -- or bad -- has ever happened here. As for inventions, I was told we invented the stump jump plow (not many stumps around these days) and the spectrometer, and of course you'll find one of those on every corner throughout the world.
The word in Young and Jackson's front bar is that there are four main causes of disability: back pain, obesity, psychosis induced by marijuana consumption and depression.
Now, an insurance policy must have a premium based on an assessment of risk and it must have an assessment system when a claim is made. If it doesn't have those things, it's not insurance, it's a levy. This raises some interesting questions: obesity and drug dependence are self inflicted. Back pain is known as Mediterranean back for obvious reasons -- it can't be proved or disproved, even by experts. Same for depression. What about mothers over 40? They have a higher risk of having babies with birth defects. What at are the premiums going to be for these people?
In Taiwan, a rich country I have seen disabled people with grotesque facial growths, burns victims with only the stumps of fingers and people who are obviously mentally disturbed begging for a livelihood. No one wants that. By the same token, the Productivity Commission figures are fanciful as a guide to earning a living. A disability doesn't stop someone from earning a living. From what I can see, it boils down to a takeover of State functions and vibrant private sector service providers by the Feds.
Saturday 7 April 2012
Anglican Church's enemy is secularism
Most Anglicans don't expect much in the way of sense from their spiritual leaders. Consequently, they don't get much. Mostly they have a typically English reaction such as 'Tut tut, he said what? Oh dear!
In some older suburbs of Australia, it it still not uncommon to see street signs saying 'Church of England', illustrating that the Anglican Church in Australia is the direct descendant of the Church of England. The Church in England dates back to Roman times, but the Church of England dates back to its establishment by Henry VIII, though Anglo Catholics would dispute this. The Lambeth Conference, which brings together the Anglican Communion every decade, is now the only link between the two Churches. The English Church is the Established Church, its formal head is the Sovereign. Its spiritual head is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is selected by the Sovereign. Rowan Williams, the prolific Welshman, has resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury and will soon be replaced. The betting is that the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, will succeed him.
Sentamu is a fierce defender of the right to believe. The threat to the Anglican Church is not poverty or wealth, it is secularism. Sentamu is African, he was born in a village near Kampala, Uganda. Christianity is not a religion among others, it is a weltanschauung that defines his being.
What do we have in Australia? During the Christmas season, Bishop Philip Huggins, whose diocese is in Melbourne's West, bemoaned the fact that Australians were referring to the Christian season as 'the holidays' then referred to the Magi as the 'Wise Ones'. I always thought they were the Three Kings or Three Wise Men. Perhaps some of them were Queens? Perhaps we were misled about something for two millennia that Bishop Huggins has just found out about.
Then there's Archbishop of Melbourne Philip Freier. 'Australia could do better' the Archbishop told his flock, citing the usual suspects like the miners and the banks. It didn't stop the Archbishop pocketing $2 million from the Commonwealth Treasuer Peter Costello (an Anglican) to save the steeples of St Paul's Cathedral, then promptly hanging a banner reading 'Free David Hicks' between them.
The Catholics understand their flock. Celibate though the Catholic leadership may be, they always seem to find a manly type, an ex-footballer like Karol Wojtyla or George Pell, when support is wavering and a firm hand is needed. As GK Chesterton said, 'When people stop believing in God, they don't beleive in nothing -- they believe in anything.'
The enemy is not sexism, racism, the miners or the banks -- the enemy is secularism. .
In some older suburbs of Australia, it it still not uncommon to see street signs saying 'Church of England', illustrating that the Anglican Church in Australia is the direct descendant of the Church of England. The Church in England dates back to Roman times, but the Church of England dates back to its establishment by Henry VIII, though Anglo Catholics would dispute this. The Lambeth Conference, which brings together the Anglican Communion every decade, is now the only link between the two Churches. The English Church is the Established Church, its formal head is the Sovereign. Its spiritual head is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is selected by the Sovereign. Rowan Williams, the prolific Welshman, has resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury and will soon be replaced. The betting is that the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, will succeed him.
Sentamu is a fierce defender of the right to believe. The threat to the Anglican Church is not poverty or wealth, it is secularism. Sentamu is African, he was born in a village near Kampala, Uganda. Christianity is not a religion among others, it is a weltanschauung that defines his being.
What do we have in Australia? During the Christmas season, Bishop Philip Huggins, whose diocese is in Melbourne's West, bemoaned the fact that Australians were referring to the Christian season as 'the holidays' then referred to the Magi as the 'Wise Ones'. I always thought they were the Three Kings or Three Wise Men. Perhaps some of them were Queens? Perhaps we were misled about something for two millennia that Bishop Huggins has just found out about.
Then there's Archbishop of Melbourne Philip Freier. 'Australia could do better' the Archbishop told his flock, citing the usual suspects like the miners and the banks. It didn't stop the Archbishop pocketing $2 million from the Commonwealth Treasuer Peter Costello (an Anglican) to save the steeples of St Paul's Cathedral, then promptly hanging a banner reading 'Free David Hicks' between them.
The Catholics understand their flock. Celibate though the Catholic leadership may be, they always seem to find a manly type, an ex-footballer like Karol Wojtyla or George Pell, when support is wavering and a firm hand is needed. As GK Chesterton said, 'When people stop believing in God, they don't beleive in nothing -- they believe in anything.'
The enemy is not sexism, racism, the miners or the banks -- the enemy is secularism. .
Friday 6 April 2012
Kerry Packer: Australian politics up for sale
Kerry Packer viewed politics the same way as he viewed everything else -- as a means to make money, or as a means to enjoy money.
He was a boarder from a young age at Geelong Grammar, Australia's most prestigious school. Like most young boarders, he suffered horribly from home sickness. Kerry was dyslexic and did not do well at his school work but compensated by becoming a very useful schoolboy boxer. Few dared cross him.
When he came into his inheritance, he watched television three hours a night, mainly his own outlet, Channel Nine. Nine has never really recovered from losing its guiding genius and if Packer always seemed to have an uncanny knack of knowing what the man or woman in the street wanted, it was because he was one of them, just four or five billion dollars richer.
The other half of the Packer empire was the magazines, Australian Consolidated Press. He offloaded the loss-making Telegraphs to Rupert Murdoch, no doubt with relief. Rupert, with his genius for print, soon turned them around. The cash cows like Women's Weekly and Women's Day remain part of the ACP stable to this day.
Then there is the curious case of The Bulletin, often referred to as The Bully. It had been losing money for years and the first thing the venture capitalists did when they took control of ACP was fold it. Why did Packer keep it open?
Those who remember The Bully will recall a series of columns written by politicians. One was by Pauline Hanson. Now, Pauline has never read a book in her life. She has great difficulty reading a long feature article. She couldn't write an article that could go into The Bulletin. Her eminence grise, John Pasquarelli, wrote the columns and they split the not inconsiderable payment. Packer had put her on the payroll, the same way he put other politicians on the payroll. As one might expect of Kerry Packer, it was a very clever tactic where any accusations of 'secret commissions' could be readily denied.
Packer's basic premise -- that 'I minimise tax because I think I can spend my own money better than the government can' -- is one the the very, very non-PC would have trouble arguing against. No doubt every Sydney politician imbibes with his mother's milk the message that it's much better to have the Packers with you rather than against you. As for Kerry's State funeral, it's a little known fact that the Packer family paid most of the bills. If you are going to pander to the masses by giving an AFL footballer like Jim Stynes a State funeral, why not give one to man who allowed cricketers to make a decent living during their short careers by establishing World Series Cricket?
He was a boarder from a young age at Geelong Grammar, Australia's most prestigious school. Like most young boarders, he suffered horribly from home sickness. Kerry was dyslexic and did not do well at his school work but compensated by becoming a very useful schoolboy boxer. Few dared cross him.
When he came into his inheritance, he watched television three hours a night, mainly his own outlet, Channel Nine. Nine has never really recovered from losing its guiding genius and if Packer always seemed to have an uncanny knack of knowing what the man or woman in the street wanted, it was because he was one of them, just four or five billion dollars richer.
The other half of the Packer empire was the magazines, Australian Consolidated Press. He offloaded the loss-making Telegraphs to Rupert Murdoch, no doubt with relief. Rupert, with his genius for print, soon turned them around. The cash cows like Women's Weekly and Women's Day remain part of the ACP stable to this day.
Then there is the curious case of The Bulletin, often referred to as The Bully. It had been losing money for years and the first thing the venture capitalists did when they took control of ACP was fold it. Why did Packer keep it open?
Those who remember The Bully will recall a series of columns written by politicians. One was by Pauline Hanson. Now, Pauline has never read a book in her life. She has great difficulty reading a long feature article. She couldn't write an article that could go into The Bulletin. Her eminence grise, John Pasquarelli, wrote the columns and they split the not inconsiderable payment. Packer had put her on the payroll, the same way he put other politicians on the payroll. As one might expect of Kerry Packer, it was a very clever tactic where any accusations of 'secret commissions' could be readily denied.
Packer's basic premise -- that 'I minimise tax because I think I can spend my own money better than the government can' -- is one the the very, very non-PC would have trouble arguing against. No doubt every Sydney politician imbibes with his mother's milk the message that it's much better to have the Packers with you rather than against you. As for Kerry's State funeral, it's a little known fact that the Packer family paid most of the bills. If you are going to pander to the masses by giving an AFL footballer like Jim Stynes a State funeral, why not give one to man who allowed cricketers to make a decent living during their short careers by establishing World Series Cricket?
Thursday 5 April 2012
It's the end of the road for Julia Gillard
Let's start from one of the fundamental truisms of Australian politics -- that the Labor Party is composed of professionals and the Liberal Party is composed of suburban dilettantes and ladies who know how to hold a successful cocktail party but couldn't organise a booth if their life depended on it.
The linkages in the ALP have been described as nylon threads -- hard to see, almost impossible to break and very resilient. Often the key ALP cadres marry within the party.
ALP faction leaders take pride in taking hard decisions. They are the ultimate realists. With the vote running against them -- according to Roy Morgan the ALP is running 42.5% to the Libs 57.5% on a two party preferred basis. The longer the Ranga stays in office, the worse it's going to get, and they know it. Labor is facing a Queensland-style wipeout with Julia in charge
Another truism that the political professionals will only confide after more than a few beers -- for fear of retribution -- is that the pensioners are the most insatiably greedy interest group in Australian politics. Have you ever tried telling a Commonwealth public servant that one of Gough's financially suicidal policies was defined benefit pensions? Many people did tell Gough that but as is often said of the Whitlam government programs 'it seemed like a good idea at the time.'
To get to the point. The old age pensioners are going to get about $10 a fortnight on their pension from revenues raised by the carbon tax. For a couple of payments, they'll say 'Thanks Julia'. Then they say 'we deserved it' or more likely 'so what, it's only $10.' But when they get their electricity bill, aided by the Libs propaganda, they are going to say 'Look at my electricity bill, bloody hell, I'll be living on dog food soon. It's all that carbon thing they keep talking about.' They'll all get paranoid, running around turning off lights so that they in semi darkness and every time they get an electricity bill it will be like a bulletin from Liberal HQ about the evils of the carbon tax. The best election material ever invented to energise a core Liberal support group. And it will go on forever.
Then there's Craig Thompson. My, what as mess! Fair Work Australia delivered a 1,000 page plus report that the Director of Public Prosecutions can't act on. Could it be that Mark Arbib, well known hard man and head kicker for the NSW Right, now turned bedtime story reader for his six-year-old daughter, is mixed up in this somewhere?
Sorry Julia, this is the end of the road. Your backbenchers aren't that dumb. Kevin's gone and so are you.
The linkages in the ALP have been described as nylon threads -- hard to see, almost impossible to break and very resilient. Often the key ALP cadres marry within the party.
ALP faction leaders take pride in taking hard decisions. They are the ultimate realists. With the vote running against them -- according to Roy Morgan the ALP is running 42.5% to the Libs 57.5% on a two party preferred basis. The longer the Ranga stays in office, the worse it's going to get, and they know it. Labor is facing a Queensland-style wipeout with Julia in charge
Another truism that the political professionals will only confide after more than a few beers -- for fear of retribution -- is that the pensioners are the most insatiably greedy interest group in Australian politics. Have you ever tried telling a Commonwealth public servant that one of Gough's financially suicidal policies was defined benefit pensions? Many people did tell Gough that but as is often said of the Whitlam government programs 'it seemed like a good idea at the time.'
To get to the point. The old age pensioners are going to get about $10 a fortnight on their pension from revenues raised by the carbon tax. For a couple of payments, they'll say 'Thanks Julia'. Then they say 'we deserved it' or more likely 'so what, it's only $10.' But when they get their electricity bill, aided by the Libs propaganda, they are going to say 'Look at my electricity bill, bloody hell, I'll be living on dog food soon. It's all that carbon thing they keep talking about.' They'll all get paranoid, running around turning off lights so that they in semi darkness and every time they get an electricity bill it will be like a bulletin from Liberal HQ about the evils of the carbon tax. The best election material ever invented to energise a core Liberal support group. And it will go on forever.
Then there's Craig Thompson. My, what as mess! Fair Work Australia delivered a 1,000 page plus report that the Director of Public Prosecutions can't act on. Could it be that Mark Arbib, well known hard man and head kicker for the NSW Right, now turned bedtime story reader for his six-year-old daughter, is mixed up in this somewhere?
Sorry Julia, this is the end of the road. Your backbenchers aren't that dumb. Kevin's gone and so are you.
Why PM Gillard's new bum is important
I have been castigated by the women in my household for a month for saying Julia Gillard has a big bum. One woman in my life can best be described as a protofeminist -- no theory, but she has plenty of attitude -- while the other is a real feminist, she has the theory and the attitude. For that I am mainly to blame, because before she went to university I recommended she read the feminist classics such as Betty Freidan's 'The Feminine Mystique', 'The Second Sex' by Simone de Beauvoir and even 'The Female Eunuch' by the now notorious Germaine Greer.
I mentioned in this blog several weeks ago that Julia has a big bum, so you can say I got a scoop at the expense of Germaine, because you read it here first.
You may recall the story of 'The Emperor's New Clothes'. A shyster sells the Emperor a set of invisible clothes. He holds a big parade, everyone is saying how marvelous the new clothes are, until one small boy yells at the top of his voice 'The Emperor has no clothes' and everyone bursts out laughing.
The same with Julia's new bum. Apparently only Germaine and I noticed Julia has a big bum until we pointed it out to everyone else, just like the small boy who said 'The Emperor has no clothes'. This is not entirely true. My wife says of course every woman knows Julia has a big bum (bum size being very important to women) but its its not nice to say so, and Gemaine was very nasty to point it out to the teeming millions who watch Q&A. Men wouldn't noticed such a thing otherwise, they imply. Call it female solidarity, if you like.
Now, believe it or not, there is an element of truth in this. When a female parliamentarian first enters the House or Senate, a kindly attendant usually takes her aside and warns her about the dangers of 'Parliamentary spread'. This refers to the propensity of the female posterior to expand greatly when the parliamentarian sits for lengthy periods of time in the chamber or at her desk while being nourished by the delicious fare of the Members Dining Room and all the lovely scones and so on her constituents expect her to scoff down while in the electorate. Thus, it is more than likely that Julia's bum is a much bigger than it once was.
Why is this important? To the average blue collar bloke, that is, the Labor base, Julia is a ranga. I asked one of my students what a ranga is. The student, a very decent young man of Greek extraction, said 'ranga' was short for orangutan, because both Julia and orangutans have red hair. For those who don't speak Indonesian, orangutan means 'man of the forest'.
Blokes, especially young blokes, don't like Julia. Sorry ladies, they know she has shocking red hair, they know she doesn't have much dress sense, unlike the GG, who always looks as if she just stepped off a cat walk, she has that horrible raspy ACTU accent and yes, they do know she has a big bum, even if you think they don't. Now that the Libs lead the ALP. 57.5% to 42.5% (Morgan poll taken 31 March to 1 April) what blokes think about Julia's bum matters a lot.
I mentioned in this blog several weeks ago that Julia has a big bum, so you can say I got a scoop at the expense of Germaine, because you read it here first.
You may recall the story of 'The Emperor's New Clothes'. A shyster sells the Emperor a set of invisible clothes. He holds a big parade, everyone is saying how marvelous the new clothes are, until one small boy yells at the top of his voice 'The Emperor has no clothes' and everyone bursts out laughing.
The same with Julia's new bum. Apparently only Germaine and I noticed Julia has a big bum until we pointed it out to everyone else, just like the small boy who said 'The Emperor has no clothes'. This is not entirely true. My wife says of course every woman knows Julia has a big bum (bum size being very important to women) but its its not nice to say so, and Gemaine was very nasty to point it out to the teeming millions who watch Q&A. Men wouldn't noticed such a thing otherwise, they imply. Call it female solidarity, if you like.
Now, believe it or not, there is an element of truth in this. When a female parliamentarian first enters the House or Senate, a kindly attendant usually takes her aside and warns her about the dangers of 'Parliamentary spread'. This refers to the propensity of the female posterior to expand greatly when the parliamentarian sits for lengthy periods of time in the chamber or at her desk while being nourished by the delicious fare of the Members Dining Room and all the lovely scones and so on her constituents expect her to scoff down while in the electorate. Thus, it is more than likely that Julia's bum is a much bigger than it once was.
Why is this important? To the average blue collar bloke, that is, the Labor base, Julia is a ranga. I asked one of my students what a ranga is. The student, a very decent young man of Greek extraction, said 'ranga' was short for orangutan, because both Julia and orangutans have red hair. For those who don't speak Indonesian, orangutan means 'man of the forest'.
Blokes, especially young blokes, don't like Julia. Sorry ladies, they know she has shocking red hair, they know she doesn't have much dress sense, unlike the GG, who always looks as if she just stepped off a cat walk, she has that horrible raspy ACTU accent and yes, they do know she has a big bum, even if you think they don't. Now that the Libs lead the ALP. 57.5% to 42.5% (Morgan poll taken 31 March to 1 April) what blokes think about Julia's bum matters a lot.
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