Fraser, I believe his name is.
Many will be more surprised to learn that the former Australian Prime Minister is still alive, than the fact he has decided to resign from the Liberal Party - something, incidentally, he should have done the day after he bawled on stage in 1983 when he lost the election.
I didn't have anything fizzy in the fridge with which to celebrate this wonderful day, so I will have a Gin and Dubonnet instead, and pretend it's pink champagne.
***
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Costello explains what Rudd, Swan and Tanner cannot
The former Australian treasurer has eleven federal budgets under his belt and his vast experience shows in this interview.
Costello has quite a way with words, and after listening to him you certainly get a better idea of why the mining super profits tax is such a dog.
Peter Costello says that listening to Rudd and Swan try to explain how the tax will work is "excruciating".
Let me tell you, Pete, listening to dumb and dumber talk about anything, is excruciating.
***
Costello has quite a way with words, and after listening to him you certainly get a better idea of why the mining super profits tax is such a dog.
Peter Costello says that listening to Rudd and Swan try to explain how the tax will work is "excruciating".
Let me tell you, Pete, listening to dumb and dumber talk about anything, is excruciating.
***
The fourth estate go feral
I completely agree with Ian Smith, and how refreshing to read a reasoned and intelligently written article.
Watching shadow treasurer Joe Hockey's speech yesterday I was reminded of how disrespectful many journalists within the federal press gallery have become of those who provide them with a living: the politicians.***
Politicians frequently are attacked for their excesses, yet those who report on those perceived indulgences, the journalists, are living examples of the cliche "all care and no responsibility".
Yesterday it was best illustrated by the acerbic performance of Andrew Probyn of The West Australian, who berated Hockey for showing poor form by not distributing his speech and detailed spending-cut measures before his appearance at the National Press Club. After a wild rant, Probyn got around to asking a question on e-health.
If he had had the requested papers in his hand during the speech, Probyn and many of his peers no doubt would have flicked through the documentation and taken scant note of Hockey.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Tony Abbott should ignore the hypocritical attacks from Labor
I should say at the outset that I do not watch the ABC's 7.30 Report. Kerry O'Brien reminds me too much of Julia Gillard. Besides, that's my ablutionary time.
After listening to excerpts pretty much all day of Tony Abbott's performance on the 7.30 Report last night, I don't know whether to offer Tony a consoling hug, or a not-so-consoling damn good shake.
It is clear to me, that on media matters, Abbott is either very poorly advised, or else he is well advised, but chooses to ignore what he's told.
The interview was poor. No doubt. But the outcome is yet another case of Labor, aided and abetted by the Australian MSM, extrapolating every obscure nuance from a statement by a Conservative politician, and inventing a scandal to distract the public from the other side's own calamities.
Of course, the hypocritical, vituperative attacks by Labor have started. Tony Abbott should counter them by saying "I have no doubts that Labor are the best party to lead Australia."
That should shut them up.
***
UPDATE: Andrew Bolt on Labor's hypocrisy.
After listening to excerpts pretty much all day of Tony Abbott's performance on the 7.30 Report last night, I don't know whether to offer Tony a consoling hug, or a not-so-consoling damn good shake.
It is clear to me, that on media matters, Abbott is either very poorly advised, or else he is well advised, but chooses to ignore what he's told.
The interview was poor. No doubt. But the outcome is yet another case of Labor, aided and abetted by the Australian MSM, extrapolating every obscure nuance from a statement by a Conservative politician, and inventing a scandal to distract the public from the other side's own calamities.
Of course, the hypocritical, vituperative attacks by Labor have started. Tony Abbott should counter them by saying "I have no doubts that Labor are the best party to lead Australia."
That should shut them up.
***
UPDATE: Andrew Bolt on Labor's hypocrisy.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
A friendly handshake between fifth cousins, twice removed
This, from Charles Moore, in the current edition of The Spectator magazine:
The most moving thing was the photograph of the handshake of the Queen and her new Prime Minister. It is an excellent innovation to allow the ceremony to be seen, because it reminds people how the constitution works. After the days of uncertainty, we needed this more than usual. There is also something touching in seeing this beautiful old lady confer authority on a man who was minus 15 years old when she came to the throne. If it were not slightly unconstitutional to suggest it, I would add that the Queen looked very pleased.It is a lovely photograph, and the Queen does, indeed, look delighted.
Picture: JOHN STILLWELL / PA
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Britain finally has a new Prime Minister. Now, would everyone please calm down
Throughout the day I have been reading articles from the UK trumpeting what has occurred over there as a ‘momentous moment in politics’; ‘politics has changed forever’; ‘a political masterstroke’, and so it breathlessly goes on. All of it is absolute bollocks. This is nothing more than a marriage - not of convenience, but necessity. Think of the alternatives: A Lib-Lab partnership would not have worked without the support of a host of Northern Irish and Welsh parties; a Con minority government would have had every contentious bill defeated in the commons. The only options left are a Lib-Con coalition or another general election – the latter would have been both unwanted and unaffordable, and who is to say that the result of a run-off election would have been any more conclusive than the first one?
The only viable alternative was for Cameron and Clegg to enter into discussions to form a coalition government. Both men knew this, as did most of the press commentators (the sensible ones, at least); but reading about the outcome of events, listening to all the 'oohs' and 'ahhs' one could be forgiven for thinking that a cure for cancer had been discovered.
I think a cold shower is in order.
The facts are that David Cameron, 43, is now Prime Minister of Her Majesty’s United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And jolly good luck to him - he will need it. He has a herculean job ahead of him: not only to get the country back on track, but to convince his backbenchers and the traditional conservative support base that he has not sold their souls by conceding too much to the Lib Dems.
I wait with interest to see if Cameron can indeed put party politics to one side and embrace the task of leading change that Britain needs, whilst maintaining the traditions it was built on.
***
The only viable alternative was for Cameron and Clegg to enter into discussions to form a coalition government. Both men knew this, as did most of the press commentators (the sensible ones, at least); but reading about the outcome of events, listening to all the 'oohs' and 'ahhs' one could be forgiven for thinking that a cure for cancer had been discovered.
I think a cold shower is in order.
The facts are that David Cameron, 43, is now Prime Minister of Her Majesty’s United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And jolly good luck to him - he will need it. He has a herculean job ahead of him: not only to get the country back on track, but to convince his backbenchers and the traditional conservative support base that he has not sold their souls by conceding too much to the Lib Dems.
I wait with interest to see if Cameron can indeed put party politics to one side and embrace the task of leading change that Britain needs, whilst maintaining the traditions it was built on.
***
Sunday, May 9, 2010
David Cameron and the election that nearly got away
An alternative title for this post could well be 'David Cameron and the election that's buggered Britain.'
The result of the general election in Britain last Thursday is clear. The outcome of the election, however, is anything but.
The Conservative Party won the most seats with 306, followed by Labour with 258 and the Liberal Democrats with 57. A host of minor parties and assorted rabble won the rest between them.
The polls have been declared in 649 out of 650 constituencies. There was a death of a candidate in one before polling day, so voters in that constituency will vote next month.
We now have the situation whereby no party in Britain has enough votes to govern in its own right (326); David Cameron is the PM in waiting; the ever-ebullient Gordon Brown is squatting at Number 10; and Nick Clegg is wondering whether it was something he said.
Horse-trading is currently underway between David (call me Dave) Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives, and Nick (where’d my Superman cape go) Clegg, leader of the LibDems, to see if some coalition between the party that won an additional 100 seats, and the party that did the most disastrously and actually lost seats, can be formed.
The reason Cameron has so eagerly embraced talks with Nick Clegg, is because, as individuals, Cameron and Clegg are nowhere near as ideologically disparate as the two parties they lead.
But Cameron has foisted his ideology on the conservative party and in the process it has become a progressive, enviro-loony, all-inclusive, euro-hippy rump of its former self.
Yes, the Conservatives picked up a swag of seats at this election. But Dave should be under no ego-tripping illusions that he was solely responsible for that. This is nowhere near the overwhelming display of voter love for Cameron and his 'new Tory' malarkey that he and his coterie would like us to think it was; rather, it was a collective hand signal from the electorate to the sheer idiocy and incompetence of the Brown/Blair Labour government.
David Cameron is no more a true conservative than I am the Sultan of Brunei’s head gardener. As a ‘conservative’, Cameron obviously had the same social politics lecturer as Kevin Rudd, albeit a different economics one.
True died-in-the-wool conservatives in Britain are not amused at Cameron, nor the path on which he has taken their once-proud party, nor the way in which Cameron has performed in this election campaign. For many of these true believers, a coalition with the LibDems will be the point of no return.
David Cameron is a true social networking wonk, proselytizing his cause with his Facebook page and WebCameron video diary. The problem is, no matter how media-savvy and telegenic you are, if your message is confused, if your message is contrary to the wishes of your party faithful, and if your message is just plain stupid, it will all be for nothing.
Throughout this election campaign, and indeed since he became leader of the conservative party in 2005, Cameron has tried to be all things to all people – well, ninety percent of people. Eschewing most of the hard decisions, and sugar-coating the rest to appease his neo-con following, is no way to lead. The result of the election is testament to that.
***
The result of the general election in Britain last Thursday is clear. The outcome of the election, however, is anything but.
The Conservative Party won the most seats with 306, followed by Labour with 258 and the Liberal Democrats with 57. A host of minor parties and assorted rabble won the rest between them.
The polls have been declared in 649 out of 650 constituencies. There was a death of a candidate in one before polling day, so voters in that constituency will vote next month.
We now have the situation whereby no party in Britain has enough votes to govern in its own right (326); David Cameron is the PM in waiting; the ever-ebullient Gordon Brown is squatting at Number 10; and Nick Clegg is wondering whether it was something he said.
Horse-trading is currently underway between David (call me Dave) Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives, and Nick (where’d my Superman cape go) Clegg, leader of the LibDems, to see if some coalition between the party that won an additional 100 seats, and the party that did the most disastrously and actually lost seats, can be formed.
The reason Cameron has so eagerly embraced talks with Nick Clegg, is because, as individuals, Cameron and Clegg are nowhere near as ideologically disparate as the two parties they lead.
But Cameron has foisted his ideology on the conservative party and in the process it has become a progressive, enviro-loony, all-inclusive, euro-hippy rump of its former self.
Yes, the Conservatives picked up a swag of seats at this election. But Dave should be under no ego-tripping illusions that he was solely responsible for that. This is nowhere near the overwhelming display of voter love for Cameron and his 'new Tory' malarkey that he and his coterie would like us to think it was; rather, it was a collective hand signal from the electorate to the sheer idiocy and incompetence of the Brown/Blair Labour government.
David Cameron is no more a true conservative than I am the Sultan of Brunei’s head gardener. As a ‘conservative’, Cameron obviously had the same social politics lecturer as Kevin Rudd, albeit a different economics one.
True died-in-the-wool conservatives in Britain are not amused at Cameron, nor the path on which he has taken their once-proud party, nor the way in which Cameron has performed in this election campaign. For many of these true believers, a coalition with the LibDems will be the point of no return.
David Cameron is a true social networking wonk, proselytizing his cause with his Facebook page and WebCameron video diary. The problem is, no matter how media-savvy and telegenic you are, if your message is confused, if your message is contrary to the wishes of your party faithful, and if your message is just plain stupid, it will all be for nothing.
Throughout this election campaign, and indeed since he became leader of the conservative party in 2005, Cameron has tried to be all things to all people – well, ninety percent of people. Eschewing most of the hard decisions, and sugar-coating the rest to appease his neo-con following, is no way to lead. The result of the election is testament to that.
***
Friday, May 7, 2010
Australia's Embarrassment of a Prime Minister
Please read this terrific piece by Michael Kroger, and pray that later this year, after Australia goes to the polls, that we will never see nor hear from Rudd again.
***
***
Sunday, May 2, 2010
UK general election
On Thursday Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will go to a general election to boot out one of the most disastrous administrations since WW1.
I usually fence-sit with my predictions when it comes to elections, but I am not going to this time.
Before I give my two-bob’s worth, let’s hear from The UK’s The Daily Telegraph:
This gives us an idea, but the problem is that swings in elections are never uniform. Indeed, they tend have minds of their own.
I predict that there will be Labour-held constituencies that will fall to the Tories that were never on the Tories’ radar; also, seats that the Tories thought they could win from Labour will, after Thursday, frustratingly remain red - although I think the former will outnumber the latter.
My final of piece crystal ball-gazing (current make-up of parliament is bracketed) is Conservative 333 (212), Labour 199 (344), LibDem 88 (63) and others 29 (30).
I won't be surprised, of course, if the end result is nothing like the above; but I, like most Conservatives, like to think that people see their party as bastions of optimism and aspiration, and thus will vote accordingly. The Great British public will not have a better opportunity, come Thursday, to test this premise.
***
I usually fence-sit with my predictions when it comes to elections, but I am not going to this time.
Before I give my two-bob’s worth, let’s hear from The UK’s The Daily Telegraph:
Assuming a uniform national swing, analysis by John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, shows that the figures – if repeated on Thursday – would give the Conservatives 279 seats, Labour 261 and the Lib Dems 78.
This gives us an idea, but the problem is that swings in elections are never uniform. Indeed, they tend have minds of their own.
I predict that there will be Labour-held constituencies that will fall to the Tories that were never on the Tories’ radar; also, seats that the Tories thought they could win from Labour will, after Thursday, frustratingly remain red - although I think the former will outnumber the latter.
My final of piece crystal ball-gazing (current make-up of parliament is bracketed) is Conservative 333 (212), Labour 199 (344), LibDem 88 (63) and others 29 (30).
I won't be surprised, of course, if the end result is nothing like the above; but I, like most Conservatives, like to think that people see their party as bastions of optimism and aspiration, and thus will vote accordingly. The Great British public will not have a better opportunity, come Thursday, to test this premise.
***
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Bits from the past week
Incorporating the week that was, here are my highlights:
Last Friday I Qantased down to Melbourne for a couple of nights. I stayed at the Hilton at the airport cos I love hanging around airports and taking photos of airporty things. Then, on Saturday night I caught the Skybus to Southern Cross Station and then found a train to Flinders St, where I got off and hoofed it over to the MCG where I met a mate of mine and his folks and we watched the Melbourne v Brisbane Lions game. Mate is a MAD Melbourne supporter and he couldn’t believe the final score (M103-B53) needless to say, he would like to make me an honorary member and go to all their home games - you see, it was the first live AFL game I’ve ever been to.
***
Adding to being among several thousand cheering Demons, I came home on Sunday to find that the Rabbitohs had triumphed over the Raiders at Canberra Stadium. Could the weekend get any better?
***
My flights last weekend were great – both ways. CBR – MEL with Qantas and MEL – CBR with Virgin. The Qantas Club at Canberra Airport was absolutely packed on Friday night, but I managed to find a seat. Thankfully the crowd dispersed and I was able to stretch out a bit. Being on the last flight of the evening I ended up helping the lounge staff clear the tables just as it was announced that “the Qantas Club is now closed”. I will be pleased when they finally pull that wing of Canberra’s terminal down, as it is well and truly past its used-by date.
***
I flew back to Canberra on a Virgin 737-800 and I didn’t realise that Virgin had seat-back TVs. It must be at least four years since I’ve flown with them. As it was such a short flight, I didn’t swipe my credit card, I was content to look at the moving tracking map (I love those things!)
***
The great Autumness is enveloping the valley where I live, with morning fog and chill calling for heater and dressing gown. Lovely. Autumn could last all year long and I would be a contented man.
***
I see ANZAC Day was unable to pass without yet another debate on whether we should change the flag and whether April 25 should be our national day instead of January 26. The answer should be a deafening ‘no’ to both. The flag contains a fine juxtaposition of where we as a nation came from, and where are now. It encapsulates both an ode to the past and a song of the future. January 26 is a day for celebrating. I do not feel like celebrating anything on April 25. Were April 25 to become our national day, celebrations would be inevitable, which would only lead to accusations that war is being glorified – I’m not convinced that it isn’t already - but it would become much more difficult to refute the notion.
***
Enjoy the weekend. I will be washing the car and planting bulbs, washing and shopping. Ah, domestic bliss.
Last Friday I Qantased down to Melbourne for a couple of nights. I stayed at the Hilton at the airport cos I love hanging around airports and taking photos of airporty things. Then, on Saturday night I caught the Skybus to Southern Cross Station and then found a train to Flinders St, where I got off and hoofed it over to the MCG where I met a mate of mine and his folks and we watched the Melbourne v Brisbane Lions game. Mate is a MAD Melbourne supporter and he couldn’t believe the final score (M103-B53) needless to say, he would like to make me an honorary member and go to all their home games - you see, it was the first live AFL game I’ve ever been to.
***
Adding to being among several thousand cheering Demons, I came home on Sunday to find that the Rabbitohs had triumphed over the Raiders at Canberra Stadium. Could the weekend get any better?
***
My flights last weekend were great – both ways. CBR – MEL with Qantas and MEL – CBR with Virgin. The Qantas Club at Canberra Airport was absolutely packed on Friday night, but I managed to find a seat. Thankfully the crowd dispersed and I was able to stretch out a bit. Being on the last flight of the evening I ended up helping the lounge staff clear the tables just as it was announced that “the Qantas Club is now closed”. I will be pleased when they finally pull that wing of Canberra’s terminal down, as it is well and truly past its used-by date.
***
I flew back to Canberra on a Virgin 737-800 and I didn’t realise that Virgin had seat-back TVs. It must be at least four years since I’ve flown with them. As it was such a short flight, I didn’t swipe my credit card, I was content to look at the moving tracking map (I love those things!)
***
The great Autumness is enveloping the valley where I live, with morning fog and chill calling for heater and dressing gown. Lovely. Autumn could last all year long and I would be a contented man.
***
I see ANZAC Day was unable to pass without yet another debate on whether we should change the flag and whether April 25 should be our national day instead of January 26. The answer should be a deafening ‘no’ to both. The flag contains a fine juxtaposition of where we as a nation came from, and where are now. It encapsulates both an ode to the past and a song of the future. January 26 is a day for celebrating. I do not feel like celebrating anything on April 25. Were April 25 to become our national day, celebrations would be inevitable, which would only lead to accusations that war is being glorified – I’m not convinced that it isn’t already - but it would become much more difficult to refute the notion.
***
Enjoy the weekend. I will be washing the car and planting bulbs, washing and shopping. Ah, domestic bliss.
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