More great nes for Howard : Workchoices Fails (Advertiser lead story)

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22646139-5014075,00.html

LOL, that may have worked for the dill if he hadn’t forgotten directing everyone to use underlying rate of inflation and not the headline rate in all of his last 4 qrt press conferences on CPI.

Let it, for an old timer like me that brings back lots of memories, especially from the decline and fall of the McMahon Government (which this one is starting to resemble).

In those days the CES used to prepare labour market figures quarterly. Their release was eagerly looked forward to, because any increase in unemployment was feared to spell doom for the presiding government.

Two sets of figures were released: the actual registered unemployed, and the ‘Seasonally Adjusted’ figures which took into account seasonal employment, casual and part-time. Naturally, seeing they were measuring somewhat different things, the figures were often quite different from each other.

Billy McMahon’s approach was to focus on ‘whatever numbers were lower’. So in one quarter he might trumpet the Seasonally Adjusted figures; in the next it might be the actual.

Good to see that the old tricks don’t die out.

No, I’m not that Don Wiggan. I only have single ‘g’ – almost the reverse of Greeensborough who gains a lot of distinction with that extra ‘e’.

Not even familiar with that project. Which Santo was that: the Working Dog one (’Frontline’, ‘The Castle’), or that other one loved by the Friends of The ABC who was involved in some dodgy deeds which even by Queensland Liberal murky standards were too much, even for Howard.

I’m sorry I wasn’t now; it might provide some excellent material for a retro study today.

Keep up the good work with some of your WA posts, which I greatly enjoy.

Cheers.

I think Labor, if elected, will continue the intervention, but more in co-operation with the NT Government, and with a bit more sensitivity than the coalition.

However, it’s clear that there is general public support for the Government to do something drastic about the appalling conditions in some aboriginal settlement. Every Government – Federal, state and territorial – has let it get worse.

I think Rudd should come out with a water plan very soon, something that’s better than Howard’s $10b Murray Darling Basin exercise, something that ensures the future of water supplies to country towns and capital cities alike, not just to irrigators. That might force Howard to do some me-tooism. The coalition’s idea of “infrastructure” is more pork for roads, but it should go beyond that, to health, education and training, ports, power and water.

Lack of water/drought is affecting house prices in parts of regional Victoria, and preventing urban expansion in some other areas. South-East Queensland is badly affected, and I wonder whether the mysterious huge swing (according to Morgan, anyway) to Labor in Hume is due to Goulburn’s severe water problems and the drought.

Mr Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello attempted to play down the CPI figures, pointing instead to the headline inflation figure of 1.9 per cent

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22641036-2,00.html

LOL, that may have worked for the dill if he hadn’t forgotten directing everyone to use underlying rate of inflation and not the headline rate in all of his last 4 qrt press conferences on CPI.

As for his statement; “underlying inflation is expected as demand pressures ease”, I am totally speechless.

At least the media seem to have finally woken up to him now. Honestly, how anyone can attribute any credibility to Costello is beyond me.

I think he is struggling with “senior moments” and the more he is in public, the more he is under pressure, the more noticeable it will become.

Let’s give him the benefit of doubt. However, “1916″ might well prove the final nail. This is delicate, but the question must be asked: Is he fit for government?