The Australian reports that Newspoll has produced its second successive result of 57-43 in Labor’s favour. The Prime Minister’s approval rating is up two points to 68 per cent, while Brendan Nelson’s preferred leader rating is down two points to 12 per cent. More to follow.
We also have the weekly Essential Research survey showing Labor’s lead steady on 58-42. Also featured are questions on issues deemed important in determining vote choice, economic conditions, interest rates and China’s human rights record. The first of these provides at least some good news for the Coalition if you know where to look: Labor’s core strengths of health and education are found to have fallen in importance since January, while economic management and taxation are up (though so is environment). There is also an echo of the Gippsland by-election in the substantial increase on “Australian jobs and the protection of local industries”.
UPDATE: Newspoll graphic here. Brendan Nelson’s disapproval rating up from 42 per cent to 48 per cent.
969 Comments
Pages: « 1 … 10 11 [12] 13 14 … 20 » Show All
ESJ,
Must disagree.
It was turned in to the Gulag Arhipollbludger.
No free enterprise allowed.
Classified, Bob knows a thing or two about the US Presidency. He also said on Q&A that its is a tragedy that Obama is in this position and Hillary was right.
E.S.J. No recognise I responded to you?
zoom @ 548 -
Seriously, it occured to me that Peter Costello must have been the only person in Australia who believed in Howard’s promises.
How thick is that?
True, zoom. It’s not as if it was hard to spot whenever Howard was telling porkies. The lips moving was always a dead giveaway! And yet for more than a dozen years, Cossie never clocked it. Guess that’s what happens when you spend all your days in the hammock sipping pina coladas. It fries the brain cells. Though, apparently, not some of those that control the facial muscles, especially the ones that produce the Smirk!!
Mayofral,
There are actually three points in the politician bulldust disorder.
Mouth open, tongue wagging and noise coming out.
I saw your post HSO, fair enough.
I’d imagine that Clarks and Dawe were doing up Ruddock because he has said that he now regrets putting children in detention centres?
What next? An apology for going to war in Iraq?
We don’t want to hear it. Ruddock, Vanstone, Andrews, Downer and their man of steel Coconut can all save it for their death beds.
Btw Ron and fellow Bludgers, If I don’t reply to your posts, it’s because I’m not at my computer.
Cheers guys
Fred @ 535, Thank you, and I agree with your analysis, on which some more thoughts below.
MayoFeral @ 549, lol, I know some of the people who contribute to the effluvium and you are wise indeed. I accept your point about the Coorong being flooded with saltwater normally in a drought and that it would probably now be a good time to dilute the over-salty brew. What I don’t quite understand is: doesn’t it also, like all estuaries, sometimes need a good flow of fresh water as well? I really don’t know all that much about the dynamics of the Coorong.
HSO @ 539 You’re right, I was being too black and white and, while not an excuse but a reason, I get shirty about this stuff because it matters. I hate seeing what is happening to people, towns and to biodiversity. It is frustrating to see generations of governments maintaining the problems or making the problems worse rather than fixing them. It has taken a major crisis to get sustained public policy debate on the issue but there is still more duck shoving than actual paddling going on.
In terms of how to handle the allocations, a couple of things: The first is that a small proportion of irrigators on a tiny proportion of the MDB land area generate by far and away the most wealth of the MDB. I seem to recall seeing a Land and Water Audit Report which as looking at 1% of the MDB generating over 90% of the farm income. We badly need to look after these folk. They are the motors of prosperity in the MDB. A lot of the rest of the MDB is simply not making much money at all and probably wouldn’t exist as farming country if it wasn’t for various forms of rural socialism and goat farming.
The second is that the with the decoupling of water allocations from specific parcels of land, it is already obvious that some irrigation districts are going to disappear. The problem is that it is disorderly. If 20 out of 40 farms in an irrigation district sell their water rights and go to goat farming, then the remaining irrigation/farm service infrastructure/local town is even less efficient than it was before.
(I should disclose that I own a water allocation but would be reasonably happy to give the Megs to some environmental water flow NGO. Unfortunately, the latter doesn’t yet appear to exist.)
Finally, I agree that irrigators who lose their allocations should be compensated.They have often invested heavily in on-farm infrastructure and we don’t need to add sovereign risk to enter into the solutions that will be need to be worked through. It teaches farmers some more not to trust governments. I believe that NSW irrigators are already in litigation with the NSW govt over ridiculously low levels of compensation for lost allocations.
For those with an interest in Labour has Done Nothing narrative, I note that on Q&A Bob Carr has just said that Rudd has done what Turnbull could never do because of the Nats – allocate funds to buy back allocations. A good start.
Questons of over allocation on Murray Darling basin and education of city folk for water consevation is now recognised But its not a qick fix , Howard didn’t cause it CC did , but howard could hav tackled problem
There was a comprehensive 13 billion Water plan agreed earlier in year by rudd and States , used only for water alone , not a $10 billion pork barrell howard scheme that non water projects could dip into In July a further $3.7 billion was added specifcaly on water projects across the Murray Darling basin itself , as well as a further more tailored Basin plan agreed to by all State govt
In July all states plus Kevin07 agred to a Murray Darling Basin Authority being formd , which would run the river system as a whole , and develop an independent plan to do so There’s gonna be one National set of water trading rules , to replace th conflicting indiv State ones which would apply across all states
Part of th future Plan includes fact there is conflictig stats from numerous “experts” as to how much water is in th systsem leading to differing ‘expert’ solutions on diferent water available So Rudd has organised a audit of th Murray Basin system’s total public private water in it by new Authority , plus verified by external body
They,ve agreed to a water usage cap along the Murray Darling Basin of 6% by 2009 for consumpton use
There’s also a 3.1 billion scheme to buy back water rights , to take pressure of Murray Darling
etc etc of futur plans listed
All in 7 months by Kevin07 vs Howard 12 years No vision !!! Nonthing done !!! evidence says not so
They,ve agreed to a water usage cap along the Murray Darling Basin of 6% by 2009 for consumpton use , WITH options to increase thereafter
Centre @ 557
Ruddock said some sort of words around the topic. It was the Anti-GG subbie who actually used the word ‘regret’ in the headline. There might be more and Ruddock might actually have used the word ‘regret’ but I haven’t actually seen it and Ruddock would have been around Howard for long enough not to toss his regrets around idly.
I regret that as a matter of public policy he bastardised kids by sticking them in jail, and that he was lionised by his tribe for his activities. I wonder if he is doing anything practical off his own bat to repair the long term pyschological damage he inflicted? He might be. It would be good if he did.
Boerwar,
Do you believe the MDB is in crisis?
I assume the answer is yes. If you are responding to a crisis do you allocate a massive $400m to buy back rights? I dont think so.
If its a crisis and being an urban Sydney sider I dont know – it would seem you would move heaven and earth to resolve the crisis – just think $400M – is that really an emergency response or does it just sound nice?
Lets not compare it to the Liberals – lets accept and agree they did nothing, but $400M.
You know governments can do all kinds of things when the will is there, just think for example what our government was capable of in WW2! This is a TINA situation from the looks of it – ACT.
As PJK said what do they have to fear – losing their jobs is the worst thing that can happen to Rudd & Co – but you know come out and say we will compulsorily acquire the land – no ifs and buts and they might just engender some respect.
ESJ
Always knew you were a communist.
It would be beneficial to Labor if a number of the Howard govt lot were still around at the next election so the electorate can still see the LNP connection to the old Howard government way that will have been demythologized by then.
I believe this is what happened to the CLP in the NT. In 2001 the ALP snuck in. The world didn’t fall apart and things looked kinda ok. Come the next election the CLP hadn’t changed and its connection to past ways and thinking still obvious.
Having made the change and gotten used to the new water the electorate could look back and see a style of govt they hated in the CLP. They thrashed them within an inch of their lives.
If we still have an Andrews, Nelson, Costello, Bishop, Minchin, Robb etc crowd around it wont take much to remind people of the LNPs desire for Workchoices, using racism, jailing kids, wasting money, supporting Bush and war and so on.
Going with Costello will be an advantage to Rudd. The MSM will sell Costello like the Messiah for a long while and he will do well in the polls – but come election time.
Centre
“Btw Ron and fellow Bludgers, If I don’t reply to your posts, it’s because I’m not at my computer”
No problem , just saw 7.30 download of Clark & Dawes on ruddock …magnificent !
zoom
#548
“Seriously, it occured to me that Peter Costello must have been the only person in Australia who believed in Howard’s promises”
I wrote a long post about that a week ago Zoom , on basis everyone concentrates (correctly) on Cossie’s lack of ‘ticker’ , but I argued he was equally policaly gullible and naeve believing Howard on ascenson timetable for 10 years , with Howard keep thowing out ‘later’ dates
Nixon went to China GG.
ESJ,
Didn’t do him any good in the end.
The problem in the MD system is overallocation plus a failure to control off stream dams and taking of underground water. On the last point NSW govt was till recently allowing irrigators who had no river water available to put in bores to take underground water. They didn’t seem to realise that the two systems were connected and hence were exacerbating the problem.
In SA just a few years ago the State and Comm put in millions to clean up the Loxton irrigation area with pipes instead of drains etc. Saved 40% of pumped water useage. Then the idiots sold off the “saved” water rights to other irrigators. Didn’t allow that a fair part of the water “loss” drained back into the river via underground water movement. Not to mention the need to reduce allocations to protect the river. SA has also been culpable in cutting off fresh water flows into the Coorong through the South East drainage schemes.
One major problem is that the regulators have in many cases been captured by the demands of licensees ie they are just friendly local officials who do their best to keep the local ship afloat while the whole show is under threat.
Now we have the craziness of people suing the govt for cutting back their water allocations to something less than 50% overallocated. Its never easy to shift an entrenched group of people prepared to fight to protect their interests but simply action has to be taken to ensure that minimum % of available water flows to the end of the system.
Its also true that the barrages are an artificial system which changed the estuarine sytem in the lower Murray and lakes into a fresh water system in the 1930s. It is certainly worth looking at letting in seawater either up to the lake inlet for Lake Alexandrina or for the lakes as well. The damage to the environment is unlikely to be major although there would be risks to some aquatic species. Also worth looking at the idea of pumping out the super-saline water now in the lower Coorong into the sea to help speed up lower salinity levels when some fresher water returns.
All-in-all people who understand the system have known for years what needed to be done but the do as little as possible to upset irrigators brigade has blocked action. And the 1% of MD properties which produce high incomes are precisely the irrigators who need to be reduced. We should be prepared to pay some compensation because that is the only way to speed up a solution.
FINNS
Thanks for info Amigo , I was watching Footy Show instead , so missed Bob Carr on Q and A You remember Elite Butterfly of many , well principal expanded but reactons consistent Bob Carr is not one of ESJ’s favorite pollies presume for this reason
Boerwar at #558
“I should disclose that I own a water allocation but would be reasonably happy to give the Megs to some environmental water flow NGO. Unfortunately, the latter doesn’t yet appear to exist”
Such do exist, I have been contacted by them and asked to donate some water.
I could try to find out their name but I’m off on hols tomorrow. Check around.
Also to be honest and blunt, I don’t trust them I am aware of shonky deals made, not so much the particular mob who contacted me but NGOs and govts. generically. Be careful. We are keeping our licence and have in our will that it is never to be sold to anyone. We have left it in charge of trusted persons.
Wakefield at #568
“Also worth looking at the idea of pumping out the super-saline water now in the lower Coorong into the sea to help speed up lower salinity levels when some fresher water returns.”
I believe that is already happening. If not current, it is slated to do so in the very near future, the pump and pipes are already in place AFAIK.
Wakefield,
Apparently, you like it both ways.
SNIP
Fred
From COAG meeting in July it was announsed a plan that communities, irrigators & farmers in lower lakes will no longer need to take water out of those deteriorating lakes but building a pipeline from Tailem Bend to get them much higher quality water
Wakefield where did you come from haven’t seen you , and you said jumping on 1% of MD properties which produce 90% of farm income , that sounds econamicaly ill judged , unless full finacial assess done , whereas IF one wants to look at income earnings eficiencys all those generating remaining 10% need a more closer look
The USA in stagflation?
Inflation Hits Annual Pace Not Seen Since 1991
Inflation reached a 17-year high last month, fueled by high gasoline and food prices, all but assuring that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates on hold for the time being.
Still, central bankers face a difficult scenario. The American economy continues to deteriorate: consumer spending is bad and likely to get worse; home prices continue to fall; and Wall Street has been unable to shake a credit crisis that keeps hurting big institutions. Stock prices are down too, further eroding household wealth.
The C.P.I. provided further evidence about the price pressures facing Americans this summer. Energy prices were up 4 percent in July; transportation costs increased 1.7 percent on a sharp rise in airline fares; and the price of clothing soared 1.2 percent after falling or staying steady for most of the year.
Food and beverages also cost more, with prices rising 0.9 percent last month. Since July 2007, food prices have risen 5.8 percent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/business/economy/15econ.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1218722410-quGLYtN+2oAR6WYnBcY0Aw
Fred
#570
“We are keeping our licence and have in our will that it is never to be sold to anyone. We have left it in charge of trusted persons”
Fred , subject to tax & costs , you could structur a complex trust type format where title of property doesn’t pass , only right to occupy & use
.
GG
“Wakefield,
Apparently, you like it both ways.”
Can assure you James Ron and th Ronnettes “like” it only one way
Thomas Paine
#573
“The USA in stagflation?
Inflation Hits Annual Pace Not Seen Since 1991″
Bloomberg and Standard & Poors economists survey forcarst inflation drop to from present 4.3% to 2.7% Sept 2009 with lowwer demand , irrespective assume a ‘hard landing’ is best they can hope for
Ron – 572. The figure of 1% of farmers in MD producing 90% of income in region is because the big irrigators are being compared with all farmers including dryland. Unless that 1% has reduced water allocations then it will be hard to save much water. It is right that its worth looking at what is being produced to work out priority areas to buyout/retire because there are different efficiencies and outcomes for different crops – generally pasture crops are least value per volume of water for example. And certainly with higher variability of water supply likely, taking out a % of perennial tree crops makes sense.
GG 571 probably a bit late in the night for attempted humour of that sort?
SNIP
SNIP
I’ve just been scanning through all the brilliant suggestions many of you have been suggesting for cossies book and I think it’s time to unofficially announce the winning entry.
It wasn’t an easy choice but IMHO first prize goes to Gary Bruce for “I Did It His Way”. I also thought “Petering Out” deserved a special mention.
Thanks for all the laughs guys.
Wakefield
#578
SNIP
sorry William
Thank you, Ron – PB
Darn
Excellent selecton
Suppose its too late to throw in for a booby prize :
.
‘Will anyone actualy remember me…….for anything ‘
The moment has probably passed…. but how about:
“My life as a fake”, “The fool on the hill”, “A maggot”
A bit late – but book title “Leadership for Dummies”
Looking through internet news , see peace deal between Russia and Georgia brokered by France….it is appeasement !!
One section of th peace deal allows Russian troops to REMAIN within Georgian teritory , in th former autonimous province Ossetia for an UNSPECIFIED time acting as “peace keepers” !
Further , this peace deal also allows Russian troops to REMAIN within Georgian teritory even outside of that autominous province of Ossetia for an UNSPECIFIED time acting as “peace keepers”
That is occupation and conquest , and from that Russians will then destabilize further , plus put ‘there’ anti Georgian people in power positons and further cause mischief to try to bring down this democraticaly elected Govt (having to put up with invaders armys controlling its countrysides
Suposedly “some” time in futre per peace deal a “later” international agreement might “may” rsult in Russian troops “peace keepers” not being needed
Why did Georgians sign ? well Georgions publicly say they only signed under an implied threat by Russia (via French President) , that otherwise Russian tanks just 40 kilometers from Capitol Tbilisi may just keep coming , ie Georgia would cease to exist
Before signing , Geporgia would surely hav picked up there mobile phones and called Washingtons for “advice” Answer must hav been as weak as French presidents , you got no choise but to sign mate , or dems tanks will keep rolling’
‘This is appeasement by ALL of th West “Appeasement” historicaly alwways leads to th Appeasor seeing it as a sign of weakness and acts even more aggressivly , and I see a bleak futre for country of Georgia (who only 4 months ago were negotiating with EU and NATO to future join !
Notice both Pres candidates hav also made wimpish responses Notice other Western governments also did so BUT there lead would be from USA Georgia’s acton was original legal , Ossetia is there Country , but they were naeve at best However Western rsponse paricularly USA is appalling , and wonder how good there intelligence & satellites ar in knowing just what is hapening in World
And by th way an oil pipeline runs through Georgia to NATO Turkey , deliberatley intended to ensure Russia couldn’t interfere with Turkey’ oil supplies , well that supposely clever idea also just bcoame redundant Russian Bear must be smiling
Is Ukraine next ?
More quality reporting, this time from the SMH:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/bank-plan-derailed/2008/08/14/1218307119831.html
Here’s the headline… “Broken promises derail bank plan”, referring to the government’s bank switching plan that is currently being implemented. Ok, so from that headline we might expect that the government has not done anything and customers are unable to switch banks, or that they have decided to scrap the plan, right?
Of course not. The article explains that even though some of the processes are now in place (it is not yet complete), there are not many people using it so far, and therefore it’s a flop! And because a couple of parts of the plan (a hotline, website, and an industry review) aren’t fully up and running yet, the government has somehow reneged!!! The hide of these f**king editors and journalists. It just beggars belief.
The Pieapple Party forgot to register a few names which has led to a bit more confusion for which the Party has become famous.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24180838-5006786,00.html
Will this be the reaction of the Pineapple Party on election night?
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=reu-wrestling&prov=reuters&type=lgns
Ron @ 559
OK, so there is some good stuff in the pipeline. But why in slomo? Why 2011 for The Plan? The Authority?
BTW Where does the figure of $3.1billion to buy back water rights come from? I am confused here, there seems to be a few figures floating around.
ESJ @ 562
Yep, it meets my idea of a crisis.
I felt the trout in me stirring with your proposition *grin*. Not sure where the $400 million figure comes from? Would I support compulsory acquisition? If necessary I would, but it is not necessary. There is a market and I would be happy to let the market sort it out. As with all markets, there will be some gross inefficiencies and unnecessary pain here and there and some of the smartypants will do their fiddles, but it would probably be less than if a 100% top/down approach was used. Plenty of farmers are only too happy to get out of it.
Wakefield @ 568
I agree with your analysis. About the 1%, I would change the wording to have something along the lines of having a system to ensure that the water goes to the greatest value of production. If that happens, the 1% will get it anyway because they are the farm production and business whizzes. You should consider whether you really want to be too dark on them. They are enormously talented and energetic people. They feed us all with the best quality produce in the world, and feed numerous people o/s as well. We are lucky to have them. I compare them with some of the lazy farming duffers I knew personally half a century ago. They are also handy for our balance of trade problems.
Fred @ 570 Thank you for the warning. There certainly are some crooks around. The story about water thieves I like most is that some irrigators used to jam a stick in the monitoring wheels when drawing off irrigation water, thus getting a few megs for free. But the water bailiffs started noticing sticks stuck in the wheels even when the channels were in treeless plains. So they got on to the errant irrigators. Then carp started getting ‘accidentally’ stuck in the wheels, jamming the monitoring system. Plenty of carp about, can hardly blame the long-suffering farmer is a carp gets caught in the wheel. Well, this ruse came to an abrupt end when a water bailiff pulled one of the carp out of a wheel and it was still half-frozen.
Diogenes @ a long ago post, you predicted that Rudd would respond to all the kefuffle with a bag full of money. Spooky stuff! Take a bow! Less than 24 hours after your prediction, news just to hand that Cabinet has decided to:
1. increase the buyback bag of money by $50 million.
2. extend it to buying private property in Queensland that actually has water on it. This does two things. It opens up the Queensland water market to the buyback and it gains some water now.
3. extend the buyback parameters to enable a buyback of a community at a time (this addresses somewhat my issues about orderly industry restructure and water management efficiencies)
These are all good outcomes but the policy/political process was flawed. It is classic Howard populist stuff, and you can’t get much lower than that in terms of a quality policy process.
Boerwar @ 558 -
What I don’t quite understand is: doesn’t it also, like all estuaries, sometimes need a good flow of fresh water as well? I really don’t know all that much about the dynamics of the Coorong.
I grew up on a large sheep station in the WA goldfields where rain, much less flowing water was a rarity (and still is, it’s been completely destocked for years due to drought), so probably know even less. But an advantage of living near the area is that I know a few old timers who remember how the river/lakes/Coorong worked before we began stuffing it up by creating an artificial freshwater system.
I assume that there have been droughts of even longer duration in the past so the lower system should be able to recover when it does eventually rain, provided it isn’t killed by well meaning but misplaced ‘kindness’ beforehand.
I suspect that the most serious problems are occuring further upriver where the easy options of using seawater would be both unnatural and impossible. From all acounts the floodplains have been under severe stress for a long time and the current problem may well be the final straw. As others have noted, old red gums that have been around since the year dot are dying/dead and acidification of exposed soils are as much a threat as in the lower lakes. Unfortunately, the only solution is rain and that seems to be a vanishing resource.
.
Edward StJohn @ 562 –
Do you believe the MDB is in crisis?
I assume the answer is yes. If you are responding to a crisis do you allocate a massive $400m to buy back rights? I dont think so.
If its a crisis and being an urban Sydney sider I dont know – it would seem you would move heaven and earth to resolve the crisis – just think $400M – is that really an emergency response or does it just sound nice?
For the current crisis it wouldn’t matter if they bought back $400 billion worth of water rights. The operative word is ‘rights’ which is not the same as ‘water.’ ATM, those rights don’t amount to much because in most of the MDB there’s little or no water being allocated to the rights holders.
So, as far as the current crisis, even spending the $400 mill. is mostly show. The only solution is in the hands of the weather gods, not us puny, full of manure/hubris humans. But it may prove very useful the next time we have a similar/worse run of droughts. Assuming of course that the current one ever ends.
Shanahan and La Stupenda Grattan both take the same cynical line: that although the voters want Fuel Watch, an alcopops tax rationalization and action on climate (to name just three) the fact that the Opposition and Independents are refusing to co-operate, or rattling the sabres in that direction, it’s somehow bad for the government.
Apparently, the new oppressed are liquor retailers, price-gouging petrol retailers and big polluters. As soon as the public realises how unfair Rudd is being on these pillars of society, the tide will turn (or in Grattan’s brilliant analysis, it may turn… or it may not).
The idea seems to be that the public, sick of binge drinking among their youngsters, thoroughly fed up with the artificial “daily price cycle” of petrol, and wanting action on climate change, will nevertheless forget all their concerns in the process of cheering on the poor profiteers who are faced with not gouging as much money out of an uninformed public as they did before.
On the side of the afflicted, all the retailers and deniers naturally “welcome competition” and fair play, but sadly they say the government’s schemes mean they’re making more money than before – selling more straight spirits, doing away with discounts – and that therefore the plans are a dud. Why don’t we just go back to the old systems which were perfect models of the modern market in every way. Alongside them the climate deniers reluctantly claim they’ll move off-shore so they can pay taxes in some other country that isn’t run by a bunch of amateurs who only care about the planet. They’re only thinking of Australia, after all.
Doesn’t Rudd know that if Shanahan says global warming can be stopped by a round of opinion pieces in the Murdoch papers (apparently Gaia reads The Australian) or a biting entry on The Blog That Shall Be Nameless, then Rudd’s on a hiding to nothing trying to get anything up aginst such pontifications?
I mean, really… the people (that’s the ones that voted Howard out and Rudd in) are much more interested in The Wedge and the Political Nuance, the cut and thrust of parliamentary argey-bargey in QT than actually getting anything done. That’s why Costello and his book and who’s up who in the Liberal Party are much more important to the national discourse than, y’know, getting things done.
I guess it all comes down to judgement in the end. If Rudd is foolish enough to try to keep his election promises and gets defeated by an Opposition (cheered on by their urgers) still dreaming of the good old days under Howard and believing that the Australian public made a grave mistake last November, then how’s that portend for when things get serious? Eh? Eh?
What if something really nasty happens, like one of Rudd’s ministers makes a gaffe? Or the PM confuses the Tele’s latest front page bimbette with the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan’s wife? Or Swan hesitates in QT? Or (horror) Rudd puts his foot in it again by repeating he “can’t make it rain”? Where would we be then? Damnation, that’s where. Don’t say Dennis and Grattan didn’t tell you so. Because they did. Every day.
Buyer’s remorse is a terrible thing. Dennis and La Stupenda are just waiting for it to kick in among the punters. As the Age’s Ancient One said in her column today, the vote on Fuel Watch will be “an early test” of the Rudd government’s political maturity. More tests! Well, I suppose a learner driver can keep taking them until he gets his licence, but this is government we’re talking about, not getting off your L’s.
Its bad enough that St. Kevin didn’t grab Hoo whatsisname by the shirt collars at the Olympics when he had the chance and give it to him both barrels in Mandarin on Tibet, or ticket scalpers. He should have jumped the seats at the opening ceremony and knocked Bush and Putin’s heads together, ordering them to bloody-well sort it out over Georgia.
That sound you hear isn’t the morning traffic, it’s Dennis’s little pieces of paper being ever more vigorously shuffled around, thrown up in the air and put in the hat. Let’s see what he can come up with next. War with Russia? Maybe his Ouji board can drum up a Recession? Maybe he can hammer a fall in interest rates into something we can blame Rudd for, rather than praise him. He’s already dropped the seed on that one. Maybe it’ll blossom. Long shot, but definitely worth a try…
After all, it’s Dennis who decides what matters, not the people. They lost that privelege when they voted the wrong way in November. Almost a year ago and the government’s in tatters, still doing tests, still stuffing things up. And as for Michelle, well, things might go one way, or they might go the other. One more test and we’ll know for sure. Now there’s a brilliant political mind for you.
At the Oz, they have got a poetry competition for That Rice eating girl.
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/yoursay/index.php/theaustralian/comments/olympics_poetry_competition/
I think this is not fair. we should also have a poetry comp for the sweet and beloved Tamsyn:
Tamsyn Lewis can’t wait for her Games to begin
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/beijing_olympics/story/0,27313,24182117-5014197,00.html
My take:
Oh Tamsyn, Oh Tamsyn,
One glimpse of you is enough to make my words sink…………
Poetry comp.. hmmm
There was a young Steph from Nantucket
That everyone wanted to……..
No, probably inappropriate.
What about the lovely Eamon Sullivan?
Adam
has any former olympian ended up in federal parliament?
Ric Charlesworth?
Oh to be a possum in the roof of Steph’s house. ! Lucky little marsupial. !
Did this bloke have a toothache? The bandage looks like something out of a cartoon.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=C66UIxMh7KY
Charlesworth, Sir Hubert Opperman and I think Sir Wilfrid Kent Hughes.
Dawn Fraser in the NSW Parliament of course.
Yes Kent Hughes was a hurdler in Antwerp in 1920
But apparently I am wrong about Opperman, according to Wikipedia he was never an Olympian – was he a professional?
Pages: « 1 … 10 11 [12] 13 14 … 20 » Show All