Trevor Cook on public relations, social media and politics

Tag Archives: Swan

Poor Godwin Grech – a martyr to the cause of public service

June 22, 2009 – 10:08 am

Godwin Grech, a hard-working and intelligent bureaucrat, has fallen foul of the gap between myth and reality in the senior echelons of Australia’s public service. The myth, fondly recounted by the mostly faceless senior bureacrats in Canberra, speaks of independence, impartiality and fearless advice. The reality is that your career only progresses if you do [...]

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Federal politics, Politics | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (29)

Silly me, I thought Rudd was serious on defence

June 1, 2009 – 5:20 am

Last month, I was alarmed by the Rudd Government’s expressed intentions to arm us to the teeth at great expense in response to some supposed ‘China threat’. I wrote a stream of alarmed posts. Not only didn’t the Government’s position make much sense in strategic terms, but I just couldn’t see how we could afford [...]

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Federal politics, Foreign policy | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Are a stimulus and a tough budget consistent messages

March 24, 2009 – 9:06 am

Rudd Government reneges on key promises | Business | News.com.au. Why give people lots of money to go out and spend and then tell them you’re going to rip it back off them a few months later? It just doesn’t make any sense.

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Business & economics, Politics | Also tagged , , | Comments (0)

Is Rudd a leader or just another small-town grub?

October 7, 2008 – 5:54 am

One reason, and it’s a very significant reason, why Sydney is such a mess is that planning (of anything that attracts public funding) is heavily skewed towards marginal seats.
Now today we have a newspaper report that Rudd (and the guy who plays at being a national Treasurer) are making infrastructure decisions based on the same [...]

By Trevor Cook | Posted in Federal politics, NSW politics | Also tagged , | Comments (11)