Peter Slipper must either step aside while the allegations against him are being tested or the Government must use its numbers to force him to do so. Maybe this will reflect badly on them, but that does not matter. They took a calculated gamble when they coaxed him into the Speaker’s Chair and it has backfired. His position cannot be sustained while he is under such a cloud.In public life, indeed in life generally, we must accept the consequences of our decisions. The Government was aware that allegation...
800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Why have we not seen this headline spreadacross the front pages of our newspapers? The Coalition has proclaimed loudly andoften that they will repeal the CPRS (Carbon Tax) if they are elected nextyear, but this is only half the story.What the Coalition i...
800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 I would describe the Queensland election last Saturday as adebacle. It is true the Labor Party wasthrashed, but this is not a debacle.Parties lose heavily from time to time and they recover. Yes, this is the worst loss on record, butagain there will probab...
I am now able to outline exclusively to my reader the very latest in the long line of controversies concerning our Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. Did she speak to Bob Carr? Didn’t she speak to Bob Carr? When did she speak to Bob Carr? What did she say to Bob Carr? All very important questions I know, but nothing compared to what I am now about to tell you. Again, I remind you that I am revealing this exclusively to you, my reader.It has been reported to me by an impeccable source whose name I can’t discl...
On the 6th of this month I felt bound to write on the Labor leadership as speculation heightened about the prospect of a Kevin Rudd challenge. Well at last it has come to pass.I believe that any member of caucus who writes “Kevin Rudd” on their ballot paper next Monday will also be signing a suicide note for the Labor Party. There is nothing I can add to what I wrote earlier on this aspect of the issue.Similarly, I would like to thank Wayne Swan for the comments he made on Kevin Rudd last night. I couldn...
For months now we have heard and read in the media story after story about companies which are cutting jobs: BlueScope Steel, General Motors, Alcoa, Sleepmaker and now QANTAS to name just a few. You might be forgiven for thinking that no-one at all is in work.Today we get the official employment figures – and what do they tell us? Unemployment on the rise? People no longer looking for work? No jobs available? No! Unemployment fell. The participation rate rose. Positions vacant as measured by ANZ also ros...
Since both the Government and Opposition declared that they would both make the economy the focus for this year I thought it timely for me to offer a few comments on the subject. An analysis of the Opposition questions in parliament this week might leave one wondering whether this year will be any different from last year from their point of view though. Nonetheless I will press on.The insistence by both sides of politics on portraying complex subjects with simplistic slogans and indeed goals has diluted...
I have avoided writing on the leadership speculation surrounding Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd up until now because to do so is basically pointless. The speculation will not go away though and so I will devote the next few hundred words to the pointlessness.I think the Labor Party as a whole needs to remember a few things: They removed Kevin Rudd in 2010 because they just couldn’t work for or with him AND they were convinced that they would lose the next election under his leadership. What has changed? No...
Our daughter Claire has always had a talent for writing and so, when she was looking for something to occupy her a few years ago, I suggested that she might write a story. She could not come up with a topic. Again I suggested that she try writing a mystery using my characters. Although she said that mystery was not her thing she took up the challenge.The following story is the result. I really like it. I can’t believe how well she captured the characters. Well done Claire.Who Wants To Be A Millionaire by...
I was interested to hear Malcolm Fraser, as one of many high profile Australians, speaking on the ABC this week about a world free of nuclear weapons. While I would like nothing better than seeing the realisation of this high ideal, I do not believe that it will ever come to pass.It seems to me that when the “West” speaks of “nuclear free” it means:“Only the ‘good guys’ can have nuclear weapons – shame about Russia and China but I guess they won’t give them up if we don’t.”In my view, unless the “haves” ...
