The NEXT coming Oz election thread!

Hmmm - I would have thought accusing reffo's of throwing their children in the sea would have..., oh wait, been there done that.

I laugh with irony over Costello's affront that Howard lied to him - welcome to the rest of Australia, idiot boy.

I don't really see it as news - but as Mrs Hinge says, if it it can turn a few myopic liberal voters away from the dark side - well and good.

Splits historically be bad for being elected.



Oh puhleeeeeeeze make it so this time!!!!!

I've got my ruby shoes on and chanting 'There's no place like home, there's no place like home....'

Funny how the Wizard in the Wizard of OZ was a funny little man hiding behind a web of deception and lies and non core promises.

I agree that this Howard vs Costello stoush has served the purpose of diverting attention from other more important political embarrassments for the Libs, dadpad .... but I'm also thinking that Costello wouldn't put himself so far out on a limb just to achieve that. I think he actually means it! And he has a lot to lose if his campaign to embarrass Howard misfires! I'm surprised that the political media has made it such a big deal of it, though.

It's been a deeply, deeply significant & moving spectacle over the past few days, especially for the cartoonists, who have loved every minute! :

OK, you journos, that was heaps of fun, but can we get back to some real political news now? Please? I mean, it's not like it's going to make all that much difference to most of us! An ultra right wing Liberal government, whoever leads it, is still just an ultra right wing Liberal government! <yawn>

Alexander's interesting take on the US government's announcement, Guantanamo, David Hicks & the Geneva Conventions. :

Last Update: Wednesday, July 12, 2006. 4:16pm (AEST)

US never strayed from Geneva Convention: Downer

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says the US Government's announcement that Guantanamo Bay detainees will receive Geneva Convention rights is simply a reiteration of existing practice.

The Bush administration has declared the Geneva Convention will apply to all detainees in military custody.

Mr Downer says to the best of his knowledge the US has always adhered to the convention in the treatment of Guantanamo Bay detainees.

"This reiteration in the wake of the US Supreme Court decision has just been an opportunity for the US administration Defence Department to remind its officers that they need to adhere to the Geneva Conventions," he said.

"But it's the right thing to do."

Common article three of the convention bans the inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners of war.

Hicks's Australian lawyer, David McLeod, says the US decision to enforce it should lead to an immediate improvement in his client's treatment.

Mr McLeod says Hicks has been kept in a concrete maximum security cell, so any improvement will be welcome.

"It should put him immediately back to a standard of detention where he's able to interact with other prisoners, that he has social intercourse with people, that he's able to have access to books and pen and paper," Mr McLeod said.

Mr McLeod says the Federal Government should immediately seek Hicks's release. ... <cont>

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1685043.htm

... so let's just get over this bit of Liberal/media hysteria & move on! There are a lot more important issues to cover right now, some of which actually affect ordinary folks' lives!

The last word should go to John and Bryan:

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

TV PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT

LOCATION: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2006/s1686340.htm

Broadcast: 13/07/2006
Clarke, Dawe and the leadership

Reporter: John Clarke and Bryan Dawe

MAXINE McKEW: And after a week such as this, it's high time we heard from John Clarke and Bryan Dawe.

INTERVIEWER (played by Bryan Dawe): Thanks very much for coming in, Mr Howard.

JOHN HOWARD (played by John Clarke): That's my very great pleasure, Bryan.

INTERVIEWER: Big week?

JOHN HOWARD: Yeah, we have had a bit of a week this week. Probably not the most successful week that the Government has had.

INTERVIEWER: No.

JOHN HOWARD: Is that what you want to talk about, is it?

INTERVIEWER: Yes, but we'll go in a minute, Mr Howard. I'm trying to get some views from the public.

JOHN HOWARD: Views from the public?

INTERVIEWER: We're just ringing around, we've got the switchboard trying to find some.

JOHN HOWARD: Oh, the switchboard is ringing around.

INTERVIEWER: Thought we'd get some views of the matter from the public.

JOHN HOWARD: Views on the events of the week and this whole Costello thing?

INTERVIEWER: Yeah, Costello's allegations, et cetera, et cetera.

JOHN HOWARD: That I'm a liar?

INTERVIEWER: Yep.

JOHN HOWARD: That, of course, is not the way I would characterise the discussion I had with Peter.

INTERVIEWER: Well, no, of course you wouldn't, Mr Howard.

JOHN HOWARD: As a matter of interest, Bryan, Costello has repeatedly been asked over the intervening years whether or not we had had a deal.

INTERVIEWER: Oh, I know, I've asked him myself.

JOHN HOWARD: You would have, and he would have said no.

INTERVIEWER: He said "absolutely not".

JOHN HOWARD: So who the hell is he to call anybody a liar.

INTERVIEWER: You've both got arguments now that don't work, haven't you?

JOHN HOWARD: So what sort of comments are you looking for?

INTERVIEWER: We're just trying to get somebody who's surprised - to put a bit of context.

JOHN HOWARD: Someone who's surprised? What, that Peter told porkies?

INTERVIEWER: No, that both of you have now publicly said you can't be trusted.

JOHN HOWARD: So where are you looking?

INTERVIEWER: We've looked in NSW, Victoria, Tassie, Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, ACT.

JOHN HOWARD: Haven't found anyone? Where are you looking now?

INTERVIEWER: Lord Howe Island. (Calls out) Nothing?

JOHN HOWARD: Try Christmas Island.

INTERVIEWER: It's not part of Australia anymore.

JOHN HOWARD: Oh, that's right, we've even lied about where the country finishes.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it would be good to get someone who's surprised to put it into context.

JOHN HOWARD: Have you tried Alan Jones?

INTERVIEWER: Alan Jones? Oh no, the board wouldn't wear him.

JOHN HOWARD: The board won't wear him? How very peculiar. Actually, why would anybody be surprised? They keep voting me into office, Bryan...

INTERVIEWER: That's right.

JOHN HOWARD: ..and I told them I wasn't going to bring in a GST, and I did. I told them people were chucking their own babies in the water. I told them to buy Telstra stock with their ears pinned back and I apologise about that now.

INTERVIEWER: WMDs.

JOHN HOWARD: Nobody, surely... I think you're wasting your time.

INTERVIEWER: Shane, I don't think we're going to find anyone.

JOHN HOWARD: A wild-goose chase, in my view. Go your hardest, Bryan.

INTERVIEWER: OK, Are you ready?

JOHN HOWARD: Yep.

INTERVIEWER: Mr Howard, are you a liar?

JOHN HOWARD: That's not a word I would have used, Bryan.

INTERVIEWER: Thanks for joining us.

JOHN HOWARD: Good on you, Bryan. Well done.

You guys seen this?


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3934788900154749704&q=bush%20pilot&time=15000



See it.

Coooool.

There are thousands of Lebanese Australians desperately trying to get out of Lebanon at the moment. Apparently our embassy there was closed down soon after the Israeli bombing began & (according to reports on ABC radio) callers receive a recorded message (which doesn't change much) when they try to make contact. So far the Australian government has arranged for the exit of something like 800 of the thousands who are waiting. The others are told to be patient, "we are doing all we can".:

Howard's nuke challenge to Bush
Paul Kelly, Editor-at-Large
July 19, 2006/the Ausralian

JOHN Howard has given his strongest sign he wants a domestic uranium enrichment industry, and he agrees that the Bush administration's new global nuclear policy influenced his decision to conduct an inquiry into Australia's policy.

The Prime Minister's desire to join the uranium enrichment club risks a conflict with President George W. Bush's global nuclear energy partnership, a radical US initiative to prevent nations moving into enrichment reprocessing.

In a historic joint concord before the G8 summit this week, Mr Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to work together "to allow all nations to enjoy the benefits of nuclear energy without pursuing uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing capabilities".

Asked directly in Washington last month what the Bush administration's attitude would be towards an Australian decision to become an enrichment nation, a senior US official replied: "I'm not able to say."

Asked about Mr Bush's GNEP in an interview with The Australian, Mr Howard said: "I'm not suspicious of it. But I'm keen to keep an eye on it and keen to ensure it doesn't damage Australia's position.

"The fact that this (GNEP) isbeing developed is a reason why we should look more closely at whether we should process uranium."

In political terms, Mr Bush seeks a new global nuclear bargain. Nuclear supplier nations such as the US, Russia, Britain, France, China and Japan would provide user nations with reactors and nuclear fuel on a "cradle to grave" basis in exchange for a guarantee they would not enter into enrichment, reprocessing and technologies necessary to produce weapons.

Mr Howard left no doubt about his personal preference. "It does seem odd that you wouldn't enrich uranium, doesn't it?" he said. ... <cont>

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19838473-601,00.html

Re Australians trapped in Lebanon.

After the Hicks/Habib debacle do you get the feeling that an Australian citizenship isn't worth much. Maybe they introduced dual citizenship so they could phase out Australian citizenship? Hey, when we're the 51st state we won't even need green cards....

just a passing thought.

IR stand boosts Beazley:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19838018-2702,00.html