The NEXT coming Oz election thread!

JH & spending priorities:

Aren't they tired of trying to read this man's mind yet? Isn't it clear: he's not going anywhere!:

Thanks, msolga (and goodfielder) for keeping this thread going. We have in the US been working the New Orleans story. But I will try to go back to "all things OZ" as soon as I can. I appreciate what you are doing.
-johnboy-

Thank YOU, rjb, for your ongoing interest in this little Pacific outpost! :wink:

Desperate times, etc .....:

Hi Guys

It's been awhile but I couldn't see that anyone had mentioned something that had been irritating me.

The Australian Liberal Govt is about to prosecute people over a 'leaked' document - including a public servant and some journos.

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2005/s1445441.htm

John Howard's justification is that some discussions by the government should be 'private'.

Leaving aside that this govt has reqularly leaked it's own docs as a way of guageing public opinion, what about the libs callous use of the media to crucify Brogden?

When will these a55holes stand up for principle or ethics above their own pathetic self-interest. If Blair is Bush's poodle, then little Johnny is Bush's 'mini me'.

Boy I hope this works - more a general commentary on the state of the media, not purely Oz.

We don't expect much from our politicians. We know Howard is a liar and has been for years yet we - as a country - laud him. I suppose that means we expect our political leaders to lie to us. Howard is also a hypocrite, that's well known, yet again we laud him. So we must expect our political leaders to be hypocrites as well.

If we expect low standards we'll get them. We're more interested in the Ashes than policy that affects each and every one of us.

And to top it all of I heard on the news that Donald Horne died today.

Bloody hell, I'm cheesed off something chronic.

Good one with Dilbert hingehead

Hinge!

(I suspect (no, I know) that many important issues don't get a mention here. <sigh> There's only a skeleton staff on deck most of the time, you see! Where are the rest, hmmmm? Pikers!!!!:wink: )

Of course, the Liberal Party's response to the leaks is intimidation, pure & simple. And of course it's only a "leak" when the public gains access to information that embarrasses, exposes or damns the Liberal Party. What I've just said is so obvious to anyone with half an eye on politics in Oz right now. It distresses me that they are apparently going to pursue the journalist who refuses to name his source. Protecting the source is a time-honoured practice in political journalism in civilized countries. But, as the 7:30 Report transcript suggests, this is really about intimidating the sources of the leaks in the public service. These bastards are quite happy to ruin a journalist's career, fine & jail him even, to make their point! Fear & loathing is my response. To JH black is white & white is black because he say so! The fear bit (for me) is because till now the electorate has bought his twisted versions of the truth ... the loathing part is, well, because it's driving me crazy watching this & waiting, waiting, waiting for the penny to drop with the electorate. (Yes, I KNOW a decent opposition would help matters! )
But, I have this strong hunch that Howard's handling of the Telstra fiasco, plus the proposed IR reforms will cause considerable damage to his credibility in the electorate.

msolga - in Adelaide there's a football game this weekend, the first time that the two local AFL teams have met in a final. The Fifth Test starts tonight.

In Adelaide the only people paying attention are Dlowan, me and Phil Robbins of Toorak Gardens who writes to the Australian on a regular basis flogging the tories. Everyone else is focused on sport.

I'd post more often but Set keeps picking on me

Goodfielder

Yes, I heard the sad news at work today & mourned. Donald Horne is gone. Another fine Australian voice for decency & constructive criticism is gone. What a huge loss.

gf

There's an important AFL game in Adelaide this weekend? :wink:
And you're rivetted?? And Deb has even the vaguest interest? You're making up stories, gf!

msolga - courage - it will soon be over

I heard a grab from an interview on ABC radio this afternoon (28c today by the way - a glorious day in Adelaide) and it was Donald Horne. He was saying that he knew he was coming to the end of his life (the interview was a few months ago) and he expressed - I think annoyance, perhaps disgust - that he was coming to the end of his life with Australia in such a crappy state.

I sat there thinking he was so right. Howard and his Ilks - or is that Oiks - anyway, Howard and his lot, have dragged us so far to the right (as dlowan points out in the thread where she is discussing "moderate" with finn) that I think we've forgotten what it was like before Howard's Thacherite regime.

But you know, on that, Thatcher went down, the Tories got the boot and it looks like the UK won't let them in again for years. As much as I have no time for Maggie's youngest boy Tony at least Gordon Brown is in the wings.

When Labor finally sorts itself out and gets rid of the deadwood on the front bench and the time-servers and union appointees who have never done a real day's work in the real world in their lives (yes I'm cranky) and starts putting out policies which differentiate them from the tories then we'll see a new dawn and not a false one either.

In terms of public intellectuals we still have Hugh Stretton

http://www.economics.adelaide.edu.au/staff/stretton.html

(reading that bio I just know he wrote it himself!)

and I would love to hear him more often.

So, not to worry, even nightmares end. And it could be worse, we could have Bush and his lot doing us over..........oh wait a minute, they already are

can't speak for Deb msolga but personally I don't give a rat's

I love football but this AFL hype is too much for me.

This is my team and I admit I'm a one-eyed long term supporter and member http://www.cdfc.com.au/archive/2005/index2005.htm

I hate to sound like a wet blanket, but they got Blair! And you know what THAT lead to! They STAYED right!

I have the greatest respect & admiration for Hugh Stretton. I wish his ideas were more widely known by more Australians.

I'm trying to remember Donald Horne's thoughts about the "lucky country", forever wrongly quoted. He said something like this: We're a lucky (fortunate) country, inherited by fools without vision. Not his exact words, but I think I got his gist right. Oh, how right he was! And how I wish he could have stayed on longer & said more.