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How the Coalition should prepare for government

February 26, 2013, 2:56 pm
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How the Coalition should prepare for government

"NO Gillard, no Gonski." Hey, sounds like a good deal. We get rid of the government and save $6 billion a year, beautiful. How about an alternative: "no Abbott, no advance". While Labor ministers and Labor members in marginal seats counsel their staff to take on no further personal financial commitments, it is time for everyone else with an interest in government to get thinking again about good government.
The legacy of five years of Labor is how not to govern. The Rudd-Gillard-Swan governments have trashed not only the Labor brand, but also the idea of competent government. While Hawke-Keating was an advance on the Whitlam government, and Howard-Costello an advance on the Fraser government, Rudd-Gillard-Swan is degeneration. It degenerated on three levels: it enhanced the commonwealth tendency to arrogance in relation to the states, it entrenched blind faith in stimulus, and it furthered the notion of government as nanny, sidelining individual responsibility and crowding out charity.
Labor has conspired with a huge and growing "caring cadre" whose role is to exaggerate problems for governments, but most of all carers, to solve. In light of the "expand the need for government" strategy, an Abbott government has some serious thinking to do about the purpose of government.
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In the first instance, Tony Abbott has to be the stable boy to clean up Labor's detritus. Once the ledger is repaired, the carbon and mining taxes and the hate speech sections of the discrimination act repealed, it will be time to start work on the long term. What should the Coalition do to advance Australian interests?
In general terms, an Abbott government must appreciate that every federal government suffers from a major failing - a propensity to buy into every issue. Each minister in the incoming government must learn this phrase: "Previous governments have tried and failed (insert silly idea), we do not intend to waste your money making the same mistakes."
When an animal rights group shows some footage of cattle deaths in Indonesia or Saudi, insist they visit the local slaughterhouse in Australia, and remind the viewer that almost all Australians eat meat and that viewing animal rights through the eyes of an ideologically motivated vegetarian is not the basis on which to set policy.
When the scare stories of super trawlers arise, remind Australians that they love to eat fish and that the least harvested waters are around Australia. Stopping reasonable trawling in Australian waters requires our needs to be satisfied by the catch off the depleted Asian shores to our north.
When scare stories on climate change are aired, remind Australians that there is no hope of lowering the world's dependence on fossil fuels in the intermediate term and that the best course of action is to adapt using the best science. Australia must get beyond the climate change phenomenon. Clarify for the electorate the difference between the science of climate change and feasible responses to risk.
In specific terms, the Abbott government needs to work on three things.
Cede responsibility to the states for programs where the states have the overwhelming role in the delivery of the service: specifically, transport, education and health. The golden rule should be, if the commonwealth does not wish to deliver the service in toto, then leave it to those with the major responsibility.
When the economy slows, as it almost certainly will during the course of the life of the next government, do not announce a stimulus package. Keynes is dead; let him rest. Instead, announce a deregulation package - cut regulations to cut costs. In extremis provide a tax holiday. Lean towards getting out of the way, not barging in.
A huge apparatus now extends from charities to government, including the official statistical gathering bodies of the commonwealth, to create the politics of gloom. Charities should not be funded to enter public policy debate, including producing data that creates the next crisis. Charities are free to lobby and exaggerate on their own time and money, not on the taxpayers'.
How is the opposition preparing for government? Bob Hawke and others such as finance minister and later treasurer Ralph Willis were meticulous. The Abbott team must be the same. An Abbott government should start the way it means to end, as a smaller, though powerful unit. It should consist of a smaller cabinet, and it should administer fewer departments. Abbott will have the authority to pull this off. Currently, there are 21 cabinet ministers, nine ministers, 12 parliamentary secretaries.
On the opposition side, there are 20 shadow cabinet ministers, 12 shadow ministers, 15 shadow parliamentary secretaries. This is not a good start.
Eighteen cabinet ministers and 18 parliamentary secretaries should suffice. There are too many ministries for silly walks: consolidate. Make the government look and feel solid. That would be an advance worth voting for.

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COMMENTS ON THIS STORY

  • annie of Hunter NSW Posted at 12:39 AM February 26, 2013
    You forgot to mention putting the unions firmly back in their place. Their job is to protect workers rights, not to run the country. They should also be made to be completely accountable, up until now they are a law unto themselves. That would also make a vast improvement to this country, they should never be allowed to run a state, or this country again.
    Comment 1 of 103
  • Maddington Jim of Maddington WA Posted at 1:05 AM February 26, 2013
    Gary, if you were leading the Alp with this agenda, I'd vote for you! I hope Abbott has the gumption to do this!
    Comment 2 of 103
  • Jim Planincic of Perth Posted at 1:20 AM February 26, 2013
    This is excellent advice, particularly restoring single responsibility and ownership. If the majority of funding and policy on education, health and transport is at the State level, the Commonwealth must divest itself of co-ownership. This is a recipe for blame games only.
    Comment 3 of 103
  • Janey has Moved Posted at 1:57 AM February 26, 2013
    No, the first thing PM Abbott will have to do is implement his Paid Parental Leave Scheme. That's week one. Next up comes the grants and bits and bobs associated with the Direct Action Plan. By week three, he can break the news to the electorate that their tax-free threshold has been lowered (but that's OK because prices are instantly going to drop when the carbon tax is removed). Week Four will see him stomping out spot fires from the Dries over IR and the promise to keep the Super rise). Weeks 5,6,and 7, he can start the ball rolling on a dozen or so dams, put a few cranes on the horizon and reinstate Whyalla onto the map. Oh, and decommission the ABC (week 8). Go Tony!
    Comment 4 of 103
  • Kim Dower of Brisbane Posted at 2:02 AM February 26, 2013
    Where are you Gary? our country needs you!
    Comment 5 of 103
  • kaysera Posted at 2:06 AM February 26, 2013
    Canberra government is certainly too big. We now have Gillard fighting states over education and health. This is dysfunctional government. The fundamental issue is government is too big. Government is staffed mostly by individuals who are experts in nothing. They have no expertise. Yet we have a government-driven NBN project and, surprise, it is looking more and more like a lemon. What expertise in this government is there in structuring a functional education system? Well none obviously. The individuals who involve themselves in the issue are crying out for a decent education themselves! What makes Gillard or Garrett think they can 'fix' education? Hard to understand. They have no credibility whatsoever. They should leave it to educationalists, to people with a longstanding interest in education, to those with credible qualifications.
    Comment 6 of 103
  • helgab of Perth Posted at 2:11 AM February 26, 2013
    Great article Gary. They will have to be good because they are going to have to make cuts that will hurt lots of people and to keep these people voting for them will be quiet a challenge.
    Comment 7 of 103
  • kaysera Posted at 2:32 AM February 26, 2013
    Government has for too long been involved with our lives way beyond their remit. The Thatcher government saw this. Government has no place running banks, running railways, running anything involving experience and expertise. This government shouldn't be mucking around with hospitals, education, superannuation, or anything involving knowledge. They wade into running these things with preconceived ideas and take 'expert' advice from people of their own choosing who happen to be in line with their ideological bias!! Conroy's qualification in NBN is not in NBN but in politics. He comes to the job as a politician, not as a NBN guru. Peter Garrett comes to education with a background in rock music. Does that mean he is the best qualified to re-work our system of education? Do us a favour please! Government should pull it's head in. It has no expertise in nothing. They come to the table with nothing but expertise in argy-bargy and smart ripostes. That has no worth in real life.
    Comment 8 of 103
  • uncle Posted at 2:56 AM February 26, 2013
    It's all easier said than done. There are a lot of things that can be done almost instantly. Others have to be well planned and prepared for to avoid one disaster replacing another. It will be easier to win the election than to govern without loosing the support of the people who have become accustomed to be patronised by the government.
    Comment 9 of 103
  • David of NSW Posted at 4:09 AM February 26, 2013
    Good advice.
    Comment 10 of 103
  • AE Posted at 5:19 AM February 26, 2013
    Gonski, Schmonski. I'm sick of hearing about it and certainly don't want to pay for it. I went to public school in the 80s and 90s, and managed to get a masters degree and high-income job. These fancy programmes will achieve nothing, except for photo ops with politicians and primary school kids. It's always been the case that kids who work hard and have talent will rise to the top, those that don't won't, same as like adults in work.
    Comment 11 of 103
  • Wayne of Sydney Posted at 5:37 AM February 26, 2013
    How refreshing to hear such common sense from a Labor person. People such as you will be needed to rebuild whatever remains of the Labor Party after the election!
    Comment 12 of 103
  • A Voter Posted at 5:37 AM February 26, 2013
    Great article. My only additions would be for the Government to 'get the hell out of lives', to repair our porous borders, reestablish Australian sovereignity, beef up our military, and strengthen our innate freedoms - especially our freedom of speech. The one other thing that needs to be done is a Royal Commission into corruption within Unions, and also to bring them into line with companies in regards to how they are regulated and establish similar consequences for bad behaviour.
    Comment 13 of 103
  • Papertiger of Mt Martha Posted at 6:43 AM February 26, 2013
    Yes the debate should start on positive ways that will enhance sustainable growth , federal state cooperation and realistic policies that are properly funded. It maybe be a little premature though. Labour is still in with a chance if they get rid of Gillard. The power brokers know this. But hey they have stuck with her when they should have changed back to Rudd. Their judgement is on the line, and they have now lost their chance it seems. It's difficult to understand why they didn't act when they had the opportunity. Even the more liberal press have called for her to resign-Mann and Gratten. What have they been thinking?
    Comment 14 of 103
  • Geoff of Tweed Posted at 6:45 AM February 26, 2013
    Gary, to my mind it is the utter contempt for Australians as owners of this country that has been Gillard's demise. Gillard never got it that she was merely custodian to look after the interest of the country and its financial well being. Not a tricky concept one would have thought. Instead Gillard is like the house sitter who is given keys to the front door and proceeds to ransack and trash the house without any thought of what the owners wanted in a house sitter. I think contempt is ingrained in Gillard. As a comment on her ability all one can say is she has a short attention span, governs by thought bubble and contrary to the Myth promoted by McTernan, she is a hopeless negotiator. One final comment is any manager of Australia needs to have a basic understanding of living within ones means. Gillard/Rudd/Swan do not have any inkling regarding financial management.
    Comment 15 of 103
  • Logical of Canberra Posted at 7:06 AM February 26, 2013
    The electorate still remembers John Howard and Peter Costello, and what `competent' government looks like. And `competent' government looks nothing like the ALP - now or ever.
    Comment 16 of 103
  • BBPD of Brisbane Posted at 7:11 AM February 26, 2013
    Thank you Gary. I truly cannot believe you were once a Labor Minister. Your common sense, and humble competence are just not seen in current Labor Ministers, they need people like you. Unfortunately, I think people of character are completely distancing themselves from this ALP rabble. If indeed there is someone of character left in the ALP they need to put an end to this nonsense. We need an election.
    Comment 17 of 103
  • Gerry Van Hees of Narre Warren North Posted at 7:14 AM February 26, 2013
    Well thought out and very pertinent comments. This is advise that the present government should have followed. Lets hope the Liberals take note.
    Comment 18 of 103
  • Bev of Mid-north coast of NSW Posted at 7:21 AM February 26, 2013
    Gary, what's wrong with Julia Gillard etal that they haven't got as much common sense as you between the whole blinkin' lot of them. Oh, my poor country.
    Comment 19 of 103
  • Joan Posted at 7:24 AM February 26, 2013
    Congratulations- the easy peasy way of running government - a readers digest version of governing for dummies. Take note Federal pollies boot Keynes, and practise more KISS principle than stunt and spin for a more successful, efficient Australia
    Comment 20 of 103
  • phil_surfmore of qld Posted at 7:26 AM February 26, 2013
    Great opinion piece
    Comment 21 of 103
  • Helen of Sydney Posted at 7:34 AM February 26, 2013
    What great advice, as there's going to be a mess to clean up.
    Comment 22 of 103
  • Pat of NSW Posted at 7:42 AM February 26, 2013
    Sound thinking Gary. When you have a solid government , people feel safe and are prepared to have a to.
    Comment 23 of 103
  • Kate of Brisbane Posted at 7:45 AM February 26, 2013
    Yes, before the Liberals get too excited about the polls, they should take a sober look at the enormous task ahead of them. Ask O'Farrell or Newman just how hard it is to clean up a mess left in the wake of a Labor government. Much will be expected of Mr Abbott, Mr Hockey et al. I hope they are up to the task.
    Comment 24 of 103
  • Ann of Sydney Posted at 7:48 AM February 26, 2013
    A great article Gary Johns. My father was a rusted on ALP voter and he must be turning in his grave at the Gillard government. My father, a catholic, even stayed with the ALP during the split. The Hawke government, and the Howard government courted the aspirational voters. They use to work at empowering individuals to contribute to society and our country from the bottom up. They encouraged sole-traders and small business people. They encouraged us to be aspirational, to get ahead in life. The Julia Gillard Labor government looks to the power of government to control us voters from the top-down. They do not like us being aspirational. They have focused on giving power to the union bosses, who represent a shrinking and unrepresentative share of the workforce. I think it is 18%. Julia Gillard is obsessed with control, power and class warfare. We have had two very unhappy years under Julia Gillard's reign?
    Comment 25 of 103
  • R R of Sydney Posted at 7:50 AM February 26, 2013
    Yes, Keynes is dead. So too is Hayek - for that matter. Maybe you should give the extremities of his ideology a rest instead.
    Comment 26 of 103
  • Pastor Sauceplease of Berowra Hts Posted at 7:51 AM February 26, 2013
    Can Gary be drafted back into politics,(but on the correct side this time ?) A brilliant piece that should be used as the basis of the Coalition manifesto. Just a little four letter word stops this becoming reality. Guts.
    Comment 27 of 103
  • Jon of Adelaide Posted at 8:17 AM February 26, 2013
    Superb advice from Gary Johns, which Tony Abbott and his team must heed. Government with all its populist fanfare and desire to control every facet imaginable has taken up too much space in our daily lives. The constant interference, waste, incompetence and bickering have blighted rather than enhanced our existence. There has been insufficient gain for the enormous cost ordinary taxpaying Australians have had to bear. It's time that government butted out of our lives, put the people before itself, and got on with the job quietly, efficiently and effectively. Government must desist from pandering to the news cycle with thought bubbles and hasty, poorly formulated policy. The electorate will always appreciate and recognise a good government given sufficient time.
    Comment 28 of 103
  • lmwd of Qld Posted at 8:20 AM February 26, 2013
    Succinct suggestions based on common-sense. We need to clarify what we mean by "charities" as there are groups who do good work looking after sections of our society. My beef is with the powerful, taxpayer funded NGO's who lobby Govt for pet causes. They are not elected or accountable and reflect a minority political view. Add to that the Govt funded science institutions who have crossed the line becoming political advocates, with a preference for a political party who will dish out more money based on ideological grounds and the need for taxes. Science and truth are coming a poor second in the climate debate. A case in point is that it hasn't warmed in any statistically significant way in almost 16 years. How long did it take for BOM and CSIRO to come clean with the Australian people? I'm not first to suggest a full inquiry into the climate scare industry, including an independent audit of how they're treating raw climate data given the huge funding involved. Independent scientists have already shown cause for concern, suggesting we've been misled with clever statistical sleights of hand. The connection between funding of these institutions and politics needs to be transparent.
    Comment 29 of 103
  • clancy in the overflow of b/s of hervey bay Posted at 8:26 AM February 26, 2013
    to late for your mob gary the horses have bolted and its a up you jack i,m alright attitude with gillard and her caucus every person for themselves first onto the lifeboat and stays there , survives.
    Comment 30 of 103
  • James Glossop of Yass Posted at 8:32 AM February 26, 2013
    Absolutely agree. Do we really need a Minster for Social Inclusion, a minister for homeless people etc. The government tax take is 330 billion - lets get this down to 300 billion.
    Comment 31 of 103
  • Lincoln Fullertong of Canberra Posted at 8:32 AM February 26, 2013
    While all the measures are good for a coalition government, it is not necessarily able to constrain other governments, be it ALP or ALP /minority or coalition with the greens and/or independents. It seems there is a need for hard constraints on the ability of government to raise taxes and to borrow for spending. Ideally, there should be a hard ceiling for all revenue to GDP ratio that governments are not allowed to exceed without at least two thirds of both houses of the parliament. Other kinds of constraints can also be designed and implemented, so government's maximum means is fixed, so any government has to rely on better management to make ends met. Without such hard constraints, the cycles of Labor governments increase taxes and debts, then coalition governments tight the budgets and reduce the debts will go on and on without ending.
    Comment 32 of 103
  • Kath of Perth Posted at 8:37 AM February 26, 2013
    Good article. However, one must ask the question: it has been plain for at least 4 years that this government is incompetent, not able to successfully implement anything even when they do have a good idea. Given this, why is it only now that many journalists (present company excepted) are starting to be critical of the government. They seem to be following polls rather than conducting proper analysis of what is happening.
    Comment 33 of 103
  • Dennis of Redbank Plains Posted at 8:38 AM February 26, 2013
    Again, Gary Johns writes really sensible, commnon sense sort of stuff. Why do ALP people have to be out of office to promote ideas like this.
    Comment 34 of 103
  • anthony of Brisbane Posted at 8:39 AM February 26, 2013
    Hear! Hear!
    Comment 35 of 103
  • dasher Posted at 8:40 AM February 26, 2013
    I hope Abbott reads this. I will be happy to bid this ship of fools goodbye but I will be Abbott's fiercest critic if he fails to grasp the nettle. Well Gary, well said.
    Comment 36 of 103
  • Tony Posted at 8:43 AM February 26, 2013
    Well said, very well said! But this line disturbs me "The legacy of five years of Labor is how not to govern." While I agree wholeheartedly why is it that for years we have been constantly fed the line by numerous commentators that this is in fact a 'good government' that just can't get its story out? Where are those commentators now? They should hang their heads in shame, pull down their shingle and vacate the premises. The writing for Labor was on the wall from very early days. The constant 'propping up' by captive commentators has simply prolonged the country's agony and increased the price we all must pay. Good riddance to Labor AND its sycophantic media cheer squad!
    Comment 37 of 103
  • DrAK from Central Victoria Posted at 8:53 AM February 26, 2013
    Eminently sensible advice, but will the pollies listen?
    Comment 38 of 103
  • Boomer Says Hurrah! of Portland Posted at 8:53 AM February 26, 2013
    And so say all of us, us, us! Hip Hip Hooray! Somebody speaking with a good dose of common sense.
    Comment 39 of 103
  • Shawn french Posted at 9:05 AM February 26, 2013
    I love this story's s can't agree more. The labour to government let the public admonish any self responsibility for their own problems. Labour had created rules and regulations which has increased red tape and reporting to rediculous levels. The election and a new government with reduced governance can't come quick enough
    Comment 40 of 103
  • Bill of Esperance Posted at 9:07 AM February 26, 2013
    Very well said... Time for a new Broom
    Comment 41 of 103
  • johnny of logan Posted at 9:08 AM February 26, 2013
    Cutting out nanny regulations is a definite aye vote. For sure industries like aviation need need hand books to be followed to the letter to ensure planes stay where they belong but practical experience & common sense are all the guidelines needed in most manual or operator's jobs.
    Comment 42 of 103
  • Maggie Qld Posted at 9:09 AM February 26, 2013
    Excellent Mr.Johns , excellent. I hope someone is listening. Question time leaves little time for its intended purpose by the time the Minister's titles are read. Another tip Ministers need to have tags the general population understands.
    Comment 43 of 103
  • Ian Coastie of Gold Coast Posted at 9:10 AM February 26, 2013
    Gary we can only hope that at least some of the reforms and ideas you talk about will be put in place. At least we will have a government under the Libs that will have some idea of what they are there for, that is to govern Australia for everyone not just themselves and their union cohorts.
    Comment 44 of 103
  • Seven to go! Posted at 9:10 AM February 26, 2013
    It's amazing how much common sense - which has avoided the Labor govenment particularly, and politicians generally for five painful years, can be so expressed in one straight forward and easily understood comment. Ten out of ten!
    Comment 45 of 103
  • BrisBen of Spring Hill Posted at 9:17 AM February 26, 2013
    Thanks Gary; that article is gold. Five stars: I fail to remember such a succinct yet accurate account of how to run this country.
    Comment 46 of 103
  • Aghast of Glenorchy Posted at 9:19 AM February 26, 2013
    The general theme of your article gives a reasonable message.But when you mess with reality a reasonable message becomes a RANT.For example your comments on fishing are completely wrong.I mean COMPLETELY.Australian waters are fished sparsely because the fish stocks are sparse.We have a hugh area but we do not have a equivalent of a Grand Banks or an area of converging currents dropping nutrient rich fish food.Australian waters are fish stock poor.We import mainly from South Africa and New Zealand not South East Asia where the product is aqua farm produced.No stocks are depleted.Your excellent comments regarding small government and nanny state nonsense lose credibility when you dilute them in poorly investigated gibber.
    Comment 47 of 103
  • Ian Willis Posted at 9:27 AM February 26, 2013
    If only.
    Comment 48 of 103
  • Innominatus of Barossa Valley Posted at 9:29 AM February 26, 2013
    What an excellent article. I hope our future government takes all of your ideas on board. My only concern is your recommendation to cede responsibility for health care to the States. Would not this create wide differences in the standard of care between rich versus poor states? Do we really want that to occur?
    Comment 49 of 103
  • mags of Queensland Posted at 9:30 AM February 26, 2013
    The first thing they should do is to admit they won't be able to fund earlier promises because there isn't the money and there are more pressing problems for a new government to handle besides handouts.The next thing is to repeal all the pie in the sky legislation imposed on them by Labor. They have had five years to formulate policy and actions to get the nation back on track. If they don't get down to business straight away, they don't deserve to govern. Doing away with government departments extraneous to absolute needs is also a priority that needs to be addressed - a good purge will do them good.Lean and mean is the ticket.
    Comment 50 of 103
  • Jim of Leederville Posted at 9:33 AM February 26, 2013
    A great start - smaller, less expensive, much less intrusive.
    Comment 51 of 103
  • C B Marchant of Hervey Bay Posted at 9:40 AM February 26, 2013
    Great article Gary which makes complete sense maybe you should run for PM. I would vote for you. I hope TA has taken some notes.
    Comment 52 of 103
  • John Smith of Buderim Posted at 9:41 AM February 26, 2013
    There is just too much common sense in this approach to government. No matter how much support and goodwill the next government enjoys there have been too many decades of nanny welfare state for a very large proportion of the electorate to stomach a return to individual responsibility and self sufficiency. You only have to observe the refusal of the public in the bankrupt EU countries to face up to the mess they are in to understand this.
    Comment 53 of 103
  • Kim Green Posted at 9:51 AM February 26, 2013
    Very sound advice.
    Comment 54 of 103
  • Graeme M of Glenning Valley NSW Posted at 9:54 AM February 26, 2013
    Gary Johns for PM! Oh well, maybe someone will listen?
    Comment 55 of 103
  • Emmie Posted at 9:57 AM February 26, 2013
    I once held the view that Australia was over-governed; that we should get rid of the states. Thank God we still have state governments Can you imagine the mess this country would be in if this rabble had total control?
    Comment 56 of 103
  • GPotter Posted at 10:21 AM February 26, 2013
    Hear, hear
    Comment 57 of 103
  • lincoln of Victoria Posted at 10:29 AM February 26, 2013
    Sound pieces of advice for the Alternative Government. Repeated failures and more to come have condemned the Rudd-Gillard-Swan era to the rubbish tip. They need to be discarded and buried. But a disillusioned electorate now wants much more than the sound remedies put forward here. The electorate is unfortunately looking at both parties as twins, one more deformed than the other. The challenge for Abbot and Turnbull is to go beyond restoring competence, to go even beyond growing the pie and onto the intangibles of "audacity for hope". Sound policies and competent execution need flying horses to revive the audacity of the nation. We need the national aspirations of Gough Whitlam and the proven competence of John Howard. Yet there is no time for looking back for inspiration. The challenge is for Abbott and Turnbull to set the tone for the future, trusting that the nation has sufficient resilience to withstand the misfortunes heaped upon it by the false dawn and spinning promises of Rudd-Gillard-Swan. The rubbish bin of history is full of abject failures, so let them rest in peace. They are neither heroes or villains, they are just abject failures.
    Comment 58 of 103
  • donkeygod of Cardiff, NSW Posted at 10:36 AM February 26, 2013
    Excellent advice, Gary. That's EXACTLY what I'm voting for, and woe betide anyone who disappoints me. And I don't think I'm alone in that sentiment. Enough is enough, and we reached that point two years back. Somebody tell the 'Independents' that their doom is assured, and that the only way to make amends for saddling Australia with this dreadful government is for them to put it out of our misery. Now.
    Comment 59 of 103
  • Cynic of Canberra Posted at 10:38 AM February 26, 2013
    What a Coalition government should do is take a really hard look at every single Commission or bureaucracy that fails to fulfill its charter. The Human Rights Commission is an obvious place to start since it is trying to take away our human rights, in their never ending quest to find "balance". Australia doesn't need a bunch of self-serving bureaucrats telling us how to run our lives. The vast majority of us (99.9%) are smart enough know right from wrong.
    Comment 60 of 103
  • Simonzee of Perth Posted at 10:44 AM February 26, 2013
    There is not a huge amount of difference as to how Obama and the Democrats have governed with failed policies in education and other areas with that of Labor. I note that Obama to has put reading as a centerpeice of education reforms. Why not share the same thought bubble like reading and slogans like Moving Forward ect. Both claim to be progressive...Oh that's right we are not progressive but act entirely for the worker... Yeh right and how does the carbon tax fit into that and not cutting big government and red tape? We can be proud in Australia that we are not as blind as the American's as to the seriousness of the struggle. We also do not have a majority left wing media spinning all the lines of adoration towards a leader that acts as a blindfold to the masses walking to the edge of a cliff. No plans but all rhetoric and class and gender warfare is at the forefront of this poor leadership and soon we will have the chance to toss out the waste. America can keep their campaigning President because one day they will wake up and realise their driver does not know where they are going and they are in a car that has run out of gas. We can't wait to toss out our learner driver.
    Comment 61 of 103
  • Chris Posted at 10:45 AM February 26, 2013
    Clearly excellent and common sense advice. I would like to add - ignore noisy but minor protest groups - particularly the Greens - in any issue which elevates flora and fauna above and beyond the interests of human beings. People first, flora and fauna a close second. And one guiding principle for all Liberal Governments - get out of our lives and let us get on with our own affairs as much as possible. Make it easier to prosper but do not interfere. The Government is NOT the national parent or guardian. It is there to dole out the taxes to keep the joint ticking over and improving, not to raise and foster its adult citizens who are more than capable of running their own lives. Governments should provide equal opportunities but need not ensure equal outcomes - that's up to us - leave us alone.
    Comment 62 of 103
  • Hit the nail on the head Posted at 10:49 AM February 26, 2013
    And this very damning assessment of the Rudd / Gillard governments from a previous high profile Labor parliamentarian. No bias there - just plain truth.
    Comment 63 of 103
  • Terry Kidd of Perth Posted at 10:49 AM February 26, 2013
    Agreed Gary. The Abbot Government should start by abolishing the unnecessary Agencies and Boards that simply add to regulation and cost without delivering anything towards productivity. Then the departments of Health, Education and Transport need to be critically examined to scrap functions where they simply mirror what the state departments do. Smaller, less intrusive government will not only save billions of dollars it will also add to productivity, getting the economy moving and lead to increased revenue.
    Comment 64 of 103
  • Mike of Melbourne Posted at 10:50 AM February 26, 2013
    As a statement of priorities for a new government, this is absolutely correct. The curse of Canberra is the instinctive propensity for ever more generally pointless regulation that creates public service jobs. The difficulty for the new government will be its dependence for advise on the regulators.
    Comment 65 of 103
  • Nicky of Perth Posted at 10:52 AM February 26, 2013
    Well said Gary, but in many cases the Ministries of Silly Walks need to be eliminated entirely rather than consolidated! There are at least half a dozen in this category and some of these are soaking up buckets of funds, whilst simultaneously suppressing the productive energy of Australians. The Ministry for Climate Manipulation should be the first to go entirely, along with all of its overt and covert appendages.
    Comment 66 of 103
  • John Morrissey of Hawthorn Posted at 10:56 AM February 26, 2013
    Great stuff! The examples you give and the mistakes to avoid are spot on. But will the Australian electorate take their medicine? Tony Abbott has to avoid scaring the horses before the election, or - perish the thought - we might have Labor and the Greens back! Campbell Newman's modest cuts in Qld are affecting the Coalition vote there. It's a bit like the EU: austerity is necessary but it should not hurt me. It won't hurt Gillard, Swan and others who would leave office (if defeated) set for life after wrecking the economy.
    Comment 67 of 103
  • Ian Matthews Posted at 10:57 AM February 26, 2013
    As always Gary, you have nailed it!
    Comment 68 of 103
  • Cheech of Pascoe Vale South Posted at 11:07 AM February 26, 2013
    Gary, all this makes sense to me. But remember, we're talking about "government": the question is, is it remotely feasible? Realistically, what are the chances of those actions ever being implemented?
    Comment 69 of 103
  • Basil Beige of Canberra Posted at 11:10 AM February 26, 2013
    This is exactly what is needed.
    Comment 70 of 103
  • Jonathan Abbott Posted at 11:17 AM February 26, 2013
    Gary, that is a brilliant analysis and manifesto for Mr Abbott to follow. We live in hope that he can turn this leaking, collapsing hulk around. Small and efficient government is the key.
    Comment 71 of 103
  • bill from the bush Posted at 11:25 AM February 26, 2013
    Gary good story but don't agree on super trawlers no matter what this is not a good look for any party or our long term fishing.
    Comment 72 of 103
  • Peter Robertson of Hughenden Posted at 11:31 AM February 26, 2013
    Holy Diety Gary, if only it were that easy. I cant imagine a federal politician post Howard steadying the ship and pulling Canberra's head in. Abbott does seem like a chance , we can only hope.
    Comment 73 of 103
  • Ken of Melbourne Posted at 11:32 AM February 26, 2013
    I hope they prepare well and I'm encouraged by the fact that there are a few experienced hands in the shadow cabinet. Labor spent so much time attacking Tony Abbott (and then called him Mr No)that they lost the plot. I still believe the misogyny speech by Gillard was the lowest point in a very low parliament and showed her in her true colors. Unworthy and unacceptable!
    Comment 74 of 103
  • Alex Wilson Posted at 11:39 AM February 26, 2013
    Prima facie that all makes sense to me Gary. I would certainly feel much more comfortable if that was the intended management plan of an Abbott government.
    Comment 75 of 103
  • Peter Clark of Mount Gambier Posted at 11:53 AM February 26, 2013
    The problem is that this must happen in three years and the benefits be seen for the fickle public not to turn back to the profligate Labour Party. There are many individual self interested organisations with there hands in the government pocket. Removing these hands will result ina great deal of squeeling. The question is does the Abbott team have the courage to hold out against vested interests.
    Comment 76 of 103
  • Jack Diamonn of Northcote Posted at 11:59 AM February 26, 2013
    Gary Johns can talk about reducing the size of government having been a member of the Socialist Union controlled Labor Party under Keating. Its the standard Labor tactic pre-election loss. Step one: get party hacks to talk about reducing the size of government; Step two: blame the current members for trashing the brand. The reality is the Unions have become more socialist and aligned with the Greens in the past ten years, and that the leadership and the executive of the ALP are more aligned with the socialist policies of the Greens. A vote for the Greens is a vote for the ALP
    Comment 77 of 103
  • Mangrove Jack of Trinder Park. Posted at 12:08 PM February 26, 2013
    If you were leading the Labor party you would get a hell of a lot of votes with that common sense. What has happened to the labor party, they seem to be only interested in themselves and are chameleons. You are also right in that they listen to every interest group who is demanding action on their pet subject. They should be called the union party.
    Comment 78 of 103
  • CRISP Posted at 12:08 PM February 26, 2013
    Spot on Gary. Add to that: 1. Eliminate the Climate Commissioner and all the other cronies. Stop funding pointless and wasteful renewable energy scams (pardon the tautology). 2. No funding of NGO's which are really nothing more than political lobby groups eg. Australian Conservation Foundation, Australia Institute. 3. Put unions under the same regulatory authority as companies, with the same auditing and reporting requirements. 4. Combine all the mutifarious overlapping groups who service aboriginies, and remove any separate race-based service delivery. 5. Eliminate middle-class and business welfare. Stop all these hand-outs. Stop the churning. 6. Remove government from any direct media ownership or involvement i.e privatise the SBS and ABC. 7. Boost superannuation limits back to Howard's days. 8. Wherever possible, hand tax powers and responsibility back to the states and eliminate duplication in health, education. 9. Eliminate duplication of approvals. Why should both State and federal environmental approval be required?
    Comment 79 of 103
  • Amazed Posted at 12:13 PM February 26, 2013
    Wow Gary! It's hard to believe you are/were a Labor man! Your article makes very credible sense. I think you will find the LNP are of the same mindset already. We, the ignored and downtrodden individual and commercial taxpayers, desperately want a government who delivers accountability and VALUE FOR OUR MONEY. The leftists, typically Rudd, Gillard and their followers, are baying for centralisation of all government control and abolishing states. Abbott and the LNP should reverse this Soviet style centralisation dogma and retain only appropriate federal control of matters such as national defense (in it's various forms), foreign affairs, border control, determination and collection of Income Tax, and interstate standards coordination. Tariff and GST determination and collection should be handed over to the states in return for the abolition of the insidious Payroll Tax. The states can then become competitive for attracting business and workers to grow the pie. Of course the states should practice REAL pollution and environmental controls, not the global warming climate change scam which does nothing for the environment.
    Comment 80 of 103
  • Bill Murray of Brisbane Posted at 12:30 PM February 26, 2013
    Gary Johns represents the kind of thinking individual who used to head up the ALP. What the heck happened in the interim to give us this current crop of incompetent, self-serving, useless no-hopers?
    Comment 81 of 103
  • Nick of Canberra Posted at 12:35 PM February 26, 2013
    No doubt very sound advice but the overarching statements are 'clean up Labor's detritus' and 'once the ledger is repaired'. Firstly , with a national debt of over $150 billion this is easier said than done in just a three year period and secondly cleaning up the detritus which will be inherited from this appalling ,inept and incompetent government will be a task greater than that which beset Hercules in cleaning out the Augean stables.There is little doubt that a few of the newer bureaucracies established by this government can be quickly disbanded. This will result in a period of unpopularity until the public realises that such actions will be the only way the country can get back on its financial feet.
    Comment 82 of 103
  • The Bow-Legged Swantoon of Antediluvian Seas Posted at 12:44 PM February 26, 2013
    The big issue, though is selling reduced services through a prism of reduced taxation. It's going to be a helluva tightrope walk and Labor will be piffing rocks the whole time.
    Comment 83 of 103
  • Andrew of SA Posted at 12:47 PM February 26, 2013
    Brilliant! "Keynes is dead - let him rest" and "Lean towards getting out of the way, not barging in". These sentiments reflect the way Labor used to be, and are far from the interventionist do-gooder claptrap we currently suffer.
    Comment 84 of 103
  • Pierre of Peninsula Posted at 12:50 PM February 26, 2013
    Sacking 20,000 ethnics who run the emmigration dept would be a good start for Tony. Any colour but white is their motto. Coloured people motels,whites in cars. Wakey wakey Labor, you have been sprung.
    Comment 85 of 103
  • David Reed of Singapore Posted at 1:17 PM February 26, 2013
    Excellent opinion piece Mr Johns. Can't believe you are a Labour man?
    Comment 86 of 103
  • stanbye toowoomba Posted at 1:25 PM February 26, 2013
    I am inclined to agree with Jack Diamond's preamble regarding former labor power brokers giving advice to opposite ,me thinks he could have used his pen to advise his ilk in govt. when it may have counted!We can expect Richo and the like to all be offering advice from now on and they will deny trying to wedge the incoming govt.
    Comment 87 of 103
  • Liz of Campbelltown, NSW Posted at 1:33 PM February 26, 2013
    Thanks Gary, I do hope Tony and his advisors read your article as public opinion. Also, make sure the Greens and Independants don't have influence anymore - they can take a lot of the credit for the mess we're in.
    Comment 88 of 103
  • Dunstan Hartley Posted at 1:44 PM February 26, 2013
    Generally an excellent article, but: "...the science of climate change..."? Surely a misnomer if ever I heard one! What we have seen is second-rate scientists prostituting science to scare society witless; while simultaneously feathering their own nests. Classic example: Chief Climate Change Commissioner Tim Flannery, still drawing his $180,000 a year. What a travesty!
    Comment 89 of 103
  • kaysera Posted at 1:47 PM February 26, 2013
    Nice summary of the wrong directions we've taken. Smaller government is the way. Whether you go back to Thatcher, Reagan, Coolidge or Lincoln the wise message is don't cram thousands of crassly optimistic know-it-alls into government, with a remit to control everything in our lives. Has, for one example, Conroy done hard yards in business, and has he credibility in IT? All he has is boundless self-confidence that he knows the best way of doing everything. When things go sour, always someone else to blame anyway.
    Comment 90 of 103
  • Ed of Sydney Posted at 1:48 PM February 26, 2013
    Thank you for a wonderfully considered and reasonable article. I think the media generally seem to hype our pollies so much that they can't think straight. Your comments are such solid commonsense. Thank you.
    Comment 91 of 103
  • James of Sydney Posted at 2:00 PM February 26, 2013
    Hawke was a step forward for Laborism, but Keating was something entirely different: the end of the line. Keating's capitalist reforms showed conclusively that Laborism had been constraining, not advancing, the well being of workers. There was nowhere for Labor to go after that except backward into nostalgia or sideways into Social-Democrat-land along with the Greens.
    Comment 92 of 103
  • Melinda-Beth Helman of Adelaide Posted at 2:02 PM February 26, 2013
    My, my, aren't we are a smug lot. It took until comment number 47 of 86 to make any intelligent sense of the readers opinions. Self-satisfied, vitriolic, almost sound like a bunch of Americans. I am saddened. Such polarization. Many of your observations re 100% correct, but sure seems like luck than from any a good understanding of issues in depth. And like after the horrific Hurricane Sandy where "big government" was the only thing that could dig NYC out of trouble - yours and the readers lack of understanding about climate change risk means we'll be needing big government to pay for all of the big infrastructure needed as our country turns into a flood & fire nightmare. A potentially useful article turned to mush and we swill the fodder..............ugh.
    Comment 93 of 103
  • Peter H Posted at 2:05 PM February 26, 2013
    If Conservative Governments confine themselves to tidying up Labor's mess they will never have a long term impact on the overall direction of government policy. Since Whitlam, the broad thrust of Australian Government policy has been built on a socialist policy base supported by a large number of international conventions and carefully constructed legal precedents and overseen by armies of bureaucrats. Since Whitlam, no Conservative Government has managed to significantly change the general tenor of government policy. To address the "big picture" an incoming government has a lot of hard work to do. Simply sacking bureaucrats and sounding off achieves nothing substantial. Sadly, past Conservative Governments have shown little knowledge of how real policy is made and little stomach for hard work and discipline.
    Comment 94 of 103
  • BradK Posted at 2:06 PM February 26, 2013
    The more I hear from Gary Johns the more I wonder what on earth ever happened to the ALP. I'd happily consider voting for the party he describes, I would never vote for the current ALP.
    Comment 95 of 103
  • trevor skelton of Hong Kong Posted at 3:11 PM February 26, 2013
    Great article but you have to wait until late this year during which time more damage will be done to the economy and reputation of Australia. How about you give the Governor General a call and ask her to invite the Prime Minister over for a cup of tea....It won't happen but it should.....
    Comment 96 of 103
  • Right! said Fred of Sydney Posted at 3:26 PM February 26, 2013
    Gary, you suggest 18 Ministers. I say that is still way too many. Might I suggest a mere 4 Ministries - Prime Minister, Defence, Foreign Affairs & Internal Affairs (with most of what might presently exist and would fit into this category ceded back to the States)
    Comment 97 of 103
  • D.V.M. of Cooran Posted at 3:29 PM February 26, 2013
    I remember all the comments pre the Qld State election where people were saying that Mr. Newman,if elected, has a big job to clean up the state, that a lot of jobs would be made obsolete as a nessesity to get Qld back on line and to get back the AAA rating. It would seem that those same people are now complaining about job losses and are quoted by polls to return to labor at the next state election, in other words,they are saying one thing and are now doing a gillard and backflipping. I sincerly hope that when Mr. Abbott and the Coalition has to do the same, and they do,people wont turn against him as they have done to Mr.Newman. The old saying goes'Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind".
    Comment 98 of 103
  • MNJ of Melbourne Posted at 3:41 PM February 26, 2013
    Dear Melinda Blah Blah: "And like after the horrific Hurricane Sandy where "big government" was the only thing that could dig NYC out of trouble " The federal US government did what all Federal governments do (including our own) when hit with a state of emergency. They release funds. The response to this mess was primarily down to state and local government NOT federal. Given the debacle that was inflicted on the US after Katrina, lets face it - something had to be learned from such a mess. And given the huge governments in the US, there are still tracts of property completely uninhabitable in New orleans. So lets move on with the 'Big Government' gibberish. Gary Johns has explained quite succinctly only some of the changes, and reducing the ridiculous size of the government is just one small step. His comments regarding fishing and animal rights are perfectly acceptable to the ordinary person, who couldn't give a monkey about the pet peeves of small, polarised and weirdly idiosyncratic rights organisations who's sole motive is to appease their membership of 6.3 people,11 dogs, 2 cats and a small green fish in a bowl - apparently all of whom vote. Bring it on!
    Comment 99 of 103
  • Right! said Fred of Sydney Posted at 3:51 PM February 26, 2013
    Sorry, my earlier should have included Treasury to make 5 ministries
    Comment 100 of 103

    • Bored with ignoramuses - including Labor of Brisbane Posted at 5:13 PM February 26, 2013
      Ms Helman. It might educate to know your great leader Flannery was advocating endless "drought and fire" not "flood and fire" a few short years ago. That was the climate change story back then due to "global warming". Also, Australia has always been a land of extremes, flood and drought in endless cycles. Aboriginals were using fire, bush fires sparked from lightening, and plants here have evolved over millenniums to only germinate in fire. Warming and cooling cycles, ice ages, have been a predictable cycle for this planet before man and your omniscient presence alone arrived. God, you are a bore, yawn! Go back and do a basic science course, not a propaganda course, and do get back to us - not! Then read a few books? Zzzzzzzz!
      Comment 102 of 103
    • Jeremy Reed of Applecross WA Posted at 5:31 PM February 26, 2013
      Striaghtfoirward and direct, and not hiding behind outdated ideaolgy........thank you Gary Johns for articulating what a future Abbott needs to focus on. Will they have the courage to change the way the Federal government works and cede control to the states of the majority of service delivery of health, education etc ? This is a perfect time for a quantum shift in Federal and states relationships that will benefit the country and rid us of the huge and costly duplication of services currently sapping both levels of government.
      Comment 103 of 103


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Labor's biggest losers should take a bow

February 26, 2013, 4:21 pm
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Labor's biggest losers should take a bow



Eric Lobbecke
Illustration: Eric Lobbecke Source: The Australian
WHEN the PM put a ring around a September election date, voters started running for the hills.
This debacle calls for a line-up of those who got it so wrong. Given that the Gillard experiment never looked so dismal, here's the first in a two-part line-up of losers and winners.
First, Labor's top five malefactors, the men and women to blame if it loses office. Yes, the competition is fierce but the top five stand out for messing up so badly. Next week, the other side of the equation: the top five Liberal backbenchers to be promoted - the benefactors should Tony Abbott win the next federal election.
Earning a spot in Labor's top five depends on two criteria: first, individual effort for bringing Labor to its electoral knees. Second, a consistent knack to reflect a broader problem that has brought the Labor brand into disrepute.
There is no contest for first prize. Julia Gillard's political misjudgments are rivalled only by her policy mistakes. We know her political blunders well enough: not explaining why a serving PM was kicked out in secret; the farcical introduction of the "real Julia"; then dumping on Kevin Rudd in a manner rarely seen in Australian political history. Understandably, voters wondered why Labor made this man leader in the first place.
Add to the list the alliance with the Greens; reneging on her "no carbon tax" promise; installing Peter Slipper as Speaker; dumping a pokies deal with independent Andrew Wilkie; standing by the sexting Slipper; promising a surplus, only to dump that promise too; the clumsy "captain's pick" for the Senate; and announcing a September 14 election.
The policy mistakes? We know them well, too: the stillborn East Timor solution; the ill-fated Malaysia solution; the humiliating return to offshore processing; the knee-jerk ban on beef exports; an emissions trading scheme that looks set to penalise Australia just as the EU carbon price falls; and a shambolic mining tax. Abstract promises about a national disability insurance scheme and "get a Gonski" education reforms are not policy achievements.
Gillard also wins the top guernsey for what she symbolises. Far from being a Labor warrior, her lack of convictions will mark her down in any history of Labor leaders where she risks being described as a politician with early promise who ultimately proved out of her depth.
Second place is also a no-brainer. Step up Wayne Swan, who earns the title of World's Luckiest Treasurer.
Inheriting a healthy economy allowed Swan to splash money around like Keynes on steroids, degenerating into cliche with his big spending efforts. And history will forever link Swan's name with this government's most embarrassing policy failure: a mining tax that in six months raised just $126 million against a projected $2 billion annual tax take.
From the get-go, Swan was arrogant and reckless: refusing to consult industry and the states; removing Rudd for a failed mining tax that the Treasurer concocted; spending the proceeds before the money was in the bank; promising a surplus everyone knew was a chimera. It takes a special kind of politician to upstage the antics of Eddie Obeid and Craig Thomson. Swan managed it with the mining tax.
Swan defaulted to old-fashioned class war antics because he hadn't a clue what modern Labor stood for.
Choosing Bruce Springsteen lyrics over Hawke-Keating reforms, he either doesn't understand economics or is treating us like mugs when he describes new taxes as "savings".
His CV provides a hint. A former academic and political staffer, Swan represents a clueless genre of politicians - many on the Labor side who have never worked in business or chanced their own money. They don't understand risk because they have never taken risks. They have no experience with red tape and other workplace realities, let alone knowledge of how to grow a business.
Third place goes to Rudd, not just for his kooky references to K Rudd (though that deserves more attention from psychologists). Rudd looks good today because Gillard and Swan look so bad. But the former PM set the wheel in motion for the Labor train wreck.
As leader, he draped his ill-conceived policies in language so inflated it only served to highlight the failures when they inevitably came. Rude and unprofessional as prime minister, Rudd became a poster boy for the pitfalls of narcissism and Bertrand Russell's observation that "fools and fanatics are so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts". Rudd's chutzpah changing his stripes from economic conservative to a reckless spending social democrat helped cement the conviction-less politics of convenience that continues under Gillard.
Coming in at fourth spot is Bill Shorten. The Workplace Relations Minister allowed the government to look like the lackey for the union movement when the stench of union corruption grew more pungent. When union membership no longer defines the working class, Shorten represents a group of new Labor MPs who have allowed Labor to drift from being the party of the workers to being a party for the vested interests of union leaders.
Dubbed the Bright Young Thing, Shorten no doubt will take the leadership if Labor loses the election. But a true believer, and a true leader, steps in when he is most needed to try to save the day, not to save himself for an easier ride.
As Labor is the party of collectives, fifth place goes to a group of female MPs best known as the misogyny maidens. Tanya Plibersek, Nicola Roxon, Penny Wong, Jenny Macklin and, of course, the PM - who earns two places in the top five - debased the serious issue of misogyny with cheap politics. And nothing is more certain to offend Australians than the finger-wagging culture of these trendy inner-city MPs whom the French would call "gauche caviar". They understand little about the robust sense of humour, let alone common sense or values, of people in suburbs farther afield.
Others may want different candidates on the list of those to blame if Labor loses. But these top five are standouts. The damage they have done to the Labor brand will likely last much longer than their own short time in government.

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COMMENTS ON THIS STORY

  • Belinda Tanner Posted at 12:30 AM Today
    Well said Janet - you always get things so right. I really hope this labor mob will read your article. Maybe they would then realise what the rest of Australia have known so long. This mob are so out of their depth that it would be laughable, if the matter was not so serious. We need an election now...
    Comment 1 of 112
  • Gillard is doomed of Bundaberg Posted at 12:45 AM Today
    Just about sums up the labor brand as complete failures. When will the truth come out about gillards involvement in the AWU scandal with Wilson. Why is this swept under the carpet allowing her to run the country with it hanging over her head. She really is the complete failure God help us if she wins the election
    Comment 2 of 112
  • Terry Adelaide Posted at 12:45 AM Today
    The Australia Day riot organised from Julia Gillard's office should have been added to someone's score. The visuals of Cinderella without her shoe being saved from a nose dive were better than watching the Three Stooges & the investigation afterwards rivalled Fairwork Australia for ineffectiveness.
    Comment 3 of 112
  • Kate of Brisbane Posted at 12:46 AM Today
    Great piece Janet. You hit the nail on the head again and again eg "Rudd looks good today because Gillard and Swan look so bad."
    Comment 4 of 112
  • Kate of Brisbane Posted at 12:52 AM Today
    I don't care about the "damage they have done to the Labor brand" as much as I care about the damage they have done to the country and how that damage affects our future prosperity, immigration, health and education systems and employment.
    Comment 5 of 112
  • SimonT Posted at 12:53 AM Today
    Come on Janet how could you miss "Red Pants" Conroy and "Whyalla Wipeout" Emerson? They deserve at least an honourable mention.
    Comment 6 of 112
  • gabrianga of YWD Posted at 1:04 AM Today
    Hovering in the background PM Gillard's fully imported Svengali, the English born McTernan, reknowned in the UK for his part in the obliteration of the Scottish Labour Party between 2007/10. Possibly will do the same for Australian Labor given time.
    Comment 7 of 112
  • vm of wa Posted at 1:04 AM Today
    Brilliant piece, thanks...will make an interesting read for gilliard, however it may be too complex for her limited comprehension of such a well written text , plus the other members of her angry handbag hit team will miss the point...
    Comment 8 of 112
  • Nicky of Perth Posted at 1:10 AM Today
    Who would have thought that Emerson, such a wonderful example of how not to behave as a Minister of the Crown, couldn't make your top nine poor performers list. My initial reaction on reading your article was disbelief on this score, but on further thought I couldn't work out who to drop to promote him. I will take comfort in the assumption that he has run a close tenth!
    Comment 9 of 112
  • SUELLEN of ballina Posted at 1:12 AM Today
    Janet, what a wonderful well written article. Should be on the front page where all could read it. The women mentioned will go down in history as a lot of nasty, mean and basically stupid politicians. They do not understand the common man or woman.
    Comment 10 of 112
  • Gerry Sinclair of Gold Coast Posted at 1:25 AM Today
    When females particularly in Labor are making men wonder why we ever allowed them to vote and get involved in Government (Kirner, Lawrence, Kenneally, Bligh, Gillard; Helen Clarke in NZ - no Margaret Thatchers there!)it is just as well you are around Janet to remind us that yes there are some females who can think rationally.
    Comment 11 of 112
  • Wayne Sleep of Gold Coast Posted at 2:10 AM Today
    Doesn't Craig Thomson count!
    Comment 12 of 112
  • Jim Planincic of Perth Posted at 2:11 AM Today
    A very comprehensive and insightful analysis of a Government that has failed to focus on genuine strategy, but rather relied on 24 hour media stories. This government lacks the national vision of Howard and Hawke and, sadly, is only interested in personal power. This is also reflected in the Union hierarchy which Labor has re-embraced with a vigour, but whose executives have completely lost the confidence of the majority of Australian workers.
    Comment 13 of 112
  • tabitha of melbourne Posted at 2:14 AM Today
    Great article, really peels back the onion on the state of play of modern labour
    Comment 14 of 112
  • CANTWAIT of Sydney Posted at 2:16 AM Today
    Very good Janet as always.Sounds like the Oscars for Political dropkicks.
    Comment 15 of 112
  • Chris of Adelaide Posted at 3:00 AM Today
    Agree with everything I know I do go on about this, but it is unfair that it is going to cost us, the taxpayer, $10 million apiece in today's $$ to keep these folks and their loved ones (however misguided they may be) in the manner to which they will become accustomed. I hardly think it is fair, but that is the system that has crept up on us. Having said that, it is cheap at twice the price I suppose to be rid of them. Oh that some clever one had the forethought to offer it to them in 2007 to entice them to go away.
    Comment 16 of 112
  • Simonzee of Perth WA Posted at 3:05 AM Today
    Politics is no place to find yourself and what makes you tick that should have ended soon after university. The warning signs were early with Gillard in that she was writing political manifestos while at Slater & Gordon. The handbag squad with the exception of Macklin are all holding hands in their march towards political annhilation. We need people that are emotionally stable leading this country not people play acting their parts in Gillard's play that is based on her socialist manifesto and a journey to find the real Julia or Western Sydney or Labor MP that is not in their own words a gutless appendage.
    Comment 17 of 112
  • Brian Beban of Burleigh Heads Posted at 3:47 AM Today
    This definitive list fails to portray the absolute shambles which is the Labour Party. The power behind the throne is surely the great unmentioned in this article, with non elected union leaders such as Howe and his cronies pulling all the puppet strings to put the biggest losers into their positions. That this government has been allowed to trash good government and throw our money to the winds, is a result of its green and independent buttresses.They have been the only reason Labour has been able to create this astounding mess in so short a time, so they should be at the top of this list and the first to go. Without their support, the policy decisions which have increased our debt enormously, would never have happened. I especially revile the policies- or lack of them- of J. Macklin who has allowed the most devastated of our people, the remote aboriginal communities, to continue to fester in their sorrow and angst while she fiddles with a benign smile. The list does select those whose characters, formed by the narrow and selective world view of the union movement, are incapable of running a school fete let alone a nation, and are incapable of recognising their defects.
    Comment 18 of 112
  • Maggie Qld Posted at 3:56 AM Today
    Excellent Janet. I blame every silent ALP member sitting behind the nongs you have awarded for their "efforts" as being at fault. I cannot bleieve no one stood up for the people of Australaia and none seemed to have a conscience,no sense of right or wrong. Shorten is the scariest of all.
    Comment 19 of 112
  • Geoff of Tweed Posted at 3:57 AM Today
    Spot on. Never heard of the term "gauche caviar". Checked wiki. Love it.
    Comment 20 of 112
  • so many truths Posted at 4:56 AM Today
    Janet - maybe you will become the first female to be branded a misogynist by the misogyny maidens!
    Comment 21 of 112
  • Tony of Adelaide Posted at 5:01 AM Today
    I'm gaining perverse enjoyment from each of these pieces, consistently articulating so well what I believe to be true. This one is a particularly strong summary of Labor's myriad failures and the top 5 is spot on. Just this morning I read of Shorten pandering again to his union mates. Labor is unbelievably out of touch and determined to self-destruct. So be it. Not great for balanced political debate but hopefully a new, relevant party will emerge from the ashes of Labor.
    Comment 22 of 112
  • Honesty Posted at 5:17 AM Today
    Excellent insightful pithy peice, thank you. Can you please do a top ten, the blundering destruction of the ALP has been a team effort and there really is an embarrassment of riches. Peter "pink bats" Garret, Craig "whyalla wipeout" Emerson, Craig "credit card" Thomson, Anthony "Hollywood script" Albanese, Greg "BS" Combet, Stephen "red underpants" Conroy, Jenny "I can live in the dole" Macklin, Kate "crime commission" Lundy, Jason "gun crime" Clare. The list goes on and on and on.
    Comment 23 of 112
  • Willo Posted at 5:20 AM Today
    WOW! Pulling no punches there, Janet, but it does point out the multitude of failures of this government. How have they lasted this long with so many failures?
    Comment 24 of 112
  • Monty of Brisbane Posted at 5:22 AM Today
    Excellent.
    Comment 25 of 112
  • The River Was Wide But I Swam It, Janet of Sydney Posted at 5:47 AM Today
    Excellent article Janet. Who could argue with your top 5, all outstanding performers in the category "How to Trash Your Party". Sixth place for me would be a neck and neck dash for the tape between song and dance Clown Emerson and the scary Greg Combet.
    Comment 26 of 112
  • Maria of Sydney Posted at 5:49 AM Today
    Absolute and totally correct description of the creatures in Canberra. Well done Janet.
    Comment 27 of 112
  • Jack Bris of Brisbane Posted at 6:10 AM Today
    Swan did work in the sewers of Brisbane for the City Council around '74.
    Comment 28 of 112
  • rodney allsworth of morayfield Posted at 6:11 AM Today
    ahh, can someone put this to music, like, oh what a feeling, were Labor. rod qld
    Comment 29 of 112
  • AMF of St kilda Posted at 6:11 AM Today
    Ouch! But true. And sadly there's more. Garrett, Albo and Conroy get special mentions as runners up to the list of feckless. But Janet, are you saving thw worst and partisan award for Bob Carr?
    Comment 30 of 112
  • Phillip of Byron Bay Posted at 6:21 AM Today
    Oh Janet, I beg of you...please marry me
    Comment 31 of 112
  • Thane Prance Posted at 6:24 AM Today
    Yes Janet what you write is so true and I love your comment that Labor's "gauche caviar" understand little about the robust sense of humour. Thank you for an honest and spot on piece.It started my day very well. I hope that your truthful observations have the wide readership they deserve
    Comment 32 of 112
  • Craig - Melbourne Posted at 6:26 AM Today
    It is truly amazing what people do when self interest comes into the mix. Gillard who said campaigning would start when she went to the GG in August.... again a lie. Gillard really cannot help herself but then again she has had master coaches from the NSW right and the Victorian left. At least it makes great reading watching her go from one disaster to another.
    Comment 33 of 112
  • John of Sydney Posted at 6:40 AM Today
    David Bradbury who likes to show his "I luv Julia" tattoo when doing a tour of Darwin Harbour courtesy of the Navy with her must earn a place. And no doubt he will be drumming up more class warfare between North and Western Sydney at the Rooty Hill RSL like he has been for the last month between Hunters Hill and Kemp's Creek over industrial waste. Meanwhile his performance as Assistant Treasurer can only be measured by the condition of Wayne Swan's books.
    Comment 34 of 112
  • Roses of Melbourne Posted at 6:40 AM Today
    WELL written Janet. Truly fantastic and articulate piece. Just love reading your column first thing in the morning.You are SO spot on with these turkeys. We can't wait untill the election.Such an inept and "nasty" bunch they are.
    Comment 35 of 112
  • Gerry Van Hees of Narre Warren North Posted at 7:01 AM Today
    What else but a good and succinct analysis of the current position. Perhaps there are others with some blood on their hands but still....!
    Comment 36 of 112
  • annie of Hunter NSW Posted at 7:09 AM Today
    Gee Janet, that is pretty hard to disagree with. I would also like to see a special mention of our two hero's, the Independents. How two men can watch the country disintegrate before their eyes with calls from the electorate to let them have a say, as soon as possible, and simply ignore it beggars belief. We understand Windsors hatred of Abbott and the Nats/Libs, because he suffered a slight many years ago, but Windsor, are your feelings so important that 22 million people can struggle on, business in the doldrums, retail desperate, and you just sit there, happy in the knowledge that you got your own back? And Oakeshott, what is on your mind? You are still young, with a young family, what is it you cannot see, or chose not to see? Cannot you see what is happening? Our borders are open, we are in debt, the Govt. is in disarray, we are in trouble, and yet you just sit there. Why? Is it the power you don't want to relinquish, or you want the full pension, but whatever the cause, like Windsor you are prepared to let this country suffer. For me Janet, these two will go down in infamy, they are worse then the Govt.
    Comment 37 of 112
  • The Blackeye Rose Posted at 7:11 AM Today
    Janet, brilliant summary. You forgot the big prize for arrogance. I cannot believe in my fifty years of being a voter have I seen and experience such arrogance from a political party. I thought Keating was bad and Latham, well he failed in every department, was really just a bully, however, there has never in my time so much disdain for Australian "working Families". At their current pace, there will be no work, there will be no democratic processes, no conversations, just bad policy followed by bad policy and an ever-growing deficit. Arrogance, a new form of governing.
    Comment 38 of 112
  • Ken Carr of Sydney Posted at 7:11 AM Today
    A good start but why limit it to 5, why not the top 71.
    Comment 39 of 112
  • Jack Bris of Brisbane Posted at 7:11 AM Today
    Three of those mentioned are Bill Ludwig's chosen and 1, Rudd, hated by Ludwig. Not hard to quess who's pulling the strings. The Ludwig factor was evident in the recent Rockhampton Senate preselection, the peoples choice and Rudd suppporter got the flick for a Ludwig man.
    Comment 40 of 112
  • Marie McCray Posted at 7:14 AM Today
    I would almost put Wayne Swan at number one. When you look at the books he inherited from the coalition versus today culminating in a projected budget deficit of 12 billion, it is a hard act to beat. Our children will be paying for his mistakes for a long time.
    Comment 41 of 112
  • Bob the Builder Posted at 7:16 AM Today
    Congrats Janet. You have nailed them. All products of Australia's university mass production revolution, wherein quantity overtook quality.
    Comment 42 of 112
  • Helen of Sydney Posted at 7:17 AM Today
    As always, Janet, you are spot on. An excellent article. The facts are horrifying and sadly true. We just have to remove them with an election ASAP.
    Comment 43 of 112
  • Ilias Grivas of Mt Eliza Posted at 7:18 AM Today
    Labor is inner suburban village aimlessly forriaged by collections of archetypes belonging to tribes and sects within. In this Jones Town one will need to keep their hand on their wallet abandon any all hope in eternal Groundhogs Days. Janet has done an amazing job ranking the talent pool. However the task remains to continue and fill positions six onwards
    Comment 44 of 112
  • Nice Try Posted at 7:27 AM Today
    Nothing beats John Howard losing his seat in 2007 as Australia's Biggest Loser. Nothing.
    Comment 45 of 112
  • One more loss to go of Brisbane Posted at 7:28 AM Today
    Superb, Janet, just superb. There is nothing to add.
    Comment 46 of 112
  • David of Sydney Posted at 7:35 AM Today
    Excellent article. It says it all really. But Chris Bowen has to be in the list for the losing control of our boards. He was the minister and has to take responsibility, even if it was Gillard pulling the strings.
    Comment 47 of 112
  • Duke van Willem of Adelaide Posted at 7:36 AM Today
    No mention of Simon Crean? Surely he fits in there somewhere. His reference to the footy season yesterday must surely stand as a monument to how out of touch with reality our leaders are. To compare the current political situation to the first game of the season, when in reality it is more like the final innings of an all-but-lost cricket match, just shows how out of touch these people are.
    Comment 48 of 112
  • Terry Posted at 7:41 AM Today
    Absolutely beautiful. This made my morning ablutions a joy! Thank you.
    Comment 49 of 112
  • Katie C Posted at 7:45 AM Today
    You've articulated what I've thought all along. Interesting I'm in the demographic the government wants to court and an educated female to boot! I turned off the misogyny maidens a long time ago am pleased to see that many of my female friends and colleagues have as well. Cannot wait for them to go.
    Comment 50 of 112
  • jeffwatta Posted at 7:47 AM Today
    What a great piece Janet. I suppose what is most amazing about this government is the fact that none of the supposedly intelligent and dedicated Labor MP's had the guts or the gumption to break ranks and say enough is enough. They will go down in history as not Labor MP's but Labor MP's that served in the Gillard/Rudd government. There could be no worse stain on ones career in my view.
    Comment 51 of 112
  • Hoges of Palmy Posted at 7:47 AM Today
    You can also ad Labor's handling of the defence budget to their list of failures.
    Comment 52 of 112
  • al-Megrahi Posted at 7:48 AM Today
    Don't forget McTernan. He's destroyed 3 Labor Parties, which is 2 more than Tony Abbott.
    Comment 53 of 112
  • bill banter of brisbane Posted at 7:48 AM Today
    Normally Dr Craig Emerson would be have been spectacularly bad enough to be considered a malefactor star, but the competition is so fierce that he is not even mentioned. Although highly qualified in economics, the unemployment rate in his own electorateis so persistently high (and which he has done nothing to repair) that social tensions have resulted. Yet he does nothing, nothing and more nothing but sing (very badly), and praise the PM. Lionel Bowen was also nudged out even though his policies have unpicked a successful refugee policy. But the argument is that he is just a loyal poodle following leader directions. You cannot be serious, Janet, in thinking Bill Shorten is a future leader. This could take Labor to fewer seats in Federal Parliament than the Katter Party, and make Christine Milne the Opposition Leader.
    Comment 54 of 112
  • Brewster of Minyama Posted at 7:51 AM Today
    Oh Janet, what a masterful, insightful and excriciating analysis. What makes your analysis so excruciating, is the fact that these people will live large off the public purse for the rest of their lives. The only economic principle they got right, was their own superannuation schemes. In another time and past culture, the king would have chopped off their heads for destroying his wealth. Luckily for them, we only have the ballot box.
    Comment 55 of 112
  • Off The Spin Cycle of Sydney Posted at 7:56 AM Today
    Brilliant!
    Comment 56 of 112
  • Peter Posted at 8:00 AM Today
    This government will be remembered as a disfunctional group of individuals who were unable to connect with the public. It was bad enough that a prime minister elected by the pubic was removed in an overnight coup by Gillard and her union comrades, but for her to stand by and allow senior ministers like Conroy, Roxon, Crean, et al, to engage in a brutal public character assassination of Rudd was disgraceful. It's no wonder that the govt is regarded so poorly by the public.
    Comment 57 of 112
  • Kathy Marshall of Berwick Posted at 8:00 AM Today
    Thanks Janet, Once again a brilliant article. Labor need to lose this election and badly although rusted on Labor Voters would not agree, however Labor needs to get right back to basics and start with new people, not from the Unions. That they are not listening to the people is obvious. This is perhaps the first thing they need to do, learn to listen, otherwise the once great Labor Party will die. Some may not agree but for those who don't ask this question "Why did the Roman Empire fall" The answer is the Empire falls when the people in it no longer want it. That is a quote from the film "Fall of the Roman Empire" spoken by the late Finlay Currie. Septmeber is to far away. The time is now.
    Comment 58 of 112
  • BrisBen of Spring Hill Posted at 8:03 AM Today
    I'm glad you mentioned Shorten Janet; the other article in today's Aus only strengthens your inclusion of him. What a clown.
    Comment 59 of 112
  • steve of vic of vic Posted at 8:06 AM Today
    i agree with all you have written Janet Albrechtsen ...do you think labor will understand ? shorten needs to understand he's in goverment now ...not a union hack looking after his buddies ..
    Comment 60 of 112
  • Ken of SA Posted at 8:12 AM Today
    Amazing Janet, there are still people out there including in the media that still want the team you have just descripted to continue running this country. try to fathom that?
    Comment 61 of 112
  • EM of nsw Posted at 8:15 AM Today
    Janet, totally agree with the top fives choices however this government is exceptional, never have we had a government with so many individuals with an extraordinary lack of qualities. In all fairness I think you should be offering more places, Emerson, Combet, Bowen and Conroy all deserve to be commended for 'messing up so badly.'
    Comment 62 of 112
  • GerardB of Roseville NSW Posted at 8:16 AM Today
    Good article, Jane. But I would promote Bill Shorten to third place because of his puppet master role and corralling of Gillard and Swan into his blinkered union vision. The saddest part of Labor, is that there is no one in your top five with leadership skills, moral conviction and a sense of democracy. Are we watching the last hurrah for socialism?
    Comment 63 of 112
  • Anthony t Posted at 8:17 AM Today
    Well said
    Comment 64 of 112
  • Marita Posted at 8:19 AM Today
    This list of people , whom you rightly blame for the demise of Labor, should hang their heads. I have voted for Labor in my past because of men with the desire to better Australia but this lot just want to better themselves through the union. They have learned on their way up to use union methods to get ahead and who to look after and it is not the Australian citizen. As I said in the past I have voted Labor but one thing for sure, I will never vote Labor again
    Comment 65 of 112
  • Swan Song of Lilley Posted at 8:24 AM Today
    A valid and accurate assessment. Bring on "Clean up Australia Day" - September 14 or perhaps sooner? No doubt your blog will draw heavy fire from the 31 percent who cannot face the facts.
    Comment 66 of 112
  • Mikel Warren of Aspley Posted at 8:28 AM Today
    Says it all really. No comment really necessary.
    Comment 67 of 112
  • Joe Bazz of WA Posted at 8:29 AM Today
    Another outstanding piece Janet. You nailed this bunch of losers perfectly. However I put the whole lot of this Labor mob as a collective lot of losers. Not one of them have the guts to call an end to this charade of a Government and force an early election.
    Comment 68 of 112
  • Tick Tock of South Melbourne Posted at 8:31 AM Today
    Brilliant summation Janet...Im sure this article will be cut out and pasted on Tayna's dart board...
    Comment 69 of 112
  • donkeygod of Cardiff, NSW Posted at 8:32 AM Today
    That's a decent list, Janet, and one can't fault the order (or should that be 'ordure'?). Still ... I wonder where Keating has been during all this. What about Hawke? Crean and Beazley, past Party leaders ... why have they nothing to say? Everyone still admires Faulkner, so what's his take on affairs? The ALP isn't short of sages and luminaries, though few indeed are currently in office. Why are their greatest leaders so uniformly silent, while the Party they served so well faces a serious existential crisis? Have they been frozen out? Warned off? Given up? It strikes me as passing strange how, as crunch-time approaches and Labor circles the wagons, the Party's wisest, most experienced performers are nowhere to be seen. Something doesn't add up (aside from Swannie's budget). Time to be afraid, I think. Very afraid.
    Comment 70 of 112
  • Will of Qld Posted at 8:35 AM Today
    Janet Sensational, love your work. You've also now given the Lib's script writers such a good summary and history lesson that Tony will only need half of them for the next 7 months. Next mission, sort out Tony Jones and some less smart than he at Aunty.
    Comment 71 of 112
  • Jon of Adelaide Posted at 8:38 AM Today
    Thank you Janet. The worst of a really bad bunch. Clearly unfit to govern. Much money and time wasted. Regressive, outdated ideology. Despite Labor's rhetoric to the contrary, this country has not fared well under the chaotic leadership of Rudd and Gillard, which has left a pervading sense of political, economic and moral malaise. The Labor brand in its current form is indeed severely damaged, if not irretrievable. Members of the ALP are in for a period of deep introspection; a case of adapt and modernise or die. I look forward to your selection of the Coalition's top team next week.
    Comment 72 of 112
  • Ramon Posted at 8:40 AM Today
    September 14... September 14... September 14... Just keep saying it! (sigh of relief)
    Comment 73 of 112
  • Bill of Brisbane Posted at 8:40 AM Today
    Great piece but you should have made it a top ten...Add Bourke, Combet and Conroy, three of the most inept and fascist from within the gang, but delete Macklin as she is a lightweight of whom no one takes any notice.
    Comment 74 of 112
  • Bitter voter. of Reality Land. Posted at 8:42 AM Today
    The truth of the matter is stranger than all the fiction being handed out by the spin merchants for this inept government. The saviour of the ALP who stabbed her leader in the back in the middle of the night, on the pretext of fixing the problem, has turned out to be a bigger problem
    Comment 75 of 112
  • phil_surfmore of qld Posted at 8:45 AM Today
    Reminds me a line from an old blues song...'laughing just to keep from crying.' Sadly Labor are drowning in their own failures and self interest, however even you Janet, must concede that the state Qld. landslide does not make for great govt. I am also surprised the Scottish chap didn't make your list.
    Comment 76 of 112
  • Jolly Batey of Geelong Posted at 8:48 AM Today
    Janet you have aptly awarded our loser bunch of embarrassing leaders well (and you were spoilt for choice!) They have trashed the whole country. Why do we have to wait to September? I think the majority of Australians want to get rid of this fungus of a government right now!
    Comment 77 of 112
  • Brian Middleton Posted at 8:48 AM Today
    An outstanding summary of Labor's malaise. Many Labor sympathisers will refuse to read the article but they should, as it provides a roadmap out of the long years of wilderness which lie ahead
    Comment 78 of 112
  • Don of East brisbane Posted at 8:49 AM Today
    Bravo Janet. Can you please convince the Editor to give you a whole page tomorrow, you haven't really scratched the surface!
    Comment 79 of 112
  • Ken of Melbourne Posted at 9:03 AM Today
    Wow....what a clever and comprehensive indictment of this woeful administration! The bizarre thing is, they actually think they have done a GOOD job! If there are two extra prizes on offer I would like to present them to Windsor and Oakeshott for installing this bunch of misfits on the Australian public in the first place. Remember, it was so we could have STABLE government! There must be an award for the best joke!
    Comment 80 of 112
  • Greg Newcastle Posted at 9:04 AM Today
    So well written Janet and disturbingly accurate. You have characterised Labor governments heavy weights perfectly, which only emphasises the despairing felt by voters for an election sooner rather than September. Another 7 months of Labor is torture, we just want to wake up one day and the nightmare is over.
    Comment 81 of 112
  • David of Brisbane Posted at 9:07 AM Today
    Dead right about Shorten. He's clearly more interested in his future, not Australia's. No leadership there. And what about the Enablers? Those merry men from New England and Lyne. They've been the ones fluffing the PM's pillow and pulling up her blanket while she's been asleep at the wheel. Surely a bonus prize in there for them?
    Comment 82 of 112
  • Jeremy of Brisbane Posted at 9:09 AM Today
    The Truth Hurts
    Comment 83 of 112
  • Keith of Brisbane Posted at 9:15 AM Today
    So very true
    Comment 84 of 112
  • Yvonne of Hobart Posted at 9:17 AM Today
    Good article Janet. Spot on. Six long months to go and then the payback time - and, no doubt, a long and painful trip back to recovery. The more time they have to lash out huge amounts of money that they will have to borrow to realise these vote-buying hare-brained schemes, the more painful the recovery trip will be for ordinary Australians who just want an election sooner rather than later.
    Comment 85 of 112
  • Innominatus of Barossa Valley Posted at 9:17 AM Today
    Absolutely splendid. They are all worth their weight in sawdust - except that sawdust is useful.
    Comment 86 of 112
  • philj of Perth Posted at 9:23 AM Today
    You have certainly got little Willy Shorten pegged right. If the crunch comes for the unions during the next several terms of coalition government, the unions will need to look no further than Shorten to blame.
    Comment 87 of 112
  • Vaughan Posted at 9:24 AM Today
    A good summary Janet, but you forgot Doctor Graig Emerson, the minister who manages to offend people even when he talks to his portfolio. This man who exudes arrogance and who is so mainfestly out of touch with the electorate surely deserves a guernsey in your list of Labor's biggest losers!
    Comment 88 of 112
  • rosyrufe of Sydney Posted at 9:27 AM Today
    Thank you, Janet, for this brilliantly-written article. I can't wait for its sequel next week.
    Comment 89 of 112
  • corsocowboy Posted at 9:28 AM Today
    The "gauche caviar" indeed! When you think Roxon was elected by the Victorian ALP Right initially you have to wonder how deep the Left is now in the ALP body politic.As for Plibersek she still has her husband's nice little earner to fall back on not to mention her safe seat that even she could not manage to lose.
    Comment 90 of 112
  • Tasiturn of Kimberley, B.C. Canada, V1A 3A7 Posted at 9:29 AM Today
    Janet, very well expressed. Garrett, the Education Minister, with his pink batts and the national dumbing down of the schools' curriculum could be another contender - especially as he tries to do a Swanny in fudging the figures. As for the "the finger-wagging culture of (those) trendy inner-city MPs," I suspect they were just being smug, too smart by half opportunists and got called out by the electorate.
    Comment 91 of 112
  • Fed up with Labor Posted at 9:36 AM Today
    Janet, I believe you have been far too kind to them. It takes a very special kind of dim-wittedness to take a country backwards as fast as this government has done. But just to make sure we haven't missed how vacuous they really are, they are now championing the Unions !!!
    Comment 92 of 112
  • mags of Queensland Posted at 9:38 AM Today
    Well said, Janet. The whole problem for Labor is not just the failure to make and implement successful policies. The failure is that they have no real identity anymore. They are not representative of any useful, ethical alternative to conservatism. They are the product of years of personality politics, underhand deals and union dominance. Until this nexus is broken they will become a non event for decades.
    Comment 93 of 112
  • david hadley of brisbane Posted at 9:39 AM Today
    A tough task indeed. How is it possible to leave a mental midget like Stephen Conroy off the list, or a hopeless hypocrite like Garrett. A dishonest and arrogant Albanese talking to working Australians as a "convoy of no consequence", or David Bradbury who is staggering in his insincerity. Plibersek, Bowen, O'Connor? The list is endless and the electorate will punish them accordingly.
    Comment 94 of 112
  • mikem of Brisbane Posted at 9:39 AM Today
    It's difficult to disagree with your nominee's. Unfortunatly it doesn't stop there. If it were to be a top 10 one P Garret would have to be right up there for his efforts with the pink batts. Another nominee would be J Ludwig for his efforts in destroying Australia's relationship with Indonisia . Neither should we forget the performance of "red underpants" Conroy who has managed to mis-manage almost everything he's touched. It really is an impressive line up of abso;ute failures.
    Comment 95 of 112
  • Mutchu of Brisbane Posted at 9:41 AM Today
    I thought Shorten was dubbed "Showbags".
    Comment 96 of 112
  • Sunray of nswcentral coast Posted at 9:42 AM Today
    Thank you Janet, for an informative, accurate and honest article, with which I fully agree. However logical and deserving a prediction may be, we must never forget the power of enough unfunded bribes.
    Comment 97 of 112
  • Can't Come Soon Enough Posted at 9:47 AM Today
    The irreverent Aussie has a far better term for truffle munchers than the French. The trouble is that despite all their gauche caviaring the munchers still have the will to breed. So as their numbers swell, their circle widens, and their grip strengthens a change of hands may release the pressure but it won't rejuvenate the soul. That requires examination, introspection and the willingness to let both hand go of that will to be in control and allow the energy flow.
    Comment 98 of 112
  • James of Sydney Posted at 9:49 AM Today
    Many socialists are so afraid of an Abbott government that they see blocking it as one of Labor's main objectives. For this reason they endorse the "whatever it takes" approach and they only resent Gillard for the fact that she will fail to hold government. For myself, I think keeping Kevin Rudd from being Prime Minister has been Gillard's single commendable achievement, and that goes a long way. Sure it came at a very high cost of debt, bad legislation and destruction of business opportunity, but still an achievement and for me the glass is half full. Every day without His Awesomeness Chairman Rudd is a day of hope that Australia can still get back on track to a prosperous future.
    Comment 99 of 112
  • miner of Darwin Posted at 9:54 AM Today
    A good article. But Janet, couldn't you have been more generous? Surely Peter Garrett deserves a place, for his Battts-man work alone, and also for doing NOTHING much, when he was held up to promise a lot? And you rightly name Roxon, Wong, and Macklin. Maybe a top 10 losers?
    Comment 100 of 112

  • Andrew of Vic Sq Posted at 10:19 AM Today
    I think this is a kinder analysis of Labors woes than history will portray. Future text books on Government and Politics will not be so kind. Let us hope that the next Government sets a better example. And hope that the memories of voters do not fail them when it comes to electing Labor at some future time merely because the Coalition has been in power for a long time - think John Howard.
    Comment 101 of 112
  • Arch of Qld Posted at 10:21 AM Today
    " And nothing is more certain to offend Australians than the finger-wagging culture of these trendy inner-city MPs whom the French would call "gauche caviar". They understand little about the robust sense of humour, let alone common sense or values, of people in suburbs farther afield." I love it.
    Comment 102 of 112
  • James Cleland of Melbourne Posted at 10:25 AM Today
    Gold!
    Comment 103 of 112
  • Terry Adelaide Posted at 10:27 AM Today
    Great stuff Janet! All in all they are a bunch of parasites lunching on issues of the past with nothing to offer the future except to clean up their mess.
    Comment 104 of 112
  • howe synnott of sydney Posted at 10:28 AM Today
    Janet, excoriating - and right on the money. However, if Abbott assumes he can simply be the Steven Bradbury of federal politics, and sail through as the ALP crash out, it will be but a short-lived victory. It will be interesting to see what happens from here.
    Comment 105 of 112
  • MFW of Vic. Posted at 10:30 AM Today
    All I want to say is, Paul Howes, "well boo hoo", to you too. If what you say was not true Janet, it would be laughable, but it is an absolute shame of epic proportions, and an embarrassment.
    Comment 106 of 112
  • M.Camara of Camberwell Posted at 10:32 AM Today
    How about the three independents who represents conservative voters who was double-crossed big time. Then they have the union bosses whose self interest was well served. It is also hard not to point fingers on the Greenies who forced Julia Gillard to reneged on her promise of no carbon tax.
    Comment 107 of 112
  • James of Perth Posted at 10:38 AM Today
    Hi Janet, great article once again and full of wisdom. I would have placed Rudd 07 as No. 1. He also told big lies about himself during his 07 election campaign, gave the nation false hopes, and then failed miserably on all accounts. However, it is a tough call.
    Comment 108 of 112
  • Observer Posted at 10:41 AM Today
    No disagreement with the listing of Gillard, Rudd, Swan, Shorten and the handbag hit squad. You could add: Lindsay Tanner & Penny Wong for being such poor finance ministers; Greg Combet and Paul Howes for selling out manufacturing workers in their zeal for a useless carbon tax; McTernan for continual bad advice, particularly the personal attacks on Abbott; and Craig Emerson for buffoonery. Other internal destroyers of Labor are: Eddie Obeid, Craig Thomson, Bligh, Carr/Iemma/Rees/Keneally.
    Comment 109 of 112
  • JP of Bardon of Bardon Posted at 10:43 AM Today
    Janet, I dont think I have ever read an article that has made me smile so much. What a great snapshot of everything Labour. Pure Poetry, you made my day.
    Comment 110 of 112
  • raffo Posted at 10:46 AM Today
    Once again Janet a wonderful article,your analysis is as Howes would say 110% Correct! I cannot understand how so many supposedly intelligent people can get it so wrong.But where did they get their ethics&principles? it goes against everything i was ever taught or passed on to my children. God help us if this rabble are reelected.
    Comment 111 of 112
  • Allan Usherwood of Bunbury WA Posted at 10:53 AM Today
    What a fine description of these Labor "never will be's" Janet has put her finger on this sorry bunch of amateurs that have blackened the political horizen more than "Rusty" could ever hope to.This predicament this mob has left us in is unprecidented in Australian history,it will take a strong government to bail us out of mire we are in and I do not envy thd kincoming covernments formidable task. Allan Myalup WA.
    Comment 112 of 112

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HOME»FINANCE»PERSONAL FINANCE»SAVINGS Savers told to stop moaning and start spending

February 26, 2013, 8:54 pm
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Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 12:03 PM
Subject: [New post] Keynesian insanity reaches a new peak
Steve Kates posted: "You want proof that Keynesian economics is insane. Well, here it is. From The Telegraph in London: Savers should stop complaining about poor returns and start spending to help the economy, a senior Bank of England official warned today. . . . Older ho"

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Wednesday 27 February 2013

Savers told to stop moaning and start spending

Savers should stop complaining about poor returns and start spending to help the economy, a senior Bank of England official warned today.

Charles Bean and Mervyn King - Savers told to stop moaning and start spending
Mr Bean said low returns on savings were part of the Bank of England's strategy Photo: PA
By 
10:03PM BST 27 Sep 2010
Comments865 Comments
Older households could afford to suffer because they had benefited from previous property price rises, Charles Bean, the deputy governor, suggested.
They should "not expect" to live off interest, he added, admitting that low returns were part of a strategy.
His remarks are likely to infuriate savers, who are among the biggest victims of the recession. About five million retired people are thought to rely on the interest earned by their nest-eggs. But almost all savings accounts now pay less than inflation.
The typical savings rate has fallen from more than 2.8 per cent before the financial crisis to 0.23 per cent last month.
Mr Bean said he "fully sympathised". But he continued: "Savers shouldn't necessarily expect to be able to live just off their income in times when interest rates are low. It may make sense for them to eat into their capital a bit."
He added: "Very often older households have actually benefited from the fact that they've seen capital gains on their houses."
In an interview with Channel Four News on Monday night, he said that savers "might be suffering" from the low Bank Rate. But they had done well from higher rates in the past and would do so again.
Mr Bean said that encouraging Britons to spend was one reason why the Bank had cut interest rates. They have been held at 0.5 per cent for 18 months, hitting rates offered on savings accounts.
The strategy had led to Mervyn King, the governor, receiving many letters of complaint.
But it was designed to return the economy to a reasonable level of activity as quickly as possible, he said. "The faster we can achieve that, the sooner interest rates will get back to more normal levels."
Had the Bank not acted, "unemployment would have been higher, wage growth would have been lower," Mr Bean added.
The comments angered groups representing the elderly and those putting money aside. The Daily Telegraph has campaigned for protection for savers.
Ros Altmann, director-general of Saga, said: "Savers are being taken advantage of. They did the right thing and have been let down at the other end of the deal.
"I don't think this is what most people would consider fair."
Dot Gibson, of the National Pensioners Convention, said: "For years we've been told to put money aside for our retirement only to find that interest rates have sunk and now we have to use our savings just to pay the bills."
Jason Riddle, of Save Our Savers, said: "The Bank was aware that there was a lack of saving before the financial crisis, but those who were prudently saving while others spent, are being heavily punished."
Official figures show that savers have lost about £18 billion a year in interest as a result of the Bank's response to the worst recession in a generation.
The amount Britons save has fallen by more than a fifth since the start of the year, a survey showed today.
The average person is saving £102 a month, down from £130 in February, according to Santander.
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878 comments
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  • Commenter's avatar
    Where do they find these idiots they employ at the BOE there must be a funny farm where they breed them.
    They tell people they must save more then kick them in the teeth when they do.
    One thing is becoming clearer by the day the BOE is full of brain dead half wits living in that cosy public sector bubble oblivious to the real world.
    No wonder it was so easy for us to get into the mother of all financial crisis.
  • Commenter's avatar
    I think we need a concerted campaign to fire them both,
  • Commenter's avatar
    Savers are of course the only people with any money left.
    I am afraid having savings is viewed as anti social and probably considered unfair. You could not make it up.
  • Commenter's avatar
    Is it not time that the Bank of England made some personnel changes to people who actually understand what it is like for ordinary people, including those who are retired, rather than viewing life from the perspective of receiving a massive annual salary.
    This also goes for the members of the committee who set interest rates.
    Why not suggest that Banks increase interest rates by using the Bank Bonus money, which would then turn into money which would be spent in the economy rather than being sent or be used offshore.
    Idiots, WE certainly are to suffer these fools.
  • Commenter's avatar
    Why should Savers be penalised with low interest rates while those who obtained Liars Loans (fraud) also benefit again with low rates on their mortgages?
    When will the FSA and BOE investigate this huge fraud accounting for half of all mortgages in the boom, but which they turn a 'blind eye' to. The FSA and BOE/Banks sanctioned this fraud which still goes on, meanwhile Savers suffer.
    Savers should not help Mr Bean by spending their hard earned capital whilst getting such poor returns!
  • Commenter's avatar
    How dare Charles Bean to advise savers to stop moaning and start spending. This useless little twirp doesn't even begin to understand what is happening. Perhaps this half baked Bean should advise the government to stop wasting instead. He is a prat and this shows again that the officials at the BOE are behind the curve (as always).
  • Commenter's avatar
    ichweissnicht
    I do not smoke or drink. Very occasionally I eat cornflakes for breakfast as a bit of a treat instead of my usual porridge. The
    continued banking saga where an elite few prosper at the benefit
    of the many, may I respectfully suggest that they die soon and in great pain.
  • Commenter's avatar
    The question I have is just what investment instruments do you have in Britain? Is it only savings accounts or do you have guaranteed investments, long term investments, mutuals, just what choices do you have?
    Can you invest and trade on-line or are you required to use a broker? I can trade and sell on-line through a recognised bank, but can you?
    Once again I will say that savings accounts are the absolute worse investment you can make There are no guarantees and very little insurance.
    If you have none of these I am truly sorry for you and if you do have these then stop wingeing and get to work investing.
  • Commenter's avatar
    emmiem
    reebt
    The debate is being continued under the 'UK mortgage approvals slide as wary households opt to pay off debts', article.
  • Commenter's avatar
    FRPAdvisory
    The recession should have signalled the end of the binge borrowing and excessive spending culture – so it is worrying that cautious individuals who have put some money aside for a rainy day, or their later years, have apparently been advised to throw caution to the wind and dip into those savings in an attempt to prop up an ailing economy.
    For years we have witnessed unprecedented borrowing levels by individuals. This – and the consequent spending that took place – was largely to the benefit of the High Street, but also contributed to record levels of personal insolvency.
    We have also seen unprecedented levels of public sector borrowing. In the same way that the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) will cut spending to ensure the state reduces its debt levels, as a society we also need to learn to live within our means. Now that over-committed consumers are unable to prop up the High Street, cautious investors should not help to boost the economy by raiding their own savings pot.
    David Thornhill, partner, FRP Advisory
  • Commenter's avatar
    $3612748
    Has charles bean been fired yet?
  • Commenter's avatar
    killben
    such a$%%^&*s get promoted .. See King is still holding on his job (with more powers) for being the main architect in not seeing the crisis , also shoving it up the tax-payers and making his bankster pals all better off!!
    Time to rain shoes on such a#$%@^S
  • Commenter's avatar
    He really is a Mr Bean - earning £200k plus of course he can arrogantly look down his nose at us mere mortals.
    Vince Cable and George Osbourne should get hold of this idiot and get him to sweep the streets on £15k a year preferably in Moss side.
    How dare he.................
  • Commenter's avatar
    killben
    And whip him if he does not spend 15k+ .. remember we have to dip into our savings .. that is the way to live .. according to this a#$$%%%
  • Commenter's avatar
    stuart64
    This Bean bloke is compleyly out of touch with reality, cut-backs and cost of living increases are staring everyone in the face and he advises a "spend,spend,spend" solution for everyone else, well lad you can keep your advice, my brass is staying where it is, in my pocket.
    I would'nt trust the advice given by any banker or politician where my finances are concerned.
  • Commenter's avatar
    Oh no he isn't!
    This is exactly what he wants you to do! The economy is like a knackered donkey and they can't flog it any other way.
    It's all about to stall but if they could just squeeze it, just squeeze it
    a
    little
    bit
    more...
    This economy is stacking up like the biggest Ponzi scheme ever. If the people at the bottom stop putting cash into it then it will collapse!
    Maybe you should check out some other kind of investment
  • Commenter's avatar
    DKP56
  • Commenter's avatar
    I wholeheartedly agree with Mr Bean-King. I going out right now and I'm spending all my pounds...on GOLD & SILVER
  • Commenter's avatar
    Seriously I agree with the BoE on this one. I'm going to start spending on gold instead of saving.
  • Commenter's avatar
    So would I - but this article has made it to expensive
  • Commenter's avatar
    You think this is expensive? As the value of your cash gets further and further debased, give it a couple of months and you're going to think £827 was a bargain!
  • Commenter's avatar
    Why have we got to search for this article - it is still hot and should be easy to find. Most of the comments are sensible, the discussion is lively. Please reinstate on the financial page at least.
  • Commenter's avatar
    This will not do our balance of payments any good at all. I suggest that 75% of consumer goods purchased in the UK are manufactured in other countries so all we will be doing by spending money is helping other countries prosper or get out of debt by sending our hard earned cash overseas.What a great idea Mr Bean
  • Commenter's avatar
    We hardly make anything anymore. we are a nation of consumers and that's pretty much all we do.
    The advice from the BoE is to try to get you consuming again. But we've already got a flat screen telly (and to be honest, there was nothing wrong with the old one), mobile phones, second cars, clothes that last less than a year and what about those new light bulbs we've all been force to change over to? Is it me or are they really crap?
    The advice is to behave like Viv Nicholson. Go on, google it.
    and whilst you're there...
  • Commenter's avatar
    God, what a pompous bloated idiot. Yes, we could sell our houses but then it will cost us £40,000 plus to buy another thanks to stamp duty etc. Just because the BOE was asleep at the wheel and couldn't see, or wouldn't see, that consumer debt and spiralling house prices were a false dawn of success. Prof. D Blanchflower still cannot see the MPC's error. Interest rates should have been raised not reduced but Broon would not have liked that. So much for Mervyn King's independence.
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ABC:Spot the psychopath near you..... et al

February 27, 2013, 2:42 pm
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One should also contemplate how many people one knows with a personality disorder - arguably over -generously designated by professionals as 'BORDERLINE' PERSONALITY DISORDER.
[It is essentially 'never' borderline!LINK: Borderline Personality Disorder]
GS
see also links:





##################################################################################################################################################################

  1. Borderline Disorder Info - SANE.org

    www.sane.org/
    Get the facts from SANE Australia on 1800 18 SANE (7263)

  2. Reach Out Australia. - Dealing with Personality Disorder?

    au.reachout.com/PersonalityDisorder
    We can help. Visit for more info


##################################################################################################################################################################
Also see NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER.
Sigh!
GS


  1. Narcissistic personality disorder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder
    Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder in which the individual is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal ...
    Egocentrism - Narcissistic parents - Megalomania - Narcissistic Personality Inventory

  2. How to identify a Narcissist and how to manage narcissism in a partner

    www.hartrelationshipcounselling.com.au/.../are-you-living-wit...Share
    Having to deal with a Narcissistic partner makes a relationship very difficult. We show you how to identify a Narcissist and how to manage narcissism in a ...

  3. How to Spot a Narcissist | World of Psychology

    psychcentral.com/blog/archives/.../how-to-spot-a-narcissist/
    Aug 4, 2008 – At the core of extreme narcissism is egotistical preoccupation with self, personal preferences, aspirations, needs, success, and how he/she is ...


################################################################################


http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/02/26/3696402.htm

Spot the psychopath near you

Businessman
Is this a snake in a suit? (iStockphoto: creativepictures)
If somebody asked you to do a random word association on the word "psychopath", the grim words "serial killer" would probably appear somewhere on your list. But many of the characteristics of psychopaths are shared by politicians — and heroes. Yes, the psychopath who would burn down your house is in many ways similar to the hero who would rescue your loved ones from the same burning house.
One of the earliest appraisals of psychopathy was by the ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus, about 2400 years ago. In his book The Characters he carefully lists some 30 moral temperaments. One of these he calls "The Unscrupulous Man" who will, according to Theophrastus: "go and borrow more money from a creditor he has yet to pay back".
There are many different characteristics associated with psychopathy. On one hand, they include having virtually no conscience, no impulse control, no guilt, no empathy and no remorse. On the other hand psychopaths are quite fearlesss (both mentally and physically), can focus really well, are strong-minded, and are superficially charming. As a result, they are very persuasive and are very skilled at manipulation of others. For example, psychopaths have "a great proficiency in persuading parole boards to release them into the community".
They are also very egocentric, very dishonest, as well as being both callous and ruthless, and virtually immune to anxiety. They are very happy to indulge in risk-taking behaviour, and tend to have a grandiose sense of self-worth.
About 1 per cent of us are true psychopaths, with women being represented half as often as men. Another 10 to 15 per cent of us are in the "almost psychopathic" category.
Now it's not all intangible. No, the underlying emotional deficit of psychopathy seems to be linked to some physical attributes.
For example, psychopathy is linked to a poor sense of smell. One study of 79 people (who had been diagnosed to be non-criminal psychopaths and who were living in the community) tested their sense of smell. They were offered 16 pens that carried 16 different odours such as leather, orange and coffee. Even though they could register that an odour was present, they could not easily tell the difference between one scent and another.
This poor-sense-of-smell seems to point a finger at a part of the psychopath brain called the orbito-frontal complex. Not only does it process smells, it is also involved in controlling impulses and in planning.
But what if you have some, but not all, of the characteristics of a psychopath?
One characteristic possessed by psychopaths that is very useful for political leaders is called "fearless dominance". It involves a total lack of apprehension or concern or worry about social and physical situations that would scare most of us.
Back in 1982, the psychologist, D T Lykken, said that both psychopaths and heroes are "twigs from the same branch".
The so-called "hero populations" are those who work in the military, law enforcement, rescue services and so on. On one hand, these "heroes" have some of the characteristics of psychopaths - immunity from stress, ability to focus, social dominance and fearlessness. But on the other hand, they do not carry other psychopathic tendencies such as lack of conscience, antisocial behaviour, impulsivity and narcissism.
Suppose that a person does have several psychopathic factors in their character. But to understand them more deeply, you should also factor in other characteristics such as "intelligence" and a "tendency to violence".
This gives you four possible results.
If you are not particularly smart and non-violent, you'll probably end up as some kind of petty criminal — maybe a burglar.
The second option is that you are not particularly intelligent and violent. In this scenario, you could end up as an enforcer or a low-level hood.
Things change when you add intelligence to the mix.
In the third scenario, if you are both intelligent and violent on top of your psychopathic tendencies, you could end up as a criminal mastermind or working in the special forces.
But if you're psychopathic, intelligent and non-violent, you could be a "hero", or a surgeon, a lawyer or head of a big corporation. In 2006, P Babbiak and Robert D Hare referred to psychopaths in business settings as "snakes in suits".
But now that you've finally gotten used to looking out for wolves in sheep's clothing, you have to go one step further to find the snake in a suit. But at least you'll know that the snake in a suit will be up high, not low to the ground …
Tags: psychology
Published 26 February 2013
© 2013 Karl S. Kruszelnicki Pty Ltd

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Solidarity Forever,,,wiki

March 3, 2013, 2:45 pm
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Solidarity Forever - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarity_ForeverShare
Jump to Lyrics‎: Lyrics. When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run,: There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun; ...
Lyrics - Composition - Modern additions - See also




Solidarity Forever



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Solidarity Forever"
Lyrics byRalph Chaplin
Written1914-1915
Recorded byAlmanac Singers, Pete Seeger,Joe Glazer
Performed byUtah Phillips
Poster for League for Industrial Democracy, designed by Anita Willcox during the Great Depression, showing solidarity with struggles of workers and poor in America
"Solidarity Forever", written by Ralph Chaplin in 1915, is perhaps the most famous union anthem. It is sung to the tune of "John Brown's Body". Although it was written as a song for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), other union movements, such as the AFL-CIO, have adopted the song as their own. The song has been performed in recent years by musicians such as the late Utah Phillips, and was redone by Emcee Lynx andThe Nightwatchman. It is still commonly sung at union meetings and rallies in the United States, Australia and Canada, and has also been sung at conferences of the Australian Labor Party and the Canadian New Democratic Party. This may have also inspired the hymn of the consumercooperative movement, "The Battle Hymn of Cooperation", which is sung to the same tune.

Contents

  [hide] 

[edit]Lyrics

When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun;
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one,
But the union makes us strong.
CHORUS:
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
For the union makes us strong.
Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite,
Who would lash us into serfdom and would crush us with his might?
Is there anything left to us but to organize and fight?
For the union makes us strong.
Chorus
It is we who plowed the prairies; built the cities where they trade;
Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid;
Now we stand outcast and starving midst the wonders we have made;
But the union makes us strong.
Chorus
All the world that's owned by idle drones is ours and ours alone.
We have laid the wide foundations; built it skyward stone by stone.
It is ours, not to slave in, but to master and to own.
While the union makes us strong.
Chorus
They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the union makes us strong.
Chorus
In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold,
Greater than the might of armies, magnified a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
For the union makes us strong.

[edit]Composition

Ralph Chaplin began writing “Solidarity Forever” in 1914, while he was covering the Kanawa coal miners’ strike in Huntington, West Virginia. He completed the song on January 15, 1915, in Chicago, on the date of a hunger demonstration. Chaplin was a dedicated Wobbly, a writer at the time for Solidarity, the official IWW publication in the eastern United States, and a cartoonist for the organization. He shared the analysis of the IWW, embodied in its famed “Preamble,” printed inside the front cover of every Little Red Songbook.[1]
The Preamble begins with a classic statement of a two-class analysis of capitalism: “The working class and the employing class have nothing in common.” The class struggle will continue until the victory of the working class: “Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the earth and the machinery of production, and abolish the wage system.” The Preamble denounces trade unions as incapable of coping with the power of the employing class. By negotiating contracts, the Preamble states, trade unions mislead workers by giving the impression that workers have interests in common with employers.[2]
The Preamble calls for workers to build an organization of all “members in any one industry, or in all industries.” Although that sounds a lot like the industrial unionism developed by the Congress of Industrial Organizations, the IWW would oppose John L. Lewis’ campaign to split from the American Federation of Labor and organize industrial unions in the 1930s. The Preamble explains, “Instead of the conservative motto, ‘A fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work,’ we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, ‘Abolition of the wage system.’” The IWW embracedsyndicalism, and opposed participation in electoral politics: “by organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.”[3]
The outlook of the Preamble is embodied in “Solidarity Forever,” which enunciates several elements of the IWW's analysis. The third stanza (“It is we who plowed the prairies”) asserts the primacy of the role of workers in creating values. This is echoed in stanzas four and five, which provide ethical justification for the workers’ claim to “all the world.” The second stanza (“Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite”) assumes the two antagonistic classes described in the Preamble. The first and fifth stanzas provide the strategy for labor: union solidarity. And the sixth stanza projects the utopian outcome, a new world brought to birth “from the ashes of the old.”
Chaplin was not pleased with the widespread popularity of "Solidarity Forever" in the labor movement. Late in his life, after he had become a voice opposing (State) Communists in the labor movement, Chaplin wrote an article, “Why I wrote Solidarity Forever,” in which he denounced the “not-so-needy, not-so-worthy, so-called ‘industrial unions’ spawned by an era of compulsory unionism.” He wrote that among Wobblies “there is no one who does not look with a rather jaundiced eye upon the ‘success’ of ‘Solidarity Forever.’" "I didn't write 'Solidarity Forever' for ambitious politicians or for job-hungry labor fakirs seeking a ride on the gravy train. . . . All of us deeply resent seeing a song that was uniquely our own used as a singing commercial for the soft-boiled type of post-Wagner Act industrial unionism that uses million-dollar slush funds to persuade their congressional office boys to do chores for them.” He added, “I contend also that when the labor movement ceases to be a Cause and becomes a business, the end product can hardly be called progress.”[4]
Despite Chaplin's misgivings, "Solidarity Forever" has retained a general appeal for the wider labor movement because of the continued applicability of its core message. Many[citation needed]singers do not sing all six stanzas of "Solidarity Forever," typically[citation needed] dropping verses two (“Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite”) and four (“All the world that’s owned by idle drones is ours and ours alone”), thus leaving out the most radical material.[5]

[edit]Modern additions

Since the 1970s women have added verses to "Solidarity Forever" to reflect their concerns as union members. One popular set of stanzas is:
We're the women of the union and we sure know how to fight.
We'll fight for women's issues and we'll fight for women's rights.
A woman's work is never done from morning until night.
Women make the union strong!
(Chorus)
It is we who wash dishes, scrub the floors and clean the dirt,
Feed the kids and send them off to school - and then we go to work,
Where we work for half men's wages for a boss who likes to flirt.
But the union makes us strong!
(Chorus)[6]
A variation from Canada goes as follows:
We’re the women of the union in the forefront of the fight,
We fight for women’s issues, we fight for women’s rights,
We’re prepared to fight for freedom, we’re prepared to stand our ground,
Women make the union strong.
(Chorus)
Through our sisters and our brothers, we can make our union strong,
For respect and equal value we have done without too long,
We no longer have to tolerate injustices and wrongs,
For the union makes us strong.
(Chorus)
When racism in all of us is finally out and gone,
Then the union movement will be twice as powerful and strong,
For equality for everyone will move the cause along,
For the union makes us strong.
(Chorus)[7]
The centennial edition of the Little Red Songbook includes these two new verses credited to Steve Suffet:
They say our day is over; they say our time is through,
They say you need no union if your collar isn't blue,
Well that is just another lie the boss is telling you,
For the Union makes us strong!
(Chorus)
They divide us by our color; they divide us by our tongue,
They divide us men and women; they divide us old and young,
But they'll tremble at our voices, when they hear these verses sung,
For the Union makes us strong!
(Chorus)[8]

[edit]See also

Portal iconOrganized labour portal

[edit]Notes

  1. ^ Ralph Chaplin, Wobbly, (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1948), especially pp. 167-168.
  2. ^ I.W.W. Songs, reprint of the 19th edition (1923) of the "Little Red Song Book" (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Co., 2003), inside front cover. Chaplin, Wobbly, p. 148, also has a clear copy of the Preamble.
  3. ^ I.W.W. Songs, reprint of the 19th edition (1923) of the "Little Red Song Book" (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Co., 2003), inside front cover.
  4. ^ Ralph Chaplin, "Why I Wrote Solidarity Forever," American West, January 1968, pp. 23, 24.
  5. ^ An example is the Almanac Singers' cover on Talking Union and other Union Songs, Folkways FH 5285 (1955), reissued by Smithsonian Folkways.
  6. ^ “The Union Bug ,” (January-February 2004), of the United Staff Union, McFarland, WI. usu-wisconsin.org
  7. ^ "Activities for Activists," Education Section of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, June 2004. psac.com
  8. ^ Songs of the Workers To Fan the Flames of Discontent: The Little Red Songbook, Limited Centenary Concert Edition (IWW, June 2005), pp. 4-5.

[edit]References

  • I.W.W. Songs: To Fan the Flames of Discontent, a facsimile reprint of the 19th edition (1923) of the "Little Red Song Book" (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Co., 2003).
  • Songs of the Workers To Fan the Flames of Discontent: The Little Red Songbook, Limited Centenary Concert Edition (IWW, June 2005).
  • Ralph Chaplin, Wobbly: The Rough-and-Tumble Story of an American Radical (The University of Chicago Press, 1948), ch. 15, pp. 162–171.
  • Ralph Chaplin, "Confessions of a Radical," two-part article in Empire Magazine of the Denver Post, Feb. 17, 1957, pp. 12–13, and Feb. 24, 1957, pp. 10–11.
  • Ralph Chaplin, "Why I Wrote Solidarity Forever," American West, vol. 5, no. 1 (January 1968), 18-27, 73.
  • Rise Up Singing page 218. Includes United Farm Workers lyrics in Spanish.
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↧

Flash photography myth re art

March 4, 2013, 9:40 pm
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Does flash photography really damage art? The persistence of a myth.

ART CAMERA FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY
by 
posted Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 2:03 PM EST
Noflash-logoThe other day, I went to an exhibition of photographs by W. Eugene Smith. Entering the museum, I spotted a sign that said, “No Flash Photography!” Out of curiosity, I walked over to a museum guard and asked him why flash photography was prohibited.
His response was "le froid de la lumière est mauvaise pour l'art" - "the cold from the flash is bad for the art." Cold from the flash? Say what?
At first, I laughed. Was this some weird Jedi mind trick?
Curious about this, I began to look into photography bans and found that while the guard's idea was bizarre, it was no crazier than some of the other "reasons" for photography bans, and apparently wasn't even a one-off aberration: In the work by Evans (linked below), he reports "A friend of mine was once admonished by a museum attendant, who said that the light was so bright that it could freeze an object, and this sudden cold shock would be damaging to a delicate wooden exhibit!" Apparently, the idea of a flash "freezing" motion has translated into a meme among museum staff of flash "freezing" objects.
I myself rarely use flash, especially the little ones built into my cameras. I prefer to use existing light as I did in the pictures with this post. Nonetheless, we have all seen the signs prohibiting photography and especially flash photography.
Nonetheless, we have all seen the signs prohibiting photography and especially flash photography.
It seemed strange to me that so many museums, galleries and businesses prohibit photography. Especially now, when it seems that everyone has an iPhone or digital camera with them at all times.

I wondered why there are “no shoot” zones.

Can flash photography harm art?
First, let me deal with the basic question raised by the sign and the guard’s response. Can flashes harm art? If, as I suspected, they did not, why was flash photography and photography in general banned in so many places? Where did this idea come from?
I began to search for answers and came across an article: “Amateur Photographers in Art Galleries: Assessing the harm done by flash photography” by Martin H. Evans.

It began with Evans pointing out that, “For several decades it has been widely believed that the intense illumination from photographic flashguns will damage delicate art and documents.”
Noflash3

What keeps this idea going he says is that, “The brightness of the peak intensity of the flash and uncertainty about ultraviolet (UV) energy frightened curators, and soon there was general agreement that use of these electronic flashguns should not be permitted in museums and fine art galleries.”

To find the basis for this belief, he reviewed the literature and discovered an experiment carried out by the National Gallery (London) in 1995. It “demonstrated” that repeated flashes could change the colors in test pigments. This study became one of the primary justifications for photo bans. Yet, when Evans looked at the data, he saw something entirely different.

In the experiment, two powerful “potato masher” electronic flashes were used. The experimenters removed the UV blocking glass filter from one of the flashes to get the maximum UV output. They placed each flash about three feet from panels of colored pigments and dyed fabrics. A similar panel was set up under “standard gallery lighting” as a control. Over the next few months, the flashes were fired every seven seconds.

After more than a million flashes, the pigments and dyes exposed to the naked flash showed a slight, but visible, fading in a few samples. The samples exposed to the glass filtered flash showed no visible change, although the experimenters were able to detect very small changes with a densitometer. Interestingly, the change for the control group was the same as for the filtered flash. However, seeing any pigment change was enough for the National Gallery to state that they had shown that flash was dangerous.

Evans took this idea apart.

“In the vast majority of pigments there was no more change from UV-filtered flash than from the same quantity of gallery lighting (the control). When there was no UV filter the change was about 10-15% greater than from the equivalent quantity of gallery light.”

“In practice almost all small camera-mounted (and built-in) flashes… incorporate …filters that remove most of the UV wavelengths which conservators fear.”

They talked themselves into it
Evans pointed out that damage to artwork, depends, not just on flash intensity, but duration. In the experiment, the million flashes were from large strobes mounted close to the pigments. In the real world, tiny on-board flashes, fired from a dozen feet away from work, would have to be fired billions of times to get even the same slight effect. If the problem was not the flash then what was going on?
Martin Evans puts it simply: “Curators, journalists, art-lovers and museum directors have been telling each other this (that flashes damage art) for years, and many gallery visitors concur.”
Noflash4

In other words, they’ve talked themselves into a belief, based on talking to themselves about their belief. Evans points out the irony that, "Curators ban photographing things like Pharaonic Egyptian relics that have been bathed in the intense UV light of desert sunlight for over 3000 years.”

Another reason given for the prohibition is the concern for copyright violation. However as Martin Evans points out: “Copyright laws vary from one country to another, and are notoriously difficult to interpret. In some cases, a museum or art gallery might be using the copyright argument as a smokescreen to hide a general desire to prevent visitors from taking photographs.”

Other reasons
What then are the reasons for prohibiting all photography and flash photography in particular?
One reason, told to photographer Paul Harcourt Davies by a museum guard, was that photography was banned to keep crowds moving. At a popular exhibit, people wait on line for hours and any photography slows down the line. Fewer people can get in to see the exhibit and revenue is lost.

There is another very real reason to ban photography: gift shop sales. Most museums make a substantial amount of their revenue from the sale of postcards, posters and other bric-a-brac. The fear is that people taking their own photos, no matter how badly, are going to spend less at a gift shop.
The terrorist theory
Of course, there’s another argument for a photography ban that we hear a lot about these days: the terrorist theory.
Shopping malls, galleries, and museums express concern about security issues ranging from international terrorism to plain old vanilla criminal theft. Sounds like they've been watching too many Hollywood caper movies.
Why would a terrorist need to take photos in a museum or shopping mall when these venues are more than happy to give away detailed brochures -- with maps -- for free? These publications provide more information than any malefactor could record with a camera.
From Martin Evans' perspective, the good news is that flash photography does not hurt artwork. What remains is the bad news that despite the science, galleries and museums believe what they believe and continue the bans.
Noflash2

×Comments for this thread are now closed.
  • Avatar
    Gustavo Basso  8 months ago
    Actually you could show another good reason: manners. As the text says, almost everybody has a built-in flash camera nowadays. So picture yourself trying to look and appreciate a piece of art and every 10s a bright light pops... It's just annoying, if you get a crowded exposition as an example. In other cases, i cant see any problem...
    • Avatar
      Bindra  7 months ago
      No. Flash photography is banned because it ruins the view for all the other visitors. Imagine the Mona Lisa with 2 flashes per second going off in front of it.
      • Avatar
        Ian Wisbey  8 months ago
        Once you spend millions of pounds buying and preserving old or invaluable artefacts then you can decide to risk it; whether or not the flash would deteriorate the art I wouldn't want to be in a gallery, appreciating a masterpiece and then have some idiot dazzling everyone in the room with his flash gun; as a photographer who always has his flash gun in his camera bag, it stays in the camera bag out of courtesy if nothing else. 
        • Avatar
          Zach Thomas  8 months ago
          I agree the flashes would be tremendously annoying, if I was looking at a great work of art.  Along the same lines even if cell phones didn't mess with the navigation of a commercial flight, I wouldn't want to hear the A-hole next to me in a business meeting for a 4 hr flight to California. As a photographer I say.... No Flash!
          • Avatar
            Cassondra Monique  8 months ago
            I have one problem with this article that for me puts all of the things written into question (as I don't know enough about the subject to make an educated posting on all of it). The sentence, "Curators ban photographing things like Pharaonic Egyptian relics that have been bathed in the intense UV light of desert sunlight for over 3000 years.” Does anyone else get the stupidity of this? Most Pharaonic Egyptian relics are from their tombs that have been buried in pyramids or other burial chambers that were closed from light, air, and other weather related hazards for 3000+ years. They have tried working in tombs where the artifacts crumbled as soon as they allowed the sun on them because they were so frail and dry. For me, this throws all "expert" comments and data out the window. If neither the writer nor the writer of the originally noted work holds any weight as they failed realize the stupidity of such a statement, especially in calling it an "irony".
          • Avatar
            Dbeck03  8 months ago
            Amazing you could write this whole piece with no apparent consideration of how flash photography affects fellow museum patrons. (hint: "incredibly annoying" is a good starting point.)
            Also, maybe the museums are doing amateur photogs a favor by robbing them of the ability to bounce flashes of glass display cases and frame inserts.
            • Avatar
              guest  Dbeck03  8 months ago
               The museums don't say "No flash photography because it's annoying".
              He was addressing the answer they give. If prevention of annoyance is the goal they should be honest about it.
              • Avatar
                bob cooley  guest  8 months ago
                 He also states that he asked a guard... A guard is not the person to ask in this case, its not their area of expertise.
                • Avatar
                  mcjw  guest  8 months ago
                  No, he was trying to examine every reason flash is banned, but left out the etiquette part of it. There are many things implied in a museum setting. If you need them to spell it out for you before you obey, you probably should be visiting a kindergarten.
              • Avatar
                Richard  8 months ago
                It is very easy to understand that flash photography in public places is just simply annoying. If I was in a museum appreciating wonderful art objects, and flashes were going off regularly, it would greatly disturb my enjoyment of the art and the whole museum experience. Flash photography is prohibited in classical concerts because it disturbs the performers. (I am a photographer.)
                • Avatar
                  Steven Barall  8 months ago
                  I agree with Richard.  Flash photography is simply annoying.  That's why I hate it when people do it and why I would never do it myself.  Also, is you are seeing objects at a museum that are on loan from other museums or private sources, that museum can not grant anyone permission to photograph those objects because they don't own them.  That is the most common reason for not allowing any photography at all in exhibitions.
                  • Avatar
                    Samuel Jerichow  7 months ago
                    One good reason not to photograph with flashes is because it annoyes everyone else if you make an exhibition room look like a press conference. Noone wants that.
                    • Avatar
                      Franz Szabo  8 months ago
                      I am surprised, not to read here, that flash photography is a simple no go for practically every kind of picture photography because of reflections. Modern ISO usage of 1600 or 3200 ISO plus stabilized lenses gives excellent results in even the dimmest of museum rooms with better colors and much less reflection.
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                        Osh  8 months ago
                        Since I also do some photography bits now and then, I sometimes feel limited by "no flash" laws.
                        BUT!!!!!!!!!!!
                        I am also an exibition-goer. I love to spend my time in galleries and museums, now and then keeping my time at one particular piece.
                        Why do I stop near that one and not another? Because I want to spend time with it. And, apart all, visual connection is that, what connects us [me and the work in question]. I can ignore someone talking somewhere, but I will see the flash bouncing. And I will hate it.
                        So - No Flash rule should remain [in museums and such].
                        • Avatar
                          David  7 months ago
                          I have to say this is an extremely poorly researched article.  You have spoken to a couple of guards, got a couple of second hand accounts and somehow generalised that across the entire museum sector.  Clearly these responses from guards are absurd, that doesn't mean there are not excellent reasons for limiting flash photography in museums and galleries.  You do raise the copyright issue and I have to say, despite your dissmissal of it, it is a valid concern.  Frequently different works in a show will have different copyright issues also in shows including loan works the owners may request that photography is not allowed.
                          You also show a clear lack of comprehension of basic conservation philosophy.  You take teh results of a low level of change over the course of an experiment to be evidence that it is fine.  The simple fact is that a visible change over the course of seven months will be a major change over the course of fifty years.  The idea isn't to preserve works for a couple of years, the aim is for hundreds. The fact that some flashes include UV filters is irrelevant when many do not and cheaper (therefore more common) flashes are less likely to be filtered. 
                          The patron comfort question is also ignored and in my experience is a significant factor in banning flashes.  No one enjoys looking at art with camera flashes going off every couple of seconds.
                          Finally your implication that photography is banned due to some conspiracy to increase revenue is frankly paranoid.
                          Please do us all a favour and research your articles better than this. 
                        • Avatar
                          Kathleen Grace  8 months ago
                          I posted this same comment on another site, so if it is repetitive it is by intent.  I worked as an art and custom framing consultant - and I can speak to the fact that any kind of artwork can be sensitive to light, particularly long-term exposure, but also continual bright flashes. These days if one allowed flash photography it would look like strobe lights going off in galleries, particularly in museums where lighting is normally low except on the artwork. All paints and inks have a sensitivity to light - you don't ever display artwork directly in daylight or fluorescent light. We know that fluorescent light emits ultraviolet radiation and that can cause deterioration of all artwork including sculptures. And considering this is a photography site, we should all know what light does to photography. Framed art is also sensitive to environmental pollution - often forming a film inside a framed artwork, and light is a contributor to that film. I don't care what some person came up with as an idea, I have seen hundreds of times first hand the damage that light does to artwork and particularly framed art. In addition, exposed to light, the temperature of the artwork under glass can increase and cause offgassing, a chemical release of gas from the artwork, and that can cause deterioration of the artwork. As well, the artwork can swell and cause paint cracking, and on paper artwork can cause moisture build-up under the glass which in turn can cause mold to form and paper to curl - a photograph's worst enemy.
                          • Avatar
                            atom23  Kathleen Grace  7 months ago
                            Yes, as a mixed-media artist AND photographer I'd like to read more about what different types of pigments, inks, papers etc. have to different types of light. I feel ignorant as I definitely didn't know how harmful fluorescent light can be (not to mention a poor lighting for most "traditional" artworks).
                            That said I also consider light itself to be a viable medium. If sunlight, tungsten, or fluorescent light is for example part of the piece itself, that is a different case. If the process of deterioration is a part of the piece, it is as well a viable medium. I know, off topic.
                            • Avatar
                              Al  Kathleen Grace  8 months ago
                              Kathleen, the best thing you can do is write a paper on it and get it publicised. Or encourage someone else to. 
                            • Avatar
                              Jens Hamada  8 months ago
                              flash is often annoying.. im a photographer but i support that flash is not allowed everywhere.
                              i don´t want to visit the national gallery and be bombarded by hordes of japanese stampeding through the rooms firing their flashguns every second.
                            • Avatar
                              stevefotos Mod  8 months ago
                              Love all the comments but as so often happens on the web, things begin to drift away from the original intent. Banning photography should be based on good reasons. I have no problem if a museum says that out of respect for other attendees there no flash photography is allowed. That is very different than saying that a flash damages art. The study showed that powerful flashes had only a slight effect on a specific set of dyes and pigments. Many artists did not use materials that were what as we would call "archival." Specific materials may be more sensitive to UV light, air pollution and humidity. But do we know which ones?
                              The point I hoped to make is that the short duration of the flash on most cameras and their relatively weak output means that the total energy received by the art is even lower than in the National Gallery study. Their test flashes were near the art and if you ever held your hand over a flash when it fired, there is a lot of energy lost through heat. (Flash doesn't cause damage by freezing art with cold--a reference I've dropped as it is another distraction from the main theme) but I was surprised that the National Gallery study didn't eliminate the possibility that the heat generated by the flashes being so close to the dyes and pigments, causing some of the damage they saw. 
                              Steve Meltzer  
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                              Sam  8 months ago
                              You left out an important reason to think carefully about flash photography - people with photosensitive epilepsy. This may only affect a small number of people with epilepsy but a seizure can have a devastating effect on someone's life. Just a small number of repeated flashes could trigger a seizure. For public venues this is a health and safety issue - they have to protect their visitors and customers to ensure fair access for all.
                              • Avatar
                                Tom  Sam  8 months ago
                                 Sam the flashes needed to trigger most epilepsy have to be in the range of 60 Hertz,  (multiple times a second). I have child who was tested for this and asked the  person in the hospital preforming the test,  about camera strobes and seizures.  Maybe some of the point and shoots that claim to reduce red eye by a series of flashed may. Unless you are at a major red carpet event the odds of having multiple flashes going off in the same second is wildly unlikely.  You should be much more afraid of a ballast going bad in a  overhead light or at video screen starting to flicker. So I don't see this as you put it "an important reason to think carefully about flash photography" I don't like people spreading rumors about my profession.
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                                  Phase19  Sam  8 months ago
                                  There would have to be a huge number of flashes going off simultaneously to have any chance of triggering a photosensitive epileptic seizure. 
                                  • Avatar
                                    Zach Thomas  Sam  8 months ago
                                    no
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                                      Dave Etchells Mod  Sam  8 months ago
                                      Actually, AFAIK, triggers for photosensitive epilepsy are repeating flashes, not a single strobe pop. i don't think that's a reason for restricting flash usage. See:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...
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                                        maco  Dave Etchells  8 months ago
                                        The guideline web developers are (supposed to...) use for how many times something can flash on the screen before it becomes an accessibility risk for folks with epilepsy is 3. So if 3+ people take a photo at about the same time... you're in that ballpark.
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                                        Arthur Etchells Mod  Sam  8 months ago
                                        There are many public venues that don't restrict flash photography. Limiting flash photography may have welcome side effects for those with epilepsy (I don't know), but I doubt it's the driving force behind restricting flash photography.
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                                          Ratzz  Sam  8 months ago
                                          hmmm....
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                                          RS  8 months ago
                                          I am no photography or art expert, but my feeling is that historically, this ban might have started with the earlier flashguns where they used the one time use bulbs and filaments which used to produce lot of heat and smoke and were fire hazards.
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                                            stevefotos Mod  8 months ago
                                            Dr. A
                                            Well, in re-reading Evans piece I did find the reference to cold freezing objects. I had the same experience with an attendant here in France who told me about "le froid de la lumière est mauvaise pour l'art." It is what got me thinking about this issue. I was surprised when I read that Evans friend had a similar experience and probably in writing the piece recalled some of his language. But that is beside the point of the article.
                                            This is an issue that shouldn't be blown off with a simplistic "If you don't like the rules don't visit." 
                                            Photography bans seem to be spreading throughout the world and they can lead to trouble as just happened to a University of Toronto professor who was roughed up in a Paris McDonald's for wearing camera eyeglasses. He is vision impaired and needs the glasses--of his own design--to see. The glasses are permanently connected to his visual system. McDonald's said no cameras and no photography and despite a doctor's note explaining his need, he was rough up by McD staff. Should he not have gone there to eat? 
                                            Finally, I simply do not understand Dr. A saying that Evans agrees with the National Gallery findings that flash had no effect or little effect. That's not what is said and if it was why was the study the basis for so many bans? Certainly there are reasonable reasons for limiting photography with flash, but Dr. A didn't seem to present any. 
                                            I do not understand how in the world this is a non-issue. There are groups that are protesting against these bans in public places and public museums, pointing out that museums supported through their taxes should not restrict people from taking pictures of the very works they've paid for. 
                                            And in response to Bruce--taking photos of museum art with a small point and shoot, so you can make fake copies of the art is not too smart. Smarter would be to go to a library (or even Wikipedia) and get a book with a high quality professionally shot picture of the art in it.
                                            Steve 
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                                              Toysandme  stevefotos  7 months ago
                                              "le froid de la lumière est mauvaise pour l'art." First of all a minor correction. It should be "...est mauvais pour..." (froid is masculin). The sentence does not make any sense in French except in a poetic way. The only sentence I was able to find on the web was: "C’est dans le froid de la lumière qu’on croit à la chaleur de la nuit." This is the only context where this sentence makes any sense.
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                                                Friedavmh  stevefotos  8 months ago
                                                Good post, Steve
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                                                  Dr Acunculus  stevefotos  8 months ago
                                                  First, the fact that Steve uses virtually identical language to that of Mr Evans is irrelevant to the content of the article, yes.  It is nevertheless intellectual dishonesty.
                                                  Second, the reference to the McDonalds ban is irrelevant and you are inappropriately conflating the long standing issue museum professional have had with flash photography with the much more recent and onerous attempts to curtail rights in public places.  Museums, by and large are not banning photography outright - i have taken many photos in museums with my phone, my old Leica or my Nikno D300 with not problems.  In general "Property owners may legally prohibit photography on their premises" (http://www.krages.com/ThePhoto....  I am not a fan of McDonalds, however, I support their right to restrict photography on their property.
                                                  Third, it's very unclear that Professor Mann (the "assaultee") has any more of a vision impairment than I with myopia.  THe Augusta Chronicle in 2004 reported, "Mann [...] spends hours every day viewing the world through that little monitor in front of his eye - so much so that going without the apparatus often leaves him feeling nauseous, unsteady, naked."  Do you have some reference to a "visual impairment" of his that is not self induced, other than myopia etc?
                                                  Fourth, Steve's argument is based on his claim that Evans "took apart" the National Gallery's position that "flash was dnagerous".  In fact Evans states that the  results of the Saunders study (National Gallery) are consistent with earlier calculations as well as with 3 later studies.   I will quote the National Gallery (Saunders) study that Evans referenced again: "There is nothing to suggest that the light level produced by a modern 
                                                  photographic flash gun is any more damaging than an equivalent dose of 
                                                  light delivered gradually while an object is on display".  Remember this is the National Gallery study's conclusions.  If Evans disagrees with that conclusion in the article Steve is discussing, tell me where.
                                                  Finally Steve says I don't present any arguments for limiting photography with flash.  That was not the main point of my original comment - that should be obvious from my discussion.  However if Steve looks at the end of the Evans article which he  discussed he will find that Evans discusses various arguments, ending simply, "I would suggest that if museum and art gallery administrators decide for reasons of their own to forbid electronic flash specifically, or photography in general, then they should simply advertise that the procedure is prohibited, without adding any explanation. Once one attempts to justify one's reasons for a prohibition, one is open to legitimate arguments against it."
                                                  I agree.
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                                                  Dr Acunculus  8 months ago
                                                  This seems like a non-issue.  The museums/caves/tombs etc can set whatever photography guidleines they want.  If you don't like the rules don't visit.
                                                  That said, I have a few criticisms about the article.
                                                  First of all the personal story Mr. Meltzer is almost exactly the same story, word for word in part, that Martin H. Evans, the author Mr Meltzer refers to extensively, recounts.  In particular, Mr Meltzer says that the museum guard said, “the flash light is so bright that it freezes an object and the sudden 
                                                  cold shock is damaging to delicate paintings and other objects.”  Martin Evans says that his friend "was once admonished by a museum attendant, who said that 
                                                  the light was so bright that it could freeze an object, and this sudden 
                                                  cold shock would be damaging to a delicate wooden exhibit."  I think Mr Meltzer essentially copied and pasted this story from Mr Evans article.  This is intellectually dishonest.
                                                  Secondly Evans didn't see anything "entirely different" from the stated conclusion of the National Gallery of London article.  To wit: "There is nothing to suggest that the light level produced by a modern photographic flash gun is any more damagin than an equivalent dose of light delivered gradually while an object is on display", concludes the National Gallery article.  In other words "although it seems there is no peculiar hazard associated with photographic flash [there is] a small but finite deterioration [which] occurs in addition to that suffered by routine display in an illuminated gallery.  Mr Metzler's article misrepresents both Mr Evans and Mr Saunders (National Gallery) articles.
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                                                    Monochrome Eye  8 months ago
                                                    I would say a more rational reason could be becouse flash might disturb the "ambiance". I am a photographer and I would not be real happy about flashes going off all the time while sittng and looking at a piece of art. I will admit that this would only be a problem around the more popular works in any museum. That being said, I would have no issue with someone taking non-flash images. With the argument that the light hurts the work, I will go with the financial argument as the most valid.
                                                    PS My real pet peeve is are places that ban tripods, telling me it is "A safety issue" but allow baby stollers.
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                                                      Mike Tomkins Mod  Monochrome Eye  8 months ago
                                                      I was about to say the same.  True, I doubt flash has much of an effect on typical artworks.  A ban on flash photography in typical museums removes a distraction for those trying to focus on the art, though.
                                                      It's somewhat analogous to cell phone usage in cruise (note: not in take off or landing phases), which doesn't bring down airliners or crash phone networks. However, that ban on cell phone usage brought the average airline passenger a measure of peace and quiet, which has gradually been removed as airlines first provided seatback phones, and then started to allow cellphone usage.
                                                      Tripods I can also to some extent understand banning, although I don't agree with claiming it to be a safety issue. The truth is plenty: setting up a bulky tripod in front of an exhibit stops others from getting close enough to appreciate it.
                                                      Available light, monopod photography for non-commercial use should be allowed, if you ask me.
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                                                      Tez  Monochrome Eye  8 months ago
                                                      I believe the tripod issue is due to the gallery/museum curators believe (wrongly) all tripod carriers to be commercial photographers and no gallery or museum is about to allow a commercial photographer make money without their establishment making a cut hence the general leaning towards tripods needing a permit which can usually be obtained at a price from the premises.
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                                                        Guest  Monochrome Eye  8 months ago
                                                         I have problem with shutter sound too and I think it really disturb the "ambiance". :D
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                                                      PhotoJoe55  8 months ago
                                                      It's their property, so if they say no, it's no!
                                                      • Avatar
                                                        John Wilson  8 months ago
                                                        The Victoria and Albert Museum in London allows flash photography http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/a... In my experience it's one of the most photography friendly places in London.
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                                                          Terry19452  8 months ago
                                                          In the UK I have never been stopped taking photos inside National Trust properties; the sole proviso is "No flash, please."  And I've found the same situation in France when taking photos inside chateaux. I've no problem with this. 
                                                          When it comes to works of art, which are one of a kind, I am more than happy to accept the position that repeated doses of flash may, just may, and over a period of time, cause a minute deterioration. In not using flash, I'm happy knowing I'm not contributing to it!
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                                                            Bruce  8 months ago
                                                            the main reason behind the photography and flash thing is to stop picture thieves from copying the art...  and not so much about the Flash discolouring pigments...
                                                            Well thats my opinion...
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                                                              Guest  8 months ago
                                                              Ambiance is important to me as a user and a flash wouldn't enhance that. If you see a flash out of the corner of your eye you're distracted. 
                                                              Tripods would be a disaster: someone setting up their tripod right in front of the art and preventing or discouraging people from getting close to the art for the minutes it would take to take the photo. And even if a tripod is less of a hazard than a baby carriage, the tripod is less necessary for museum goers than a baby carriage.In other words, those rules are a good compromise for the clients.
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                                                              1. Notes on the Troubleshooting and Repair of Electronic Flash Units ...

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                                                              3. Does flash photography really damage art? The persistence of a myth.

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                                                                Jul 19, 2012 – Can flashes harm art? If, as I suspected, they did not, why was flashphotography and photography in general banned in so many places?

                                                              4. Flash photography in galleries

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                                                                Assessing the harm done by flash photography. ... light sources and recommended that an electronic flash system should not exceed 1400 joules ... The conclusion is that if the number of photo-flashes does not exceed a few hundred per day, ...

                                                              5. Thread: Does electronic flash harm fish? - Aquatic Photography Forum

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                                                                Does the burst of light from an electronic flash bother/annoy/harm fish? I get asked this question a lot and really don't have a definitive answer.

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                                                                Dec 18, 2012 – Does electronic flash harm fish? ... The Nikon J2 is the only MILC I am aware of that does not use mechanical shutter.Are there any other MILCs ...
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                                                                Electronic Flash for Nikon EM and FM - NIKON‎ - 23 Dec 2012





                                                              7. [PDF] 

                                                                600 Series Camera User Guide

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                                                                File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
                                                                Do not use the camera if it has been damaged, until it has been examined at an authorized .... Other Polaroid films will not fit into or work with this camera. Electronic.Flash. Red. Button ..... judge how light from the scene will affect your picture.

                                                              8. The Use of Flash in Nature Photography

                                                                www.charlesbushphoto.com/flash.html
                                                                Electronic flash, frequently a tool of choice, can also do more harm than good if notapplied properly. For successful images for which I've used flash, I've gone ...

                                                              9. Electronic Flash Information

                                                                www.chem.helsinki.fi/~toomas/photo/flash-faq.html
                                                                Aug 28, 1999 – How do electronic flash units work? ... At this stage, the gas does notconduct electricity and emits no light. ..... Additional (non-central) contacts on only one side (camera or flash unit) should generally not affect operation.

                                                              10. Checking trigger voltage | DPanswers

                                                                dpanswers.com/content/genrc_flash_measuretv.php
                                                                Mar 31, 2011 – Do you want to find out whether your old flash is safe? ... such as digital cameras or wireless trigger may damage the equiment. ... Newer, dedicated flash units with multiple pins for TTL electronic flash control can generally be considered “safe”. ...Refer to the photo above if you do not know what these are.
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                                                              Sent: Saturday, March 09, 2013 7:16 PM
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                                                              Stick to hairdressing

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                                                              After attending an AFL clash at the MCG as a guest of the Richmond Football Club, Mr Mathieson emailed its chief executive, Brendon Gale, copying in the Prime Minister’s office, to complain about the Opposition Leader’s access to the team’s inner sanctum and his prominent seating at a pre-game function.
                                                              Mr Mathieson demanded that Mr Gale raise the matter with the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Ben Hubbard.
                                                              Really? This is why political spouses should be seen and not heard.
                                                              Written by Sinclair Davidson
                                                              March 9th, 2013 at 12:28 am
                                                              Posted in 2013 election
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                                                              108 Responses to 'Stick to hairdressing'

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                                                              1. And anyway, what’s with this “First Bloke” rubbish? She’s PM, not President; and they aren’t married. He’s a non-entity Gillard uses as a prop to demonstrate she’s hetero, even if a bit indiscriminate.
                                                                Cato the Elder
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:37 am
                                                              2. He should pay his debts
                                                                Tiny Dancer
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:44 am
                                                              3. This is why political spouses should be seen and not heard.
                                                                The house brick is not a ‘spouse’, it barely qualifies as a pet rock.
                                                                Could these mongrels be any more z-grade if they tried?
                                                                Rabz
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:45 am
                                                              4. Honestly! has there ever been a more bogan couple in the Lodge than these two? And they go overseas and meet important people from other nations, in our name. The embarrassment of it all.
                                                                Gab
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:46 am
                                                              5. Heh. Unless he has another twitter account…this one was stopped in 2011…for obvious reasons.
                                                                Gab
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:51 am
                                                              6. He actually isn’t a hairdresser.
                                                                I understand he’s a mousse salesman.
                                                                C.L.
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:51 am
                                                              7. Dim Mathieson ‏@1stbloke
                                                                dumm as dogshit!
                                                                Rabz
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:54 am
                                                              8. I’m gobsmacked. By what virtue then is Mathieson admitted to such areas?
                                                                Nic
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:13 am
                                                              9. Why oh why did the eastern states inflict on Australia the KRudd in 2007 and then this excruciatingly embarrassing pair in 2010?
                                                                Ubique
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:17 am
                                                              10. Fuck me. Timmy should have to take one finger up the Aliice hole from each player.
                                                                Skuter
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:35 am
                                                              11. Nah. I’m smashed. This ain’t happening. Where is Johnny comnenus? I’m fucking dreaming…
                                                                Skuter
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:37 am
                                                              12. Someone’s hammered.
                                                                sdfc
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:43 am
                                                              13. Skuter!!!! Being a bit harsh.
                                                                Sinclair Davidson
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:44 am
                                                              14. sdfc
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:44 am
                                                              15. “Richmond has accommodated Mr Mathieson’s requests for tickets, hospitality and memorabilia since his move into The Lodge.”
                                                                So, exactly who paid for those tickets, hospitality and memorabilia?
                                                                If they were gifts were they declared? Or do only spouses have do do that, not shackup partners?
                                                                Zatara
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 3:06 am
                                                              16. Ideas well beyond his station in life just like “she who must be obeyed”.
                                                                Lowlifes who love throwing their weight around who are about to get their comeuppance.
                                                                honeybadger
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 6:38 am
                                                              17. I’m laughing too hard to think of anything clever to say.
                                                                sdog
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 6:43 am
                                                              18. Mr Mathieson has a habit of firing off emails and texts to Ms Gillard’s personal staff when he senses a perceived injustice.
                                                                Don’t they understand it’s his gravy train?
                                                                lotocoti
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 7:23 am
                                                              19. “Richmond has accommodated Mr Mathieson’s requests for tickets, hospitality and memorabilia since his move into The Lodge.”
                                                                A curious turn of phrase; and no mention of any payment for those benefits.
                                                                Brett
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 7:41 am
                                                              20. “Australia has accommodated Ms Gillard’s requests for tickets, hospitality and memorabilia since her move into The Lodge.”
                                                                Pickles
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 7:50 am
                                                              21. There’s another piece in the Oz today that’s quite good too.
                                                                Last year he was photographed in a black jacket with the words “First Bloke” embroidered in red stitching. [...] “Don’t you know who I am?I’m the Prime Minister’s partner,” he spluttered to the gatekeeper who queried his admission through the VIP entry to Manuka Oval on May 12 last year. “Don’t you know who I am” is a refrain that has punctuated several Mathieson sightings when he’s been stopped in his tracks or stuck in officialdom’s hoops.
                                                                …
                                                                sdog
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 8:03 am
                                                              22. More from that link:
                                                                His son Kane, 32, who works in construction on the Gold Coast, can’t believe his luck. According to a Cricket Australia official, Mathieson asks to visit the change rooms before the cricket. “He’s requested to go down a couple of times. Once with his son. It’s a very protected space. Only when he’s been with the PM have we met those requests.”
                                                                “Money can’t buy this kind of access,” says one football official. “Joe Blow does not get to shake [Richmond player] Jack Riewoldt’s hand. Tim has not been backward in seeking these privileges.” Male visitors to The Lodge say Mathieson often marches them straight up the stairs to the “pool room” where an “entire wall” is covered in sporting memorabilia. Gifts include a signed bat from Cricket Australia, a Richmond footy jumper, a Wallabies tracksuit top and windbreaker, and two New York Giants jerseys. At the Prime Minister’s XI in January he took home a signed hat and a cricket shirt presented to the first couple with their names emblazoned on the back.
                                                                Good grief.
                                                                sdog
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 8:12 am
                                                              23. straight to the pool room.
                                                                duncanm
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 8:15 am
                                                              24. The idiotic timbo is using his second rate stature in life like a mob stand over man. ” If u don’t give me that you’ll get no favours from my boss”. What a lowlife.
                                                                Tom
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 8:26 am
                                                              25. “Don’t you know who I am?” Yes we do. We just dont want you here.
                                                                johninoxley
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 8:32 am
                                                              26. His fiery outburst occurred on a Sunday evening after the Dreamtime AFL match between Essendon and Richmond on May 19 last year…
                                                                “Mate u need to speak with Ben Hubbard on why abboott was taken down to the rooms … “ Mr Mathieson fumed. “ … it’s just not on Who authorised it < it was a shocker it was a Don's function and he should not have gone down there
                                                                Do you know who I am?
                                                                Yes.
                                                                You’re a filthy freeloading grub and you and lard-arse make a perfect couple.
                                                                What a trumped up piece of shit!
                                                                Telling sports clubs they shouldn’t invite the leader of the opposition to a function.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 8:40 am
                                                              27. What is interesting is where the Richmond e-mails came from.
                                                                Richmond CEO Brendon Gale is rusted on Labor so he would be an unlikely leaker.
                                                                The PM’s office was copied in.
                                                                An enemy within perhaps.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 8:45 am
                                                              28. Spot on Tiny.
                                                                He should return to Shepparton and settle up.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 8:46 am
                                                              29. Honestly! has there ever been a more bogan couple in the Lodge than these two?
                                                                I wish you lot would stop calling them that. As a westy, they aint bogans.
                                                                Fleeced
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 8:50 am
                                                              30. He actually isn’t a hairdresser.
                                                                I understand he’s a mousse salesman.
                                                                Yeah – I rememberer hearing that last year… Haha – funniest revelation of the year. He’d been mocked as a hairdresser for years (including on that ABC show), and then we find out that he was a couple rungs lower.
                                                                Fleeced
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 8:54 am
                                                              31. AFL grand final is 28 sept. poor bugger isn’t going to get a seat as that’s two weeks after the election.
                                                                Boy on a bike
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 8:59 am
                                                              32. And anyway, what’s with this “First Bloke” rubbish?
                                                                I’ tried getting “First fuck-buddy” to take off, but with no success.
                                                                Fleeced
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:01 am
                                                              33. AFL grand final is 28 sept. poor bugger isn’t going to get a seat as that’s two weeks after the election.
                                                                Depends how long in advance he secures the tickets.
                                                                It was joked before that a proposal could be on the cards to bump up their popularity… I reckon a breakup might do better in that regard.
                                                                Fleeced
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:03 am
                                                              34. Shady Oakes will blame Abbott. See, if Abbott hadn’t been there then poor Timmy wouldn’t have got upset and sent an email.
                                                                Pathetic.
                                                                Tim and Jools have had precious little to do with sport their whole sad excuses for lives. They should be paying a premium (out of their own pockets) to bask in the reflected glory of sportspeople. That glory doesn’t come cheap these days.
                                                                Drop taxpayer funding of sporting codes and politicians and their significant others wouldn’t have such ‘pull’ with clubs in the first place.
                                                                Keith
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:03 am
                                                              35. “Don’t you know who I am?”
                                                                easily becomes
                                                                “Don’t you know who I think I am?”
                                                                Paul
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:15 am
                                                              36. AFL grand final is 28 sept. poor bugger isn’t going to get a seat as that’s two weeks after the election.
                                                                Too true!
                                                                He will probably try to snag as many Freebies as he can before the gravy train is de-railed, but I doubt he is that clever.
                                                                It will be hilarious to hear the post election stories of Tim trying to barge his way into the member’s enclosure at the footy/cricket/races and being sat back on his arse.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:18 am
                                                              37. “Don’t you know who I am was?”
                                                                sdog
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:22 am
                                                              38. Mrs Whitlam, whose husband Gough was prime minister from 1972 to 1975, says Mrs Howard has no sense of humour and should not still be holding hands with her husband in public.
                                                                “For God’s sake, they’ve been married for over 30 years!” Mrs Whitlam says in a new biography to be published next week.
                                                                In extracts from the biography, published in The Bulletin magazine today, Mrs Whitlam says Mrs Howard does not do enough charity work or public appearances.
                                                                “She is useless in terms of how little she really gives the community,” Mrs Whitlam is quoted as saying.
                                                                “The doesn’t even go to the old people’s homes that Howard visits. The only thing she goes to is big public things.
                                                                I’ts not like Tim “Vidal Sassoon” Mathieson can critisise Abbott for not doing charity work so he hits out on the next best thing…..”Why does he get better free stuff than me?”
                                                                Splatacrobat
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:24 am
                                                              39. It all starts to make sense.
                                                                Does anyone remember mid last year when it was revealed (by Tim Blair I think) that they had appointed a PA to manage Tim Matheson’s “affairs of state”.
                                                                At the time there was outrage at the expense because, basically, Tim didn’t actually do anything to need a PA.
                                                                I suspect it was an appointment to vet Timbo’s e-mail outbox after he had been into the Lodge cellar.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:24 am
                                                              40. Reading that article I was struck by how The humble hard working Abbott with hardworking demure spouse, his close knit family with 3 intelligent girls who are working to achieve their potential.
                                                                Take a minute contrast with the brash & dodgy PM’s family with lay about spouse with a chip on his shoulder & a brood of 3 tactless, tasteless underachieving whelps.
                                                                What could be a better allegory for the 2 schools of political thought in this country and the 2 coalitions of parties that represent these schools of thought?
                                                                Token
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:29 am
                                                              41. Margaret Whitlam would have contributed more foe the country if she stood up to her husband about his love for far left regimes with a habit of killing millions of its citizens.
                                                                Token
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:32 am
                                                              42. I’ tried getting “First fuck-buddy” to take off, but with no success.
                                                                He would be a long way down the queue to be able to legitimately claim that title fleeced.
                                                                Splatacrobat
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:33 am
                                                              43. What is interesting is where the Richmond e-mails came from.
                                                                Richmond CEO Brendon Gale is rusted on Labor so he would be an unlikely leaker.
                                                                The PM’s office was copied in.
                                                                An enemy within perhaps.
                                                                Bolta is a keen Richmond supporter from what I gather. Brendon Gale being the only Richmond address on an email doesn’t mean it is not auto directed to other addresses within Richmond. And since he knew that the story was coming out yesterday…… . Andrew Bolt is Satan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                                                                Bear Necessities
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:38 am
                                                              44. Geez, hope Abbott doesn’t turn up at the netball. Seriously, though, this log should stay polite. Gale won’t have to offer him anything next year.
                                                                And Another Thing
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:38 am
                                                              45. I think the authority responsible for The Lodge would be well advised to do regular inventories of the cellar and silver.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:39 am
                                                              46. “I’ tried getting “First fuck-buddy” to take off, but with no success”
                                                                Thought he was a few decades late for that accolade.
                                                                what planet am I on?
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:40 am
                                                              47. Hey Bear.
                                                                I am guessing that the leaked e-mails might have come from the PM’s office.
                                                                You know, a disgruntled staffer who joined to do serious political stuff but instead find themselves assigned to wiping Timmy’s arse.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:43 am
                                                              48. I still wonder if the first “couple” have actually coupled!!!
                                                                Do they actually sleep on the same bed???
                                                                Mike of Marion
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:44 am
                                                              49. . Seriously, though, this log should stay polite. Gale won’t have to offer him anything next year.
                                                                I can see a number of people activating the “number blocked” feature on the iPhone and the “send to recycle bin” facility on e-mail first thing on 15th September.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:47 am
                                                              50. “I’ tried getting “First fuck-buddy” to take off, but with no success”
                                                                Thought he was a few decades late for that accolade.
                                                                First Unmarried Fuck Buddy.
                                                                Bear Necessities
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:49 am
                                                              51. What rude comments.
                                                                Vidal Mathieson is a VIP after all.
                                                                (Vidal lifted from above comment.
                                                                This is a freaking hilarious fred.)
                                                                JC
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:51 am
                                                              52. Timbo suffers from delusions of adequacy
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 9:58 am
                                                              53. Thought he was a few decades late for that accolade.
                                                                I never said he was the first First Fuck-Buddy…. But as they’re unmarried, and it seems to be a relationship of convenience, it seemed a more appropriate title than “First Bloke”
                                                                To be honest, I don’t understand all the fuss about “first lady”, etc… we’re not America. It’s funny how people are so anti-US, but they love to emulate them… kind of similar to how the US is obsessed with royalty – strange.
                                                                Fleeced
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 10:00 am
                                                              54. I’m more surprised that it has taken this long exposing her choice in partners is such that they are all on the dud side of the ledger.
                                                                In her case “It’s not you but me” should read “it’s both of us”.
                                                                Splatacrobat
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 10:01 am
                                                              55. Having deciphered Timbo’s poor spelling and Grammar I can deduce that he isn’t happy with Tony Abboot (sic).
                                                                Is it poor grammar, or simply poor typing skills?
                                                                Perhaps he needs an Asian lady PA with small fingers to type his correspondence.
                                                                … “Take a letter Maria Ting-Tong”
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 10:03 am
                                                              56. Great work Fleeced
                                                                Tim can have TLS-FFB on his T Shirt but also as the rego on his car.
                                                                WhaleHunt Fun
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 10:04 am
                                                              57. Or maybe First unmarried….
                                                                FUMFB
                                                                WhaleHunt Fun
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 10:05 am
                                                              58. Bollard will come home one day next year to find the Harvey Norman couch, the plasma, the jet-ski and Timbo have all gone missing.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 10:06 am
                                                              59. Perhaps he needs an Asian lady PA with small fingers to type his correspondence.
                                                                … “Take a letter Maria 457 Ting-Tong”
                                                                There fixed
                                                                Splatacrobat
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 10:07 am
                                                              60. To be honest, I don’t understand all the fuss about “first lady”, etc… we’re not America. It’s funny how people are so anti-US, but they love to emulate them… kind of similar to how the US is obsessed with royalty – strange
                                                                Quite so
                                                                what planet am I on?
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 10:08 am
                                                              61. still wonder if the first “couple” have actually coupled!!!
                                                                Great – now i have to soak my brain in paint stripper to remove the mental image.
                                                                Carpe Jugulum
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 10:09 am
                                                              62. Perhaps he needs an Asian lady PA with small fingers to type his correspondence
                                                                LOL… Some funny lines on this thread.
                                                                Fleeced
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 10:11 am
                                                              63. Not to worry. The “First Booty Call” and his Sheila are busy packing this weekend. Since she got rooted in Rooty Hill, Timbo can see the Crean on the wall.
                                                                Rod Stuart
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 10:21 am
                                                              64. To plagarise a line from History of the World:
                                                                “It is good to be the First Bloke”
                                                                His registry since 2009 reads like a sports junkie’s almanac. He’s present at almost every major event on the Australian calendar: Formula 1 Grand Prix; Derby Day; Oaks Day; Twenty20 games; Test Matches; the Australian Open; State of Origin; the Bradman Oration; Sports Australia Hall of Fame dinner; final series for AFL and NRL. Cricket Australia and Richmond Football Club have been generous providers of tickets, hospitality and memorabilia.
                                                                Bear Necessities
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 11:01 am
                                                              65. Tim Vidal’s faux paux’s should be rebadged as “Julia’s bad hair days”.
                                                                Splatacrobat
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 11:04 am
                                                              66. Prime minister doesn’t mean the first in a chronological sense.
                                                                First fuck-buddy just means fuck-buddy of the TLS, who finds herself floundering in the position of PM – God alone knows how that’s happened.
                                                                kae
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 11:20 am
                                                              67. God alone knows how that’s happened.
                                                                The elevation, the reasons for the floundering are apparent.
                                                                kae
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 11:24 am
                                                              68. Yes bear it’s Good to be The King. But I forsee that this bloke will end up as
                                                                Pickles
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 11:25 am
                                                              69. Can’t wait for Tim’s memoirs to be published ….. and translated into English.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 11:32 am
                                                              70. Tim is an “avid fan”.
                                                                I seem to remember that term from a Hanibal Lecter book…
                                                                Boy on a bike
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 11:35 am
                                                              71. Is it tim Vidal , tim Sassoon , Vidal Mathieson
                                                                Sassoon Mathieson ?
                                                                Get it right, people.
                                                                JC
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 11:51 am
                                                              72. How about Mousse Mathieson?
                                                                duncanm
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:19 pm
                                                              73. You are all so unkind to Timmie! He is a VIP (very illiterate prick) .after all he is one of the ” men” shagging the alp/green/ Totally Dependent Guvmint Liebor Loider ! Show some respectfor this lovely “New Oideea” couple and do an inventory when they are evicted .confiscate her payout to pay for any damage or missing stuff!
                                                                Borisgodunov
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:20 pm
                                                              74. Why is this so apt?
                                                                duncanm
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:20 pm
                                                              75. Anyone will do if you pay them enough.
                                                                Says it all about Labor and Gillard.
                                                                mareeS
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:24 pm
                                                              76. One of the few FOI requests (pdf) released by the PM’s Office relate to Tim Mathieson. Apparently one of his “titles” is the “First Man”. A bit much for this jumped up de facto.
                                                                Cold-Hands
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:25 pm
                                                              77. The ABc is all over this story. Non-stop reporting all morning….bwwaahahahaha. Seriously, imagine if this was a conservative spouse, the msm would be beside itself in rushing to report the matter.
                                                                Gab
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:31 pm
                                                              78. What’s happening with those FOI requests about who was driving Gillard’s personal taxpayer-funded car when all the speeding fines were accrued?
                                                                Timmeh is such a sporty bloke, and Julia doesn’t have the IQ to move it out of P into D, let alone find the accelerator.
                                                                mareeS
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:31 pm
                                                              79. Amazing how much of that FOI product has been redacted, for email exchanges on what the FFB was going to say at some event in the NT.
                                                                Gab
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:40 pm
                                                              80. He is certainly no Dennis Thatcher.
                                                                War Service
                                                                Successful self made businessman
                                                                Family man
                                                                Splatacrobat
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 12:57 pm
                                                              81. Indeed Gab.
                                                                Do a quick find/replace substituting the name of the author of the e-mails as Jeanette Howard and the replace the subject of the complaint (Abbooot) with “Rudd”.
                                                                The Age would do a 16 page lift-out and there would be a full 4-Corners episode on why the Howard’s are unfit for high office.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:23 pm
                                                              82. Timbo is the type who gives trailer-trash a bad name.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:24 pm
                                                              83. The Mousse who Roared
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:25 pm
                                                              84. Having read the story on ‘First Freeloader’, Tiny Tim, the professionally unemployed, bankrupt, colour-blind, Shepparton ex-hairdresser, on Bolt’s Blog, I can’t help feeling sorry for the poor blighter!
                                                                Whenever you are feeling ‘down-in-the-dumps’ yourself, it is always somewhat uplifting to read of somebody whose circumstances are more tragic than your own.
                                                                This poor battler seems to have been on a permanent ‘downer’ for years.
                                                                What a misery his life must be. Try this list for size:
                                                                1). He is a Labor voter (lots of grief heading his way).
                                                                2). He is a Richmond supporter (ditto).
                                                                3) He is about to be evicted from his taxpayer-provided Canberra mansion, to return to Juliar’s less-than-salubrious, flea-ridden Altona doss-house.
                                                                4). Whenever he leaves the Canberra mansion, the speed cameras record his every move with multiple (un)happy snaps.
                                                                5). He shares a bed with Juliar Gillard.
                                                                6). He also apparently shares said bed with the all-singing, all-dancing, short-sighted ‘Dr Emo’ (and his belly full of contact lenses); a certain dodgy one-eyed R.S.L. burger-flipper; at least one former partner of Slater & Gordon; Bob Brown, Tony Windsock, Baldrick Oafshot, Wee Willy Wilkie, Craig Thomson and Peter Slipper (all of whom have been in bed with Juliar for part or all of the last couple of years – and with Bob Brown and Peter Slipper under the doona with him, he wouldn’t know which way to turn!).
                                                                No wonder the poor bloke is Patron of the “Men’s Shed” movement – he’s probably got a bottle or 3 stashed away out there.
                                                                Up The Workers!
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:43 pm
                                                              85. Julia’s future: Game set and match
                                                                Vidal’s future: Rinse set and colour match
                                                                Splatacrobat
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:44 pm
                                                              86. I know it is fun to pile onto Tim because he shows appalling lack of judgement, but given his choice of FB, we knew that already.
                                                                But give him a break. What sort of job prospects will he have in the future? Is he really going back to hairdressing/mousse salesmanship after this period?
                                                                Personally, I reckon he should be milking his time in the lodge for all its worth. Have the mates around as often as possible for a few beers around the pool. Watch any sports event in the world you may care to watch. Even watch a few live drone/SES missions ( in the face! In the face! Bwahhhaaaa). Raid the cellar. Get free stuff. Go to spectacular events and meet famous sportspeople. Drop whoopee cushions on the seats of pompous Ministers at the dining table.
                                                                Why not make the most of his three years of reflected fame? In his position I would.
                                                                Entropy
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:55 pm
                                                              87. That would be SAS, not SES.
                                                                Entropy
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:56 pm
                                                              88. It’s safe to say he’s already way ahead of you, Ent.
                                                                Gab
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:58 pm
                                                              89. Entropy
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 1:55 pm
                                                                He’d be on a healthy Parliamentary Pension sling for being the PM’s bitch!!!
                                                                Mike of Marion
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 2:25 pm
                                                              90. Entropy , I think you’d find most blokes at heart, would concur. However the weird bit is he feels he can throw his weight around . On what basis ? The guy is “tolerated” because of his gf. How he thinks he he gas any genuine ability to others what to do is beyond me. Doesn’t he read the polls? He must be really and I mean really dumb and socially inept
                                                                Nic
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 2:53 pm
                                                              91. Tim is in “let them eat cake” mode. The masses are at the gate but his priority is to complain about someone getting whats rightfully his.
                                                                Splatacrobat
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 2:59 pm
                                                              92. “still wonder if the first “couple” have actually coupled!!!”
                                                                I think a few Mummybloggers may have their hearts broken if that were to ever happen.
                                                                Paul
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 3:19 pm
                                                              93. Bollard
                                                                HAHAHAHAHA! That’s an instant classic. I am so stealing that.
                                                                nilk
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 3:26 pm
                                                              94. Nilk …. There is no stealing here.
                                                                Once a Gillard slag-off is posted here everyone has an immediate royalty-free global perpetual licence to use at will.
                                                                We share like the ALP do with hookers at their annual conference.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 5:58 pm
                                                              95. Once a Gillard slag-off is posted here everyone has an immediate royalty-free global perpetual licence to use at will.
                                                                Absolutely. It’s like the internet commons. No hoarding allowed.
                                                                JC
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 6:05 pm
                                                              96. But give him a break. What sort of job prospects will he have in the future? Is he really going back to hairdressing/mousse salesmanship after this period?
                                                                I hear he has done an advertising deal to provide endorsements for La-Z-Boy armchairs.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 6:40 pm
                                                              97. Steve of Glasshouse
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 6:46 pm
                                                              98. Does anyone know what the protective detail call signs are for the PM and FB?
                                                                Steve of Glasshouse
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 6:51 pm
                                                              99. Ranga and Banga?
                                                                Gab
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 6:54 pm
                                                              100. POS and DAG?
                                                                Steve of Glasshouse
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 6:56 pm
                                                              101. Miranda Devine also examines the behaviour of this arriviste. The full colour glossy profile by Kate Legge in The Weekend Australian Magazine makes excruciating reading. The front page blurb is “‘Don’t You know who I am?’ The First Bloke, Tim Mathieson”, and the whole thing is depressing. Mathieson refused to speak to Legge, but as the editor says “sometimes the most revealing profiles come not from the subject, but from the people around them”. Mathieson’s sense of entitlement seems to be increasing the more perks he receives.
                                                                Cold-Hands
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 6:57 pm
                                                              102. At the Pink Day reception at the cricket, is the new Mrs McGrath holding the FFB at bay with a knife?
                                                                Cold-Hands
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 7:01 pm
                                                              103. Gawd he looks lecherous. What’s with the garish cravat? Who wears cravats these days?
                                                                Gab
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 7:03 pm
                                                              104. The Proim Minsters deepartmint ishyoud a stoitment ter doi ,deenoyin enni rongdoin boi Timmie ,ee didn soi it ,wee are consenrnd as to who dobbed him in ,scab bastards!
                                                                Borisgodunov
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 7:14 pm
                                                              105. At the Pink Day reception at the cricket, is the new Mrs McGrath holding the FFB at bay with a knife?
                                                                He he.
                                                                I did see that photo and commented to the wife that it looked like Timbo may have just given Mrs McGrath a surreptitious and unsolicited back rub.
                                                                Leigh Lowe
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 7:52 pm
                                                              106. At the Pink Day reception at the cricket, is the new Mrs McGrath holding the FFB at bay with a knife?
                                                                Have a look at the ill mannered Slapper seated to the right of Pigeon.
                                                                I would’ve thought that the PM’s department would have a protocol adviser or some such that could have told the ignorant cow that it is incredibly bad manners to wear your hat indoors at the dinner table.
                                                                Her parents have much to answer for.
                                                                Huckleberry Chunkwot
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 8:34 pm
                                                              107. Gawd he looks lecherous. What’s with the garish cravat? 
                                                                The blonde in the orange looks as though she’s receptive to his charms.
                                                                Cold-Hands
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 8:50 pm
                                                              108. Am sitting in an NYC hotel room watching the sun come up and very much enjoying reading the comments on this thread – at what this country has come to.
                                                                My personal favourite image of Timbo is sitting tete-a-tete with the Empress of Japan, while Jools burbled inanities to be translated for the Emperor. I can just imagine Timbo thinking, “How TF did I end up Here?
                                                                He is priceless, a national treasure. Tim Matheson throwing around the “Don’t you know who I am?” is the funniest thing I have read in years.
                                                                James in Melbourne
                                                                9 Mar 13 at 10:35 pm

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                                                              NATIONAL AFFAIRS

                                                              Kevin Rudd turns tables on Bogan-ville talks

                                                              Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd during question time
                                                              Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd during question time in parliament yesterday. Picture: Gary Ramage. Source: The Australian
                                                               

                                                              Julie Bishop's bogan blast

                                                              She was referring to rumours that the former Prime Minister has referred to the Lodge as Boganville since Julia Gillard moved in.
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                                                              BOGAN-VILLE remains contested territory, Kevin Rudd has admitted, and a "sensitive" subject for the former prime minister.
                                                              In the backrooms of Canberra, Bogan-ville is said to be Mr Rudd's name for The Lodge since Julia Gillard and boyfriend Tim Mathieson moved in.
                                                              On the eve of his "sack-iversary", as the opposition has dubbed it, Mr Rudd was asked, as Foreign Affairs Minister, when he planned to return to Bogan-ville.
                                                              She may have meant the Papua New Guinean province of Bougainville, but the glint in Julie Bishop's eye suggested otherwise.
                                                              "The Australian government remains deeply seized of the Bogan-ville peace process," Mr Rudd replied to his foreign affairs shadow and parliamentary chum.
                                                              Who knows what the public gallery thought, but the parliament erupted.
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                                                              Julie Bishops bogan blast

                                                              Mr Rudd continued, deadpan, that Australia must do all it could to further the peace process there.
                                                              "That is why we should be very sensitive about any external interventions by well-meaning Australian politicians," he said.
                                                              A "bogan", of course, is a derogatory term sometimes used interchangeably with "yobbo".
                                                              Not to be outdone and by no means bogans, West Australian National Tony Crook and independents Andrew Wilkie, Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor doffed white wide-brimmed hats when Bob Katter - standing in about the only place where he is seen without the 10-gallon headgear - got the Speaker's call in their corner.
                                                              Mr Rudd lost the prime ministership to Ms Gillard a year ago tomorrow. He and wife Therese Rein now live just a few kilometres away from The Lodge, in up-market Yarralumla.
                                                              It's unclear who has actually heard Mr Rudd refer to his old digs as "Bogan-ville", but the claim has been repeated on the ABC and by several conservative commentators.

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                                                              MERELY SELECTION TODAY'S UNANSWERABLE INDICTMENTS OF LABOR!

                                                              March 14, 2013, 3:31 pm
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                                                              News for yes minister it certainly is a courageous ...

                                                              Brisbane Times
                                                              1. it certainly is a courageous proposal

                                                                The Australian (blog) ‎- 9 hours ago
                                                                ONCE a government has gone from bad to worse, where does it go next? To the realm of the absurd, it seems. The News Media ...



                                                              Labor loses ground on media laws | The Australian

                                                              www.theaustralian.com.au/.../labor-loses-ground-on-media-la...Share
                                                              9 hours ago – LABOR is losing ground in its fight to overhaul the media as independent MPs turn against the plans and critics warn of growing confusion over ...




                                                              Gillard's crash and burn strategy | The Australian

                                                              www.theaustralian.com.au/.../gillards-crash-and-burn-strategy/...Share
                                                              9 hours ago – IT'S hard not to believe that the Gillard government is now so convinced of defeat that it is ensuring Labor's traditional enemies - big business, ...


                                                              Caucus caught frozen solid in the headlights | The Australian

                                                              www.theaustralian.com.au/.../caucus-caught-frozen-solid-in-th...Share
                                                              9 hours ago – THE Labor caucus has run out of good options. All that is left is a series of uncomfortable possibilities, none of which is without real peril.



                                                              News for dont demonise foreign workers in asian century

                                                              NEWS.com.au
                                                              1. Don't demonise foreign workers

                                                                The Australian ‎- 9 hours ago
                                                                THE debate over 457 visas has reached the bottom of the barrel


                                                              Hipsters should back free speech

                                                              The Australian ‎- 9 hours ago
                                                              IT'S an odd state of affairs when hip youth website Pedestrian is of one mind with Bob Katter about media regulation. Following The Daily ...

                                                              Here's one to make Aunty happy: Abbott could make nice Mr Bolt the ...

                                                              www.theaustralian.com.au/.../heres-one-to-make-aunty-happy-...Share
                                                              9 hours ago – ALL those fans of the media muzzle laws would just love having Andrew cracking the whip.


                                                              News for selling out press for a bit of

                                                              Sydney Morning Herald
                                                              1. Selling out press for a bit of pork

                                                                The Australian ‎- 9 hours ago
                                                                THE spotlight is on Bob Katter, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott to see whether they'll sell out our universal human right to free speech for ...



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                                                              LIST OF SELECTED TINY % OF UNANSWERED INDICTMENTS

                                                              March 14, 2013, 3:40 pm
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                                                              Climate Change Dispatch

                                                              March 18, 2013, 7:45 pm
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                                                              Posted: 18 Mar 2013 05:27 AM PDT
                                                              Parliament in the snow: Richard I statue
                                                              Parliament in the snow (Photo credit: UK Parliament)
                                                              No, the world ISN'T getting warmer (as you may have noticed). Now we reveal the official data that's making scientists suddenly change their minds about climate doom. So will eco-funded MPs stop waging a green crusade with your money? Well... what do YOU think?
                                                              The Mail on Sunday today presents irrefutable evidence that official predictions of global climate warming have been catastrophically flawed.
                                                              Posted: 18 Mar 2013 05:06 AM PDT
                                                              Marine Fossils
                                                              Marine Fossils (Photo credit: JelleS)
                                                              Like “scientists” manipulating data to fit preordained conclusions, The New York Times and other mainstream media hyped a new study's climate-clucking claims while ignoring its methodology's fatal flaws.
                                                              “Global Temperatures Highest in 4,000 Years” read The Times' headline. The Times asserted that the study “confirms” warming during “the past century, believed to be a consequence of human activity, exceeded any warming episode during (the last 1,500 years).”
                                                              Posted: 18 Mar 2013 05:01 AM PDT
                                                              A tornado near Seymour, Texas
                                                              (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
                                                              I certainly agree with Dr. Roy W. Spencer, Ph.D, and Head Climatologist and Principal Research Scientist at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, that "we can't blame global warming for all weather disasters."
                                                              If there is one weather phenomenon that the global warming theory does NOT predict more of, it's TORNADOES, those deadly 'twisters.'
                                                              In fact, tornadoes are almost unheard of in the tropics despite frequent violent thunderstorm activity producing torrential downpours.
                                                              Posted: 18 Mar 2013 04:55 AM PDT
                                                              Michael Mann at the Penn State Forum
                                                              Michael Mann (Photo credit: pennstatenews)
                                                              President Obama has apparently halted global warming by a secret executive order, which, amongst other things, commands the seas to stop rising, the world to begin to heal and the Chevy Volt assembly line to show a profit in 2013 despite a MSRP of $39,999, less $7,500 in government rebates.
                                                              This is the only conclusion that I can come to as I ponder the Global Warming Alarmists Brigade’s latest effort in pseudo-science, or what I like to call “Science for Journalists.”
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                                                              The Green con No 1 - see earlier item

                                                              March 18, 2013, 7:48 pm
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                                                              The Great Green Con no. 1: The hard proof that finally shows global warming forecasts that are costing you billions were WRONG all along

                                                              WRITTEN BY DAVID ROSE, DAILY MAIL | MARCH 18 2013
                                                              Parliament in the snow: Richard I statue
                                                              Parliament in the snow (Photo credit:UK Parliament)
                                                              No, the world ISN'T getting warmer (as you may have noticed). Now we reveal the official data that's making scientists suddenly change their minds about climate doom. So will eco-funded MPs stop waging a green crusade with your money? Well... what do YOU think?
                                                              The Mail on Sunday today presents irrefutable evidence that official predictions of global climate warming have been catastrophically flawed.
                                                              The graph on this page blows apart the ‘scientific basis’ for Britain reshaping its entire economy and spending billions in taxes and subsidies in order to cut emissions of greenhouse gases. These moves have already added £100 a year to household energy bills.
                                                              charthg
                                                              Steadily climbing orange and red bands on the graph show the computer predictions of world temperatures used by the official United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
                                                              The estimates – given with 75 per cent and 95 per cent certainty – suggest only a five per cent chance of the real temperature falling outside both bands.
                                                              But when the latest official global temperature figures from the Met Office are placed over the predictions, they show how wrong the estimates have been, to the point of falling out of the ‘95 per cent’ band completely.
                                                              The graph shows in incontrovertible detail how the speed of global warming has been massively overestimated. Yet those forecasts have had a ruinous impact on the bills we pay, from heating to car fuel to huge sums paid by councils to reduce carbon emissions.
                                                              The eco-debate was, in effect, hijacked by false data. The forecasts have also forced jobs abroad as manufacturers relocate to places with no emissions targets.
                                                              A version of the graph appears in a leaked draft of the IPCC’s landmark Fifth Assessment Report due out later this year. It comes as leading climate scientists begin to admit that their worst fears about global warming will not be realised.
                                                              Academics are revising their views after acknowledging the miscalculation. Last night Myles Allen, Oxford University’s Professor of Geosystem Science, said that until recently he believed the world might be on course for a catastrophic temperature rise of more than five degrees this century.
                                                              But he now says: ‘The odds have come down,’ – adding that warming is likely to be significantly lower.
                                                              Prof Allen says higher estimates are now ‘looking iffy’.
                                                              The graph confirms there has been no statistically significant increase in the world’s average temperature since January 1997 – as this newspaper first disclosed last year.
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                                                              Mail on line ..see earlier

                                                              March 18, 2013, 7:52 pm
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                                                              The Great Green Con no. 1: The hard proof that finally shows global warming forecasts that are costing you billions were WRONG all along   

                                                              PUBLISHED: 23:37 GMT, 16 March 2013 | UPDATED: 13:41 GMT, 18 March 2013

                                                              No, the world ISN'T getting warmer (as you may have noticed). Now we reveal the official data that's making scientists suddenly change their minds about climate doom. So will eco-funded MPs stop waging a green crusade with your money? Well... what do YOU think?
                                                              The Mail on Sunday today presents irrefutable evidence that official predictions of global climate warming have been catastrophically flawed.
                                                              The graph on this page blows apart the ‘scientific basis’ for Britain reshaping its entire economy and spending billions in taxes and subsidies in order to cut emissions of greenhouse gases. These moves have already added £100 a year to household energy bills.
                                                              global warming graph
                                                              global warming graph
                                                              Steadily climbing orange and red bands on the graph show the computer predictions of world temperatures used by the official United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
                                                              The estimates – given with 75 per cent and 95 per cent certainty – suggest only a five per cent chance of the real temperature falling outside both bands.
                                                               

                                                              More...

                                                              But when the latest official global temperature figures from the Met Office are placed over the predictions, they show how wrong the estimates have been, to the point of falling out of the ‘95 per cent’ band completely.
                                                              The graph shows in incontrovertible detail how the speed of global warming has been massively overestimated. Yet those forecasts have had a ruinous impact on the bills we pay, from heating to car fuel to huge sums paid by councils to reduce carbon emissions. 
                                                              The eco-debate was, in effect, hijacked by false data. The forecasts have also forced jobs abroad as manufacturers relocate to places with no emissions targets.
                                                              A version of the graph appears in a leaked draft of the IPCC’s landmark Fifth Assessment Report due out later this year. It comes as leading climate scientists begin to admit that their worst fears about global warming will not be realised. 
                                                              Academics are revising their views after acknowledging the miscalculation. Last night Myles Allen, Oxford University’s Professor of Geosystem Science, said that until recently he believed the world might be on course for a catastrophic temperature rise of more than five degrees this century. 
                                                              But he now says: ‘The odds have come down,’ – adding that warming is likely to be significantly lower.
                                                              Prof Allen says higher estimates are now ‘looking iffy’.
                                                              The graph confirms there has been no statistically significant increase in the world’s average temperature since January 1997 – as this newspaper first disclosed last year. 
                                                              At the end of last year the Met Office revised its ten-year forecast predicting a succession of years breaking records for warmth. It now says the pause in warming will last until at least 2017. A glance at the graph will confirm that the world will be cooler than even the coolest scenario predicted.
                                                              experts
                                                              experts
                                                              Its source is impeccable. The line showing world temperatures comes from the Met Office ‘HadCRUT4’ database, which contains readings from more than 30,000 measuring posts. This was added to the 75 and 95 per cent certainty bands to produce the graph by a group that amalgamates the work of 20 climate model centres working for the IPCC.
                                                              Predictions of global warming, based on scientists’ forecasts of how  fast increasing CO2 levels would cause temperatures to rise, directly led to Britain’s Climate Change Act. This commits the UK to cut emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. 

                                                              1977 - THE YEAR WE WERE TOLD TO FEAR TERROR OF...GLOBAL COOLING

                                                              In the Seventies, scientists and policymakers were just as concerned about a looming ‘ice age’ as they have been lately about global warming – as the Time magazine cover  pictured here illustrates. 
                                                              Temperatures had been falling since the beginning of the Forties. Professors warned that the trend would continue and food crises were going to get worse because of shorter growing seasons. 
                                                              Newsweek magazine reported that evidence of cooling was so strong ‘meteorologists are hard-pressed to keep up with it’. But, it lamented, ‘scientists see few signs that government leaders anywhere are even prepared to take the simple measures of introducing the variables of climatic uncertainty into economic projections’. It said the planet was already ‘a sixth of the way towards  the next ice age’.
                                                              While recently every kind of extreme weather event has been blamed on warming, in the Seventies the culprit was cooling. One article predicted ‘the most devastating outbreak of tornadoes ever recorded’, along with ‘droughts, floods, extended dry spells and long freezes’.
                                                              The current Energy Bill is set to increase subsidies for wind turbines to £7.6 billion a year – leading to a combined cost of £110 billion. Motorists will soon see a further 3p per litre rise in the cost of petrol because this now has to contain ‘biofuel’ ethanol. 
                                                              Many scientists say the pause, and new research into factors such as smoke particles and ocean cycles, has made them rethink what is termed ‘climate sensitivity’ – how much the world will warm for a given level of CO2. 
                                                              Yesterday Piers Forster, Climate Change Professor at Leeds University, said: ‘The fact that global surface temperatures haven’t risen in the last 15 years, combined with good knowledge of the terms changing climate, make the high estimates unlikely.’ 
                                                              And Professor Judith Curry, head of climate science at the prestigious Georgia Institute of Technology, said: ‘The models are running too hot. The flat trend in global surface temperatures may continue for another decade or two.’ 
                                                              James Annan, of Frontier Research For Global Change, a prominent ‘warmist’, recently said high estimates for climate sensitivity now look ‘increasingly untenable’, with the true figure likely to be about half of the IPCC prediction in its last report in 2007.
                                                              Avowed climate sceptics are more  unequivocal. Dr David Whitehouse, author of a new report on the pause published on Friday by Lord Lawson’s Global Warming Policy Foundation, said: ‘This changes everything. It means we have much longer to work things out. Global warming should no longer be the main determinant of anyone’s economic or energy policy.’
                                                              I said the end wasn't nigh... and it cost me my BBC career says TV's first environmentalist, David Bellamy 
                                                              Former BBC Botanist David Bellamy said that he was regarded as heretical for not toeing the line on global warming
                                                              Challenged the orthodoxy: Former BBC Botanist David Bellamy said that he was regarded as heretical for not toeing the line on global warming
                                                              This graph shows the end of the world isn’t nigh. But for anyone – like myself – who has been vilified for holding such an unfashionable view, possibly the most important thing about it is its source: the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
                                                              Since its creation in 1988, the IPCC has been sounding the alarm about man-made global warming. Yet here, in a draft of its latest report, is a diagram overlaying the observed temperature of the earth on its predictions. 
                                                              The graph shows a world stubbornly refusing to warm. Indeed, it shows the world is soon set to be cooler.
                                                              The awkward fact is that the earth has warmed just 0.5 degrees over the past 50 years. And Met Office records show that for the past 16 years temperatures have plateaued and, if anything, are going down. 
                                                              As the graph shows, the longer this goes on, the more the actual, real-world temperature record will diverge from the IPCC’s doom-laden prediction.
                                                              Yet this prediction is used to justify the ugly wind farms spoiling our countryside and billions in unnecessary ‘green’ taxes that make our industry less competitive and add up to £100 a year to household energy bills.
                                                              Man-made global warming has become scientific orthodoxy, with no room for dissent. Tragically, the traditional caution of my brethren has gone out of the window along with the concept of sceptical peer reviewing to test new theories. 
                                                              Opponents of man-made global warming are regarded as dangerous heretics, as I learnt to my cost. Soon after the IPCC was created, I was invited to what is now the Met Office’s Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Exeter to hear a presentation on global warming. 
                                                              As the face of natural history on the BBC and a science academic, they wanted to enrol me in their cause. But when I read the so-called evidence, I realised it was flawed and refused to ‘sign up’.
                                                              I rapidly found myself cast out from the BBC and the wider scientific community. When I helped some children campaign against a wind farm as part of a Blue Peter programme, I was publicly vilified. Abusive emails criticised me. I realised my career at the BBC was over.  
                                                              But scientific theory should be tested. That’s why I question the science which casts carbon as the villain that will bring about the end of the world.
                                                              David Bellamy argues that we should be able to test theories about global warming and that the world can live with fluctuations of carbon levels in the air
                                                              Open discussion: David Bellamy argues that we should be able to test theories about global warming and that the world can live with fluctuations of carbon levels in the air
                                                              Geology tells us that fossil fuels are predominantly carbon which was part of our atmosphere before being locked away in the earth millions of years ago. At that time, there were more than 4,000 carbon parts per million (ppm) in the atmosphere. Over time this has been as low as 270ppm and is now about 385ppm. 
                                                              It is obvious the world can live with these fluctuations in the level of atmospheric carbon.
                                                              There is a correlation between temperature and CO2, but some of my colleagues have put the cart before the horse. 
                                                              The evidence shows CO2 levels follow temperature, not the other way around. 
                                                              Indeed, there may be many factors that determine our climate. Australian scientist David Archibald has shown  a remarkable correlation between the sun’s activity and our climate over the past 300 years. Climate scientists insist we must accept the ‘carbon’ orthodoxy or be cast into the wilderness. 
                                                              But the scientists behind  the theory have a vested interest – it’s a great way to justify new taxes, get more money and guarantee themselves more work.
                                                              The reality is that man-made global warming is a myth: the global temperature is well within life’s limits and, indeed, the present day is cooler by comparison to much of Earth’s history. Perhaps this will be the moment that this fact becomes the new scientific orthodoxy.
                                                               
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                                                              Henrik Svensmark, the Danish astrophysicist who is credited with the theory that most of the global warming of the 20th century was caused by a doubling of the magnetic output of the sun (a magnetic sun reduces cosmic rays which Svensmark says cause clouds) may be in line someday for a Nobel prize. Solar cycle 24 which began in 2009 shows the sun is in a steep magnetic decline. Sunspots are a proxy for solar magnetism -- the more the sunspots the greater the solar magnetism. Solar cycle 24 is showing a steep decline in sunspots from previous 20th century solar cycles. Solar cycle 25 is looking to be even less magnetic with some astrophysicists (Livingston and Penn) predicting that by then there may be no sunspots. If Svensmark's theory holds and the sunspots decline further, we may be looking at another little ice age like we had during the Maunder Minimum (1645-1715) when there were almost no sunspots for 70 years and the earth was as cold as its been since the last ice age.
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                                                              The recommend system has been attacked. A handful of banal warmist comments has ostensibly attracted thousands of up-ratings. Is Gore really so stupid as to launch a cyber-attack to make it look as though people still believe in CAGW or Climate Change?- suffolkboy, Bury, United Kingdom --------------------------------------------- Come out of your darkened basement, get some sunshine and vitamin D, meet some real people, watch nature and view those majestic wind turbines, you'll feel better for it. You'll never find where they hid the fake moon landers or where Elvis lives so you may as well quit trying.
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                                                              The recommend system has been attacked. A handful of banal warmist comments has ostensibly attracted thousands of up-ratings. Is Gore really so stupid as to launch a cyber-attack to make it look as though people still believe in CAGW or Climate Change?
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                                                              The vast majority of comments here are sceptical of the Global Warming claims and these comments are generally well supported, with a similar degree of derision being shown to warmist comments. Yet the top 4 or 5 comments are against the trend and have attracted massive support. Perhaps they do this in political elections also. Keep up the good work David. -Colin Porter, Rochdale, United Kingdom ------------------------------------------------------------------- Go get yourself a life for pity's sake, do you really care when a few posters obviously award themselves arrows, or when certain others down vote some? It's just the DM, it's primary purpose is to sell advertising. Every now and then they roll out the work of fiction by David Rose, usually at the weekends for obvious reasons. It doesn't matter what he or the posters think, world governments of all political colours take the problem seriously and will continue to do so.
                                                              Click to rate     Rating   1
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                                                              The vast majority of comments here are sceptical of the Global Warming claims and these comments are generally well supported, with a similar degree of derision being shown to warmist comments. Yet the top 4 or 5 comments are against the trend and have attracted massive support. I find this to be highly suspicious and well outside the distribution curve of what a normal response would be. A bit like the statistics in Climate Science in fact. I would suggest that the Green Twitteraty have been mustering their foot soldiers to swamp the popular vote. Well done David Rose. You have got the Greens rattled to the point that they have to vote stuff your article. Perhaps they do this in political elections also. Keep up the good work David. It is about time the press started telling the truth about Global Warming.
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                                                              belamy has said some strange things. google "Belamy monbiot" and look at the youtube links. its a shame. but basically David basically he got caught out misinforming people about behaviour of the worlds glaciers. Perhaps the BBC just thought correctly that whatever edge he had, he had lost it.
                                                              Click to rate     Rating   9
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                                                              - dangermouse , Cheddar, 17/3/2013 19:45 - ZedsDeadBed , Truro_UK, 17/3/2013 18:26 et. alia N.B. Feynman was once asked by a Caltech faculty member to explain why spin 1/2 particles obey Fermi-Dirac statistics. He gauged his audience perfectly and said "I'll prepare a freshman lecture on it." But a few days later he returned and said, "You know, I couldn't do it. I couldn't reduce it to the freshman level. That means we really don't understand it." I WOULD SUGGEST MANY EMPLOYED IN THIS SCAM JUST WON'T ADMIT, THEY ARE WAFFLING, & TRY TO BLIND THE EMPEROR'S AUDIENCE, & THE "BRAIN DEAD" POLITICIANS WITH PSEUDO SCIENCE. WHY NOT READ, SOME OF FEYNMAN'S BOOKS. Surly You're Joking Mr. Feynman, MENTIONS INTEGRITY, THIS IS A QUALITY SADLY LACKING, WHERE PRACTITIONERS OF THIS PSEUDO RELIGION ARE CONCERNED. WHY NOT ALLOW OPEN DEBATE, & STOP RIPPING US OFF? OR WOULD THAT SHOW THE EMPEROR REALY WAS NAKED? REGARDS ......... WASP
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                                                              - dangermouse , Cheddar, 17/3/2013 19:45 - ZedsDeadBed , Truro_UK, 17/3/2013 18:26 et. alia N.B. Feynman was once asked by a Caltech faculty member to explain why spin 1/2 particles obey Fermi-Dirac statistics. He gauged his audience perfectly and said "I'll prepare a freshman lecture on it." But a few days later he returned and said, "You know, I couldn't do it. I couldn't reduce it to the freshman level. That means we really don't understand it." I WOULD SUGGEST MANY EMPLOYED IN THIS SCAM JUST WON'T ADMIT, THEY ARE WAFFLING, & TRY TO BLIND THE EMPEROR'S AUDIENCE, & THE "BRAIN DEAD" POLITICIANS WITH PSEUDO SCIENCE. WHY NOT READ, SOME OF FEYNMAN'S BOOKS. Surly You're Joking Mr. Feynman, MENTIONS INTEGRITY, THIS IS A QUALITY SADLY LACKING, WHERE PRACTITIONERS OF THIS PSEUDO RELIGION ARE CONCERNED. WHY NOT ALLOW OPEN DEBATE, & STOP RIPPING US OFF? OR WOULD THAT SHOW THE EMPEROR REALY WAS NAKED? REGARDS ......... WASP
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                                                              - dangermouse , Cheddar, 17/3/2013 19:45 - ZedsDeadBed , Truro_UK, 17/3/2013 18:26 et. alia N.B. Feynman was once asked by a Caltech faculty member to explain why spin 1/2 particles obey Fermi-Dirac statistics. He gauged his audience perfectly and said "I'll prepare a freshman lecture on it." But a few days later he returned and said, "You know, I couldn't do it. I couldn't reduce it to the freshman level. That means we really don't understand it." I WOULD SUGGEST MANY EMPLOYED IN THIS SCAM JUST WON'T ADMIT, THEY ARE WAFFLING, & TRY TO BLIND THE EMPEROR'S AUDIENCE, & THE "BRAIN DEAD" POLITICIANS WITH PSEUDO SCIENCE. WHY NOT READ, SOME OF FEYNMAN'S BOOKS. Surly You're Joking Mr. Feynman, MENTIONS INTEGRITY, THIS IS A QUALITY SADLY LACKING, WHERE PRACTITIONERS OF THIS PSEUDO RELIGION ARE CONCERNED. WHY NOT ALLOW OPEN DEBATE, & STOP RIPPING US OFF? OR WOULD THAT SHOW THE EMPEROR REALY WAS NAKED? REGARDS ......... WASP
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                                                              Just more junk science...probably concocted by the same zealots who've got everyone believing that second hand smoke is a raging killer akin to nerve gas!
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                                                              FACELESS MEN - THE ORIGINAL!

                                                              March 20, 2013, 12:27 am
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                                                              FACELESS MEN - THE ORIGINAL!
                                                              SEE BELOW
                                                              G S
                                                              More Labor Lemons
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                                                              The Faceless men are at it again
                                                              Dear Geoff,

                                                              It’s clear the faceless men are at it again.

                                                              At a time when Australians need their Government to be solely focused on putting a Budget together that ends the waste, returns to surplus and reduces debt, Labor is instead completely distracted by deals and backstabbing over its leadership.

                                                              But it really doesn't matter who leads the Labor Party – Labor will remain divided and dysfunctional and nothing will change:
                                                              • the Carbon Tax will remain;
                                                              • the pressures on cost of living will remain; and
                                                              • the boats will still keep coming.
                                                              Click here to see our new TV Ad “Lemon Déjà Vu”.

                                                              The faceless men have a long history of calling the shots in the Labor Party. By coincidence, it is 50 years tomorrow since one of the most famous photos in Australian politics was taken.

                                                              Click here to see a timeless Liberal Party poster from 1963.

                                                              Only the Coalition can restore the stability and certainty Australia needs. Only the Coalition has the Real Solutions Plan to build a strong, prosperous economy and a safe, secure Australia.

                                                              Regards,
                                                              Brian Loughnane signature

                                                              Brian Loughnane
                                                              Federal Director

                                                              ↧

                                                              Julia Gillard's egg hunt with the other Mr Rabbit

                                                              March 24, 2013, 4:33 pm
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                                                              Julia Gillard's egg hunt with the other Mr Rabbit



                                                              Julia Gillard

                                                              Julia Gillard takes photos with shock-jock 'Easter 
                                                              Bunny' Kyle Sandilands, which she 
                                                              later tweeted, at a charity event at Kirribilli House 
                                                              yesterday. Picture: Sam Mooy Source: 
                                                              The Australian
                                                              FOR a woman who can spot a misogynist at 10 paces - "misogynist Tony is back", she muttered across the parliamentary chamber last week - Julia Gillard is spending a lot of time in the company of Kyle Sandilands.
                                                              The radio DJ who questioned a 14-year-old rape victim on-air about her sexual experiences, and who called a journalist a "fat slag" without enough "titty" to carry off a low-cut blouse, is fast becoming a favourite with the Prime Minister.
                                                              On Friday, Sandilands and his 2DayFM offsider Jackie O landed one of only two radio interviews given by Ms Gillard after the Labor caucus had re-endorsed her leadership the day before.
                                                              Yesterday, she fulfilled a promise by inviting him to her official Sydney residence, Kirribilli House, to take part in an Easter egg hunt for a children's charity, even posing with the DJ, who was dressed as a giant Easter Bunny, for "selfies" pictures that she later posted on Twitter.

                                                              RECOMMENDED COVERAGE

                                                              Paul Kelly: Gillard will lead Labor to election

                                                              (Ms Gillard's only other radio interview on Friday was with ABC Melbourne's Jon Faine, who during the 2010 election campaign accused the Prime Minister of deliberately mangling the Opposition Leader's name to make it sound like "Mr Rabbit".)
                                                              Pressed about Ms Gillard's invitation to Sandilands, Labor frontbencher Craig Emerson today said the Prime Minister would not condone every utterance that came out of the mouth of every Australian.
                                                              “You just don't write people off all over the place because of particular statements they make,” he told the ABC. “Let's not just dwell in the past.”
                                                              Labor elder and former prime minister Bob Hawke yesterday implored the current leadership of the party to "get on with the business of governing".
                                                              But the toughest woman in politics opted for the soft-boiled approach to strategy after high drama divided her government in two last week.
                                                              As the vanquished backers of Kevin Rudd headed home to their electorates for the weekend to lick their wounds, the Prime Minister issued a photo-op only alert for fluffy pictures.
                                                              Leader of the house Anthony Albanese, who kept his role and portfolio despite his status as a Rudd supporter, was one of the few to go to work in his community, attending the 10th anniversary celebrations at St Matthew's Anglican church in Ashbury.
                                                              Mr Rudd kept to a familiar routine, attending church, but there was little to be seen of former tertiary education minister Chris Bowen, former arts minister Simon Crean, former human services minister Kim Carr or the former whip Joel Fitzgibbon.
                                                              Those who remain on the frontbench, including Mr Albanese and Gillard supporter Defence Minister Stephen Smith, fronted a political grilling yesterday morning. Mr Abbott also fronted News Limited journalist Andrew Bolt on the Ten Network.
                                                              Ms Gillard started the weekend in northern NSW, where she attended the wedding of her press secretary Laura Anderson and Wayne Swan's former chief-of-staff Jim Chalmers, and on Saturday announced new details of the national broadband network rollout in the region.
                                                              After saying the government still had work to do, she flew to her electorate in Melbourne for the Weerama Festival before jetting to Sydney to celebrate Greek Independence Day, where she was mobbed by those in attendance.
                                                              "We love you," one young girl screamed from the throng.
                                                              Angela Katsidis, 42, was surprised to see the Prime Minister after last week's drama in Canberra.
                                                              "They made her tough, I can tell you that, but I think everyone was hoping for more than armour with our leader," she said.
                                                              "I've been so disappointed with Labor this year, and especially last week. There's too much self-interest in politics."
                                                              As the Prime Minister told Sandilands on Friday, she had "some time on Sunday so let's go and look for some Easter eggs, and I can't wait to see you in a rabbit outfit". And eventually, she made her way to Kirribilli House to make good on the promise.
                                                              "She won't be talking about the leadership and you can tell them I told you so," said her communications adviser, John McTernan.
                                                              Ms Gillard took a phone call from her study before greeting Sandilands and the kids with an awkward question-and-answer session that canvassed lost funding for a dunny race, no longer sponsored in the Prime Minister's Melbourne electorate of Lalor, and the DJ's Rolls Royce.
                                                              A coterie of advisers from her office ran the hunt, handing out baskets for the children and acting as the finish line in the egg-and-spoon race, which Ms Gillard lost.
                                                              A mother called out: "Same time next year?"
                                                              "Same time next year," Ms Gillard said.
                                                              But first, the election.
                                                              ↧
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                                                              CUT & PASTE From:The Australian March 23, 2013 12:00AM

                                                              March 24, 2013, 5:34 pm
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                                                              Ready to belt the misogyny out of any man, unless he has a microphone and a bunny suit


                                                              WHEN it comes to Julia Gillard's standards, it sometimes seems like a case of double or nothing.
                                                              Misogyny Day. The Prime Minister in question time on October 9, 2012:
                                                              I SAY to the Leader of the Opposition, I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man. I will not. And the government will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man. Not now, not ever. ... Misogyny, sexism, every day from this Leader of the Opposition. Every day in every way, across the time the Leader of the Opposition has sat in that chair and I've sat in this chair, that is all we have heard from him.
                                                              Christopher Pyne in question time on Tuesday:
                                                              THE Prime Minister answered the question and then she, as an aside, said for some unknown reason, "misogynist Tony is back".
                                                              Let's hear from a true expert. Kyle Sandilands on November 22, 2011:
                                                              SOME fat slag on news.com.au has already branded (my TV show) a disaster. You can tell by reading the article that she just hates us and has always hated us. What a fat, bitter thing you are. You're deputy editor of an online thing. You've got a nothing job, anyway. You're a piece of shit. This low thing, Alison Stephenson, deputy editor of news.com.au online. You're supposed to be impartial, you little troll. You're a bullshit artist, girl. You should be fired from your job. Your hair's very '90s. And your blouse. You haven't got that much titty to be having that low cut a blouse. Watch your mouth or I'll hunt you down.
                                                              Gillard with Sandilands and Jackie O on 2Day FM yesterday:
                                                              SANDILANDS: Are you sitting behind the big desk this morning Prime Minister?
                                                              Gillard: I'm not behind the big desk right now, Kyle, I'm sorry, but I did want to say good morning to you and to Jackie O and to say we've got to go Easter egg hunting, don't we?
                                                              Gillard on Abbott on Misogyny Day:
                                                              DOESN'T turn a hair about any of his past statements, doesn't walk into this parliament and apologise to the women of Australia. Doesn't walk into this parliament and apologise to me for the things that have come out of his mouth.
                                                              Out of his mouth. Sandilands's first response on July 29, 2009, when a 14-year-old guest revealed she'd been raped when she was only 12:
                                                              RIGHT ... is that the only (sexual) experience you've had?
                                                              Gillard in an apres-interview tweet to Kyle and Jackie O yesterday:
                                                              THANKS for the chat. Can't wait to see Kyle in a bunny suit!
                                                              Back to Gillard on Misogyny Day:
                                                              WELL, this kind of hypocrisy must not be tolerated.
                                                              Dedicated to Ferguson, Crean, Bowen et al. From Nikolai Gogol's The Government Inspector (1836):
                                                              KHLESTAKOV: So, have your patients recovered? There didn't seem that many.
                                                              Warden: Since I took over the running of the place ... they've been recovering like flies.
                                                              Following on from the last thrilling instalment of Cut & Paste, Gerard Henderson in Media Watch Dog yesterday:
                                                              WHAT a Walkley-worthy piece by Laura Tingle in yesterday's Australian Financial Review. It appears that La Tingle wrote an article on the new edition of David Marr's Political Animal: The Making of Tony Abbott (Black Inc) based merely on the publisher's blurb which was, well, just blurb. As a result, Tingle claimed that the new edition of Political Animal had unearthed copies of correspondence between Tony Abbott and B. A. Santamaria in the late 1980s which are located in the Santamaria Collection in the State Library of Victoria.
                                                              In fact, this correspondence was discovered by the Melbourne-based researcher Geoffrey Browne and written up by historians Ross Fitzgerald and Stephen Holt in the front-page splash in The Weekend Australian on 13 October 2012.
                                                              The source of the Abbott-Santamaria correspondence is acknowledged by David Marr in the new edition of Political Animal. Maybe La Tingle does not read The Australian.
                                                              ↧

                                                              About the Wayback Machine

                                                              March 27, 2013, 2:49 pm
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                                                              http://archive.org/web/web.php



                                                              About the Wayback Machine

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                                                              Noel Pearson's Cape York trial 'changing lives'

                                                              March 27, 2013, 3:21 pm
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                                                              Noel Pearson's Cape York trial 'changing lives'

                                                              Noel Pearson




                                                              Noel Pearson says the Cape York welfare reform trial has produced results. Picture: David Geraghty Source: The Australian
                                                              ABORIGINAL leader Noel Pearson has called for a federal takeover of indigenous affairs if the Queensland government fails to fund his radical Cape York Welfare Reform trial, amid evidence the program has cut crime rates, improved infrastructure and services and helped school attendance levels.
                                                              An independent evaluation report into the trial, obtained by The Australian, says individuals and families are beginning to gain respite from daily living problems and people feel that life is "on the way up". It finds that, since the trial began in July 2008, the Cape York communities of Aurukun, Coen, Hopevale and Mossman Gorge in far north Queensland have experienced improved school attendance, care and protection of children, and community safety.
                                                              It says people in the four communities are taking on greater personal responsibility and raising expectations, "particularly in areas such as sending kids to school, caring for children and families and their needs, and accessing supported self-help measures to deal with problems". After only three years of the trial, the report says there has been a "level of progress that has rarely been evident in previous reform programs in Queensland's remote indigenous communities".

                                                              RECOMMENDED COVERAGE

                                                              Aboriginal Australian Academy at Aurukun

                                                              Indigenous mayor 'stunned' by decision

                                                              "What is most promising is that some of the progress relates to subtle but fundamental shifts in behaviour that, if sustained and built upon, can be expected to yield significant longer-term results," it says.
                                                              The Cape York welfare trial, which has received about $100 million from the federal and Queensland governments, includes funding for economic development projects, but is centred on the Family Responsibility Commission. The FRC is able to withhold welfare payments from parents in circumstances such as failure to send their children to school.
                                                              Mr Pearson, director of the Cape York Institute, yesterday accused Queensland Indigenous Affairs Minister Glen Elmes of being a "cowboy" following the state's declaration on Tuesday that it could no longer justify its expenditure on the program.
                                                              "I see this as a real crossroads," Mr Pearson said.
                                                              "Given the reversal (on alcohol bans in communities) that has taken place in the Northern Territory on the reform agenda and given the reversal that is now taking place in Queensland, it raises a real question about whether states and territories should at all be involved in indigenous policy."
                                                              Mr Pearson said Queensland had now taken its regressive policy direction further by backing out of welfare reform that was transforming Aboriginal people's lives.
                                                              "The crisis in indigenous communities that (federal Indigenous Affairs Minister) Jenny Macklin understands, but that the Queensland government doesn't understand, has two nose-on-the-face features - alcohol and welfare dependency.
                                                              "And on those two issues we now have the Queensland government's decision to reverse alcohol control and now to stop welfare reform. The position the Queensland government has adopted is one of really begging the question: If you're not going to invest in indigenous affairs and indigenous reform, then why are you in indigenous affairs at all?
                                                              "There has been no focus by the Queensland government on indigenous reform. They have just allowed Glen Elmes to kind of make things up on the run. This cowboy has just basically come in to the scene and off-the-cuff decided that this program was going to stop. He does not himself have a credible alternative and he ignores the very explicit positive report that is contained in the evaluation."
                                                              Mr Pearson accused Mr Elmes of making the decision without the advice of his department, which had been discussing future models of the trial.
                                                              Mr Elmes yesterday continued to defend the Newman government's decision, saying it was "far too expensive an exercise for just four communities".
                                                              "It has had mixed results and in places like Cherbourg and Mornington Island, they are getting kids to school in other ways that don't cost as much."
                                                              Between 2008 and 2011, the trial drew about $48m in commonwealth funding, with a further $40m coming from the Queensland government. The state's contribution this year is $5.65m and Mr Elmes said on Tuesday it would not be renewed next year. The commonwealth is providing $11.8m this year and remains "committed to continuing funding for the trial".
                                                              The evaluation report - commissioned by all parties to the trial, including the two governments - concludes that in Aurukun and Mossman Gorge, there were "statistically significant improvements" in school attendance, reflected in falls in students' unexplained absences from school.
                                                              Coen and Hope Vale have historically had higher rates of school attendance. This did not change during the trial at Coen, while Hope Vale recorded a very small increase in unexplained absences in 2011. There has been a significant increase in school attendance in Aurukun, where it has risen from 46.1 per cent in the first term of 2008 to 70.9 per cent in the first term of 2012.
                                                              The trial communities' attendance rate was 4 percentage points lower than the attendance rate in comparable indigenous communities in 2008, but by 2011, it was six percentage points higher.
                                                              By tracking individual students' attendance across years, analysis reveals that Year 2 students in the trial communities went from three percentage points below the attendance rates of their peers in comparable indigenous communities in 2008 to nine percentage points higher in 2011. "The change in Aurukun is greater than in any other indigenous community in Queensland, and there are indications that it is related to the actions of the FRC," the report says. "It is also clear that the improvements in Aurukun are not part of a general trend in indigenous communities in Queensland."
                                                              The evaluation also found a large sustained fall in serious assaults resulting in injury in Aurukun in mid-2008, which reflects the impact of the closure of the Aurukun Tavern.
                                                              The report concludes the "improvements across the trial communities did reverse a trend of rising offence rates prior to the trial, which was not the case in comparison communities".
                                                              Another positive indicator is that the hospitalisation rate for assault has been lower in the communities than it was before the trial, although "it is not possible to definitively link this to the trial as a similar trend is evident in other indigenous communities in Queensland".
                                                              The FRC has been shown to have played a crucial role in increasing parental responsibility and restoring social norms in communities. But the evaluation also highlights challenges with assisting harder-to-reach groups in the communities, including young people who are no longer engaged in education.
                                                              The report shows that local indigenous authority is stronger as a result of the work of the FRC and this has been a key factor
                                                              in bringing about positive behavioural change.
                                                              As part of the evaluation, a Social Change Survey was undertaken among indigenous people in all trial communities. It found the FRC was respected and valued by the majority of community members and was seen as a driving force for change.
                                                              Importantly, two-thirds of respondents felt that people should go to the FRC if they did not take their children to school and that the community would be a better place to live if everyone followed up on their talks with the FRC.
                                                              When asked about changes in social and safety issues, 52 per cent of respondents felt that more people were trying to be better parents; 24 per cent felt more people were trying to give up grog, smoking or gambling; and 33 per cent felt there was less fighting between families.
                                                              Ms Macklin told The Australian the independent evaluation proved the trial was making a difference to Aboriginal lives.
                                                              "We know progress is being made and that there is still more to be done, particularly in the areas of increasing employment and home ownership opportunities," she said.
                                                              ↧

                                                              C Pearson: Words with the power to move

                                                              March 30, 2013, 3:18 pm
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                                                              Christopher Pearson
                                                              Writing for The Australian, Christopher Pearson covers a wide variety of cultural and religious matters pertaining to Australian society. He served as a speech writer to the former Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard.

                                                              Words with the power to move



                                                              ON Tuesday, after church, I was taken home by a Vietnamese taxi driver. The radio was on and an announcer played Boney M's version of Rivers of Babylon to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its release.
                                                              The driver, a knowledgeable Buddhist, was more than just politely surprised at my knowing the text in Latin and the King James version, and the assurance that in Latin Rite and Orthodox congregations across the world the Lamentations of Jeremiah would be being sung in musical settings - most of them ancient and very formally demanding - lasting many hours during the course of Holy Week.
                                                              If there is a postmodern lesson to be learned in all this, I suppose it's that civilisations never quite abandon or forget their meta-narratives. They just morph like this one into ganja-sodden Rastafarian versions for the disco generation, where the only technical developments are that some of the voices are entirely studio created and half the line-up lip-synch.
                                                              The liturgy in which the Lamentations are heard is called Tenebrae, the lessons delivered in the darkness. They are the psalms and readings for Matins and Lauds appointed for the Thursday, Friday and Saturday of Holy Week, normally sung the night before in a near-darkened church where one of the few candles is extinguished at the end of each psalm. In Catholic churches in Australia, which are often poor, mean buildings, it can be a distinct advantage not to be able to see where you are and to have to fall back on the texts and the music.
                                                              The texts are structured around the Babylonian Exile, which ended in 538BC. In Judaism it is seen as the period where God punished his chosen people for their faithlessness in straying after strange gods, before restoring them to the promised land and allowing them to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
                                                              In the Christian liturgy, the narrative of exile is conflated with the advent and rejection of Christ as the Messiah, his crucifixion and the new covenant. It is a season of sackcloth and ashes, transfigured by the prospect of Easter and renewal.
                                                              Jeremiah's lamentations over Jerusalem are plangent at any time and it is arguable that there is no year's Lent in living memory when the church has had more need or urgent occasion to invoke them.
                                                              Quomodo sedet sola civitas plena populo: facta est quasi vidua domina gentium: princeps provinciarum facta est sub tribute. "How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! How is she become as a widow! She that was great among the nations and princess among the provinces, how is she reduced to paying tribute."
                                                              Plorans ploravit in nocte, et lacrimae ejus in maxillis ejus: non est qui consoletur eam ex omnibus caris ejus: omnes amici ejus spreverent eam, et facti sunt inimici. "She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all who love her she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies."
                                                              If words such as these have the power to move you, read them over slowly aloud the way you encounter poetry for the first time. If the Latin is more of a distraction than a help, disregard it. If you have the luxury of time, familiarise yourself with the texts and Google them in performance. The Gregorian chant version, augmented with Tomas Luis de Victoria's settings of the responsories, is probably the best-loved. Couperin's Lecons de Tenebres is ravishing in a different way; a triumph of baroque minimalism, once heard, never forgotten.
                                                              Migravit Judas propter afflictionem, et multitudinem servitutis: habitavit inter gentes, nec invenit requiem: omnes persecutors ejus apprehenderunt eam inter angustias. "Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits."
                                                              Vitae Sion lugent eo quod non sint qui veniant ad solemnitatem: omnes portae ejus destructae: sacerdotes ejus gementes: virgines ejus squalidae, et ipsa oppressa amaritudine. "The paths of Zion mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness."
                                                              In his commentary on the Way of the Cross at the Roman Forum during Holy Week 2005, days before he was elected pope, Joseph Ratzinger talked about "the filth that defiles the church". He was the first person in a position of great authority to do so in many years and took unprecedented steps to expunge it but got virtually no credit for doing so in most of the media.
                                                              Jeremiah's lament over Jerusalem tells us: Sordes ejus in pedibus ejus, nec recordata est finis sui: deposita est vehementer, non habens consolatorem. "Her filthiness is in her skirts, she remembereth not her last end; therefore she has been overthrown, she had no comforter."
                                                              In among the lamentations and the penitential Psalms there are signs of hope; not least, St Paul's recapitulation of the Last Supper.
                                                              Also fresh in my mind is a lesson from St Augustine on the Psalms: "I would to God that the ungodly who now try us were converted, and so were on trial with us. Yet, though they continue to try us, let us not hate them: for we know not whether any of them will continue to the end in his evil ways. And mostly, when thou thinkest thyself to be hating thine enemy, thou hatest thy brother, and knowest it not."
                                                              ↧

                                                              Pearson gaps created

                                                              March 30, 2013, 3:41 pm
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                                                              Christopher Pearson
                                                              Writing for The Australian, Christopher Pearson covers a wide variety of cultural and religious matters pertaining to Australian society. He served as a speech writer to the former Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard.

                                                              Words with the power to move

                                                              • BY:CHRISTOPHER PEARSON 
                                                                •  
                                                              • From:The Australian 
                                                                •  
                                                              • March 30, 2013 12:00AM


                                                              ON Tuesday, after church, I was taken home by a Vietnamese taxi driver. The radio was on and an announcer played Boney M's version of Rivers of Babylon to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its release.





                                                              The driver, a knowledgeable Buddhist, was more than just politely surprised at my knowing the text in Latin and the King James version, and the assurance that in Latin Rite and Orthodox congregations across the world the Lamentations of Jeremiah would be being sung in musical settings - most of them ancient and very formally demanding - lasting many hours during the course of Holy Week.





                                                              If there is a postmodern lesson to be learned in all this, I suppose it's that civilisations never quite abandon or forget their meta-narratives. They just morph like this one into ganja-sodden Rastafarian versions for the disco generation, where the only technical developments are that some of the voices are entirely studio created and half the line-up lip-synch.




                                                              The liturgy in which the Lamentations are heard is called Tenebrae, the lessons delivered in the darkness. They are the psalms and readings for Matins and Lauds appointed for the Thursday, Friday and Saturday of Holy Week, normally sung the night before in a near-darkened church where one of the few candles is extinguished at the end of each psalm. In Catholicchurches in Australia, which are often poor, mean buildings, it can be a distinct advantage not to be able to see where you are and to have to fall back on the texts and the music.






                                                              The texts are structured around the Babylonian Exile, which ended in 538BC. In Judaism it is seen as the period where God punished his chosen people for their faithlessness in straying after strange gods, before restoring them to the promised land and allowing them to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.



                                                              In the Christian liturgy, the narrative of exile is conflated with the advent and rejection of Christ as the Messiah, his crucifixion and the new covenant.





                                                               It is a season of sackcloth and ashes, transfigured by the prospect of Easter and renewal.




                                                              Jeremiah's lamentations over Jerusalem are plangent at any time and it is arguable that there is no year's Lent in living memory when the church has had more need or urgent occasion to invoke them.



                                                              Quomodo sedet sola civitas plena populo: facta est quasi vidua domina gentium: princeps provinciarum facta est sub tribute. "How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! How is she become as a widow! She that was great among the nations and princess among the provinces, how is she reduced to paying tribute."











                                                              Plorans ploravit in nocte, et lacrimae ejus in maxillis ejus: non est qui consoletur eam ex omnibus caris ejus: omnes amici ejus spreverent eam, et facti sunt inimici. "She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all who love her she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies."













                                                              If words such as these have the power to move you, read them over slowly aloud the way you encounter poetry for the first time. If the Latin is more of a distraction than a help, disregard it. If you have the luxury of time, familiarise yourself with the texts and Google them in performance. The Gregorian chant version, augmented with Tomas Luis de Victoria's settings of the responsories, is probably the best-loved. Couperin's Lecons de Tenebres is ravishing in a different way; a triumph of baroque minimalism, once heard, never forgotten.








                                                              Migravit Judas propter afflictionem, et multitudinem servitutis: habitavit inter gentes, nec invenit requiem: omnes persecutors ejus apprehenderunt eam inter angustias. "Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits."














                                                              Vitae Sion lugent eo quod non sint qui veniant ad solemnitatem: omnes portae ejus destructae: sacerdotes ejus gementes: virgines ejus squalidae, et ipsa oppressa amaritudine. "The paths of Zion mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness."









                                                              In his commentary on the Way of the Cross at the Roman Forum during Holy Week 2005, days before he was elected pope, Joseph Ratzinger talked about "the filth that defiles the church". He was the first person in a position of great authority to do so in many years and took unprecedented steps to expunge it but got virtually no credit for doing so in most of the media.







                                                              Jeremiah's lament over Jerusalem tells us: Sordes ejus in pedibus ejus, nec recordata est finis sui: deposita est vehementer, non habens consolatorem. "Her filthiness is in her skirts, she remembereth not her last end; therefore she has been overthrown, she had no comforter."












                                                              In among the lamentations and the penitential Psalms there are signs of hope; not least, St Paul's recapitulation of the Last Supper.




                                                              Also fresh in my mind is a lesson from St Augustine on the Psalms: "I would to God that the ungodly who now try us were converted, and so were on trial with us. Yet, though they continue to try us, let us not hate them: for we know not whether any of them will continue to the end in his evil ways. And mostly, when thou thinkest thyself to be hating thine enemy, thou hatest thy brother, and knowest it not."


















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