tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post1513220718239313205..comments2023-12-06T00:23:28.790+11:00Comments on Press gallery reform: Same-sameAndrew Elderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-90205675846274137422015-07-17T10:10:15.262+10:002015-07-17T10:10:15.262+10:00Victoria has just appointed a Multicultural Commis...Victoria has just appointed a Multicultural Commissioner in the lovely Helen Kapalos<br /><br />Furthermore there's also a gender and sexuality Commissioner as well that was appointed<br /><br />Melbourne is now the most liveable and progressive city in Australia<br /><br />Smart, cultured and cool!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-85946789134379656932015-06-15T12:44:42.919+10:002015-06-15T12:44:42.919+10:00"The press gallery can't bear to report o..."The press gallery can't bear to report on Abbott as he is, as they know him to be."<br /><br />After all the excitement Fran and Michelle had generated the last couple of weeks over Abbott's revival in the polls and the way he was getting himself in a position to - incredibly! - call and win an early election, I was listening this morning to how they would react to the 47-53 Ipsos. <br /><br />The result? One sentence.<br /><br />Surely they would have put their pom poms in mothballs by now? Just bizarre.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-26022803648179576152015-06-15T06:51:55.061+10:002015-06-15T06:51:55.061+10:00Paul Keating once declared: Change the government....Paul Keating once declared: Change the government. Change the country.<br /><br />How right he was.<br /><br />Something very peculiar has happened to the Liberal Party which calls itself conservative. Under Abbott it seems that rule-of-law is now dispensable. That is not liberal. It is not conservative. It is very radical.<br /><br />I have been taken aback by the latest revelation that the government has been paying protection money to people smugglers. Abbott, as we know refuses to confirm that this is happening but our near neighbour, our most important ally, clearly believes it is.<br /><br />Abbott responds to every question about the matter by sounding off about stopping the boats, keeping Our Country safe, whatever it takes, hook or by crook, evil people etc etc. <br /><br />Why then is he not outraged by accusations that the government is paying people smugglers? In effect our accusers both here and abroad are saying that Australia is taking part in the people smuggling trade.<br /><br />What can we make of that veil of respectability that we treat asylum seekers harshly out of compassion: to deter others from making a perilous journey to Australia in leaky boats.<br /><br />It could be that we are paying those same smugglers to take their passengers back to whever they came from in those same dangerous vessels.<br /><br />Under Abbott this country has lost its way. It is very distressing. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-55407373683176926982015-06-15T06:29:51.168+10:002015-06-15T06:29:51.168+10:00Mark Kenny used graphs today, and almost made a co...Mark Kenny used graphs today, and almost made a conclusion.<br /><br />- Joe (apologies for the too-harsh replies recently)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-8071397867963296812015-06-14T22:58:56.102+10:002015-06-14T22:58:56.102+10:00Either that or it's a jinx!Either that or it's a jinx!Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-80016731288757385192015-06-14T21:22:30.032+10:002015-06-14T21:22:30.032+10:00So Andrew, is this your attempt to do something fo...So Andrew, is this your attempt to do something for the cause? Predict that the government won't allow marriage equality, thereby *forcing* them to do it just to prove you wrong ;PDalryknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-35900525731582848102015-06-14T13:39:24.306+10:002015-06-14T13:39:24.306+10:00Some people think God said marriage is between a m...Some people think God said marriage is between a man and a woman, but it turns it it was John Howard, just as he wedged the Republic vote with a rigged question.<br /><br />Having a single politician decide how the population should vote is not democracy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-70505359647896807152015-06-12T12:09:14.872+10:002015-06-12T12:09:14.872+10:00That's why most of the MPs who've said the...That's why most of the MPs who've said they'd vote for same-sex marriage if only Tony would let them are Victorian.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-3517269352133390222015-06-11T17:29:39.138+10:002015-06-11T17:29:39.138+10:00Anon...sorry I'm a Melbournian and we're n...Anon...sorry I'm a Melbournian and we're not conservative at all...<br /><br />Very gay friendly and have Joy Fm radio station as Australia's premier gay station..<br /><br />So there Dear Conservatives...our city is pretty cool<br /><br />Come down for a coffee Andrew anytime!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-12781393300866428422015-06-11T13:47:58.516+10:002015-06-11T13:47:58.516+10:00And here I am, currently in Auckland, where this m...And here I am, currently in Auckland, where this morning I took a picture of a sign in front of a city central church "Welcoming two of every kind" - where gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community services are held every Sunday evening.<br /><br />Australian, with it's inherently conservative population along with an equally shallow political class, is again behind the curve. But hey, if it's not related to sport, it's not important, right?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-88989049494105036912015-06-11T12:33:46.854+10:002015-06-11T12:33:46.854+10:00To some extent, although there's still a bit o...To some extent, although there's still a bit of groupthink ...David Irving (no relation)https://www.blogger.com/profile/05728918405973140125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-19061790239664154412015-06-11T12:30:31.186+10:002015-06-11T12:30:31.186+10:00Journalists seem to be dimly aware that most of th...Journalists seem to be dimly aware that most of them could be replaced by an algorithm which processes press releases. Story here: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/technology-changing-newsrooms/6537244<br />David Irving (no relation)https://www.blogger.com/profile/05728918405973140125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-38839882317280901232015-06-11T11:52:50.969+10:002015-06-11T11:52:50.969+10:00The more Abbott behaves like Abbott, the more spac...The more Abbott behaves like Abbott, the more space they give him.<br /><br />It's like one big running gag with most of the Press Gallery. They love him because he suits their intellectual and professional idleness. He basically writes their stories for them. Why bother analysing anything when you can just sit back and laugh at the current Abbott misstep.<br /><br />Except they aren't missteps, there is a pretty clear and very nasty plan at work to destroy the social compact in Australia and return us to some brutal roots where those with the means get the ability to lord over the rest of us again.<br /><br />It's no surprise that Downton Abbey is Abbott's kind of television - and he certainly doesn't identify with those Downstairs.Robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-51617158944415816522015-06-11T10:13:34.873+10:002015-06-11T10:13:34.873+10:00Eating the onion distracted the media from legisla...Eating the onion distracted the media from legislation that effectively criminalised journalism. This doesn't worry the press gallery because they don't really do investigative journalism. After the legislation passed, Crabb wrote a piece headlined wtte "I just can't get past eating the onion".<br /><br />Had the press gallery reported what Abbott said and what he did, rather than developed a fantasy that made them take him at his word, he might never ave become Prime Minister. Even today, they still believe in Tony 2.0.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-17023800670652022842015-06-11T09:46:10.572+10:002015-06-11T09:46:10.572+10:00Don't tell me the Greens are becoming a broad ...Don't tell me the Greens are becoming a broad church ...Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-64131800805357474702015-06-11T06:44:49.044+10:002015-06-11T06:44:49.044+10:00Thankyou Andrew for your consistent refusal to tak...Thankyou Andrew for your consistent refusal to take Abbott at his word. That is what makes your analysis far more interesting to read than much msm commentary.<br /><br />Many commentators avoid tackling the dark chasm between Abbott's words and action (if any) by using words like 'gaffe' and 'back flip' or the all encompassing 'Tony being Tony'. Interesting, that last one, which is not so evident these days. Tony being Tony. I, for one, would like to know who they think Tony is. I think I know but I am uncertain they do.<br /><br />What it TBT who threw himself on a raw onion that day? Annabel Crabbe seemed to be amused. But why did he do it? What was happening that day that he had to send the pack baying in the opposite direction. After what? Nuffink. <br /><br />How much more rewarding would it be for all of us, including for those having to produce metres of copy, if they held fast to that basic guide for reporters and addressed Who, What, Why and When.<br /><br />Perhaps they would be less likely to describe some utterance, which seems to divert from a party line, as a 'gaffe'. Maybe that 'gaffe' indicates that the government is concealing a position which may be unpalatable to some voters. Maybe that 'gaffe' should be seen as a clue that some matter requires further investigation. But hey, he has just eaten another raw onion! Skin and all? Yeah. Skin and all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-70489986091591181512015-06-11T01:25:27.894+10:002015-06-11T01:25:27.894+10:00Same sex marriage opposition is just plain old fas...Same sex marriage opposition is just plain old fashioned bigotry for many conservatives<br /><br />During the post war migrant period ,Greeks and Italians were subjected to the same crap Tony Abbott is engaging in...his old fashioned father probably was as homophobic as his son thus his sister coming out later in life because of that stifled environment. <br /><br />It's a thorn in the side of small l liberals who can't stand these nasty conservatives in the party who are just homophobic dickheads.<br /><br />Sad really they're seen by the public as being so backward and ridiculous. <br /><br />Christine Forster isn't very popular with the gay lobby and is an Uncle Tom to many glbti activists<br /><br />These career gays want a nice big gay wedding at taxpayer's expense with the shallow symbolism attached to it all.<br /><br />Tim Wilson is a gay for pay advocate really.<br /><br />His Reagan picture in his bedroom speaks volumes about what an interesting gay conservative he really is...bloody weirdest thing I've ever seen for a young liberal. ..hilarious Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-23420151124907790982015-06-10T13:39:50.336+10:002015-06-10T13:39:50.336+10:00It's probably possible to be a Green and oppos...It's probably possible to be a Green and oppose equal marriage, Andrew, but I've not met any either. If there are any, they'd almost certainly keep it very quiet. (I get funny looks because I'm not totally anti-nuclear, and I own guns, so a member who openly opposed equal marriage would be about as popular as a fart in church.)David Irving (no relation)https://www.blogger.com/profile/05728918405973140125noreply@blogger.com