tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post302954618181641108..comments2023-12-06T00:23:28.790+11:00Comments on Press gallery reform: Andrew Elderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-46859001742735545532011-02-24T21:59:38.475+11:002011-02-24T21:59:38.475+11:00It's interesting how incumbency negatively cor...It's interesting how incumbency negatively correlates to political support, isn't it? I was 10 years old when Howard got in and 15 during the neocon ascendancy, and I spent my formative years falling for whoever put the case against them in the most radical way possible. I often wonder how I would've turned out if I was ten years older..Seanhttp://onepointzerosixtwofive.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-37691698021536010482011-02-24T18:30:43.689+11:002011-02-24T18:30:43.689+11:00Victoria, I'd rather look at KK than, say Barr...Victoria, I'd rather look at KK than, say Barry O'Farrell, but I recognise that a) that's a personal choice and b) the ALP seriously believes that I'd prefer someone who looks good on TV than actual quality service delivery.<br /><br />I think you can leave Grattan and Oakes in situ, but you'd pension off Kelly and clear out that whole layer of wannabes - Josh Gordon, Katharine Murphy, Samantha Maiden, etc. Shut down the State Parliamentary galleries and use stock footage, and never ever do another picfac.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-71151674638550351562011-02-24T18:26:54.673+11:002011-02-24T18:26:54.673+11:00Sean, I'll try. I love reading counterfactuals...Sean, I'll try. I love reading counterfactuals and will do my best to come up with one.<br /><br />Askin was a choirboy compred to Wran and I reckon more will come out once he's dead - I joined the Liberal Party mainly because I hated Wran and basically see NSW Labor as corrupt. <br /><br />Anna Guide is a gutless pseudonym for an AWU employee.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-5979193400846134632011-02-24T10:02:13.097+11:002011-02-24T10:02:13.097+11:00Kristina Kenneally is an artificial construct of t...Kristina Kenneally is an artificial construct of the ugly backroom toads of Sussex Street, whose names we are all too familiar with from the last 16 years of Labor State government in NSW. Eddie Obeid's resignation still hasn't been forthcoming yet,has it? He's one difficult mofo to shift, and it clearly will not be until he has gone that the NSW Labor Party can say that they have well and truly purged themselves of their more odious side.<br />Which brings me back to Kristina. Ever since she waltzed into the party on the arm of her strategically-placed husband, with her double degree in Political Science and Theology, I knew there was only one job she had designs on, and, as much as any 17yo football temptress, she played those ugly men in Sussex Street like pianos until she got what she was after. The first time I laid eyes on her at State Conference, I perceived the smell of a Perfumed Steamroller from a mile away. I was not wrong. Which is not to say that the ugly face(s) of Sussex Street couldn't see a free ride to extended popularity on her back as well. Thus the match made in heaven. Or so they thought. But they were wrong. She may have convinced the randy old men of Sussex Street and Holt Street, but out in the real world they are a lot more suspicious.<br /> Which is good, really. As the only true way that Labor in NSW are going to become viable again, which is a completely different political paradigm to attaining victory, is to ditch the Pol Sci simulacra of a politician, that that woman epitomises, and get back to the basics of picking candidates who can simply relate to the electorate in a meaningful and genuine way. Like Steve Whan. Who I think should be Leader of the Opposition in the next State Parliament, but who will probably lose his seat. He's a genuinely nice guy, which Kenneally realises, I think, which is why she seems to be joined at the hip with him recently.<br /> Anyway, wouldn't it be nice if we could have a clean-out of the ranks of political journalism in this country too? You're right, so many of them, as well as the old political lags, are past their 'Use By' date. Michelle Grattan I'm looking at you.<br /> Sigh. It's not going to happen though because they are just as good at the politics of maintaining their positions as the politicians themselves.Victoriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12850659738502789103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-75426022668519917502011-02-23T22:16:28.046+11:002011-02-23T22:16:28.046+11:00I didn't realise that Imre was an old trot. Gu...I didn't realise that Imre was an old trot. Guess he's got more in common with Michael Costa than the rugged good looks. <br /><br />I miss your periodic counterfactuals, I wish you'd bring it back in some capacity for NSW state politics. I recently reread Evan Whitton's Can of Worms and I was dumbfounded by the sheer gall of the corruption of the Askin/Wran years, far beyond what's passed into common knowledge from Blue Murder and the like. I'd be interested to know where you think it started, indeed whether you think that level of corruption and political ineptitude is a 20th century phenomenon or whether its been the same kind of bent cops and property speculators since the Rum Rebellion. <br /><br />Also, by the by, was reading some of the comment threads from your Paul Howes posts. Is it just me or does anyone else get the vibe that Anna Guide is a nom de plume for one of the more recent additions to the Sunday Telegraph's editorial stable? Oh well, it's not like he's got anything more pressing to do than Google himself every half an hour.Seanhttp://onepointzerosixtwofive.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-667754874943625742011-02-23T21:31:30.694+11:002011-02-23T21:31:30.694+11:00What you focus on is policy - what's going on,...What you focus on is policy - what's going on, what do stakeholders think, then you bring in the politics as to how well/badly they address the issues. <br /><br />The choice shouldn't be between overwhelming focus on insider crap and no focus at all. I don't care what Imre et al want to write about - I want them to address issues I and others care about. <br /><br />Journalism - the only commodity where the customer is always wrong.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-14884447802101506932011-02-23T21:01:19.036+11:002011-02-23T21:01:19.036+11:00Hi Andrew
Have been lurking for a bit. Rather enj...Hi Andrew<br /><br />Have been lurking for a bit. Rather enjoy your perspective on these things. But heres the thing - imre and others revel in their "insider" status. And they only talk to other insiders. What I don't get is how to change it. The skewering of modern journalism (he said she said he won today they lost today) seems complete to me. And yet without it where do we end up ? Surely it would be worse to truly end up with a media that doesnt even engage with politics and policy rather than one that does it poorly ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com