June 11, 2004
ROCK ENROLLER
How many supporters of the government will change their vote because Peter Garrett has joined the Labor Party? Barely any, I’d guess, unless conservative voters secretly yearn to support a standard-issue enviro-leftist made wealthy through an ability to sing while suffering grand mal seizures.
Yet delusional Michael Leunig imagines that the government is terrified by Garrett’s ALP membership. On the contrary; Garrett is a gift, as his continued stumbling over the vote-enrolment issue demonstrates. Meanwhile, inspired by Garrett’s Pine Gap backflip, Mark Latham is now reconsidering his position on withdrawing Australian troops from Iraq:
A Labor government would consider leaving troops in Iraq to protect diplomats, federal Opposition Leader Mark Latham said today.
Mr Latham has previously outlined a timetable for Australia's withdrawal from Iraq under a Labor government, saying he hopes to bring soldiers back by Christmas.
UPDATE. We may have another Garrett backflip. Maybe even a double-backflip. Here he offers his opinion on sales of public property:
The selling off of any public property - whether its Telstra, a water board, a part of a forest, a part of the coast, a part of Australia's natural or financial heritage - really bothers me.
So you’d expect Garrett not to purchase any public property, right? Liz Tickner reports in today’s West Australian:
The singer and conservationist lives in Mittagong, in NSW's Southern Highlands, in historic Rowe Cottage, the former boys' home he bought for $425,000 in 1995.
Mr Garrett has refurbished the property and, coupled with soaring property prices in the highlands, it could be worth $1.8 million to $2 million.
And from whom did Garrett buy this historic cottage? From the NSW Department of Community Services, which offloaded the formerly publicly-owned site as part of a widespread sale of assets by the department during the mid-’90s:
The Hon. R. D. DYER: The first point is that the full value of the sales of assets is retained and not lost, either partially or wholly. The agency retains the full value. I am advised that the total figure is an estimate at this stage. However, subject to completion of sales, approximately $5 million will be realised from the disposal of various properties, depending on the outcome of the sales - that is always tinged with some uncertainty. Some of the principal properties involved are Lark Hill and Rath at Campbelltown, estimated to produce $2.6 million; Collier Street, Redhead, near Newcastle, $185,000; Rowe Cottage at Mittagong, a transaction that has been settled and has produced $487,000; Warne Street, Wellington, $230,000; a portion of Renwick at Mittagong, a transaction which has also been settled and has produced $700,000; Jones Street, Moree, also a settled transaction which has produced $34,000; Oriana Street, Coffs Harbour, not a completed transaction but estimated to produce $240,000; and the final major item is Ironbank Road Muswellbrook, estimated to secure $215,000. The larger properties have not been included because it is not anticipated they will result in a sale in this current financial year.
Having secured his ex-government highlands property, Garrett apparently opposes anybody else doing the same:
One estate agent said that a NSW Government proposal to rezone surplus Department of Community Services land across the road from Rowe Cottage into residential blocks could reduce the value of his rural retreat.
Not surprisingly, Mr Garrett is a vocal opponent of the Carr Labor Government's rezoning proposal.
It really bothers him.
UPDATE II. Mark Latham on Labor's culture:
Labor's culture is deeper and more durable than that of other parties. We demand from our members a long and testing apprenticeship before they can run for public office. There is no walk-in, walk-out way of serving working people. It takes a lifelong commitment.
NEWS BRIEFLETS
• Drink, bloggers, drink! Alan Anderson has all the details. See you at 8pm.
• Check out Arthur Chrenkoff’s latest round-up of good news from Iraq.
• Michael Moore’s rancid propaganda receives a mixed review after its Hollywood debut.
• Islamic terrorists want to attack France. Why? It's a mystery.
• Alzheimer's Association official Jeanne Dubow says Ronald Reagan will be remembered.
• Nobutaka Watanabe, one of the Japanese peace activists recently held captive in Iraq, has sued his own government, claiming its policies provoked the kidnapping.
• Maureen Dowd declares: "Whether he is right or wrong, George W. Bush is a bummer." Similarly open-minded is Australian political genius Peter Garrett: "I don't agree with the policies of Republican presidents."
• Fox News drew level with CNN a couple of years ago. Since then ... well, take a look.
June 10, 2004
CREDIBILITY GAP
Peter Garrett has campaigned against Pine Gap for more than twenty years:
In 1986, Peter Garrett became the first civilian to be allowed through the front gates of the American Intelligence installation at Pine Gap. He delivered a notice from the people of Australia saying that they intended to terminate the U.S. Government's lease on the site.
Overnight, Garrett has changed his mind:
He now believes it is an essential part of Australia's security infrastructure.
UPDATE. Evil Pundit celebrates Peter’s conversion.
UPDATE II. Tim Dunlop maintains Webdiary’s tradition of accuracy:
And then there was the righterwing reaction. Tim Blair went into convulsions of confected "battler" outrage, objecting strenuously to the concept of a self-made millionaire with something like a conscience and no hair having any role whatsoever in our democracy.
Considering Garrett’s voting record, he’s the one avoiding a democratic role. Anyway, here's Webdiary's code of ethics:
I will correct errors of fact on Webdiary as soon as possible after they are brought to my attention and will disclose and explain any inadvertent breach of my ethical duties on Webdiary at the first available opportunity.
Let's see how long it takes.
PETER BEATER
If her US voting intentions are any guide, John Howard should parachute Rachel Hunter into the celebrity-driven Kingsford Smith election:
The New Zealander model - based in Los Angeles - is not eligible to vote in America's Presidential elections but is a fierce Republican and desperately wants to support her idol, Bush Junior.
Hunter explains, "If I could, I would vote for Bush. He has done what needed to be done because if Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden had their way, none of us would be around in 10 years.
"Clinton had a lot of tea parties with celebrities, but [right after] his term, somebody flew two planes into the Twin Towers. What do you want - somebody who keeps your children safe or somebody who throws nice tea parties?"
Environmentalist and former rock star Peter Garrett today rejected claims he had not voted in elections for 10 years, saying he had cast his vote but was not aware he was not on electoral rolls.
The former Midnight Oil frontman confirmed today he would stand for Labor preselection for the Sydney federal seat of Kingsford Smith, saying he had accepted Labor leader Mark Latham's invitation to join the party.
Latham adds a chilling comment:
I'd be surprised that if at some time in the future Peter wasn't a frontline minister in a Labor government.
OPEN QUESTION
Who will you vote for in the upcoming Australian federal election ... and why? US readers are also invited to comment.
FORGET TERRORISM. THIS IS IMPORTANT!
Attention, fellow Australians! It is vital that you attend immediately to matters of national importance:
Opposition Leader Mark Latham has told Labor that it is "a matter of national importance to our party" that Peter Garrett be fast-tracked into the seat of Kingsford Smith.
The former Midnight Oil lead singer yesterday quit as president of the Australian Conservation Foundation and applied formally to join the ALP, so finally confirming his political intentions.
Quickly! No time is to be lost! Unless you support this initiative, a dull-thinking, argument-losing millionaire greenoid may miss his chance to feast on your taxes! Funny, incidentally, that Latham should insist on fast-tracking Garrett into Parliament, given Garrett's glacial voting record:
Peter Garrett has been a serial vote-dodger for almost a decade, according to Australian Electoral Commission records.
The revelation is a huge embarrassment to Opposition Leader Mark Latham, who has put his leadership on the line to preselect the Midnight Oil lead singer for a safe Sydney seat and install him in federal Parliament.
Meanwhile, Piers Akerman reminds us of Mark Latham’s pledge to:
"Commit myself to this great national purpose: reinventing and revitalising our democracy, opening up greater public participation, cleaning out the excesses of the political system, governing for the people, not the powerful."
Opening up greater public participation? Overruling local branches. Cleaning out excesses of the political system? Indulging political poseurs. Governing for the people, not the powerful? Granting a millionaire non-ALP member easy passage to Parliament.
Still, because this is a matter of national importance, we should set aside any petty partisan disputes. After all, the cruciality of Garrett’s canditature is so overwhelming that Peter FitzSimons has composed the most infantile column yet published in an Australian newspaper.
Such sacrifices -- of self-respect, dignity, and career -- must be rewarded. To that end, I now unreservedly support Garrett’s (and Latham’s) ascent. While John Howard distracts us with inconsequential talk of global terrorism, Mark Latham is calmly focussed on the real issue: giving classic-FM rock identities a free ride on your tab. Vote Latham! Vote awful singers!
DRINK EXCUSE PROVIDED
Melbourne blogger Alan Anderson will be in Sydney tomorrow night. Good excuse for a drink, yes? Venue to be advised. Check or email this site (or Alan's) for updates.
JUST LIKE BACK HOME
Lawyers for Australian Guantanamo Bay resident Mamdouh Habib claim that he may have been mistreated. Turns out Mamdouh raised similar allegations three years ago:
Mamdouh Habib, one of two Australians arrested on suspicion of terrorist links and held at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay, brought charges against [Bilal] Khazal in November 2001, alleging he had beaten and threatened him in the main street of Lakemba. Mr Khazal denies ever attacking Mr Habib and in February 2002, with Mr Habib detained in Cuba, police withdrew the charges.
Bilal Khazal ... hmmm ... that name rings a bell. Maybe the Gnu Hunter can help out.
USE THE STRESS
Rare among Reagan recollections this week is anything about his screen career. Dawn Eden, via Hollywood pal Jim Friedland, has a fine tale of Reagan’s acting method during the shooting of Kings Row.
UPDATE. The Age’s Greg Hywood:
Ronald Reagan, never understood in this country much beyond his caricature as a simple-minded former B-grade Hollywood actor, was the inspiration behind the modern Australian economy.
Our 13 years of unbroken economic growth have a direct link to Reagan's decision nearly 25 years ago to cut the highest marginal tax rate in the US from 70 per cent to 29 per cent.
UPDATE II. Mark Steyn:
If I understand correctly the left’s dismissal of Ronald Reagan, it’s that he was a third-rate B-movie ham of no consequence and simultaneously such an accomplished actor he was able to fool the American people into believing he was a real President rather than a mere cue-card reader for the military-industrial complex.
BRITAIN REMAINS SEXLESS
In 1975, the BBC refused to broadcast a motor race because one of the cars was sponsored by a condom manufacturer. These days, British society must consider other sensitive issues:
An advert for women's underwear has been criticised after it was put up on billboards near two mosques.
The poster, for Wiltshire-based company Sloggi, shows four women wearing only G-strings and high heels, alongside the slogan "It's string time".
Not near any mosques it isn’t.
MOMENT OF CLARITY
"This ain’t journalism," realises Margo Kingston, finally. "It's crude political propaganda which shames Australian journalism and stinks to high heaven."
So quit already!
SYDNEY MORNING HEADLINES
The original Sydney Morning Herald headline.
The subsequent stealth-edited Sydney Morning Herald headline.
Credit Gnu Hunter for the change. Speaking of stealth editing, check out what was removed from Tom Brokaw’s interview with George W. Bush ...