Therese Rein, Bill Heffernan or Barnaby Joyce are honourable people and both posts are execrable.

I engaged in no smear of Thérèse Rein, attempting, obviously unsuccessfully, to parody the reaction of the right to the spelling her name.

But, Bill Heffernan and Barnaby Joyce are honourable people? Seriously? Bill Heffernan who used the resources of his office (and taxpayer funds) to pursue and smear Michael Kirby? Bill Heffernan who dismissed Julia Gillard because she was “barren” and when questioned by the media demonstrated how honourable he was by running away down a stairwell? Bill Heffernan who flipped the bird to Penny Wong and then lied about it, claiming is was actually intended for some other ALP Senator?

And did you catch Barnaby Joyce’ performance on Lateline with Bob Brown, with his sneering references to “St Bob” and latte-drinkers? I suppose it’s what passes for honourable on the conservative side of politics.

Tom McLoughlin’s notes about Penny Wong’s background are relevant. At least in that one case of NSW Forest Policy in the 1990s, Ms Wong was instrumental in rorting the (Carr) Government’s pre-election policy, by cooking up a political fix between unions, government and (the timber) industry to dump on the conservation movement - thereby destroying the previously-agreed attempt to develop a (forest) policy underpinned by science.

There may be more suitable candidates to do something almost identical to the nation in the case of climate change policy, but I don’t know of any.

Penny Wong is certainly smart, but anyone who thinks she cares a toss for the environment is, I trust, now obtaining the disillusionment that was always coming.

Ms Wong is not, however, the ultimate driver of this cynical policy to shirk Australia’s responsibility to play a leading role in greenhouse gas abatement in order to protect the biggest polluters and allow them to carry on more or less as before.

Penny Wong is a competent fixer. If she had different orders doubtless she’d implement them instead.

Kevin Rudd is ultimately responsible for his Government’s fraudulent current climate change policies, with their $16 billion public subsidies to those in this continent who already do the most damage to the planet’s atmosphere.

To regain credibility, Rudd needs to negotiate amendments on the Climate Change legislation with the Greens.

He might want to put Peter Garret in charge of that, leaving Senator Wong to face down the union bosses and big-polluting industries afterwards.

Ms Wong could be a Force for Good if her icy talents are appropriately deployed, but she should be directed to do over the big end of town for once - instead of the public interest as represented by conservationists, scientists and other concerned citizens.

I stumbled across an article today that mentioned an ETS implemented by the US for sulfur emissions during the early 90s, at a time when acid rain was becoming a real problem. It worked successfully because it only focused on regulating the chief sources of emissions - the power generators - and over the decade, the cost of the reductions worked out much cheaper than was estimated.

Penny Wong should apply her strong head to the industry groups who are lobbying for subsidies and loopholes in the legislation. She also needs to beware the advice of economists and the banks who fund them, who wish to turn the CRTS into a deregulated, derivative trading extravaganza.

The government should focus on cutting the fat out of the legislation, as the more complex the CRTS is, the more likely it is to be gamed, and the more likely it is to fail.

Therese Rein, Bill Heffernan or Barnaby Joyce are honourable people and both posts are execrable.

Right up Jonathan Green’s alley as long as it’s both leftist and etreme.

[Edited by Moderator] … of the labour party, terase rein

Who is “terase rein”? You don’t mean Thérèse Rein, that nice lady with those faggoty acute and grave accents who is married to Kevin Rudd? She isn’t a minister or even an MP, so what did she do to deserve being smeared by you? It’s time to come clean “madeinaustralia,” and admit that you’re really a sockpuppet for Bill Heffernan or Barnaby Joyce. There’s no other explanation for your asinine comments.

Wong is an idiot, she has a message written and crafted for her, she is studious and works hard.

But like any robot that learns to regurgitate she is incapable of original thought or changing direction without command.

Edited by Moderator

Wong is surely as smart but alot less sincere on greenhouse issues, in my opinion. A one note indeed, despite some late stage righteous anger. An approach learnt well at the heel of the Carr ALP forest policy disaster 1998-99 which expanded woodchipping and guaranteed 20 year resource security for private logging corporations in public forests.

When ambitious minister Wong pilloried the Opposition for being “weak” on tv I saw irony. I wonder how many others of the public saw projection given the contrast with the staunch Greens under Bob Brown.

And yes I do sometimes wonder if Garrett (profile) and Wong (minority), and Combet (brains) are supposed to add up to 1 Bob Brown - the wild Gouldian Finch? Or perhaps Tasmanian Wedge Tailed raptor. As Bruce Hawker once said on Sydney radio not so long ago - without a hint of irony ‘there is no one in politics more of a straight shooter than Bob Brown’.

Now that’s quite a compliment from an ALP machinist. He must have been feeling very nostalgic for his idealist ALP youth that day. Such a long long time ago.

How can you have a “debate” between two people who essentially agree with each other?

Please, could you contact Jane Nethercote of Crikey and request that we do something to disambiguate the two of us. It is ridiculous and unacceptable that readers cannot tell us apart. You are quite free to criticize a federal minister but it is not fair that I get attributed with the same comments/opinions. Especially as I have not been anonymous.

Thanks,
Michael R. James (Brisbane)

Female? Tick. Gay? Tick. Ideologically suitable? Tick. From a minor state? Tick.

Pity that competence was not one of the selection criteria. Colleagues who have had to deal with her department state that everything that gets agreed by her Department then gets to her and comes to a dead stop, with Wong refusing to countenance other points of view. She is more ideological than most imagine and has a bad case of ‘My way or the highway’ about her.

As Keane points out, others in the Government have dealt with hard issues, undertaking the horse trading necessary to get bills through, with amendments as required to do so.

Wong on the other hand seems to have no idea of how to spell compromise, let alone practice it.