In Opposition, Nick Sherry was a ferocious interrogator of the tax commissioner in estimates hearings. It’s amazing how politicians can suddenly change when they get into government, writes Chris Seage.
October, 2009
Crikey Competition: Put your words on Brendan’s banner
In a cheesy display of self publicity, Brendan Nelson bid his supporters farewell by standing on the side of the road with a hand drawn “Thank You” banner. Time for a Crikey Competition: write your own Brendan Nelson banner!
Political snippets: Gay or straight, all families enjoy a day at the park
Happy families on both sides of the same-sex-marriage debate enjoy the great outdoors, Obama is more popular overseas than he is at home, and why Wayne Swan is furiously rubbing his lamp (get your mind out of the gutter!).
The $20b CPRS amendments with no budget impact
The Opposition believes its proposed CPRS amendments will have little or no fiscal impact, despite a suggested significant increase in compensation for trade-exposed polluters and the removal of coal emissions from the scheme.
A case of Telstra’s service (or lack of it) being shanghaied
Crikey reader Jim Gobert tells of his frustration getting an answer — of any sort — from Telstra.
Media, leadership and the structural change of Australian politics
This article could also be called “How to explain nearly everything about big P politics in four simple charts”.
Morning Market Report: Poor housing results damage markets
Housing starts and building permits coming in below expectations saw Wall St fall 51 overnight, while the market here was down 18.
Health Services election stoops to leather-clad rape slur
The three-way battle for control of the Health Services Union in Victoria has descended into acrimony after a vicious shit sheet depicting a candidate as a sexual predator was sent to thousands of union members.
Steel the backbone of the economic outlook
Iron ore coking coal and especially steel production figures worldwide are now major indicators for Australia and the national economy’s outlook, especially from China.
Centro charges put heat on Directors Club
ASIC announced today that it was bringing civil charges against the former executive and non-executive directors of collapsed property group Centro, alleging they failed to correctly classify $1.54 billion of interest-bearing liabilities.
The Media Monitors' Top 20: Rudd back on top
Kevin Rudd is back on top of the Media Monitors Top 20 list, with double his coverage from the last few weeks, while Balloon Boy flies into the Aussie press for some reason.
Guy Rundle: Asylum at last from the sado-conservatives
It’s a measure of how debased Australian politics became in the Tampa years that we can now be surprised that a government would confront its opponents with the fact that they imprisoned children, and score points from it.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Bolt and Fairfax
Andrew Bolt gives his side of the Fairfax, 3AW banning story. Plus, Crikey
Australia bends over for the ‘Indonesia Solution’
The motivating factor for the Indonesia Solution is not the government’s supposed humanitarian concerns, but the “dog-whistle politics” of racism in the immigration debate, writes Damien Kingsbury.
Media briefs: Zoo Weekly reaches new heights of good taste … A writing revolution
The classy gents mag Zoo Weekly has reached new heights of good taste, with some very sympathetic commentary (and 3D images!) of Setember 11. Plus, Twitter gets boozy.
What will Wong’s CPRS actually do?
The Government’s CPRS does nothing to reduce the number of coal-fired power stations, insulates the petrol price from the carbon price, and does not cover agriculture. So what does it do, asks Dr Richard Denniss.
Call to break up UK banks resonates here
Yesterday, the head of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, said he wants a break-up of banks to prevent them becoming “too important to fail”. It’s a message with some echoes in Australia.
Virgin’s wheel of fire at the hub of wider problems
Virgin Blue lawyers are crawling over the words of aircraft engineers union federal secretary Steve Purvinas like ants over road kill this morning, but what is really going on?
We are all authors now
Two scientists have plotted the number of published authors per year since the year 1400, finding that with the rise of social media, the number is growing nearly tenfold every year. Authors — once an elite minority — will soon be a majority.
Sarah Hanson-Young: ‘Rudd, how does it feel to look in the mirror and see Howard?’
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young blasts the outdated Christmas Island detention centre, the insulting language pollies use for refugees and the fact that John Howard’s ghost still haunts immigration.
How to find joy at work
The biggest cause of job satisfaction is having job security — something you may have no control over. Rosabeth Moss Kanter gives ten other tips for making you happy and content at work.
The Taliban-Al Qaeda merger
The idea that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are two distinct groups — and that we can defeat the former while tolerating the latter — is a fallacy, says Peter Bergen: Al Qaeda cannot be defeated without first securing Afghanistan.
Just what is a fascist?
It’s an insult slung regularly at just about everyone from all over the political spectrum, but just who and what is really a “fascist”? Is it the synonymous with “Nazi”? Does it assume racism? The BBC goes in search of a definition.
