How embarrassment, Julie
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It was a bad day for Deputy Opposition leader and Shadow Foreign Minister Julie Bishop yesterday. Julie let it slip that local intelligence agencies are involved in passport forgery, in a video interview with The Age online. Bishop said it would be naive to think only Israel is involved with passport forgery. Kevin Rudd is accusing Bishop of breaching national security and the convention that both sides of politics never comment about security agencies activities. Bishop has now backtracked on her forgery comments, releasing a statement saying:
So how bad was Julie’s stuff up? Here’s what the pundits are saying: The Australian Dennis Shanahan: Libs’ spin on expulsion an abuse of privilege
Samantha Maiden: Bishop’s passport to rile Labor
The Daily Telegraph Malcolm Farr: Bishop shops the spies
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62 Comments
Julie look me in the eye and tell what you’re saying is true.On second thought, oh please no!!! those eyes..
She seems to be taking lessons from Abbott, speaking recklessly in the heat of the moment. I wonder what other clandestine activities she’d like to comment on?
I don’t know what everybody is getting excited about.
She obviously will say anything under pressure ( even very little pressure) and as her leader Tony L’Abbottomy has clearly said how this is perfectly OK. You just then say you didn’t mean & nobody should take what you say for real.
Julie “Eyes of Death” Bishop should be praised for demonstrating her incompetence and unfitness for high office. Just a pity that it has so embarassed the nation but never mind I’m sure Andrew Dolt approves
Oh dear, and the election campaign hasn’t even started.
The key here is the ‘unfit’ to govern epithet.
Each of the coalition’s front line members have, one by one, shot off their own feet.
Abbott has admitted lying and that such ‘inconsistencies’ are okay.
Bishop is now unable to be trusted, and has take a leaf out of Abbott’s ‘in writing’ get-out-clause by denying what she said in an on tape interview in a written press release. It is hilarious that SKY has suggested the press release is a clarifying statement — never mind that it is contrary to what she actually said.
Hockey has provided, via his Finance shadow side-kick, a shoddy set of figures in reply to Swan’s budget, and has since floundered at every turn. You can tell he is dying inside, he is so uncomfortable with everything he is saying and doing.
Dutton buys shares in a company he is supposed to believe will tank because of Labor’s RSPT.
And then we have twits like Bronwyn Bishop and Wilson Tuckey, constantly lecturing the speaker on standing orders (but that is ALL they seem to do).
Heaven help us if this crew got hold of the reins of govt.!
@JENAUTHOR
The All-Clown Rodeo is here at last!
It’s Time…to start a new party. Please, real “l” liberals, follow Malcolm’s example (that includes you Malcolm the Younger), and leave this bunch of rightwing nutters.
Howard was bagged for having a 1950s view of Australia…the current rightwing in the so-called “Liberal” party are sounding more and more like having a 1930s view - New Guard, Mosely etc.
“How Embarrassment??” Am I missing something here?
Julie Bishop told the truth.
We can’t have that can we?
@Elan
You sure are
“Julie Bishop told the truth.Julie Bishop told the truth.We can’t have that can we?
A spurious defence and not even accurate as she didn’t
Consider
1) it was inappropriate to comment
2) She didn’t really know what she was talking about but used what should be a bipartisan issue to score political points ie she traded her country for her own percieved political advantage ). Not much moral value there is there. Whilst I’ll accept that it is appropriate to go against national interest on moral grounds to do it for political points is just tawdry
3) Then she tried to say that she didn’t say what she did say. Avoidind responsibility. Is that what you consider a good value.
I suggest you return to Liberal Party Headquarters & try & come up with something better. That really is weak
@ Elan
How Embarrassment,/b> is, I believe, a quote from Girlfriend magazine, which runs a column of that name, intentionally named as an embarrassing mistake.
You are touchingly brand-loyal. Bishop may have told the ‘truth’ but she also broke the long-standing convention of not commenting about security agencies. Had a Labor Foriegn Affairs spokesperson done this whilst Opposition, one can only imagine your response.
Sorry, didn’t mean to yell- damn HTML!
The old saying ‘loose lips sink ships’ applies here.
Politicians should NEVER reveal ANY details of a country’s security activities whether true or surmised or blatantly erroneous.
Blind Freddie knows this and Julie Bishop should hightail it back to her lawyerly job and leave the politicking to people with more common sense.
Between her monumental ‘slip-ups’ and Barnaby’s completely unintelligible nonsense, they are making the coalition look like they wouldn’t be able to run a local council let alone a sovereign nation.
I am flabbergasted at the stupidity.
Oh Holden, am I really that old, that I am of the few to remember Kylie Mole…. how embarrassment!….
First part, thanks HB.
Second part;-don’t be such a prat!
I’m sick to fecking death of being categorized as Right or Left!!!!!!
Grow a damn brain, man!
Get it into your head (God knows there’s plenty of space available),-I would have exactly the same view if it were the political reverse.
For Pete’s sake, I’ve already posted once this morning on this Party loyalty thing! ENOUGH!
It’s OK to expel a Mossad/Israeli operative for Israel fraudulently using OzPP’s-but we are doing the same thing (what? That is a surprise to you???), yet we take the moral (I mean we here on Crikey), high ground on the expulsion,-then get our knickers in a knot because-(not because Oz does the same)-but because such fact was dropped by a Liberal!
Then we go into a ‘national security’ lather.
Who are you kidding? Doesn’t the hypocrisy of this thing-on two fronts, even cause a blip on your radar?
1) The double standard.
2) Because ‘a Liberal said it”.
For Christ’s sake. I’m sick of it! I have no bloody time for either bleeding mob! But sheep like you come stomping in with the usual ‘Right wing hack’ type scenario.
A breach of national security my rrrrr’s!! There is a global awareness that the others do this. In diplomatic circles it’s common knowledge .(Yes, I DO know.).
Israel got caught. So the token expulsion occurred, with the full agreement of both Governments-with Israel not conceding they did do anything wrong.
Gawd! WHY do we aid and abet Lab/Lib in this crappy game?
THE PRAT: ditto my previous post, you banker!
“How embarrassment” was one of the signature lines of the fully gorgeous Effie from Wogs Out Of Work, long before the readership of Girlfriend magazine had been conceived.
BTW: Holden, I am a touch concerned about your intimate knowledge of said periodical…
No, ELAN the convention is the point in case. It doesn’t surprise me what is done in the name of security, either. But thanks for you concern over my cranial capacity.
Purely professional interest, Stevo.
@Elan
You start off on the “truth track” then in you recent impassioned postyou state
“Israel got caught. So the token expulsion occurred, with the full agreement of both Governments-with Israel not conceding they did do anything wrong.”
So everything was cool then Julie Bishop sticks her oar in and the whole thing gets blown up up again. Bishop put the Isralie gov’t in an invidious position. Great work for a Shadow Foreign Minister
I guess what you’re saying is that it’s sort of OK for Bishop to say something they may probably be true but then deny it but in the process cause embarassment, stuff up a solution to score points & prove herself incompetent & stupid but that’s OK with you
You can see why people can assume you are a party stooge
Your arguments are as incoherrent & inconsistent as the opposition
You should both quit while you are ahead.
(I assume your inability PRAT, is twofold. Just a hint: use the spellcheck).
When you both learn to read-you might be able to absorb what I said, (might).
Sod the convention; and sod the Party stooge. (Or did you mean party…,PRAT?).
This whole thing is absurd, get a damned life!
Dear Elan
Thanks for conceeding I’m right ( I assume you are just confused over the spelling ).
Since you conceed that I’m right then obviouslty I have absorbed what you wrote which tends to make the third line of your post , dare I say it, irrational.
I would point out that I’m not the one having a hissy fit & resorting to name calling
BTW spell check doesn’t work in the screen I’m in and anyway I don’t care that much about the spelling so get over it
As the person who wrote the headline, I will embarrassingly admit that it was a Girlfriend magazine reference. As an English nerd from a young age, it always made me angry until someone finally explained that it was a joke.
Australia has spies working in Asia to hunt down refugees, I doubt they use their own names and passports and they should not be there in the first place. We have zero right to tell anyone which country they are allowed to enter or leave but we treat them worse than terrorists.
Of course the Bali investigation showed that they and the feds were so busy hunting down and jailing refugees in Indonesia that they completely missed the warnings about bombings in Bali.
Holden back, My little girl wanted me to buy her a cowboy outfit for christmas so we’re going to get her the opposition front bench.
PRAT: you’ve even accepted that I’m talking to you using that tag!! Helloooo?
(Sooo, how about we avoid hissy fit/name calling, and concentrate on this topic…eh?).
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Yes, Amber, I was totally unfamiliar with it’s origin, but the ‘mistake’ was so glaring, that I knew I was missing something!
@ Elan
Your illogicality seemingly knows no bounds & is probably only matched by your hypocrisy
I made the assumption on the tag & referred to spelling. I tried to act that you weren’t trying to be intentionally rude & insulting.
You say ” (Sooo, how about we avoid hissy fit/name calling, and concentrate on this topic…eh?).
Well hello!
Did I call you Prat, banker ( I assume you really wanted to start the word with a w which would be less of an insult than leaving it spelt as is) or any other insult.
No all I did is say your arguments were illogical & that it would indicate that you are a stooge
Please don’t try to make me stoop to your level by being rude. It won’t work
Like Barnaby and Abbot, Bishop is simply an incompetent communicator. None of them have the skills necessary to express themselves in a clear and disciplined manner. Traditionally, such skills have been considered essential for success as a politician. These days the absence of such skills is offered as proof that the individual concerned is “authentic”, the implication being that the politician concerned is not really a politician, but someone from the pub down the corner who you can trust. It’s a house of cards…
For Gawd’s sake PRAT shut-up! You are becoming harder and harder to decipher!
@ Vittesse
Bishop is simply incompetent. I had the misfortune to hear her interview on ABC 720 when she was shadow treasurer.
It was an afternoon drive show & the presenter , Russell Wolfe, likes to have a nice friendly chatty show & just asked the question about what the prime rate was.
Bishop didn’t know the single most important indicator rate. When Wolfe realised she had stuffed it up he tried to help her out.
For someone not to on top of something basic is gross incompetence and whilst the item itself was unimportant it was a critical indicator of her sloppy thinking and approach.
Unfortunately Abbott, Hockey & Barnaby are seemingly as lazy & incompetent
@ Amber
As an English nerd from a young age, it always made me angry until someone finally explained that it was a joke.
I have Greek friend who always says ‘interested’ instead of interesting, and embarrassment instead of embarrassing.
It seems to be a very Greek mistake (something to do with translation). Very frustrated … oh, I mean frustrating for a grammar-nazi like myself.
Bishop’s inadequacy in her role as Opposition Foreign Affairs spokeperson is an embarrassment. In breaking the primary rule….. don’t use your privileged info to denigrate the department or score political advantage… she’s shown herself as untrustworthy in any senior government role, let alone on the international stage. By then denying she said it, she’s flushed any credibility down the toilet… another of Tony’s phoneys.
Elan you should really stop now…. you have been pwned.
I think Elan has a point which would probably be clearer if she was not so shouty.
Which is worse? That Israel forged identities using passports of a friendly country, or that Julie Bishop tried to make two wrongs make a right?
“Elan you should really stop now…. you have been pwned.”
“I think Elan has a point which would probably be clearer if she was not so shouty.
Which is worse? That Israel forged identities using passports of a friendly country, or that Julie Bishop tried to make two wrongs make a right?”
Crap. Absolute crap!
The reality of what ‘I’m doing wrong’ is simply because this is Crikey!
Crikey (thank God!) provides a balance to the largely Right controlled press in this country.
It is necessary, BUT…
It is not the place to put up anything that is even perceived to be defending the Right. There are conservative posters on Crikey, but they are given a regular seeing to!
To disagree with the Crikey mainstream,- is a loud declaration of being the enemy on the Right!
That’s it. Bagged and tagged!
And THAT is what these snide remarks are about,-and nothing else.
Any criticism of the Right/Liberals (by me!) is ignored, because that supports the mainstream view!
Have the spine to be honest about it!!
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As for your rationale PIX, of the ‘forged passports/ friendly country’-( and thus heinous act) v I assume the disloyalty of Bishop (we will only do to with unfriendly countries).
Elaborate.
How do you know such actions are only undertaken using the PP’s of hostile countries?
What is a ‘friendly country’ ? Give that some thought.
There are matters that occur everyday I suspect, that would clearly define that when it comes to covert actions, there is no such thing as a friendly country. Get real.
@ Elan
“Crap. Absolute crap! “
Finally we agree on something.
A perfect description of the content of almost every post you’ve made on this subject
Do you mean to tell me that you waited over two hours, and that is all you can come up with??
PRAT: are you by any chance on day release??
Whether you agree or disagree with a particular foreign affairs policy, this story and argument is really about a politician’s ability to work within the accepted parameters of the job.
Set aside the question of morality about using passports or not, for the moment — because this is not what this is about.
It is about national secrets and endangering the work and lives of our security personnel. And it is also about our international reputation.
We all, I’m sure, are aware that govt’s engage in what could be considered unsavoury acts to ensure national security.
Undercover work by our agencies is necessary even if we are a small player Actually, being small players might easily make us more of a target for fraudulent use of passports, for instance, because we are generally well-thought-of internationally and not many of our citizens have any history in terms of terrorism.
But the immorality of unsavoury undercover operations aside — Julie Bishop has tarnished our reputation. If she blabbed that (true or not) — what else might she say under pressure? Could she preempt something of vital importance that endangers our operatives or innocent citizens?
That is what is unforgivable. That is why she should resign.
@ Elan
No. I’m employed
I see your manners ( or perhaps spelling) haven’t improved therefore obviously you haven’t taken your medication today.
Clearly you suffer from a computer version of Tourette’s
@ Jenauthor
Hear Hear!!!
@Holden Back
“The All-Clown Rodeo is here at last!”
-All Clown, No Cowboy!
-Complete Buckers, No Broncos!
QT today was like ‘Whack a Mole’, with all the Liberal/ National / Pineapple Party clowns poking their heads up out of their rodeo barrells one by one, only to get Swannie or Kev amash ‘em with big mallets of facts and logic.
Trubbell I nearly nixed my laptop I laughed so hard!
I wonder what use the govt will make of the BRW rich list tomorrow when the Libs again rehash their anti RSPT carry-on?
Hard to feel sorry for Twiggy when he personally made up one tenth of the proposed tax-take over the forward ests. in a single year!
And that was merely the increase in his wealth!
His singular personal wealth is more than one third (nearly half) of the projected RSPT income.
Seen those terms, it is hard to take his anti-tax arguments seriously.
PRAT: you areon day release. You comments are becoming increasing bizarre. I’m sorry I didn’t realise .
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JENAUTHOR: This is about nothing more than that this woman is a Liberal.
(I could endear myself by saying I can’t stand her etc., that would not be true. What is accurate is that I have no time for her. I don’t respect her, and am uninterested in her views).
However, it is unmistakable in this place that incompetent Labor politicians can do no wrong, and Liberals no right. (I actually believe that both major Parties can do no right!)
We can waffle on about national security, but the woman’s statement (one word!) has done nothing, absolutely NOTHING to destabilize Australia. You know it. I know it.
I am not protecting the Howard-Abbott/Right, my fantasy is to see them completely obliterated.
What I’m sick of is the limpet cling on anything they do wrong, and the rationalizing of anything so-called Labor does.
“Abbott Lied” has now got 233 posts!
This bloody woman is a Liberal. THAT is why she is being attacked.
@ Elan
If you are trying to denegrate me by belittling people with a mental illness then you should be sorry ( I let it pass the first time) but not now. Mental illness is to serious to use as an insult & I really shouldn’t have made that gag about Tourette’s. It was in poor taste ( I appologise) and anyway it was obvously way to subtle for you.
Please don’t hold me responsible for your limited capacity to comprehend
The fact that it was a concern to you that you waited two hours for a response indicates an unhealthy obsession as is your persistant use of the incorrect title.
In any event if check the posting times.
You 5.09 my response 5-15 which by my maths is 6 minutes or effectively you were 95% wrong.
Givenyour lack of logic being incapable of arithmatic is hardly surprising
@Trubbell
Great imagery!
You’ve got me scrambling to see when Order in the House is on to check out QT (or isn’t it on anymore - might have to see if its streamed off the PH.gov.au website.
@Amber Yes but Girlfriend would have gotten “How embarrassment” from Effie - as Stevo said earlier. A reference from the 1980’s I believe.
I hate to say it Elan but I would say the same if she was a green or a labor politician.
Some things you can do, some things you can’t … she crossed the line.
You had to hit the ground running on the Tourette’s accusation didn’t you PRAT,-given you chose to have a go at me on the mental health issue!!
Go back to post no. 9. YOU made it personal. I’ve responded. I will continue to do so.
You have been blathering on at me personally ever since,-and I’ve responded. It then occurred to me that you might have a problem. I still believe that. You are becoming obsessive, like an irritating blowie. (Is that better?).
You’ve picked on the wrong one. It’s that simple. You post. I post. NOTHING you are putting up to me is anything more than personal insult. SO?-I picked it up, and ran with it…, and you don’t like that! Cheeky bugger!!
Go back to post 9. You insulta me; I insulta youse.
Thank you for a measured reply JA. I quite believe with you that is the case, and as a consequence I accept that your views are sincere.
What I don’t believe is that much (most) of the anti Bishop feeling is NOT based on political stance, even if everyone now suddenly becomes apolitical!
Having said that, we differ in our views. I believe that Nixon ‘crossed the line’. I do not believe that Bishop did. She was being honest-perhaps stupidly so-but honest, and taking a potshot (not unheard of by both sides!).Pivotally;-she will not undermine Australia’s standing.
Franky, I don’t believe that other countries give one damn about the whole affair-unless it affects then directly.
@ Elan
I had the decency to appolgise for an inappropriate reference and I even noticed my own mistake . Youdidn’t pick up on it!
Kudos to me I’d say and yet another failure for you since you kicked off.
My first response to you had no insults.
Given your never ending rudeness I would suggest my resplies have been the model of temperance.
I notice you didn’t even addres the substantial point that simple arithmatic is beyond you.
Or that you waited or thought you waited two hours for a response ( Ahem confused as to time are you or lost your digital watch & can’t use an analogue one)
Just a meaningless diatribe that is as pointless as it is ignorant.
To further the blowie analogy pointing out your failings is as easy as pulling wings off a fly but a lot more fun and certainly less cruel than doing it to a sentient life form. Yes that is an insult. Get somebody with an above room temperature IQ to explain it.
………..sigh, yes I did. I simply was not interested.
FGS man -GET HELP. You are rambling.
Yes, we can agree to disagree.
I do think her gaffe is damaging. Now, when we assert our sincerity internationally, it can be called into question. And if she were to become the minister, that would be glaringly obvious.
In today’s news corporations, everything is kept and trotted out whenever someone makes a headline. Red Kerry’s ability to trip up Abbott was based on that very ability to draw on past gaffe’s and use them in contemporary circumstances (rightly or wrongly). I could list any number snippets for both sides of the house.
This means that Julie Bishop is now tainted. I don’t know her — she might be a wonderful woman (I will admit I don’t like what I see but that is also a very narrow perception). But once tainted, it is very hard to regain complete credibility.
I suspect Fraser’s leaving the Liberal party will now taint Abbott all the more. It will take a heck of a lot of pushing from the pro-right media to make him a hero to the electorate.
I was delighted to hear this (Fraser). I hope it has an impact both on the Howard/Abbott style Liberals, and on those who I would like to see- on both sides of politics,-withdrawing support, because of the move to the Right of both Parties.
I wish.
I am without doubt a cynical realist. Bishop will continue on-she will be a Minister in an Abbott Government, if God forbid we end up with one!
We may dislike, but we really don’t care enough. We will forget this incident with Bishop, as we forget everything else.
We recycle these two major Parties because we have just the two choices and are forced to vote for one/tuther. So inevitably at some point the conservative Liberals will come back into power, and we will forget what they did under Howard, which I personally believe should go down in infamy.
So there you go! Look at the actions of both sides of politics. It taints them not one jot. We have little choice but to shuffle them; forget their past deeds.., and hope for the best.
And usually get the worst.
“And usually get the worst.”
I’m afraid I’m a bit of a pollyanna — I believe that ultimately we get reasonable govt. Not neccesarily great govt, but reasonable (probably because the bulk of actual governing is done by the departments that stand behind the ministers).
Of course, there are many policies I don’t like, but when it all comes out in the wash, I see a slightly better outcome in most areas, and follow-up changes in govt generally send the pendulum back before it becomes too extreme.
What is it with Julie Bishop’s eyes?
Jenauthor: I agree. The electorate, (despite the presence of loudmouth zealots (of all parties) who demean and degrade political debates) is pretty clever. (Also despite the presence of a MSM which wonders why its circulation is dropping, even though it treats its readers like idiots - probably because the readers it hears from are the former) . It weeds out those who are unfit to govern. Paul Keating said ‘The electorate gets the government is deserves’ and I think John Howard said ‘The electorate usually gets it right’. Of course, politicians are human - mistakes get made, errors happen and sometimes you just have a bad day. Doesn’t let any of the Liberal front bench off: sometimes you’re just not good at the job you do. Doesnt’ let any of the Labor or Greens off either… but this essential balance (that of the people) maintains good and stable govt in Australia.
Engineer — I think there is a first dog ‘episode’ with JB which had her eyes made to look like they emitted killer death rays. Not sure whether that is the first instance, but it was certainly a funny one.
PS: I believe ‘how embarrassment’ was also first popularised by the marvellous Mary Coustas, who played ‘Cousin Effie’ on Acropolis Now and other shows…
@jenauthor & @EngineeringReality It was actually an episode of Q&A where Ms Bishop first unveiled her secret weapon.
Watch….and be very afraid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_jKKnO9NE0
Engineer & Jenauthor: The death stare flows from an episode of Q&A when she deployed it against an audience member who dared to interrupt her.
Crikey spoofed it here:
http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/03/09/deathjulie/
Engineer & Jenauthor: The death stare flows from an episode of Q&A when she deployed it against an audience member who dared to interrupt her.
Crikey spoofed it beautifully in a thread on March 9. I posted a link to it above this post, but of course that’s held up automatically in moderation.
Awesome work @Socratease - thanks for the info - will wait for link.
@Trubbell Just watching Order in the House - its even better watching it visualising the mallets as the PM and Swan get busy Whacking the Coalition moles.
Warren Truss “Will the PM explain about how the RSPT will increase the cost of coal and therefore increase electricity prices?”
PM - Whack “The “crack economic team opposite” should know that we sell our resources into world markets where the price is set by the world market - so no impact on electricity prices” Whack, Whack, Whack. “Futhermore does he realise the coalition’s Great Big New Tax on every business turning over 5 million to fund parental leave would increase bread, milk and all of our food chain” Whack, Whack, Whack
Then Death Stare’s expression as she concentrated on her blackberry as Swan tore strips of her about her ill advised comments.
The coalition were “pwned” today in Question time.
SNAP! @Socratease
I believe the two Party system is crippling. Certainly I can only assume it came into being to provide ‘balance’, but when those two major Parties are on the Right,-balance is the casualty.
It becomes simply a battle for control.
The whole thing is rooted (I should put the full stop there!), in deceit. Lib/Lab will make any amount of promises to achieve Government (power/control); knowing full well that they will break them once elected.
I don’t know what the answer is, but this crap is T-dumb and T-…dumber.
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That YT footage of Bishop is spine tingling!
That programme goes out live?? If she had done that to me, QandA would have had a major problem!
That one stare speaks volumes about the woman.