The biggest problem facing the government’s re-election chances is Kevin Rudd himself. He might command loyalty from the troops, but he doesn’t command respect, writes David Penberthy.
May, 2010
Cheers TV: Cheers TV episode #4: Pinot Noir that’s to drink for
Ah Pinot Noir. When it’s great it’s sensational, when it’s bad it’s just expensive. Cheers TV hosts Dan Sims and Ben Edwards talk through this tricky, moody, wonderful wine variety with some great examples.
Get a room, you two!Meet the new odd couple: Cameron and Clegg
The UK’s new leaders, Conservative David Cameron and Lib Dem Nick Clegg, have given their first performance as a double-act, exchanging jokes and witty banter. But are they the new Crosby and Hope or Beavis and Butthead? Watch their full presser here.
Taylor: Abbott’s living in a dream world
Joe Hockey and Tony Abbott are declaring the latest Federal Budget as a work of fiction. Nice try guys, but ignoring the GFC won’t make it disappear from history, writes Lenore Taylor.
Everyone’s ditching Facebook
Tech expert and TV presenter Leo Laporte has become the latest in a string of high-profile nerds to quit Facebook, after getting fed up with what they see as the site’s ongoing erosion of users’ privacy.
Holmes: The good old days of boozing, smoking and sexism
All the mythology of journos in the 70s covered in a haze of smoke and getting boozed at lunchtime is absolutely 100% true, writes Jonathan Holmes. That is, if you are a man. Women’s memories aren’t so rosy.
What Tony should tell Wayne: the other budget reply speech
Former Keating minister Gary Johns offers up a worthy alternative to Tony Abbott’s budget reply speech tonight, suggesting that Abbott should promote a self-reliant, small l liberal Australia.
Gillard’s great and everything, but…
Media darling Julia Gillard is praised as the PM in waiting, but there isn’t a single poll to indicate that she is more popular than Kevin Rudd. So why are we all viewing her as the ALP’s saviour?
exposed 
Whistleblower: BP cheating on safety tests
Following new revelations in the Gulf oil spill investigation that a key device on the rig had failed a safety test only 20 hours beforehand, insiders claim BP has been covering up and ignoring failed safety tests for years.
Footballs wives indulge in poverty porn
The BBC is sending over a collection of famous English WAGs to report on the slums of South Africa. Oh good, because we don’t need real journalists and only want to know about HIV children when they are near fake tan.
The good bits of bad writing
The best way to improve your own writing? Read crap work, from lousy poetry to an embarrassing first novel. If the internet has given us anything, it’s unprecedented access to terrible writing.
Not a budget for the battlers
This Federal Budget is all about economics. Which means you’ll find nothing of use for the asylum seekers, the homeless or the unemployed and Australia’s poorer for it, writes Frank Quinlan.
I reported on the Iran elections and all I got was a lousy 13 years in prison
Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari was thrown into an Iranian prison for 118 days and then sentenced in absentia to 13 years imprisonment and 74 lashes. What did he do to receive such a punishment?
How the world went rainbow
Meet Uniqlo, the Japanese company known for its brightly coloured clothing basics that’s on track to becoming the world’s largest clothing retailer. Expect an era of Uniqlones attempting to replicate the success.
Raquel Welch: The Pill is toxic to society
Yes, The Pill — 50 years old this week — gave women the ability to control their fertility. But by encouraging sex without consequences it has destroyed the institution of marriage, writes “aging sex symbol” Raquel Welch.
Mining firmly on the agenda, so why is the ASX censoring fair comment?
Chairman Gary Morgan was upset at the super tax Tuesday’s special meeting of shareholders in Melbourne, and let the meeting know his feelings — but the ASX are refusing to release his address.
Senator Milne: A few stings in the tail of the boring budget
Once again, the funds allocated to renewable energy, public transport and energy efficiency pale into insignificance next to the tens of billions to roads and the military writes Australian Greens Deputy Leader Senator Christine Milne.
Talking the Town: Revellers caught in the ACT
Budget night in Canberra is meant to be a rowdy festival of unhinged advisers and journos binge-drinking in glorious fashion at some of the ACT’s most clique-ridden gossip houses. The truth is a little more pathetic.
Housing finance hits nine-year low for owner-occupiers
House prices are rising, auction clearances are high and yet the number of owner-occupied housing commitments has hit a nine-year low.
Strange reversals and repetitions as politicians electioneer
We’ve seen some cynical Budgets in our time, but yesterday’s fiscal conservatism trick took the cake.
Ask the Economists: the sensible Budget
We asked six of our leading numbers wonks for their considered take on this year’s dour piece of electioneering, also known as Wayne Swan’s latest Federal Budget.
IT: More NBN vagueness, border control and cyber-safety re-allocation
You might think “the single largest nation-building infrastructure project in Australia’s history” would figure prominently in the Budget. It doesn’t. For the third year running, the bulk of the NBN’s cost to taxpayers remains unspecified.
Super: Reckless Labor’s great unfunded swindle
Labor is doing virtually nothing about Australia’s huge middle-class welfare system. The Australian public sector is living beyond its means such that big tax rises and spending cuts are inevitable.
Richardson: The unhappy history of British coalitions
Disraeli’s famous line that “England does not love coalitions” will once again be put to the test, and for the Liberal Democrats, a coalition comes with particularly bad precedents.
