Ministers apparently have to seek the permission of the Prime Ministerial office before meeting with an editor of a daily newspaper..
Columns / Political snippets
Meaty chunks of political news and commentary from Canberra insider Richard Farmer.
Rescuing Doc Evatt’s wig for Peter Slipper
I’m all for a bit of pomp and ceremony myself so I’m in favour of rescuing Doc Evatt’s wig from its display in the Old Parliament House and putting it on the head of Peter Slipper
A chance for an easy dollar
Attention all of you people out there who think that the talk of a challenge to Julia Gillard’s leadership is nothing but a media invention.
The great industry moaner
Listen to the spokespeople for the tourism industry and you would think that the current high value of the Australian dollar was sending them all to rack and ruin.
WIll the RBA cut the official interest rate?
The market is less confident today than it was a week ago that the Reserve Bank Board will cut the official interest rate when it meets tomorrow.
Evidence of how politicians lie
From the BBC comes a report exposing just how politicians have lied to their constituents…
Time for a pre-emptive strike
My experiences with Bob Hawke when he was under challenge for the Prime Ministership by an aggrieved Paul Keating was that letting the challenger choose the time of the contest is not a wise policy.
The Muppets attack Fox News
Miss Piggy did not pull any punches with her judgment on Fox News at a London press conference this week.
Richard Farmer’s chunky bits
Sack the sorcerers along with the apprentice. That the Prime Minister’s senior staff waited so long to tell Julia Gillard what the duty press secretary Tony Hodges had done before the incident at the Lobby restaurant beggars belief. Senior press secretary Sean Kelly and Communications Director John McTernan left their boss vulnerable to saying something […]
A plain talking politician
I rather admire Tony Abbott for not being one of those ultra cautious politicians.
Oz inflation safely in the range
The Reserve Bank has been reading things right when it comes to inflation.
The short and the tall of power
Powerful people feel taller than they are. That’s the finding of the latest research from Washington University.
Australia an exception in the debt stakes
Since the 2008–09 financial crisis, total debt has actually grown across the world’s ten largest mature economies is the finding of a study by the McKinsey Global Institute.
A slow down in global warming?
NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) released overnight its analysis of world temperatures for 2011 including an attempt to explain an apparent slowdown in the rate of global warming.
Go with the trend but that’s still not good
Experience tells me to go with the trend figures rather than the alternative original or seasonally adjusted versions of the employment figures.
Gillard’s pokie hokey-pokey
This morning’s media reports are far from clear about what Julia Gillard is planning to do about curbs on poker machines.
Who put the fun police in charge of racing?
From the end of this month there will be new forms to fill in if you want to avoid the risk of someone else legally grabbing your horse.
Shorten’s unwanted talk at length on Europe
There’s no doubt the man is ambitious and methinks Bill Shorten does speaks too much.
A silly free plug for Winfield
They must be giving thanks at British American Tobacco to Attorney General Nicola Roxon.
Australia rates top for nuclear safety
Australia ranks number one out of all countries with weapons-usable nuclear materials according to a report today by the international organisation the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
No surprises in New Hampshire
Richard Farmer’s chunky bits include: US orange juice with a special new ingredient (fungicide), Mitt Romney’s “no surprises here” victory in New Hampshire and gloomy news for job seekers.
Pollies’ pay, when more is less, more or less
Politicians pay rises … Tasmanian apple industry … Climate change …
No mad shopping spree for Aussies
Australians certainly did not go on an early pre-Christmas shopping spree.
Gillard’s chance of survival? 50:50
The survival of Julia Gillard as Labor leader until the next election is rated by the Crikey Leadership Indicator at 50% as the year comes towards its end.
Legalise marijuana to reduce road accidents?
Blaming obesity on the free market is the purpose of research from a University of Michigan academic to be published later this month in the journal Critical Public Health. Roberto De Vogli, associate professor in the U-M School of Public Health believes obesity can be seen as one of the unintended side effects of free market policies.
