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David Flint

David Flint is an Emeritus Professor of Law, a former Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Authority, President, English Speaking Union and National Convenor of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy.

Flint: Behold the arbiters, for they will decide the election

21/11/2007 12:00:00 AM 5

The crucial arbiters who will decide this election, the less interested and the undecided, still don’t know how they’ll vote. They look for similar values in a government to their own, which are mainly conservative, and they rely on common sense, writes David Flint.

Flint: Will Rudd finally face some media scrutiny?

19/11/2007 12:00:00 AM 14

The media have much to be ashamed of concerning this election, but some journalists are now having second thoughts about the dream run most have accorded Rudd, writes David Flint.

Flint: Rudd's digitally enhanced rhetoric dupes swooning media

16/11/2007 12:00:00 AM 8

Tired by a campaign which he says is “just so damn hard,” Kevin Rudd should be encouraged that there could be a job for him at the ABC if he doesn’t win -- as an autocue reader at Media Watch, writes David Flint.

Flint: How will a Rudd government handle immigration?

14/11/2007 12:00:00 AM 2

Immigration is one of the most important responsibilities of the federal government. If it is administered badly, it can cause irreversible and serious damage to a nation. But this crucial question is being largely ignored, writes David Flint.

Flint: The ALP's great (foreign bought) con job

12/11/2007 12:00:00 AM 3

The ALP "off the shelf" campaign strategy is simplicity itself. You just insert the words "working families" into everything you say, almost every sentence, writes David Flint.

Flint: The real arbiters of this election are still undecided

9/11/2007 12:00:00 AM 7

Let us hope that in future elections, the media concentrate on policy issues rather than trivia, writes David Flint.

Flint: Garrett lets the "Real Agenda" out of the bag

5/11/2007 12:00:00 AM 7

Peter Garrett has well and truly let the cat out of the bag, his “Real Agenda.” He has been talking about this for weeks, writes David Flint.

Flint: Rudd will tax your super, where's the outcry?

2/11/2007 12:00:00 AM 4

Labor will end tax free superannuation, according to one of its most prominent campaigners. When Peter Costello surprised and delighted the nation with his revolutionary, absolutely tax-free, superannuation policy, he estimated the government would forgo $7 billion over four years, but that would rise as babyboomers drew down their superannuation, writes David Flint.

Flint: It’s about time the media did their job

29/10/2007 12:00:00 AM 5

If Labor were to form the next government, it would be because enough voters were persuaded that Kevin Rudd is a younger version of John Howard and that a Rudd government would broadly follow a Howardiste agenda. But will the former union bosses in Caucus force Rudd to change the agenda?

Flint: Will voters trust the ALP to run all nine governments?

25/10/2007 12:00:00 AM 0

An emerging issue in the election must be whether the voters trust the same franchise to run all nine governments, something we have never seen in Australia, writes David Fint.

Flint: Rudd's tax blunder

22/10/2007 12:00:00 AM 4

Kevin Rudd had no alternative. He agreed to the debate and tried to neutralise the Coalition tax package, claiming he and Swan had been working on theirs for months, but made a serious blunder in the process, writes David Flint.

Flint: Rudd's Maginot Line caught in Howard's pincer move

19/10/2007 12:00:00 AM 1

The campaign so far finds Kevin Rudd well and truly caught in a pincer movement, writes David Flint.

Flint: Surprised Rudd needs better intelligence

16/10/2007 12:00:00 AM 3

For the second time in this campaign, Labor has been taken by surprise. An essential aspect of any campaign, military or political, is in gathering and learning from intelligence, writes David Flint.

Flint: Rudd starts campaign on auto-pilot

15/10/2007 12:00:00 AM 2

Was it just a coincidence that so soon after the World Rugby Cup favourite was defeated at Le Stade de France, the sports loving John Howard advised the Governor-General to hold an election on 24 November? Maybe, ponders David Flint.

Flint: The real campaign is yet to begin

2/10/2007 12:00:00 AM 0

The later the election is held, the more chance the government has to attract late deciders away from the opposition. So Parliament will probably sit again –and a good thing too, writes David Flint.

Flint: Coalition must remember the "forgotten people"

24/09/2007 12:00:00 AM 0

The Coalition will have to persuade the undecided that they have the better team, the better policies, and they are the safest hands. And above all, it should remember their natural constituency, the "forgotten people," writes David Flint.

Flint: Labor's Bennelong vote could go soft

20/09/2007 12:00:00 AM 0

Morgan's Bennelong poll finds that John Howard would be defeated 46.5% to 53.5%, but while the proportion of “soft” Coalition voters is about the national rate, 1:9, an unusually high number of Labor voters -- about one in two -- are considered “soft”.

Flint: Has Labor peaked too early?

17/09/2007 12:00:00 AM 0

After the polls and the destabilisation of the last week, the Coalition kept its nerve. Now the battle lines are changing – the “presidential” campaign is finished. A second front has opened and the portrayal will be of the team for the 21st century, writes David Flint.

Flint: Does Rudd really have Howard's mettle?

10/09/2007 12:00:00 AM 0

A great leader has vision, one which offers not only good government, but also an idea of the nation. Among recent Australian leaders, only John Howard has attained this, writes David Flint. The question now is whether Kevin Rudd will really be another Howard.


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Classic Crikey

Budget night: a triumph of rite over truth

9/05/2007 12:00:00 AM
Guy Rundle writes:

So it is that every year, our shaman gather in Canberra. Like priests before a ritual they are sealed off from the profane world in a special retreat (‘the lock-up’) and bonded together in a sacred pact, which sets them off as a distinct group against the rest of their people.