Just what does it take to ascend to the lofty heights of federal parliament in a minor party? It seems that compared to the factionally obsessed Libs and Labor, the preselection process is a reasonably democratic one.
Steve Fielding 
Crikey Says: The Trioli Awards
Crikey honours ABC2 host Virginia Trioli’s finger-twirling candour with a new award for public waffle.
Combat climate change: rid the world of Steve Fielding
Looking to make some meaningful actions on climate change? Why not start by removing Steve Fielding — and his irrelevant interjections — from the national debate, suggests Sophie Black.
Crikey Says: Stimulus is doing its job
The benefits of the stimulus package are being examined right now by the Economics Committee. But it’s the jobs saved or supported by the stimuli that are the only important economic indicators at the moment.
Rudd will go to the polls on August 21, 2010. Here’s why
Malcolm MacKerras predicts the double dissolution will be effected in July 2010, causing a general election for all members of both houses to take place on August 21, 2010.
Grattan: Fielding calls for conscience vote
Senator Steve Fielding is calling for a conscience vote for Coalition MPs on the ETS, saying that they ”should not capitulate to the Government’s demands simply because it is afraid of giving … a double dissolution trigger”.
Crikey Says: The tongue twisting tales of the RBA
What the Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens said yesterday about interest rates and the economy and what others heard him say are two very different things.
Conroy’s internet filter dread
Senator Stephen Conroy must soon set aside the joys of taking the axe to Telstra — satisfying though that must be — and return to a topic he surely dreads: internet censorship.
Small parties to be squeezed out of Senate?
Electoral reform of the Senate is being floated by the government, in the hope that the likes of Steve Fielding will never get elected on preferences alone, again.
Politics has failed climate change
Crikey readers weigh in on climate change and
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Kyle and the meeja
Crikey readers continue to weigh in on Steve Fielding’s spelling issues and whether Godwin’s Law will bring down vile Kyle Sandilands.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: The cash splash of the stimulus
Crikey readers weigh in on the economic stimulus ‘cash splash’, Senator Steve Fielding’s learning disability and the idea of a boycott on Israel.
Canberra Calling: The Steve Fielding podcast, spelt P.O.D.K.A.S.T
Crikey’s Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane and editor Jonathan Green look back at the week’s events in the nation’s capital, their sights firmly set on Senator Steve Fielding and his learning disability.
Fielding hopeless no matter the spelling
Any criticism of Family First Senator Steve Fielding is dismissed as an ideological attack from the agnostic purveyors of individualism on the Left. Infuriating, says Jason Whittaker.
Steve Fielding is just a media torte. Sorry, tart.
Sorry Senator, but being unable to spell is not the same as being confined to a wheelchair, writes Bernard Keane.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Paul Kelly, John Howard and East Timor
Crikey readers weigh in on John Howard’s involvement in East Timor’s independence, the lobbyist to MP ratio and Senator Steve Fielding’s spelling.
Fielding’s unfashionable but he’s no dummy
Family First Senator Steve Fielding is the kind of person who’s frequently teased by the intelligentsia, says David Penberthy. His latest spelling gaffe drew titters. But this one-man band in the Senate copes better than most could.
Fielding, spelt h.o.p.e.l.e.s.s.
Steve Fielding claims that he is being victimised for what he called “a learning disability” after several mangled attempts at the English language.
Health Taskforce wishes you all a long, dull life with nanny
People get fat because they eat too much and don’t exercise enough. Yesterday’s National Preventative Health Taskforce’s report was full of surprises, writes Tim Wilson.
Climate expert slams Fielding
ANU climate change expert Professor Will Steffen has responded to Senator Steve Fielding’s climate sceptic claims with an open letter slamming the position advanced by Fielding. Read the full missive here.
Liberals and Fielding block our right to know
Who purchased access to senior Labor ministers at the ALP national conference? If the Senate would pass pending legislation, we might just find out.
