"Thank you to those who arranged the Leaders debate to avoid clashing with the finale of Master chef."
- NSW attorney-general John Hatzistergos on Twitter, 21.7.10
If you consider the continuity errors in Tony Abbott's glib slogan proclaiming that Workchoices is "Dead. Buried. Cremated.", then maybe you are looking for an "Exhumed" to be inserted into that sequence - at least once, maybe more often. Abbott's serial non sequiteurs on the talk-radio circuit on Monday suggest that neo-liberal IR reform, whether named Workchoices or some other moniker, is not about to disappear from the tory agenda. Where's Freddy Krueger when you need him?
"...today I seek my own mandate to move Australia forward.
...this election is about the choice as to whether we move Australia forward or go back. Our great nation, our very great nation, has been built by generations of men and women who had the courage to move forward.Moving forward, of course, requires conviction, it requires confidence...
Moving forward with confidence also requires a strong set of convictions...
I will be asking Australians for their trust so that we can move forward together.
If all the rumours tonight are true, then tomorrow morning Australia's first female Prime Minister will pay a visit to Australia's first female Governor-General to prorogue Federal Parliament and call for a general election (including half-senate election) on either August 21 or August 28.
The knifing of Rudd by his Labor Party confreres was totally unnecessary and an act of panic in the face of opinion poll figures that were not as overwhelmingly supportive as before.
It's 36 years since the passing of that great American comedian Bud Abbott. He left us a great legacy of funny lines in decades of vaudeville, film and television. Many of those lines were scripted by some very funny writers.
His namesake, honourable member for Warringah and current Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott also says many funny things, but they are mostly unintentional and, as he confessed to Kerry O'Brien on last night's 7.30 Report, unscripted.
It's a federal election year in Australia. We've just seen on Tuesday a pointless and uninspiring "debate" between Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott about health policy.
The following ad, produced by GetUp Australia, and featuring 2010 Australian of the Year, Professor Patrick McGorry, calls for mental health to be central to any reform of healthcare in Australia.
Mental illness is the leading cause of death for Australians under the age of 45.