October 2007

Michael Costa's bizarre and geopolitically ignorant response to a question in State Parliament on Tuesday about Chinese investment in New South Wales was not the end of that particular matter.

You don't have to be a rocket surgeon, or even a brain scientist, to understand the People Republic of China's role in that Maoist Johnny Howard's strong economic management of Australia. And you might even be aware of the Chinese government's new-found interest in foreign corporate investment. However, the New South Wales Government's leading parliamentary economist, treasurer Michael Costa, is none of the above.

It seemed reasonable enough in Question Time in the Legislative Council on Tuesday, when John Kaye of the Greens put the following to Costa the Coster:

Go Australia! The federal election is making it onto the US cable news channels.

The leader of the Greens wasn't invited to the Leaders Debate, so he organised his own. Not a debate as such, but a forum held on Sunday night concurrently the Diet of Worms. Organised at short notice, with the promise that parties other than the Greens will be invited next time, this was essentially the Bob Brown and Friends Show.

Intended as a live stream which failed, it was posted on Youtube in chunks progressively during Sunday night. I've assembled the eight videos into a playlist which runs approximately 53 minutes.

Greensblog, the official blog of the four Greens senators, did live blogging of the People's Forum, which is handy to follow as the sound quality on the video is not crash-hot at times. Also included in the live blog was reportage of the Kevin 07 v John Ol'55 contretemps.

While you were watching Australian Idol or National Bingo Night, channels Nine, ABC and Sky News were holding their own contrived talent quest/game of chance.

Kevin Rudd won last night's debate, and in my view won it quite comfortably. John Howard started well and was best when he was delivering set pieces, but increasingly he sounded more and more cranky and defensive, and repeatedly side-stepping questions he didn't want to answer. Rudd kept his cool, however he was surprisingly weak at handling the climate change questions.

I am starting to think that the Intertubes are not going to have the impact on this Federal Election that the major parties may have been hoping for. Nonetheless, it's good for having a squizz at the TV ads without having to anywhere the Dreaded Commercial Television.

Top of the bill tonight, the Liberal Party's latest Truthful Scrutiny Ad. It's a cheap shot, but nonetheless it's one of the most incisive election ads I've ever seen, as much as anything for its simplicity. It just happens to be based upon a false premise.

Secondly, an excerpt from Bob Brown's address to the National Press Club on Wednesday (full transcript in PDF here).

And finally, a Dead Man Powerwalking verbally abuses a giant rabbit.

Lindsay, covering the Penrith-St Marys district of outer western Sydney, was one of the Liberals' most unexpected scalps in 1996 when Jackie Kelly toppled Ross Free. Kelly has said "enough" after eleven years and one of her staffers, Karen Chijoff, is aspiring to succeed her.

North-western Tasmania, including Devonport, Burnie, Smithton and King Island. Home of the Mersey Hospital, that most blatant of pork barrels that JWH announced on the Intertubes before even discussing it with the state government, and condemned by many as bad, populist, policy. Here is one of Bud Abbott's defences of the takeover.

I'm not going to make any apologies for spruiking the Greens' candidates for the Senate all over Australia, not just in New South Wales. Scott Ludlam, top of the Greens senate ticket in WA, has made a half-hour animated video called "Climate of Hope". It's on Youtube in three parts, and I'll slip it in as an extra election Youtube selection for today.