Rupert Murdoch's Drunken Goon Attacks

Story here.

Update: Goon will not be sacked.

Journalists scuffle at Walkley awards:

The founder of news website crikey.com, Stephen Mayne, had just presented the Walkley for Best Business Report to the Australian Financial Review's Morgan Mellish when he was interrupted by an audience member.

The News Limited political correspondent Glenn Milne rushed up onto the stage at the Crown Casino and pushed Mr Mayne over, calling him a disgrace.

"You are an absolute disgrace, you, you are an absolute disgrace," Mr Milne shouted.

He accused Mr Mayne of defiling journalists' reputations without reason.

Mr Milne struggled and continued to shout insults as security dragged him off stage.

Mr Mayne got up and composed himself quickly.

"Come on settle down, it's nothing special - just another pissed journo," he told the audience.

He appeared unfazed by the incident and said he had a special announcement to make on behalf of Rupert Murdoch.

"That is the former Sunday Telegraph political correspondent Glenn Milne, sponsored by Fosters," he said

Bush picks up on Howard's new thang: U.S. to unveil new citizenship questions.

No longer would it be sufficient to know the three branches of government (executive, legislative and judicial). Applicants could also be asked why there are three branches of government.

No questions about cricket, though.

Just for the record, isn't it strange that all this Labour leadership speculation is coming otu at the same time as the AWB findings? Hmmn?

Downer Shocked - Shocked! - By AWB Scandal

Downer talks to the Murdoch press:

"I didn't have any anxiety about anybody on my staff or in my department having done anything wrong," Mr Downer said in the interview, firmly blaming AWB for the debacle.

"They were deceiving us. They were deceiving the UN. They were deceiving their own people. I was shocked." ...

"As evidence gradually came to light, we did deal with it. The narrative that somehow we didn't do anything about this is clearly a false narrative," Mr Downer said...

"We have been shocked to discover what AWB has been doing," Mr Downer said.

"We have discovered it. We have got to the heart of it. And those people haven't got away with it. That is really the central point."

Put a rocket up his arse. That'll shock him.

Time To Shuffle The Deckchairs?

PM won't speculate on a cabinet reshuffle:

"But I'm amused that people keep writing that there's going to be something. I haven't indicated that."

Australia's nuclear waste will be stored in Ziggy Switkowski's bathroom:

Dr Switkowski attempted to quell community fears about the disposal of radioactive junk, saying modern reactors generated "very little waste".

"A typical nuclear power station would probably produce as much waste as would fill maybe a bathroom in a small house," he told the Nine Network.

Howard's Alternative Reality

PM Howard in Asia:

"I was regarded as somebody who wouldn't comfortably deal with the countries of the region," Mr Howard said.

"But I did."

Hmmnn, let's see.... Muslims in Malaysia and Indonesia hate us for the whole stupid war on whatever crapola, Fiji and PNG hates us for political, military and police interference, East Timor hates us for stealing their oil and abandoning them to the Indonesian Army, West Papuans hate us for similar reasons, Tongans are rioting as Australians get a military airlift to safety... Yep, it all looks very comfortable indeed.

High Court dismisses workplace law challenge:

The states and the unions challenged the validity of the new laws, saying they were unconstitutional because they were set up under the corporations power in the Constitution.

However the High Court has found the laws are valid, and that it was appropriate for the Government to base its new laws on the corporations power.

The court also rejected the challenges to particular sections of the Act.

Two of the seven judges, Micheal Kirby and Ian Callinan, dissented from the majority.

The chief executive of the Australian Industry Group, Heather Ridout, says the High Court's decision provides companies with more stability.

The Oz Politics Blog - Election 2007 predictions:

Iraq is a non-issue for most Australians. Unlike the United States, Australia does not have a sizeable and growing body count that plays out every evening on the nightly news. While the majority of Australians might not agree with the decision to engage in Iraq, they are not passionate about the issue. It is not the vote changer it was with the recent US mid-term elections.

Stalling For Time

Govt to push 'New Kyoto' at UN talks:

The government remains opposed to signing the Kyoto Protocol on slashing emissions, instead pushing for what Prime Minister John Howard has labelled a "New Kyoto" to take effect when the current pact expires in 2012...

The move follows Treasurer Peter Costello saying Australia could not afford to sit on the sidelines as the world moved toward a comprehensive global carbon trading scheme.

But Mr Costello also said it was not something Australia would have to consider for another decade or more.

Hello and welcome to my new blog, Howard Out.

Some of you may know me from Bush Out, where I have been blogging since 2003. For those who don't know me, I am a nondescript 41-year-old father of three, living on the Gold Coast in Queensland. I have no political connections or agendas.

Having now helped to bring Bush to his political knees, I will still be keeping my old blog alive, at least until it's time to deliver the ultimate coup de grace. But given the Democrats' new hold on power, and the opportunities now available to them, I don't think that bloggers will be (or need to be) at the fore-front of the push for change over the next few months. So I am expecting that Washington will no longer be the main focus of my attention, at least for a time. I don't expect things in the USA to change overnight, mind you: the people there have a long, hard battle ahead of them.

But with my own country, Australia, facing important national elections in 2007, and with our PM John Howard still unaccountably popular, I wanted to start a new blog, focussing more closely on Australia's own media, politics and people. Of course, it is still the same battle of ordinary folk against a war-loving, fear-mongering, Big-Business-backed elite regime. It just has a different flavour, different characters, and different dynamics.

My primary goal is to ensure that John Howard cannot win re-election. My secondary goal is to hold him, and others who facilitated Australia's involvement in the Iraq War, accountable for past lies and misdeeds. Beyond that, I want to get engaged in the national debate about who we are and where we are going, and try to push that in a more positive direction.

It seems to me that as a nation, in terms of self-identity, self-belief and self-respect, we are pretty well lost right now. We need to pull back the curtains on the increasingly global politics-business nexus, and we need to inject a huge dose of idealism into the "story" that controls our national direction. As a melting pot of cultures, Australia has an incredible opportunity to stake out a key place in the globalization debate, the environmental challenge and other big issues. As the Yanks say, it's time to step up to the plate.

As this blog develops, I hope to educate myself a bit more about how politics and business work in the land of sweeping plains. I'm sure I'll make a few enemies, and hopefully a few new friends, along the way. Comments are always very welcome, but I will be implementing a "use 'em or lose 'em" policy. I tend to be a bit of a newshound, trying to fit the latest stories into a broader context. It's not always the best format for comments, which disappear down the page pretty quickly. But don't let that hold you back. And please do email me (gandhi) any time (at bmail dot com dot au) with any other thoughts, comments and suggestions.

So welcome aboard: please bookmark the Howard Out URL and stop by regularly for the latest news and views.

Regards,

gandhi