THE Western Australian Nationals will form government with the Liberal Party, breaking Labor's clean sweep of power across the country.
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Labor, Greens Prosper Through Incompetence
By Vincent Morello
LABOR is hanging tough after yesterday's NSW local government elections, initial vote counts show.
Labor strongholds are reporting strong results with more than 50 per cent of votes counted in many local government areas by 10pm (AEST) tonight.
The ALP has commanding leads in Blacktown, Campbelltown, Bankstown Parramatta, Canterbury and Fairfield.
Labor has narrow leads over the Liberal Party in Strathfield and Ryde council areas and an 11-point margin over the Liberals in Kogorah.
Lake Macquarie remains up for grabs across most wards, but Labor is leading all Newcastle wards with nearly 70 per cent of votes counted.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and her group of independents have all but wrapped up the CBD election with a resounding 47 per cent of the votes already counted.
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I wasn't drunk, says sacked minister
DUMPED NSW police minister Matt Brown has denied he was drunk at the wild Parliament House party where he allegedly stripped to his underwear.
Mr Brown told The Sun-Herald newspaper that the night of the party in his eighth-floor office on June 3 was marked by stupidity but not drunkenness.
He said he remembered taking off his shirt, and dancing, but did not remember taking off his pants.
"I don't recall parading around in my underwear," he said.
"I know I took my shirt off and I know I did have a dance. I was working off steam in the privacy of my own office with workmates. It was harmless fun." - interesting. The defence used by the PM is that he was too drunk to recall. - ed.
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It Sticks To Money
THE fiancee of a man set to be charged over the cruise ship death of Dianne Brimble doesn't believe he did anything wrong, family say.
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Reba joins NSW Labor exodus
By Linda Silmalis and Claire Harvey
DUMPED health minister Reba Meagher has joined the mass exodus from the NSW Labor Party and quit politics.
She is the fourth Labor MP to walk away from the troubled NSW Government in the space of a week, leaving new Premier Nathan Rees to face a series of potentially disastrous by-elections.
The move shocked Mr Rees and senior party figures who found out about the decision through the media.
Ms Meagher, 40, made the decision while handing out how-to-vote cards in her Cabramatta electorate.
With each by-election costing around $300,000, the total cost to taxpayers is estimated to run well over $1 million.- still a net benefit to the community. - ed.
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ONE UNGLOVED
Tim Blair
Jim Treacher: “Those gloves Obama just took off? They’re pink, they go up above the elbow, and he wears them to the opera. BAM!!”
UPDATE. Anticipating Hurricane Ike, Obama has cancelled a planned SNL appearance that might have helped erase his humour deficit. This is exactly the right thing for Obama to do, but readers may be concerned about the effect on Michael Moore’s faith.
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PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN
Tim Blair
The retail sector is crushed. The White Pages guys unaccountably failed to rally their substantial data base. A wounded Andrew Bolt skulks away for alleged “family time”.
Yet my Saddam-like poll victory alone won’t deliver the coveted Can Do Better environmental prize. Next comes an anti-democratic judging phase:
Along with reader votes, each category winner will be determined by a panel comprising:
• Climate change expert Professor Barry Brook from the University of Adelaide
• Environmental experts from the CSIRO
• NEWS.com.au editor David Higgins
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THUS NATURE BALANCES ITSELF
Tim Blair
A moment of porcine symmetry:
The sight of a truckload of pigs headed for the sausage factory proved too much to bear for a German vegetarian woman who lost control of her vehicle as a result. Unfortunately, she crashed into another truck carrying pigs.
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TAKE THE FLANAGAN CHALLENGE
Tim Blair
The Age‘s Martin Flanagan:
Journalism isn’t a science. Attempts to make it so will always fail. Journalism is inherently imperfect. Nonetheless, some people do it a lot better than others — more conscientiously, more bravely. One of the qualities I look for in a journalist is curiosity. Are they prepared to leave their preconceptions behind? If not, they should be doing another job.
At which point most of the Age‘s staff resigned.
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Climate Change, pointed out by Tim Blair
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