=== Todays Toon ===
How to catch a sloth - ZEGSimple really, stand outside Gillard's self promotion booth while she claims to be making policy. - ed.
=== Bible Quote ===
“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”- 1 John 5:12=== Headlines ===
STRIKE THREE? Feds Slap Clemens With Perjury Indictment
Feds bring an indictment against former pitching great Roger Clemens on charges that he lied to lawmakers about his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.It May Be Too Late to Stop Nuclear Iran
SPECIAL REPORT: As Russia helps Iran flip switch on its first nuke reactor, Tehran also takes a giant — and dreaded — step to becoming a nuclear threat. FoxNews.com examines whether time has run out for the use of military might to stop Iran
Dash-to-Bash on Taxpayers' Dime?
Obama's cross-country fundraising spree didn't just reap millions of dollars for Dems — it also cost taxpayers millions and left a hefty carbon footprint
Two Detained After Threat on Plane
URGENT: FBI confirms that at least two people are being questioned after an American Airlines flight was grounded at San Francisco's airport because of a phone threat
Urine Could Slash Energy Costs
Scientists say they could cut the cost of energy worldwide -- by turning urine into power. Researchers at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University have created a prototype fuel cell to test the system. It would convert human and animal urine into cheap electricity. The material could be used as a non-toxic alternative to methanol or a safer replacement to hydrogen. Shanwen Tao and research partner Rong Lan have won a $203,000 grant to develop their Carbamide Power System. "We're only at prototype stage at present, but if this renewable material can be used as a commercially viable and environmentally friendly energy source, we will be absolutely delighted, and many people around the world will benefit," Tao said.Breaking News
Two charged after raid on drug labQUEENSLAND police have charged two men with various drugs offences after executing a search warrant on Brisbane's main street in the CBD.
Residents in narrow escape from blaze
RESIDENTS of a property east of Melbourne had a narrow escape following a blaze estimated to have caused $500,000 damage.
Stolen truck in pursuit on airport runway
AIR traffic at Dallas Love Field airport was halted today when a suspect driving a stolen pick-up truck drove across the runway.
Airline worker charged with luggage theft
AN American Airlines employee was facing theft charges today after police found 171 items he allegedly stole from both passengers and his employer in his Texas home.
Last US combat brigade leaves Iraq
THE last US combat brigade pulled out of Iraq at dawn Thursday (local time), a key milestone in the withdrawal of American forces more than seven years after the US-led invasion that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
Explosive device found outside house
RESIDENTS were evacuated from a street in Rockhampton after an explosive device was found.
Man, 80, charged with assaulting girls
A MAN is due to face court after seven schoolgirls in Sydney's south-west were indecently assaulted, police say.
SMS saves stranded climbers
TWO British climbers were rescued from the slopes of western Europe's highest mountain overnight after they sent a text message to a friend in London raising the alarm.
Plane evacuated after phone threat
PASSENGERS aboard a New York-bound American Airlines flight were in the process of being deplaned at San Francisco International Airport today following a phone threat made against the flight.
Bride breaks back in balcony fall
A BRITISH bride broke her back in three places after falling from a hotel balcony while on honeymoon in Corfu, Greece.
NSW/ACT
Tour of US turns to tragedyIT was supposed to be the trip that would help two Sydney brothers get over the death of their mother. But the trip turned to utter tragedy.
Another petal falls off Waratahs
COMMUTERS could be waiting even longer for the state's new Waratah trains after the company ditched another executive.
Traditional herbalist on sex charges
A TRADITIONAL Chinese healer accused of sexually assaulting five Sydney women was banned from seeing his patients yesterday.
Juvenile injustice alarm over cook
A FEMALE cook at a boys' juvenile centre quit her job after being cleared of having an affair with a 20-year-old prisoner.
Rescue plan as koalas in jeopardy
A KOALA test will be imposed on all new developments in northern NSW after a new study revealed the marsupials were declining fast.
Life-saving blood supplies low
BLOOD supplies have dropped so low that NSW only has four days of O-positive in stock. 570 donations of blood are needed every day.
Cockies Czech out a tourist
ISN'T it magpies that start swooping this time of year? Evidently they're not alone, as Czech tourist Jarda Krummerova discovered.
Lane was a new mum of mystery
A WOMAN who shared a hospital room with Keli Lane told a court she only glimpsed her once.
Sydney kill suspect arrest in Italy
THE man suspected of being behind the savage killings of brothers Albert and Mario Frisoli has been arrested in Italy.
Queensland
Humid night delivers patchy rainSOARING humidity and heavy cloud has delivered an unseasonally warm August night for Brisbane with the temperature not falling below 17.5 deg.
Three dead in horror smash
THREE people are dead following a crash near the Queensland-New South Wales border initially thought to involve two cars and a cyclist.
MP jeered over cruel remark
A LABOR backbencher has placed his must-win Queensland seat in jeopardy by making an offensive remark about the father of a disabled child.
Bread factory blaze
POLICE have remained overnight to guard a Capalaba bread factory that was engulfed in fire on Thursday afternoon.
Coast pair on drugs charges
TWO men have been charged with drug offences following the discovery of a hydroponics set-up at a house on the Gold Coast.
Watchdog cut loose in top cop row
THE State Government has bypassed CMC chief Martin Moynihan to extend the contract of Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson as the Palm Island row continues.
Woman charged over house fire
A 22-YEAR-OLD woman has been charged following the alleged arson of a house at Caboolture.
Our wages going backwards
WAGES in Queensland have failed to keep pace with inflation, and will effectively drop by about $150 a year if the trend continues.
Fixed cameras cut speedsters
FIXED speed cameras have reduced the number of lead-foot motorists on Queensland roads by nearly 90 per cent in some places, the Police Minister says.
'Nonsense' delays hit nurse numbers
THE nurses union has called for urgent ministerial intervention over bureaucratic delays in the registration of nurses, such as a "language competency" test .
Victoria
Jail report under wrapsA GOVERNMENT report into lax security at youth prisons has been classified top secret for fear it could serve as an escape manual.
Big bucks for baby brands
PARENTS are happily paying big dollars for designer children's clothes as a flood of luxury tots' brands arrives in Melbourne.
How Sara escaped a maniac
A WOMAN who jumped from a moving taxi after the driver threatened to assault her could face a life with epilepsy.
Dumped surgeon on move
CONTROVERSIAL trauma surgeon Thomas Kossmann has been forced to leave the country to restore his battered reputation.
It's been oarsome, but it's over
JAMES Tomkins has decided not to pursue his record as the oldest sportsman ever to compete for Australia at the Olympics.
Studio goes sky-high
PLANS for the high-rise apartment block set to replace Channel 9's famed Richmond studios have been revealed.
Lost skier dies in snow
A MAN on a ski trip to Mt Buller has died in what police described as an unfortunate accident.
Police seek help on Chaouk murder
AN INFORMATION van will on Friday be set up near the Brooklyn home of slain crime figure Macchour Chaouk.
Footy's liquor accord
COUNTRY footballers and officials could be slapped with harsh penalties for unruly behaviour at club functions.
Bushland burnoff to triple
FORMER CFA deputy chief fire officer Craig Lapsley has been announced the state's first Fire Services Commissioner.
Northern Territory
Dirty Harry predicts Gillard victoryIT seems even Australia's most iconic reptiles are finding it hard to stomach either of the two prime ministerial candidates.
Fish bully gets a taste for blood
A WOMAN has told how she swam for her life when she was being mauled by a giant fish in a Darwin lagoon.
Woman strips at cafe in fight over man
A WOMAN caused uproar in a busy restaurant yesterday after brawling with a love-rival, then stripping off in front of shocked children.
South Australia
Democrat's child sex convictionAUSTRALIAN Democrats leaders say they feel betrayed by a candidate who yesterday confessed he had been convicted of a child sex offence.
Sexual images offend men, too
SEXUALISED images of women are not only demeaning to the fairer sex but also to young boys and men.
Financial problems stall car rally
ADELAIDE'S annual internationally-acclaimed rally for classic cars will not run this year - but strong support exists for it to be resurrected next year.
Brace for brutal cuts in Budget
HORROR stories of cutbacks in Government departments are emerging as Treasurer Kevin Foley gets closer to finalising a "bad" state Budget.
Family's pain at son's shark-boat death
FOR Lee Salvemini, the light he sees "at the end of the tunnel" when he dies will be his beloved son Jack.
Solar lights for Victoria Square
VICTORIA Square's $100 million facelift will include an innovative solar installation that will provide enough green energy to power the square's public lighting.
Confidential SAJC report 'not leaked'
INDEPENDENT Gambling Authority executive director Robert Chappell is "satisfied" no one from his office has leaked a confidential report.
Bus fire delays traffic
A COMMUTER bus has caught fire, throwing peak hour traffic into chaos in the southern suburbs.
Stolen car chased for 250km
A MOUNT Gambier man has been arrested after leading police on a two state, 250km chase along the River Murray.
Frozen moments to warm your winter
WHO says winter's gloomy? Our talented readers have brightened everyone's day with their entries in our Cold Snaps photo comp. Find out who won here.
Western Australia
Surfing comp postponed after shark attackSCHOOL surfing competition has been postponed following a fatal shark attack in WA's south west but the beach has been reopened to the public.
$4m 'Mormonville fraud' woman bailed
A WOMAN who allegedly fleeced more than $4 million from Perth residents by selling shares in a bogus development she called “Mormonville” has been granted bail.
Boy, 16, charged over alleged taxi theft
POLICE have charged a 16-year-old boy alleged to have used a plastic toy gun to rob a Perth taxi driver and steal his cab.
'Absolutely destroyed' our family
SINGLE mother demands answers over an alleged sexual assault on her handicapped daughter by a teenage sex offender supposed to be under supervision.
Tasmania
Mary takes bump for a big lunch for threeSHE'S eating for three, but Princess Mary was still keeping her baby bump under wraps.
=== Journalists Corner ===
If You Bulldoze, They Will Come?The housing crisis: if we can't just tear down the surplus homes, what's the best move to get people back to buying NOW? We break apart the issue and get the facts.
===
'The O'Reilly Factor'
Glenn Beck is raising a ruckus! What's his issue with America's political landscape? He explains! Then, we go inside Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber's modern-day Mrs. Robinson shoot!
===
'On the Record with Greta Van Susteren'
Obama backs the Ground Zero mosque ... any regrets? And how will his comments really impact Dems in November? Karl Rove reacts.
===
On Fox News Insider
Fox's Greg Kelly on Being First Journalist in IraqEric Bolling Shares Personal Connection to 9/11 Tragedy
Why Are Some Questioning Obama's Religion?
=== Comments ===
What's Really Behind the Ground Zero Mosque Controversy?BY BILL O'REILLY
It seems every day, the far left has a new excuse for supporting the proposed mosque near Ground Zero. The latest comes from Adam Clayton Powell IV, who is running against beleaguered Congressman Charles Rangel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADAM CLAYTON POWELL, IV, NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL DENOCRATIC CANDIDATE: The fact that this is akin to the racial profiling that's taken place at airports for Muslims, they're just trying to worship their religion much like Christians do, Jewish community does. If it was a synagogue or church, nobody would be complaining.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
That's right, Mr. Powell. Nobody would be complaining because Christians and Jews weren't involved in the 9/11 attack. Radical Muslims were. And you may remember the Muslim world largely did not condemn the al Qaeda action, while most Christians and Jews did.
Now, the man behind the proposed mosque is Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, who has been portrayed in the press as a moderate Muslim. But on September 30th, 2001, just 19 days after the 9/11 attacks, the late Ed Bradley interviewed the imam on "60 Minutes."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, "60 MINUTES")
ED BRADLEY: Are you in any way suggesting that we in the United States deserve what happened?
FAISAL ABDUL RAUF, IMAM: I wouldn't say that the United States deserved what happened, but the United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened.
BRADLEY: Are you saying that we're an accessory?
RAUF: Yes.
BRADLEY: How?
RAUF: Because we have been an accessory to a lot of innocent lives dying in the world. In fact, in the most direct sense, Osama bin Laden is made in the USA.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Now, the fact that a Muslim cleric believes the U.S. has been an accessory to intentionally taking innocent lives is very disturbing. That is an anti-American point of view. So let's stop the nonsense about Imam Rauf. He is no friend to America.
Another strong point about the controversy was made by Fox News strategic analyst Ralph Peters, who wrote this. "This Ground Zero mosque complex would be a symbol, not in reconciliation and tolerance, but of the greatest triumph of violent jihad in three centuries, 9/11. This mega mosque complex will be interpreted by hard-line fanatics as a monument to their 9/11 victory."
Now to be fair, most Muslims are not crazy fanatics, and would not see the proposed mosque as any kind of victory. But as Colonel Peters states, the hard-liners would. So the bottom line remains. There's no reason why this mosque should be built at this site. There's no Muslim population nearby! And many 9/11 families object. But somehow, the Democratic leadership doesn't get that. And now, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling for an investigation of who is opposing the mosque.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF.: There is no question that there is a concerted effort to make this a political issue by some. And I join the -- those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque being funded? How is this thing ginned up?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Well, Fox News pays me. So you can save the taxpayer a lot of money, you want to investigate. That's who pays me. I'm opposed to it.
Well, a short time after Ms. Pelosi said that, the Speaker issued another statement saying she'd like to know who's funding the mosque as well. Swell. And Democrats wonder why their poll numbers are catastrophic?
===
Light on the hill is Tony putting out fires
Piers Akerman
IT is a truism that it takes a shared experience to get to know someone well. - Mr Abbott, those who don’t know you oppose you, but your character is striking, and there are many who can claim they trust you because of who you are and what you stand for. I heard one schoolkid wryly say to me today that I supported Mr Rabbit. We know he means you. My favorite novel is Watership Down (Most days, another is To Serve Them All My Days) both are novels about great characters/people. If I were to look for Gillard in such novels she would be part of the jury of stoats, or possibly the Black Rabbit .. certainly no one worth serving.
I have just spent an evening with Falun Dafa who are being persecuted for being good people. They will have to stand up for many more years before they can set things right, but you, Mr Abbott, in standing up now, give Australia a possibility of a bright and prosperous future .. if only we choose it. - ed.
===
TELE FOR TONY
Tim Blair
After backing Kevin Rudd in 2007, the Daily Telegraph supports Tony Abbott in 2010:
There is a cancer eating away at Labor, an illness that is stripping the party of the values it once proudly stood for. It is why The Daily Telegraph cannot in good conscience recommend its re-election tomorrow …Challenge the editor online from 11.00am. Among other newspaper endorsements:
After two years and 10 months in office, and five weeks of campaigning and assaulting our senses with tens of millions of dollars of advertising and slogans, we’re still not sure what Labor stands for any more. Labor is in a sick state. It needs to heal itself and only a stint in opposition can give it the opportunity to rediscover its moral compass.
• Melbourne’s Age: “The government should be returned … there remains the great global challenge of climate change. Labor relinquished the task of devising a system of pricing carbon emissions, and Mr Abbott has ruled one out. Ms Gillard has pledged to resume the task. If voters give Labor a second chance, she must not squander the opportunity.”
(The Age is now almost alone in pursuing this loser topic.)
• The Sydney Morning Herald: “We think Julia Gillard has done enough to be given a chance to lead the nation; and not to be the first Prime Minister in 80 years to lead a government tossed out after one term. Surely we are not so addicted to change.”
(Change used to be a good thing. Is the SMH also opposed to hope? Incidentally, the SMH announced before the 2004 election that it would “no longer will endorse a political party” during elections. Change! The paper’s new policy may have been driven by this reader.)
• Melbourne’s Herald Sun: “Mr Abbott’s task would be to shed the shadow of the Howard government and present policies that mirror the changing world in which we live … Without any great enthusiasm, we believe Mr Abbott and the Coalition are best placed to lead Australia.”
(The shadow? After three years of Rudd/Arbib/Gillard, the Howard government is an eyelid-melting klieg light.)
• The Australian: “The true test of a prime minister is not how he or she survives an external shock but how well they prepare us for the next one. It comes down to a question of trust in a contest between a leader who learned his trade under Mr Howard and one who served under Mr Rudd. On those grounds, we endorse Mr Abbott as our 28th prime minister.”
(In a previous editorial, the Australian had indicated its regret for supporting Rudd in 2007.)
• Adelaide’s Advertiser: “Ms Gillard and Labor should be given a second chance. That vote should be made with the clear understanding that the time for dithering is over.”
(This call was made at the conclusion of one of the most dithering endorsements you will ever read.)
• Brisbane’s Courier-Mail: “We know well what Mr Abbott stands for because his positions are well chronicled. Like this newspaper, he stands for the strength of free enterprise empowered by less regulation and lower taxes. So does his party. The nation will be better for their return to government.”
(The Courier‘s embrace of free enterprise and low taxes comes as something of a surprise.)
• The Gold Coast Bulletin: “The Bulletin endorses a Coalition vote tomorrow. But it is without enthusiasm and with a caveat that all Members of our Parliament must do better than we have seen in the past five weeks. But in that context, a Coalition government stands to deliver more for this city than a south-centric Labor.”
(The only Laborites they like are home-grown. By contrast, Adelaide forgives even those who flee …)
• Adelaide’s Sunday Mail: ‘’[Julia Gillard] may live in Victoria, support one of its AFL teams and represent a Melbourne electorate, but she remains one of us. Many SA families know what it’s like to have a family member living permanently interstate.’’
(For a start, they’re living.)
• Melbourne’s Sunday Age: “With no great enthusiasm, we say the ALP should be returned on Saturday.”
(There’s a lot of enthusiasm around at the moment for a lack of enthusiasm.)
• Sydney’s Sun-Herald: “Julia Gillard should be elected as Prime Minister of Australia. This time by you.”
(Fair enough. Why should Mark Arbib have all the fun?)
• Brisbane’s Sunday Mail: “Labor was, accidentally, the government for the moment, but there are real reasons to doubt it is the government for today. The Sunday Mail believes a cautious Abbott Coalition is the best government for tomorrow.”
(Or even a reckless Abbott Coalition, considering how much less money even an Abbott government on meth is likely to spend)
• Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph: “Julia Gillard and Labor should have another chance, a chance to prove they really can be different.”
(Different = elected by voters.)
• Melbourne’s Sunday Herald Sun: “On balance, the best interests of Australians are served by the re-election of Labor and Julia Gillard.”
(In the case of Australian opinion writers who earn a fine living covering the insanity of federal Labor governments, this is indeed the case.)
• Harry the crocodile: “After carefully weighing up the policies of both sides, Harry heaved out of the water and chomped the photo of Julia, leaving Tony dangling in the wind.”
(The methodology is ambivalent.)
===
GREENS JEALOUS
Tim Blair
Idealism hits the wall:
The Greens have been caught red-handed trying to ‘’stack’’ calls to talkback kings Neil Mitchell and Jon Faine with pro-Bob Brown messages.Who would ever have thought the Greens so cynical? Speaking of red, it turns out that Green opposition to an emissions trading bill was less to do with Gaia than it was to do with dumb commie jealousy:
Brown said it was actually redistribution of wealth – not climate science – that was the reason he helped block the Rudd government’s emissions trading scheme.Everything has a price. Saving the precious planet is evidently too expensive.
He helped defeat Australia’s only realistic attempt at an ETS, he said, because Rudd’s proposed compensation for carbon emitters, “the biggest polluters,” was too much.
UPDATE. In the UK, around half the average power bill is composed of green levies. Something we can look forward to, there.
(Via Benny Peiser)
===
DEMS BETRAYED
Tim Blair
Come on, Adelaide. You’re making it too easy:
Australian Democrats leaders say they feel betrayed by a candidate who yesterday withdrew from the federal election after confessing he had been convicted of a child sex offence …Andrews is Adelaide’s version of Scott Ritter. If only there were a suitably Adelaidian photograph. Oh, wait …
Details of the conviction are scarce but, on television, Mr Andrews said he had “made plans” to meet what he thought was a 15-year-old boy over the internet, but who was in fact a police officer.
===
TIED WITH TWO DAYS TO GO
Tim Blair
A last-minute swing to Abbott:
Labor and the Coalition enter the last two days of the campaign with voter support locked at 50:50 after a swing away from the government …It’s on. Also, an internal Labor poll predicts the loss of up to 20 seats in NSW and Queensland.
After distributing preferences, the parties each have 50 per cent support, the same level as the end of the second week of the campaign. The previous Newspoll, conducted at the weekend, put Labor ahead on a two-party preferred basis 52 per cent to 48 per cent.
UPDATE. Abbott invades Labor territory: the Golden Century restaurant in deepest Sussex Street. The crowd is impressed:
UPDATE II. Labor still just in front according to Galaxy:Julia Gillard is expected to overcome the burden of two hugely unpopular Labor state governments to narrowly win tomorrow’s election, authoritative polling has found ...
Labor will rely heavily on Green preferences to win 52 per cent of the two-party preferred vote - down 0.7 per cent on the 2007 result - to the Coalition’s 48 per cent.
The primary vote for Labor will be a dismal 38 per cent, compared with 43.4 per cent in 2007.
===
WHO’S YOUR DADDY
Tim Blair
A NSW Labor MP becomes a father, in unusual circumstances. A certain word is missing from the SMH’s report (sourced from the Fairfax-owned Newcastle Herald); it was largely missing, too, from Julia Gillard’s launch speech:
When Gough Whitlam took to the stage in 1972 to ask voters to make him prime minister he was a proud Labor man.What a launch. The party it promoted was invisible, and the invisible speech was front and centre.
In fact, he said Labor 82 times in his famous “It’s time” speech.
But when Julia Gillard gave her no-frills campaign speech in Brisbane this week, Labor barely passed her lips.
She said it just twice.
And nowhere in the room could you see Labor.
Not on the stage, not on the lectern, not even on the passes issued to guests and media.
===
SCIENCE SILENCED
Tim Blair
According to academic Ken Lovell, I have silenced climate debate in Australia:
No politician is game to express any kind of view about the science lest they be overwhelmed with a flood of smartarse questions drafted by the likes of Tim Blair next time they give an interview.For this, I deserve the nation’s gratitude. Why, it may be my greatest triumph since Operation Clark County, way back in 2004 …
===
ADELAIDE ANGELS
Tim Blair
Tony McGuinness was an exceptionally brave player during his AFL career with Footscray and Adelaide. Retired since 1996, it turns out that McGuinness is even braver off the field:
A former Hells Angel has accused Tony McGuinness of “killing” his marriage by having an inappropriate relationship with his estranged wife.That sort of thing can get a man in trouble. Big trouble:
Former Hells Angel Leo Hunt told The Advertiser last night that he believes McGuinness and his wife had an inappropriate relationship.But McGuinness may have had no reason to be concerned. This is happening in Adelaide, where Hells Angels behave differently. As Hunt points out, he’s run two restaurants and “created a coffee company.”
He said: “I rang Tony. I said: ‘Let’s meet at the Marion hotel carpark so we can sort this out like men.’ He said: ‘Who is this and what is it about?’
“He said he couldn’t make it and I said: ‘OK, I will be at your house in 20 minutes and we’ll sort it out.’ He said: ‘OK, give me five (minutes) and I’m on my way’.
UPDATE. In Adelaide, The Family will kill you but Hells Angels run businesses called Diamond Coffee Roasting and Fine Teas:
===Gillard won’t rule out jacking up power prices
Andrew Bolt
Gillard warns she could put an effective tax on electricity after the election:
JULIA Gillard says she is prepared to legislate a carbon price in the next term as part of a bold series of reforms that include school funding, education and health.Why did it take until the day before the election for journalists to tease this out of her?
In an election-eve interview with The Australian, the Prime Minister revealed she would view victory tomorrow as a mandate for a carbon price, provided the community was ready for this step.
“I don’t rule out the possibility of legislating a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, a market-based mechanism,” she said of the next parliament. “I rule out a carbon tax.”
===
“Real” leaders change, too. And one even lies
Andrew Bolt
JULIA Gillard once ran the Socialist Forum, helping Communist Party members join Labor.
Tony Abbott was a deep conservative who once said paid parental leave would come “over this (Howard) government’s dead body”.
But, hey, look at them now.
Gillard today wears a pearl necklace as she poses as a back-to-basics schoolmarm who’d “run the heaviest ruler” over government spending.
(Please overlook her $2.5 billion pink batts disaster, her $43 billion broadband white elephant, and the huge waste in her $16 billion school buildings blowout.)
Abbott, on the other hand, is now a moderate, promising no workplace reform and a parental leave scheme so generous that it offers some women $75,000 for each baby.
So which Gillard is real? Which Abbott?
These have been among the biggest issues of an election that’s been as much about the character of the leaders as their policies.
I’ll discuss the “real” Gillard and Abbott in a second, and tell of the brazen lies told by one and the excuses of the other.
But, first, why are we so toey when politicians change their political views?
Most of us change our politics - or at least modify them - as we get older and smarter. Or sadder.
My boss, Rupert Murdoch, famously had a bust of Lenin on the mantelpiece of his student’s room at Oxford, yet is now the passionately proud owner of Fox News, the conservative news network.
I worked on two Labor campaigns, but identify today as a conservative.
And most of us recognise the truth of the famous quip of French prime minister Aristide Briand: “The man who is not a socialist at 20 has no heart, but if he is still a socialist at 40 he has no head.”
===
The papers’ call
Andrew Bolt
Tony Abbott gets a big boost from the papers today, winning endorsements from News Ltd’s Herald Sun, Australian, Daily Telegraph and - perhaps most critically - Courier Mail and Gold Coast Bulletin in the critical state of Queensland. I apologise for reporting last night a rumor that the Australian was backing Labor. The Sunday Mail earlier went for the Coalition.
Julia Gillard has the vote of Fairfax’s Age and Sydney Morning Herald, and News Ltd’s Advertiser. The Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Herald Sun, both News Ltd papers, and the Fairfax Sunday papers have already backed Labor.
The Daily Telegraph:
But after two years and 10 months in office, and five weeks of campaigning and assaulting our senses with tens of millions of dollars of advertising and slogans, we’re still not sure what Labor stands for any more Labor is in a sick state. It needs to heal itself and only a stint in opposition can give it the opportunity to rediscover its moral compass.Herald Sun:
Without any great enthusiasm, we believe Mr Abbott and the Coalition are best placed to lead Australia.The Australian:
Labor is bloodied by its swift removal of Mr Rudd and remains equally accountable for the mistakes he made. The insulation batts scheme, the BER chaos and the confusion over the climate change debate will be writ large in the history books. The Coalition is right in wanting to cut government spending. Mr Abbott would put Australia’s much-needed broadband rollout in the hands of private enterprise, whereas Labor would take $43 billion from the public purse to finance it.
This is not about irresponsibly throwing out a government after its first term. This is about holding a government to account.
One thing is abundantly clear, however: Kevin Rudd’s big-government experiment was a disaster. Whichever party is returned, this ugly revival of old-style central planning must be buried and cremated. ...Courier Mail:
Our doubts towards Labor are about the party, not Ms Gillard, who has an abundance of courage and a talented frontbench team. Yet the financial crisis has revived a command economy culture we thought had been purged by Mr Hawke a quarter of a century ago. It was not big government that saved Australia from recession but the courage of leaders like Mr Hawke, Mr Howard and Paul Keating, who spent their own political capital on economic reform. The true test of a prime minister is not how he or she survives an external shock but how well they prepare us for the next one. It comes down to a question of trust in a contest between a leader who learned his trade under Mr Howard and one who served under Mr Rudd. On those grounds, we endorse Mr Abbott as our 28th prime minister.
The past three years have been a story of government being presented as the solution to the nation’s challenges, when in fact it only added to them. Nothing Labor has said in this campaign suggests its behaviour in government over the next three years would be anything different. Like its state counterparts in this and other states, federal Labor has placed itself in a position where it sees more government as the answer to everything…The Advertiser:
Tony Abbott has emerged as an unexpected leader of the Liberal Party and, like many leaders, has already shown how he can grow with responsibility. His critics regard it as a weakness that he will not allow strongly held, personal positions to determine public policy.
This, in fact, is a strength and shows a commitment to the people he aspires to serve. We know well what Mr Abbott stands for because his positions are well chronicled. Like this newspaper, he stands for the strength of free enterprise empowered by less regulation and lower taxes. So does his party. The nation will be better for their return to government.
Ms Gillard has advantages which go beyond incumbency. Her stewardship of the schools building program has, despite warranted criticism, been determined and competent.... Elsewhere, Labor has not received the recognition it deserves for steering the economy through the global financial crisis and while its broadband policy is expensive it is equally expansive… Ms Gillard and Labor should be given a second chance.The Age votes for big government:
The Age believes the government should be returned, because of this successful economic stewardship and so that it can resume the project of adapting Australia to meet the challenges of the 21st century. In undertaking to build a national broadband network - a transformational project whose importance the opposition seems unable to understand - the government has shown that the vision of 2007 was never entirely extinguished.Sydney Morning Herald:
But we think Julia Gillard has done enough to be given a chance to lead the nation; and not to be the first Prime Minister in 80 years to lead a government tossed out after one term. Surely we are not so addicted to change. We will be back here in three years or less – and then we will be able truly and fairly to judge Gillard and her government.(Hmmm. Vote against change? Who are the reactionaries now?)
Gold Coast Bulletin:
The Bulletin endorses a Coalition vote tomorrow. But it is without enthusiasm and with a caveat that all Members of our Parliament must do better than we have seen in the past five weeks. But in that context, a Coalition government stands to deliver more for this city than a south-centric Labor.
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Newspoll: it’s now even
Andrew Bolt
Tony Abbott will dare dream, especially after winning so many newspaper endorsements, too:
LABOR has lost its lead in the election campaign, with voters shifting towards the Coalition to split support 50-50...Galaxy disagrees:
According to a Newspoll survey on Tuesday and Wednesday night, after Labor’s campaign launch on Monday, the government’s primary vote has dropped three percentage points to 35 per cent, while the Coalition’s has risen by the same amount to 44 per cent. The Greens’ primary vote of 14 per cent remains almost double what it was at the 2007 election, and 7 per cent of those surveyed still support independents and other candidates.
JULIA Gillard is on track to scrape in at the ballot box tomorrow, according to an exclusive Galaxy poll, but only because Australians believe Labor is not as bad as the alternative. The Herald Sun poll found just one in six voters said Labor deserved a second chance. The national survey showed the ALP ahead of the Coalition 52-48.
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Greens as grubby as anyone
Andrew Bolt
The Greens stack talkback to bail out flailing Bob Brown:
THE Greens have been caught red-handed trying to ‘’stack’’ calls to talkback kings Neil Mitchell and Jon Faine with pro-Bob Brown messages. The Age has obtained internal emails showing the Greens’ Victorian media officer, Tom Maclachlan, urged members to hit the phones as Senator Brown did interviews with Faine on ABC Radio and then Mitchell on 3AW.UPDATE
At 9.19am on July 21, Mr Maclachlan emailed supporters saying: ‘’Well done everyone - 30 positive texts for Bob on Faine. Don’t forget to call in too.
‘’Now on to 3AW, where Bob will take on Neil Mitchell, an even harder taskmaster. Please let everyone know again (this seems to be working).’’..
The leaked emails show senior Greens were concerned Senator Brown sounded extremely uncomfortable in his interview on 3AW about the party’s backroom deal with Labor under which the minor party agreed to direct preferences to the ALP in 54 lower house seats across the country.
At 10.25am on July 21, the (Greens) candidate for the marginal outer Melbourne seat of McEwen, Steve Meacher, wrote: ‘’If any of you are listening to 3AW this morning you will be aware of Bob’s extreme discomfort at the shady preference deal with Labor and the fact that, as party leader, even he doesn’t know which 54 seats were sold out - not a good look for the Greens.’’
Much more detail from Andrew Landeryou.
(Thanks to reader Bob.)
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Candidates behaving badly
Andrew Bolt
Labor might now kiss Longman goodbye:
Sitting Longman MP Jon Sullivan was booed and jeered at a public forum yesterday after blaming a father for letting his seven-year-old child wait two years on a Queensland Health waiting list…More seriously personally, if not politically:
Labor had privately been counting Longman as a win in tomorrow’s election, believing that the age of 20-year-old Liberal National Party challenger Wyatt Roy was starting to count against him.
But an LNP source last night claimed Longman was now within reach after Mr Sullivan not only angered the audience but also reminded voters of the struggles of the state Labor Government to manage health waiting lists.
During an ABC radio forum in Longman yesterday, Bellmere resident Robert Murphy asked Mr Sullivan what he would do to get sick children diagnosed faster.
“It’s taken two years to take my son to the doctor to get him diagnosed because we don’t have the money to actually go and pay a specialist . . . so that he can get the proper help that he needs at school,” Mr Murphy said.
Mr Sullivan replied: “What parent would wait two years to get a child who they believe has a disability. . .”
AUSTRALIAN Democrats leaders say they feel betrayed by a candidate who yesterday withdrew from the federal election after confessing he had been convicted of a child sex offence.(No comments, to save us from legal worries.)
The candidate in the South Australian seat of Sturt, Darren Andrews, admitted to a Channel 7 news reporter that he had been convicted of trying to procure a child for sex over the internet.
He withdrew from the election but his name will remain on the ballot paper…
Details of the conviction are scarce but, on television, Mr Andrews said he had “made plans” to meet what he thought was a 15-year-old boy over the internet, but who was in fact a police officer. Mr Andrews told Channel 7 he didn’t go through with the rendezvous.
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Margie Abbott on her husband, Tony
Andrew Bolt
4BC’s Michael Smith talks to Margie Abbott, the former merchant banker, now child care director - and wife of the Opposition Leader. She talks of her daughters, the campaign and having known within 48 hours of meeting Tony that he was the one.She talks of her pride in her three daughters, who have thrown themselves into the campaign of their father.
Of the criticism of her husband: “We know the man.” But, yes, it hurts. She describes someone loving and sensitive. Listen here.
Margie is reticent about the astonishing vilification of her husband by Labor, but those who know Abbott are staggered at the way he’s been so cynically portrayed as a woman-hating, narrow-minded bigot.
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How would Iranian money reassure Americans about Islam?
Andrew Bolt
For a Muslim centre dedicated to improving relations between faiths and peoples, the 13-storey building planned for a site just two blocks from where Islamists murdered 3000 civilians seems more deliberately provocative by the day:
THE developers of the Ground Zero mosque are refusing to rule out donations for the project from Iran and its hard line leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “I can’t comment on that” was the reply of mosque spokesman Oz Sultan said when asked specifically if the fundraising would extend to Iran and Saudi Arabia.UPDATE
Barack Obama’s backing of the project - later hastily modified - can’t help but feed the astonishing belief of a quarter of Americans that he’s secretly Muslim himself:
Opponents of the planned Islamic community center and mosque near Ground Zero in lower Manhattan have public opinion firmly in their corner. According to a new TIME poll, 61% of respondents oppose the construction of the Park51/Cordoba House project, compared with 26% who support it. More than 70% concur with the premise that proceeding with the plan would be an insult to the victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center…
Yet the survey also revealed that many Americans harbor lingering animosity toward Muslims… Nearly one-third of the country thinks adherents of Islam should be barred from running for President — a slightly higher percentage than the 24% who mistakenly believe the current occupant of the Oval Office is himself a Muslim. In all, just 47% of respondents believe Obama is a Christian…
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What’s Blair done that I haven’t done worse?
Andrew Bolt
That damn hitchhiker Tim Blair is given all the credit for driving global warmists off the road. Why does he always get to play the villain?
UPDATE
Take this from reader Ashley, Blair, and damn you:
because the villain is always the ugly one
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Abbott nice to children
Andrew Bolt
The questions are almost entirely juvenile, and sometimes plain ill-informed. Most are informed by an ideological hostility, barely disguised - and shared by all four of the panellists. But once again Tony Abbott sails through. How he keeps his cool....
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Hamilton and the green totalitarians
Andrew Bolt
Professor Clive Hamilton, the Gaian and former Greens candidate, has already suggested a ”suspension of democratic processes” to impose his green ideology. Yesterday he made clear his totalitarian instinct - or possibly just his ignorance - by citing Plato as his guide:
Indeed, it may be said that the Australian Greens are the party of Plato, the original philosopher of the West...Today The Australian’s readers explain why Hamilton’s guru tells us all we need to know about the Greens:
CLIVE Hamilton has assured us that the Australian Greens are the party of Plato…This is not just a gotcha debating point. As I wrote two years ago, Hamilton’s Greens truly are the latest manifestation of something sinister, stretching back to Plato:
Those who have actually studied Plato will recognise the ultimate source of philosophical nihilism in the Western tradition. That barren philosophy which negates all sense of value or consequence in human life, and which rejects the possibility of the existence of a meaningful universe.
Plato was an anti-democratic contrarian whose legacy provided the underpinning rationale for modern totalitarianism, in the form of Nazism and communism, through the patronising notion of rule by “philosopher kings”; those “precious few” among us who are sufficiently intelligent, rational and “dedicated to wisdom”.
Is this really the desired self-image of the Greens? It certainly makes sense of Hamilton’s erstwhile call to suspend democracy, so as to let the “Brights” rid of us carbon emissions and, given half a chance, probably religion and capitalism to boot. Thank you, Clive, but no thanks, all the same.
James Miller, Sydney, NSW
CLIVE Hamilton says that the Greens are the party of Plato. I can see what he means; Plato’s formula for a republic, governed by a class of know-all guardians who would ride rough-shod over the rest of us if given half the chance, certainly sounds like what might happen if the Greens get the balance of power in the Senate.
Also, having read Karl Popper’s masterful demolition of Plato’s heirs as the enemies of the open society, I find that the idea scares the tripe out of me.
Terry Jessop, Gordon, NSW
I HAVE no doubt that should the Greens have the balance of power in the Senate, Plato’s spirit will indeed come alive. The ignorant masses will be advised to mind their own business and let the green philosopher kings get on with their ruling.
Michael Kottek, Ocean Grove, Vic
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Liberals need the mother of all marginal seats strategies
Andrew Bolt
Latest polling results all report the same: Labor ahead, 52 per cent to 48. That’s Galaxy, Labor and Labor internal polling, as reported by Channel 7.
The marginal seat results have to be very uneven indeed for the Liberals to snatch a win.
And a rumour which In can’t confirm has come my way which explains why Kevin Rudd has kept his peace - and the leaks have stopped - since Julia Gillard flew to Brisbane two weeks ago to strike a deal. He will get a full-time job with the United Nations after the election.
I’m not sure how such a thing would be in the Government’s gift, or whether the UN allows itself to be used as a parking garage like that, but there it is. Note also that Lachlan Harris, Rudd’s former media adviser, has reappeared by Rudd’s side, apparently running shotgun to ensure the deal sticks.
News Ltd papers tomorrow will be split in their support. I can hardly believe what I’m told - that The Australian, which campaigned so hard on the Rudd Government’s spectacular mismanagement, will cover itself now by recommending a vote for the same incompetent crew. But some of the bigger circulation papers ....
UPDATE
On the other hand:
INTERNAL Labor party polling conducted this week suggests the government could win the popular vote on Saturday but lose office on the back of a rout in New South Wales and Queensland marginal seats. The polling, leaked to the Seven Network today, reveals Labor faces the loss of 20 seats in the two key battleground states.The ALP polled 1650 voters this week across 10 NSW marginal seats and 10 Queensland marginal seats.The poll showed a three per cent swing against Labor in the NSW marginals, which would see the government lose seven seats with three at risk, the Seven Network reported.Seats which would fall to the coalition if the internal polling is accurate are: Robertson, Macquarie, Gilmore, Macarthur, Bennelong, Eden-Monaro and Page.Those at risk are: Dobell, Greenway and Lindsay.The ALP’s polling in the Queensland marginals showed a four per cent swing to the coalition, which would translate to six seats changing hands with four at risk.(Thanks to reader Scooter.)
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“Waste of time” seeing if NBN is a white elephant
Andrew Bolt
Your duty is to stump up the $43 billion. It is not to ask whether this insane amount of cash makes sense. From an interview with the Gillard Government’s communications minister, Stephen Conroy:
NBN Co CEO, Mike Quigley, has said he will provide you with a business case and await your approval to release it. Will you do so?Did the boss of the NBN Co. know it was “a waste of time” and a “waste of money” to prepare a business case for his Minister? And is it really so irrelevant to the Government whether this massive investment makes any business sense?
SC: No, I’ve said very clearly we will not be releasing the business case.
Why not?
SC: Because we didn’t release Telstra’s when it was in public hands, we don’t release Australia Post’s and we’ve got no intention of releasing NBN Co’s.
But can you understand the public angst over the fact that there’s no cost-benefit analysis or business case for this investment?
SC: This is entirely a manufactured, confected debate started by the Liberal Party to try and slow down [the NBN] so they could claim coming into this election that there’d been no connections. They wanted a delay simply for political reasons.
But I’ve spoken to people in the industry that support the NBN while wanting a business case or cost-benefit analysis.
SC: Waste of time, waste of effort, waste of money.
So you say there’s no one who genuinely believes in getting it without an ulterior motive?
SC: Waste of time, waste of effort, waste of money. We’re actually building the NBN as we said we would and as the Australian people elected us to.
UPDATE
Still, would Quigley really mind what Conroy does to save the NBN from scrutiny?
The chief executive of the NBN just happens to make an announcement that favours the government Delimiter.com.au reports yesterday:
NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley has delivered a stinging attack on the Coalition’s broadband policy, publicly backing Labor’s rival National Broadband Network project just days before the federal election due on Saturday.(Thanks to reader Leo.)
Moi? Political? ABC News reports Quigley on August 12:
THE head of the NBN has rejected suggestions he timed a major announcement about faster download speeds to have maximum impact on the federal election.
“We made this decision to go to 1 gigabits . . . after some considerable study we decided, ‘What do we do? We sit on it because there’s an election on?’ . . . I decided the right thing to do was to announce it.”
ChannelNews.com.au reports on August 12:
IN what has to be a federal election stunt, NBN Co boss Mike Quigley suddenly announced yesterday that the new NBN network will be capable of operating at speeds of 1Gbps, a service which Telstra CEO David Thodey said was fast but will have little appeal with consumers due primarily to the cost of such speeds.
Thodey said: “We already have a 1Gbps service for business, however I see little demand for it in the home”.
Mark Davis in The Sydney Morning Herald on February 9:
A HIGHLY regarded Labor political strategist, [Mike] Kaiser was appointed to the $450,000 a year position as head of government relations for NBN Co. Chief executive Mike Quigley said it was Communications Minister Stephen Conroy who had suggested Kaiser for the position.
Itnews.com.au reports further on the issue on February 1:
IN December, Leighton-owned Nextgen Networks won the lion’s share of a $250 million tender to provide fibre backhaul links in blackspots throughout regional Australia.
NBN Co CEO and chairman Mike Quigley is a former board member of Leighton. Parker and Partners, an Ogilvy-owned lobby group which counts EDS and Alcatel-Lucent among its clients, gave $48,900 to the Federal ALP.
Alcatel-Lucent will be providing much of the networking kit to the aforementioned Nextgen fibre rollout.
Computerworld.com.au reports on June 24:
NBN Co CEO, Mike Quigley, has defended the company’s decision to sign a multi-million-dollar deal with Alcatel-Lucent, despite both Quigley and CFO, Jean-Pascal Beaufret, being former employees of the company.
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No burqa in court
Andrew Bolt
Sensible, just - and a first:A PERTH judge has ordered that a Muslim woman must remove a full burqa while giving evidence before a jury in a fraud case.
Judge Shauna Deane ... said she did not consider it appropriate that the witness give evidence with her face covered.
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