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aus election 2004

Get some pork on your fork

We need a Prime Minister who trusts the people, who tells them the truth about the great issues of war and peace. And when things go wrong, a Prime Minister who is big enough to take responsibility and not blame others.

We need a Prime Minister who will take the people into his confidence, not least about his own intentions. It's urgent to bring a new energy, a new accountability to Australia's biggest job. And that's the difference between Labor and the Liberals.

Grumpy in Grayndler

Last night I was at Petersham Town Hall for a "Meet The Candidates" forum. Organised by the Marrickville Council for the first time, the five candidates for Grayndler were invited to put their cases to the public and answer questions from the floor.

Sitting member Anthony Albanese (ALP), Philip Myers of The Greens and Sue Johnson (Socialist Alliance) were present. Jen Harrison of the Democrats and Stephanie Kokkolis of the Liberal Party didn't attend. Marrickville mayor Morris Hanna (Independent) chaired the forum. About a hundred people were present, mostly middle-aged. The non-appearance of the Liberal Party gave the forum a decidedly left-wing skew, but in this part of the world that reflects the demographics. Not being a regular at political meetings I only recognised a handful of people in the audience, the ABC's Antony Green being one of them.

Mark Latham: A transcript primer

KERRY O'BRIEN: ...your reference to Tony Abbott and the Queen in June last year where you described Tony Abbott as, quote, "Basically hanging out of the backside of the British monarch whenever he can."

What is this obsession you have with bottoms?

MARK LATHAM: I've no particular obsession with bottoms, it's a figure of speech --

KERRY O'BRIEN: Howard the arse-licker and the brown nose kissing bums, as you put it, Abbott hanging out of the Queen's backside, the conga line of suckholes.

Time to go, John!

This looks like a great concept. A number of Australian film-makers have made a series of short films about John Howard's record as Prime Minister to be screened as a feature film which will be premiering next Wednesday September 29. It's very much a low-budget, almost underground, project that looks a bit like 11'9''01 meets Fahrenheit 9/11. I just received a copy of the press release by email and I reproduce it in full:

Mr Latham goes to Townsville

When I read yesterday that Mark Latham was promising to raise Townsville's profile as a defence base, I thought he was planning a special assignment for the North Queensland Cowboys. As it happens, it's a promise to establish an infantry battalion and a parachute battalion in the city, which is situated - fancy - in the marginal Liberal seat of Herbert.

Grizzled from Grayndler

Nominations closed for candidates for the federal elections on Thursday, and the Australian Electoral Commission announced them on Friday afternoon. Only five candidates in my electorate of Grayndler - that's a surprise. Not so surprising is the 78 candidates for the 12 senate vacancies in New South Wales, making up thirty different groups. That's right - the NSW senate ballot paper on October 9 will be thirty columns wide.

Deleting John Howard

Frustrated with the refusal of John Howard to cut and run into retirement? Try doing the following to relieve some of the election frustration:

1. Create a "new folder" on your computer.
2. Name it "John Howard".
3. Send it to the trash.
4. Empty the trash.
5. Your computer will ask "Do you really want to get rid of 'John Howard'?"
6. Answer calmly "Yes" and press the mouse button.
7. Repeat as required.

(Source: Crikey's subscriber newsletter.)

Who do you trust? And how often do you trust them?

It was quite hilarious to hear John Winston Howard kick off the election campaign last Sunday week by saying that it was "all about trust". Days after more evidence was coming to light that he knew about the "Children Overboard" fraud before the 2001 election, he takes the bold, aggressive step of asking for us trust this time around.

JWH's press release on August 29, announcing the election, is comical for many reasons, but it is the third paragraph that has electioneering Sound Bite dripping all over it:

Advanced hair and other John Howard resources

Some John Howard resources that you can't live without during this election campaign:

http://www.advancedhair.com.au/2004/johnny.html
From Advanced Hair Studios (yeah yeah!), How to get a head in politics. Choose a vote-winning hairstyle for JWH.

http://www.ny.com.au/johnny.swf

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