Mood:
hug meTopic: aust govt
Picture: Sydney Writers Festival event May 2008 (last year) involving Maxine McKew and Bob Carr at Sydney Theatre opposite the wharf. More of that for the 2009 event below.
Author’s general introductory note
This is not a well packaged story. It’s a contemporaneous traverse of the Sunday television free to air political talkies indicating the agenda of Establishment interests: Better to know ones rivals and allies in Big Politics and Big Media.
For actual transcripts and/or video feeds go to the programme web sites quoted including Riley Diary on 7. And note transcripts don’t really give you the image content value.
Other sources of pollie talkies on Sunday include SkyNews paytv Sunday Agenda, Radio National Monica Attard Sunday Profile show. And of course Sunday night shows SBS Dateline, Sixty Minutes and now Sunday Tonight on 7.
Media backgrounders* SAM travails on rural block ‘Froghollow’ after 6 weeks – it’s wet, damn wet but sun shines today, time to get the wood heater next to the outdoor bath and under a sheet of iron: Still no regular power but 12 Amp 4 stage battery charger (Powertech MB-3612 with LED indicators of battery level) via Jaycar, and Greenways (Melbourne but deliver most places $40) 100 Amp hour deep cycle battery (X2, at cheap cheap $220 each promo price) are doing well, with 12 volt lights and radio, and back up on computer tower 5 hours worth (should have laptop lower draw). 300 and 150 inverters to 240 volt from Dick Smith at decent price. The key is to recharge asap from clunky petrol generator originally cheap from Aldi of all places. Now all we need is some decent solar panel deals and voltage regulator. The idea of mains eventually is rather good too. Pile burns in the rain out of fire season going well. Magnificent red dawn before the deluge. Recycled motor mower cutting a swathe. Junkyard is now 75% sorted with heavy metal and sharps - natural and otherwise - domesticated.
* As a result we still lag on newsprint monitoring or crikey forensics but groveling along.
* More corporate collapses for failure to manage debt in the GFC - Great Southern Plantations and Timbercorp, agricutlural tax driven investment schemes.
* Harry Evans clerk of the Senate and champion of democracy as opposed to vested interests is forced to resign after 21 years by legislation introduced under the Howard Govt.
* Annabel Crabb bells the cat as it were with reference to silence of $18 billion in [upper] middle class welfare not mentioned in budget speech. Must be unique, she says. But her colleagues and big media are absolutely silent except perhaps for Deborah Cameron and see below (Insiders). Ironic as the big media play gotcha on $300B public debt at 14% of GDP still AAA rated compared to UK, but say nothing on $18B handouts to their consumers of advertising to pay their own media fat wages. Pathetic really.
* Labor luvvies increase their controlling grasp over the Sydney Writers Festival leveraging tax payer funded facilities, as per Guy Rundle video of the day on crikey late last week, as per our experience in May 2008.
Our comment on Guy’s string here:
Tom McLoughlinPosted Saturday, 23 May 2009 at 8:23 pm PermalinkBack in May 2008 I wrote a blog piece about the control business of this ALP aligned show, out of the Callan Park based Sydney Writers Centre (?) etc etc with bookish Bob Carr lurking around. That’s Bob ‘the internet is irrelevant in modern politics’ Carr. What a fool, demonstrably given Obama soon after. Here it is, politically incorrect, flippant piece 12 months back:http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog/1815947/photo-of-hot-aussie-woman-censorship-attempt-at-sydney-writers-festival/And dishonest too really given he never had the guts to post media releases on ministers websites, knowing they would actually provide an ongoing juxtaposition with reality.Also of interest in modern politics is that last year soon after the Labor luvvies ran their tax payer funded fun, in taxpayer funded venues, organised by a taxpayer funded grant body, came … [Beethoven just here] …. the Bill Henson scandal via Miranda Devine outrage attack. It was a very nasty and successful ‘fangs of the Right’ moment, and one imagines the luvvies still have not realised the significance of the timing.Did the UTS Paper get a run at the writers festival or was that controlled out of existence too?
In other words, what will the fangs of the Right come up with now for being excluded from the Festival this year? Shudder.
* VIP invite to SAM editor for Waverley Council’s 150th anniversary on 14 June 2009. A bittersweet 4 years closing the $40M Waterloo Incinerator, beating off a private rail/high rise consortium, name plaque for the new Waverley library, tripling the vote for The Greens before bailing out of the lazy bunch for their years of free riding. Fond memories of Chris Darwin, local Greens member in the news recently (big conservation donation), related to the grand old man himself. Succeeded by Cr Dominic Wykanak we campaigned hard for.
10 Meet the Press: 8- 8-30 am
Guest is smooth talking fresh faced Peter Dutton, Shadow Health minister (?). Sounds convincing and mild tones.
First out take humour is Tony Jones on Lateline pushing Rudd to come clean on the level of debt at some 300 billion or something huge.
Adbreak nurses union heart strings advert leveraging sick children
Panel is Sue Dunlevy and Steve Lewis both of Planet News Corp. Various blather, alcopops argues dishonest tax grab but avoids rollover. Prevaricates in his answer. Dunlevy gags on tax on all alcohol, given her Daily Telegraph survives on full page alcohol adverts. Talks up about honest debate. He’s right, ramping up the moral high ground.Sharon Burrow, President ACTU calling for no freeze on minimum wage rise and affordability. Attacks Mitch Hooke low credibility, runs the renewable energy jobs off a growth trajectory. PB compere asks about what about transition. Hit the time limit, looks a bit grumpy with good story to tell.
Meet The Press - Watch Political Video Online - Channel TEN.
Riley Diary 7, from 8.30am
Don’t mention the war leveraging John Cleese skit re massive Australian debt. Shadow Treasurer Hockey “debt, debt, debt, debt ….”. Press gallery getting more feral on this point given the denialism and spin of the Rudd machine.
Hard hat Rudd on nation building tour. Capped (!) off with “macho man” via Village People.
Charity sing by Riles footage “for a very good cause”. Absolutely.
http://www.seven.com.au/sunrise/weekend
9 Sunday newshour Laurie Oakes interview 8.40 am
Health minister Nicola Roxon. Crew ship precautionary steps while “not yet widespread” sounds rehearsed line, as in expect widespread swine flu. LO picks the cue “how bad will it get”. Serious. [Genie out of the bottle talk.]
Earnest, competent, mousy, mild, articulate, not quite female version of Beazley but in that direction. She needs to work up her cut through over volume depending on how ambitious she is. Lacks the Gillard edge which may be a good or bad thing suggesting honesty?
30 June deadline re any federal takeover of health. LO calls it another hollow promise implying the GFC has broken that one.
Her parliamentary secretary expenses – stands by her hard working colleague.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/oakes
Insiders 2: 9- 10am
BC compere goes through the stats of rusted on Rudd at 64% personal approval and ALP primary vote at 45%.
Panel is Lenore Taylor News Corp Australian (centrist), David Marr – Fairfax (centre left), Michael Stutchbury News Corp Australian (centre right).
Swine flu grab of Nicola Roxon earlier in the day.
Tony Abbott Shadow Family, Community Services, Indigenous Affairs Minister.
Quotes Noel Pearson re Cape York hostage to green votes in Brisbane, cutting out economic opportunities. But not tub thumping as such, more mild tones. More blather.
Vox pops with Deborah Cameron at Sydney Writers Festival, labour luvvy from central casting in presentation but a bit more objective than that, labour luvvies at fest say pollies not overpaid, as they would, their team!
Share employee issue discussed, entre to Paul Kelly soliloquy again from News Corp calls Rudd childish, counterproductive. Implies unions are representing fat overpaid unioinists above $60K wages. Talks up Ken Henry tutorial of 25 years economic history re discipline, bottom line everything depends on economic reform in recession – whatever that means.
Grab of Henry, Stutch runs ‘structural budget deficit’ started with Howard-Costello [of upper middle class welfare]. True.
Humour over inhouse Gruen style advert on naming the debt, but not of their own big media blind spot over $18B welfare for the rich.
Talking pics re hard hat as per Riley Diary earlier today, parallel thinking.
http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/
Inside Business with Alan Kohler
Sound glitch lead in, 2 weeks running tech problems now.
Refer http://www.abc.net.au/insidebusiness/
