Australia has its first female Prime Minister – unelected by the voters might I add. The television was all over it this morning – as an historic occasion and a moment when you would remember where you were type rhetoric. I was nonplussed about the the female angle – I just want the best person in the job be they male or female but like most of the media in this country, we get caught up in the history and occasion.
I was no Kevin Rudd supporter by any measure but he was elected by the people in 2007 and as such, despite wavering polling, he should have stayed. The Labor Party – which I have supported at many elections- have shown themselves to be a factionalized bunch of hacks ready to stab anyone in the back. Images of the ‘powerbrokers’ working the phones, getting the numbers to mount a challenge have made many of us think we have no control over what actually goes on when there is a bit of a shitstorm.
As a female, I will play devil’s advocate here – Julia Gillard may be female but she has not made traditional decisions – she is not married and is childless. I doubt that a male in Australian politics would rise to the top job if in the same situation without rumblings about their sexuality. Also, had Julia Gillard has the traditional family and marriage, it would have made it more difficult for her to get the top job with the competing demands –she would have had to sacrifice one or the other maybe...
Whilst she is a polished political performer and speaks ‘normally’, she is still a politician and will no doubt have the odd back flip and blip along the way – whether her tenure is long or short. It might have been swift and relatively clean but the rumblings would have been there when she was denying any such thing. So, yes, she is a politician in that sense.
It’s too early for judgment of her performance- there will be a honeymoon no doubt for a few weeks but no doubt the bloodletting and self destruction of the modern Labor Party may continue.
My next vote for Julia’s hair in all of its incarnations - go the ranga!
England have made it through to the final 16 of the World Cup but what would any sporting contest involving England be without the gaggle of negative headlines in the Fleet Street Press. I have not had a chance to see the latest – which I assume would be praising Capello’s masterstroke of putting in a couple of speedy little attackers but rewind a couple of days ago…
Crap Capello was one – well he is getting paid 6 million quid a year, so they are entitled to want to get value for money – standing around chewing some gum with a perma tan has never been so lucrative. Or my favourite above Boering Boering England – good use of old Afrikaans language there and there was On the Wayne- well, Rooney certainly seems to be going downhill in the looks department – he’s 24!!!!
In Australia, the media is much more supportive – words like brave have been mentioned when talking about the Socceroos. But bravery does not get you to last 16 in the World Cup (oh, and getting thrashed by Germany 4-0 does not help).
The Australian media prefers to focus on poor decisions by referees and how Harry and Tim were robbed of helping Australia get through the World Cup. So, while Australia is fully supportive at this moment, it won’t be long until the commentators start questioning the selections and game plan of the dear ‘old (no pun intended) Socceroos.
But for now, England can rejoice a match against Germany. The fans are back on side – I mean they did beat Slovenia 1-0 – a country with the population of Manchester. The British media will be praising their boys today and the flags will be flying on cars around England...let’s just pray that their hopes are dashed yet again – remember Euro 2004 v France England fans – how sweet it was for many Australian watching…stick it up the poms Germany!
Postscript - the Germans did stick it up with Poms with some help from the ref!
In Australia, we have heard only snippets about the oil spill – the grilling of the CEO, the recent suicide of a fisherman and Obama’s delayed reaction to this national catastrophe – he's in a bit of 'deepwater' himself.
A documentary tonight talked about the shrimp fishermen in the Gulf and how it may take years for them to recover – if ever. Places that would normally be full of people at this time of year are empty. There’s also the knock on effect in these communities.
Then there’s the toll on the animals with the sludge over the pelicans and other birdlife that can hardly move through the murk and have lost their habitat.
It seems any big corporation automatically – in any context- says that it’s contained and there’s nothing to worry about. In this case, the Government bought it. Then, when it could not be contained, the shit hit the fan so to speak.
It would appear the rig and one well in particular, had problems for some time and whether to be cost cutting or incompetence or a combination, there is an environmental catastrophe without an end in sight.
Well, Tony, you may want your life back (even though you did find time for a bit of sailing – well away from the Gulf) but so do the fishermen and animals of the Gulf too. That is, if they have one…
Comments (1)
Add Comments
Read More
