The early release from jail of militant Indonesian Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir always sat oddly with Howard’s proposed amendments to The Migration Act. If the reason for changing the law was Indonesian affront at DIMIA’s decision to give refugee status to 41 out of 42 West Papuan refugees, […] Continue Reading…
June 27, 2006 | Graham
Is Howard retreating on Migration Act?
Posted by Graham at 9:37 am |
Comments (8)
June 25, 2006 | Graham
Mohammed Cartoons – Counterpoint
The fact that this story surfaced 11 days ago and has yet to make the mainstream media says all you need to know about the balance of outrage in the Mohammed Cartoon controversy.
In March this year a 21 year old accounts clerk in Singapore was called in for questioning […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 2:34 pm |
Comments (3)
June 25, 2006 | Graham
Hoteliers and the ABC
One of the themes in the federal government’s appointment of directors to the ABC board which has been missed by commentators is the appointment of hoteliers to the position. The ABC has not one, but two hoteliers on its board. As Gallagher’s entry on the ABC website says:
“Mr Gallagher […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 1:59 pm |
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June 21, 2006 | Graham
A new political party?
I’ve been a bit neglectful of this blog for a couple of weeks. It’s not atypical of the “blogosphere” – the infatuation is definitely wearing off for many of the bloggers we feature in The Domain, at least measured by volume of postings.
So, I think it’s about time that […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 9:33 am |
Comments (7)
June 07, 2006 | Graham
Desperately seeking another Beaconsfield
Has anyone else been struck by the way that Oppostion Foreign Affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd has lingered in Dili and always appears to be available for live media crosses? Reminds me of the appearances at Beaconsfield of Bill Shorten. Shorten made himself into the de facto spokesperson for the […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 6:32 am |
Comments (2)
May 31, 2006 | Graham
Second shot kills merger, third shot kills who?
It’s now official – the Liberal/National merger is dead.
The state Coalition pollies had a first chance to kill the merger Monday at their joint party-room meeting. They missed and allowed their leadership team to claim that they had unanimous support for the proposal (whatever the proposal was supposed to […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 9:26 pm |
Comments (3)
May 31, 2006 | Graham
Research Results
Lawrence Springborg claims that the overwhelming majority of voters want a merger. We researched that online for our regular “What the people want” segment on ABC Brisbane radio.
We asked voters whether the merger, as detailed by the Liberal Party, would make them more or less likely to vote for […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 4:03 pm |
Comments (1)
May 30, 2006 | Graham
Liberal Document with Key Points
This document (pdf 44kb) lays out the mechanism by which the National Party will become part of the Liberal Party. It puts paid to suggestions that this is just an agreement in principal. The mechanisms, right down to when the parties will hold constitution conventions, are laid out.
Posted by Graham at 4:51 pm |
Comments (2)
May 30, 2006 | Graham
Is it OK to tell a girl you’ll marry her just to get her into bed?
The Australian confirms what I understood to be the case – when the National and Liberal Party organisations met simultaneously on Sunday they were each given different deals and told that the deal they had before them was the one the other side had signed-off on.
Now, I’m not sure […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 12:05 pm |
Comments (1)
May 30, 2006 | Graham
“Nem con” rather than “unanimous”
Lawrence Springborg used these words in an interview with Madonna King this morning to imply that the joint party room has unanimously endorsed the plan to merge the Liberal and National Parties.
“The joint National and Liberal party room met and unanimously agreed that we move forward with the creation […] Continue Reading…
Posted by Graham at 11:09 am |
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