Saturday, August 28, 2010
The Australian, 27 August 2010
Apart from one small problem, I’d be quite comfortable with the fact that poker machines are voluntary taxation for stupid people. Unfortunately, poker machines are also involuntary taxation for stupid people’s families which is a little harder to be relaxed and comfortable about and people who benefit from poker machine revenue know this quite well.
Sure, I get that addiction is addiction, but if you’re going to have a fatal flaw, surely you could come up with something a bit more glamorous than feeding your grocery money into a machine that goes ping in a room full of people wearing trakky dacks? I know we’ve all got to get our kicks somehow, but pokies have got to be the world’s most pissweak form of entertainment. If you can’t get a life, get yourself a twitter account instead. You can still wear your trakky dacks, only 95% of your fellow addicts are insane and best of all it’s free.
Anyway, good luck Andrew Wilkie, but with politicians you’re dealing with the biggest pokie addicts of all.
The Hobart Mercury, 25 August 2010
Today it’s the turn of Steve Fielding (democracy’s strongest argument against minority government) to get a bit of attention by ranting cheerfully about blocking supply* on the grounds that the rural types in the big hats have had their go and he’d quite like his foot massage now. Let’s hope it all has a happy ending, so to speak.
I think the good burghers of Australia starting to see why secret back room deals are best done in the back room and in secret.
Come back, sleazy faceless men, all is forgiven.
*It has been pointed out that he might have missed his window as this year’s supply bills have already passed, but that’s a very family-unfriendly attitude.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
I’m sure it’s been said already, almost certainly by Julia and Tony, but I would like to go publicly on the record as saying that I, for one, welcome our new rural overlords.
The Australian. 26 August 2010
The Australian, 24 August 2010
Look, I don’t want to be treasonous or anything, but eating scones and cutting ribbons aside, the Governor General is employed to do one really important job, which is to make the big calls if things go a bit pear-shaped on the constitution front.
Now I’m not a constitutional law expert, but if you ask me (don’t, by the way), the whole conflict of interest because Bill Shorten is The GG’s son in law thing is a storm in a really expensive teacup, at least until he brutally knifes Julia in the back and becomes ALP leader.
However, if you did have some niggling doubts on whether you might possibly have a conflict of interest making important decisions during a constitutional crisis when your job specifically involves making important decisions during constitutional crises, wouldn’t it be better to get everything squared away well before you actually have a looming constitutional crisis?
I know I’m just a cartoonist so getting ready for work pretty much involves remembering where I left my pen, and in my time off I am a keen amateur slob, but even to me this does seem just a little bit sloppy.
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