Posts Tagged ‘Julia Gillard’

Confusion about what Malcolm Turnbull stands for - Friday, June 4th, 2010

The public seem terribly confused about what Malcolm Turnbull stands for. It’s very difficult to decide whether he’s to left of the Liberal Party or to the left of Malcolm Fraser.

Friday Mash’s NoSpin Doctors have undertaken the formidable task of analysing Malcolm’s remarks over many years and identifying what he would have said had he been free to tell the unvarnished and unspun truth. Here is the result of their painstaking work.

“I agree with many Labor policies but I could never join the party. Fancy having to work with people like Peter Garrett, Wayne Swan and those union buffoons. It would even be much worse than working with Tony Abbott and Nick Minchin.

A few years ago I realised I could become a great prime minister and deemed it would be selfish of me to deny this gift to the nation and instead become instead the world’s richest man.

I joined the Liberal Party because they have at least a basic understanding of what finance is all about and might have some idea of the scope of my genius.

After some consideration I decided not to challenge John Howard for the top job immediately upon my arrival in parliament because I believed it might seem a trifle presumptuous even for me.

Then in one of the most momentous political blunders of all time after the 07 elections the Liberal Party selected Brendan as leader rather than me. Eventually they corrected this obvious ballsup but the damage was done.

One day the truth will emerge about Godwin Grech. He was acting as an undercover stooge for either Kevin or Tony, I can’t decide which yet. Wouldn’t it be ironic if both those two no-hopers became prime minister and a man like me who was born to the job missed out?

The fact that I sank so low in the opinion polls is proof positive that they are fundamentally flawed. Who in their right mind would prefer Kevin Rudd as prime minister to me?

My detractors say I am not a politician. I can’t think of a greater compliment.

Anyone with half a brain knows that the ETS is the most effective way to tackle global warming, but not that dope Tony Abbott. So he put me in the invidious position of being on the same side as Kevin and Penny and it’s even difficult for a Labor politician to live with that ignominy.

Then in the worst decision in their entire history the Liberal Party kicked me out and installed tosspot Tony. I content myself with the thought that throughout history great men have had to endure setbacks as a prelude to unleashing their greatness.

My announcement that I would not be recontesting the seat of Wentworth brought the avalanche of protests which I had anticipated thereby re-establishing my status as the true leader of the Liberal Party and the Coalition. What else could I do but reconsider my decision not to stand when that had always been my intention.

Frankly Tony and Joe Hockey aren’t that bad and could probably run a small to medium company pretty well, but the truth is that I am the only politician who can lead Australia back to financial health and world leadership and everybody knows it.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man and it will obviously be me rather than Julia Gillard”

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Aint That The Truth - Friday, May 28th, 2010

The Friday Mash team of NoSpin Doctors have had a particularly challenging week. They have been desperately trying to identify what Tony Abbott would have said had he been totally honest about his dishonesty.

Spurred on by an unswerving dedication to bring the inspiration of truth to a bewildered public they finally arrived at a summary of what they believe Tony would like to say were he free from the shackles of spin and political subterfuge.

“I’ve always had the reputation as a straight shooter who tells the truth.” Goodness knows how that happened.

The spin doctors have taught me to ‘um’ and ‘ah’ a lot. This gives me time when answering a question to decide whether to answer a different one, make a policy statement, prevaricate, procrastinate, or in very rare instances tell the truth as long as it doesn’t set a precedent.

Contrary to popular opinion politicians are never dishonest except for most of the Labor Party. Politicians however are prone to mis-speak, suffer political amnesia, become disingenuous or recite disingenuous mis-speak sent out by the spin doctors.

If I’m asked a question like ‘Do you think Barnaby Joyce was a good choice as Finance Minister?’ the obvious answer is ‘no, he was absolute crap’. But obviously I can’t say that because it would piss off Barnaby and the Nationals, give the Labor Party a free kick and make me look like an absolute twit for appointing him.

So I spin an answer like ‘Barnaby was selected from a huge selection of first-class candidates for a specific short-term assignment. He performed brilliantly, made Lindsay Tanner look like an absolute goose and was moved to a regional portfolio more suited to his talents’. Everybody recognises that its spin and I get brownie points for showing new-age sensitivity and not dumping the stupid ratbag.

When I admitted that sometimes I don’t tell the truth I was astonished by the reaction. No-one thought I was spinning or mis-speaking as usual and everyone dumped on me for telling the truth. Well if that’s the reaction I don’t know why I bother to be so truthful.

Julia had the cheek to call me Phony Tony. If she tells many more porkies her nose will soon be as long as Pinocchio’s. Next she’ll be telling us that all the BER stuff was built at cost price It would be a waste of time to give her a lie-detector test. She’s needs a truth detector.

I’m sure you noticed they didn’t roll out Kevin to call me Phony Tony. The only truthful thing he’s said since he came to office was ‘Malcolm’s not fit to be prime minister.

Despite the setbacks I shall continue my quest to encourage honesty in the political process and in a few months I’ll confess to being occasionally dishonest again just to check whether other politicians are honest enough not to believe me.

On the other hand I’ll have to be careful not to push this honesty thing too far. The Australian Democrats ran on the slogan ‘Keeping the Bastards Honest’ and look what happened to them.

Just a further thought. Why did everybody kick up such a fuss when I confessed I don’t tell the truth sometimes? Everybody knew that already”.

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Not so Fast - Friday, May 28th, 2010

carbon_emissions_masthead

The End of the Affair
Perhaps it’s only the doctrine of the separation of powers which deters the Catholic Church and the NSW State Government from getting together in an almighty sex scandal.

Get Smart
Julie Bishop has been criticised for endangering all the ASIO agents carrying fake Israeli passports.

Shopper’s Choice
Peter’s of Kensington is in the retail business while Ken’s of Kensington is in the male order business.

Trouble in Spades
Unfortunately Kevin and Wayne’s plans for a super profits tax from the mining industry weren’t shovel ready.

A Wee Problem
The school toilet blocks developed by Julia’s BER programme are so small they can only accommodate a number one and a number one and a half.

Staying out of Traffic
The major diversion in David Campbell’s life was obviously not on the F3.

Not so Fast
David Borger the new NSW Roads Minister has a long list of speeding offences. The latest is his announcement that there will be no new roads in Sydney for twenty years. Well that’s one way to stop him speeding.

The Bad Oil
BP has found a new way to distribute its oil round Louisiana and Florida. It keeps coming in waves.

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Out, Out Damned Spot - Friday, May 28th, 2010

There’s a hint of something sinister in the air in Canberra. Politicians have been doing even weirder things than usual.

First the ghostly Godwin Grech spooked Malcolm, then Kevin contracted compulsive backflip disorder, Tony has let Kerry O’Brien make an honest dishonest man of him and now Wayne is trying to convert the mining industry into an extension of the Tax Department.

Friday Mash’s confidential investigative sources in Canberra believe they’re on to something. They are possibly uncovering evidence that senior female federal ministers have formed a witches’ coven and are hatching sinister plots. Could it be that Julia Gillard, Nicola Roxon and Penny Wong have decided to stir the pot and weave their malicious magic?

Penny obviously blames Tony for her post fatal depression over the ETS. Nicola must be sick and tired of trailing Kevin round hospitals like a mid-wife in case he gave birth to something or had to abort another promise. All three are Tonyphobic because he’s against abortions and they believe Kevin should be able to have one whenever he wants.

But above all Kevin’s sent them stir crazy because they all thought he was full of promise and he’s turned out to be merely full of himself. Wayne’s now taking credit for everything and has to be stopped before Visa and American Express cancel his cards.

Rumour hath it that wicked spells abound.

Double, double, toil and trouble
Fire burn and cauldron bubble

Government sources are still not worried. They have been saying for months that Kevin needs a spell. But if he’s gone off the boil the cauldron certainly hasn’t.

When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning or in rain

These wild chants echoing around Canberra are starting to get people worried. It has been confirmed that there have been no current productions of Macbeth in the city. Someone suggested they might be coming from a group concerned about climate change.

Round about the cauldron go
In the poisoned entrails throw

There is no clear indication of the nature of these poisoned entrails but a watch is being kept at hospitals to check whether John Howard has his appendix or his gall bladder removed.

Eye of newt and toe of frog
Wool of bat and tongue of dog

Throwing in batts wool is really going to add insulation fuel to the fire.

Canberra is rife with rumours. Is Julie Bishop under a spell or does she always look like that? Will Bronwyn emerge in the terrifying image of Lady Macbeth and act as though she’s married to Kevin?

Are Julia, Nicola and Penny even now shrieking the hideous chants and casting the diabolical spells which will render Kevin ready for a tap on the shoulder from Julia’s broomstick?

Fair is foul and foul is fair
Hover through the fog and filthy air

Lead on MacDuff. Someone’s got to find a way through all those carbon emissions.

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Polls Apart - Friday, May 21st, 2010

Obama Fan Club Letterhead

Newsletter from Australia

White House,
Washington DC.,

21st May 2010

Dear Mr. President,

You’re not going to believe this. Kevin’s approval ratings are going down faster than Neville’s first can of VB. I’m worried that by the time you visit him next month he wont have any left.

How people can turn against this hero who rescued us from the global financial crisis goodness only knows. It would be like Parra supporters razzing Jarryd Hayne after he destroyed the Manly silvertails last Monday.

I don’t know about you but sometimes I can’t decide whether to believe these polls or not. They were obviously spot on when they showed Kevin’s numbers going through the roof faster than an insulation fire but now nothing seems to have changed and suddenly he’s on the nose everywhere.

Well the Obama Fan Club has had enough of this nonsense. We decided to set the record straight with our own poll.

We polled fifty people representative of a broad cross section of our community at Beauthaven RSL, Parra Leagues and the Obama Fan Club. The results will absolutely gobsmack you.

On the question of preferred prime minister there were forty votes for Kevin, eight for Julia, one for our Mavis’ Bert and none for Tony. One guy voted for Fuifui Moimoi but we declared it invalid.

I’m not yet sure about Julia because she’s a bit on the left side for me. Wonderful woman though. And I have to admit that communism seems to be more fashionable these days but you’d know all about that.

The next question was ‘do you approve of Kevin’s hospitals policy or Tony’s non-policy?’ The result was forty-nine to one in favour of Kevin. The person who voted for Tony suffers Chronic Kevin Syndrome. Every time he hears Kevin speak he loses touch with reality and has to be rushed to a funny farm.

Then we asked ‘are you in favour of Kevin’s super profits tax topping up your super?’ There were only two votes against from guys who are miners. I wont tell you where they said Kevin could stick his super profits tax but even mining companies who dig deep into the bowels of the earth wouldn’t be keen to dig it out from there.

Our next question ‘how would you rate Kevin’s handling of the home insulation scheme, inspiring, brilliant or competent’ (tick one)’ met with a most unfortunate response. We didn’t pursue it after a woman at Parra Leagues whose roof had caught fire yelled out that Kevin couldn’t organise a product trial in a condom factory.

The response to ‘how do you rate Julia’s handling of the BER programme?’ was also disappointing. Our local school in Beauthaven was promised a COLA but it turned out to be a covered outside lavatory area. I had to admit that’s hardly the way to put bums on seats.

Finally we asked ‘if there was a federal election tomorrow, who would you vote for?’ Two said Labor, one said the Coalition and forty-seven said they’d need more time to make up their mind.

So our poll proved conclusively that the polls in the papers have got it all wrong about Kevin. I’ll send him a copy of our results to give him a bit of encouragement.

Till next week,

Gaelene Woo,
President

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The NoSpin Doctors - Thursday, May 20th, 2010

For some time Friday Mash has perceived that politicians have a serious communication problem. Political rhetoric is becoming increasingly detached from reality.

Some argue it is unreasonable to expect politicians to tell the truth when it could cost them votes or their job. Others are concerned that politicians could lose all credibility if they become totally disconnected from the bleedin’ obvious.

For example Julia sees the building of an education revolution while the public sees revoltingly overpriced and undersized school buildings.

NoSpin Doctors is yet another political public service from Friday Mash. We have assembled a team with world class expertise in derevolutionising spin and getting to the truth of the matter. Their first assignment is to help you understand what Kevin might have said about the ETS if he wasn’t a prime political spinner.

Here is their NoSpin version.

“Climate change was very effective in helping me win the 07 election and also in identifying me as a world-class statesman and future Secretary General of the United Nations.

I called climate change ‘The greatest moral challenge of our generation’ because that was the best slogan the spin doctors could come up with and it made me sound really committed.

There’s no doubt that Malcolm Turnbull is an all-time bombastic pompous twit but it was great to have him onside in the ETS debate.

I became convinced that the ETS was an absolute no-brainer because it raised tons of taxes, needed a whole new level of bureaucracy and reduced the Coalition to a heap of carbon-emiting ashes.

Everything was proceeding brilliantly until that prime pain in the arse Tony Abbott rolled Malcolm and the ETS went down the tubes together with my chances of being the star of the Copenhagen Conference.

I acknowledge that Penny and I exaggerated the consequences of not passing the ETS legislation through the Parliament before Copenhagen. I’m sure people understood that bushfires, droughts and raging seas would not actually engulf Australia before Christmas but I was apprehensive that if I went to Copenhagen without an ETS no-one would take any notice of me. At least I got that right.

In retrospect I have to admit that Tony was right about not rushing ahead with the ETS before Copenhagen and of course the Coalition was quite right to throw it out in the Senate.

If it had passed Australia would be lumbered with a massive tax on everything and be hopelessly uncompetitive in world markets. I only wish I’d heeded Tony’s advice sooner.

My decision to abandon the ETS and a few other difficult projects has caused my poll numbers to drop. But I do not shrink from the tough decisions needed to axe projects resulting from my stupid decisions in the first place.

Yes it’s true the ETS is a massive tax on everything and Penny and I were less than frank about its true impacts, but I think it’s a bit rich that from Beijing to London and right across Australia I am now being subjected to an outbreak of global cooling.”

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Short of Breath, Miner Detail, Low Expectations, Inside Story - Friday, May 14th, 2010

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The Eyes Have It
Winning the cricket world cup in the West Indies requires 20/20 vision.

The Inside Story
The media is describing Kevin as a hollow man. Its being a political time bomb that makes him tick.

Low Expectations
The worst rationale for Kevin’s tanking poll numbers comes from Lindsay Tanner who said ‘it’s only natural that polls go down sometimes’.

Disproportional Representation
It pays to come third in UK and Tasmanian elections. You get to choose the government.

A Miner Detail
If Kevin digs many more holes for himself he’ll soon have to start paying super profits tax.

Strategic Operations
Kevin has recently visited forty-five hospitals in a campaign to change policy on elective surgery. He wants polling day operations to be strictly reserved for Liberal voters.

Wagging
Julia says she’s learning as she goes about the BER programme. She’s obviously spending too much time in parliament and not enough in schools.

Short of Breath
Kevin’s image is badly in need of oxygen. His current performance is two lungs short of breathtaking.

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An Absolute Scandal - Friday, May 14th, 2010

There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned political sex scandal to reawaken people’s interest in politics, to lend romance, intrigue and humanity to political life.

Alas it seems that political sex scandals are not what they used to be. Nowadays politicians seem to pursue them purely out of personal lust without regard to the greater good of the party. Besides there are no votes in them anymore unless pursued across a prohibitively wide spectrum of the electorate.

The accolade for the number one all-time political sex scandal must go to John Profumo, a UK Cabinet Minister in the MacMillan Government who bonked Christine Keeler concurrently with a KGB agent, and was married to top actress and good sort Valerie Hobson.

This political sex scandal had everything; glamour, spies, pillow talk, a film star, a pimp, upper class moral decay and a government crisis.

MacMillan’s famous quote ‘You’ve never had it so good’ has been attributed to the release of strong economic indicators. Some historians however believe it was addressed to John Profumo.

UK Conservative MPs were revealed regularly in romps with Madam Lash but those scandals ended summarily when Margaret Thatcher took over the role.

US politicians seem to lack the refinements required by the classic political sex scandal where sophistication and social graces are de rigueur unadulterated by tackiness and bad taste.

A US president shouldn’t be taking advantage of a young intern and its absolutely unacceptable for the Governor of New York to pay for it.

Berlusconi claims he’s never paid for it but he only makes news when he’s involved in sex-free political scandals. In France a bit on the side is as integral to the Presidency as a lot of front.

President Zuma of South Africa has achieved an interesting balance. He’s got so many official wives and girlfriends it’s impossible to tell whether he’s involved in a political sex scandal or not.

Source: SMH

Source: SMH

Australia’s greatest political sex scandal was Gareth Evans’ text-book seduction of Cheryl Kernot into the Labor Party. The recent Troy Buswell – Adele Carles cross-party affair deserves honourable mention although it resulted in Troy coming out of the cabinet and Adele coming out of the Greens. In both cases a closet was obviously inappropriate.

John Della Bosca’s affair lacked the glamour of a classic political sex scandal although he deserved a bravery award. He was married to someone for whom nuclear disarmament is deemed a more relevant treatment than anger management .

It’s time for a British politician to selflessly restore the glory days in UK politics by having a public affair with someone with close ties to the Royal Family, Dodi Fayed, Osama bin Laden, Paris Hilton and Gay Pride Week.

In Australia the ultimate challenge is seducing Julia Gillard, Nicola Roxon and Penny Wong into the Coalition. At this stage Kevin seems the man most likely but it will be more about frustration than sex.

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Kevin By Any Other Name - Thursday, May 6th, 2010

Fly on the Wall at Friday Mash

This week Guy the Friday Mash Superfly managed to find space on a wall in Tony Abbott’s office as he discussed Coalition strategies with Julie Bishop and Joe Hockey. Guy has just filed this exclusive report from Canberra.

‘Kevin should be in a circus’ said Tony ‘he could double as a clown and an acrobat’

‘Its not easy to do backflips’ said Julie ‘when you’re sucking a sauce bottle and doing a GST juggling act with WA’

‘And he’s a consummate coward’ said Tony ‘For our next televised appearance together I’d challenge him to a boxing match if it weren’t for the fact he’d send Julia instead. But he’d be ideal to play the part of the worm’

‘But let’s face it’ said Joe ‘he’s got a health policy’

‘I wonder who he’ll get to clean up that mess’ mused Tony ‘I see he’s brought Wayne Swan out of hibernation to take the blame for the budget and the Super Profits Tax’

‘We’ve got to develop a Kevin slogan’ said Julie ‘which clearly identifies the mess he’s making of things. How about Kevin the Coward?’

‘That’s good’ said Joe ‘ I suggest Kevin the Craven Coward’

‘I know’ said Julie ‘Kevin is a Spineless Coward’

‘Got it’ said Joe ‘Lets call him old jellyback’

‘No’ said Tony ‘that’s what Peter Walsh called Bob Hawke and he was Richard the Lionheart compared with Kevin. I’ve got a brilliant idea on policy development by the way. Kevin’s policies are such a horse’s arse that all I have to do is promise the exact opposite. For example, uncovered inside forgetting areas, unfair work choice, no batts in the belfry and action against global cooling by lighting bushfires in Antarctica and watching them over a frozen dinner with Christine Nixon’

‘I’ve got it’ said Julie ‘Kevin’s a punk without spunk’

‘He’s like a bowler without balls’ said Joe

‘We need a decent taxation policy’ said Julie

‘Good idea’ said Tony ‘I’ll ring Ken Henry. He may have a few ideas now he’s got that Review out of the way. How about the knackerless nerd?’

‘No I like the word Coward’ said Julie ‘look what it did for John Howard’

‘I’ve got a great idea for funding my new health policy’ said Tony ‘I’ll insure the health of the country with Medibank and then after Kevin’s left it in bad shape I’ll get a huge payout for all the treatment it needs’

‘Brilliant’ said Joe ‘I’ve got it. He’s two balls short of an over’

‘Love it’ said Tony ‘get the spin doctors on to it straight away. Now who’s coming with me to run a marathon?’

‘You go Julie’ said Joe ‘I’ve got to run a finance meeting. Hey how about ‘he’s just like Brett Lee, he’s been no-balled’

‘No’ said Tony ‘I still like the ‘over’ one. Is there any thing else we can do to stuff Kevin?’

‘Well you could have an affair with Julia Gillard’ said Joe ‘but for heavens sake don’t claim the motel room on your parliamentary expenses’

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Death and Taxes - Thursday, May 6th, 2010

Obama Fan Club Letterhead

Newsletter from Australia

White House,
Washington DC.,

7th May 2010

Dear Mr. President,

You know how much I love Kevin but I can’t help feeling a bit shitty with him this week.

If there’s one thing Neville and I hate more than the Eels being beaten by Manly its doing tax returns. They’re such a damned nuisance and if you make a mistake the Tax Office treats you like a Manly supporter at Parramatta Stadium.

So when Kevin and Wayne got some Hooray Henry to do a review of the tax system ‘Hoo-bloody-ray’ I thought. He’s bound to find that we’re spending far too much time on being government tax agents and they’re nicking far too much tax off us.

Would you believe Hooray Henry made one hundred and thirty-eight recommendations to change the tax system and Kevin’s activated two.

I’m outraged. Not a single word of apology from anyone about taking up too much of our time filling in GSTs and BASs and taking too much tax off us, nor a word of thanks for all the thousands Neville and I have contributed over the years.

And I’ll tell you what really gets my goat. There was diddly-squat about checking whether the government wasting all that tax money. I hope they haven’t squandered my taxes on the crappy COLAs, batts and the ETS.

I used to think that Kevin wore a hard hat in case something fell on him at a building site but it’s just dawned on me that its because people are throwing stuff at him.

I’m so disappointed. I almost think the best thing Kevin could do for working families is bugger off. I’m sorry, I know I get carried away and I’ll probably love Kevin again next week because sure as hell I’ll never vote for that Tony Abbott.

And then if there wasn’t enough bad news this week Malcolm’s changed his mind about retiring. I must say however that I enjoyed his time as leader of the Coalition because Kevin hit record poll numbers as preferred prime minister.

But just imagine what it would be like if Tony became prime minister. They could shut the parliament in Canberra because his government would operate like the Tour de France.

If Julia’s got a Field Marshal’s baton in her knapsack now might be the time to dust it off and start conducting a few overtures to her Labor Party colleagues.

We didn’t have World Affairs Think Tank session this week because Mildred, who was supposed to organise it, went off for a dirty weekend with a St George supporter. That’s the only sort of weekend you can expect from that mob.

Sorry to hear about your oil problem. Our Mavis’ Bert knows a guy who works at BP but he didn’t think he could help.

Till next week.

Gaelene Woo
President

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