That word of course is Commitment. Yup, The Galoot really got his tits caught in the wringer when he decided to play fast and loose with truth when quoting one of Australian politics’ big boys (so as to speak).
In the wash-up to all that, member for Mundingburra becomes Coralee the Cockatoo and drops herself right in it.
A Brent Tate comeback? If rumours that the popular former League star is about to picked for another side, the question is which wing will be play on – left or right – on Team Jenny Hill.
Ewen Dumbo Jumbo Jones takes to the airwaves to make a goof of himself … yet again. He obviously doesn’t keep up with his own government’s plans.
The Berk of Edinburgh is at it again, and although this superannuated old coprolite fancies himself as a wit, it yet again ain’t funny. And now it’s argued we shouldn’t let His Arrogance off the hook.
But kicking off this week …
Another Bishop Caught Fiddling.
This time, nothing to do with the church, although she makes many people, particularly the federal opposition repeatedly mutter ‘Jesus Christ’. We speak of the hatchet-faced House of Reps speaker Bronwyn Bishop.
Bronwyn Bishop – looks like she left the chopper window open.
She has single-handedly brought the role of Speaker down to a new low, a hard task after king rat Peter Slipper’s slimy role in (and out of) the Chair. And for the sake of parliamentary credibility, we can only hope she gets turfed out of the job.
She’s come a cropper because of that chopper … and her $5000 luxury charter from Melbourne to Geelong. Her tax-funded jaunt is bad enough as a waste of public money, but as Speaker she is required to be non-partisan … BUT her destination was a Liberal Party fundraiser. Now she’ll have some wriggling to do, which will be most enjoyable to witness.
Bentley reckons she’s due to get a rocket – of sorts.
The interesting aspect is that she has said she believed she had done no wrong, but would pay back the money anyway … PLUS a 25% penalty. Why agree to a penalty if you’ve done nothing wrong? She’s a shocker.
Still An Auctioneer At Heart
Shocker is a suitable description for the latest contribution to national loyalty by Herbert incumbent Ewen Jones. He’s all for selling off the farm, no strings attached.
Ewen Jones MP
Commenting on ABC radio about a union demo protesting that a new agreement on a new Free Trade Agreement with China threatened Australian jobs, Dumbo denied it in no uncertain terms, flatly denying that any jobs were under threat.
He said ‘They can only bring them in under the 457 program, which means they have to have a legitimate shortage of workers in the skilled positions, they have to be paid Australian wages and Australian taxes. They have to do that. So it’s a complete and utter furphy why the CFMEU is here and its a complete and blatant lie.’
Err, mate, have you had a look at the truly frightening Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese, that your government has just agreed to (but which is yet to be signed off on). In a nutshell, If the boys in Beijing invest in any infrastructure project, Chinese workers can be imported without any of the usual checks and balances, viz:
In respect of the specific commitments on temporary entry in this Chapter, unless otherwise specified in Annex 10-A, neither Party shall… require labour market testing, economic needs testing or other procedures of similar effect as a condition for temporary entry.
‘Labour market testing’ is a key phrase, bureaucratise disguising the reality that unlike other such agreements, the Chinese will not have to offer the jobs to Australians first, just import their own, and not have to prove their skills, so peasant labour would be a possibility. Eligible Australians will just have to sit on their brozers and hope something else turns up.
Read this summary of the alarming situation – which is yet to be scrutinized and voted on – here.
Another Nail In The Townsville Bulletin’s Coffin of Credibility.
Jones could argue that it was an oversight on his behalf, but that’s one argument not open to Astonisher reporter Anthony ‘Galoot’ Galloway. He now has the ignominious choice of admitting to being either dumb or being dishonest, but on the face of it, his excited puppy dog-wetting-itself effort suggests he has been both. But then, you’re liable to have an involuntary spray when you drink the Iditor’s KoolAid.
Reporter Anthony ‘Galoot’ Galloway
Bill Short-Un jetted into town to talk about education and talk up La Tool’s candidacy for Herbert. Naturally, with the Galoot infesting the media conference, there were the inevitable questions about (sigh) the CBD football stadium.
Shorten went into fluent pollie-speak, using a lot of words to say nothing concrete, and making no commitment whatsoever. Anyone who fancies themselves even as a D grade political commentator knew it was just pure pollie waffle. And a million miles from a promise of any sort.
But the next day, this particular puppy dog stopped wetting itself and started dry-humping the Iditor’s leg, because this is what we got.
Having read the transcript of the media conference, The ‘Pie suggests even on the most generous interpretation, and even by an experienced journo, that first sentence is simply a deliberately manufactured lie, a willful misinterpretation of a politician’s clear avoidance of the C word – that be would Commitment.
But don’t take The ‘Pie’s word for it. Several other media types who’d been there contacted The ‘Pie when they saw the story the next day, saying exactly that, plus the odd colorful character reading of Master Anthony. When Shorten got wind of Galloway’s claim, he felt compelled to have his office issue a statement emphasizing that no such commitment had been made. ‘Nothing had been finalised’, which can and does mean, anything can happen.
Does The Astonisher ever try too hard on this campaign? Here’s your answer.
So Galoot Galloway hammers another nail into the Astonisher’s coffin of credibility. You must just be giddy from all that spinning, old son.
But It’s A Domino Effect – Coralee the Cockatoo Misleads Parliament
And talk about a trap for young players – young in experience anyway. Coralee The Cockatoo O’Rourke made the fatal error of believing the Townsville Bulletin report to the extent of parroting to parliament that Shorten had committed to the stadium. The paper was certainly her source, because a check with her office confirmed she had not spoken to Shorten or his people before announcing the commitment claim. We haven’t heard if she’s got around to apologising for so stupidly misleading parliament. Or if she has made polite inquiries of Master Galloway or his Iditor about WTF is going on.
A Permanent Eclipse Of The Sun?
The Bulletin’s clever Baldrick-like idea for the weekly free paper The Sun has exploded on them like a grenade in a bowl of porridge. The daft idea to insert the weekly former throw-over Sun paper into Tuesday’s Astonisher and then deliver piles of Sun’s on Thursday for newsagents to give away is clearly a fizzer already. By doing this, the Bulletin wanted to convince advertisers that they now commanded a combined market of 90,000 readers (oh, stoppit, ya killin’ me – yet again). This piece of prize flapdoodle is based on the weird assumption that every single one of the readers to whom the paper was home delivered previously would hot-foot down to the local news agents for their copy. That’s exactly what the small print said in the initial annoucement of the new arrangement.
But like all of Balrick’s plans for Black Adder, it hasn’t quite worked out, with all the agents The ‘Pie contacted saying they were getting rid of ‘maybe five or six … not even that’. Copies that is. Five or six!! Yikes! Bundles of hundreds of Sun’s have been returned for pulping. The next move will be interesting.
Mullet Manoeuvres
So Jenny Hill supped with the devil and the deal is done. … but the devil always puts himself in the detail – details of which we know not – yet.
To summarise – during the week, the Brisbane ALP pooh-bahs rejected a call for Labor to field an endorsed ALP team for the Townsville Council election, a call made in March by the Townsville branch. The motion seconded by Cathy ‘La Tool’ O’Toole. The idea at that stage was to wedge Mayor Mullet into accepting party’s chosen candidates for her team. The Left would stack it with a bunch of unelectables, but would show Jenny Hill just who’s the boss.
The Mullet was having none of it, (and good her for that), said she’d pick her own team thank you very much , only reports are that she told them so in some blunt Anglo-Saxon terms. So a takeover of the process had been the plan, hatched in part by that pimply political neophyte if ever there was one, Billy Colless, now La Tool’s campaign manager.
But then Patricia Schluter challenged La Tool for the Herbert nomination, and the threat of an ALP council team became a bargaining chip of a very different nature. Jenny Hill was sure to back Schluter against O’Toole. All of a sudden, the game had changed, and it was put to the mayor that the Left-dominated bosses in Brisbane would veto the Labor council team idea if she secretly agreed to deliver her block of pre-selection votes to O’Toole. Which she did.
In short, The Mullet succumbed to the ALP’s local Mephisto, Mike Capt Snooze Reynolds, and sold her soul to his sister-in-law Cathy O’Toole. This was plain and simple a double-cross of pre-selection rival Schluter, whom Jenny was certainly going to back , along factional lines if nothing .
ATeam Of Champions, Or A Champion Team
Now the speculation is on in earnest as to who will make Team Mullet; bad tempered Northern Beaches haranguer Paul Jacob will there, and there are plenty of others queuing, hoping for the nod.
During the week, more than one person … many more in fact … were bandying around the name of retired League star Brent Tate.
Brent Tate
This from blog comments during the week.
The Magpie July 15, 2015 at 4:10 pm (Edit)
See how long it take the Astonisher to catch up to The ‘Pie on this one …
Brent Tate is known as the Comeback King, and it seems that indeed, a comeback is his next move. But it’s not known which wing he will play on if as rumoured he joins Team Hill for next year’s council.
And it’s little wonder that Mayor Mullet has been batting her eyelids at the former Australiam Queensland and multiple NRL star.
The idea of Brent following the political path blazed by Glen Lazarus is an interesting move on several fronts. Unlike Lazarus, Brent is believed to be a keen Labor man, and if he does run for council on Team Hill, the opponent chosen for him will be a vital strategic move. The area in which he lives now appears to be Messagebank Walker’s territory, so he won’t be going up against a team member, But he might be in Trevor Roberts baliwick (The ‘Pie doesn’t know the exact location of Tate’s home). Now, despite his high profile, taking on the popular Roberts (who enjoys one of the biggest if not the biggest margin of all councillors) would risk a possible first-up failure.
Far more likely – and The ‘Pie reckons the devious political mind of stadium booster and Hill advisor Dolan Hayes could be behind it – is to take on indepedent Pat Ernst, a staunch opponent of the move and even the necessity for a CBD stadium. The current stadium is in Ernst’s division 5. Knocking off Pat, who squeezed in over Natalie Marr on preferences in his first tilt, could have the extra dimension of getting rid of one of the thorns in the side of the stand-alone stadium mob (and a real pain in the arse for Jenny Hill’s TEL board colleague Laurence Lord Lozza Lancini).
But even if all this comes to pass, and no matter what the outcome, it would be a strange move for a bloke with Brent Tate’s high profile – it’s a profile not just studded with rep honours, but also true tales of courage against physical odds and a very likeable fella into the bargain. It would seem a waste of pure golden political building blocks to muck around with a spot on a regional council, with the risk of a first-up failure. Surely knowing his Labor leanings, the ALP would be sewing together a parachute for him in some other seat at a higher level.
Now let’s see what Galoot Galloway can dig up for The Astonisher … and remember, whatever Tate says about it all, always remember The Magpie credo …’ ‘If this comes to pass, remember you saw it here first … if it doesn’t come to pass, that’s probably BECAUSE you saw it here first’ – heh heh heh.
.
Unpleasant Old Fart Dept of:
The Berk of Edinburgh has been at his obnoxious best again, making what others are calling ‘another gaffe’.
Duke of Edinburgh slumming it
The occasion was a visit to an London East End community centre, where he asked the staff ’who do you sponge off then?’
Apart from anything else, this royal ratbag is hardly in a position to question people about their ‘sponging’ when he’s spent a lifetime at it himself.
The Magpie disagrees with describing his boorishness as ‘gaffes’, because gaffe means ‘an unintentional act or remark causing embarrassment to its originator; a blunder’.
This truly unpleasant over-privileged bigot knows exactly what he’s saying, he knows it’s hurtful and knows none of his targets can answer back. And he doesn’t possess the good grace to be embarrassed. This garbage is tenfold worse than any argument about free speech, given the disparity in positions … unless sometime someone simply tells him to ‘Get fucked’.
The Berk has got all sorts of form in this arena. You can read here the what the London Telegraph sadly calls The Duke’s Best Gaffes’. Best? Says a lot about the far right-wing Telegraph (apparently a political position that goes with name, wherever country it is in).
But Guardian columnist Owen Jones sums it up so neatly when he wrote: ‘The average woman or man on the street can’t get away with publicly uttered racial slurs or bullying. But because in the case of Prince Phillip it’s shrugged off, the message is pretty clear: if you’re powerful and privileged by birth, you can say what you like.’
And he will.
Tricks Shots
Finally, something to lighten up the mood. The dad of this kid admitted these quite spectacular ‘trick shots’ by his young daughter didn’t always happen first time, but none apparently took more than a dozen attempts (which have of course been edited out).
