Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

The same opinion polls which predict that John Howard will lose the election on 24 November also consistently show that Australians still perceive his Government to be competent at handling Australia's defence, or at least more capable than the Labor Opposition. How valid is that perception?

Both scientific method and the law teach one to be skeptical and base one’s conclusions on evidence. Steeped in both, I remain a climate change skeptic in the sense that, save for the effect of CFCs on the ozone layer, I can see no convincing evidence for human induced effects on the climate. By the same token, I remain agnostic on the issue: if there is evidence, I should like to see it.

"This is not a Tasmania I any longer recognise, this is Bjelke Petersens Queensland, and it is time we took our Tasmania back—back from the lies, from the intimidation, from the threats, from the character assassinations and blacklisting. Because its our Tasmania, not one company’s fiefdom. We have suffered for too many years them turning Tasmanian against Tasmanian, seeking to make us forget that what joins us is always greater than what divides us, that forest worker and conservationist, union man and greenie woman, southerner and northerner, Liberal and Labor and Green all share a great love for our island and for our people." Richard Flanagan, author

The Australian Press Council, which regulates media in Australia, condemned the original article as 'irresponsible journalism'. But the Murdoch journalist who wrote the article showed it went much further than that when he admitted to the Council that the source of the propaganda had been the Liberal Party itself! His newspaper had enabled the Liberals to 'launder' their own libellous concoctions and to disguise their source. As dirty tricks go, this has got to be one of the most cunning.