Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

I’ll never forget her birth. I tossed off an opener and lo and behold, a few people responded. One of the first was the mercurial David Davis. And he still loves her too.

All in all, an awful state of affairs for Australia and our democracy. So what is the solution? The way I see it, the various independent online media groups need to get together, pool their resources, and step up to a genuine media alternative to the dregs of Fairfax and Murdoch. Academic institutions engaged in media would also be around the table, as I’d see links with journalism students in the new group.

Hiya, Webdiary tragics. I wondered if any of you are feeling as strange and disbelieving as me while watching what happens when the emperor is seen to have no clothes. Is there a media debate going on about what inquiries our nation needs to have in the wake of the British revelations?

If we continue down this path, where Australia’s youth engage too heavily in fast food media and not enough in real news, we will be doing democracy in this country a huge disservice. Democracy depends on knowledgeable citizens. It depends on transparency of government and business, and it depends on a well-functioning media that offers every person, not just the elite, an opportunity to access accurate and unbiased information of substance. (Chloe Adams)

"The Pauline Hanson phenomenon was triggered, in my opinion, by the terrible mistakes of the Labor Government in implementing competition policy with no plan for transition for the many rural communities it would decimate, and by the expulsion of robust debate on social issues, with the connivance of the media, including me. The idea was that if politically incorrect views were not aired they would disappear. The opposite was true, and the excluded exploded in 1996 when her remarks about Aboriginal welfare saw her expulsion from the Liberal Party and an incredible 20 per cent swing against Labor in what had been one of their safest Queensland seats."- Margo Kingston

"A few weeks ago my wife, frustrated at the amount of time I spend onWebdiary, said ‘They’re really your community, aren’t they?’  I hadn’treally thought about it in those terms before, but it’s true. Webdiarists are part of my community – my virtual community, anyway(although cyberspace and meatspace have become increasingly blurred asI meet various diarists face-to-face or over the phone)." David Curry

"As for Rudd I hope he is no dud, indeed! The only highlight of his speech was the mention of Bernie Banton and indirectly through him the role of the unions and the importance of a fair go as a key value for Australians. Unfortunately no mention of the YR@W campaign, or the importance of Greens preferences." Carlos

UPDATE NOVEMBER 30: When Brendan got elected, I thought the Hornet/F1-11 scandal could bring him down. I wonder if Labor will pursue this? See New Defence Minister questions jet fighter purchase and Labor promises air combat review. As I said in this piece, there should be a judicial inquiry into this scandal. But would Labor be game? I don't think so.

John Valder's 2007 election result comment

Hello. Queensland swung hardest. My State. A long time ago I lived in Dawson, next door to the National Party MP, Mr Ray Braithwaite. I rode my horse on journeys with Ray's son. It's gone Labor. Queenslanders believe in a fair go. Yep, my much maligned state said no to Howard, and yes to something fairer.

"if you look at the specifics of say the Haneef case, the truth is I don't think any us on our side of politics know precisely what's gone on there. Other than something smells. And that's why I'm dead serious, whether we win the election or whether we don’t, that there should be a full judicial inquiry into that matter so we can get to the bottom of what went wrong. It's quite important because that then informs the future debate about the nature of our laws, the implementation of our laws by the relevant agencies, and let's have all those facts on the table. They are not currently on the table. And that's the problem." Kevin Rudd

"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 right to freedom of religion necessarily includes the ability to change one’s religion or, as Lionel Murphy often reminded me, the right to throw off religion – freedom from religion.  The international community has thus recognised that religious freedom is a universal feature of human existence that inheres in the inquisitive, reflective, essentially moral character of every human being, everywhere." High Court Justice Michael Kirby

videos

"Monday’s feeding frenzy of expenditure would actually make inflationary pressures worse. Mr Howard spent nearly $10 billion on Monday.  Trying to buy his way out of political trouble.  And he did so little more than an hour after the Reserve Bank of Australia issued its monetary policy statement warning of rising inflationary pressures. Today I am saying loud and clear that this sort of reckless spending must stop. The commitments I announce today will cost less than one quarter of those Mr Howard announced on Monday. Furthermore, the commitments I am making today are exclusively directed at tackling the skills shortage, tackling infrastructure bottlenecks and acting on Australia’s environmental and economic challenges." Kevin Rudd, PM elect

Hugh Wilson: "Where to start in a tale, hopefully of hope, where the end is already known with no change expected on the horizon? Here, in blue corner of Fortress Groom, lurks MLA Ian Macfarlane, Liberal minister, chainsawilsonw impersonator, and generally unseen-unheard of between elections." Please add your seat reports in the comments box.

'I want to be Prime Minister again because..." JWH

We take this opportunity to urge all political parties to commit to the establishment of an independent and comprehensive review of the operation of ministerial accountability so as to modernise and strengthen it. This is a matter that transcends party politics. It goes to the very heart of the way we are governed.

"This is racist action not for the purpose of helping children, but to wedge political opponents. What troubles me most is the racial discrimination and the incapacity of the media to be outraged by this. Why are we ready to allow this to happen? Australians think it's about protecting kids. The lazy media let that happen. And if you put your head up you get called a child abuser yourself. You get abused for saying, 'Hang on a minute, can we talk about this?'" Mick Dodson

"Why do some posters and print and distribute them with our own money? Because I am angry." Jonathan Nolan on citizen campaigning in Wentworth

Here's the aftermath of that incident ... An obvious subject for a CAPTION COMPETITION
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At a 30th birthday party in Melbourne recently, a Labor man reckoned Howard would implode in week 3 of the campaign. Being superstitious, and respectful of Howard's political skills, I replied that I didn't think so, but that if he did, it would be in week 6. If the polls hadn't given him a shot by then, he'd be staring at the fact that he'd trashed his own legacy. So we had a bet that if he lost it in week 6 or week 3, the loser would shout lunch. I reckon he came close yesterday. Real close.

OK, they're up. Howard started the election saying he'd "Go for growth" and get unemployment below 4 percent. Now, we're at risk of a world downturn, and only he can keep rates down. Meanwhile, Rudd says he'll razor gang the Public Service to cut costs. I reckon he's got a surprise in store for Howard. While Howard spends like a drunken sailor, as if tomorrow will never come, Rudd will come up with savings by the end of the campaign which will make Labor look responsible in these challenging times.

Family First has given the green light to the LDP's deadly policies to legalise 'soft' drugs and late term abortion, which shows Senator Fielding cannot be trusted to represent everyday families, and proves that his claims to be pro-family are an absolute joke.

Hello. Does being a Christian determine how you vote? Yep, but it depends on which Christian values you prioritise.

"We will do our utmost to hold back the physical threat of attacks, but alone, this is merely containment. Long-term resolution requires identifying and addressing the root causes of the problem. This is not a job only for the intelligence agencies and police. It requires a collective effort in which Government, faith communities and wider civil society have an important part to play. And it starts with rejection of the violent extremist ideology across society - although issues of identity, relative deprivation and social integration also form important parts of the backdrop." Jonathan Evans, head of MI5

"Sydney Morning Herald journalist Alan Ramsey said recently that three years ago the Senate campaign got under the guard of most commentators. We were too busy he said looking at the Howard/Latham stoush. Well it's imperative no-one, especially the voter, lets this year's Senate campaign slip under our guard." Peter Andren

I watched Insiders this morning with a friend who works in Parliament House and admired Andren immensely. Upon hearing the tributes from Howaerd and Rudd, and the solemn wish of Canberra' chief personal muckraker journo Glen Milne that we need more decent blokes like Andren in Parliament, she burst into tears. 

How could a Labor man make a flippant remark to a right-wing Sydney shock jock? Those types only get their own jokes, which they only make at other people's expense. And those types are hungry for publicity. They're not really human, Peter.What you've done is a real worry. Rudd's talking to swingers who need to feel safe about Labor. You've just handed the Government a gimme.

Webdiarist Susie Russell emailed me amazing news today which I thought you might like to hear. Yes folks, Vaile has agreed, under questioning from a talk back listener and citizen extraordinaire, to take a lie detector test on AWB!