The question of whether Kevin Rudd is a rude, ill-tempered sook is a valid one, there’s another issue that deserves some examination. How hard is it to get the bloke a cup of tea?
It’s not on that our PM blew up at a young female RAAF officer and he did the right thing by apologising to her but you would think the RAAF treats its role of transporting our Prime Minister and Cabinet with a degree of seriousness.
The picture Laurie Oakes painted on these pages last Saturday was of a kind of airborne Fawlty Towers, where the defence equivalents of Basil and Manuel pace up and down the plane shrugging their shoulders or slapping each other as the entire Federal Cabinet goes without food. You’d think they could provide this most basic level of service.
In a heartening way, this funny affair shows the utter disregard Australians have for the highest office in the land, whereby the bloke who works 18 hours a day trying to run the joint is bagged as a pampered spiv for wanting a cup of tea.
While there’s consensus among commentators that Rudd has been damaged politically by the incident, the polls suggest otherwise - he’s up two points.
Imagine how popular he’d be if he actually hijacked the plane.
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
Put this summer of cricket out of its misery
Call the RSPCA. Alert PETA. Get the anti-whaling boats to steam north from Antarctica and stop this mindless… Read more
Most commented
The talk of the town
- My Southern Cross tattoo now brands me as a racist 625
- Frankston not in the hunt for Australia's top bogan suburb 354
- Climate changes sceptics a threat to national security 274
- Good Lord, Monckton is no Nobel laureate 242
- Why Australia Day is rubbish 226
- At the end of the day, the kids caned Kevin on Q&A 211
- You can't debate immigration without being called a racist 201
- Should women accept a guy who's just good enough? 153
- Young Labor plan to ban smoking within 50 years 119
- Freak show? At least Barnaby didn't blow the budget 117
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
Time to put this summer of cricket out of its misery, writes Anthony Sharwood. Hear hear! http://bit.ly/9OLM07
Libs reckon the future of australian tennis is in doubt due to rudd's ETS. They're smoking the same stuff as screaming lord monckton #qt
Gentle jabs to the ribs
US Superbowl: now with ad breaks worth watching
Usually, when it comes to watching your favourite sport or movie on television, ads are the last thing… Read more
2 comments
Show oldest | newest first