http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/david-gazard/ David Gazard is one of the founding partners of Advise, a specialist communications and government relations consultancy. A former journalist, he worked for both John Howard and Peter Costello. He started his career in Canada as a crime reporter and worked from the federal press gallery covering economics. He also headed government relations for Westpac. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-state-elections-could-be-an-albatross-for-rudds-neck/ As elections in two states loom it is becoming absolutely clear that voters are in the process of switching off the Labor Party. What this means is that Australia will have a changed political landscape post March 20 - no matter what the outcome of the polls. And the aftershocks from these elections could have profound implications for federal Labor, which will seek re-election with two crippled state divisions providing distractions and baggage. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Gazard) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-state-elections-could-be-an-albatross-for-rudds-neck/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-state-elections-could-be-an-albatross-for-rudds-neck/#item2546 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:45:54 +0000 David Gazard | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kevin-rudd-stars-in-the-final-scene-from-animal-farm/ You know things are going seriously awry when the party of the workers starts blaming the workers. But that’s exactly what’s happening within the ALP over the insulation rollout debacle. Ignoring proceedings in the Labor State of NSW where bosses can be tried for industrial manslaughter, federal Labor is saying that the minister responsible for the rollout should be exonerated from blame in the deaths of four insulation installers. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Gazard) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kevin-rudd-stars-in-the-final-scene-from-animal-farm/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kevin-rudd-stars-in-the-final-scene-from-animal-farm/#item2440 Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:50:36 +0000 David Gazard | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/catching-snakes-on-a-plain-just-outside-canberra/ A group of 36 Canberrans from all walks of life met last weekend with what many would consider a bizarre objective. Grandmothers, tax office workers, lawyers, teachers, small business people and farmers gathered at a scenic rural location just outside the nation’s capital to learn to catch and release some of the world’s deadliest snakes. None of us enrolled in the Wildcare snake handling course had any experience with the reptiles, save for the occasional sighting, which in my case, usually involved the blood draining from my face and sending my heart into high-octane overload. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Gazard) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/catching-snakes-on-a-plain-just-outside-canberra/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/catching-snakes-on-a-plain-just-outside-canberra/#item2315 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:50:14 +0000 David Gazard | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/david-gazard-kevin-rudd-economy/ Watching Kevin Rudd exhort the nation to work harder to deliver greater national productivity reminded me of a university attack that humanities students used to level at graduating students in the engineering faculty. Arts students used to mock engineering graduates for what they claimed was an inability to communicate beyond formulas and equations.  They used to assert engineers would say on graduation: “Last year I couldn’t spell enganeer, this year I are one.” feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Gazard) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/david-gazard-kevin-rudd-economy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/david-gazard-kevin-rudd-economy/#item2204 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:45:07 +0000 David Gazard | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/my-goats-say-a-lot-about-supermarkets/ The journey started a few years back when a tomato and pumpkin self seeded in the mulch in our backyard. And it’s culminated now with me doing my best to avoid the supermarket for fruit, vegetables and meat by producing my own. And in between - while I profess no inside knowledge about trends in food shopping - I have concluded that when blokes like me start talking about self sufficiency, the retail supermarket giants have to lift their game. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Gazard) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/my-goats-say-a-lot-about-supermarkets/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/my-goats-say-a-lot-about-supermarkets/#item1714 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:45:56 +0000 David Gazard | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/making-me-green-in-the-gills/ If Ralph Waldo Emerson was right when he said: “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” then the Australian Greens must hold the bragging rights to having the biggest brains. For no other political Party has the ability to be so inconsistent when it comes to public policy than the Greens. Two recent incidents, which received huge media attention, demonstrated this perfectly. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Gazard) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/making-me-green-in-the-gills/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/making-me-green-in-the-gills/#item1611 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:40:47 +0000 David Gazard | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/NSW-Labor-ready-to-campaign-against-itself-/ You have to hand it to the Labor spin machine. While it runs around the Federal press gallery highlighting various views among the Coalition on climate change, it is preparing a desperate bid for re-election in NSW by dividing itself. According to a weekend news report, the Liberal Party is preparing for a re-election campaign in which local ALP members of Parliament actually turn on the Government. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Gazard) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/NSW-Labor-ready-to-campaign-against-itself-/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/NSW-Labor-ready-to-campaign-against-itself-/#item1301 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:30:21 +0000 David Gazard | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-john-della-bosca-was-locked-out-the-sad-truth/ No-one has yet give a credible explanation to why disgraced NSW ex-health minister John Della Bosca was locked out of his office after his affair with a much younger woman was exposed. His door was locked, an armed guard was positioned outside and all his staff were sacked. It was an overtly over-the-top response from premier Nathan Rees for something many sympathetic journalists said merely reflected what many in the community get up to behind closed doors. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Gazard) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-john-della-bosca-was-locked-out-the-sad-truth/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-john-della-bosca-was-locked-out-the-sad-truth/#item1177 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:50:31 +0000 David Gazard | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/job-destroying-green-purists-are-deadlier-than-dinosaurs/ There’s an ad running at the moment by a green group that attempts to paint anyone who isn’t fully supportive of “urgent” attempts to fix climate change as a dinosaur. The so-called Climate “Institute” (cue images of scientists not activists) labels any Australian not fully behind clean energy as a scaly throwback to extinction. “It’s time for these dinosaurs to evolve and support strong action on climate change,” the ad says. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Gazard) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/job-destroying-green-purists-are-deadlier-than-dinosaurs/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/job-destroying-green-purists-are-deadlier-than-dinosaurs/#item1047 Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:45:10 +0000 David Gazard | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-priest-who-turned-back-the-clock-on-reconciliation/ Aboriginal reconciliation hit the headlines again this week with an extraordinary call for all non-indigenous Australians to make restitution for the crimes of theft and genocide – or leave the country. Dr Peter Adam said that atoning for the sins of the past required such a radical solution. ‘‘No recompense could ever be satisfactory because what was done was so vile, so immense, so universal, so pervasive, so destructive, so devastating and so irreparable,’’ Dr Adam said in a speech to the NSW Baptist Union. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Gazard) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-priest-who-turned-back-the-clock-on-reconciliation/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-priest-who-turned-back-the-clock-on-reconciliation/#item909 Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:50:37 +0000 David Gazard | Author bios | The Punch