http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/judith-ireland/ Judith Ireland is a freelance journalist. Her work has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Canberra Times and at the Guardian and ABC online. She is a researcher in the Journalism and Media Research Centre at UNSW and has previously worked as a policy adviser in Canberra. 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/reactionary-boobs-got-katy-perry-pulled-from-kids-tv/ Well it looks like Katy Perry – pop chanteuse, novelty wig wearer, man-tamer and controversy stoker – has done it again.  Entertainment news site TMZ reported yesterday that Sesame Street producers had pulled her recently filmed duet with Elmo. The charge? It’s too boobtastic. In March, Perry filmed an ostensibly kid-friendly version of her hit song “Hot N Cold” with Elmo for the show’s upcoming season, to teach young viewers about opposites. Namely, up/down, fast/slow, stop/go, yes/no, human/muppet. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Judith Ireland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/reactionary-boobs-got-katy-perry-pulled-from-kids-tv/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/reactionary-boobs-got-katy-perry-pulled-from-kids-tv/#item4110 Fri, 24 Sep 2010 01:57:03 +0000 Judith Ireland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/official-election-2010-was-the-show-about-nothing/ All around Australia, voters are emerging from their post-election hangovers to nibble at a McMuffin and wonder about what just happened. Australian politics is usually so nice, clear and conventional. Remember those Howard days when nothing seemed to change? Now we are left with something called a hung parliament that sounds like it belongs in a wardrobe or a porno. Still, no wonder the election result is confused.  It has been an entirely confusing campaign – where all the normal laws of nature (inexplicably) didn’t apply. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Judith Ireland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/official-election-2010-was-the-show-about-nothing/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/official-election-2010-was-the-show-about-nothing/#item3869 Sun, 22 Aug 2010 18:35:05 +0000 Judith Ireland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/5-ways-to-really-tear-up-the-campaign-rule-book/ After a dubious start to the election campaign, Julia Gillard has thrown away the rule book. From now on, she promises, Australians will get the real, dinkum deal. As she told ABC radio’s Richard Glover, “I want to bust out [of the traditional campaign]. I’m not going to die wondering”. Yet, after a few days of the “real Julia” you get the feeling all it involves is some jelly snakes on the campaign bus and a little less “moving forward”. Surely if she were serious about unruliness, her action contract for the campaign would look more like this:  1. Stop the babies It wouldn’t be a campaign without politicians squeezing babies or journalists making jokes about politicians squeezing babies. This time, we have Julia desperately cuddling up to kids to prove she’s not unmarried or childless and Tony having a go to prove he’s not crazy or misogynistic. If you can trust someone holding a baby, you can trust them with the country. Or so the logic goes. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Judith Ireland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/5-ways-to-really-tear-up-the-campaign-rule-book/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/5-ways-to-really-tear-up-the-campaign-rule-book/#item3748 Sun, 08 Aug 2010 18:55:36 +0000 Judith Ireland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/grandstanding-greens-arent-ready-for-the-big-league/ Senator Bob Brown has his cranky pants on because the Greens are not included in the leaders’ debate between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott. According to Brown, the Greens should get a go on Sunday as the potential balance of powerpuffs in the Senate. Acknowledging he has more chance of contesting the MasterChef final than the debate, Brown thinks the major parties are running scared. “Julia and Tony don’t want the Greens there showing them up on issues like Afghanistan, like [e]quality in marriage, like greening the economy, like a carbon price, like better funding for public education and for health”. Yet for all their grandstanding, do the Greens really deserve a turn with the worm? One of the great untold stories of federal politics in recent months is the under-performance of the Greens. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Judith Ireland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/grandstanding-greens-arent-ready-for-the-big-league/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/grandstanding-greens-arent-ready-for-the-big-league/#item3604 Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:50:00 +0000 Judith Ireland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/crushing-politicians-with-the-weight-of-great-expectations/ Three years ago it was all about getting your hands on a Kevin07 top and cuddling up to Kev on Facebook. These days you can’t find an out and proud Ruddite for love or money. What makes Kevin Rudd’s fall from grace so startling is the fact that we really believed it when he said he would change our political world. We’ve literally been there and bought the t-shirt. After a short, sharp lunge at the jugular last week, Julia Gillard is now sitting pretty behind the PM’s desk. Despite questions about how fair dinkum it all was, she is now being feted as the next huge thing for Australian politics. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Judith Ireland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/crushing-politicians-with-the-weight-of-great-expectations/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/crushing-politicians-with-the-weight-of-great-expectations/#item3418 Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:55:44 +0000 Judith Ireland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/our-masterchef-does-a-poor-imitation-of-the-british/ Watching people slice bread is officially the best thing since sliced bread. According to the Daily Telegraph this week, MasterChef is “the most powerful television show in Australia”. With $100 million worth of industry around it and almost two million viewers, it has even out bigged Big Brother. But as we mark the show’s halfway point with an oyster terrine and a joyful high-five, there’s no escaping the sad fact that our MasterChef pales in comparison to the UK version. And not just because Australian contestants are hell bent on crying their way to the title. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Judith Ireland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/our-masterchef-does-a-poor-imitation-of-the-british/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/our-masterchef-does-a-poor-imitation-of-the-british/#item3289 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:45:43 +0000 Judith Ireland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-bit-of-spin-is-sometimes-necessary-for-governance/ An email exchange between political staffers was accidentally sent to the media yesterday morning. And shock horror, people. According to the misfired mail, it would appear that Kevin Rudd’s office suggested changes to a press release from Home Affairs Minister, Brendan O’Connor about a boatload of 53 people that turned up near Christmas Island this week. Even more shockingly, it looks like Office of the Prime Minister (PMO) advisers suggested O’Connor’s people mention some budget measures in the release, to promote the government’s border protection credentials. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Judith Ireland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-bit-of-spin-is-sometimes-necessary-for-governance/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-bit-of-spin-is-sometimes-necessary-for-governance/#item3085 Fri, 14 May 2010 01:11:40 +0000 Judith Ireland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/all-things-french-are-not-the-key-to-sophistication/ Traditionalists worry about the undue influence of American culture on Australia. Republicans stress about our British links. Hansonites panic about Muslims and Asians. But it’s the French we should be keeping an eye on.  ‘What French Women Know: About Love, Sex and Other Matters of the Heart and Mind’ is the latest book by American-in-Paris writer Debra Ollivier. In it, Ollivier decodes the French mystique, arguing French chicks are so sexy because they “don’t give a damn”. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Judith Ireland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/all-things-french-are-not-the-key-to-sophistication/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/all-things-french-are-not-the-key-to-sophistication/#item2996 Tue, 04 May 2010 18:40:55 +0000 Judith Ireland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ghosts-of-pms-past-are-welcome-to-the-debate/ It must be Christmas for politics right now because the ghosts of prime ministers past are out in force.  Yesterday, Bob Hawke and John Howard tussled over the future of the global economy, China and federalism at the Oxford Business Alumni Forum in their first ever head-to-head debate. Away from the lectern, last week Hawke backed Anna Bligh over daylight saving in southeastern Queensland and called on Australia to rethink its position on nuclear waste. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Judith Ireland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ghosts-of-pms-past-are-welcome-to-the-debate/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ghosts-of-pms-past-are-welcome-to-the-debate/#item2904 Thu, 22 Apr 2010 01:13:49 +0000 Judith Ireland | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lindsay-lohans-stupid-celebrity-quest-to-save-india/ These days no self-respecting or self-preserving celeb is seen without a malnourished child, developing country or war zone.  Make up removed, with a shawl or ethnic beads for decoration, the ‘saving the world’ photo shoot is a must-have for their portfolio.  This week Lindsay Lohan joins the fray as she fronts Lindsay Lohan’s Indian Journey, a BBC3 documentary about child trafficking in India.  It’s heavy stuff.  The country’s economic boom has seen traffickers head to India’s poorest regions in search of children who end up working long hours in inhumane conditions, with some forced into prostitution.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Judith Ireland) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lindsay-lohans-stupid-celebrity-quest-to-save-india/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lindsay-lohans-stupid-celebrity-quest-to-save-india/#item2751 Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:55:54 +0000 Judith Ireland | Author bios | The Punch