http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/john-howard/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +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/it-takes-selective-memory-to-call-Howard-era-a-golden-age/ Tony Abbott recalls the 11 years of the Howard government as a golden age and one gets the impression he would like Homer to nip back to record its god-like political heroes in an Aussie Iliad. He put passionate nostalgia up front in a speech last week which revealed the core of the Abbott electoral philosophy. He is promising a former Australia preserved in Liberal amber. It would be an Australia where no one had to share a suburban street with boat people, where factories operated in defiance of cheaper, better goods made overseas, and climate change was a minority fad, like fast-speed internet. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/it-takes-selective-memory-to-call-Howard-era-a-golden-age/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/it-takes-selective-memory-to-call-Howard-era-a-golden-age/#item7677 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Am I missing something? I seem to be the last even remotely left-leaning person not to think the progressive sun shines out of Paul Keating’s hallowed backside. A musical has been written about him. The best interviewers at the ABC speak to him in awed reverence, never for a moment stopping to quiz him on his own failures or shortcomings as he reads out his many laundry lists of everyone else. Even Tory warhorse Janet Albrechtsen has heralded his “fine reforms” and confessed to voting for him in 1993. And then there are all those progressive tweeps I follow who tweet about how they can’t wait to see said interviews. Then quote him throughout with gushing editorial hard up against the ubiquitous #. “Keating: Blah blah blah I rule, everyone else sucks.” PJK summarises perfectly. Come back Paul, we miss you! #PJKforPMagain! That sort of thing. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/keatings-fine-its-his-worshipers-who-irk-me/ Am I missing something? I seem to be the last even remotely left-leaning person not to think the progressive sun shines out of Paul Keating’s hallowed backside. A musical has been written about him. The best interviewers at the ABC speak to him in awed reverence, never for a moment stopping to quiz him on his own failures or shortcomings as he reads out his many laundry lists of everyone else. Even Tory warhorse Janet Albrechtsen has heralded his “fine reforms” and confessed to voting for him in 1993. And then there are all those progressive tweeps I follow who tweet about how they can’t wait to see said interviews. Then quote him throughout with gushing editorial hard up against the ubiquitous #. “Keating: Blah blah blah I rule, everyone else sucks.” PJK summarises perfectly. Come back Paul, we miss you! #PJKforPMagain! That sort of thing. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/keatings-fine-its-his-worshipers-who-irk-me/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/keatings-fine-its-his-worshipers-who-irk-me/#item7532 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Am I missing something? I seem to be the last even remotely left-leaning person not to think the progressive sun shines out of Paul Keating’s hallowed backside. A musical has been written about him. The best interviewers at the ABC speak to him in awed reverence, never for a moment stopping to quiz him on his own failures or shortcomings as he reads out his many laundry lists of everyone else. Even Tory warhorse Janet Albrechtsen has heralded his “fine reforms” and confessed to voting for him in 1993. And then there are all those progressive tweeps I follow who tweet about how they can’t wait to see said interviews. Then quote him throughout with gushing editorial hard up against the ubiquitous #. “Keating: Blah blah blah I rule, everyone else sucks.” PJK summarises perfectly. Come back Paul, we miss you! #PJKforPMagain! That sort of thing. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-plimers-climate-change-book-might-just-work/ Climate change sceptics shouldn’t have to resort to juvenile ‘Gotcha’ tactics to get attention. But Professor Ian Plimer just did. And his target? Schoolteachers. Nice. Prime Minister John Howard aided and abetted him, speaking at the launch of Plimer’s new book, How to Get Expelled from School: A Guide to Climate Change for Pupils, Parents and Punters. The first bit of devious trickery is evident in the title - the ludicrous implication that a student would get kicked out of school for asking questions is just a nod to the conspiracy theorists who think the world’s scientists are engaged in an enormous scam. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-plimers-climate-change-book-might-just-work/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-plimers-climate-change-book-might-just-work/#item7362 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Am I missing something? I seem to be the last even remotely left-leaning person not to think the progressive sun shines out of Paul Keating’s hallowed backside. A musical has been written about him. The best interviewers at the ABC speak to him in awed reverence, never for a moment stopping to quiz him on his own failures or shortcomings as he reads out his many laundry lists of everyone else. Even Tory warhorse Janet Albrechtsen has heralded his “fine reforms” and confessed to voting for him in 1993. And then there are all those progressive tweeps I follow who tweet about how they can’t wait to see said interviews. Then quote him throughout with gushing editorial hard up against the ubiquitous #. “Keating: Blah blah blah I rule, everyone else sucks.” PJK summarises perfectly. Come back Paul, we miss you! #PJKforPMagain! That sort of thing. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ex-pollies-just-shut-up-and-put-the-kettle-on/ I am becoming increasingly tired of seeing, hearing or reading in the media, former Prime Ministers or politicians struggling to retire from political power and influence with dignity. Anyone with even a modest interest in politics could compile a substantial list in just a few minutes. Think Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Pauline Hanson, Peter Beattie, Bob Carr, Cheryl Kernot, Jeff Kennett, Mark Latham, John Hewson, Peter Costello, Graham Richardson and Peter Reith and you will have just started. Why don’t these ex-pollies just put the kettle on and relax? Then of course there is deposed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who is suffering the “Kath and Kim “ syndrome: “Look at me, look at me, look at me!” feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ex-pollies-just-shut-up-and-put-the-kettle-on/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ex-pollies-just-shut-up-and-put-the-kettle-on/#item6958 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Am I missing something? I seem to be the last even remotely left-leaning person not to think the progressive sun shines out of Paul Keating’s hallowed backside. A musical has been written about him. The best interviewers at the ABC speak to him in awed reverence, never for a moment stopping to quiz him on his own failures or shortcomings as he reads out his many laundry lists of everyone else. Even Tory warhorse Janet Albrechtsen has heralded his “fine reforms” and confessed to voting for him in 1993. And then there are all those progressive tweeps I follow who tweet about how they can’t wait to see said interviews. Then quote him throughout with gushing editorial hard up against the ubiquitous #. “Keating: Blah blah blah I rule, everyone else sucks.” PJK summarises perfectly. Come back Paul, we miss you! #PJKforPMagain! That sort of thing. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/does-anybody-else-miss-john-howard/ A friend of mine said something strange the other day. He said: “I miss John Howard.’’ The reason this was strange is because he voted for the Greens. (Obviously I didn’t know this when I became friends with him but what’s done is done…) But I knew what he meant. Whatever you thought of its politics, the Howard Government was always competent, stable and reliable. Right? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/does-anybody-else-miss-john-howard/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/does-anybody-else-miss-john-howard/#item6690 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Am I missing something? I seem to be the last even remotely left-leaning person not to think the progressive sun shines out of Paul Keating’s hallowed backside. A musical has been written about him. The best interviewers at the ABC speak to him in awed reverence, never for a moment stopping to quiz him on his own failures or shortcomings as he reads out his many laundry lists of everyone else. Even Tory warhorse Janet Albrechtsen has heralded his “fine reforms” and confessed to voting for him in 1993. And then there are all those progressive tweeps I follow who tweet about how they can’t wait to see said interviews. Then quote him throughout with gushing editorial hard up against the ubiquitous #. “Keating: Blah blah blah I rule, everyone else sucks.” PJK summarises perfectly. Come back Paul, we miss you! #PJKforPMagain! That sort of thing. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/crappy-coach-complains-about-the-umpiring/ If Julia Gillard is looking for a shoulder to cry on about the torrid media coverage she has been receiving she could always pick up the phone to another recent prime minister in John Howard. If she were to do so she would find that, far from getting a sympathetic ear, she’d be politely advised to stop whining, harden up and get on with governing. Ms Gillard once said, misleadingly, that her chances of seizing the leadership of the Labor Party from Kevin Rudd were as great as being picked to play for her beloved Western Bulldogs. To use an AFL analogy Ms Gillard is currently like the hapless footy coach who finds their team 10 goals down at half time and starts complaining about the umpiring. It might be an over-simplification but the question Ms Gillard should ask herself is this. Is Labor on a record low primary vote of 27 per cent because of negative media coverage? Or is Labor getting negative media coverage because it’s got a primary vote of 27 per cent – that is, because its leadership has been so haphazard and its policies so poorly sold that the media is simply reflecting, not creating, public disquiet at its performance? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/crappy-coach-complains-about-the-umpiring/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/crappy-coach-complains-about-the-umpiring/#item6358 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Am I missing something? I seem to be the last even remotely left-leaning person not to think the progressive sun shines out of Paul Keating’s hallowed backside. A musical has been written about him. The best interviewers at the ABC speak to him in awed reverence, never for a moment stopping to quiz him on his own failures or shortcomings as he reads out his many laundry lists of everyone else. Even Tory warhorse Janet Albrechtsen has heralded his “fine reforms” and confessed to voting for him in 1993. And then there are all those progressive tweeps I follow who tweet about how they can’t wait to see said interviews. Then quote him throughout with gushing editorial hard up against the ubiquitous #. “Keating: Blah blah blah I rule, everyone else sucks.” PJK summarises perfectly. Come back Paul, we miss you! #PJKforPMagain! That sort of thing. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/in-abbott-we-trust-sort-of/ When John Howard finally called an election in 2004, he had a cunning plan. The ageing PM had trailed for much of the previous 12 months as the unorthodox Mark Latham repeatedly wrong-footed him on politicians’ super, the US/Australia free trade agreement and childhood literacy. Morale waned. Senior ministers wondered if the jig was up. But the wily Howard, whom many voters believed had lied to them on the GST, children overboard, and Iraq, politely eschewed the prevailing view opting instead to meet the situation head-on. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/in-abbott-we-trust-sort-of/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/in-abbott-we-trust-sort-of/#item6303 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Am I missing something? I seem to be the last even remotely left-leaning person not to think the progressive sun shines out of Paul Keating’s hallowed backside. A musical has been written about him. The best interviewers at the ABC speak to him in awed reverence, never for a moment stopping to quiz him on his own failures or shortcomings as he reads out his many laundry lists of everyone else. Even Tory warhorse Janet Albrechtsen has heralded his “fine reforms” and confessed to voting for him in 1993. And then there are all those progressive tweeps I follow who tweet about how they can’t wait to see said interviews. Then quote him throughout with gushing editorial hard up against the ubiquitous #. “Keating: Blah blah blah I rule, everyone else sucks.” PJK summarises perfectly. Come back Paul, we miss you! #PJKforPMagain! That sort of thing. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Ask-not-what-the-budget-can-do-for-you/ It’s not long ago that when people talked about the Federal Budget, the discussion was about more than hand-outs or who got what. It was about what the Budget meant for the nation, what it was going to leave for future generations, and how it was going to make Australia a better society. This year’s budget hasn’t pleased everybody – Budgets never do. Some might have found it a bit underwhelming, but given the Government’s priority of returning the budget to surplus, it was not going to have the money for major projects. What has surprised me is the nature of the debate in the media – the seeming obsession with minor changes to eligibility for family payments – and the lack of interest in how the budget deals with the challenge of getting people into work, improving the nation’s skills or fighting mental illness. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Ask-not-what-the-budget-can-do-for-you/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Ask-not-what-the-budget-can-do-for-you/#item5845 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Am I missing something? I seem to be the last even remotely left-leaning person not to think the progressive sun shines out of Paul Keating’s hallowed backside. A musical has been written about him. The best interviewers at the ABC speak to him in awed reverence, never for a moment stopping to quiz him on his own failures or shortcomings as he reads out his many laundry lists of everyone else. Even Tory warhorse Janet Albrechtsen has heralded his “fine reforms” and confessed to voting for him in 1993. And then there are all those progressive tweeps I follow who tweet about how they can’t wait to see said interviews. Then quote him throughout with gushing editorial hard up against the ubiquitous #. “Keating: Blah blah blah I rule, everyone else sucks.” PJK summarises perfectly. Come back Paul, we miss you! #PJKforPMagain! That sort of thing. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/We-officially-dont-know-what-happens-post-bin-Laden/ It’s unlikely John Howard will apologise, but he should at least feel deeply embarrassed. Al Qaeda would be praying that Barack Obama became US president, Howard said in February 2007.  The comment—an obvious diplomatic gaffe then—looks particularly stupid now. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/We-officially-dont-know-what-happens-post-bin-Laden/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/We-officially-dont-know-what-happens-post-bin-Laden/#item5790 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Am I missing something? I seem to be the last even remotely left-leaning person not to think the progressive sun shines out of Paul Keating’s hallowed backside. A musical has been written about him. The best interviewers at the ABC speak to him in awed reverence, never for a moment stopping to quiz him on his own failures or shortcomings as he reads out his many laundry lists of everyone else. Even Tory warhorse Janet Albrechtsen has heralded his “fine reforms” and confessed to voting for him in 1993. And then there are all those progressive tweeps I follow who tweet about how they can’t wait to see said interviews. Then quote him throughout with gushing editorial hard up against the ubiquitous #. “Keating: Blah blah blah I rule, everyone else sucks.” PJK summarises perfectly. Come back Paul, we miss you! #PJKforPMagain! That sort of thing. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-budget-for-our-crazy-economic-times/ New Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson got married last Saturday and had a splendid ceremony and celebration in the tourist-depleted north Queensland resort of Port Douglas. He will now spend time which might have been allocated to a honeymoon doing all-nighters in the Treasury Building as the May 10 Budget is locked into place. Crazy honeymoon. And it will be a crazy Budget in crazy economic times. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-budget-for-our-crazy-economic-times/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-budget-for-our-crazy-economic-times/#item5724 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Am I missing something? I seem to be the last even remotely left-leaning person not to think the progressive sun shines out of Paul Keating’s hallowed backside. A musical has been written about him. The best interviewers at the ABC speak to him in awed reverence, never for a moment stopping to quiz him on his own failures or shortcomings as he reads out his many laundry lists of everyone else. Even Tory warhorse Janet Albrechtsen has heralded his “fine reforms” and confessed to voting for him in 1993. And then there are all those progressive tweeps I follow who tweet about how they can’t wait to see said interviews. Then quote him throughout with gushing editorial hard up against the ubiquitous #. “Keating: Blah blah blah I rule, everyone else sucks.” PJK summarises perfectly. Come back Paul, we miss you! #PJKforPMagain! That sort of thing.