http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/paul-keating/ 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/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 Most Australians couldn’t give two hoots who runs the Australia Network. It is of no importance to them whether the ABC or SKY News is in charge of the television service this country projects into Asia. Just the same, the spectacular botching of the tender process during the week has a political impact because it reinforces the impression of government incompetence. The response of many voters to the scandal will be: “See, I told you. This mob couldn’t raffle a chook in a pub.” http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/political-pygmies-could-learn-from-giants-of-the-past/ Most Australians couldn’t give two hoots who runs the Australia Network. It is of no importance to them whether the ABC or SKY News is in charge of the television service this country projects into Asia. Just the same, the spectacular botching of the tender process during the week has a political impact because it reinforces the impression of government incompetence. The response of many voters to the scandal will be: “See, I told you. This mob couldn’t raffle a chook in a pub.” feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/political-pygmies-could-learn-from-giants-of-the-past/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/political-pygmies-could-learn-from-giants-of-the-past/#item7348 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Most Australians couldn’t give two hoots who runs the Australia Network. It is of no importance to them whether the ABC or SKY News is in charge of the television service this country projects into Asia. Just the same, the spectacular botching of the tender process during the week has a political impact because it reinforces the impression of government incompetence. The response of many voters to the scandal will be: “See, I told you. This mob couldn’t raffle a chook in a pub.” http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-wayne-swan-the-greatest-treasurer-in-the-world/ In a week’s time, as Finance Ministers and Treasurers from around the world gather in Washington to discuss the economic woes afflicting America and Europe, there will be an important ceremony on the sidelines. Euromoney, the world’s leading magazine for banking and finance, will present the prestigious Finance Minister of the Year Award. Each year the award honours the Finance Minister, Treasurer or central bank governor whose key decisions “have directly benefited both the performance and perception of their country’s economic and financial achievements”. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-wayne-swan-the-greatest-treasurer-in-the-world/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-wayne-swan-the-greatest-treasurer-in-the-world/#item6740 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Most Australians couldn’t give two hoots who runs the Australia Network. It is of no importance to them whether the ABC or SKY News is in charge of the television service this country projects into Asia. Just the same, the spectacular botching of the tender process during the week has a political impact because it reinforces the impression of government incompetence. The response of many voters to the scandal will be: “See, I told you. This mob couldn’t raffle a chook in a pub.” http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rip-paul-keating-legacy/ My political bubble recently burst when I realised this is a quintessential Labor government. I was convinced the Labor Party was just a microeconomic reform away from returning to its successful period of economic rationalism and bold reform between 1983 and 1996. The delusion was abetted by the Prime Minister and her shallow rhetoric that she was reformist in the Hawke and Keating tradition. I was lured into supporting the Labor Party by the Keating-inspired economic reforms that remade a moribund economy into an open and internationally competitive one. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rip-paul-keating-legacy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rip-paul-keating-legacy/#item6452 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Most Australians couldn’t give two hoots who runs the Australia Network. It is of no importance to them whether the ABC or SKY News is in charge of the television service this country projects into Asia. Just the same, the spectacular botching of the tender process during the week has a political impact because it reinforces the impression of government incompetence. The response of many voters to the scandal will be: “See, I told you. This mob couldn’t raffle a chook in a pub.” http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/an-ode-to-paul-keating/ If a protestor at the carbon tax rally last week had held up a sign saying Prime Minister Julia Gillard was a “dead carcass, swinging in the breeze”, what would the reaction have been? Vitriol is part of political life. But there is no one who can spew it out with the calculated cruelty and contempt of former PM Paul Keating. He could craft the sort of insults that other politicians would be proud to be associated with. Mr Keating has now made headlines for his attack on John Robertson, NSW MP and potential party leader. He said Robertson wore the political deaths of a couple of dozen Labor members around his neck, and was a “lead weight” in Gillard’s political saddlebags. It was not a bad effort. It wasn’t his best. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/an-ode-to-paul-keating/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/an-ode-to-paul-keating/#item5517 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Most Australians couldn’t give two hoots who runs the Australia Network. It is of no importance to them whether the ABC or SKY News is in charge of the television service this country projects into Asia. Just the same, the spectacular botching of the tender process during the week has a political impact because it reinforces the impression of government incompetence. The response of many voters to the scandal will be: “See, I told you. This mob couldn’t raffle a chook in a pub.” http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/howard-was-good-but-keating-was-better/ With the coming release of John Howard’s autobiography, Lazarus Rising, it’s worth considering Howard’s standing in Australia’s political history, and to compare him to his arch-nemesis, Paul Keating.  John Howard and Paul Keating were political titans for 30 years but were vastly different politicians—and famously couldn’t stand each other. Australian politics has enjoyed many compelling rivalries, such as Keating and Bob Hawke, Howard and Peter Costello and Julie Bishop and a garden gnome, but none have been as rancorous as between Keating and Howard.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/howard-was-good-but-keating-was-better/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/howard-was-good-but-keating-was-better/#item4331 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Most Australians couldn’t give two hoots who runs the Australia Network. It is of no importance to them whether the ABC or SKY News is in charge of the television service this country projects into Asia. Just the same, the spectacular botching of the tender process during the week has a political impact because it reinforces the impression of government incompetence. The response of many voters to the scandal will be: “See, I told you. This mob couldn’t raffle a chook in a pub.” 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 (Antony McMullen) 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, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Most Australians couldn’t give two hoots who runs the Australia Network. It is of no importance to them whether the ABC or SKY News is in charge of the television service this country projects into Asia. Just the same, the spectacular botching of the tender process during the week has a political impact because it reinforces the impression of government incompetence. The response of many voters to the scandal will be: “See, I told you. This mob couldn’t raffle a chook in a pub.” http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labor-should-finish-job-keating-started-on-super/ In 1992 Paul Keating’s leadership motivated me to join the Labor Party. Keating provided the labour movement with the leadership, vision and fighting spirit needed to combat the regressive Fightback package. Keating won the election, and Labor celebrated a great win against neo- liberalism. What followed was a period of government where Keating’s great intellect and vision was pitted against his arrogance, exhaustion and electoral indifference. This was a difficult and frustrating period for many Labor supporters and I remember periods of despair at our performance. After 1996 the whole labour movement shied away from defending Keating, his Government and his politics due to the collective scars caused by his defeat. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labor-should-finish-job-keating-started-on-super/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labor-should-finish-job-keating-started-on-super/#item2176 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Most Australians couldn’t give two hoots who runs the Australia Network. It is of no importance to them whether the ABC or SKY News is in charge of the television service this country projects into Asia. Just the same, the spectacular botching of the tender process during the week has a political impact because it reinforces the impression of government incompetence. The response of many voters to the scandal will be: “See, I told you. This mob couldn’t raffle a chook in a pub.” http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/public-figures-want-it-both-ways-on-privacy/ It is grossly hypocritical of Paul Keating – or anyone else in the public eye – to complain about the media invading their family’s privacy. I’m sick of politicians and performers, who trade their profiles for money, biting the hand that feeds them. Keating’s daughter Katherine has a reputation for appearing at the opening of an envelope to promote her political lobbying business. But why turn up at a VIP party, sponsored by a vodka company, dressed as Amy Winehouse, if you don’t want to be papped by photographers? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/public-figures-want-it-both-ways-on-privacy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/public-figures-want-it-both-ways-on-privacy/#item1631 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Most Australians couldn’t give two hoots who runs the Australia Network. It is of no importance to them whether the ABC or SKY News is in charge of the television service this country projects into Asia. Just the same, the spectacular botching of the tender process during the week has a political impact because it reinforces the impression of government incompetence. The response of many voters to the scandal will be: “See, I told you. This mob couldn’t raffle a chook in a pub.” http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/to-decorum-in-parliament-the-punch-says-no/ The Punch has always been impressed by Bronwyn Bishop’s deep knowledge of the standing orders of the House of Representatives, and sympathises with her point of view. But no one should have to endure another Question Time like yesterday’s. After last week’s fantastic debate about the role of sticky tape and whether it should be allowed as an adhesive in Joe Hockey’s dispatch box props, we had high hopes for some major Kevin Rudd lever-arch file action this week. Even the valiant efforts of Annabel Crabb, however, couldn’t rescue yesterday’s questions from dire tedium. Wilson Tuckey reckons voters are upset with Rudd’s obsession with laminated photographs of primary school demountables and road works. But it’s sometimes the props that make QT bearable. Remember the cardboard cut-out Kevin Rudd? It was almost better than the real one. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/to-decorum-in-parliament-the-punch-says-no/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/to-decorum-in-parliament-the-punch-says-no/#item193 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Most Australians couldn’t give two hoots who runs the Australia Network. It is of no importance to them whether the ABC or SKY News is in charge of the television service this country projects into Asia. Just the same, the spectacular botching of the tender process during the week has a political impact because it reinforces the impression of government incompetence. The response of many voters to the scandal will be: “See, I told you. This mob couldn’t raffle a chook in a pub.”