South Australia
When the Snowtown murder trial concluded in 2003 a prominent criminologist scandalised the good people of Adelaide by saying there was nothing surprising or remarkable about the case.
New Yorker Allan Perry, a lecturer in criminal law at the University of Adelaide, blamed what he called a subculture of degeneracy in the city’s most depressed and dysfunctional suburbs, defined by inter-generational welfare dependency, the daily abuse of alcohol and drugs, shocking levels of child abuse, child neglect and family violence.
Dr Perry said the only thing which shocked him about Snowtown was that people were shocked by it. And he really cut loose in his description of my hometown, sending talkback and the letters pages into meltdown, and prompting the then Attorney General Mick Atkinson to tell him to move back to Brooklyn.
Continue reading "A horror movie about poverty and welfare" »
I am not sure who the South Australian Police Commissioner is. Is it still Mal Hyde? Or did we get a new one? You wouldn’t know. Whoever he is, he is, as they say, a quiet man who keeps to himself.
In fairness, it’s not as if the South Australian Police Service has been doing nothing. Earlier this year, via its Twitter site, SAPOL courageously announced that it was launching an all-out blitz on one of the gravest threats to civil society - jaywalking. In a joint venture with Channel Nine, cameras were mounted at some of Adelaide’s most lethal intersections, places such as Beehive Corner which are a magnet for these dangerous criminals, with the offenders being nabbed and shamed as they went about their despicable enterprise.
We can all sleep safer as a result.
Continue reading "Premier Jay is walking while bikie criminals run amok" »
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chiku says:
Pauline, your not tianlkg about simple Simon are you our great Police Commissioner brought at great expense from the keystone cops? Read more »
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N.O.T. Fooled says:
Dave, the key phrase in your post ‘Attacks, hoons & bikies seem to get off easier than jaywalkers do’ is the premise you seem to have built your opinion on, yes ? Well that is where it is blatantly wrong, not your fault though, more like the fault of the… Read more »
Finally, we have a government willing to stand up for small business in the face of hysterical opposition from the big end of town and their legal advisers.
Last week the South Australian Labor Government successfully got its small business commissioner reforms through the Parliament. Those reforms had been subject to a frenzied attack by elements of the big end of town and their legal advisers. Despite such a self-interested and panic-stricken campaign the reforms secured the numbers in the South Australian Upper House.
Like most Upper Houses in Australia, the SA Legislative Council is a place where the Government lacks the numbers and, accordingly, needs to convince the minor parties and independents of the merits of all government initiatives.
Continue reading "WANTED: A tough cop on the small business beat" »
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Rugger says:
Congratulations Professor Frank Zumbo on A Job well done. A Small Business Commissioner is well overdue in South Australia. For the first time in history, South Australian Small businesses have a cheap and reliable way of solving disputes with Big Business. The feedback I have received from small business in… Read more »
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TrueOz says:
Frank, it’s crystal clear from this and the many other rants of yours that I’ve seen about franchising that you have never created anything of substance in your entire existence, nor have you ever had to run a franchise system. The new laws in SA will simply add another layer… Read more »
Nothing on this earth would entice me to have a baby at home.
Call me old fashioned, but I’m all for the protective womb of expert physicians and latest technology in a crisp white hospital environment. The risks are simply too great; the act of childbirth too unpredictable; the potential loss too devastating to contemplate.
And tragically, in South Australia we’re hearing all too much about risk becoming reality.
Continue reading "The real miracle of pregnancy isn’t childbirth" »
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Arcadia says:
There’s a problem of logic in Lainie’s article here: first she says the risks are too great to convince her to choose homebirth, then later she points out the risks are the same. Well, which is it? Or are you perhaps saying the risks are too great to ever attempt… Read more »
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Joanne Bennett says:
What is this “superhero feeling” referred to just because someone gives birth the way women have been doing it (without choice) for hundreds of thousands of years? If you want to feel like a superhero, perhaps you should see a psychologist and put off parenting until you have your insecurities… Read more »
A few weeks after he was clouted in the face with a rolled-up wine magazine, and on the same day that Channel Seven ran salacious allegations about his relationship with former parliamentary waitress Michelle Chantelois, Mike Rann wrote an article about the sex lives of pandas for our opinion website The Punch.
The timing was somewhat awkward. Rann, an early adopter of Twitter and one of the first politicians to use blogging as a new and direct way of talking to the voters, was spruiking the arrival of breeding pandas Wang Wang and Funi at the Adelaide Zoo. He explained how male pandas were sexually lethargic, difficult to arouse, and how zoos overseas had resorted to showing them films of mating pandas in a bid to fire them up.
Our website, driven as it is by robust and comic interaction with the readers, decided it would be best to hold the column for a while. Not out of any desire to protect the Premier – whatever scandals he was involved in were his problem, not ours – but because the job of keeping the reader’s comments within the boundaries of taste and libel would be impossible.
Continue reading "On message, even when up to his neck in it" »
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Wilma J Craig says:
I have been reading in the Adelaide Advertiser of “The Rann Legacy”. It seems it is not just his but former Treasurer Kevin Foley’s as well. The spin doctors, my god they did a good job on the Advertiser people, listed the numerous things he is alleged to have done… Read more »
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Robert S McCormick says:
Mike Rann’s Spin Doctors, reportedly he has an army of 64 of them, & his apologists tell us the “New"Adelaide Airport was a “Rann Initiative”. No, it wasn’t. It had been on the Federal Government’s planning boards for years. It is on Commonwealth land - over which the State has… Read more »
For SA Premier Mike Rann, “school” ends today, and from 9am tomorrow, he is on holidays. This is earlier than he wanted, but the right-wing “shoppies” union gave him no choice. No wonder he has spent much of his last days railing against factional influence in the Labor party.
Mr Rann has had a long innings since taking over the Premier’s job on March 5, 2002. Not a record, by a long way. The Liberal and Country League government of Tom Playford set the record, from 1938 to 1965, a longevity which will probably never be beaten. Of course, he did have a heavily biased election system in his favour.
That long Liberal reign was followed by a Labor domination. Of the 46 years from 1965 until now, Labor has been in office for 35. And that period has been dominated by three Labor Premiers: Don Dunstan (1967 – 79), John Bannon (1982 – 92), and Mike Rann (2002 – 11). In those data is one reason for the Rann angst at being pushed out of the job early – he could have achieved the record of being the longest serving Labor Premier.
Continue reading "In politics it’s all just a little bit of history repeating" »
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Sophie Rose says:
Mr Rudd tweeted that ‘history will be kind to Mike”, and if Rann writes it I have no doubt that it will. Rann has spent the last couple of weeks trying to make himself relevant, he came out in support of gay marriage, he has signed an agreement to expand… Read more »
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Graham S says:
Can somebody please enlighten me why we are getting so much about SA Parliament? Today this drivel, recently the SA Upper House. For goodness sake, take McLaren Vale, The Barossa and Maslins Beach district out of SA & what’s left over is a bogun rat-hole populated by Truro, Snowtown &… Read more »
In his personal review of his legacy to South Australia, Premier Rann had two main regrets. The first was his inability to abolish the Legislative Council.
This has been a key aim of the Labor party for over a hundred years.
The passion flows from the fact that Labor has never won a majority of the seats in the Council.
Continue reading "Keep the Upper House until they fix the Lower House" »
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Diogenes says:
For those advocating getting rid of the states - who will pay for it and how long do you think that will take ? Given it has taken 4 years just to get 3 curricula aligned (eventhough research has shown that the content taught across the country is 99% identical… Read more »
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Rick says:
Direct democracy is a way to check political power. It allows benevolent and enlightened citizens to oppose laws made by evil politicians. Switzerland’s direct democracy means that all proposed amendments to the constitution are decided by referendum. Any other federal law can be put to a referendum if 50,000 citizens… Read more »
It’s widely thought that either Marie Antoinette or Marie Therese of the French aristocracy uttered the fateful words ‘let them eat cake’ when told that the peasants were starving. Regardless of who said the words and whether they were said in arrogance, ignorance (or even at all) the PR damage was done.
We all know what happened next.
Last week SA Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Grace Portelesi, had her very own Marie-moment by vacillating on the question of whether Anangu people living on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands in the far north west of South Australia were going hungry.
Continue reading "Communities going hungry as minister fails pressure test" »
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Aussie (what) Pride says:
It’s great to see that even though times have changed, the redneck Australian attitude certainly hasn’t. Gunyas have next to no idea about what it is to Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander, so many are quick to say ‘well let them get a job, live by white mans law’ etc. As an… Read more »
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Dark Horse says:
Some of these people tell us they have lived on the land for up to 60,000 years, but all of a sudden, they need houses, subsidised freight and government handouts, Toyotas etc. Many indigenes squander their sit-down money on grog, cigarettes and gambling and leave nothing for food. Is that… Read more »
South Australia has not so much two premiers now but none.
The outgoing Mike Rann has played his assassins off a break revealing them to be weak, disorganised, and without the class necessary to lead.
Worse, the sheer hollowness of the personnel change at the top has been exposed for what it is - merely a marketing ploy to repackage a tired government. Nothing in the way of substantial vision or a different approach has been put forward.
Continue reading "South Australia in limbo, governed by an also-Rann" »
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Rick says:
What a load of crap, when the Michelle what’s her name “scandal” didn’t put Mike out on the street the lack of a credible opposition couldn’t get the loser liberals accross the line either. Thanks Mike for all the hard work, exellent work well done. Read more »
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James in Footscray says:
That headline - excellent work, well done. Read more »
The cocked-up coup to oust SA Premier Mike Rann (read all about it here) has left a stain on the Labor Party carpet, and the various men responsible are either staring at it in disbelief or pretending it doesn’t exist.
The Premier himself has flown to India, and seems quite happy to let it fester.
A clean kill is the Holy Grail, the perpetual motion machine, the leprechaun’s gold for Labor party operatives. You would think the Gillard/Rudd experience would highlight just how difficult that is, but the factional warlords were optimistic enough to give it another go with Mr Rann.
Continue reading "Labor leadership woes: The more things change…" »
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gra gra says:
Bill is carried away with leadership ballots being a Labor Party only zone. How many leaders, (? ), have the Libs had since Howard was unceremoniously dumped by all and sundry? Or weren’t those leaders “knifed”? Were they just “strategically replaced”? Did Abbott “knife” Turnbull, or was the one-only majority… Read more »
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Ross says:
While my sympathy is with the left this Rann government is as disgusting a government has ever been formed. The disgraceful way they treat pensioners is the worst in Australia.Good riddance to all of them and the sooner the better.SA is backward state and going down hill . Read more »
We South Australians have some harebrained ideas sometimes. This week, Adelaide City Council decided to push ahead with multi-million dollar plans to revitalise the dreary and deserted Victoria Square into a major CBD hub.
That’s despite the fact that the State Government is already pushing ahead with its own multi-BILLION dollar plans to revitalise the nearby Riverbank precinct as the new city’s heart and soul.
After lengthy debate on Tuesday night, Adelaide City Council voted to invest $11.5 million on Victoria Square – despite the fact that there’s no commitment from the state or federal government to cough up the $100 million needed to complete the project.
Continue reading "How many revamped precincts does one city need?" »
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Glen T says:
Complete nonsense. Rundle Mall is dreadful because the Borders, Colorados, and the like chased out the interesting small shops that were there before, turning Rundle Mall into yet another shopping centre. Encouraging back those unqiue shops is they way to go, rather than stepping into the shopping centre glitz arm’s… Read more »
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stephen says:
Adelaide’s OK. Just ‘pre-sync’ the people. (They’re a bit ‘OJ’.) Read more »
This was a different budget. The SA Budget papers were coated in soft blue hues and carried a picture of a nurse and a baby. Even before state Treasurer Jack Snelling opened his mouth yesterday to tell assembled reporters all about his first budget the message was clear. This is a different Treasurer and a new era.
The hard edges that so oftened characterised his predecessor Kevin Foley were to be buffed smooth by Snelling. Foley used to love Budget day. He would relish the battle with the media, jumping in boots and all, to defend, sell and promote his budget.
That was all very well in the days when the Rann Government was flying high. When elections were being won and the cash was rolling in from Canberra there was plenty to shout loud about.
Continue reading "Labor PR 101: It’s about families, stupid" »
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Edward James says:
The Labor Party not just its governments has been no dam good for almost twenty years. If you really want to help Labor change, its simple vote them right out of government and into the street do not let them pick up almost four dollars of your money for each… Read more »
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Harquebus says:
Eventually, maybe. Another great die off and 50 million years of waiting. Who knows? Read more »
What is wrong with Adelaide? We call ourselves the ‘Festival State’, but far from being overrun by action we appear to be operating as a surrogate nursery for the rest of the country’s sporting events; they are born here, we suckle them, and then they unceremoniously move elsewhere. And they never call!
We lost another of our great sporting events last week, The Rugby Sevens carnival. I was lucky enough to attend two weeks ago for the carnival’s last Adelaide showcase with my son, but had I realised it was a rugby funeral I would have worn black.
The Deputy Treasurer and Minister for Tourism John Rau was unconcerned, however, by the loss of yet another great sporting event. He shrugged his shoulders and said ‘the fact is we can’t win everything’. Well, yes Minister, but why are we losing so many?
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CaptainReality says:
No jobs. Read more »
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Reggie says:
Hey nossy, aren’t you the Winton Kid, or am I thinking of someone else? If you are, never turn your back on the bright lights of Adelaide by comparison. Some of the nicest smartest people I’ve ever met come from Adelaide and although I’ve only been there once, I back… Read more »
For a blubbering, lonely, unlucky-in-love, toxic politician with a ‘hit-me’ sign on his back, SA Police Minister and former Treasurer Kevin Foley sure has risen in my estimations.
I can’t believe he’s still standing. I can’t believe he hasn’t packed his bags (no, not just for his latest overseas jaunt) and signed a lucrative deal for his own guts-spilling talkback radio show.
I can’t believe he only slightly teared up at his press conference last Monday. I’d have been pulling my hair out, frothing at the mouth and howling with sheer exasperation. Not least because of the double standards that have applied to him and Premier Mike Rann in the past 18 months.
Continue reading "Labor’s woes will not end with this man" »
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hot tub political machine says:
We probably still know them here though, in our kind of - everyone knows everything in a country town, we only have 2 degrees of seperation way. Read more »
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Tony of Poorakistan says:
Hot Tub we can’t even submit the stories and scandals for publication on here. They won’t get printed. Even when most of the population believe them to be true. Read more »
There’s nothing like a good euthanasia debate to make you wary of doctors.
Sure, they come across all innocent with their gentle bedside manners, illegible handwriting and attempts to cure what ails us. If euthanasia opponents are to be believed, though, they’re actually dastardly devils with a desire for death.
Give ’em an inch when it comes to helping us die and they’ll take a mile – not to mention solicitations from family members who want to knock us off and take our riches, too.
Continue reading "Politics has no place in how we choose to die" »
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Titia says:
I hate my life but at least this makes it berabale. Read more »
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Troy says:
Jade, you ask “where do we draw the line”? and you ask in a highly emotive way. Every system the law makers has pro’s and con’s, good and bad. To argue about small children choosing to die with dignity is a non-question, what if they do? Just because they are… Read more »
A debate about GST distribution in Australia is a debate about our future as a federation. Some states – notably Western Australia – contribute far more than their fair share to the national purse. Others – notably South Australia and Tasmania – take far more than they give.
For example, WA gets about 68c in the dollar back from the Federal Government, while SA gets around $1.30.
It’s obvious that horizontal fiscal equalisation is unfair, and that the GST has moved beyond an Australian ‘fair go’ and more towards an inequitable redistribution of wealth.
Continue reading "Time to rid Australia of the burden of Tasmania and SA" »
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Kelian says:
Seems like the Oz seecltors are following the “pick out randomly from the chit” method of selection. And I used to think that the Indian seecltors were assholes during the late 90s. They look like a batch of geniuses in front of these. And they were not even paid. Read more »
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Tim says:
So what you’re saying is… you want to oust the NT, SA - which by far have a lot more to give natural resource wise than NSW or Vic’s endless dirty amounts of coal - and then have Áustralia’existing in two separte parts on each end of the continent? You… Read more »
Can a football team change a town? Can sport become a symbol of renewal, and give a community a sense of optimism and purpose?
Elitists who regard sport as a mindless pursuit would scoff at the suggestion. They would probably hold that the only change a football team can make to a town is to pollute people’s brains with useless trivia, distract them from pressing social realities, and eat into valuable self-improvement and family time.
The 20-year history of the Adelaide Crows – sorry, the mighty Adelaide Crows – provides a compelling counterpoint to those who would dismiss sport as frivolous or meaningless.
Continue reading "How a football club helped change a city" »
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Shane says:
Oh boo hoo, Tony. The reason Adelaide doesn’t have a draw like Collingwood’s is because ... now, run off and get a pen to write this down, dear ... they are a MELBOURNE team and the majority of teams are in MELBOURNE. I suspect you’re just (Adelaide?) bitter because the… Read more »
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steve parker says:
I still remember my young daughter running out onto Brighton Road and the madness scenes with car hornes going and scarves everywhere. People were dancing and screaming. A great team in the best city in the World!!! Go you CROWS!! Good article David! Read more »
What do you call a fishing town with no fishing? Dead.
So you’d hope the South Australian government is genuine about wanting frank feedback on its idea of introducing 140 no-fishing zones along our coastline next year.
Some of my most enduring childhood memories involve tinnie boats and tangled lines. A day in the dinghy wasn’t just fun, it was an exercise in patience and perseverance, a bonding experience of family against fish, and on good days it was a few free meals for the freezer.
Continue reading "No-go fishing zones, bait for amateur anglers" »
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Ian says:
Have a look at figure 25 in this report and it will show you why marine parks and the proposed sanctuary zones are where they are going to be. Nothing to do with saving fish or habitat, its about not paying compensation to the commercial sector. no where else to… Read more »
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Charlie the Tuna says:
“fish are renewable” Again the deniers are out in full force. If you think fish are a renewable resource, you should go have a talk with the blue-fin tuna community. Nearing Extinction - The species in the greatest danger of slipping into extinction is the Western North Atlantic population (stock)… Read more »
Put the shopping basket down and step AWAY from the dairy aisle. Admit it. You were about to buy the $1 milk weren’t you?
Why? Well, as the insidious Coles jingo bleats: “Because We All Buy Milk!” You were about to save a whole 75 cents a litre.
But you were also falling for one of the dirtiest tricks in supermarket history – a trick which is possibly threatening the viability of a major Australian industry.
It all started, ironically, on Australia Day, but let’s look at the aftermath.
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czcgprlxh says:
DlsLV9 xfrpeqilmqsv, sliolrvkkrvk, [link=http://tpfvrpdkjafx.com/]tpfvrpdkjafx[/link], http://qtdqqnbunzdj.com/ Read more »
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HeatherG says:
Agreed. My mother worked for the NFF (National Farmer’s Federation) in the mid 1980s and the amount of cow-towing (pun intended) they did for the smiles of what we now know as the “big two” was ridiculous. The bending over they did back then is now coming back to haunt… Read more »
What was it that we women set out to achieve so long ago I can hardly remember the detail? Did we want to take over the world? Did we want to make men subservient to our will? Were we angry enough to march in the streets for our right for equality? No to the first two and yes, to the last.
I remember the US author Deidre Bair telling us at a Writers’ Week that what we wanted was equality, we all had men as friends, lovers, husbands, sons, brothers, we just wanted to have the same opportunities as they had and that bitterness had no place in a brave new world.
Well, for some it had, those most mistreated in some cultures, but for most of us women living in affluent Australia, it didn’t seem too hard to expect that we could easily settle for equality of opportunity. So, why now, in another century ,is it still so hard to achieve that equality?
Continue reading "SA Parliament: Where have all the women gone?" »
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Anggelo says:
Hmm, smehoow you've managed to condense the rantings of the many anti-censorship feminists (self included) into one little space. Congrats. It seems like in an effort to reclaim the Sacred Mother and Warrior Woman models, they forgot about the sacred slut, the crone (oh, just remembering that one), the lover… Read more »
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Markus says:
@Fi, Currently, it is entirely possible for women to account for 100% of seats on merit if there was such a number of qualified, experienced candidates. There is no similar mandate requiring men to account for a single seat. That the affirmative action rule exists at all is proof that… Read more »
Across Australia today a familiar push and shove is taking place as cyclists vie for space with the ever increasing numbers of cars on our roads. It is a pattern that is repeated throughout our towns and cities; a symptom of our car loving culture and sense of road entitlement from drivers and cyclists alike.
Drivers resent the packs of Lycra warriors when they take up entire lanes and invent their own road rules, and cyclists understandably fear cars which are often wielded like 100 tonnes of road clearing debris.
Neither party is blameless in this dangerous game of chicken, but it is up to state governments to appreciate the differing needs of commuters and adjust their infrastructure accordingly.
Continue reading "Ensuring safe passage for our Lycra warriors" »
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Gavin says:
On the issue of riaetlve speeds of cyclists and motorists, when I was living in Salisbury (11km south of Brisbane CBD) and cycling to work in Fortitude Valley (next to Brisbane CBD) I would usually average about 28kmh and would exceed this speed on flat or downhill stretches, and would… Read more »
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Elphaba says:
@Shifter, nooooo! Black leather pants are completely different to lycra. They have an edge. They’re badass. Mmm, black leather pants… However, after further thinking about this, Lars used to wear spandex pants on stage in the 80s. Ewww… Looks like you win. Lars can wear lycra, but if I see… Read more »
Within weeks, South Australians will have a clear idea of who will replace Premier Mike Rann before the 2014 state election.
It’s a race between Employment Minister Jack Snelling and Attorney-General John Rau - both ministerial cleanskins with with less than a year’s experience in the ministry.
Both men are jostling to take over the role of Deputy Premier which the incumbent Kevin Foley is set to step down from when he returns in three weeks from a defence industry trip to the US.
Continue reading "Snelling odds-on to replace Premier Mike Rann" »
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anti mike rann says:
what a joke why put snelling in he couldnt get speed bumps on are road due to dangerous driving and bassically parmed it off to nothing Read more »
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GManderson says:
Ah yes. 60s SA. Halcyon days, eh Smissen. Let’s see if we can just fine tune your wonky old memory a bit. bzzt skweek xxt sst zzzt ah hah, got it on the old rotary tuner! Back to 60’s SA then. The 60s. When archaic pub laws saw the disgusting… Read more »
Today the parliament of South Australia is due to debate a bill to legalise medically assisted suicide in that state.
Should the bill pass, Australia’s “festival state” will assume the dubious and rather un-festive honour of being the first to make doctor assisted suicide available to its residents.
Unlike the Northern Territory’s 1996 legislation, the federal government would be unable to overturn the South Australian Bill should it pass into law.
Continue reading "South Australia risks turning doctors into agents of death" »
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Right to Die says:
I don’t think David has ever seen someone die in agony or despair. Or does he think suffering is good for the soul? There is a time to live and a time to die and I’ll decide when and not have any religious Right to Lifers tell be what to… Read more »
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LC says:
David, I’d be more willing to bet they’ll only change their minds when it is THEY degrade slowly, spending weeks/months/years in agony and embarrassment. But by then, it’ll be too late. Read more »
Adelaide. It’s orderly, clean and quiet.
Maybe too quiet.
Because somewhere behind the odd mix of plummy accents and mullet haircuts, some seriously nasty stuff happens.
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owsyfh says:
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federal says:
Adelaide bashing - how mature. The fact is you’re more likely to get murdered anywhere else bar Tasmania or the ACT, and if you’re unlucky like the teenage girl in Port Elliot, they’ll drive over from Victoria to murder you. Which is exactly what some investigators thought happened to the… Read more »
Many Australians will be welcoming yesterday’s High Court decision in the case of The State of South Australia v. Totani & Another HCA 39 (2010). This is the second legal defeat of this unjust and draconian piece of South Australian legislation.
While most Australians will see the decision as a big win for the bike clubs against the money-wasting, selfish and bloody-minded South Australian Labor Government, from the United Motorcycle Council NSW stand-point it‘s just one more step in the right direction. We have to continue to fight until these hastily enacted and unworkable laws are defeated in our state as well.
There’s no doubt though that we are off to a very promising start. Mike Rann backed himself in the South Australian Supreme Court and lost, then with significant egg on his face took his war to the High Court using taxpayer funds only to lose there as well.
Continue reading "High Court ruling just the beginning for bikies rights" »
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N. Kelly says:
Harden up, David. Proud outlaws never gave a rats about legislation. Read more »
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Justin says:
Cheaper? Umm, you obviously miss the point. There’s a saying in motorcycling circles, a $2 lid for a $2 head. I’m sorry, but I’m happy to pay a premium for better protection. Think the AS1968 standard means theyre all the same apart from looks? Wrong, look at some tests. As… Read more »
As Labor braces itself for a voter backlash in Kevin Rudd’s home state of Queensland and the dysfunctional ALP-run fiefdom of New South Wales, there are two South Australian seats which will attract close and nervous attention from both sides of politics on election night.
It’s been a long time since South Australia has been anything other than a brief whistlestop during the national election campaign, with the major parties doing little more than upholding their obligations by paying just one visit to Adelaide, more out of politeness than anything else.
This week showed how vital SA will be on election night. I returned home this week for a flying 24-hour visit and spent half the day at the ritzy Burnside Village and the other half at the much earthier Parkholme shops, just down the road from where I grew up, talking to voters about their assessment of Gillard and Abbott.
Continue reading "Labor prays for salvation in the City of Churches" »
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Tejas says:
a quite incredible opinion piece. at the 2007 election south australia was front and centre of the election campaign. kevin rudd made multiple visits and so did john howard. kingston was the most marginal seat for the coaltion and hindmarsh was seperated by only 100 votes as well. fast forward… Read more »
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fd says:
hahahahhahaahaha .. you people would only be happy if the alp was made one of Ranns outlawed organisations, and any trace of left leanings smote from every tome that was ever written in history .. get a life.. the advertiser has been making me sick up raw bile in my… Read more »
It’s not often in politics that a single sentence can guarantee you victory in four vital seats which have historically been among the most volatile and closely-fought in the Federal Parliament.
But Adelaide’s own ex-pat Melburnian Prime Minister Julia Gillard may have done just that with one inspired and clearly-enunciated line in her debut press conference as Labor Party Leader.
“I grew up in the great state of South Australia…”
Continue reading "Why Adelaide’s own Julia Gillard can sweep SA" »
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Tim says:
Alan… You’re not too bright are you. When you criticise the just about every facet of our lives and the policies that govern them, make sure you’re using the correct punctuation or you just look like a fool. Are you a fool? As for all this parochial nonsense as to… Read more »
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Steve says:
Ah Penbo maaate, When ya wake up tomorrow, The Handbags will still have lost the 78 GF and fabulous Phil ‘The Penguin” Gallagher will still have been pushed in the back and kicked the game clincher. Julia, on the other hand, may have renounced what left-leaning tendencies she still has… Read more »
VOTERS are a fickle lot. The extent of their capriciousness can be told with the tale of two governments: Mike Rann’s generally competent Labor administration in South Australia, which is facing possible defeat today, and that crazy sideshow act in NSW now under the care of a new ringleader, a likable American-born woman called Kristina Keneally, who is harnessing public sympathy if not pity as the basis for an improbable political comeback.
Rann has presided over a state where job growth has surged and investment has boomed. The one-time basket case of the national economy, which younger people (like me) were keen to flee in the backdraft of the State Bank collapse 15 years ago, now finds itself in the once-unimaginable position of having the lowest level of unemployment in Australia.
Continue reading "Tale of two premiers plays to mixed reviews" »
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Michael says:
oh please oh please let Michael Atkinson loose his seat… to anyone, but to a gamers party candidate would just be delicious, please no more suggestions that Rann can come to NSW, we have enough corrupt pigs at the parliament trough. NSW Labor take note, next election we are gunna… Read more »
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Sam Chowder says:
SA State parliament waitresses beware - his tail is up Read more »
It’s been pilloried in song by Paul Kelly as a stuffy and boring place where nothing interesting ever happens, but if someone made a film about the past five months of politics in the City of Churches it would probably attract an MA rating.
Economically and culturally South Australia is humming along. Just 10 years ago, in the backdraft of the $3.15 billion collapse of the State Bank on Labor’s watch, it was an economic basketcase which young people were queuing to leave.
Last Thursday, on the day I started this piece by sitting down with Premier Mike Rann, the national employment figures confirmed that SA has yet again registered the lowest jobless rate in the land.
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Refugee says:
I have to wonder about the whole “Wind Farms” idea not having any dissent.I recall a lot of NIMBY dissent, most especially when Rann put a wind turbine right on top of an Aboriginal grave site. People begged him (from all walks of life) to just move that one turbine… Read more »
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Patricia says:
David, don’t be taken in by Rann-spin. There are plenty of people who are not getting enough hours, not getting work in their field etc. The elephant in the room you didn’t address is the corruption. Rann can pretend everything is hunky-dory and sure, the Chantelois saga has exposed the… Read more »
UPDATE 11.55pm: SA Attorney General Mick Atkinson has backed down and will repeal the ban on anonymous internet comments.
It is self-evident that websites can be used by imposters and small-time fraudsters to create a false reflection of public opinion on political issues. But there’s no excuse for the South Australian government’s breathtaking censorship tactics ahead of the state election.
Sure, anonymous comments are a problem. There’s a guy posting on the Punch lately who has assumed 21 different identities in four days. He first came on the radar at the weekend after he left a tell-tail trail by posting two similar comments in quick succession. He could have been immediately banned but was given rope.
On a single thread he posted under the names Ronnel, James, Wendy, Rachel, Brad, Jan, Bill, Roger, Janette, Francis, Annie, Randall, Brendon, Judith and Connie. Though I’ve never met him I have an unusually clear picture of what he looks like, which is as follows.
Continue reading "Rann’s sledgehammer too big for online nuts" »
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Jason says:
I was asked by the Punch (after my first post) to use my real name and obliged. Probably the only place online I would do that, but it seems well moderated and has some of the most entertaining discussions I’ve found. It’s fun, and it’s stimulating and it gives lots… Read more »
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Rod Freeman says:
So what, big deal if people have to put their name to their own words. Anonymous comments aren’t worth a pinch of salt. Those that think we have “free” speech in Australia after that Fredrick Toben matter are fooling themselves. Unfortunately we have ‘conditional’ speech in Australia. You may speak,… Read more »
Welcome to Monday @ The Punch
South Australia was founded today in 1836.
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Steve Parker says:
McLaren Vale wineries including Kay Brothers, Coriole and Fox Creek, the Barossa Valley, Kangaroo Island and the acknowledged prettiest Test ground in the World - the Adelaide Oval. What a shame that our State Government is allowing it to be gutted for the great God the AFL, some extra seats… Read more »
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stephen says:
It has the prettiest country in all of Australia. Adelaide, though, needs a good dose of corporate ‘sponsorship’. e.g. Multinationals should be enticed-bribed- to establish headquarters there as the city is under-developed. Read more »
The people shuffled in, pair by pair. They clutched hands, and their eyes shimmered with excitement.
As they got within sight of the object of their worship, cameras snapped frantically. One woman, in the middle of a crowd of people on a sunny summer day, started crying. Overwhelmed and transported, she smiled through her tears.
Mary MacKillop’s tomb? Nup, panda enclosure. Adelaide Zoo.
Continue reading "I love pandas but I couldn’t eat a whole one" »
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WC says:
I must say I find it a bit sad that I can’t be moved by fat creatures who are too lazy to even get it on. When did the child in me die? Read more »
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Liz says:
K you can’t change nature,it’s the way of pandas and they won’t change to suit us.How do you know what I do that’s practical? It certainly wouldn’t be going to China and adding to the tourist revenue.“greener than thou” elitism…nicest thing anyone has said all week.Thank you. Read more »
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From: Punch on: Open thread 09/02/2012
marley says:
I'm one of the older ones, so I've certainly seen a few changes in my time. When I started school I learned to write with a nib pen, dipped in an inkwell (no, I'm not kidding). My mother became a dab hand at getting inkstains out of my clothes. Flicking ink at one another in the classroom was an essential… [read more]From: I’d rather have a piece of toast than listen to crap lyrics
Erick says:
Led Zeppelin are responsible for my all-time favourite mixed metaphor: "There you sit, sit and stare, like a book on a shelf rusting." (Misty Mountain Hop) I laugh every time I hear it. Hmmm, I believe I've decided what to play on the way to work today. [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
No wuckin forries. These nuckin futs are tuckin fops
Well, puck me with a fitchfork. The F-word is apparently an acceptable part of Australian speech. That’s… Read more
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