The “enlist the ‘A’ list” trend in the ALP is proceeding apace with the decision to remove preselections from the hands of local branch members with the avowed intent of placing people like Greg Combet, George Newhouse, Colonel Mike Kelly and George Williams into key seats. It is further evidence for what I call the […]

Why should you vote for Kevn Rudd? Because Rudd leads the major party in Australia not committed to radical change. That’s the message from this last weekend’s conference. Rudd has been running hard on two issues – IR and Greenhouse. His solution to IR is to wind the clock back to somewhere in the mid-Twentieth […]

News Limited papers are abuzz with the news this morning that “Rudd is more likely to tell truth: voter poll” and that this means that “JOHN Howard has a major credibility problem”. After the last election where “Trust” trumped “Truth” you’d have thought that journalists would know by now that electors think there are more […]

I doubt whether Clarke and Dawe would take the gig, but John Howard ought to offer them a consultancy on political strategy. Last night’s 7:30 report segment finds the range on Rudd and makes some big hits. First the frame: JOHN CLARKE: Let me ask you a question Brian. Are we in this country thoroughly […]

Reader and geologist Peter Ravenscroft thinks Brisbane’s dams might be leaking as much water as residents are drinking. It’s a speculative view, but one I thought worth publishing to see if anyone knows what the story is. “Wivenhoe Dam seems to be leaking very seriously. We may be losing nearly as much water as we […]

Something’s been niggling me about the Rudd campaign, and now, thanks to the British Tories I know what it is. Rudd has just been fingered by Irwin Stelzner in this article in the Telegraph (thanks to Crikey for the tip), along with British Tory Leader David Cameron, as one of the new brigade in the […]

I now have the figures for the Liberal Party senate preselection result and they tend to indicate a complete collapse in the Santoro support base. In the final ballot Sue Boyce had 142 votes and Bob Quinn 84. While Quinn was supported by Santoro, you can’t count all of those 84 as Santoro bloc. Without […]

Congratulations to Sue Boyce for her preselection as the Liberal Party’s new senator for Queensland. Without wanting to belittle Boyce’s victory, she was the obvious candidate, and she won despite the handicap of me tipping her as the most likely candidate! Sad to see Bob Quinn defeated as the runner up – he didn’t need […]

Santo Santoro has yet to resign from the Senate, and sources say that the President of the Senate has yet to even receive a letter from him advising when he will resign. In the meantime he continues to use government resources to this week mail party members glossy self-boosting publications and to lobby preselection delegates […]

Bruce Flegg’s decision to leave Tim Nicholls on the front-bench after his abortive leadership coup is either an attempt to break the system of factional pay-back in the Queensland Libs, or a sign that every player in this party wins a prize. It could just as easily be either. Flegg’s not your typical politician, as […]