Let me take you back. Way, way back to the evening of December 2, 2017. The Prime Minister and his deputy stood arm in arm at the West Tamworth Leagues Club. Joyce had just won the New England by-election by a thumping margin and Turnbull declared he was “putting the band back together.”
Ah, good times.
Alas, rock stars and politicians are, if nothing else, a difficult and unpredictable lot. Velvet Underground reformed and got halfway through a European tour in 1992 before the band’s two enormous egos, Lou Reed and John Cale, remembered why the band had split up in the first place. The two men hated the sight, let alone the creeping presence, of one another. The tour and the reunion ended abruptly, and Reed and Cale went their separate ways.
The Turnbull-Joyce combo did not come to grief because of crippling personality conflict. although it may do so at some time in the near future. But back then the band had only broken up when Joyce discovered his unfortunate New Zealand-news. We subsequently learned the High Court did not so hold and Joyce was off to a by-election that on the parliamentary numbers at least, threatened the Turnbull government’s majority.
Full column here.
Penny 10.52pm, financially at least Barnaby is going to lose half of what assets he currently has if not more in a divorce. He’s no use to his powerful “friends” if he’s no longer deputy PM.
Add a halving of salary if he is rolled and goes to the back bench and a partner who will now find it hard to get work plus a child to support, not looking too rosy is it?
Hell of a cost for roll in the hay and probably won’t go the distance, then there’ll be half of whatever assets he has left.
I was only thinking that this morning Tracy, mind you I have no idea why I was thinking of Barnaby Joyce this morning….
No need to go all the way to Bali. Just hop on a cruiseship in Melbourne…….
Vulgarity is best described as the wrong people doing the wrong things.
Not my quote. There was an interesting talk on RN on the subject.
Oh God that was funny. A laugh out loud moment.
The closing credits on The Insiders had Andrew Leigh, smiling happily, wishing us all a Happy Valentines day.
”The sun is shining, it’s a beautiful day and there’s no more romantic city like Canberra – Happy Valentines day!”
Um, so it seems………
? maybe it was a clip from last year?
o Boadicea says: FEBRUARY 14, 2018 AT 10:48 PM
Perhaps i should have mentioned that localised power failures are usually caused by fallen trees onto power lines. We have plenty of hydro electricity
Despite the efforts of loggers we still have a lot of trees here – big ones. And they sometimes fall over in 50knot winds – which we had today.
o Dismayed says: FEBRUARY 16, 2018 AT 9:52 PM
Yvonne you have gone from 50km/h yesterday to 60 knots today? How can anyone believe anything that spews out of your mouth?
Yes, it was worth going back to look it up. Because when you are in a corner you just start to distort things, going off on a defensive tangent about SA – which I never once mentioned by the way – and very rudely verbal people I as merely correcting your incorrect statement that Tasmania was ”blacked out”. I did not verbal you or ridicule you. Just gave you the facts. No wonder Razor laughs at you.
Can you read the 50 knots there? Can you read? – or do you just cut and paste someone else’s thoughts.?
This will bring a string of abuse from you . Go for it, you fool.
I am confused I don’t know who I am?????????
butt twunch…h/t John Birmingham
Well chappie I say you are either Malcolm Turnbull or Tony Abbott? Hope that helps. Cheers
Here’s a mad scenario-it pays not to be away in bad times. Turnbull goes to the USA. Bonking Barnes says to save the Coalition I need someone I can work with. Call a spill and install Abbott or Dutts-deal done Hee hee!
Brilliant columns from Kelly and Van O in the Oz. The 1st decent thing PK has written in Yonks.
Paul Kelly continually writes brilliant pieces. The best journo I have seen in my lifetime. His insight is incredible.
Totally biased for many years now. A journalist who I cannot name who works for the Oz cannot understand the change in him. He used to be the best middle of the road journalist in the land….after Oakes of course who would never sell out.
“and he wore a hat
and he had a job
and he brought home the bacon
so that no one knew”…..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b-nFSUXcuM
Gay Alcorn in the Guardians
“But the way AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan framed the reasons for his decision was similar to Turnbull’s approach – this was somehow about “respecting” women, when it is it the opposite. The executives were really sacked for being adulterers – both were married at the time. Is that really where we are headed? Is that really what we want?”
Ms Alcorn is spot on, the two AFL execs were sacked for adultery and that to me is weird.
the question is whether Barnaby is being given the push to go for adultery?. if he is that is plain wrong.
it certainly sounded like that was Turnbull’s reasoning. it was all about the damage Barnaby had caused Natalie.
Turnbull may well be smart, but he has bugger all common sense and zero political judgement. He has taken a manageable problem and made it worse.
Somewhere else in the paper today it was reported that 40% of people in relationships met their partner at work, so how is that banning sex in the workplace going to go do we think.
I personally think that most modern HR practices are a blight, the world was a better place when they were known as the pay office, but even they can see that a bonking ban is bad idea.
i also saw Josh Bernstein on Q&A said he thought this whole idea was born of panic, and it sure looks he is right.
has barnaby acted corruptly?
finding a job for a staffer is not unknown in Canberra, often done for political reasons, i.e. we need to keep this person on lets find a job we can allocate them, and it gets murky for sure.
this is murkier and may have a political cost, but it is not corruption in my view.
staff jobs are not public service jobs required to be advertised and awarded on merit, they are political jobs in the gift of the parties and Ministers concerned, always have been.
Totally agree on the pay office Jack, and for the life of me cant stand the title “Director of People”. Big brother more like it.
As for adultery, you may not have caught up with the new game of AFLX. Talk about screwing bhind your partner’s back, it is an abomination formhich the AFL will pay dearly.
Some may have noticed, Jack, the write-up on the Hollywood actrESS who “played a tough waitrESS” and who has been prompted to have a go at BJ. That piece may be a glowing example of ‘eating one’s cake and having it, too’ but, surely, it’s an offence to the TTIQAX community.
Nice one with the ESS HU. Now I can spend the day interpreting TTIQAX (wraith, help!)
on your own with that one Im afraid
damn….lurking for nowt
I just love Barnaby’s comment about implied intervention in National Party politics.
If the NP could be trusted to do the right thing by Australia, no intervention would be required.
Sadly, they can’t.
You’re dead right TO! The National Party represent a weird mob outside the cities. The Greens?