Newsflash from my old Department – Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy: Australia Day Awards to staff. Where did the most impressive minions toil? The National Broadband Network (most impressive over-expenditure on consultants)? No. The Digital Switchover Taskforce (most impressive over-expenditure on groovy self-promoting jackets)? No. The innovative Indigenous Community Phones program? No. The largest program administered by the Department – Australian Broadband Guarantee? No. The ever-popular Net Filtering implementation? God forbid. No.

The work which was considered of the most value by the DBCDE Executive in 2009 was to the officer who oversaw…the replacing of the carpet. Yes folks, those same executives are deciding what you see on the Internet, who builds the $43 billion NBN, how long your television will work, etc etc. Be afraid, be very afraid.

The Magical World of John Paul Langbroek — so wrote Crikey in September last year. Well things aren’t getting any better for the Qld LNP leader, his own party apparently determined to do him in. Earlier this month Langbroek declared to the Gold Coast Bulletin that his party was experiencing ‘complete unity’ (15 Jan 10, p21). Somebody obviously forgot to tell his backbench.

Cathy Border on Ten Brisbane last night led with an exclusive — LNP backbencher Aidan McLindon, Member for Beaudesert, branded his party leadership useless with the LNP having no chance of winning the next election. Border managed to get her hands on a leaked email sent to MPs and party HQ in which McLindon says, ‘Crew, I have to be honest but we are not yet in the race. We simply do not have the basics right yet. Until we get this right we will continue to drag ourselves around in quicksand.’

Most in the LNP suspect three time political loser Lawrence Springborg and his right hand of many years, adviser Jake Smith, are behind this latest attack on Langbroek. Having carried out his dirty work McLindon spent most of the afternoon in a coffee shop on George Street, alone, mobile glued to his ear.

Further confirmation that the Springborg camp is circling Langbroek, one Kevin Martin has been installed as Langbroek’s chief of staff, with Langbroek apparently under a great deal of pressure from party HQ to make the appointment. Martin is an old National Party hack who was once chief of staff to… Lawrence Springborg, in his first outing as National Party leader.

Kevin 07 has certainly become Kevin 10 though it isn’t as catchy. Who else would have dozens of staff working through the Australia Day “weekend” patching together iteration no.? Of a comprehensive, coordinated health reform policy? But not keeping each silo informed about the others work and imposing PMC devised over- the -top organisation structures with no evidence base to their effectiveness or appropriateness?