Walters just taking next cab on rank. There used to be (and maybe still is) a group called ‘Lawyers for Labor’ — presumably members of the legal profession who identified with the Labor Party. It would make an interesting exercise to check out what kind of clients such Labor-leaning lawyers took on board as part of their legal work. My hunch is that such lawyers, like Greens candidate and barrister Brian Walters, follow the ‘next cab in the rank’ procedure when it comes to taking clients who they may or may not agree with in terms of their personal conduct or political alliance. I think the response to Walters has been rightly judged by most people as just a desperate but clumsy attempt to lessen his chances of knocking of embattled Labor minister Bronwyn Pyke in the now very Green electorate of Melbourne.

Is Churchill the Fairfax scrooge? Fairfax’s breadline wage offer to Fairfax Community Newspapers employees is the brainchild of Age CEO Don Churchill. Even seasoned Fairfax executives are questioning the wisdom of the miserly offer that has so embittered the company’s employees. Despite plummeting revenues and circulation it is rumoured Churchill has once again benefitted from the Fairfax bonus scheme.

Free Newspaper Tracker: Spotted in a Franklins supermarket recently, where they offered a free Daily Telegraph if you spent $5 or more on groceries, two customers making multiple purchases in $5 lots. Around 25 copies of the Daily Telegraph were ‘purchased’ this way. This sure makes you wonder about newspaper circulation figures.

The buzz around the airport fence. The management of Bankstown Airport must be extremely concerned about intruders. Unrestrained by any laws or regulations, they have erected an electric fence.