Following Andrew. Yesterday the News tabloid columnist Andrew Bolt warned his readers that one disillusioned day they would hear from many who now work with the Prime Minister that how Rudd seems is bizarrely different to how he is. “I don’t just mean that this publicly prissy churchgoer is privately a foul-mouthed, arrogant, paranoid and abusive control freak,” said the column, “but that many of his brightest ideas swiftly flop.”
This morning those very same tabloids did not wait for staffers to deliver their verdict but put the boot in themselves. Alongside a photo of a very sour-faced Kevin Rudd were details of the very high staff turnover in the offices of the Prime Minister and other ministers.
The aim clearly was to confirm the Boltian message about Kevin Rudd not really being a nice kind of bloke but I’m not sure that the end result won’t be too increase his support among voters rather than lower it. There’s not much public sympathy for public servants be they ones that work on the private staff of ministers or in government departments. The idea that they are made to work extremely hard is more likely to be applauded than condemned.
How tweet it is. All those lovely little tweets are now to be preserved for posterity. The US Library of Congress overnight sent out this message:
Among the beneficiaries of the new archiving policy will be Queensland Premier Anna Bligh who has become an inveterate twitterer. Yesterday she re-opened that perennial debate up north about day light saving with some well chosen words to her followers the produced this glowing welcome from the Gold Coast Bulletin where they clearly find it inconvenient to spend half a year 100 years and an hour behind New South Wales.
In case you missed it. An interesting read in The Australian this morning assuming the facts are right. David Biles, a consultant criminologist who was head of research with the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, reminded his readers that it is still the case that non-Aboriginal prisoners are more likely to die than Aboriginal prisoners. In a piece entitled Aborigines less likely to die in prison than others he touches on what was apparently a matter of some debate within the Royal Commission at the time. I doubt that I am the only person who thought that Aborigines were more likely to die in custody than other groups.
Itchyworms and sugarfree. Tie a yellow ribbon and call in the bands. There are some novel campaign methods in the Philippines election campaign that is now in full swing. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports this morning that in the homestretch of the presidential election, front-runner Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III will tie yellow ribbons around the country during a nonstop 17-day concert caravan aimed at binding the youth vote. Concerts are expected to draw the youth to the streets and join popular bands and musicians like Parokya ni Edgar, Kamikazee, Spongecola, Hale, Moonstar88, Itchyworms, Sugarfree and Noel Cabangon and other celebrities as part of the campaign proceedings.
Gotta love the AHA. You have to hand it to the Australian Hotels Association. They are a lobby group without peer with an amazing capacity to turn black into white. There was their spokeswoman on Sydney television the other night bemoaning the inaccuracy of crime figures collected by the police and saying how no notice could be taken of data showing the enormity of the drunken violence problem. And she said it with a completely serious straight face even though the whole point of the criticism of the police figures is that they understate such problems as street violence caused by patrons of AHA establishments.
For the umpteenth time Bolt has shown what an absolute disgracful member of the 4th estate he is. How his peers can be in the same room as him, astounds me. His personal attacks on the PM are now such, not even at the height of the 07 election was Howard subject to such gutter level reporting from any avenue. Along with his right wing cronies at News Ltd, from the day Rudd became parliamentary leader of the Labor Party, the assault has been building and it is to the PM’s credit he has worked on regardless.
What Bolt doesn’t have the honesty to say, those who join the PM’s staff do it because they want to, they are not dragged there kicking and screaming in chains. There has been an abundance of publicity about Kevin Rudds work ethic, with Bolt and his equally abusive Mate Akerman leading the charge.
Apart from the rightous right, the majority will regard Bolt for what he is, a professional muck raker.
The Philippine elections are fascinating and much more interesting than elections in Australia. Mainly because the election process could be regarded more as a distraction from than a decision about who runs the country.
But the yellow ribbons are a shameless appropriation of the symbology of the people power revolution, led by Noynoy’s revered late mother Cory. Cory was the ‘reluctant housewife’ who took over leadership of the anti-Marcos opposition when her husband Ninoy was gunned down on arrival at Manila airport.
Noynoy has carefully appropriated the image and respect belonging to his parents. For example, at a time when he was widely expected to announce his candidacy for the presidency, he declined to nominate, until he had taken a ‘reflection retreat’ to pray for guidance. Very cute, as it was obvious he would stand, but essential for him to recreate the actions of his mother when she was asked to stand as a candidate.
Noynoy’s campaign is carefully manufactured to the point of cynicism. In multiple TV debates his understanding and approach to policy seems naive and in some ways childlike, but he presses his popularity by constant claims to the moral high ground. Underlying it is his sense of entitlement – like all the credible candidates he comes from a rich family which has wielded power for generations. Not totally successfully though; his father was assassinated before taking office. His grandfather was placed in power by the Japanese, and had to go into exile when the US retook the Philippines – eventually he was located in Tokyo and returned to the Philippines and immediately rehabilitated to his former money, status and influence.
The real question, how will Noynoy handle it when he wins the election and actually becomes president. He might find it hard to maintain his whiter-than-white image given that maintenance of power in the Philippines requires the incumbent to manage a feudal system based on influence trading and patronage.
As a result of The Daily Telegraph’s front page frothing I foresee hordes of irate citizens marching & chanting in defence of public servants being made to perform to their optimum. Overwhelming numbers of voters will be incensed by any suggestion that their taxes are supporting workers who are required to have a high work/efficiency ethic.
Whether one admires, loathes or is indifferent to K Rudd, I have yet to hear a single voice amongst the Great Unwashed gripe that he is too focussed on his role as PM & should put in less effort.
But some ex-public servants may have another view.
The Rudd article was interesting. He actually has lower than average turnover, compared to his ministers. But never let the facts get in the way, etc, etc. I also understand that a good chunk of the turnover is staffers moving between ministers, which is more like internal transfers than real turnover. Again, don’t let facts interfere. All that said, 59% turnover does sound high. Does anyone have any comparable figures?
> non-Aboriginal prisoners are more likely to die than Aboriginal prisoners. … [I] thought that Aborigines were more likely to die in custody than other groups.
Both statements could be true; remember that Aboriginals are disproportionately likely to be in prison. (My understanding was that Aboriginal prisoners and non Aboriginals prisoners have similar mortality rates, but I could be wrong.)
The perception is that public servants don’t work that hard anyway — compared to some day-jobbers, so it won’t get any traction – just like everything The Dolt and Ack-Ack Man try on the PM.
It’s no indictment, but I recall going for a backroom job at Centrelink many years ago. I was told that the job was quite different from a normal day job, and that unless I could handle stretching one hour’s normal work across eight hours, I was probably not suited to the position and wouldn’t last long. I gathered they were keen on someone long-term.
However, the truth, as Ben Aveling says, doesn’t get in the way of a good beat-up for any of the extreme right-wing Fox/News Ltd outlets here and in the US.