Going Cheap!

A heap of copies of the Julia Gillard biography The Making of Julia Gillard by Jacqueline Kent was seen today going for ten bucks a pop in the remainders bin at my local Angus & Robertsons. The price is sure to go down in the new year. And if you are in the mood for a bargain political read for the summer holidays, any respectable secondhand bookshop will have a shelf devoted to pre-loved copies of books about and by Mark Latham.

Julia does not approve

"I know there are a lot of people who are fans of Wikileaks. Let me make it very, very clear: I am not."
- Prime Minister Julia Gillard, December 17th 2010

What is that saying? If you have nothing to hide you've got nothing to worry about.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/i-am-not-a-fan-of-wikileaks-says-australias-prime-minister-julia-gillard/story-e6frf7jx-1225972774385

A political quote to ponder

If Mark had become Prime Minister, he would have had around him an absolutely first-class front bench which would have taken care of any emergency situation that arose....If anything went seriously wrong with the leadership while we were in office, we would have dealt with it.

- Kim Beazley about Mark Latham, quoted in the 2008 book Power plays by Laurie Oakes, p. 326-7

Isn't this news? Isn't this BIG news?

This story was on the front page of the Australian newspaper today, Friday December 17th 2010. When I saw the paper at the Woolies supermarket today I thought "Gosh! She lies like a rug! What a scheming cow! Is it news that a pollie lies like a rug? Maybe not, but still the issue is rather important. I think it is news, but this evening I didn't notice the story on the TV news. I can't find the story on the ABC's news website and it is buried deep within the bowels of the Australian's website. WTF?

I'm also wondering why I can't find the cable that the story was based upon, cable number 09CANBERRA545, at the WikiLeaks website. The website of the Australian newspaper have published it, which can be found here:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/australian-wikileaks-cables/story-fn59niix-1225971723172

"Julia Gillard 'after top job a year before coup': WikiLeaks"
By Patricia Karvelas
The Australian
December 17, 2010
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/julia-gillard-after-top-job-a-year-before-coup-wikileaks/story-fn59niix-1225972416553
http://www.news.com.au/national/julia-gillard-after-top-job-a-year-before-coup-wikileaks/story-e6frfkvr-1225972601117?from=public_rss