Senator Andrew Bartlett
Thursday, September 30, 2004
 
Some OK articles in some of the papers about the Press Club speech, although nothing to suggest there'd been any major shift of consciousness in journalist land about the urgent need to give greater attention to the potential Senate outcome. Totally atrocious coverage in one paper who shall remain nameless and none at all in another.

Stopped into a Sanity CD store with my staff person so they could buy a Jeff Buckley CD who they'd just discovered. No copy of Rock Against Howard in sight!! Hard to believe, either it’s a slack store or they are selling heaps of copies! (should have gone to Big Star records down the road).

I don’t know much Jeff Buckley stuff – I know enough to know he's dead though – but I really like his version of Hallelujah. I happened to mention this to my staff person, along with the fact that it is originally a Leonard Cohen song, which was something they didn't know. Upon discovering that the existence of Leonard Cohen himself was also something they were unaware of, I did an impulse buy of a Cohen compilation containing the original version of the song.

I've got every Cohen album, plus one of his earlier compilations. This was a 2CD effort which I hadn't heard of but which is a new one, containing 31 tracks from each of his 10 studio albums except the Phil Spector produced one, which seems to be universally regarded as a disaster (it's a pity some of those songs weren't re-recorded without the unwieldy production, although a couple of them scrub up OK). Another example of my building my CD collection with stuff I've basically already got, rather than expanding my horizons with new music.

Anyway, I lent it to my staff person straight away so they could compare the original Hallelujah with the later one.

Released our package of refugees measures - nothing dramatically new, but a reminder about the suffering still being endured by a group of people who were the central attack targets of the last campaign, but all but forgotten in this one. I discovered John Howard had just gone into at a function across the road at the Hilton. I guess if I stood outside and blew a raspberry at him I'd get on the news - something I doubt will occur from me having done a press conference on the continuing suffering of refugees.

I was with our SA State MP, Kate Reynolds, a really effective politician who also shares some of my community development perspective on how politics could and should work, and we bumped into an Iranian couple we had visited at Baxter detention centre a few months earlier. It was wonderful to see them and their young boy free in the middle of town. We went around to the local refugee legal centre and saw another couple and their gorgeous 15 month old girl who had been released just the week before. Again they were very happy to be free, but they all are still faced with immense uncertainty, released on Bridging Visas which give them no support and no security. They've been released from one form of torture into another.

I had a free hour near the end of the day and rang a friend of mine to see if they were free to catch up. It turned out they were waiting outside the Hilton Hotel for John Howard to come out again with some people protesting about live animal exports. By the time I got there, John Howard had left, with about 20 young Greens and socialists chanting abuse at the police for reasons which weren't particularly clear to me. My friend was nearby, trying to catch their breath after being crushed in the sudden rush as the above mentioned protesters charged forward when the PM came out.

Also there was Lucy the sheep who has featured in some of the TV news broadcasts over the last few weeks. I took the chance to get a few photos taken, which may appear on my site sometime soon. Definitely a cute sheep, although it's a bit dangerous for her to hang out outside ALP and Liberal functions, they'll grab her and stick on one of those death ships if she's not careful.

Had a good chat with my friend (who now that I think about it, I've probably only met about 5 or 6 times in my life over about 5 years, but it's still a good enough description for me). They seemed to be exuding general wellbeing - I must find out the secret sometime - so I absorbed some of their positive life force to help give me an extra boost as we hit the last 10 days.

Jumped on another plane (have I mentioned how much I LOATHE flying?) - doing an event focusing on multiculturalism tomorrow and will probably announce a couple of other things too.


posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Thursday, September 30, 2004
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Tuesday, September 28, 2004
 
Received a lot of positive feedback from the speech to the Press Club. It's impossible for me to be objective about it obviously and also hard for me to judge when I'm delivering it rather than on the receiving end like everyone else.

However, the feedback was more positive than usual. Still, you can never tell if it will get coverage and if so, which aspects or what angle will be put on it.

I received a nice little crystal bowl as a gift. You end up getting a lot of little gifts over the course of a year. I imagine if I was a Minister or something like that I'd end with a lot more. The gesture is always appreciated, but it's hard to know what to do with some of them. Very few are of major value, so giving them away to staff or friends or family is usually OK (or even keeping them for myself, which I do from time to time).

Back onto another plane and over to Adelaide. Releasing a package of measures aimed at reminding people about the ongoing plight of the many refugees and asylum seekers in our society.

Man I HATE plane travel. It's OK being in different places all the time and meeting different people (although I do miss home and my little girl rather a lot at times), but the sitting around on planes and in airports and on the way to and from airports drives me nuts.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Tuesday, September 28, 2004
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I've always enjoyed visiting Tasmania. It really is an exceptionally beautiful place and I'd heartily recommend it to anyone. Even though I've lived all my life in Brisbane, I'm not a big fan of the heat and I often appreciated the soothing cool that Tassie provides.

The visit was too short as always. I'm starting to develop a list of things I will try to do in the months after the election. One of them is to spend two or three days in the North-West of the state. I've only really been over that way once or twice – and then only as far as Burnie and Wynyard. I'm sure it has its unique characteristic which can only fully be appreciated by visiting and meeting with some of the people that live there.

Back on another one of those planes and back to Canberra. I have to give our pre-election speech to the Press Club and need to prepare a bit. It'll be hard to get big coverage out of it, but getting/keeping the focus on the Senate will be the aim.

It's a very clear-cut and straightforward message, and in my view clearly an essential and correct one. The very much harder bit is making everyone else's view coincide with mine. We'll all see soon enough I guess.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Tuesday, September 28, 2004
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Monday, September 27, 2004
 
A weekend of watching the AFL Grand Final on the TV (a sad result in my view, but still an amazing effort from the Lions over 4 years), preparing for and then doing Meet The Press on Sunday morning. I was followed by Andrea Mason from Family First party. The absurdly exaggerated claims about Family First being an extreme right wing party were pretty clearly left unsubstantiated, but I guess that won't stop them being repeated.

Finally had a look at the Green Party's blog today - I saw a release a couple of weeks back describing it as another 'election first'. It is a good idea, I wish I'd thought of it first. I noted that their first posting of any substance was an attack on me coupled with repetition of the lie of Family First being "far right" and "kooky right-wing nut jobs".

Sadly, I didn't find it surprising. Although it was refreshing to see that the person posting this piece of brave election commentary had such courage of their convictions that they ensured their identity was clear, submitting their piece under the easily identifiable name of "Administrator."

Taking Howard's silly exaggerated description of the Greens as 'kooky' and using it to make a silly exaggerated attack on another party seemed to show a nicely distorted sense of irony, too. Although for some strange reason, the details weren't there about the Greens preferencing the NonCustodial Parents party, with their policies of abolishing child support and the family court, ahead of the Democrats. Must have been a technical glitch.

I'd sort of hoped that an election blog might be a chance for a bit more openness, rather than an excuse to be even more crassly biased and dishonest than with 'straight' commentary.

Anyway, for more insights into the Greens contribution to bringing more reason into political debate, go to http://www.greens.org.au/blog/ElectionBlog

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Monday, September 27, 2004 Permalink
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Friday, September 24, 2004
 
I flew to Melbourne Friday morning on a 6am flight. I had one of those awful 'wake up to turn off the alarm and then go straight back to sleep' experiences, waking up 20 minutes after I was due to leave. Fortunately my exceptionally wise, long-suffering and underpaid staff person who books all these things for me has learnt to book my cars about 20 minutes earlier than I need them purely for this sort of eventuality (either that or she just takes perverse pleasure in making me get up earlier than she knows I have to). Made it to the airport with 7 minutes to spare, but needing a shave.

Did media events on higher education and young people in nursing homes – one of those 'forgotten' issues.

There are thousands of very disabled young people who for various reasons do not have suitable facilities who end up in aged care facilities because there's nowhere else for them. You don't need to think too long to realise these are totally inappropriate facilities for any young person, let alone people who with appropriate intensive therapy can often be significantly rehabilitated.

I met three of those young people, plus their parents. It was hard to know who to admire more, the parents or the youngsters. They'll always have something of a bigger burden to carry than the rest of us, but there's no reason why that burden can't be significantly reduced. One of the girls, Angela, was a real charmer, but all of the young people were people who were still contributing and could contribute far more if they and their families got the proper assistance.

Through no fault of their own, they'd just fallen through some of the gaps in our system. I'm sure the gap can be fixed, but on top of everything else, they're having to put a lot of energy into making people aware that the gap exists. If determination was any indication of success, I think they'll get there, but they really shouldn't be having to be doing it. Anyway, I hope I can help them along the way.

It's grand final eve in Melbourne – I guess it's the right city to be in for a footy fan, let alone a Brisbane Lions fan. I feel reasonably confident they can pull off another win – even put a $20 bet on them to win just to show a bit of extra faith. However, there's no such thing as a certainty, especially in a two horse race.

Another early start tomorrow – am attending the Grand Final breakfast put on by the Kangaroos. There's lots of GF breakfasts these days, but this is the major one. I imagine Howard and Latham will be there. Crean was there last year, but Howard's daughter was getting married then if recall rightly.

This is the one where they play a little excerpt of a song as they introduce you to the crowd. Don Chipp has been going for many years and they usually introduce him by playing "I Started a Joke" by the Bee Gees. Last year they played "The Impossible Dream" for my intro. This year it will probably be something hilarious like "1 bourbon, 1 scotch, 1 beer" or "I Drink Alone" by George Thorogood. Anyway, I'm sure it will be fun.

Unfortunately I haven't got a ticket to the game itself. I'd love to see a Grand Final live one day, but it'll be great just to sit back and watch the game for a few hours and forget about everything else for a while. Still, I have to do Meet the Press at 8.30 on Sunday morning, so I best not switch off for too long.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Friday, September 24, 2004 Permalink
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Thursday saw a slight change of plan, meaning I got to spend more time in Brisbane and even got a few hours free in the afternoon. I took my daughter down to the park for a while.

For years, I always assumed I'd leave Brisbane and move somewhere else, but there was always some reason why it wasn't the right time, so I never got round to it. Sometimes I regret that, but one of the benefits I've found with living in the same city all your life (so far) is developing a real sense of identification with places.

The park I went to is one called Oriel Park in Clayfield, which is a kilometre or so from where I grew up, so I used to hang out there a lot as a kid and a teenager. We've got a family photo from when I was very young of my grandmother kicking a football in that park – probably late 1960s.

When I was in my late teens I used to wander around the streets a lot late at night, with a bunch of schoolmates, pondering in a suitably angst ridden way about the pointlessness (or otherwise) of life. I can’t believe what long distances we used to walk doing that – as I've got older I've got wiser and realised it takes so much less energy to just lounge on the couch pondering about the pointlessness (or otherwise) of life. Even the angst seems a bit too much energy to bother with these days.

Anyway, Oriel Park was one of our late night hangouts. It's totally different these days. The only piece of playground equipment that's the same is the old steamroller, and that's mostly sealed off so you can't climb all over it – for public liability insurance reasons I think. Which reminds me, the cost of public liability insurance these days is a real problem – someone should do a bungee jump or something to try to draw attention to it, because there doesn't seem any other way it will get noticed.

There used to be a few of those big pipes in the playground – good for lying inside and hiding from the world. I think I slept overnight in one of them once (as I said, I was a bit thick as a teenager – hiding from the world by staying at home in a comfortable warm bed obviously didn't occur to me then). There also used to be lots of bushes you could sit in and spy on other teenagers doing really stupid things like lying inside the pipes and stuff.

So part of me wants to complain about how the good old Park is just nothing like the good old days and why couldn't they have left it alone, and the other part of me thinks about how I'd sue the life out of the council if the park was still full of all the unsafe things that were there when I was a kid, now that I'm bringing my daughter there to play.

Anyway, my daughter seems to enjoy it, so no doubt she'll come back in 35 years time and be wistful about how much it's changed from when she was a kid. I hope she can.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Friday, September 24, 2004 Permalink
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Thursday, September 23, 2004
 
A happy birthday to Nick Cave (for the 22nd), which provides yet another excuse to plug his new album - do yourself a favour and grab a copy.

Really enjoyed doing the interview on 4ZZZ. Radio is so the best medium. I think if more politicians and the like did more interviews on community radio, there's probably be more genuine information come out about their views.

You're inherently less on guard and more open. Still, it would just take one example of a comment grabbed out of context and blown up into some broader media beatup, and that would put a stop to it again.

A day that started in Sydney, went via Maroochydore and Caloundra, on to Rockhampton and Yeppoon and then back …. Home.

No reflection on the rest of the country, but it's always good to be home. Still, I probably won't be for long, so I should get off the computer and make the most of it.


posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Thursday, September 23, 2004
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Wednesday, September 22, 2004
 
In Sydney tonight. Did a live forum with a group of people on SBS Insight. Always hard to get much of a word in on those things, although I got more of a run than most of the people who were present, many of whom missed out altogether. I sat next to a cabbie who has his own blog - worth checking out at http://cablog.com.au/ - focusing on politics and the election a fair bit at the moment.

I'm off again early in the morning, flying to Caloundra in SE Qld and then up to Rockhampton to run again on the stupidity, as well as the cruelty, of the live animal export trade. So many jobs lost and such massive suffering, heaps of public opposition, and yet so much continuing major party support for it. Go figure. As a vegetarian, I suppose bemoaning the closure of abattoirs might seem a bit odd, but if others are going to keep eating meat, it may as well occur humanely and produce jobs and wealth here.

Should be getting a night at home as well after that, which will be nice. Although nighttime is likely to see an interview on Brisbane community radio 4ZZZ (102.1 on your dial or www.4zzzfm.org.au), one of Australia's first community radio stations and still a great source of alternative views and music. I should be on the Queer Radio session. I imagine I'll get questioned about the Family First thing, but hopefully it will also be a chance to talk about what still needs to be in law reform at national level and how important good leadership is (and how damaging bad leadership can be) on issues like this that as much about attitude change as law reform. The guy who does the show, John Frame, has been at it for a long time and is a good activist.

Might possibly be doing ABC Lateline after that, although those things tend to be subject to late change.For people who like looking around blogs on social issues, you could also try this one - http://www.ariontheweb.blogspot.com/ . I know this guy a bit. Nice enough and used to be a Democrat. Having just gone there, I note he's said I’m the only person who could look bored bungy jumping. Also a comment from someone who says they can't vote for me cos I'm too weird for wearing purple all the time.

As happens with such ventures, also found http://urbancreature.blogspot.com/, through this, which I sort of like, mainly because he says I rock.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Wednesday, September 22, 2004
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Tuesday, September 21, 2004
 
It's fairly late at night - sitting in my office in Canberra now but off to Sydney in the morning. I'm starting to get in trouble from my staff for not getting to bed earlier (probably cos they know how grumpy I can get and they don't want to have to endure that ;-), but late at night is the best time to clear the thoughts and let the mind process and reorganise things a bit – there’s too much happening in too immediate a way during the day.

This is the fifth federal election campaign I've been heavily involved in, as either a candidate or a main campaign manager (or both) so I have a fair idea of how my mind works during these periods and how to pace myself. However, it's obviously the first I've gone through in the position I currently hold and it does have its unique aspects so we'll see. I’ll certainly need heaps of energy for the final week, but campaigns tend to produce their own brand of frenetic energy you can feed off, which suits me well as I tend to draw energy from others rather than from inside myself.

So, I'm sure it will all be fine, and if it's not and I fall asleep in the middle of my speech to the National Press Club, the entire campaign and the work of thousands of candidates, members and supporters will be destroyed, but at least my staff will have the satisfaction of being able to say "I told you so" when I wouldn't go to sleep earlier. (Never underestimate the pleasure of a categorically irrefutable 'I told you so' that is earned in the face of stubborn refusal to acknowledge reality over a long period.) Still, doing well on election day would feel even better, not to mention the side benefit of the major overall long-term gains for Australia and our system of democracy

A comment someone posted made me think a bit more about how misleading political labels can be, even though they are a necessary shorthand. I think they can also have the effect of becoming self-fulfilling straightjackets that discourage people from considering ideas they might otherwise be drawn to.

By way of example, whilst I used the 'conservative' label myself to describe some of the other candidates, political pigeonholes of any sort can be somewhat misleading - including terms like 'left' and 'right.

It would be interesting to outline some of the positions which various Senators and smaller parties have taken on various issues in the Senate. When you look at their voting records , the positions people take are not always what you'd immediately expect.

This is why debates on so-called 'conscience votes' are always so fascinating to observe, because people have to think for themselves and get to say more honestly what they feel and believe, rather than just have to be a cipher for the party line or the expectations created by the labels that are given to them.

It would be interesting to do a list of some of the examples where people might be surprised by the positioning and votes of particular parties, but I might save it until after the election.

I'd rather this blog didn’t just become part of a big long election advertisement or viewed solely through the prism of the immediate campaign. There's heaps of others areas for the election specific message to get out like at that fabulous campaign website www.democrats.org.au

Anyway, time for me to listen to wise advice and get some sleep - I won't mention the time so I don't get in trouble.


posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Tuesday, September 21, 2004
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Monday, September 20, 2004
 
Away from home since Friday - looks like I'll get back there on Wednesday evening at the moment. Missing my little girl but heard her on the phone, which was nice.

Coming up (as things stand) over the next 5 days is Sydney, a few parts of Queensland, Tasmania, Melbourne and Sydney, with Canberra in there somewhere too probably. I can feel Adelaide and Perth calling me.

In far more interesting news, here is another shameless plug for the new Nick Cave album and another link to a good interview.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/17/1095393999809.html Worth noting that it mentions Nick performing early in Oz next year and is likely to be doing a visit to western Queensland as part of his planned film.

Latest reading: Lots and lots of Democrat policy documents - so many good ones to choose from!!

Latest listening: That would be Nick Cave I guess.

Last film seen: Forced myself to watch something in my motel room that wasn't politics or sport. My insight into the human condition has been expanded through my exposure to the highly insightful, subtle and intellectual masterpiece, Scary Movie 3.


posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Monday, September 20, 2004
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Getting up on stage to play a couple of short sets (4-5 songs) of music as a support to Frenzal Rhomb and The Herd was a nice change from straight election campaigning, although they were both Rock against Howard shows, so there was obviously a bit of a political flavour there.

I think we managed to acquit ourselves OK, help get the message out about the benefits of changing the Government, and had an OK time as well. All in all a fun and worthwhile thing to do (although I noted the Sunday Telegraph slagged me off for having a 'Peter Pan syndrome', I guess because it's pathetic to have 40 year olds performing on stage. Someone should tell Neil Diamond before he gets here on his upcoming tour.

My ceaseless and shameless plugging of the top value, 34 track, Rock against Howard double CD will have to cease (only $20 though), as the new Nick Cave disc has come out (also a double album by coincidence). For a good interview, have a read of http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/17/1095320941733.html?oneclick=true I will now refer to this with tedious regularity instead.

Managed to watch one of the semi-finals this weekend - Brisbane Lions make it to another grand final. I'm not sure how they'll go against Port Power, who seemed primed for a strong performance, but it would be dangerous to write them off. I note the usual attacks on Brisbane's 'favoured status' are coming out again because of the extra retention allowance support. It seems to me that, even for people that aren't into sport, the Lions are an amazing example of what a group of people can achieve when they are willing to sacrifice short-term individual enrichment for a longer-term collective goal..

Even though I think the criticisms of the retention allowance are a crock, the extra amount is insignificant compared to what many of the players have sacrificed in potential individual earnings in exchange for staying together as a team chasing the goal of a premiership, and then the more challenging (but even more rewarding) goal of consecutive premierships. To just discount all of that sacrifice by sniping away about a relatively small and quite justifiable retention allowance is quite insulting.

Still, if other clubs seriously allow themselves to believe that that is the reason the Lions have done so well, they will be less likely to do well themselves because they won't be acknowledging what really needs to be done to be successful.

The Grand Final could bring forth intense pre-election rivalry in the Democrat camp. I've managed to have a couple of year's fun ribbing Natasha Stott Despoja about the Power failures of the past finals series. I've no doubt she'll be itching to return the favour if the result goes her way next weekend. We'll soon find out I guess.

I don't think it will be until after the Grand Final is over that many voters will really start making decisions about how to vote.Visits to Qld, NSW and Victoria coming up over the next few days. Some important policy events too - I expect I'll be doing more on Education and there's the report into James Hardie's action coming out to, which deserves to get some significant attention.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Monday, September 20, 2004
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Sunday, September 19, 2004
 
The last few days have covered the aspect of elections campaigns I like the least, which is the preference deals.

As seems to happen every election, Bob Brown and the Greens do a whole range of preference deals with a whole range of people whilst attacking the Democrats about preferences.

Few things irritate me more. It happens every election, as predictable as the sunrise and it's happening again.

There's so much I could say, but suffice to say that the Greens got rid of the Democrats' Vicki Bourne from the Senate in NSW by, among other things, preferencing an Abolish Child Support candidate ahead of the Democrats.

We all do preference deals of course, the Democrats included, but the hypocrisy of the Greens pretending that they are somehow different always leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

It has always been the case that the party who have most consistently attacked the Democrats has been the Greens, so I don't know why it still irritates me - I should have got used to by now.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Sunday, September 19, 2004
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Monday, September 13, 2004
 
The debate between Howard & Latham is finished. No mention of indigenous Australians, no mention of the environment and the Worm seems to have been more captivating for viewers and analysts than either of the contestants.

No mention of the Senate either of course, even though that contest is just as significant for our future as whether we end up with Howard or Latham.

Tried to forget about my disgust at the limited and narrow scope of the 'debate' by reading a book. Finished "Peace Kills" by PJ O'Rourke – quite a good read in a few places. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for PJ O'Rourke. He's reasonably amusing despite his politics, although it's funny how there's no cottage industry dedicated to pointing out factual errors in his books as a way of discrediting his arguments, even though it's a fair bet he takes more poetic licence than Michael Moore does.

I still haven't seen Farenheight 911, which I really should do. I guess I've read so much about it that I feel like I've seen it anyway. I quite like Michael Moore. It's good to see the left get a reasonably humourous polemicist – so many lefties are dour humourless self-righteous types when it comes to politics. If you're going to be self-righteous, the least you can do is try to be amusing about it at the same time. Most of the moderately amusing political commentators seem to come from the right, which is why the emergence of Michael Moore is so welcome.

I have to admit I'm a fan of Tim Blair, who has quite a knack for pointing out the internal inconsistencies in a number of actions and views of left leaning politics (except when he tries to do it to me and the Democrats, when of course he's selectively misrepresenting our position just so he can get a cheap laugh). I don't mind Peter Rhuel too, although I find his style a bit repetitive and predictable after a while. However, I usually still read his columns, so I must still enjoy them even while telling myself it's predictable.

More footy finals played and more frustration at not being able to see the games because of the campaign. The Broncos lost in the Rugby League, which was disappointing but not totally surprising. Great to see the Cowboys get a win up against the Bulldogs. Having the two Qld teams playing in the next round of the finals will be good – from memory the Cowboys have never beaten the Broncos and a final would be a good place to start. I'm always reluctant to write off a Wayne Bennett team, but if the Cowboys can maintain the enthusiasms of the first-timers and have a few things go their way, they could pull it off.

Good to see Essendon lose (see blog from 5/9/4). Pressure now on the Lions – I'm hopeful they can get through next week, but beating Port will be very tough in the big one I think. I sense there's still a lot of people still not very switched on to the election campaign – maybe once the finals are out of the way, it'll be different, although I guess if the inevitable happens this year and the AFL has two non-Victorians in the Grand Final, maybe that state will switch on a bit earlier than they otherwise would, just so they've got a local contest to follow.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Monday, September 13, 2004 Permalink
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Sunday, September 12, 2004
 
The ABC news website is easily my most frequently visited site and their election section is quite comprehensive. Antony Green does a fairly comprehensive analysis and Matt Liddy has a good, eclectic election blog at http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2004/weblog/default.htm (which mentioned this blog, so he obviously notices the important things.)

It also mentioned a site I hadn’t seen before, but which I'd recommend for any election junkie. It's the election tracker http://www.cpod.ubc.ca/tracker/index.cfm which lists upcoming elections all over the world (next up Kazakhstan on Sept 19th).

It reminded me that there's another election on October 9th – in Afghanistan. It's a fairly sad indictment that the Afghan Government has been pleading for more support from other countries – including Australia – to help them rebuild their country and to manage to hold a credible election. Given all the chest-puffing of John Howard and President Bush about supposedly being strong on security and tough on terror, it's pretty pathetic how Afghanistan has been left to struggle on with so little support, while heaps more resources gets put into Iraq.

I still find it extraordinary that so many people actually believe John Howard is strong on security issues. The gross misuse of our defence forces to 'defend' ourselves against refugees in leaky boats fleeing persecution was bad enough, but to so enthusiastically and inflexibly support an international policy which unnecessarily alienates allies and dramatically inflames resentment, just so you can look tough and portray others as soft is mindblowingly irresponsible and dangerous.

I can't see how anyone can suggest Australians are safer now than we were three years ago, or that our defence, security and intelligence resources are being directed to maximum effectiveness. In the final Senate Committee hearing, just after the election was called, the whistleblower Mike Scrafton said that "from within Defence’s perspective, I would say that on one hand there is nowhere near the rigour and analysis put into the advice that goes forward now. It is much more tailored, I think, in lots of ways, to what wants to be heard.

There is not the same strength internally to critically filter out bad advice." This not only seems to me like the situation of someone who is a failure on security and is more interested in using such situations for political posturing than public gain, but also a situation which reduces the effectiveness of our actions on security issues.

Of course, we have the very unfortunate situation following the Embassy bombing in Jakarta of not being able to believe what our Prime Minister and Foreign Minister are telling us. No doubt there will be the usual careful choice of words to protect against being accused of outright lies, as well as the catch-up caveat of "I am advised that" or "advice available at this time" to provide protection if they have to change their story.

I had a briefing from the head of the Office of National Assessment (ONA) in Canberra last Friday on the day after the bombing. It wasn't a full briefing as the Democrats have never been allowed to get access to full security information, despite being a Parliamentary political party for over 20 years. I can't specifically quote what I was told either. However it hasn't made me any more likely to trust the thrust of the Prime Minister's public statements.

This does NOT mean that ONA contradicted something the PM has said, simply that it is so easy for the PM to emphasise some bits and downplay others. The Prime Minister's record of distorting the truth for his own political ends speaks for itself, not least his willingness to do so during an election campaign. This in itself weakens our nation's ability to properly respond to security risks, as half the population is not likely to believe what they are told about such matters, even when they are true.

One area where I believe there is a lot more to be done is in improving relations with countries in our region, along with their capacity to handle terrorist threats and improve their political and economic stability. There is a real risk of this being used as a cover for human rights abuses (after all, it's being done in Australia so we can hardly not expect it to be possible in other countires) which we have to be sensitive to and guard against, but it needs to be done none the less.

The level of ignorance amongst Australians about the reality of life and of governance and its infrastructure in nearby countries is woeful (myself included). I spent 2 days in Jakarta in July 2002, mainly examining the issue of asylum seekers. I learnt an enormous amount in just 2 days (albeit fairly intensive days) and still only learnt just enough to realise I hardly know anything. It is hard to overestimate the scale and range of problems which the Indonesian Government has to try to overcome, not least of which is widespread poverty and corruption.

It is easy to look down our noses at endemic corruption and seemingly incompetent bureaucracies, but we should remember that democracy is still very much in it's infancy in Indonesia and many other parts of the region, and it is incredibly large, diverse and disparate nation. Every country is a product of its history and it is not realistic to expect Indonesia or other countries in our region to operate similarly to Australia in the near future.

Whilst there is now good cooperation between Indonesia and Australia in tackling extremism and terrorism, there is a lot more than can be done to help most of the other countries in our region. In addition, there is a enormous amount more that can be done to encourage better understanding and awareness amongst Australians of these neighbouring countries.

The links at a government to government level, may be improving, but at general community level they are still very poor. If we can get stronger links amongst the general Australian population with other people and areas in our region and perhaps provide more mechanisms for people from those regions to travel, study and work in Australia and get a better understanding of us and our society, then that will be a major advance if stifling the risk of terror and handling it more rationally when it does occur.



posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Sunday, September 12, 2004
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OUR GREAT VICTORIAN CANDIDATE & OUR NOT SO GREAT PRIME MINISTER.
The formal launch of our Victorian candidate, Jess Healy, in Melbourne today was a reminder of how much difference it makes when you can actually get highly capable and committed people into the Parliament.

Jess is having to run a campaign with little resources and a largely indifferent media, but is holding up well. Then again, that doesn't surprise me, as she is extremely capable. A columnist in The Australian slagged her off yesterday for being young and disabled, as though this somehow meant her candidacy had no validity!

One day it will be the norm for issues and candidates to be treated on their merits, rather than for their entertainment value or ease of pigeonholing – probably not long after peace descends on the Earth.

Jess also engages in the occasional bit of blogging – see http://aussieanklebiter.blogspot.com

The one debate between the Prime Ministerial candidates occurs tonight. I'm tossing up whether to watch it, or whether to try to be connected with the public and watch Australian Idol instead, which I imagine will rate better. Actually, I suppose the largest number of people won't be watching television at all. It has never occurred to me before, but now that I think of it, we get told all the time how many people are watching various shows, but we rarely get told how many people are not watching TV at all, which (I hope) would be larger than the combined number watching all the shows.

I've never been much of a fan of the Crikey.com.au website. It has often had some useful political insights and information, but they've had far too much focus on gossip, prurient innuendo and being nasty to people just for the sake of it. However, it does seem to have matured a bit in recent times. One point they've made a number of times which I do agree with is why the TV networks don't decide a format for a series of debates and tell the politicians that's what they are doing, rather than meekly follow the timing and format that the major parties foist on them (which in reality is what the Govt foists on them, as the Opposition is not really in a strong negotiating position.) If one side refused to turn up, if would leave the other with lots of free airtime to show how they compare better than an empty chair.

Of course, there is as always no interest in focusing on the Senate contest, despite the obvious fact that this will have just as much impact on determining the future on many issues.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Sunday, September 12, 2004
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Saturday, September 11, 2004
 
It feels like it's been a long week - one with plenty of opportunity for blog bits, but inspiration and availability of a computer never seemed to coincide. It started in Alice Springs and then took me to Orange, Canberra, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne.

Our attempt to draw attention to indigenous issues on Monday in Alice Springs got some coverage on the day, but we'll need to keep repeating it if we're going to get any traction on that issue I think. There still seems to be no broader interest from anyone else in prioritising the issue during this campaign, but we'll keep at it.

The week also had tax auctions, Medicare auctions, and was just heading down the path of further tax incentives for older people when the tragedy in Jakarta intervened.

Pictures of people carrying the damaged bodies of children always gives you pause – as it should. Security and safety was an issue and will continue to be an issue. But it would be good to have some degree of context and perspective in the coverage.

Some media headlines talk about Australia being at war, which doesn't strike me as terribly helpful (or accurate). Another talks about terrorism as though it only appeared 3 years ago in New York, instead of being something that has been around for decades (or longer, depending on your definition). Trying to have rationale public debates in such an environment seems beyond us as a society, which is deeply concerning.

In lighter news, after giving further consideration to a question from a reader, I've decided I was wrong about Stuart McGill. Given who was eventually selected for the Australian team to tour India, it's hard to see any other explanation than he was being punished for taking a principled stand on not touring Zimbabwe.

As a Queenslander who has railed for years about our players getting a raw deal from selectors with a fixation of players from southern states (esp NSW), and even as someone who has been a bit of a fan of Trevor Hohns (also a Queenslander after all) over the years, I can't believe Nathan Hauritz got picked (neither could he from what I read).

Good luck to him and it's certainly not his fault he got selected, but I'm sure every other potential and aspiring Australian test cricketer will have taken careful note and make sure they don't take a political stance on anything in the future.

I’m also engaged in some rudimentary band practice for the brief shows I'm doing this coming Thursday and Friday night in Brisbane and Sydney. I'm aiming to have fun and it’s for a good cause, but I hope nobody is expecting anything too musically enchanting.

I'm only doing 4 or 5 songs, so don't spend all that money expecting a 90 minute show. But Frenzal Rhomb and The Herd will no doubt be good, and all profits go to the Refugee Action Collective.

Thurs 16 Sep- Arena Brisbane
Tickets available from skinnys (07) 32292389, rockinghorse (07) 32295360
ticketek www.ticketek.com.au 131931

Fri 17 Sep- Metro Sydney
Tickets available from the venue phone charge (02) 9287 2000 or online at
www.metrotheatre.com.au & www.ticketek.com.au



posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Saturday, September 11, 2004
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Monday, September 06, 2004
 
Sunday started with a brief 5 minute stint with Laurie Oakes on the Sunday program. I was on straight after Bob Brown. It seemed to me like they were getting the smaller parties out of the way at the start of the campaign so they can focus on the Howard vs Latham contest.

I tried to point out that the Senate contest, and the choice people make with their vote for the Senate, was in many ways just as important and significant as their vote for the House of Reps, which determines who is Prime Minister.

A quick calculation of some of the media coverage statistics by groups such as Rehame suggests that the Howard/Liberal vs Latham/Labor contest is getting around 95% of the coverage, yet no one could seriously suggest the Senate contest and outcome is only one-twentieth as important.

In an appropriate piece of symbolism, following immediately after my interview, the channel advertised a viewer phone poll, asking them who they prefer out of Howard or Latham.

An informal picnic style launch of our Bowman and Bonner candidates at the park on the tip of Wellington Point followed. For anyone who hasn't been there, this is a very picturesque spot that juts out into Moreton Bay, with Stradbroke and Moreton Island close by.

That was followed with the launch of our Moreton candidate, Freddie Steen. She's a very strong candidate – a former worker in the Immigration Dept for many years and in recent times a tireless workers in the community with refugees through the Romero Centre in Brisbane. She will be running against Gary Hardgrave, who is the assistant Minister for Immigration, who oversees the ongoing torment which the Government's policies and laws are inflicting on thousands of refugees. Hopefully Freddie will be able to put the blowtorch on Gary Hardgrave. He certainly won't be able to get away with the types of half-truths and distortions about refugees that Govt members tend to spout at public meetings.

Sunday was, of course, also Fathers Day. I've never been a big fan of the concept, it always seemed like a manufactured marketing vehicle to me. However, it was nice to be able to have my little girl around with me throughout the day and spend some time with her, even if I did often have to talk with other people at the launch.

She does seem to have a desire to grab on to me whenever I'm doing speeches, which is sort of nice, although I don't like her doing it when there's media filming - especially because there's always the odd person ready to have a go at you for supposedly 'exploiting' your children.

Then down to Melbourne for the night, so I could fly out early to Alice Springs with Aden Ridgeway to launch our indigenous policies and our Northern Territory Senate candidate, Janeen Bulsey. Despite being the only aboriginal member of the federal Parliament, Aden is at real risk this election, so I need to get the message out that if people in NSW vote for anyone other than him in the Senate, they are in effect enabling the loss of that aboriginal presence and voice.

Given the lack of priority being given to aboriginal issues by the other parties or in the political debate, I'm hoping we’ll be able to use this launch to get some focus on this vital area.

We picked Alice Springs because it is in the centre of the nation and indigenous issues must be at the centre of our political priorities. Everyone acknowledges the absolutely scandalous degree of disadvantage faced by indigenous people, yet there is no strong effort being made at national level to give it the priority it deserves and demands.

We certainly don't pretend to have all the answers, but we are saying that it needs to be given a strong priority or there's no chance of the situation being turned around. Of course, part of giving the matter priority and recognition is to highlight and support the many positive things being done by indigenous people.

Enabling and encouraging these actions is one of the best ways to make positive changes, as it will mean indigenous people developing and choosing the solutions that work best for them at local level, but this requires concrete and consistently committed support. Unless we all agree to consciously make it a top political priority at national level, our nation will continue to fall well short of its potential.



posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Monday, September 06, 2004
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Sunday, September 05, 2004
 
Saturday and home again, after a 6.30am flight out of Adelaide. Some light campaigning today, but nothing too frenetic. I've got a brief interview with Laurie Oakes on the Sunday program on Sunday morning and a couple of local candidate launches after that before flying down south again in the afternoon, so a bit of lower key day to recharge is probably in order.

The frustration of an election campaign during the football finals may not be immediately apparent to most people, but it sure is immediately obvious and irritating to me.

I managed to see the last 15 minutes of the Brisbane Lions THUMPING win over St Kilda after arriving back from Murray Bridge, which was nice. However, seeing the first 3 quarters would have been much nicer. Managed to see most of the afternoon clash between the Demons and Essendon - a good close game which I would have preferred had been won by Melbourne.

I grew up supporting Carlton (courtesy of my grandfather, who grew up in Carlton from 1900) before we had a Brisbane team and I know Essendon are equal with the Blues in terms of flags won, so it wouldn't do for them to win another one (although give Brisbane another 15 years and it might not be an issue). I also have a soft spot for Melbourne, as it's so long since they've won a flag (1960 is in my head, but that may be wrong). I'm sure I've read somewhere that they are the oldest surviving football club in continuous existence anywhere in the world. This may or may not be true, but they're certainly the oldest Australian football club and I'm surprised that their 'brand' doesn't have much acknowledgement of this.

Another function this evening, so I missed the Swans vs Eagles final. My Chief of Staff supports the Swans so I guess it's good they won, as it will mean she's in a better mood, which is always good in an election campaign.

Having been complaining about missing footy finals, this was one function I was glad to get to and did not want to miss. It was a farewell for someone I believe is the most effective and honest environmental activists I know - Imogen Zethoven. She has most recently been working for World Wide Fund for nature, particularly on their campaign to strengthen protection for the Great Barrier Reef. I first met her in 1990 when she was an environmental advisor to Democrat Senators, but she has been doing many other things since 1994 and one of the reasons she has been so effective is that she has worked with anybody and everybody who can contribute to environmental protection, across all party lines.

You always learn by watching how somebody like that operates and it is no coincidence that by far the biggest positive action of the federal Government in the last 3 years has been the massive increase in protected areas in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

There's always more work to be done to address threats to the Reef, but this gives a hugely better foundation from which to do so. It will also be influential on a global scale, as countries around the world undoubtedly look to Australia to see how to address threats to their own coral reefs and other significant marine ecosystems. Imogen is leaving for Berlin to work on climate change issues (still with WWF). I have always been pessimistic about the chances of being able to prevent major climate change impacts, but I now feel a little more hopeful.

People such as Imogen have far more influence and effectiveness than some people of much higher profile, but then that's part of the reason why she is so effective, because there is no agenda of self-promotion clouding the focus of her work for the environment.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Sunday, September 05, 2004 Permalink
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Saturday, September 04, 2004
 
Announced our South Australian Senate team, led by John McLaren. A seat we're aiming to win, with the extra aspect of it being a seat which the Democrats won, but which Meg Lees kept when she left the party. We'll see what happens, but it's one where we have a reasonable chance of winning.

I also managed to catch up with some animal welfare activists while in town to talk about issues of concern to them. There's some good people there, some of whom I've met before, and it's a reminder to me to more consistently put energy into that area.

Drove out to Murray Bridge, a town a bit over an hour away from Adelaide up through the Adelaide Hills, to meet with a group of Afghan refugees who are living and working in that town. John McLaren teaches at the local High School there. Many of these guys have been in Australia four or five years – a few are finally getting permanent visas, but many are still awaiting decisions on permanent visas or appealing. Having already been found to be refugees over three years ago, to make them go through it all again is so cruel (and pointless, unnecessary, inefficient and expensive).

I met a few men who had not seen their wives and children for five years and were still unsure about when they might be able to be reunited. Given that I'm starting to badly miss my daughter and I've only been away from home since Sunday AND I know when I'll be able to see her again (tomorrow!!), it's hard to comprehend how it could be tolerable to be separated for years and still be unsure how much longer it will.

All this after they were acknowledged as genuine refugees four or more years ago, and all as a direct and deliberate consequence of changes brought in by the Howard Government and allowed through the Senate by the ALP.

In between all that, I managed to stop of at Big Star records in the city (I think it's Rundle St), one of the best record stores I've come across in Australia. I haven't bought CDs for ages, so I splurged on a copy of Rock Against Howard (can't have too many copies of that), plus the latest Cure and 3CD set of old Cure albums – continuing my habit of staying in touch with the cutting edge of modern music by buying CDs of 20 year old albums which I already have on vinyl. Still, two of the three have always been favourites so it's worth it at only $20. (The third one – The Top - is pretty lame, but it's a box set so may as well have it).

Current reading: Media Tarts by Julia Baird – about how the media treat women in politics

Favourite recent Newspaper quote: From Mike Seccombe in the Sydney Morning Herald “Liberal Senator George Brandis does not deny routinely referring to the Prime Minister as "the rodent". He does, however, deny ever calling the Prime Minister "a lying rodent". He believes John Howard is a truthful rodent. Actually, we should clarify that further, for Brandis is a barrister, with a barrister's capacity for fine distinction. He would only ever call Howard the rodent; never a rodent, because the former is a nickname, whereas the latter would be a pejorative term. And, it must be said, in all the times this correspondent has heard Brandis use the r-word it has always been preceded by "the", not "a".”

Current listening: Obviously have the 'Rock Against Howard' top value double CD on high rotation at the moment, although I think my mum will be disappointed as it seems like the five songs leading up to mine all contain significant levels of crudity (as Mark Latham would put it). Makes the one from my band sound nicer and sweeter in comparison I guess.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Saturday, September 04, 2004 Permalink
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Friday, September 03, 2004
 

It's very late on Thursday night and I'm sitting in a hotel room in Adelaide city. (It will be Friday by the time this is posted.)

Someone wrote to suggest I should just take some time out to watch crap TV - to show I'm always willing to listen to the people, I gave it a go, but it was too crap, so I've returned to writing some of my own.

I'm listening to the super-fabulous, top value, 2CD Rock Against Howard CD (well it's not all super-fab, you can't expect 34 songs from 34 bands to all be good, but it's got some good stuff including a couple of nuggets). TISM is playing at present with "The Philip Ruddock Blues". I don't think Philip would like it, but then TISM probably don't like him so maybe it balances out.

Flew into Perth early Thursday and went to an event to draw attention to the plight of Vietnamese asylum seekers stuck forgotten on Xmas Island for well over a year. There was a family of Vietnamese people there who came on the same boat and have been acknowledged as refugees and got temporary visas. Betty Cuthbert, the famous athlete, now wheelchair bound with MS, was speaking out in support of those still detained.Brian Greig, our WA Senator was there too.

I managed to get to Xmas Island once, flying out literally an hour before the Vietnamese people were brought in. It's an interesting place in it's own right (if you're not in detention), but a loooong way away. It's easier to get to Nauru (assuming they actually let you in) than Xmas Island (for people that live on the east coast anyway), so it's probably appropriate that the asylum seekers on Xmas Island are even more forgotten than the ones on Nauru.

For anyone interested, I'm reasonably reliably informed that as of yesterday there are still 104 refugees detained on Nauru (21 in the Topside camp and 83 in State House). There's still no news on when the 21 (all from the Tampa) will go to New Zealand.

After the event for the Vietnamese detainees, I attended an event announcing our 3 person Senate team with Brian Greig leading the ticket.Also there were many of our full team of 15 House of Reps candidates, plus a few supporters. Despite the focus many people have on some of the occasional odd people who frequent all political parties, there are a large number of wonderful selfless people who do so much with no desire for recognition of reward. There were a few of those people there today and it's always good to see them. I met with our campaign organisers after that, including Jack Evans, who was there organising the very first public meetings when the party started in 1977 and is still at it now.

Jumped back on the plane, intending to do some writing for an article I have to finish, but ended up watching Shrek 2 which was the in-flight movie. I remember disliking the original Shrek when I first saw it, but now my little daughter has it I've seen it at least 30 times and it has rather grown on me (just as well really). Anyway, the sequel was quite good, and it has a snippet of a Nick Cave song in it for good measure.

Announcing our South Australian Senate candidates today, as well as trying to give an extra push for more focus to be put on children's issues. Then driving to Murray Bridge where many Afghan refugees are currently living to meet with some of them and draw attention to some of their ongoing difficulties.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Friday, September 03, 2004
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Wednesday, September 01, 2004
 
The 3rd full day of the campaign - or the 1st if you take it from the proroguing - unless you don't count a Senate Committee hearing as an election campaign (which it isn't) - in which case it hasn't really started at all.

I certainly didn't expect to find myself sitting in Committee hearings 3 days after an election announcement. However, that's where I find myself as we type, in the public hearing of the Select Committee on the Scrafton Evidence, also known as the follow-on from the inquiry into A Certain Maritime Incident, also known as Children Overboard (reprise).

Despite the bluster about the new inquiry being an election stunt, it has been very useful. People are focusing on it as just an effort to determine whether or not the Prime Minister lied, but it is so much bigger than that and it has undoubtedly been a big win for more honest Government in the future.

I found Mr Scrafton to be a credible witness and no other evidence from the other people who appeared caused me to feel doubt about his statements - however that's a matter that people can judge for themselves. What is certain is that future Governments will find it harder to use their staff as way to maintain 'plausible deniability' of what they did and didn't know.

Mr Scrafton, who was on the staff of former Defence Minister Peter Reith during the election campaign, was able to easily say when he personally told Mr Reith that photos that had been published to prove that children were thrown overboard, actually did not show any such thing.
Such a simple thing, being able to ask the Minister's staff what they told the Minister and when - but it's taken us years to be able to do it. It's a pity it couldn't be done long ago. I think after this, should a future Senate Committee feel it is sufficiently serious, it is much more likely to be willing to seek Ministerial staff to appear.

A lot of people turned up to observe the hearing, including many senior journalists. Margot Kingston, fresh from a promotional tour for her new (and apparently quite successful) book (and a book I recommend as worth reading), came along.

Most seemed to be paying a fair degree of attention to the proceedings - which moved slowly as hearings tend to do - but purposefully. The Committee finished up around 5pm and no more hearings will be held until after the election.

Time to really hit the campaign trail - off to the airport and over to Perth, where the Democrats have Senator Brian Greig up for re-election.


posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Wednesday, September 01, 2004
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A Not Crowded House & Senate, Cats & Dogs, Preferences & Drugs, Steak & Vegies, Rodents & Ducks

Tuesday was the 2nd full day of the election campaign (that technically hasn't really started as the Parliament wasn't formally prorogued until 5pm). For some reason proroguing is signified by firing a bunch of military guns - maybe it symbolises that a bunch of politicians are about to get shot down at the election?

The day starts with opinion polls and the usual "how do you predict the party will perform" questions. I know the party will perform well during the campaign and I know we have a good case to put, good policies and a good record, but I only get one vote and there's a fair few million other people out there who I haven't spoken to in the last day or so, so it's a bit hard to predict. The show is on the road and no one knows what the result will be, particularly with the last couple of senate seats in each state, and no one will know until the night of October 9th (at the earliest). However, I predict the sun will rise on October 10th and that will certainly be a good thing (better than if it didn’t anyway).

Cats & Dogs
The day also started with questions about a Liberal MP who referred to quarantining cats and dogs coming into Australia as an attempt to draw an analogy for why you have to detain refugees. I'm sure it was partly a case of foot in mouth that strikes us all occasionally where a half formed thought starts coming out wrong and by the time the thought is fully formed it's a bit too late to reword things - it doesn't happen too often and you always hope there's no tape recorders around when it does.

My understanding is that the Liberal MP in question is one of the more reasonable in her views about refugees, which in some ways is why she made such a terrible and grossly inappropriate analogy - not because she's a bad person but because it's very hard to find a sensible way of justifying the unjustifiable and if you have to try to do it, you can grasp at some pretty desperate straws.

The simple fact is mandatory, indefinite detention is unjustified and unjustifiable, which is why no other democratic country does it. Mandatory detention is so inherently offensive, which is why it's so hard to try to justify it without sounding offensive.

Preferences & Drugs
A rare joint press conference with Bob Brown from the Greens followed. Many progressive people often wish the Democrats and Greens wouldn't criticise each other so much, but it's pretty hard not to conduct an election campaign without differentiating yourself from the other contestants and that involves showing why you're better. It's no coincidence that no party has ever run on the slogan "Vote for the other mob if you want, they’re just as good" (or if they have they sure didn’t get elected). However today was about saying 'each of us are saying we're better than the other, but for God's sake at least make sure you don't for those major parties (especially in the Senate). Well we didn’t actually say that, but that's the general message. Vote Democrat or vote Green, but give your preference to the other before Labor or Liberal.

The press conference turned into a feisty session about the Greens' drugs policy, where I finally got asked another question on preferences - as in whether I'd ever had a preference for an illegal drug. I said I hadn't ever used an illegal drug, but I didn't condemn anyone who did. Bob said he'd inhaled once, which didn't bother me obviously. However he also said he ate steak, which caused me more concern.

Steak & Vegies
It was rather ironic that the Greens were being attacked in the paper for (among other things) encouraging vegetarianism and Bob was defending himself by inviting people to have a steak with him, whilst I was sitting next to him as the main 'out and proud' vegetarian in the Parliament.

Actually, I've always wondered why environment groups are so weak on encouraging a reduction in meat consumption - it's bugged me for years as the facts are so clear that meat production is far more consuming of resources than production of most other foods and it's such an easy thing to do to cut down your meat consumption. About the only group I know that does well in combining environmentalism with animal welfare is the Humane Society International - not sure what's wrong with the rest of them.

It seems strange to campaign against cutting down trees but do nothing to point out that heaps of trees get cut down to grow meat (either for grazing or to grow grain to feed to cattle). However, none of the other Democrat Senators are vegetarians either (much to my chagrin), so obviously my powers of persuasion still need some fine tuning.

Other policies released today – the Government pledged to misdirect another billion dollars towards military hardware that doesn't properly address our real defence and security needs. The ALP released their accountability policy, promising to introduce a range of measures to make Parliament work better, many of which the democrats have been pushing for years and some of which the Labor party has opposed in the Senate.

It's always good to see more pledges for greater accountability, but I'll believe it when I see it. Of course there's a better chance I will see it if there's more Democrats elected to the Senate so we can force more accountability. The big parties always like that extra accountability once it's there. It's a bit like feeding a kid vegies - they think it'll taste awful, but once they taste it they know it's good for them (and they'll be far less healthy without them).

Rodents & Ducks
Just when it seemed the day would finish predictably and I would struggle for any more ways to draw a link to vegetarianism or animals, up pops an exclusive on Channel Nine news - a Liberal Senator is accused of calling the Prime Minister a lying rodent! It's a perfect example of how you never know what twist an election campaign can take from one hour to the next. Suddenly the Lib Senator has to spend the evening doing media (and no doubt a bunch of phone calls) denying he's ever called the Prime Minister anything of the sort.

In another piece of unpleasant irony (unpleasant for the Liberal Senator anyway) that politics seems to specialise in, the same Senator would otherwise undoubtedly have spent his evening preparing for the Senate Committee hearing the next day where his main task is to defend the Prime Minister against other people who want to suggest he's a lying rodent.

Knowing the Senator as I do, I'm sure he'll still do a good job defending the Prime Minister in the Committee hearing. However, Wednesday's Committee hearing will reveal all (well actually it will probably only reveal some of it and people will contest the veracity of that, but it will certainly help create a more complete picture for people.

I finish the day having dinner with a few people discussing the Senate, the Democrats, housing and a range of other issues. During some casual banter, I try to prove my value as an enjoyable dinner companion by make a fleeting reference to the immense cruelty that intensively farmed ducks suffer to the fellow across the table (who by an amazing coincidence happened to be eating duck). He agrees to watch the video of a duck farm that I promise to send him and I promise to think more about how to get better policies developed with housing related matters.

That's what I call a win-win outcome (although now that I think of it, he only said he'd be happy for me to send him the video, he never promised to watch it - some people are just so tricky with words).

The Government is now officially in caretaker mode. About time they started caring about something. The dawning day will see more about honesty, truth, trust and accountability (including the Democrats' accountability package - way better than the ALP's if I do say so myself. I wonder if they left in my section about the link between better accountability and vegetarianism).

Check it all out and more on the Democrats' website - www.democrats.org.au

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Wednesday, September 01, 2004
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