jack_ryder | Okay, I'm beginning to accept we have a new government

!!!

Fuck! I'm almost too startled to be impressed. Almost.

Impressive. The apology and Kyoto were great, but not surprising. This is great AND surprising. More and more it's becoming starkly clear just how far off the rails we went under Howard.

Wow a government report! Yes minister, we'll start now.

When they implement humane and rational policy, I'll be impressed.

Welcome to our Leftist Dystopia! :)

Yes the Rudd government is a breath of fresh air. Have to laugh at the way some of the commenters could still find a way to put a bad spin on this!

Examples?

(I haven't actually seen Evan's speech mentioned that much on SBS and ABC news - and haven't seen it online at the SMH. I assume some comment would be made on Insiders but otherwise it appears to be under the radar - so I'm interested in any further reporting you've seen on it.)

Oh I just mean the comments on the page! The Gregh fellow (sounds like coughing up phlegm) who suggests it is just like weakwristed lefties not to use the power they've been given.

I love Gregh's understanding of the subtleties of the Westminster system:

In a westminister system, ministers have the power and authortity to things as they see fit.

Historically Immigration ministers have been vested with lots of power, only Evans is complaining about it.

And by "historically" he must mean Ruddock, Vanstone and Andrews all of whom were given increased power by... well, you know...

...ministers have the power and authortity...

Yeah, I was almost going to respond to that. Only, "responsibility" kind of gets left out of Gregh's worldview...!

You would, of course, have greater insight into ministerial responsibility than most...

(which raises an interesting question - what did the higher level public servants think of the Howard (mal)administration, or was the lack of respect for policy formation a holdover from Keating? [to clarify - "lack of respect" from the govt ministers])

And - my fault - I confused "commenters" with "commentators".

I wonder what the Smoker's Cough Who Walked Like a Man would make of the plans to reform the ABC Board so there are no more political appointees (of either stripe)

the Smoker's Cough Who Walked Like a Man

Not sure who this refers to -

(and I'm not sure how they're going to keep political appointees off the board - but several terms will be up soon so we shall see.)

Gregh: the sound of someone clearing their throat

Independent panel for ABC board selected soon: Conroy
18th February 2008, 11:45 WST

The federal government hopes to appoint an independent panel to select future ABC board members within the next eight weeks.

The Labor government has promised to take the politics out of the national broadcaster’s board, which in the past has been stacked with government appointees, raising allegations of bias.

Under Labor’s plan, an independent panel would provide Communications Minister Stephen Conroy with a shortlist of candidates for board vacancies.

If Senator Conroy decided not to appoint someone from the panel’s list, the minister would be forced to explain why in parliament.

Senator Conroy today said the government had commenced the process of appointing the panel.

“I would hope to have it in place in four to eight weeks, perhaps a little longer just depending on how many people apply,” Senator Conroy said during a Senate Estimates Committee hearing today.

“We’re committed to getting some integrity into those processes.

“We’re committed to ensuring that there’s a very much merit-based selection process and we will be announcing all the criteria (for panel members) very shortly.”

Senator Conroy said he would ultimately decide who was appointed to the panel.

Under Labor’s plan, the appointment of former politicians or political staffers to the ABC board would be banned.

Labor would also require the chairman of the national broadcaster to be jointly nominated by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition.

The scheme is similar to the board appointment process used for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Thanks for that.

Okay, I'm beginning to accept we have a new government

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Independent ABC

Re: Independent ABC

Re: Independent ABC

Re: Independent ABC