Day 6- Suspension

In Canberra, we wait with latte breath as a ranga attempts to overcome an idiot and a crafty nerd. Said ranga, whilst not 100% likeable, certainly has... something about her (cue rolling of my significant others eyes). It's a good thing that we have this contest to occupy our simple minds, for otherwise we'd have to focus on that other threeway, the election- death by dullness.

It has been an exciting couple of months. Sportsfans such as myself have had the madness of Le Tour to ease the loss of the World Cup, but now Le Tour winds toward Paris, what will satisfy our hungry souls? It will not, on early form, be the battle for the middle ground, Enforced Decision 2010.

Each day I write asking for colour, inspiration, boldness, a little leadership. And the call remains unanswered. For drama, we have to fold our newspapers and squint.

Thanks Pete!

Festivities were suspended today so that both leaders could attend the funeral of another soldier killed in Afghanistan. In place of La Rang and the Winger, the bit part players, bless them, tried to give the campaign a little shake.Enter the twig.  

Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, the billionaire of the people (look- he’s wearing hi-vis! He’s one of us…), is threatening to re-light the miners ad campaign. The Twig says that the deal with the big three mining companies leaves the little guys, like Fortescue (!), out in the cold. He also says that the Greens are a problem, as they may hold the balance etc etc, but then, the Twig offers something magnificent, and well beyond the pale. He suggest that Bob Brown get out of his ‘chaffuer driven’ car and take a walk from the luxury of Parliament House down to the tent embassy of ‘our indigenous brothers and sisters’ and spend a night among them, for we’ll all be living in tents with a challenged mining industry.

To recap- Australia’s richest man implores the Greens leader to stop larging it, and go down to the tent Embassy for a little burst of reality.

Here is a photograph of a monkey drinking its own urine to best reflect the absurdity of this situation. 

Rudd, also a support act now, continues to make news. Leaked memos point toward a lax attitude toward national security committee meetings, sometimes sending his wunderkind chief advisor Alistair Jordon in his place. But that's not news as such- it's another reason why he's no longer in the big chair. The big news is that Krudd has indeed been offered a job with the UN, as their chief backdown specialist on climate change. But it's ok, as it's only a part time gig. With the UN. Nothing to see here, right Kev? Right?

Mark Latham calls Gillard a dirty liar for fudging the real thrust of her sustainable Aus/immigration line, and Jumping Joe Hockey, desparate to regain some ground after being beaten up by Red Kerry last night, decides to quote the brawler from Green Valley. The nation’s ear are dead to both these rotund shrieking geese, but good on em for having a go.

WITH WHAT DO WE OCCUPY OURSELVES?

In suspension mode, I turn to the internets to provide some stimulation/ something annoying enough to write about it, and I find it at the Drum. Jonathon Holmes, thankfully stripped, in print, of those ridiculous, hammy mugging gestures that undermine his hosting on MediaWatch, reports on the capital, my home and workplace (in that order). He mis-spells Aussies, but in the main his point is well made. The election affects people a long way, mentally as well as physically, beyond the state circle, the forcefield on the hill.

Holmes speaks here mainly of the press gallery, but allow me a moment to speak of the house itself, and the people who work, as I do, in offices lining the long halls. I’m a newbie here, in an area that serves the business of the House, the chamber and the committees and so on. A non partisan precinct, where politics is spoken of with some of the detachment Holmes mentions, but with vigour and pleasure too- the game is important, compelling, and while the day to day stuff doesn’t affect the work done here too much, the processes so that day to day to occur is a serious business. My experience, completed closeted as it is, is of a pack of highly intelligent people who work with a quiet purpose- ensuring that, regardless of who is at the wheel (and there is, it seems, a consensus view that while the two majors are not idenitical as such, it is a case of same shit different suit), democracy is something worth working for. In the House of Reps, people work so that process can take place as smoothly as possible. There will be those who work these halls who are far less wide-eyed than I, who would report on office dynamics and frustrations and so on. Show me a workplace that doesn’t have those issues. But, isolated as we may be, people here enjoy the process, and work at making it work. 

Also on the Drum, Barrie Cassidy writes well of Abbott’s shaky start. It’s been a bad week for Abbott. But, to cop another sporting analogy, you’d want to have your worst week at the start of the tournament. Assuming you survive, what matters is your form at the end. And perhaps Abbott, after a shocking 2007 campaign, has gone as low as he’s gonna go. Bob Ellis thinks there's trouble ahead. Bob hates Julia, and is never a trustworthy source. But he's worth considering. Everyone is worth considering. Up to a point. After all, the ranga, former Lawyer and branded other woman Claire got booted from the chef tonight. You just never know...