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What did Tony Abbott know, and when? The Propagandistic Press
Bazzabee: Even allowing for the very best of interpretations of the such a meeting I can’t for the very life of me see why there would be several meetings and why would one meeting last three hours? How long does it take to say “my advice is that you go to the Federal Police with your evidence and that you talk to a lawyer as soon as possible about the civil matter”.
After reading today’s story about the so-called Slipper affair in The Australian and listening to an interview on the ABC morning news with former Howard Minister Mal Brough, and reading the latest in the SMH here, I can’t help but ask myself: Is the Peter Slipper affair far murkier than has been previously believed.
I can see why a staffer of Peter Slipper’s might seek advice from a former Howard Minister, but surely not one who is trying to unseat a sitting and fellow LNP member who just happens to be under a cloud, and his boss.
Even allowing for the very best of interpretations of the such a meeting I can’t for the very life of me see why there would be several meetings and why would one meeting last three hours?
How long does it take to say “my advice is that you go to the Federal Police with your evidence and that you talk to a lawyer as soon as possible about the civil matter”.
I also wonder why the benign old lady on the LNP who advised the complainant to seek help sent him to Mal Brough and not either the Police or a lawyer. I would be amazed if the local branch of the LNP hasn’t got at least one, if not more members, with legal degrees.
By nature I am not a conspiracy theorist but on this occasion I can’t help but wonder if a honey trap wasn’t set for Mr Slipper.
And just what was that well known machiavellian Liberal Christopher Pyne’s role in the Slipper affair? We already know he met with Slipper’s staffer before the news broke; are we to seriously think that they chatted about the weather and the price of milk when they met over drinks in the Speaker’s Office?
What did Tony Abbott know, and when?
But whatever unfolds in the coming days and weeks nothing can excuse the appalling political judgement of the Prime Minister when she appointed Peter Slipper to the Speaker’s chair, every Tom Dick and Abbott in Parliament knew or had heard the rumours and scuttlebutt that surrounded Peter Slipper ‘s name and office for years.
David Donovan, Independent Australia: Prominent Liberal Grahame Morris urges Australians to kick Julia Gillard to death, but the media don’t seem to think it’s a story. IE Managing editor David Donovan reports on Australia’s propagandistic press.
Yesterday afternoon (Tuesday, May 1) on News Ltd’s SkyNews cable TV channel, presenter David Speers interviewed John Howard’s former chief of staff, Grahame Morris — who is now a right wing political lobbyist.
Grahame is one of Australia’s most ubiquitous political pundits, despite having never stood for an election. He is the archetypal apparatchik — with the stooped shoulders, the pasty oleaginous skin, crinkled from an endless hallway of smoky rooms, and the perpetually sly sneer of the party insider who looks out at the general public with a scarcely concealed contempt.
In the course of the interview, as has made the social networks go into a frenzy – and which alerted my interest – Grahame Morris said about Julia Gillard that Australians “ought to be kicking her to death”.
That’s right, an influential member of the Liberal Party has suggested that the Australian people should kick their Prime Minister to death.
Here are some examples of the typically outraged Twitter comments posted after Morris’s entreaty …