Prepare to be surprised, for this is a secret shared. Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister, has been to Cradle Mountain – and we didn’t know!
Pardon? For that gem of non-news disclosure we can thank a revelation in the travel section of the Sunday Tasmanian last weekend. In it Greg Clarke gave us this startling item: “ASIO and the Federal Police managed to keep it a secret that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his family were recently holidaying in Cradle Mountain so you won’t have read about the Tassie holidaying PM before now.”
The fact that the Mercury, parent paper of the Suntas, had reported a few weeks earlier that Ruddy plus family had opted for Cradle Mountain and then Freycinet rather than their usual Queensland hols appeared to have completely slipped past Clarke’s radar. Gone through to the ‘keeper as they say.
And talking about ‘keepers – what a nice bit of pre-election boosterism for backflip Bartlett we saw in last Saturday’s Merc!
I had a previous musing on said David, hearing about his PM heading for our mountains, jumping on his bike and high-tailing it for Ruddy’s holiday spot with an urgent pre-election for help:On your bike David!: HERE
No need. The PM came down from the country and went in to bat for the Premier, with a handy photo opportunity presented at the Bellerive cricket Test.
There they were, snapped together in front of a group of appropriately clad Oz cricket kids (and Premier David doesn’t miss too many chances of being photographed with our younger generation, education being his dedication). And another of the PM, with the players in the background, getting on with the match. And another of our country’s leader bowling, with what looked suspiciously like a suspect slinging action.
Indeed, this eyecatching photo was used twice, the first time on the front page, with a headline: “Rudd’s political spin”.
But wait – there’s more: of the PM taking a “time out” (isn’t that basketball parlance?) to have a chat with reporter Damien Brown. There was one light-hearted report from this, but there was another in more serious vein in which Ruddy gave a big plug for Tassie as the “tiger economy of the nation and the envy of every other state and territory”.
It may seem a tad churlish to refer this comment to the third umpire for adjudication, but there have been the reports that we’ve slipped down the ladder a bit (now third I believe) and our exports are falling where most of Australia’s improved last year (according to the Merc on Monday).
There’s still a few weeks before the State Election, so will the PM be back again, and behind the stumps for the Premier as he tears in with the cherry with deliveries targeting the resurgent opposition? There again, he could have a mixed arsenal – replete, of course, with a “flipper”.
No doubt the Premier’s spin doctors will be there in the stands applauding their boss all the way. And the news media hanging on every delivery.
