All relative
“There is no democracy in preselection , and we need to democratise our party ... we need a more broad-based selection committee who will look at people not because they are someone's relative but because they deserve it.” -- NSW Labor MLC Franca Arena, after being told she had no chance of being selected to replace Kerry Sibraa in the Senate because party officers were supporting a candidate who happens to be married to the NSW ALP's general secretary.
Always
“You know things always worked this way.” -- ALP numbers man Senator Graham Richardson's reported reply to Franca Arena.
Crime wave foiled
Two NSW Police patrol cars rushed to an intersection a few metres from busy King Street in Newtown at 9 o'clock last Saturday night, arriving just in time to tell members of the Solidarity Choir to stop singing in public. The choir had stepped outside to warm up prior to their appearance at a benefit for Green Left and Actively Radical TV.
Sounds reasonable
“If they want a volkstaat on Robben Island, we can consider the demand.” -- Pan Africanist Congress national organiser Maxwell Nemadzivhenani on white conservative South African demands for a white “homeland” (volkstaat).
Common cement heads
“One of the things the [Liberal] party has got to do is settle once and for all the issue of what its essence is. Is it a liberal party or is it a conservative party? I believe we are both, and the common cement that binds us together is our belief in the importance of the individual rather than corporate interests.” -- Liberal ex-leader John Howard.
Slow reflexes
“A thousand years of breeding have gone into this, you know.” -- Prince Charles, responding to a comment on his looking cool during the Sydney starter's pistol incident.
Recession's over
The federal government “plans to give its 29 ministers a pay rise averaging $2,600 a year -- including a likely $5,500 increase for the Prime Minister”. -- Sun-Herald, February 20.
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