Loose cannons

@columhead = More or less

"The bad reports about Indonesia in the Japanese mass media are more or less spread by agents of the Japanese Communist Party" — Indonesian Information Ministry "director of journalists" Akhmadsyah Naina, in a statement dated February 17 about coverage of recent "ethnic" unrest in West Kalimantan.

@columhead = Wait till later

"In the lead-up to the Olympics, we simply can't afford to allow anyone to greedily exploit visitors to our city." — NSW Premier Bob Carr.

@columhead = Corporate knowledge

"Our detective force overall has been decimated by the royal commission [into police corruption] and resignations and retirements that stem from the royal commission. So we've lost a lot of our pool of corporate knowledge and we are relying on younger and less experienced officers ..." — NSW police commissioner Peter Ryan.

@columhead = Exuberant

"I prefer to call it exuberant democracy." — Gareth Evans, asked on ABC TV's Four Corners about ALP branch stacking in his electorate of Holt.

@columhead = He's responsible

"I'm a responsible government. Everything I've done shows I'm responsible." — PNG PM Julius Chan, interviewed on ABC TV's 7.30 Report on February 25 about plans to employ hired assassins against Bougainville leaders.

@columhead = But it does make money

"In the main, Westpac hasn't moved on to a supportive, true team-based, feminine and empowering culture." — A female former executive of Westpac Banking Corp, explaining why she and five other women execs have resigned in the last six months.

From GLW issue 265