Loose cannons

Self-obligation

"... my government has sought to constantly relate ... enduring Australian values to the circumstances of our time... The first of these goes to the heart of the Australian ethos, to the heart of our national self-image and to the hopes we hold for our children — self-reliance. Thus the community has overwhelmingly accepted the value of mutual obligation." — Prime Menzies John Howard speaking to the Melbourne Press Club, November 22.

Unique

"Our social cohesion, flowing directly from a unique form of egalitarianism, is arguably the crowning achievement of the Australian experience over the last century." — the Prime Menzies again. The previous week surveys revealed that while the CEOs of Australia's top 150 companies were paid an average of $1.8 million a year ($8.4 million if their share options are added in), 2.4 million Australians are living n poverty, with incomes of less than $21,000 p.a. for couples with two children and $11,700 p.a. for singles.

If it looks like a duck...

"The fact that the [refugee detention] centres in question are in such remote desert country — and look like concentration camps — may reflect a policy of discouraging illegal, undocumented entry to Australia." — Sydney Morning Herald editorial, November 24.

Thatcher Mark II

"Even now, [former British PM Margaret Thatcher] declines invitations to launch a full-blooded public assault on the Prime Minister [Tony Blair], protesting that she is constrained by ... what she regards as his honourable

role in the death of socialism." — Melbourne Age, November 22.

From GLW issue 430