As great as Gareth

As great as Gareth

All right, the United States is a strange place. But can that be the only reason that member of Congress Stephen Solarz nominated our very own Gareth Evans for the Nobel Peace Prize?

Of course not: obviously, Solarz had never heard of East Timor or of Evans' assistance to the Indonesian government in "pacifying" troublesome Timorese, whose existence was getting in the way of oil exploration.

But while not begrudging Gareth his moment of glory, it occurred to us that there are lots of other politicians who must be deserving nomination for one sort of award or another.

For example, doesn't Treasurer John Kerin deserve the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, for telling us that the recession is over? Hasn't Bob Hawke earned the 1991 Joh Bjelke-Chook Trophy for Encouraging the Media?

Send us your nomination of politicians or other public figures — Australian or international — you think are worthy of some prize, along with a brief description of why you think they deserve it. The award you nominate them for can be either real or imaginary.

The most entertaining nominations will be published in Green Left, and the best will win their authors a prize: free tickets in the guessing competition being organised by Canberra supporters of GL (first prize: $150 of Penguin books, 2nd prize: a six-month subscription to Green Left).

Send your nominations to: As Great as Gareth Competition, Green Left Weekly, PO Box 394, Broadway NSW 2007. n

From GLW issue 34