Loose cannons

Virtue

"The office has many virtues. Its chief virtue is that it was planned by the previous government." — NSW Labor Premier Bob Carr on his new $28 million office.

Job description

"You're not a copper till you can work pissed." — NSW Detective Senior Constable Duncan Demol, telling the police royal commission that police often drink through shifts.

Of course not

"This does not mean BHP will foot the whole bill for the clean-up." — Graeme McGregor, head of BHP Services, qualifying BHP's offer to pay its "share" of the cost of cleaning up BHP's fuel oil spill from its ore carrier grounded near the Tamar River in Tasmania. Who it would "share" with is not clear.

Oh, by the way ...

"The nuclear arms race has cost the United States nearly US$4 trillion, a staggering financial toll that was never disclosed to the American public, according to a major study unveiled by ... the Brookings Institution." — Sydney Morning Herald, July 13.

But profitable

"Massive, detailed and damning." — The American Medical Association on evidence showing that for 30 years the US tobacco industry covered up the addictive and cancer risks of smoking.

Don't die: it's expensive

"Worksafe chief executive Dr Ted Emmett ... said one immediate result of the imposition of health and safety standards was to save money from compensation payments." — Financial Review, July 14.

From GLW issue 194