Ay, there's the point!
"The Commonwealth Ombudsman, Ms Philippa Smith, is highly critical of the Government's decision to slash up to 30 per cent from her budget, saying it will compromise her capacity to scrutinise government agencies." — Sydney Morning Herald, April 18.
Safe bet
"The impression was that NSW ... was hostile to investment. I'm now convinced that NSW is not hostile." — Steven Gilbert, managing director of Soros Capital (a major shareholder in the Sydney Casino), after a meeting with Premier Bob Carr. The casino is seeking tax favours from the state government.
March of progress
"Waco, Texas: A bastion of conservatism for the last 150 years, Baylor University here ... plans to have its first dance on the campus tonight." — Sydney Morning Herald, April 19.
Also known as capitalism
"This is the reign of money over good taste." — A Belgian chocolate aficionado, on a European Commission decision to allow chocolate to be diluted with vegetable fat.
Pain and suffering
"When they leave, you have to treat it like a divorce. There will be a property settlement that will reflect, not assets accumulated, but all those things the executive will be missing out on in the future. There may even be a pain and suffering payment." — Management consultant David Benn, explaining the high severance payments typically given to sacked corporate executives.
Yet
"I've quite enjoyed our discussions. He [Bill Kelty]'s forthright. He's got a view on behalf of his members. There's no law against that." — Federal industrial relations minister Peter Reith.
It's not news, comrades
"We had government and it sold our silver, it betrayed the majority of ordinary people and we lost a golden opportunity to make our nation the envy of the rest of the world." — Press release from the Haberfield, NSW, branch of the ALP.