And with feral premiers
"I've got a friend who has a savage dog, and when I visit he has to get hold of its collar and half-throttle it before I can get out of the car. That's how you deal with unions." — Joh Bjelke-Petersen.
Robbing Peter to pay Pall
The Federal Court has allowed Rothmans of Pall Mall to claim nearly half a million dollars as a tax deduction. The money was spent opposing legislation to outlaw tobacco advertising and sport sponsorship.
Hard times ...
"Bankruptcy is a very public humbling." — Kevin Maxwell, son of the late British publisher Robert Maxwell, after being declared bankrupt with debts of £406 million, and before driving off in his silver Mercedes.
... getting harder
"He would very much like to work, but at the moment, I think he's effectively unemployable. If he could find a job to fit in with his meetings and interviews with the police and various authorities, then I'm sure he would consider it seriously, but he really hasn't got the time right now." — Maxwell's wife, explaining why he may be on the dole for some time.
Land of the free
"We have to expect that the recession would have a significant impact on income and poverty levels." — George Bush spokesperson Marlin Fitzwater on the latest poverty figures for the USA, which showed 35.7 million people (14.2% of the population) living below the poverty
line, 40% of them children, and a disproportionate number black or members of minority ethnic or cultural groups.
What he thinks
"I like Australia for Australians. I can't understand the stink. My name is Bruce Ruxton and I'll say just what I think." — RSL chief Bruce Ruxton on his recently released rap record, expressing opinions not a world away from those of the neo-Nazis currently running amok in Germany to the chant of "Germany for Germans".
Really?
"We do have the capacity to manage the economy, we do have the capacity to put in place a growth environment in the economy." — New SA Premier Lynn Arnold promising to do what no other government in the world can at the present time.