Pray for a job
"It is essentially an act of faith that
the Jobs Compact will improve the job prospects of the
participants." — Professor Judith Sloan, of the
National Institute of Labour Studies, on the
government's green paper on unemployment.
Show biz
"At the end of the day we are the star
turns because we whack into each other with machetes. I
can remember Graham coming up to me and saying, 'Mate,
mate, we've got to have a blue'. It can be hard to get
the troops back after lunch." — Senator John
Faulkner, from the NSW ALP "left", on disputes
with the right's numbers man, Graham Richardson, at
state conferences. Quoted in the Melbourne Age, April
19.
Qualifications
"Sheer bloody-minded bastardry [is] the
statutory prerequisite for elevation to high office in
the [ALP] machine." — Former NSW Labor MLA
Rodney Cavalier, quoted in the April 23 Sydney Morning
Herald.
Economic rationalism
"I suppose the bottom line is that you
can get greater protection through X-ray machines, but
the cost differential is greater. You always have to
balance cost against threat." — National Crime
Authority chairperson Tom Sherman, explaining why the
NCA uses metal-detecting scanners rather than X-ray
machines to guard against letter bombs. A letter bomb
which killed a policeman in the NCA's Adelaide office
last month was not detected when passed through a
scanner.
Immature
"I am still immature and am hesitating
about whether I can carry the nation on my back."
— Tsutomu Hata, 58, on being selected as Japan's
prime minister.
Peace doesn't pay
"Gold slumped to five-month lows,
platinum to two-month lows and silver to six-week lows
as the news that the Inkatha Freedom Party would not
boycott the April 26-28 South African elections hit the
markets." — Financial Review, April 21.