tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post1057872792513629532..comments2024-02-11T19:28:27.997+11:00Comments on Personal Reflections: The 2016 Australian outlookJim Belshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-42461546731760319672016-01-07T08:11:09.591+11:002016-01-07T08:11:09.591+11:00Interesting post including the comments. I suppose...Interesting post including the comments. I suppose that one might add to the list of "unsuitables" started in comments Winston Churchill and Henry Parkes. I don't accept Andrew's apparent point that the old distinction between the private and public space no longer holds. It's interesting, too, just how the definitions of "acceptable" behaviour have shifted with time as indeed have the dividing lines between public and private space. <br /><br />Obviously I agree with the general point about the failure of the metro media to report on regional issues. However, that is not connected with the decline of the regional media. It's always been true and indeed is arguably better now because the internet makes local and regional stuff more readily available. <br /><br />The stuff on the Nats is interesting. I have commented on the Party's failure to re-present itself as other than just a ill-defined subgroup within the Coalition. I have mixed views on Barnaby. I don't think he really has a coherent political view. Or at least I'm not certain what it is. For the latest on his leadership run - http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/im-ready-to-lead-barnaby-joyce-to-become-deputy-pm-but-not-everyones-happy-20160106-gm0e9n.html<br /><br />The position in his own seat is interesting and one that I have been following. If you measure it by commentary he is in a degree of trouble because of the conflict over mining on the Liverpool Plains. It also looks as though Tony Windsor may run again. I'm actually not sure at the level of real trouble, nor would I assume that Tony could get his seat back. There is a real skew in the commentary that makes it difficult to measure effects across the seat as a whole including the very different urban centres Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-35441363333659816652016-01-06T09:59:45.864+11:002016-01-06T09:59:45.864+11:00Best for 16 to you, kvd. Will look at the post and...Best for 16 to you, kvd. Will look at the post and come back to you.Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-47286244295105714842016-01-06T09:07:30.013+11:002016-01-06T09:07:30.013+11:00Jim I accept, and agree with your personal reactio...Jim I accept, and agree with your personal reactions. My point more is that neither party exhibited much in the way of considered judgement, and I don't believe "being female" automatically gives one a free pass - not that you in any way suggested that.<br /><br />The post referenced below starts with Briggs, but goes much wider, into things we have talked about over the past little while, and which far more interesting than Briggs himself. I'd be interested in your reaction at some point:<br /><br />http://andrewelder.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/not-ready.html<br /><br />Best for '16<br />kvd<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-73191410428023163632016-01-06T08:19:07.801+11:002016-01-06T08:19:07.801+11:00Good morning, kvd. I was quite careful in what I s...Good morning, kvd. I was quite careful in what I said. However, just to amplify a little in terms of the issues involved. <br /><br />I do not know the facts of the original incident. I would accept that there is a degree of hypocrisy in some of the responses to it. Then we have the leaks around the matter, leaks that did further damage to all those involved as well as the Government. Then Minister Dutton further complicates the whole thing.<br /><br />Staying with my personal reactions as compared to my professional judgement on impacts, I first really came across the blokey swearing atmosphere in senior executive meetings at my old department back in the eighties. I was actually quite shocked. You may call me naive here, but I hadn't seen it before (and that includes all my active political involvements)and didn't like it. I also thought it dangerous and distracting because of the way it affected behaviour and judgement, creating a barrier to sensible thought. <br /><br />Looking at the totality of the Briggs matter including especially the leaks and Mr Dutton's sms, we have a pattern of behaviour that I found personally distasteful and unacceptable. It also led to errors of judgement of the type I have seen before, inflicting serious personal and political pain. <br /><br /> Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-27622551103702719302016-01-05T16:25:34.816+11:002016-01-05T16:25:34.816+11:00Must be a very slow news week if all you can find ...Must be a very slow news week if all you can find to get huffy about is a second rate polly doing what is done when away from home. Jamie (seriously, stop right there - 'Jamie'?) Briggs acted like any other inebriated fool away from home. Stop the press!<br /><br />My daughter works in the same department. If ever she posed for such a selfie - pixellated or not - she would be deserving of a swift kick in the nether regions. Hopefully Pixie will get same from someone higher up, and will be more circumspect in future - if she now has one.<br /><br />Jamie displayed bad judgement, not for the first time. Pixie should be seen as foolish at the very least; out at a bar with two male imbeciles after midnight? <br /><br />Double standard? No. You are in charge of you.<br /><br />kvdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com