Yes Gus, another message from Rupert .....

Our favourite rodent is definitely on the nose.

I suspect that "cossie" has got the nod to pack for the Lodge. 

From the ABC

Howard demands DMO equipment briefing
Prime Minister John Howard is demanding more information from the head of the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) over his comments about equipment provided to Australian troops.

In a recent briefing to defence industry suppliers, Stephen Gumley admitted the organisation had made "a lot" of mistakes over the past year.

The comments have sparked concern that Australian troops are using sub-standard combat equipment.

Mr Howard says he believes Australian troops serving overseas have the best gear available, but if there are concerns the Government needs to know about them.

"If Mr Gumley has a problem then I would expect [him] to communicate it to the Defence Minister and to communicate it to me and to communicate it to the members of the national security committee of Cabinet before communicating it to anybody else," he said.
read more at the ABC

-----------------

Gus walks quietly...
Oh... Mr H is not happy that he was not informed of the problem before anyone else so he could bury it quick-smart with a clever platitude... Oh... Mr H is not happy... Oh... Mr H is not happy... Oh... Mr H is not happy...

Gus, Gus ....

Why would anyone bother trying to communicate anything to the rodent?

As the now forgotten Cole Inquiry demonstrated, little johnnie reads nothing, sees nothing, hears nothing, knows nothing.

If the little twerp was so concerned about the wellbeing of our armed servicemen & women, how come our troops deployed in East Timor were denied pay consistent with their exposure to hostile conditions?

The poor little bloke needs a drink: he must be completely buggered running around & trying to personally extinguish all the brush fires blazing around his throne .... Cossie is definitely in the ascendancy .... with Rupert's blessing. 

From the ABC

PM urged to intervene in striking rail workers case
Western Australia's Acting Premier Eric Ripper wants the Prime Minister to intervene in the case involving striking rail workers.

He says John Howard should instruct the Federal Government's building watchdog to drop action against individual rail workers, who now face fines of up to $28,000 over an illegal strike earlier this year.

Mr Ripper says although he did not support the strike, the pursuit of the workers is heavy-handed.

"This is not just a punishment against these individual workers, it's a punishment for their families, for their children," he said.

"People could lose their houses as a result of this sort of approach - what we need is a fair approach to industrial relations.

"We don't want a situation in this country where someone has an argument with their boss and they face losing their house."

talking of losing houses Gus ....

Word is that Mr & Mrs Rodent have the decorators working on paradis du wollstonecraft .... a big step down from the Lodge & no picket fence either. 

From the ABC

PM backs criticism of Aboriginal mourning time
The Prime Minister says it is not unreasonable to call on Aboriginal people to cut down on the time they take off work to mourn dead relatives.

Health Minister Tony Abbott yesterday told a meeting of Indigenous leaders in central Australia that it is not possible to develop a culture of work when some people take three months' leave to grieve dead relatives.

Prime Minister John Howard has defended Tony Abbott's criticism of the practice.

"One remark does not a new policy make but I think what he is really saying was that perhaps such a lengthy period of withdrawal from the work force might be incompatible with modern life," he said.

"Now, on the face of it, that doesn't sound like a totally unreasonable statement, but look I'm not going to get hung up on one particular remark."

________________________

Sure don't get hung on one particular remark whatever this means, Johnnee... But in the case old-creaky-antique Gus outlasts your little grocership, Gus might enjoy the shortest mourning ever, in line with this new Abbott directive of course... and might even have a rejoicing dance by the pyre... That's the way they do it in some African countries... and they seem to dance forever after.

From the ABC

Liberals lying about leadership, says Opposition
The Labor Party says it is preparing strategies to fight either Peter Costello or John Howard as leader of the Liberal Party at the next election.

There are reports of a secret deal made 12 years ago, for Mr Howard to hand over the leadership to Mr Costello after two terms of government.

Labor's Wayne Swan says it proves the Government has lied to the public about when Mr Howard is leaving office.

------------

Gus:
If this was the only lie from this government, we would not be too concerned...

But this comes in a long line of fudges, of lies, of fiddles, of porkies, of backflips, of planned changes of mind after elections, all of which were designed for John Howard to stay in power no matter what... to create the screw-you Australia we have become... "Inspirational whatever" from this prime minister has only been an illusion to make rich people richer and poor people being more enslaved — a situation for which the true cost will have to be paid for years to come.

The lies of this government as part of the greater deception to go to war in Iraq were the most murderous of them all. Shame, Howard, shame...

From the ABC

Abbott's comments inappropriate, says NAIDOC winner
A national Indigenous award winner says the Federal Health Minister's comments about Indigenous grieving are inappropriate.

Stephen Hagen, who has campaigned for more than 15 years to have the word "nigger" removed from the name of a Toowoomba sports stand, has been named Indigenous person of the year.

He says the word is still offensive to Indigenous people.

"This word, it's the most offensive word in the English language, but it's all about white privilege and white power the fact that they can do it and they will do it and this black fella who dared to challenge them on the nickname of a sporting icon, they are just saying this is our town and we are not going to take it down," he said.
------------------------------

Gus: see cartoon two blogs above... It's in line withs the headline of the Daily Telegraph today (10/07/06):
Mean, tricky and dishonest
JOHN Howard is fighting "dishonourable" charges from his own backbench as the Liberal leadership issue explodes once again.

It looks uncle Rupert is playing the 70/30 per cent game on this issue...