The well-publicised aspect of the Australian federal election -- the change of government -- was not as emphatic as some had expected, but was certainly emphatic enough. There's another, more practical matter remaining to be determined though. That is the changing mechanics of the house of review, whose imbalance at the last election opened the portal for Work Choices, which like an ill-summoned demon consumed its master.
It seems likely that the Senate dominoes will fall this way: 37 L-NP, 32 ALP, 5 Greens, 1 FF, 1 Independent. It was the wrong half of the cycle for anything much more dramatic to occur. This means a couple of things: the outright Coalition majority is gone, but they retain the ability to block legislation with a single supporting vote from Family First or the independent Nick Xenophon -- both of whom broadly fall in their half of the political continuum.
But they'd want to be very careful. If they overuse this remnant power in the Senate, they risk appearing to reject the ALP's lower house mandate to govern. Barnaby Joyce remarked last week that a double dissolution election would likely be disastrous for the Coalition, and he's right, particularly if it occurred in the next 2 years. The only upside would be that (as we've just seen) outright control of both houses is a double-edged sword for any Government over the course of the subsequent election cycle, just because of the giddyness of total control and the Australian public's habit of saying "Oops". Still, that would be a very strange strategy for the Coalition to pursue.
In any event, Rudd is unlikely to try it. He'll play a bit of realpolitick in the Senate, make much of any obstreperous behaviour from the Opposition, and go to the people in 1100 days asking for just a little bit more.
It does raise the spectre of the ALP coddling right wing indies in the Senate on a few issues, which might be stomach-turning for you. But on the whole, as Australian electors say over and over, this is a pretty good scenario for the house of review. It means that policies must be argued for and explained in the Parliament itself, rather than in the party room as has been the case for the last three years.
It means we have public debates, rather than just imagining political deals behind the scenes. We probably won't like the outcomes all that often, but ultimately this is the real change, and the thing to savour about what happened yesterday: once again we will talk openly and open-mindedly about the problems of the nation. All this zealotry, born of frustration, should begin to diminish.
Joseph | 25 Nov 2007 | 0 comments
The question I've been asking everyone all week is "Who will lead the Coalition rump?" Even if Howard had retained Bennelong, he was never going to accept the Opposition leadership, so the expected baton was passed without fanfare to Costello in his concession speech.
And when I say "baton", I mean "poisoned chalice". Those Liberal frontbenchers who were in genuine contention for the Prime Ministerial mantle know that to take up cudgels as the representative of the losing team is political foolhardiness in the extreme. It would run much like it did with Downer supplanting Hewson, Crean supplanting Beazley, Beazley supplanting Latham, et cetera.
Turnbull is too smart to ever go near it. Costello looked like he had inadvertently put his foot in it, but with a clack-clack of his red shoes he's found a way to scurry to the backbenches of the Opposition, ostensibly to retire from politics at the end of this term. (He intends no such thing. He intends for the new Opposition Leader to fuck up royally, and then he will force a spill six months out -- in the name of unifying the party and returning as a saviour. Well, in a sense it worked for Keating. But Keating did not have a Turnbull.)
Downer has already graciously (and bizarrely) refused the Opposition leadership, but not even the Coalition would flirt with that possibility again anyway. Abbott? He's no longer a man for these times, so he might not even be offered it, particularly after his campaign slapstickery.
Julie Bishop would be an interesting call, but not one I think the Coalition is ready to make. All week my very long odds investment has been on Nelson, whose utter blandness and hilariously misguided ambition makes him Costello's (or Turnbull's) perfect foil -- he would be offered the fall guy role, and knowing that it's his only chance to leapfrog into actual contention, he would take it. Would he damn his party by doing so? Probably, in as much as they're not already damned. Watch for Pyne and (much later) Alex Hawke in the wings.
Or is there another scenario I've missed? And can you forgive me for relishing this?
Joseph | 25 Nov 2007 | 6 comments
Or more pertinently, didn't lose. To the extent that it can be decoded at all. Ah, what a night. The headline that landed on my doorstep this morning says "Howard humiliated", and I say mission accomplished.
Joseph | 25 Nov 2007 | 1 comment
I don't know if you've heard about it, but there's a bit of contention down here in the antipodes as to whether Australia is "headed in the right direction".
Well I did the research, and at present, we're drifting north towards the tropics at a rate of 10mm per year.
Right? Wrong? Hell if I know. There's probably more important things to quibble over. Enjoy a sunny Saturday.
(Update: Here's a pic of the current state of the aforementioned blackboard:)
Joseph | 24 Nov 2007 | 2 comments
After two weeks of paint fumes, we have a brand new, 10 m. sq. chalkboard wall at the Labs. Tonight we christened it with (among other decorations) some games of Hangman. The four participants chose the following terms:
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Lines in scaffold before solution: 12
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Lines in scaffold before solution: 11
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Lines in scaffold before solution: 11
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Lines in scaffold before solution: 2
Joseph | 14 Nov 2007 | 0 comments
The litter spread across my bureau isn't especially remarkable or revealing. But since I spend fifteen hours a day sitting at it, a preservational caprice came over me to record it. So here's what's on my desk right now:
A white MacBook perched on a perspex pedestal, a little symbolically. The machine is ageing but faithful; the stand is a Griffin iCurve on loan from Ms Cunningham — I prefer it upside-down, which might also be symbolic.
A nondescript LG 19" LCD monitor. It's positioned in just such a way that I can't see V's 24" iMac in the distance, which reduces my pangs of jealousy.
A black slender IKEA halogen lamp, given by my parents about 16 years ago and still — unbelievably — running the original bulb that has illuminated many VCE CATs, innumerable Arts essays and one interminable thesis, and much else besides.
Twin BOSE speakers, in a miniature profile that belies their reasonable ability to thunder and wail, on loan from Ms Murdoch.
A tattered globe of the world that's somewhat older than me. There are deep gouges in the North Pacific, and in fact the entire North American continent is rapidly peeling away. It's perhaps a little pretentious, especially as I use Google Maps for all my geographical queries these days.
A glazed clay tankard, circa 1960s, featuring a beguiling cartoon damsel in fishnets and a miniskirt. It bears the inscription: "I want a perfect secretary: one who types fast and runs slow". This treasured article of ancient misogyny was given to me by Ms Gillespie, whose brain is precisely attenuated to my sense of humour. It holds pens and scissors and textas and etc.
A wee business card stand, bearing cards representin' my bizness.
In pride of place below the MacBook, my keyboard and mouse. My keyboard is a sliver of black perspex and brushed aluminium, and cost me 250 fricken dollars. Such are the vanities of the professional software inventor. By contrast, my mouse is a piece of shit wired Microsoft jobbie. I need to get a replacement at some stage, but I don't like the Apple Mighty Mouse's nipple and I can't find a mouse with a better spec. Of course, I run vim, so I have little use for a mouse anyway. (Nyer.)
Six different notebooks and legal pads. Three of them are Moleskines, but I rarely use those. It turns out that I reflexively choose my parchment according to the significance of my thoughts — I mean, you don't want to sully a Moleskine with a shopping list, do you? Sadly, I've had little occasion to jot down profundities since my teenage years, so the more impressive notebooks gather dust while the pads become dog-eared and beloved.
A plastic bottle of 'DeBug'. It's a 'hand hygiene solution', but that's not the joke, Joyce. Another item donated by Gillespie, obviously.
Two overflowing in-trays, stacked atop one another, and labelled "Heaven" and "Hell". Folks seem to want their correspondence to go into the upper tray, but as I explain to them, "any which way you look at it, you're still dead." Better to stay out of the trays if you can.
A few stapled specs and exegetic emails that have not yet found their way into either Heaven or Hell.
An iPhod called Zaphod, charging. Here's a tip for all you iPhod users heading into the northern winter: you can't use the touch screen with begloved fingers. This is because the screen does not register pressure, it registers electrical conductivity. However, I've found that the tip of your nose works just super, with a little practice. Failing that, try a hot dog.
Keys, wallet, old Nokia 6280, a metal ruler (also on loan from Murdoch), an empty spectacles case, and a pair of sunglasses that I suspect were accidentally left here by Mr O'Kane.
A landline handset in it's cradle. I hates it, I hates its infernal ringings.
A stubby holder, from the Tote, my local. On the back it reads "They call it sticky carpet. We call it history." Which is a kinda dumb line, Mr Milne, but still. I love that place.
A wine glass, mostly empty and shortly to be replenished. A final interesting factoid: more than 50 per cent of the correspondence I get through the contact form on this site (ignoring spam, which Akismet summarily dismisses) either admonishes me for my alcoholic excess, or celebrates and encourages it. I appreciate the sentiments, guys, but seriously, tend to your own gardens.
Well, that's my desk. Now I'm curious about yours.
Joseph | 30 Oct 2007 | 3 comments
"I hope the Prime Minister's not dogging it," Mr Rudd said today in a bid to goad Mr Howard to accept his offer of three debates.
Urban Dictionary confirms that nope, it doesn't mean what he thinks it means. At least, I don't think that's what he means. Also: thanks a lot for the mental vignette, Kev.
Joseph | 17 Oct 2007 | 3 comments
I'm sort of conscious that I don't spend much on the purchase of music these days. I still spend quite a lot on the purchase of musical experiences though — which is a roundabout way of saying that I pay to get into gigs a lot and thus support the local music scene in a more meaningful way than accumulating laser-etched frisbees. Plus the fat cats miss out on my dollar, which pleases my aforementioned early-nineties indie predilections.
Anyway I ducked into a CD launch last night, thinking I might buy the record if I enjoyed the gig. I'd heard a few tracks on the band's MySpace site and they were pretty damn good — one in particular I quite liked. As it turned out, the show was kinda mixed in quality, by which I mean I felt it was poorly mixed, but also I didn't get the sense the band was really gelling together.
But actually, I was curious to hear these muddy, rusty versions of the album tracks I'd listened to on MySpace. I figured that if they sounded like this live tonight, then the other songs they'd played tonight were probably that much better on the record.
Which was good enough for me, so I dropped twenty-five on a frisbee. And yeah, it's alright.
Joseph | 10 Oct 2007 | 0 comments
"I find it impossible myself as an Australian, as Prime Minister, and as an individual, to argue that those executions should not take place when they have murdered my fellow countrymen and women."
My tip: Martin Bryant to be hanged during the election campaign.
Joseph | 9 Oct 2007 | 0 comments
Joseph | 3 Oct 2007 | 0 comments
Topographic view
The qualifier
Two weeks with the apple and the lone star (illustrated).
