A whale of a deception

A whale of a deception. Just who does Kevin Rudd think he’s kidding? Labor made a big thing before the last election of its determination to stop Japan killing whales in Antarctic waters. Since winning it has confronted the reality that there is stuff all that Australia can do to carry out the promise.

This morning in a transparent attempt to hide this truth the Prime Minister has promised he will launch court action against Japan by November if it does not agree to stop slaughtering the whales in the Southern Ocean. November indeed! He just wants to put off an admission of failure until after the next election.

This Government, like those before it, is extremely reluctant to upset Japan by pushing too hard on this issue. The hope is that there will end up being some compromise at the International Whaling Commission which will result in the Japanese killing whales somewhere else rather than close to Australia.

And as for that much promised and much delayed legal action there is no doubt that the advice our Governments have long been given is that there is no chance of success.

A promise for Lent. The tough life of the travelling politician was explained by Tony Abbott on the campaign trail yesterday. He’s giving up sex for Lent because let’s face it, he told my old paper the Launceston Examiner, “it’s almost impossible to have when you are on the campaign trail”.

Now I have known a politician or three who has managed to find a way over the years but I did like the way the paper treated its exclusive on page one:

The best reason for an early double dissolution. The Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens gave the best reason for federal Labor to go to the polls as quickly as possible when he warned this morning that further adjustments to monetary policy would be needed to ensure inflation remained consistent with the RBA’s 2 to 3 per cent target band. Giving evidence to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics this morning the Governor said: “If economic conditions evolve roughly as we expect, further adjustments to monetary policy will probably be needed over time to ensure that inflation remains consistent with the target over the medium term. This is a normal experience in an economic expansion: as economic activity normalises interest rates do the same.”

What the Reserve Bank thinks of as normal rates are rates up to one percent higher than now. An increase anywhere near that size before polling day would have many voters under considerable financial pressure.

Punishing the blogging commenters. Tasmanians who post a comment on social websites or blogs without giving their name and address will be liable for prosecution during the current State election campaign.

In South Australia the Labor Government has promised to repeal similar legislation immediately after its State election. No such promise has yet been made  by the Tasmanian Labor Government.

A safe way for Barnaby. The largely unsuccessful attempt by The Australian this week to suggest that there was something wasteful about the way AusAID administers its program has nevertheless provided a foundation for Opposition Finance spokesman Barnaby Joyce to appeal to those of his countrymen who dislike foreigners. The Senator began the process yesterday with his questioning of whether aid money was “going to the people who really need it, or to the leeches who suck off it”. I fear we will hear much more such nonsense between now and polling day.