Another One Bites the Dust: Santoro Walks

Senator Santoro has resigned saying that he did not want to be a further distraction from the Government. Santoro’s recent admission that he failed to disclose between 50 and 60 other share holdings over an 18 month period (on a list that exceeds 70 share holdings) did not go down well with the Prime Minister: “I am frankly angry and disappointed at the Senator's conduct, there is no excuse for somebody not complying with the rules.”

Howard said he was very embarrassed by the recent revelation. He stood by Santoro earlier this week, refusing Labor’s calls to sack him over the failure to report his biotech holdings, saying that Santoro was only “inadvertently" guilty. He admitted his mistake and gave the profit from the shares to a charity, the Prime Minister said.

It was not in fact a charity.

Senator Santoro gave the $6000 profit from his shares in CBio to the Family Council of Queensland; a conservative values organisation which lobbies for things like Pro-life anti-abortion clinics. The president of the Family Council, Alan Baxter, was the person who sold the shares to Santoro in the first place. Santoro bought the shares after CBio was given a $6 million grant from the federal Government in 2005. He was a backbencher at the time but became Minister for Ageing later that year.

Santo Santoro John Howard Family Council of Queensland Alan Baxter

Who's Judging Whom? Howard is in a Pickle

The years proudly spent wearing the tag of Australia's most cunning politician are to Prime Minister Howard's own detriment according to focus group pollster Rod Cameron.

Once the prerogative of clever politics, the term ‘cunning' has come to mean sneaky politics Cameron says of his findings from recent focus groups.

Cameron doesn't think Labor can win the next election, but the attacks on Labor leader Kevin Rudd, he says, have backfired on the Coalition, seriously damaging Howard’s reputation. Rudd is not the person being scrutinized by the public: it’s Howard. The internal polling done by both parties, he suggests, are probably indicating the same thing.

These findings came after federal Health Minister Tony Abbott defended the Coalition's tactics in a recent article. The attacks are not personal according to Abbott; they are legitimate assessments of his character because of, “the slippery way he handled the Burke business.”

Now Howard is confronted by the revelations that he was guest of honour at an exclusive lunch attended by porn mogul Scott Phillips. The lunch was fund-raising event for Liberal MP Andrew Laming in the 2004 election. Phillips was one of 20 guests. He was facing charges at the time and has since been jailed for his violent crimes. A spokesman for Howard has said that he was unaware who Phillips was.

Mudslinging Rod Cameron Tony Abbott Scott Phillips

Has anyone seen my glasses lately?

Minister for Ageing Santo Santoro has stated that he overlooked shares worth $12,000 which he should have declared when he took on his portfolio. He bought the shares in a health related biotechnology company that specialises in rheumatoid athritis when he was a backbencher in 2005, the same year that the company received a $6 million grant from the federal Government.

Prime Minister Howard is adamant that Santoro will not be sacked. According to Howard Santoro was proactive about his mistake. He took it upon himself to give the $6000 profit he made to the Family Council of Queensland; a religious based ‘charity’ that campaigns for Right to Life anti-abortion clinics.

Santo Santoro Shares Prime Minister

The Trillion Dollar Question

The economy is being trumpeted by the Government in lieu of their negative poll results. Treasure Peter Costello set the tone early last week, referring to Australia’s ‘trillion dollar’ economy on a number of occasions. Later that week, in a televised debate with Shadow Health Minister Nicola Roxon, assistant federal Health Minister Christopher Pyne repeated Costello’s take on the ‘trillion dollar’ economy.

Asked this week for his opinion on why the polls were so bad for the Government, the Prime Minister said it was because the electorate is being led by Labor in to falsely believing that this ‘trillion dollar’ economy runs by itself.

Should we be in awe of the Government’s feat in sustaining this juggernaut?

Peter Costello Australia's Economy

Voters don't care much for Personal Politics

Kevin Rudd’s popularity defies the odds and continues to climb according to the latest ACNielsen opinion poll. Labor leads the Coalition 61-39 per cent on a two-party preferred basis. Rudd’s approval rating was up two points to 67 per cent. John Howard’s approval fell 3 points to 46 per cent. His disapproval increased 5 points.

The Age Newspaper’s political commentator Michelle Grattan says that the Burke affair had little impact on Rudd’s character. She refers to pollster John Stirton’s analysis: two-thirds of those polled; say that, “Rudd was less than completely truthful about the meetings, but more than 80 per cent say it made no difference to their opinion of him.”

ACNielsen Poll Michelle Grattan Kevin Rudd

Rudd under Attack - Again!

Mud not the fountain that gave drink to thee. - William Shakespeare

Treasure Peter Costello accuses Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd of initiating the mud-slinging campaign. According to Costello, in an interview with Channel Nine’s Laurie Oakes, it all started with Rudd calling the Prime Minister (and Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer) a liar over the AWB wheat scandal, Iraq’s possession of WMD, and the child overboard incident.

The Government has stepped up their attacks on Rudd’s personal integrity by evoking something near the themes of political ambition in the Shakespearean tragedies of Macbeth, King Lear, and the Tempest.

The daughter of the late farm owner, Aubrey Low, is accusing Rudd of muddying the reputation of her family, suggesting that, “He's dragged our father's proud reputation through the mud time and time again.”

Rudd has on occasion publicly made reference to a childhood event on this farm in which his father had worked. After his father died Rudd says that his mother was kicked off the farm, and that his family had to sleep in the family car and get by on charity. This was, Rudd explains, the impetus behind his political ambition.

Downer said this morning that, “Mr. Rudd is one of those people who would say absolutely anything to advance his own personal interest”. And that now he is getting into conflict with people over the truth about his past. In Rudd’s defense, Shadow Treasure Wayne Swan said, “you wonder how low these dirty attacks can continue.”

Aubrey Low Kevin Rudd