Is Labor practicing what it preaches?

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer is critical of the Opposition for their continuing attack on Senator Santoro. “What more can he do?” Downer said. “Leave him alone now; he’s resigned, think about him as a human being.”

“I would have thought the Labor Party, which pretends it wants talk about policies should practice what it preaches, but of course it seldom does.”

Both Labor and the Greens are questioning the Prime Minister over the knowledge he had of Santoro’s share activity, suggesting that he is implicated in a cover-up. John Howard’s chief of staff, Tony Nutt, changed the wording of the declaration Santoro made to the Senate in December yet failed to detect the multitude of other share transactions.

The Prime Minister maintains he who knew nothing about Santoro’s other share activities until just a few days ago.

Alexander Downer Santoro John Howard Labor

Yes I’m done, you can take it away now nurse

Prime Minister John Howard needed Senator Santoro’s mess like he needed, “a hole in the head.” Fresh-faced Christopher Pyne has been given the task of inspecting the bedpans of the former Minister for Ageing. Allegations are rife that Santoro advanced the business interests of his nursing bed provider friend, Russell Egan Jr.

Meanwhile Labor is gathered around the piano in the recreation room singing the praise of the latest Newspoll results. Labor currently leads the Liberal party 61 points to 39 points on a two-party preferred basis.

Santoro might have taken a bath on his stocks with his enforced retirement, but at least he's guaranteed himself a bed?

Newspoll Santoro John Howard Christopher Pyne

A Matter of Interpretation

After his visit to Japan, Afghanistan and Iraq, the Prime Minister said that his main focus this election will be on keeping Australian troops in Iraq.

Asked for his thoughts on what impact the recent share scandal will have on the Coalition, Howard said that the mistakes and subsequent resignations of MPs, Ian Campbell and Santo Santoro, will do short term damage to the Government.

“In the long run, the public will make an assessment of how well we have governed for the country and how well the country has done over the last 11 years,” he said.

Labor has been making the most of the scandal. According to Deputy Opposition Leader Julia Gillard, the Prime Minister has grown tired and lost the grip he once had on his ministers.

She claimed over the weekend that that Senator Amanda Vanstone spent at least $31,000 (and possibly over $75,000) of taxpayer’s money on private Chinese language lessons, when she was the minister for immigration.

Denying that she had regular private language lessons, Vanstone accused Gillard of “mischief making.”

Only on occasion had she required assistance with Mandarin, Vanstone said. And that was for the preparation of four speeches. She recalled the total cost to be in the vicinity of $6000 over a 12-month period.

On recently revising the cost, however, Vanstone admitted to spending at least $31,000 but rejected Gillard’s claim that she spent over $75,000. It is “hogwash,” she said.

According to Vanstone if she’d spent that much she would be able to speak fluent Chinese by now.

Amanda Vanstone Julia Gillard Vanstone's Mandarin

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