Ipaidmy200in89
Club Legend
Richard "Marco Polo" Alston and more jobs for mates
Alston - Birds do it, bees do it, educated fleas do it, let's do it, let's give our mates jobs...
Former communications minister Richard Alston has been confirmed as Australia's next high commissioner to London in a classic "last Friday before Christmas" effort from a cynical a government.
Equally cynical, in a timing sense, is the banking cartel for concentrating their AGMs together when most people are too busy to attend or notice. St George and ANZ both presented to shareholders today.
Alston is now just the latest of more than a dozen former Liberal politicians and advisers to get plum overseas postings in the last eight years.
Yet it is not as if taxpayers haven't paid for the lad to head overseas in the past. Labor Senator John Faulkiner gave Alston a lovely tribute on his final day in the Senate last year which you should read in full here.
We particularly liked these lines:
"We have come to the conclusion that Senator Alston is a real homebody. He rarely travelled overseas and only managed to go to India, Sri Lanka, Nicaragua, New Zealand, the USA, Canada, India, the UK, USA, Japan, USA, UK, Ireland, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, USA, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, UK, Switzerland, Italy, Hong Kong, USA, South Africa, Israel, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, USA, UK, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Israel, UK, India, China, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, USA, Canada, Korea, China, Japan..."
"I read in the Age how Senator Alston had been described at a function that none of us on this side of the chamber were invited to, or expected to be, but did hear?I think it took place in the President's Dining Room. It was reported in the Age that ministers paid tribute to the `mighty nomad', recalled your nickname, Senator Alston, of Marco Polo and pointed out?and I do not know why this was not in the handbook?that you were the first Australian minister ever to visit Iceland, among a range of other achievements. I have rung the Parliamentary Library, I assure you, to correct the record to make sure that that is included."
Yet Alston couldn't even stack the ABC board. Virtually all his appointees other than Michael Kroger and Rod Brunton have gone native. He will be a great advocate for the country. Not that he's up against stiff competition.
Michael Baume is a good political tactician - but he seems to have got the job as consul-general in New York, the plummiest posting of them all, for letting John Howard cry on his shoulder during his darkest days in opposition. The incumbent CG in Los Angles, John Olsen, got his gig thanks to local factional pals despite being forced to resign as premier of South Australia after a judicial inquiry found he hadn't told Parliament everything it should have known over an industry deal. Do we really want someone like that representing our country on trade matters?
True, Bob Hawke appointed one of his ministers, Chris Hurford, to London. And Hurford's greatest moment of fame was when he got sprung writing to cash for comment pioneer Jeremy Cordeaux offering exclusive stories in exchange for positive coverage. But at least his appointment sparked a by-election - and at least punters in those days were able to summon up the spirit to reject the Labor candidate, SDA godfather Don Farrell.
Presumably they'll react to the Alston appointment by whacking more DVD players and surround sound systems on their credit cards - the new Australian way.
Alston - Birds do it, bees do it, educated fleas do it, let's do it, let's give our mates jobs...
Former communications minister Richard Alston has been confirmed as Australia's next high commissioner to London in a classic "last Friday before Christmas" effort from a cynical a government.
Equally cynical, in a timing sense, is the banking cartel for concentrating their AGMs together when most people are too busy to attend or notice. St George and ANZ both presented to shareholders today.
Alston is now just the latest of more than a dozen former Liberal politicians and advisers to get plum overseas postings in the last eight years.
Yet it is not as if taxpayers haven't paid for the lad to head overseas in the past. Labor Senator John Faulkiner gave Alston a lovely tribute on his final day in the Senate last year which you should read in full here.
We particularly liked these lines:
"We have come to the conclusion that Senator Alston is a real homebody. He rarely travelled overseas and only managed to go to India, Sri Lanka, Nicaragua, New Zealand, the USA, Canada, India, the UK, USA, Japan, USA, UK, Ireland, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, USA, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, UK, Switzerland, Italy, Hong Kong, USA, South Africa, Israel, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, USA, UK, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Israel, UK, India, China, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, USA, Canada, Korea, China, Japan..."
"I read in the Age how Senator Alston had been described at a function that none of us on this side of the chamber were invited to, or expected to be, but did hear?I think it took place in the President's Dining Room. It was reported in the Age that ministers paid tribute to the `mighty nomad', recalled your nickname, Senator Alston, of Marco Polo and pointed out?and I do not know why this was not in the handbook?that you were the first Australian minister ever to visit Iceland, among a range of other achievements. I have rung the Parliamentary Library, I assure you, to correct the record to make sure that that is included."
Yet Alston couldn't even stack the ABC board. Virtually all his appointees other than Michael Kroger and Rod Brunton have gone native. He will be a great advocate for the country. Not that he's up against stiff competition.
Michael Baume is a good political tactician - but he seems to have got the job as consul-general in New York, the plummiest posting of them all, for letting John Howard cry on his shoulder during his darkest days in opposition. The incumbent CG in Los Angles, John Olsen, got his gig thanks to local factional pals despite being forced to resign as premier of South Australia after a judicial inquiry found he hadn't told Parliament everything it should have known over an industry deal. Do we really want someone like that representing our country on trade matters?
True, Bob Hawke appointed one of his ministers, Chris Hurford, to London. And Hurford's greatest moment of fame was when he got sprung writing to cash for comment pioneer Jeremy Cordeaux offering exclusive stories in exchange for positive coverage. But at least his appointment sparked a by-election - and at least punters in those days were able to summon up the spirit to reject the Labor candidate, SDA godfather Don Farrell.
Presumably they'll react to the Alston appointment by whacking more DVD players and surround sound systems on their credit cards - the new Australian way.
.
