Last weekend’s 2020 summit
sought to ‘help shape a long term strategy for the nation's future,’
according to a statement from the
Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. In the aftermath, the majority of media
outlets seemed more interested in reporting on Cate Blanchett and the first
major outing of her new infant, Ignatius, despite the approriateness, or otherwise,
of the summit as a medium for the child’s debut. Prime Minister Kevin
Rudd had further highlighted the casual nature of the discussions set to take
place during the two-day series of speeches with his weekend ensemble devoid
of his customary tie, a fashion replicated to near indenticallity by almost
every male delegate present over the weekend.
While numerous important matters were no doubt discussed before a whiteboards
and poignant cartoons, the one that has remained a talking point in the week
since has been the possibility of Australians once more having the opportunity
to vote on whether the country should remain a monarchy or embrace change as
a new republic. As yet, no dates have been set for official discussions on the
topic, but the matter must surely be weighing heavily on the mind of newly elected
Governor General Quentin Bryce.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd with Quentin Bryce (AAP: Alan Porritt)
Only a week before the summit, Bryce, the Governor of Queensland, from the
sheep farming town of Ilfracombe, Queensland, was celebrating her impending
promotion to the position, and gaining the praise of the likes of Deputy Prime
Minister Julia Gillard and collapsing current affairs host Jill
Singer. However, if a referendum decided that Australia were to sever ties
with England’s royal family, this would make the position of Governor
General redundant.
Perhaps of more concern should be the fact that Ms. Bryce’s brooch is
made of contraband substance Bindeez. The children’s art toy distributed
by Moose Enterprises was recalled
nation-wide prior to Christmas in 2007 after it was revealed, through a number
of children’s trial and unintentional error, that the beads in the product
metabolised into the recreational drug GHB.
Leader Newspapers reported ‘pandemonium’ at K-Mart in Westfield
Shopping Centre Southland, with up to two trolley loads of the toy being returned
in a week.

Magnification of the offending jewellery |

Bindeez (Moose) |
Time will tell what Ms. Bryce’s
true intentions are when she takes to the throne of Governor General on September
5, 2008, but, Bindeez dealer or not, her reign may be short lived pending the
decision of the Government on the republic issue and public reaction to news
of the Bindeez brooch.