Monday, September 21, 2009 04:41:48 PM
Posted By Dann
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Australian
Family Association spokesman John Morrissey has described Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd's observation of a religious holiday over the weekend as 'quite reprehensible.'
The Prime Minister has refused to
apologise for the 'robust
conversation,' which took place during a private meeting on International
Talk Like A Pirate Day, a yearly tradition upheld by practicing Pastafarians.
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Pastafarians
celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day, with statue of the Flying Spaghetti
Monster (Joe Mabel.) |
Mr. Rudd and his family are known
to be quite
religious, and are seen attending church services regularly. Mr. Rudd says
that he tries to start each day with a reading from a prayer
book.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia 'Gilla
Monster' Gillard stood by Mr. Rudd, saying 'From time to time we might say the
occasional robust word. I'm known to do that as much as anybody else.'
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Mr
and Mrs Rudd after a service at the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
(ABC News/Giulio Saggin and livenudedann.com) |
Elaine Crowe from Parents
Victoria initially agrees
with Ms. Gillard's statements, saying 'we all say cross words from time to time,'
but says that the Prime Minister should 'set an example, particularly for our
kids.'
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Monday, June 8, 2009 12:09:51 AM
Posted By Dann
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Twittering Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull bragged that he spent several weeks during 1978 at Playboy magazine’s Chicago headquarters while negotiating the purchase of rights for an Australian edition of the magazine.
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Malcolm Turnbull with radio's Camilla (B105)
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Mr. Turnbull’s recollection of the visit lost credibility, however, when he admitted ‘I didn’t meet Hugh Hefner, I didn’t go to his house.’
‘I met his daughter, Cindy, who’s a very serious business executive, and a number of other business executives there,’ Mr. Turnbull clarified, though most people would just have called such executives ‘Bunnies.’
‘I’m afraid to say I haven’t had a Scores moment,’ said Mr Turnbull, conceding that his Playboy visit is unlikely to bring him the kind of praise given to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd when it was revealed that he visited the Scores Gentlemen’s Club during a visit to New York in 2003.
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Players Lounge welcomes Mr Rudd (AAP)
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News of Mr. Rudd’s strip club jaunt, revealed during his 2007 election campaign boosted his public support, and prompted invitations from local nightclubs. Mr. Turnbull’s Playboy tale is not expected to have a similar effect.
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Thursday, May 28, 2009 02:03:37 PM
Posted By Dann
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Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the
Federal Government have once more come under criticism from members of the Opposition
for spending, this time seen as little more than ‘self-promotion.’
Since coming to power, the Rudd Government
have rolled out funding to schools
across the country, in what Education Minister Julia ‘Gilla Monster’
Gillard has called ‘the biggest school modernisation project this country's
ever seen.’

Education Minister Julia Gillard with student (Reg Ryan)
‘Schools will obviously want
to have a celebration when their brand new gymnasium or 21st century library
or classrooms are finished,’ Ms Gillard said.
These celebrations will in most cases
take the form of launch ceremonies for the opening of new buildings, with the
unveiling of commemorative plaques, said to have cost the Government more than
$3.5 million in total. Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne has
branded the exercise as the spending as nothing more than the creation of photo
opportunities.
‘This Government is all about
spin and self-promotion and trying to get itself re-elected,’ Mr. Pyne
said. ‘So the fact they'd spend $3.75 million on plaques and signs and
self-promotion - every dollar of which is borrowed - should come as no surprise
to anyone. You would think that they would be embarrassed enough to say “Well,
let's not borrow $3.75 million to promote Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.”’
Mr. Pyne has recent history of being
argumentative with Prime Minister Rudd, having this been forced to withdraw
an insult made to Mr. Rudd in Parliament. While answering a question regarding
the Government’s debt strategies, Mr. Pyne interrupted with ‘Answer
the question, Mr. Squiggle!’
Miss Jane and Mr Squiggle (ABC)
Meanwhile, Mr. Rudd was accused of
demeaning the office of the Prime Minister when he used large pictures of renovation
projects in schools to demonstrate how money was being spent. Opposition front-bencher
Julie Bishop deemed the pictures ‘silly
props.’
‘I've never seen a prime minister
stoop to the sort of silly antics that we saw this week,’ Ms. Bishop said.

Kevin Rudd being presented with a cricket shirt (cricket.org)

Kevin Rudd and Rabbi Dovid Slaven(The Jewish Star)
It is evident, however,
that props have been an important part of Mr. Rudd’s political success.
Photographic evidence shows that Mr. Rudd has for some time utilised props whenever
possible.

(Alan Porritt, AAP) |

(Kym Smith, news.com.au) |
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Friday, August 8, 2008 09:47:53 AM
Posted By Dann
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With the opening ceremony for the games
of the XXIX Olympiad only hours from taking place in Beijing, the city is accommodating
more foreign dignitaries than ever. Australia’s contingent gathered last
night for a function in the ballroom of the reasonably priced Beijing Sofitel,
where Australian Olympic coaches named who would be leading the team into the
opening ceremony.
The five-time Olympian seemed confused
about what he had been chosen for, responding
to questions about the token gesture by saying ‘It is the mateship,
the camaraderie, the spirit of the ANZAC, it is that sort of culture, when the
chips are down, you fight your hardest, when the going gets tough you start
to fire up.’
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Mrs Rudd, Prime Minister Kevin
Rudd and former Prime Minister John Howard (Fairfax) |
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister
John Howard sported a gaudy blazer and enjoyed complimentary beverages while
avoiding current Prime Minister and rival Kevin Rudd. When Mr Rudd noticed Mr
Howard in the crowd, he approached Mr Howard to shake hands and say hello. Mr
Rudd then took to the stage himself to lead the room in a half-hearted cheer
of ‘hip, hip, hooray.’
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Excerpt
of Prime Minister Rudd’s speech.
(ABC) |
Despite his less-than-enthusiastic
presentation to athletes, Kevin Rudd is known to be a keen sports fan, attending
local events when ever possible. It is speculated, however, that he
is more interested in enjoying the snacks available at the venue than he
is in the performance of the teams on field.
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Kevin
Rudd with Dagwood Dog (News Limited) |
It is unclear whether Dagwood Dogs
will be available at official Beijing Olympic sites.
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Monday, June 2, 2008 01:49:08 PM
Posted By Dann
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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.
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