Ex-PM is not yet out of site

FROM MY CORNER .... with Ann Brunswick


So, Australia goes to the polls on August 21. As usual my prediction made several weeks ago came true. When asked to pick the possible election day I said it would be a Saturday, and once was proven correct. Why nobody has employed me as a senior political adviser is truly a puzzle.

Nevertheless, once the election was called at the weekend your columnist checked out the websites of the various major parties to see how they were handling the news. On the Labor Party’s site there was a search box for checking candidates or their seats.
So, out of curiosity I typed in “Rudd” to see what the party he once led is now saying about him. To be precise, this is what they are saying: “Kevin Michael Rudd was sworn in as the 26th Prime Minister of Australia on December 3 2007, after he led the Australian Labor Party to an election win on November 24.”
It goes on to note Mr Rudd is the Member for Griffith, became party leader in December 2006, and has strong interests in foreign affairs, notably China. It ends after giving some details of Mr Rudd’s wife and children. But nowhere does it speak of his demise as PM last month.
Why that could be so was soon obvious to me when reaching the very bottom of the page where Mr Rudd’s contact details were given as his Griffith electorate office at Morningside, and “Parliament House, Prime Minister, Canberra, ACT 2600” as well as the prime minister’s switchboard phone number.
A search for “Gillard” in the candidates’ list brought up her profile, including the fact she was sworn in as our nation’s 27th prime minister on June 24. Someone needs to update the ALP website, and pretty soon. Surely not even Labor Party rules would allow for two PMs at once.

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It was an offer too good to resist, so your columnist threw her fascinator into the ring and lodged an application form for one of the 400,000 free Go Cards being given away by Translink with each card holding $10 worth of credit.

My application was posted even though it contained insufficient postage. I had affixed an old 55-cent stamp to the envelope even though postage charges for standard letters had risen to 60 cents by the time I shoved it hard into the slot of a big red box.
Too bad, was my rationalisation, the government can pay the extra five cents. There is sense in shifting commuters to automated ticketing systems such as the Go Card. But what happens when buses and trains no longer sell paper tickets after the end of this year? How will overseas, interstate, or even intrastate tourists in our city get on? Will they be turned away by bus drivers if they don’t have a Go Card? That should do wonders for our reputation among potential visitors. And what happens if your Go Card has insufficient credit to make a trip?
Again, will you be told to get off the bus, train, or ferry, and have to hunt down an outlet or machine to top up your credit? A search of the Translink site turned up no answers to these sorts of questions. Let’s hope someone in the Transport Department has thought of solutions. But then again, what are the odds of that?