Adam Goodes: Miranda Devine, Andrew Bolt struggle with clarity

Plus Bill Shorten shows how he’s grown and changed in the job of Opposition Leader.

Bye-bye Bronwyn. Clive Palmer prepares the plot for interment, Insiders, ABC television, yesterday:

Well the whole thing’s a — as Billy Joel said a long time ago, it’s a matter of trust.

No gags about this one, Clive? Hedley Thomas, The Australian, May 5:

Clive Palmer was directly involved in the “unexplained creation of an apparently false contract” relating to his allegedly fraudulent withdrawals of more than $12 million in Chinese funds, a Supreme Court judge has ruled. The federal member for Fairfax was part of “an apparent attempt to manufacture evidence” to show there was a written contract, which could explain some of his withdrawals … Justice Jackson found that Mr Palmer knew that a $10m payment he made to his own company, Cosmo Developments, from the Chinese funds “was not an authorised payment”, and that a $2.167m payment made directly to a Brisbane advertising company involved in his electoral campaign, Media Circus, “was not an authorised payment”.

Adam Goodes should not be booed. Miranda Devine, The Sunday Telegraph, yesterday:

Booing Adam Goodes is unkind, and it is wrong. Clearly it is out of control, since he finds it so hurtful he can’t even come out to play this weekend.

The treatment of the girl who abused him was not his doing. Devine continues:

Goodes singled out a 13-year-old after she called him an “ape” … What happened next was not Goodes’ fault … Goodes, to his credit, said she shouldn’t be blamed.

But he should make some act of atonement? More Devine:

An apology for the way she was treated would go a long way.

Andrew Bolt feels the same way too. On his blog, yesterday.

I did not say Goodes was wrong to “stand up” to a girl racially abusing him.

On 7.30, ABC television, July 30:

How (the booing) would be best stopped ... is for Adam Goodes to say, “Look, I did overreact. We mustn’t forget there are — we’re all human beings, we’re all together in this.” And singling out a girl for public humiliation like that I thought was wrong.

Or in the immortal words of Little Britain’s Vicki Pollard:

No, but, yeah, but, no, but, yeah, but, no, but, yeah.

He’s learning. Bill Shorten doorstop, Melbourne, yesterday:

Journalist: Nova Peris believes there’s a lack of leadership on both sides of politics when it comes to indigenous issues … What’s your thoughts on that?

Shorten: I haven’t seen what Nova’s said but she’s an excellent Labor ­senator, an excellent member of my team.

And Shorten’s response when quizzed about comments by Julia Gillard on Peter Slipper, Sky News Australia, April 26, 2012:

I haven’t seen what she’s said, but let me say I support what it is she said.

Great euphemisms of our time. Karen Middleton on how marriage equality will play out with the punters, also on Insiders:

I think it will be different in different areas and ... some of those in the ­government ... who are opposed to same-sex marriage are making the point that, particularly in western Sydney, for example, there is a lot of influence from some of the non-Anglo churches.