No greater journalistic tribute than recycling used news material
Meanwhile, our grand final football thoughts turn to Australia’s 27th prime minister.
An Australian Financial Review “exclusive”, page one, yesterday:
In a dramatic repudiation of Labor Party policy, (former) education minister John Dawkins has called for sweeping reforms to higher education, including fee deregulation, saying the system he built 50 years ago is not meeting today’s needs.
Sound familiar? The Australian, January 28 last year:
The father of the modern university system, former Labor minister John Dawkins, has backed fee deregulation and urged the party not to lock itself out of sensible reforms it has owned for 30 years. Mr Dawkins, who as education minister in the late 1980s rolled back the free higher education system of the Whitlam era, said that allowing different universities to charge different levels of fees was a “small and unremarkable reform” but was complicated by the government’s desire to achieve significant budget savings.
Fairfax Media launches its “investigation’’ into Liberal National Party federal MP Stuart Robert, Sunday:
A special anti-corruption taskforce has been assigned to investigate claims of dodgy political donations that have embroiled Turnbull government MP Stuart Robert and a Liberal fundraising body he controls.
You’ve heard that before too? The Australian unearthed the scandal that led in July to probes by the Electoral Commission of Queensland and Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission, May 3:
Sacked Turnbull cabinet minister Stuart Robert secretly bankrolled the campaigns of three independent council candidates on the Gold Coast, fuelling calls for his disendorsement by the (LNP) on the eve of the federal election. The funnelling of at least $70,000 out of Mr Robert’s LNP branch fundraising arm, the Fadden Forum, into the campaigns of the independents before March 31 local government elections …
More from that Fairfax investigation, Sunday:
It’s understood the investigation will seek to examine the provenance of money donated to the Fadden Forum, including suggestions it came from property developers whose involvement was concealed. One high-profile donor to the Fadden Forum has been Gold Coast developer lobbyist Simone Holzapfel, a former adviser to Tony Abbott, who gave more than $100,000 to the fundraising vehicle.
Tell us something we don’t know. The Australian, May 4:
Simone Holzapfel, media adviser to Mr Abbott during the Howard government years, donated $114,000 in 12 separate payments to Mr Robert’s “Fadden Forum’’ over two months ahead of the 2013 federal election. Ms Holzapfel, who has lobbied for a mining company at the centre of the scandal that led to Mr Robert’s sacking as a minister, also worked for independent Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate on his successful campaign for re-election in March. She is a long-time lobbyist for the ASF Group … and represents a number of developers from the tourist strip. (Both Mr Robert and Ms Holzapfel have denied any wrongdoing.)
Blast from the past. Deputy prime minister Julia Gillard on baseless Labor leadership speculation, May 2010:
There’s more chance of me becoming the full-forward for the (Western Bulldogs AFL team) than there is any chance of a change in the Labor Party.
Guardian Australia, Saturday:
AFL: Western Bulldogs beat GWS Giants to make first grand final since 1961