Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, we are the great and powerful Oz

WHO do you blame when things are going badly for your side of politics? Why, The Australian

The Sydney Morning Herald's national affairs correspondent Lenore Taylor on ABC1's Insiders yesterday:

TAYLOR: Rob Oakeshott is clearly feeling the pressure, that he's losing support in his conservative-minded electorate, he's admitted that the poor showing of independents in the NSW elections has got something to do with that, but he blames radio shock jocks like Ray Hadley and faceless media barons like the editor of The Australian, like Chris Mitchell. As for the radio shock jocks and faceless media barons, he challenged them to a town hall debate and the response from Ray Hadley is: "I will be rearranging my sock drawer any night this imbecile wants to debate me." So I'm not sure that as a strategy it's going that well.

Barrie Cassidy: And Ray Hadley went on to say he would be attacking him Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and so on, and that's what happens when you take them on. And of course Bob Brown weighed in as well this week and his target was The Australian.

Brown: The Australian will drive it for all it's worth because they have an anti-Green agenda but the hate media doesn't set our policy. We set it ourselves.

Cassidy: And The Australian in an editorial last September said this: "We believe that Bob Brown and his colleagues are hypocrites, that they are bad for the nation, that they should be destroyed at the ballot box.

Andrew Bolt: Of course it is. This is the thing about the independents and the Greens. They've got this sense of moral certainty that makes any criticism of them seem to them illegitimate.

Later:

BOLT: There has been some criticism of Julia Gillard for attacking the Greens. You're hearing it here. I wonder how that would have been expressed if Tony Abbott had said, the Greens don't share our love of family. You know what they'd say? They'd say, this is code for Bob Brown is gay. This is the dog whistle. Why are you giving Julia Gillard the benefit of the doubt? What do you think that line was doing there?

Taylor: I think it was a silly line.

Bolt: No, what do you think it was doing there?

Taylor: Well, if I could finish my sentence, I'll tell you what I think it was doing there. I think she was differentiating herself from the Greens by nonsense rhetoric. I don't accept that it was any kind of dog whistle about the fact that Bob Brown is homosexual.

Bolt: If [it was] Tony Abbott you certainly would have said that. You'd be jumping up and down.

Taylor: I certainly would not, Andrew. I certainly would not.

Bolt: You certainly would have. I'd bet a dollar on that.

Taylor: For Pete's sake*.

* Lenore Taylor says and The Australian accepts that she said "For Pete's sake" and not "Piss off" as earlier reported.

I oppose the boycott of Israel. Bob Brown, April 1:

THE NSW Greens have taken to having their own shade of foreign policy. That's up to them. It was a mistake. I differ with Lee [Rhiannon] on that and she knows that, and so do the other components of the NSW Greens who handled so badly that part of the campaign against my advice.

Really? Senate Hansard March 23:

SENATOR [Mitch] Fifield (Victoria -- manager of opposition business in the Senate) -- I move: That the Senate -- (a) notes: (i) the boycott of Israel instigated by Marrickville Council part of the Global Boycott Divestments and Sanctions banning any links with Israeli organisations or organisations that support Israel and prohibiting any academic, government, sporting or cultural exchanges with Israel, (ii) letters from Marrickville Council to members of parliament asking them to support the GBDS, and (iii) reports of the intention of the Greens Marrickville Mayor, Ms Fiona Byrne, to seek to extend the boycott of Israel to the entire state of NSW; (b) acknowledges that Israel is a legitimate and democratic state and a good friend of Australia; and (c) denounces the Israeli boycott by Marrickville Council and condemns any expansion of it.

Question agreed to.

Senator Bob Brown (Tasmania -- Leader of the Australian Greens) (4.06pm) -- I ask that the Australian Greens' opposition to this motion be recorded.