Gamesmanship

WE know Julia Gillard wants to be careful not to be seen to be rewarding Kevin Rudd's political executioners too lavishly, but she may now be leaning a little far in the other direction.

At yesterday's press conference about the Commonwealth Games and the potential for strife in India, the PM emphasised, "Our travel advice has made clear there is a high risk of terrorism in New Delhi." Then, a short while later, "It's our intention that [Sports] Minister [Mark] Arbib will attend the Games."

Flock to Flannery

CATE Blanchett was on duty at Sydney's Wharf Restaurant yesterday to launch Tim Flannery's new book, Here On Earth: An Argument For Hope. Blanchett introduced Flannery as "a man who not only stops to smell the roses, he identifies the aphids on them as well . . . He's the best rock-turner-overer since Charles Darwin himself." Flannery, for his part, thanked Blanchett for forgiving him for putting her in a cage with a komodo dragon, a spectacle we regret never having seen. Unfortunately, there were no interviews with either; a PR flack announced the event was "for family and friends". One to which journos had been invited by mistake, presumably. Perhaps the hint was there in Blanchett's opening words: "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, and members of the media." Ah, well, point taken. However, Flannery did invite everyone to stick around, have a coffee, and perhaps have a chat with his friend and partner in televisual crime, John Doyle: "Doyley is a great pessimist. Perhaps we can raise him to a more optimistic level, but not before the next TV series; we need the tension."

Fatso's bum rap

OBEDIENTLY, we did speak with Doyle, who told us that while he and Flannery had been brought together by shared interests (Samuel Pepys, just for starters), the next series they are planning is about what divides us as a nation. But what about something that unites us, say, the 10th anniversary of Fatso the fat-arsed wombat, the most hirsute star of the Sydney Olympics? Was there some way we could all get together and celebrate the amply posteriored mascot of Doyle's and Greg "H. G. Nelson" Pickhaver's show, The Dream? "I heard someone tried to remove Fatso's statue from his plinth at Homebush," Doyle told Strewth. "It shows there's still a flicker of interest, as well as someone with a ladder and a crowbar. They were unsuccessful. I'm not sure how much damage was done, but it seems a good way to celebrate Fatso's 10th anniversary, to have him nicked."

Gallery reprimand

THERE'S some serious tut-tutting going on in federal Parliament House, with the Serjeant-at-Arms and the Usher of the Black Rod chastising some of the press gallery for doing naughty things that have been "discourteous, invasive of privacy, and at times . . . dangerous". Repeat offenders have been warned they may be locked for a few hours in a lift with Rob Oakeshott. Oh, wait, that's just us reading between the lines. In a separate note, there have been reports of rats in the corridors of power; insert metaphorical gag of your choice here.

The Bita bit

AS Don Watson wages his long and lonely war against bureaucratese and other debasements of the English language, he may be encouraged to learn his teachings are making inroads. Take this refreshingly human response from Health Department and Therapeutic Goods Administration gatekeeper Kay McNiece to our colleague, Natasha Bita. Bita had asked whether the Health Department had decided what to do with expired batches of the swine flu vaccine Panvax, and whether said department considered it appropriate that senior advisers on immunisation also advise the nation's biggest pharmaceutical company, which happens to produce vaccines that may have to be assessed by the Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation on behalf of, you guessed it, the Health Department. A straightforward query about potential conflicts of interest, surely? Over to McNiece, who went to the trouble of a written response: "Sigh! If only I knew what you were on about, I would be so more receptive to your questions. I've actually liked some of your probing questions, questions that the public has a right to have answers to -- but you appear now to have just ended up being obsessive, which has not gone unnoticed by other journalists." McNiece taketh away, but she also giveth: "Nonetheless, I appreciate [your] fair report the day before yesterday and will provide a response as soon as possible today." She had us at "Sigh!"

Bookies make good

AT today's auction to raise money for the family of Michael Meagher, the journalist who died in a skiing accident last month, one item being flogged off is "a voucher for $5000 worth of betting from Michael Sullivan at Sportingbet in recognition of the $5000 lost to the bookies backing Maxine McKew in Bennelong". The auction's on at Sydney's Ivy Sun Room, tickets are $300 (lunch and drinks included) and available at [phone]; we gather it will help if you ask for Nadine.