Chinese whispers

WHILE Kevin Rudd fought off media queries yesterday with an avalanche of feelgood tweets from New York, it was a couple from Therese Rein that caught our eye.

WHILE Kevin Rudd fought off media queries yesterday with an avalanche of feelgood tweets from New York, it was a couple from Therese Rein that caught our eye.

Once Kev had softened us up with a warm, fuzzy barrage, in stepped Therese: "Hope you don't mind if I clarify here some mixups that seem to be happening a bit? #fact". This tweet was met with some enthusiasm. She continued: "Thnx everyone who asked how my time was in China last week. But #fact we didn't go there. Never intended to. And no one asked if we were." For those hoping Rein would be addressing that small matter of the night of the blood(nut)bath, the disappointment was fleeting, and soon replaced by indignation. What rapscallion could have spread such a rumour? China? The very Middle Kingdom of Rodent Copulators? Outrageous. For an answer, we turn to Phillip Coorey and Jacob Saulwick in The Sydney Morning Herald on June 30: "Spurned by his colleagues and unwanted by his Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd has left the Lodge and will head to China for a family break. . . . It is understood Mr Rudd and [daughter] Jessica will leave soon for Beijing . . . The rest of the family will follow." No one asked. We are aghast. Rein added: "Thnx also to those who've asked how [son] Marcus's move to Brisbane school is going. But #fact is, he isn't moving." As far as we can tell, Coorey and Saulwick are innocent on this one.

Silent tweetment

STILL on the Twitter front, following Thursday's accidental broadcast of what was meant to be a private, direct message, NSW Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell has been fairly quiet on the microblogging site. Amazingly, he even passed up Strewth's invitation to comment, via the magic of a direct tweet, so he's learning. He did however tweet this, rather wistfully: "Just visited [former] Dubbo MP Gerry Peacocke - enjoying life after politics in the central west."

Poetry in Emmotion

AT Monday night's launch of Hawke: The Prime Minister, much was made of Bob Hawke's "worldly appetites"; he is after all, as we were reminded, a comet with a long tail. (Cough.) But what about the worldly appetites of the biographer and subject's wife, Blanche d'Alpuget? Here's a pleasingly appreciative interlude from p249: "After the economist Craig Emerson had joined his staff in 1986 and become his environmental adviser, Hawke had grown close to the young man and, enjoying his company, had tended to indulge him with listening to his ideas. Some staff were jealous of Emerson who, besides being something of a prime ministerial pet, was tall, dark and handsome, with beautiful brown eyes, a beautiful white smile and a boyish attraction for women that made other men want to thump him." Blimey. The big question, of course, is how does Emmo feel about this, how shall we put it, authoritative reminder that he's a chick magnet of the first order? Here's the official word from the sparkle-eyed minister to Strewth: "Tragically, that was a long time ago, and though I'm flattered by Blanche's description, [Hawke adviser turned ABC fixture] Barrie Cassidy was the last of the true romantics, not me."

The final chapter?

SPEAKING of d'Alpuget's latest instalment in the Hawke cycle, Strewth is losing sleep, tormented by the dizzying prospect of that memoir Paul Keating has been dangling before us. Will he ever make good on the threat? As much as we enjoyed that missive to Hawke that PJK shared so thoughtfully with readers of this august organ, it's served only to whet our appetite. So, yet again, we packed our lowest expectations and trudged off (telephonically) to Keating's office. Alas, PJK is still out of the country and his office declined, very politely, to comment in a quotable way. The good news is Keating's office staff didn't sound as sad or put out as they usually do when we mention we're from The Australian, so that's surely a big step forward. Watch, as they say, this space.

Out of Fresh Ideas

THE fruitless Facebook exertions of spurned Tasmanian Labor senate hopeful Kevin Harkins (Strewth, yesterday) is a reminder that it can be a bit of an uphill battle being a political Kevin these days. Not that this appears to be troubling Kevin Rudd, as he heads home from the UN building, where he may or may not have measured the drapes in Ban Ki-moon's office. Still, Rudd will be cheered to know he's still remembered fondly in his native land, and not just by Laurie Oakes and Labor backbencher Chris Trevor. Visit the website of Darren Cheeseman, the Labor member for Corangamite (the tastiest sounding electorate in the land), and once you've scrolled past the dutifully posted portraits of Gillard, you'll find the eternal flame of the Rudd prime ministership still flickering discreetly: "Fresh Ideas for Families - Kevin Rudd is helping small business meet the set-up costs of family friendly working arrangements."

Life in the old girl

YES, we know Aunty's just advertising a show, but it's still a bit disconcerting to hear the voiceover on one of their latest promos intoning, "Life. Coming soon to ABC1."