Dungeon indeed

EVEN amid the sturm und drang of yesterday's question time, with a censure motion being launched against the government before the green seat leather even had a chance to grow warm beneath elected bums, there were moments that stood out.

EVEN amid the sturm und drang of yesterday's question time, with a censure motion being launched against the government before the green seat leather even had a chance to grow warm beneath elected bums, there were moments that stood out.

Tony Abbott momentarily abandoned his quest to forge fresh mantras and harked back to one of his former boss's: "We will control who comes to our country and the circumstances under which they come." A majestic moment best left unsullied by context. No such borrowing for Julia Gillard; the PM, who has previously brought us wonders such as "contemptful" and "hyperbowl" (as Christopher Pyne so naughtily reminded the house) gave issue to "high dungeon". Ahem. High dudgeon, perhaps? Or was she in fact describing somewhere at a higher latitude where asylum-seekers could be processed? It was something to muse on as Greens MP Adam Bandt, whose motion of condemning the government over the Malaysian deal was the genesis of yesterday's censure attempt, ended up siding with the government during said censure motion. As Gillard observed at the Midwinter Ball on Wednesday night, "Sometimes the things that amuse us are stronger than the things that divide us."

Pointing the finger

SPEAKING of the ball, give or take the charity auction hijinks by GetUp!, it was a relatively well-behaved night. Sophie Mirabella wasn't obliged to shed any staff afterwards, Malcolm Turnbull didn't start unravelling and Kevin Rudd didn't give a speech that left the audience staring at its shoes in the hope a hole would magically open just beneath them. So we'll make do with faint suggestions of an altercation between Wayne Swan and outgoing senator (and Labor Right deserter) Steve Hutchins. Reports one observer, "Hutch walked up, grabbed Swan's arms. There was finger-pointing. It was intense." It's been a bumpy day or so for Hutchins, not least with the leaking of an airport security report prepared by the committee he chaired. But argy bargy with his old mate Swanny? Sources close to Hutchins suggested a misinterpretation of his double-handed grasp of Swan's shoulders as he invited him to his valedictory speech next week. Hutchins is from NSW and Swan is from Queensland; maybe it was just that 18-8 State of Origin score.

Chairman Miaow

WE'LL mention in passing that senator Julian McGauran miaowed at Communications Minister Stephen Conroy yesterday. As McGauran noted to AAP, "[Conroy's] one of the toughest, brutalist operators in the chamber who was taking the opportunity to attack us viciously." Then, in a touchingly candid afterthought, "And I'm one of the most annoying interjectors in the chamber."

Fake grass cut down

THE age of "legal weed" ended in Western Australia last night more with a whimper than a puff at the toke (sorry) of midnight. Earlier this week, the state became the first to announce a ban on synthetic cannabinoids, the chemicals that go into products such as Kronic. For good measure, not-for-profit organisation Artrage, which receives state government funding, announced a "Kronic Blowout" gig at its city venue, the Bakery: "Blaze the last of your legal stash in style by midnight Thursday and avoid years and years in prison! Kronic goes illegal from this Friday, we're having a 'kron voyage' Kronic Blowout . . ." WA Premier Colin Barnett was very grumpy when asked about it at a doorstop interview, unlike the WA wallopers, who were models of calm as they rained on the parade later in the day: "The approved manager of The Bakery . . . has agreed to close the venue and cancel tonight's event. Police will still be conducting patrols of the area this evening."

Ashes to ashes

IT was ash in the south that caused a hiccup for our colleagues Michael Stutchbury and Ewin Hannan, whose plans to fly to Hobart for the state budget came to nought for volcanic reasons. Luckily, they missed out on scenes of cruel austerity, where journalists such as our Hobart-based colleague Matthew Denholm were confronted with cutbacks to the traditional budget nibblies. In the meantime, we hear a fire alarm in Parliament House obliged MPs and senior bureaucrats to go outside. Coincidentally, outside is where public service union members were rallying against service and job cuts We're not sure if the evacuated pollies saw smoke, but we expect they found the ire.

Crazy Canucks

SO now we know what happens when you have Craig "Mind that poofle valve" Emerson, George Brandis and the Dalai Lama on side: you get whipped by the Blues in the State of Origin. Still, at least things were civil afterwards, unlike Vancouver, which, as a consequence of some ill-received ice hockey results yesterday, went berserk in a window-smashing-and-car-overturning-somewhat-carelessly-in-full-and-easily-identifiable-view-of-cameras sort of way. Yes, Vancouver! Even the wallopers looked surprised as they unsheathed their truncheons. A city gone to puck and ruin.