Howes alarm

ON the question of whether Paul Howes has it in for Kevin Rudd, it may be safely said the science is settled.

ON the question of whether Paul Howes has it in for Kevin Rudd, it may be safely said the science is settled.

It may also be said that in Confessions of a Faceless Man, Howes goes to town on Kevin '07-'10 with a shortage of mercy that is awe-inspiring. As even Graham Richardson was moved to note at the book's Sydney launch: "I kept wondering when it would end. I am not going to give one quote of Paul's on Kevin Rudd. He's still alive. He's the Foreign Minister. So I think it's probably not smart for either of us to get stuck right into him. But you, you he won't forget." What Richo didn't mention was the kind words Howes has for men generally held in the same esteem as Satan by his union comrades. Here he is on Andrew Bolt: "I detest the bulk of his political views . . . however, politics aside, he's a thoroughly charming man who off air always engages in meaningful and thoughtful conversation." Nick Minchin is "disturbingly likable", and as for the sultan of smooth: "I must confess that I like Andrew Peacock very much." Bearing in mind Howes's Twitter flirtations with Miranda Devine, we shouldn't be surprised, but if we may borrow Richo's line, we kept wondering when it would all end. The answer is, not before Michael Kroger: "Despite our political differences, I like the silver-haired silvertail very much. He is warm and personable, and I'm looking forward to more encounters. He's a formidable opponent, an evil Tory, but very charming." (Kroger will launch the book today at Melbourne's Grossi Florentino, Mick Gatto's launch pad of choice.) In the meantime, with all this reaching a friendly hand across the political divide, Howes is starting to sound a bit like Rudd.

Face the facts

IT is nice that faceless men are back in vogue. So many years have gone down the S-bend of time since journalist Alan "The Red Fox" Reid's scoop about Gough Whitlam and the reign of the ALP's faceless men, it was overdue for a return to fashionable use. But as Ross Fitzgerald, Reid's co-biographer and our adviser on all matters sans visage, tells us it wasn't Reid who coined it: "The phrase was first publicly used on April 3, 1963, by federal Liberal MP for Bradfield Harry Turner. In many ways Harry was too genteel for politics [not the only time this has happened with a member for Bradfield] but he enriched Oz political language forever when he denounced the 36 faceless men of the ALP conference."

Rudd treads lightly

REMEMBER that miniature kerfuffle from the twilight of Kevin Rudd's prime ministership, where Rudd dodged a question from 2UE journalist and sartorial adventurer Latika Bourke and addressed the pressing issue of her fedora instead? Rudd copped a bit of bucketing (just for a change), but the bloke is apparently learning from his mistakes. When Bourke attended Rudd and Hillary Clinton's press conference the other day, she was wearing shoes that could be seen from space, splendid purple sparkly affairs capped with bows that looked like Priscilla met The Wizard of Oz. We hear Rudd saw them and - well, it could have been a trick of light, but we are told his eyes bulged momentarily. But did he say anything? Not a jot. Rudd 2.0 may go far, Paul Howes notwithstanding.

Bogus biographer

REGULAR Strewth correspondent Kevin Rugg writes: "In search of my inner bore, I was browsing the history of the premiers of Victoria on Wikipedia and was astonished to find evidence of advanced telecommunications at the time of 19th-century premier James Service: 'By the time of the 1886 election Service was in declining health (caused mostly by the 3 Network, inducing a lack of Service) and decided to retire from active politics.' " This little disgruntled gem of Wiki-vandalism was still intact last night; we'll be sorry to see it go.

Rock the boat

MUSIC industry A-listers admiring the view of Sydney Harbour from the Opera House bar during the ARIA Awards on Sunday night also got to enjoy the spectacle of the cruise ship Dawn Princess setting off for Tasmania. Few would have been aware the vessel was carrying one of their own, namely ARIA Hall of Famer Brian Cadd. Cadd is due to land in Melbourne today after three days at sea, where he has officially been serving as chief entertainer on a rock 'n' roll cruise. But given how wretched so much of the ARIA broadcast was (with some majestic exceptions, hello Megan Washington), he should probably be viewed as another boatperson fleeing an atrocity. Be kind to him.

Chap sticklers

READER Robyn Jarvis has entered the female chap debate, rejecting chapettes and other alternatives floated in this space, opting instead for the Corby-esque "chapelles". Not Craig Welch, who writes: "Feh! It's 'chappolatas'." On an unrelated note, Strewth reader Robert, who describes himself as "a committed fan" (bless), is finding the Strewth picture byline dichotomy problematic: "I'm a bit discombobulated by the lovely artist's impression in the print version v the photo on the web. Please delete latter." It's true; Bill Leak is a lovely artist.