Jet stream Tony

WHO could have predicted that coal-seam gas would turn the Coalition inside out, or upside down, or both?

WHO could have predicted that coal-seam gas would turn the Coalition inside out, or upside down, or both?

Tony Abbott must be wishing he had taken a longer European holiday having found himself wedged and tongue-tied almost as soon as he returned when he supported farmers who don't want miners digging up their paddocks looking for gas. He must have forgotten one of the golden rules: keep your trap shut until the jet lag has worn off. Bill Shorten is making bales of political hay by backing business and the miners while Abbott is wobbling over who to barrack for. And into this delicious mix comes Queensland LNP leader Campbell Newman supporting Abbott's original position backing the farmers by accusing Premier Anna Bligh of allowing gas projects to multiply without concern for farmers and the environment. Bob Brown must be smiling.

Eye of beholder

LAST Sunday, the ABC's Insiders show carried a reply by Julia Gillard to a Tony Jones question on Lateline. Jones asked:

"If these people are taken away in handcuffs, in distress, resisting on to that aircraft do you think Australians will be happy at those kind of scenes?"

Gillard: "Well look, how individual people feel about any footage is a question for them Tony."

Strewth digs this exchange up because it appears Gillard is washing her hands of any moral position implied in the question. A further reason to mention her response is because last week Gillard said at a press conference on August 10: "As a Labor leader, as a Labor government, we are informed by our Labor values."

Sterling effort

NOT everyone should be expected to know the details of West Australian history. James Stirling (1791-1865) had an eventful life and naval career before founding the state of Western Australia where his name has been welded into the state's fabric. For example, he has a mountain range named after him. Perth's largest municipality, a popular Nedlands hotel, a senior high school, a federal electorate, high-rise building complex and a large naval base, to name a few, are named after Stirling. So perhaps the Prime Minister's speechwriters could do with a remedial history course to gain a smidgin of familiarity with the sailor statesman. Throughout Gillard's speech at the weekend announcing the name of a second-hand naval ship, HMAS Choules, Stirling's name was printed as Sterling in the transcript. Phonetically speaking, of course, it sounds the same. But it looks a bit sloppy in print. And when Stephen Smith, MP for Perth and Defence Minister, made his speech Stirling also appeared as Sterling.

Latter day sinner

HERE'S one for opponents of political correctness. A school in the US state of Virginia is removing one of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novels from its reading list after a complaint that it is derogatory toward Mormons. A Study In Scarlet is considered "inappropriate" because of a passage in chapter three. "[John Ferrier] had always determined, deep down in his resolute heart, that nothing would ever induce him to allow his daughter to wed a Mormon. Such marriage he regarded as no marriage at all, but as a shame and a disgrace. Whatever he might think of the Mormon doctrines, upon that one point he was inflexible. He had to seal his mouth on the subject, however, for to express an unorthodox opinion was a dangerous matter in those days in the Land of the Saints."

At one with Bach

ENGLISH violinist Nigel Kennedy plays with such virtuosity that he's worth listening to, despite his punk exterior. Kennedy, we hear from London, thinks the classical music establishment is dissing the music of J.S. Bach into an "effete ghetto" while others are turning his masterpieces into "shallow showpieces". Musicians who have learned the same technical way all play the same technical way, he says. "Four melodic notes from Yehudi Menuhin are worth more than a thousand from any of our living violinists." Kennedy is the bloke who in 2008 said star conductors were egocentrics more interested in money and prestige than developing a musical relationship with an orchestra. And this bon mot: "Why would you want to stand there waving a stick when you could be playing an instrument?" On Bach, he says: "I see it as my job to try to keep Bach in the mainstream and present his music with, rather than without, its emotional core." Michael Garvey of the Academy of Ancient Music noted that in Australia this year, an interpretation of Bach received an ovation from 1700 people.

Burning question

SCEPTICAL readers of The Sunday Age are voting with their keyboards on the paper's 10 most popular questions. Top of the pile, the one about "how much will reducing 5 per cent of Australia's around 1.5 per cent contribution of global CO2 emissions reduce global temperature by?" has racked up nearly 5000, well ahead of the other nine. We don't know when the answer will be supplied.

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