Scum to a point

MANY are frustrated with the result of the Tasmanian election, but none more so than the national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, the normally mild-mannered, softly spoken refugee-hugger Paul Howes, who yesterday posted on his Twitter page: "Tas Greens = Scum".

MANY are frustrated with the result of the Tasmanian election, but none more so than the national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, the normally mild-mannered, softly spoken refugee-hugger Paul Howes, who yesterday posted on his Twitter page: "Tas Greens = Scum".

Not everyone would disagree with that assessment but, still, the language seemed a touch intemperate, so much so that many wondered if Howes had been hacked. We called to check and Howes said: "Why do people think I've been hacked? I mean, 70 per cent of Tasmania has voted left of centre and they've ended up with a conservative government. I'm so angry." Still, the pressure must have got to him. An hour or so later, he posted: "I retract what I said, and now say: Tas Greens = cyanobacteria". Which is . . . yes, pond scum.

Say it ain't so

BARNABY Joyce knows how it feels to get it in the neck for not being a smooth talker, which may be why he has declined a debate with Regional Development Minister Anthony Albanese at the National Press Club. Strewth understands Tony Abbott discouraged Joyce - who last week complained that journalists liked to ridicule his speech simply because it wasn't their language, Lingua Canberra - from appearing at the club, and on live TV, a week after the budget. Joyce says it isn't so: "I'd be happy to debate Albo. But if it's about regional development, let's take it out of Canberra and do it in a regional area. And let's find a date that is not so close to the budget."

It ain't so, he says

AMONG those who might stand for preselection in Sydney's Wentworth - the richest and gayest seat in the nation - is Peter Doyle, whose family has been flogging fish and chips there for 50 years or more. The Sydney Morning Herald claims his candidacy has the backing of the MP for Vaucluse and former NSW opposition leader Peter Debnam. Trouble is, Debnam tells local paper The Wentworth Courier he has not discussed Doyle's political aspirations with the Herald or anyone else: "The Herald report was wrong and I've been trying to get them to correct the record."

Short and tweet

SPEAKING of Wentworth, Malcolm Turnbull's decision to announce his exit on Twitter has spawned a new term: to Qwitter.

Don't mention it

JONATHAN Holmes, the host of our favourite program, has come in for some stick from pedants for daring to mention the Apple iPad in Monday's Media Watch. It's the ABC, see. You're not supposed to advertise. To his great credit, Holmes says he refused to do the linguistic gymnastics necessary to get around saying "iPad". "Oh come on," he told critics yesterday. "So we call it `the tablet computer made by a company whose name is like a fruit?' It's news."

Chute memories

MEDIA Watch's new executive producer is the five-time Walkley winner Lin Buckfield. Ring a bell? It may if you're a child of the 80s and you can still remember the catchy Coke tune: "It's just how you feel, when you know it's for real - it's a hit! It's a Coke! Coke is it!" Buckfield was a page-boy clipped, bendy-legged pop star capable of doing the splits. YouTube has the clip in all its frosted hair glory. For those who didn't believe 80s fashion would ever come back, she's wearing what every hip girl in the street has on today: parachute pants.

Talking head

KEVIN Rudd has been in a jovial mood of late, fending off reporters with quips about Easter eggs. Yesterday the Prime Minister was asked about negotiations with the premiers, to which he replied: "I continue to meet, I continue to talk, I continue to telephone, I am contributing at present to Telstra's share price." (Up 0.3 per cent yesterday.)

Carney correction

THIS time last week, Strewth was gently ribbing an old colleague, Shaun Carney at The Age, for telling his inner-city cycling readers that he had been spending time in the suburbs, where he'd discovered that people needed cars. It was meant to be friendly jousting, but why was Carney spending time in Carrum Downs? He was tending to his beloved father, who died on the day the item appeared. We couldn't be more mortified. Carney insists we owe him no apology, but we do owe him a correction: he's no inner-city luvvie. He was born and raised way outside the city's outskirts, and never pretends otherwise.

The peaceful type

GREENPEACE warriors present themselves as the cuddly type, which is why they're upset that a spokesman posted this web message to climate sceptics: "We know who you are. We know where you live. We know where you work. And we be many, but you be few." Author Gene Hashmi says of himself: "For over 12 years I'd worked with some of the world's most unscrupulous, dishonest and successful advertising agencies. By way of atonement . . . I now work with a kick-ass environmental activist organisation." Greenpeace removed the post and put up another saying: " It's very easy to misconstrue that line, take it out of context and suggest it means something wholly different from the practice of peaceful civil disobedience - anyone who knows Gene knows he's an entirely peaceful guy."