Smith bats on

SOME say that Kevin Rudd hogs all the good bits of government by swanning around with Barack Obama and so on, but Foreign Minister Stephen Smith gets to do some pretty special stuff, too.

SOME say that Kevin Rudd hogs all the good bits of government by swanning around with Barack Obama and so on, but Foreign Minister Stephen Smith gets to do some pretty special stuff, too.

This week, for example, he was allowed to host the opening of the Botswana High Commission. In Canberra. On Africa Day. You might think nobody would turn up for that, but you'd be wrong. The Australian government flew journalists in from South Africa, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zimbabwe for the event (curiously, not from Botswana). Such was the enthusiasm of Smith's department for this event, they called it "Batswana" in the media release. We suppose he corrected this in the speech, which basically was aimed at getting Australia a seat on the UN Security Council but dressed up as concern for Africans. Rudd, meanwhile, counts down until June, when Obama is supposed to be here. Although, without saying too much, watch this space.

Bad hair day

FORMER chief of the Victorian police Christine Nixon, who went out to get her hair done and have a pub meal as deadly Black Saturday fires raged, was described on Friday as lacking leadership skills. Counsel assisting the bushfire royal commission, Jack Rush QC, said Nixon and others were passive in the face of disaster, "powerless, unable or unwilling to influence the tragedy that was unfolding". He went on: "It is unacceptable that at the height of the emergency, as people sought refuge in sheds, at ovals, on main streets, as they fought in vain to save themselves, that those at the apex of the legislative structure were not present, actively on duty, showing leadership with their presence at this critical time." But never mind. Nixon's career marches on. She's the keynote speaker at a conference in Melbourne next month. What conference? Why, it's the Communities in Control conference. And what will Nixon be doing? She'll be giving the Community Leadership Oration. Her topic? "What really matters."

Dig, dig, dig

WE told you yesterday that Brisbane's new tunnel borer will be given, by tradition, a female name. We asked for suggestions, and you sent them. Some were rude, others simply gave the names of prominent Australian women who might accurately be described as "boring machines". On the other hand, there was this from one Peter Griffiths: "If the new tunnel borer must have a female name, then surely it should be Debora," he said. "De . . .bora . . . boom boom!!"

Touching moment

IN a move that may well fracture whatever there is of Australia-Canada relations, baby-faced Justin Bieber has called Sunrise presenter David Koch a liar. The brouhaha began on Wednesday, when Kochie told a radio program that Bieber, who caused a tsunami of teen spirit in the streets of Sydney in April, had seemed like a decent guy. "But our floor manager was directing him to where he was about to perform and [Bieber] turned around and said to him: 'Don't ever f . . king touch me again.' " Koch said the stunned floor manager was reassured by Bieber's regular sound technician that "he tells us that all the time".

Heard it here first

THE next federal election will be held on October 9. OK, that's not actually official, but here at Strewth that's the date we've come up with. Given that a double-dissolution election is off the table, the next possible date for a federal lower house election is August 7. But nobody likes a winter poll. The next parliamentary sitting week begins on August 24. An election called on August 22 could be held on September 25, but that's the AFL grand final weekend. Saturday, October 2, is possible, because the NRL final is on the Sunday, so it's a weekend of high spirits. But politicians are traditionally reluctant to have a football weekend election. On the other hand, October 9 is free. It's speculation only, which you should forget if we're wrong. If we are right however, remember you heard it here first. For the record, Rudd has until April 2011 to have an election. Kevin 11?

On queue

LIKE all reporters, we at Strewth were also keen to know who would be first in line to buy an iPad. In particular, would it be Greg Packer? Who is Greg Packer? Well, according to Gawker, he's The Same Stupid Guy Who is First In Line For Everything. Packer, 48, a highway repairman from New York, spends all his hard-earned flying around to be first in line for things so he can be quoted. He turned up 100 hours before the first iPhone went on sale, guaranteeing his presence in thousands of media articles. Well, Packer wasn't first in line for an iPad here, but only because he didn't bother to come out to Australia. But Gary Allen, who is described in his hundreds of press clippings as an Apple product enthusiast, did fly out from California, and he was first in line at the Apple store in Bondi Junction. Being first in line didn't make him first to purchase however. Like others, Allen was pushed back by a journalist, Alex Zaharov-Reutt, who jumped up and bought an iPad after muscling to the front of the queue.