Tory love fest

IT has been many a month since Tony Abbott took any advice from Strewth, but can we just say: go, Tony, go.

Go to Birmingham, England, and bask in the admiration of the British Tories, for they just adore hairy-chested Aussies who give Laborites plenty of grief, as you have done so searchingly these past weeks. They will give you a huge reception at their annual conference next week. And don't worry about Birmingham. It may be as dull as, say, Broadmeadows, but the people are earnest, salt of the earth, despite their dreary surroundings. You won't have to worry about pairing, either. So, be off, Tony. Stop fretting and enjoy yourself. There's no danger of running into Julia Gillard - she'll be hobnobbing with continental types in Brussels, similarly unencumbered with worries about pairing. Mind you, Gillard will have a better choice of restaurant. The last time we were in Birmingham, curry and chips were the go.

Rich pickings

PROTESTERS annoyed at the mega-rich, including the world's richest man, Carlos Slim Helu (he's worth about $55 billion), have failed to disturb the air at the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Sydney. A relaxed Slim, pictured right with magazine publisher Steve Forbes, caught up with The Australian's front page story of his visit yesterday, oblivious to attempts by about 25 members of the Socialist Alliance to get under his skin. Instead of "when do we wannit", the protesters dressed as pirates chanted "corporate plunder makes us chunder" and accused chief execs of being "scurvy dogs" who were giving pirates a bad name. Protest leader Paul Benedek says demonstrators were using humour to convey a serious message about worker exploitation. About 25 pirates took aim at Australian billionaire Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest with "What should we do with magnate Forrest", to the tune of What Should We Do with the Drunken Sailor?. The cops thought it was funny.

Making his mark

WATCHING Gary Ablett's long-winded press conference yesterday on tossing away his exalted status among Geelong supporters by moving to the Gold Coast Suns reminded one of Strewth's fitness fanatics of a priceless moment near the end of the election campaign. Our man had found himself surrounded by Geelong supporters at his local gymnasium - a frightening situation in any circumstances, though it could have been worse if Collingwood followers had ventured to the Sydney northern beaches gym - when one small boy piped up: "Dad, are you going to vote for that Tony Ablett?"

Those were the days

CALLING South Australian Labor . . . calling South Australian Labor. Come in, please. Brochures inviting business to climb into the cot with Labor that carry uplifting messages from Premier Mike Rann and former prime minister Kevin Rudd are still travelling through the ether. These fundraising missives, full of motherhood statements such as "I've been pleased to have been involved with a number of SA Progressive Business Inc events in recent years" (Rudd) and "SA Progressive Business Inc provides an opportunity for you and your business to meet leaders who are pro-business, pro-mining and pro-growth" (Rann) could be a sign of wishful thinking on the part of state ALP secretary Michael Brown. Strewth's mail is that it could be because Rann and Gillard are not particularly close.

Turn on the Right

SCOTTISH-BORN trade union leftie Doug Cameron warns that the US Tea Party has fascist roots. That's the sort of language to warm the blood. The Labor backbench senator thundered yesterday: "The Tea Party, or at least those who seek to lead them, are dangerous right-wing radicals whose leaders have deep roots in American fascism." The Wall Street Journal ran a poll yesterday that says 71 per cent of Republicans are sympathetic to the Tea Party, which shows it is a bit more than a few radicals threatening the Left's agenda. But Cameron is on the case. Founder of Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist, was next. He has met Australian Liberals, Cameron complained. "[He] has come here arguing that we should seek exemption from paying taxes." But what's that got to do with the new paradigm?