Pauline Hanson as PM in three years? Here's why it won't happen
Date: February 5 2017
Peter FitzSimons
"Pauline Hanson will be Prime Minister within three years," a respected political operative said to me before Chrissie.
His theme was that we are witnessing the splintering of the body politic where all major parties are under the gun, and that the same dynamic that propelled Donald Trump to the American presidency, will equally push Hanson to the top.
His reckoning was that her brand of divisive, empty sloganeering was exactly what is working best at the polls right now, and it would continue to the point that she would end up at the Lodge.
My reckoning is the reverse. Around the world right now, I reckon most Western democracies are looking at America under Trump with a combination of horror and pity, and saying "We're not sure which way we are going, but we are NOT going down that path!"
That, together with the fact that every headline we see in Australia is to do with their latest internal spat, I reckon will see us inured from such madness. As to President Trump's conversation with Malcolm Turnbull, I want to believe it was because the PM was giving him the rounds of the kitchen. If so, bravo!
Running on emptyMe? Great break, thanks for asking, including having the last eight days in a 4WD, on the path of the first half of the Burke and Wills journey in 1861-62, from Melbourne up through Swan Hill, Balranald, Menindee, to the Dig Tree on Cooper's Creek and all the way to Birdsville before heading back.
Fabulous country! Great people. But ... empty. For three of those eight days, my principal researcher and I, saw one – count 'em, ONE – vehicle coming the other way. Mercifully, it was not long after we had blown a tyre on the Birdsville Track.
All up, while I already greatly respected what Burke and Wills and their men accomplished, I am now staggered by it. The heat! The flies! The Stoney Desert! The sheer freaking distance they travelled! Mind-blowing, and I've never enjoyed writing a book more than this'un.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian with Deputy Premier John Barilaro at NSW Government House for the swearing in of their new ministers by Governor David Hurley. Photo: Peter Rae
One is amusedBravo to the four NSW cabinet ministers who, last Monday, declined to swear allegiance to the Queen when being sworn in, including Matt Kean and new Attorney-General Mark Speakman.
"I was proud to pledge my loyalty to the people of NSW," Matt Kean said. "They are the ones that elected me and they are the ones who I am going to fight for every single day."
Rah!
I am not sure why our admirable Premier, Gladys Berejiklian – an even stronger republican than Mike Baird – swore her own allegiance to the English queen, but it was likely so as not to scare the horses. She will get stronger!
Get outa hereThere needs to be a word for the feeling you get when you are watching something on the tube, and quite enjoying it, while hating yourself a bit for exactly that, knowing you should be watching more-substantial fare, that it is schlock, that you are being sucked in, exploited, seduced into wasting your time! You know, like when you are flicking channels and come across I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here? Mesmerising! But, fear not, I do hate myself for it.
Joke of the weekLittle Eloise is among the rosebushes in her garden filling in a hole when she looks up to see her neighbour peering over the back fence.
Interested in what the cheeky-faced youngster is up to, the neighbour politely asks, "What are you up to there, young Eloise?"
"My goldfish died," replies Eloise tearfully, without looking up, "and I've just buried him."
The neighbour, a little bemused, in spite of himself, playfully says, "That's an awfully big hole for a tiny goldfish, isn't it, Eloise?"
Eloise pats down the last heap of earth and replies, "That's only because I couldn't get him out of your cat."
Twitter: Peter_Fitz
They said it"We've got a good history around this. Really, the rest of the world is catching up to Australia."
Treasurer Scott Morrison, boasting that Donald Trump's ban on Muslims entering America is just a copycat exercise.
"None of the rhetoric is logically consistent. None of the action seems in any way to be a reflection of some orderly policy. It's chaos central."
Kim Williams, media executive, about the Trump entry ban.
"Dear Australia: The majority of Americans who don't support Trump want to say we are sorry. We will make it up to you in four years or less."
Ted Lieu, a Democratic congressman from California who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Twitter.
"To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
"The only goal for me is to keep going. I believe that if I have my body in the right conditions [sic] I can keep going."
Rafael Nadal, thinking positively despite being runner-up in the Australian Open.
"I think both the premier and deputy premier . . . Oh, I'm that job, I keep getting used to it."
Gladys Berejiklian on Monday, still adapting to her new position.
"Why can't everybody – boys, girls, everybody – why can't they all just be in it together? What's this sort of, you know, sex roles stuff in the Cubs when they're supposed to be out there, in the fresh air, making themselves better, purer, people?"
Guardian journalist David Marr at the news that the American Scouts will now allow entry to children who identify as male, no matter what their birth certificates say.
"We live off hope in the farming game, and if the people of Bondi could give us a little rain dance, that would be good."
Dick Estens, cotton farmer, as Moree reached 36 days in a row of more than 35 degrees.