And it illustrates very clearly why we need a Bill of Rights. If the republic gets up
there will be no
'convention' to put a brake on a PM with his own agenda. I find it very scary to even
contemplate a republic
under Howard.
Trudy
tdunlop wrote:
> I couldn't put my hands on it last night, but the full quote from the
> Kingston book is as follows:
>
> "When the stakes are high the politicians get heavy, and John Howard
> personally lobbied my editor-in-chief and editor, alleging pro-black bias by
> myself in particular and the paper in general. Some Liberals called the
> Herald the 'Aboriginal Morning Herald', in protest at the number of black
> faces and stories in the paper. I argued that the Wik debate was similar to
> the movement for black civil rights in the United States and that our
> coverage must be factual but uncompromising when blatant injustice was
> perpetrated on a minority with no clout but the justice of their cause."
>
> For a guy who apparently beleives in the monarchy and parliamentary
> democracy, Howard is the most presidential of politicians. He has
> personally blocked drug trials in the ACT, labelling of GMOs, has had a
> remarkable influence on appointments to various govt and quasi-govt bodies,
> and guides debates in a deliberate, though often invisible way, such as the
> Republic and, obviously, Indigenous matters. That it extends to pressuring
> editors shouldn't be a surprise, though it is a surprise to hear that it
> works so effictively. He was also rumoured to have rung Lachlan Murdoch
> about what he felt was pro-Republic bias in The Australian. Anyone who
> thinks that the office of PM isn't powerful should probably think again. So
> much of the tone of social/political debate is set by politicians that if
> the most powerful of them gets it into his head to put a finger in the
> various pies, then it is going to have a big influence. The most obvious
> example is his tacit endorsment of hansonism. As Keating said in his last
> speech before the 1996 election: "When the government changes, so does the
> country." Ain't it the truth.
>
> Tim
>
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