“Has Paul Keating been vindicated? If the best term we can come up with to describe what the IMF calls the Great Recession is “shitstorm”, could it be that Australia really is the arse end of the Earth?”
Stephen Jeffery, Sandy Bay, Tas, letter to The Australian in response to Kevin Rudd’s shitstorm.
Filed under: Politicians | Tags: Kevin Rudd, Malcolm Turnbull, Paul Keating
“Politics is about leading people. We’ve got to the stage where everyone thinks politicians are shits and they’re not worth two bob, and everyone kicks the shit out of us every time we get an increase in our salary.”
Paul Keating, speaking in 1990, as quoted by Alan Ramsey. More recently, Keating has observed of Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull: “Kevin is all about acclaim, and if he doesn’t watch himself he’s going to find a very smart opponent right up his arse. Turnbull is no dope.”
“Paul hasn’t realized his 15 minutes of fame has long expired. He is no longer relevant (was he ever?) and his loose-lipped mumblings are more of an embarrassment than talking about.
It’s not the first time he has come up with something which has proved to be no more than out-of-date ramblings.”
Hilda Gray, Loftus, letter to the Daily Telegraph.
“WOULD The Australian please tell Paul Keating to shut up? The rest of us did years ago. He is outdated, outmoded and ousted.”
Andrew Parkinson, Allora, Qld, letter to The Australian.
Filed under: Politicians, State of the nation | Tags: Gallipoli, Kevin Rudd, Paul Keating
“The truth is that Gallipoli was shocking for us. Dragged into service by the imperial government in an ill-conceived and poorly executed campaign, we were cut to ribbons and dispatched — and none of it in the defence of Australia. Without seeking to simplify the then bonds of empire and the implicit sense of obligation, or to diminish the bravery of our own men, we still go on as though the nation was born again or even was redeemed there. (It is) an utter and complete nonsense. For these reasons, I have never been to Gallipoli and I never will.”
Paul Keating at the launch of a book on Menzies and Churchill. Kevin Rudd has subsequently disagreed, saying on radio today, “I think Paul is completely wrong on that, completely and utterly, absolutely 100 per cent wrong.”
“What’s happened is your Sydney bog-standard restaurateur, they [have] got the squatter instinct. They are in the overseas terminal and they are staying.”
Paul Keating rails against restaurateurs in the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay. One of the targets of his ire was recently named best restaurant in Sydney.
Filed under: International relations, Politicians | Tags: Beijing Olympics, Paul Keating, Tibet
“In a Western and elitist way, we have viewed China’s right to its Olympic Games, to its ‘coming out’, its moment of glory, with condescension and concessional tolerance.”
Paul Keating, who also argues that China’s horrible human rights record is just a different “value system”:
“The Western critic, feeling the epicentre of the world changing but not at all liking it, seeks to put down these vast societies on the basis that their political and value systems don’t match up to theirs.”
Filed under: Intellectuals and expats, Politicians | Tags: Germaine Greer, Paul Keating
“Just who is this Germaine Greer person who pours scorn and venom on any issue which generally requires some modicum of knowledge of the subject and a dash of sensitivity? Doesn’t she know we already have Paul Keating, who aces her on all counts, all the while regaling us with anecdotes of his brilliance? With these two, we really don’t need comedians – but some relevant commentators might just be useful.”
John Vickary, Cairns, letter to The Australian. There have been many letters in response to the argument by Aboriginal academic Marcia Langton that Germaine Greer’s “rage” argument is racist.
“Taken as a whole, her arguments are racist,” says Professor Langton, the chair of Australian indigenous studies at Melbourne University. “They are also just plain wrong.”
“The chinks are actually large gaps. He would have to do much to prove Paul Keating wrong – that he was all tip and no iceberg.”
Peter Costello, according to Sun-Herald reader Morris Graham. August 10 2008. As far as Paul Daley, writing in the same paper is concerned,
“Costello seems intent on fiddling while the party burns in the bonfire of his vanity.”
“Good to see Paul Keating bringing bacxk his usual level of intellectual rigour to things politic. The thallium joke is as passe as he is.”
Paul Ford, Daily Telegraph reader, isn’t impressed with Keating’s comments. Neither is Alan Moore:
“Why can’t has-beens like Paul Keating remain has-beens? No one is interested in his opinion. We vote the boofhead out of government because he was just that, a boofhead, now he comes back with a lot of sour grapes and thinks we care.”
