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US request for more Iraq support wrongfooted Australia
A misfired directive from the US Defence Department led to the Australian government’s unusual public refusal to contribute more in Iraq.
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Quotes
WEALTH
“I had four $5 notes and I was counting to see whether I could get a pizza... It’s like I’m Scrooge McDuck.”
The miner explains why he was photographed counting fivers in question time. And here we were thinking he was just tallying unpaid worker entitlements.
CULTURE
“Who’s to say she wasn’t wearing an invisible tracksuit?”
The Port Stephens mayor defends a stubby holder included in a welcome pack for new citizens, featuring a seemingly naked woman holding an Australian flag. The excuse also holds for his 1997 charges of negligent driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
RACE
“If I stood as an advocate for the liberation of the golliwog and for probably culling possums, I think I’d be overwhelmingly re-elected.”
The former Victorian premier explains his love of racist children’s toys, of which he has 50. It’s almost as offensive as that time he likened gay football coaches to paedophiles.
CHURCH
“The fundamental mistake I made was failing to understand the long-term repercussions that arise from child sexual abuse.”
The former archbishop of Brisbane apologises for allowing a paedophile to be harboured in his church. Which seems like a bit more than a “mistake” – all things, such as human decency and the law, considered.
MARRIAGE
“This was a case of democratic innovation.”
The prime minister maintains the need for a plebiscite on same-sex marriage. By “democratic innovation” he means, “outsourcing the work of the parliament to the people, at great expense, because I am without the courage to do my job”.
