Bracks Watch

The Story Is In The Papers

Four articles in today's papers tell the story of the Bracks Government:

1. Quashing debate: Sport, weather, traffic and major projects (preferably ones that have been announced no more than a dozen times already) are all suitable topics for discussion in Bracks' Victoria. Serious topics however, such as abortion [See The Age: Bracks steps in to quash abortion vote] are not for discussion however, at least not in an election year when their discussion risks requiring Bracks to actually say something of substance and conviction.

2. Second fiddle: Bracks doesn't even put up a fight for Melbourne against Sydney. As The Age has shown, a Melbourne company, represented by Melbourne lawyers, is the subject of an inquiry taking place in . . . you guessed it, Sydney!!!! A vocal leader of this State would have got on the phone to Philip Ruddock as soon as the inquiry was proposed, to make sure that the $25 million of fees were spent in Melbourne, the natural home of the AWB Inquiry.

3. Sleazy: You can't cut down a tree or build a granny flat in Bracks' Victoria without a host of permits, licenses and authorisations. But apparently you can set up a new strip club without even having to apply for a new license.

4. Fat cats: Under Bracks the glitterati, the big end of town business boys, the TV, Sports and Entertainment Celebs, anyone with a name to make them stand out, gets looked after by the State Government. See how they fork out free tickets and complimentary packages, not just for honoured leaders like Her Majesty, the Governor-General and Prime Minister John Howard, but for multi-millionaire celebrities like Elle MacPherson, Eric Bana and Geoffrey Rush.

posted by Anonymous @ 4:26 PM