Last night, the Opposition Leader of the Australian Government, Dr. Brendan Nelson (who reminds me a lot of actor Ray Wise, above, best known in the U.S. as Laura Palmer's scary dad/murderer from "Twin Peaks" -- see links below for a comparison), gave the Coalition's official reply to the Government's budget announcement from Tuesday. Turns out I was all wrong about the idea that the budget announced is already set in stone. Parliament still has to approve it, and the upper house (the Senate) is controlled by the opposition party. Whoops.
Political speeches here can get a bit personal, but they also have some wonderfully clever rhetoric. If you've got a few minutes, check out the beginning of the speech for some good, crisp writing, as well as the entertainment of watching the speaker's political bobbleheads, nodding and grunting their support at each side of him. Or check out this portion of the speech and zip to 6:15 (the part about gas prices) -- you'll see some good humor there, as well as a fabulous display of righteous indignation. Nelson almost makes you think Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party are responsible for the worldwide spike in gas prices...
That second section also include, around 3 minutes, I think, the speaker throwing a fit about a tax on pre-mixed drinks, of all things -- a tax he supported just two weeks ago. I'm telling you, it's better than a night at the theater.
World politics may not be your thing, but if you take a look, you might enjoy a couple minutes of this.
PS I don’t often post twice in one day, but the entry below this one is new, too. It's got some fun things to check out for a breather on Friday, as well as the current whereabouts of my parents.
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