Apparently, the modern – and often sad – state of politics is Julia Gillard’s fault.
At least, that’s what the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, claimed in an interview with Fairfax Media, which also happens to be the must-read today.
Meanwhile, the Greens launched their campaign in Canberra, and two new polls showed Labor is heading for defeat. Plus, News Ltd slipped up in an attack on the prime minister.
@GrogsGamut Yep. Got a screenshot of that headline http://t.co/nLM0TInnRv
— Olivia Illyria (@OliviaIllyria) August 24, 2013
Labor policy announcement
- Kevin Rudd says a re-elected Labor government would set up a $10 million small business NBN innovation fund.
- The caretaker PM was forced to divert his campaign to Canberra, so he could receive briefings on the escalating situation in Syria.
Coalition policy announcement
Must read
As mentioned above, day 20’s must-read is the interview Tony Abbott gave to Fairfax Media.
Quote of the day
Again, we’ve taken a different approach with Quote of the Day, but the magnitude of the uttered words justifies such a move.
“The Defence Department has a responsibility to provide the president with options for all contingencies,” said US defence secretary Chuck Hagel, speaking on the prospect of military intervention in Syria.
A stark reminded of some of the immediate challenges the prime minister will face after September 7.
Tweet of the day
We’re bending the rules again slightly with our Tweet of the Day, with the nod again going to a journo rather than a pollie – it’s the weekend, give us a break.
But, before getting to the tweet, some backstory.
Des Houghton, assistant editor with the Courier Mail, penned a 1950s reminiscent piece railing against the push for marriage equality. He even compared it to fixed-wheel bicycles and Vietnamese pork belly buns – whatever the hell either of those things are.
Houghton, presumedly as his mentions filled up with the sort of name-calling such dribble deserves, gloated about how many supportive emails he was receiving.
Apparently, Crikey’s Bernard Keane didn’t agree with Houghton’s justification, firing back with this stinging critique:
well that makes up for a complete lack of logic, facts or integrity RT @DesHoughton: Email traffic overwhelming in favour of my opinion.
— Bernard Keane (@BernardKeane) August 24, 2013
Slip of the day
Slip of the Day comes from the Rudd bashing portion of the media (cough cough…News Limited…) who got caught lying through proverbial teeth.
Twitter was quick to pull them up on the misstep, and even after pulling the content, some tech-savvy critics had managed to keep records of it.
There’s no hiding from social media.
Wrap by Liam Quinn and Erdem Koç. Follow them and send them tips on Twitter – @Quinn_LP and@erdemkoc.
