What is old is new again…

I notice today that new PM Rudd is putting his yet-to-be-named Ministers "on notice" – they will have to perform and be good Ministers or they will get the sack. Hmmm, shades of a newly elected Howard and his Ministerial Code of Conduct which quietly went out of the window when one too many Minsiters got the boot. So what do we reckon people – how many Ministers will get the sack before any pretence to accountability goes away? I'm willing to take any wagers. Today at work Beth bet 2, Bronwen was more optimistic on 4 and I grabbed the middle ground with 3. Anyone willing to wager higher? Or lower? Or will no one ever get sacked because the new Ministers will be perfect?

I also loved the bit about making Ministers visit a homeless shelter. What an attention-grabbing piece of tosh.

In other news, the Liberal leadership is looking interesting. A choice between the smary hypocritical Malcolm Turnbull or the smarmy hypocritical Brendan Nelson. Nice. I do hope that Andrew Robb becomes deputy leader. I could actually cope with him as a conservative PM. still an ideologue, but willing to listen to advice and be thoughtful. And he was pleasant and hired very nice polite staff. And they all thanked people. I may not look for much in a minister, or a Prime Minister for that matter, but these things did certainly help! I think the willingness to accept advice and use it to make his own decisions was a major feature though.

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Passport update

Well, despite all the doom and gloom and fear mongering of the post office, the boys' passports arrived in plenty of time. It took a bit of time and organisation to actually collect them from various locales, but we now have them. So pretty much everythign is set to go. I just have to organise global roaming for the phone tomorrow and pre-pay our airport parking (you get a discount). Bags are half packed – just a matter of getting the final clean boy clothes in now.

We are off on Friday. I have now idea what level of access I will get to the internet while away, so updates could be infrequent for the next week or two.

Am very excited about being away from work for a bit – things are crazy, but as much under control as they can be. Stuff changes every day, so I can't plan too much ahead for while I am gone. I am hoping that our Minister will be announced tomorrow so I at least know who it is before I leave the building!

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More cereal addiction

Election night party_0022

Election night party_0023

Zachary is continuing his obsession with breakfast cereal. Here he is helping himself to the Nutragrain. If one leaves the pantry door open, he is in there. Tonight he stole Vitabrits to eat whole. I thought that the breakfast cereal obsession didn't begin until they the teenage years. I know that teenage boys and university student males are willing to eat breakfast cereal at any time of the day or night, but I didn't realise it began at 15 months.

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Boy wrestling

Here is a bit of boy wrestling action. Young Zachary doesn't mind launching in with no regard for his safety. Enormous giggles usually accompany the whole wrestling thing – until someone loses an eye… well, figuratively anyway.

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More election

Here are some more election night shots, including an additional Melissa-asleep-on-the-couch.

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Other election night moments

Well, the 2007 election has come and gone and it will of course be most memorable as the night a sitting Prime Minister lost his seat, and thereby fairly significantly tarnished that historical stature thing he had been working on.  And also the night I broke the golden rule of drinking – don't start on the scotch when you have already been drinking for about five hours. Thanks friends and beloved partner for uploading to the internet the resulting photo of my doze upon the couch.

But all in all it was a great night. In my usual cynical manner I can't say that I'm convinced that a Rudd Labor Government will be much better, and I have serious concerns about the entire political debate moving further to the right, given the emphatically centrist nature of our new Prime Minister. But I guess one can remain optimisitc. And maybe the smaller parties will benefit if progressive people have nowhere else to go. However, it was nice to see Howard lose his seat and the rictus-like grin on Jeanette's face. Then again, a tiny little corner of me does feel some empathy, that must be a really hard thing to have to face.

Of course work is now insane. On a nice personal note, the advisor from my outgoing Minister's office rang me today to thank me for the work we had done.  I thought that was a particularly thoughtful thing to do on a day which must be a bit horrible.

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Yeah Howard Lost, and Lost!

But I am too pissed to celebrate…

IMGA0598

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