Oooh. I love it when a News Ltd journalist (I use that term lightly) gets busted for potential libel and has their column taken offline. I am, of course, referring to Glenn Milne’s The Australian commentary piece from yesterday, in which he declared that the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was implicated – albeit unknowingly – ”in a major union fraud of her own before she entered Parliament”.
What the lawyers would not allow to be reported was the fact that Gillard shared a home in Fitzroy bought by Wilson using the embezzled funds. There is or was no suggestion Gillard knew about the origin of the money.
The Prime Minister got on the blower immediately to John Hartigan, chief executive of News Ltd, and Chris Mitchell, The Australian’s editor, demanding immediate retraction and an apology, admist legal threats. Shortly after, Milne’s tawdry piece was pulled down and an apology uploaded. Way to go.
The Age, from which the above is taken, also report that The Australian over the weekend republished a 2007 item that said, “Julia Gillard has revealed she fell in love with a former union official and fraudster who broke her heart and threatened to destroy her political career”.
Ah, yes. That old subtle suggestion that women are the emotional sex — and God forbid that any of us forget it. The Prime Minister is susceptible to broken hearts! GASP! She’s the Prime Minister! GASP! GASP! How can she cope with all this emotional conflict while running a country?! GAAAAAAAAASP!
Say, how about that Tony Abbott, male, the Opposition Leader, male, the dude who would do anything but sell his arse to be Prime Minister? Did I mention he’s male? Men are never emotional, they’re strong, they’re tough, they’re resourceful, they’re resilient, they stand tall in the face of adversity and hardship, and, most importantly, they’re never emotional. Hell, they probably never fall in love, right? Unlike that female Prime Minister of ours, right, huh?
Men are just awesome. They should be Prime Ministers managin’ and representin’ this country, not bloody embarrassing, emotional wimmin!
Right? I don’t presume to know what Glenn Milne, the, uh, journalist of the piece that got pulled down, thinks about female leaders. But he is nevertheless a perfect example of the kind of tenacious, assertive, emotionless male showing leadership qualities that men, not women, possess:
* As uttered by Groucho Marx.
P.S. If anyone can tell me why the fuck WordPress’s paragraphs aren’t spacing properly, tell me!
Gets funnier every time.
No, seriously, why does he still have a job?
Wasn’t he sacked then rehired by the Oz last year?
I will never get tired of that video. Just the best.
Hard to know why The Drum published him when the Australian didn’t. Even harder to know why The Aus took him back.
What I also find makes it funny was that this sort of behaviour was at the rather prestigious Walkleys. This “tired and emotional” behaviour is something I’d expect at, say, some MTV awards, not Australia’s night of nights recognising excellence in Australian journalism.