It sounds better with a full orchestra…

The Hobart Mercury 30 June 2012

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How about we just stop talking about the boats for a bit?

One of my all-time favourite cartoons is by Leunig from one of his earlier collections. It’s got two people roasting marshmallows around a campfire and one is saying to the other “What do you mean the acoustics could be better? What the hell are you talking about?” …or words to that effect. It’s funnier when you see it and comes to mind whenever Julia and Tony start banging on about boat people.

Refugees coming here by boat isn’t an ideal situation. I couldn’t agree more. Nonetheless, shit happens, and in the scheme of things, whatever you think about giving refugees a fair go, stopping the boats (or as is more likely, not stopping the boats) is going to have very little effect on our quality of life.

However, as details on stuff like climate change, health, education, industrial relations and the economy are a little abstract for a tasty sound bite, I’m sure we’ll be hearing lots more about boats in the weeks to come. We get the government we deserve, I suppose.

The Australian, 27 July 2010

Messing around in boats

The Weekend Australian 31/10/09 - 1/11/09

The Weekend Australian 31/10/09 - 1/11/09


The boat people question is not, in fact, as complicated as everyone is making out. It boils down to the simple question: “How unpleasant a pack of arseholes do we want to be?”

Acting like a complete pack of arseholes will undoubtedly deter people from wanting to come here, the downside being, of course, that we will be a big pack of stinky arseholes. Not that tricky to work out, you decide.

Go to the back of the queue

The Australian 14/10/09

The Australian 14/10/09


It was quite nostalgic dragging out the old Phil Ruddock cadaver, I mean caricature yesterday. Sadly for Phil, the days of mass hysteria over boat people are, like inarticulate US presidents, gone. Let’s hope so, anyway.