I play gym
August 12, 2010
One big policy has escaped scrutiny this federal election. It’s the Greens’ policy on ‘non-competitive‘ sport – apparently they want us to play more of it. Imagine explaining you play ‘non-competitive’ sports to a friend:
| Friend: | What sports do you play? |
| You: | I play gym and yoga. |
| Friend: | They’re not really sports though. |
| You: | Yes they are – they’re non-competitive sports. |
| Friend: | A non-competitive sport is not a sport – dude. It’s just a thing you do. |
| You: | Nuh-uh. I vote Green. |
Yep. It’s bizarre. Here’s something just as bizarre – but no laughing matter. Boroondara Council in Melbourne will impose a fine of up to $1000 on residents who don’t display their house numbers. According to the mayor ‘it’s a fundamental right to be able to identify your own property’. Huh? (So why I can’t find it listed anywhere in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights?)
If you want some comic relief from local councils gouging more money out of taxpayers, read this from the Atlantic Wire a fortnight ago on whether Jedi Knights are Libertarian or Socialist. You’ll see a mention of this famous press release issued by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2001.
Here’s some serious stuff. On Monday Robert Gottliebsen in the Business Spectator gave a very good summary of why the government’s school building program ran billions of dollars over budget. And here’s the IPA report he referred to.
And if Paul Krugman really annoys you – read this demolition of him in the American Thinker from last week.
In The Drum yesterday, Richard Allsop said a ‘Big Australia’ is nothing to fear. In The Sunday Age, Chris Berg questioned if the Greens will ever grow up, on The Drum on Tuesday he looked at Labor’s internal war and on Friday suggested a speech for Tony Abbott. In the Bangkok Post on Monday and The Washington Times on Saturday Tim Wilson discussed Green protectionism. In the Herald Sun on Saturday and The Drum on Monday, Alan Moran wondered where all the climate change policies have gone. And in the AFR on Friday I said there actually are big policy differences this election.
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