Scumbags that run around preying on productive people

November 24, 2011

From John Roskam

Here’s why I go on about freedom of speech in Australia…

As of yesterday you can’t call public servants in the New South Wales Environment Department ‘scumbags that run around preying on productive people’.

Well. Not if you’re Sydney talkback radio host, Alan Jones. Here’s the story. And here’s the IPA media release on it.

I’m sure Environment Department public servants are extremely productive! Such as…the ‘Senior Project Officer, Cluster Coordination’ (Environment Officer Class 11). Clusters don’t organise themselves you know!

Maybe someone from the Occupy movement will apply. Don’t laugh. They probably will. Watch this very funny video about Occupy protesters and paid employment.

A few days after I laughed at Julia Gillard’s ‘showerhead-led-recovery’ in the Australian Financial Review last week – this story appeared.

Here’s another crazy (but true) EU story. If you’re selling bottled water in the European Union you can’t claim drinking water stops dehydration. On Monday the UK Telegraph tracked down the story.

Watch out for Climategate – The Sequel. Find out the latest here. Back in December 2009 in Hey I showed you how the Australian media ignored Climategate – The Original. Let’s see what happens this time.

Avoid the new Margaret Thatcher movie (and don’t watch this new clip for it!). Norman Tebbitt explained why last week. Some very good (and long) reading on Thatcher is this 8,000 word profile in next month’s Vanity Fair by her biographer Charles Moore.

Oh – in case you missed it – there’s been more shenanigans in Canberra, and as of a few hours ago the Commonwealth Parliament has a new speaker. The Australian’s Chris Kenny in his great new blog covers it all.

The IPA is launching Ian Plimer’s new book about climate change, How to get expelled from school, in Sydney on Monday 12 December (with John Howard) and in Brisbane on Thursday 15 December. The Melbourne launch is tonight and is booked out. You can buy the book from Connor Court here. If you’re in Sydney and you know who Bastiat was – go to this on 1 December.

Here’s what else the IPA said this week: