Tonight the charismatic and chatty Maxine McKew paid a visit to Melbourne as part of the promotional activities for The Battle for Bennelong: The Adventures of Maxine McKew, Aged 50something by Margot Saville. McKew regaled the audience with a variety of anecdotes, including to do with the resident of Bennelong who believed the former Prime Minister didn’t like his people that much (the man was an Asian Australian), the Liberal who won enough money to buy a Lexus thanks to McKew’s win, and the reason why her partner Bob Hogg looked grumpy on election night. Apparently Hogg had the “shits” with photographers, but of course people who’ve spent time in party machines aren’t necessarily known for their cracking senses of humour. The Liberal intent on buying a Lexus told McKew that even though his sons are “boofheads”, he’d expect the Government to help them out if they got into trouble overseas. While McKew was engaging and intelligent, and also sincere when she discussed how being in parliament on Sorry Day felt like being part of something sacred, she faltered near the end when asked a question by The Age’s Andrew Jaspan that related to private school education. As a former student of a Catholic girls’ school in Brisbane, and a supporter of the notion that single-sex education has advantages for females, she seemed worried about being seen as someone not fully in support of the public system.
Glad you got to go. Was Margot S there as well? She spoke at the Brisbane equivalent.
Yes, I got to go because the publishers put an ad in the paper on Saturday and so more seats had to be released (it was already booked out).
Margot S was there, but she didn’t have that much to say, or much to say that could be recalled after the event. Also, couldn’t see her at all (the seating was baaaaaaaaaaaaaad).
Ah, bad venue? The Irish Club in Bris. was quite a good one – and Margot S had a fair bit to say, and interesting stuff at that.
I must say Maxine was even more impressive than I’d anticipated.
Btw, re Jaspan’s question – is it usual for journos/editors to treat a public event like a press conference?
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Thanks, Spiros, you big luvvie you.
Mmmm, not impressed by Jaspen. He was actually moderating the Q & A time, and took it upon himself to ask a few questions.
At the GG residence on the swearing in day, I spoke to Bob Hogg saying what a great job Maxine had done, was he pissed off, on reflection I should have said what a great job you both of you had done, so if he gets that a lot it woould account for the grumpy expression
Could be, Bilko.
Anyway, apparently it was just the photographers he was annoyed with.
I must say I was stunned at Maxine using her maiden speech to implore all to ‘move on from the Culture Wars!’ This from an ABC Luvvie! Between chutzpah and an absence of self-reflexivity the latter clearly applies.
You stun easily, Greenfield.
I don’t know what an “ABC Luvvie!” is – it must be some sort of construct invented by you culture warriors. McKew was employed as a journalist, and she was an excellent one and a scrupulously fair one – taking on both sides of politics with the hard questions.
She is now a politician and able to articulate her own ideas. Which I may say she does with enormous intelligence and style. Unlike your piffle.
10 Kim Feb 26th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Ohh puh-leese give us a break from the fawning sycophancy over McKew. I thought Obama was now the sole proprietor of the Cult of Personality. I guess he has to share it with M McK, on “equity and diversity” grounds.
Lets deal with some hard facts instead of Kim’s Leftist ideological onanism and lipstick partisanship. McKew won Bennelong because she dog whistled up the Asian vote. Talk about playing the race card on the sly.
This illustrates an assymetrical principle which regulates the issue of diversity in politics.
Post-modern Cultural Leftists like to pretend that “there is no such thing as race”. But they could not win an election without it.
Whereas modern Cultural Rightists acknowledge the scientific reality of race. But they are constantly trying to transend it by promoting national integration.
Howard let in more Asians per annum than any other PM in history. But he still got panned as a “racist”. Whilst McKew swept to victory in his seat on a sea of yellow electoral assistants.
Imagine if Howard had scraped home using white nationalist voters! (Not bloody likely given he sacked Hanson from the LP and then had her locked her up.)
David Marr would have to be hospitalised to remove his chronic hissy fit.
One can only gag at the hypocrisy and mendacity of the Cultural Left on the subject of race.
Piffle, Jack Strocchi.
For a start, you display your condescending attitude by assuming there is an “Asian vote” as if it were some bloc up for sale, rather than a whole lot of thinking citizens with their own interests, aspirations and desires. Maxine McKew appealled to all sorts of constituents in Bennelong on the grounds of her own vision of an Australia comfortable with its diversity – something you can’t stand, evidently. Nor was McKew attacking Howard personally – quite the opposite. There’s no “dog whistle” there.
Unless you think that campaigning in Cantonese or Korean is somehow verboten. Or recognising that Asian Australians are citizens with their own needs and desires. I don’t suppose you take aim at Howard for promising CCTV for bus shelters to reassure the elderly. Campaigning directed at particular consituencies within an electorate is hardly a novelty.
Howard was doing it too – albeit ineptly. Was he being somehow “cultural leftist” when he was speaking at a Korean Church?
Your categories, and generalisations, are simultaneously far too sloppy and narrow minded.
Jack, I know it distressing as time rains on your universal theory of global drying; but try to get a grip dude.
‘Dog-whistling’ on race?
They had quite a number of Asian-Australians on MM team, yes. Thats called “campaigning”.
Indeed, the only whistling dogs were Howard’s mates: Jackie Kelly
husband and the other assorted low-IQ deadbeats who were busted engagin in deceptive and racist agitprop in the week before the election.
Have you already forgotten this stuff?
Talk about “wrongness” on teh internets. I knew id stayed up for a reason.
It’s tough, but someone has to do it, Lefty E!
Could somebody (lefty E? You’re still up) please explain to Jack Strocchi what ‘dog whistle’ actually means? I’d do it myself, but I’m about to toddle off to Bedfordshire.
Strokey already knows. It’s when Strokey’s owner calls it away from humping the postman’s leg for its Pal Meatybites.
Lucky you