Mind you, her effort with Berkoff was toe-curlingly embarrassing. Something for the CV I guess.

Ps, note Auntie has sacked Helen Razer for nastiness. Fair enough to pull some one up for the sort of laziness exemplified in the Media Watch piece on her patronising interview with the playwrite, but sacking’s a bit draconian, what?
Why not just some anger management counselling, like as happens with certain other Australians caught out saying or doing something compromising.
Used to enjoy her cheeky, aggro stuff in the Age back six or seven years ago, as with Emma Tom’s stuff in the OZ. But both seemed a lot quicker on their feet back then.
Satire and humour seem to have short life spans, or is it just familiarity breeding contempt?

And what makes the whole Costello unwinding such an odd sight is that he keeps popping his head out to have it kicked one more time. He seems happy to trade in “the treasurer that saved Australia” for “he’s quite a good bloke after all” as a legacy.

Distinctly odd.

And David Marr’s attack doesn’t suit TV, never has. Fine in writing, but lord he’s iritating to watch. He and Bolt on Insiders reminds me of my children at the point where they’re locked outside to chill out.

I agree with Robert’s comments that Switzer was just out to prove his nasty-right-winger credentials. And taking a job in Nelson’s office demonstrates a severe lack of judgement.

David Marr was almost unwatchable, with his affected foppish accent. It was as bad as listening to Alexander Downer. He spent the whole program trying to come up with a pithy rejoinder that would have everybody applauding his (obviously superiour) intellect. Wanker.

Roxon was obviuosly out of her comfort zone on the financial crisis, but that’s true for all of them. Unfortunately her and Costello (who might have been able to say something interesting about how things are different in Australia) fell into a lazy catfight about whose version of history was more accurate.

All in all, that was a pathetic panel. I was left wondering how any of them actually have paid employment (especially Kernot – bloody hell, what a dope).

I’m glad Q&A is over for the year – I always wind up watching it, and always wind up shouting at the TV, because they always stack the panel with clueless morons (honourable mentions to Turnbull, Shorten, Tony Bourke, Joel Fitzgibbon and a couple of others who can actually think and talk at the same time).

WHEN Tom Switzer, former opinion page editor of The Australian, appears on ABC television’s final Q&A program for the year tonight, he will be out to impress. Switzer, who is sharing the small screen with Peter Costello, Nicola Roxon, David Marr, Cheryl Kernot and host Tony Jones, left The Oz to take up a position in Brendan Nelson’s office when Nelson was leader of the Liberal Party. He brushed aside the concerns voiced by some of his newspaper colleagues, assuring them that if Nelson were replaced by Malcolm Turnbull, he would still have a job. After all, he got on well with Turnbull. And Switzer’s wife, Sarah Stock, was once Turnbull’s press secretary. But with Nelson on the backbench and Turnbull in the box seat, Switzer has found himself without a job in the Opposition Leader’s office. Scuttlebutt in the corridors of Parliament House suggests he may be joining one of the high-profile, privately funded think tanks such as the Lowy or Sydney institutes.

I’m happy to gladden the day of a retired dipo.

That David Marr is a drongo on a scale sufficient to make Sir Les Patterson seem normal.

I think he would be thrilled that you thought so, SATP.

The problem is, most people quite distinctly don’t give a rats.

As I said some months ago, Costello is a nowhere man – Australians don’t care for gutless wonders.