*WARNING*
Shouting at the radio session will occur concurrently with listening.
And Andrew Bolt reports on comments by Michael Costa regarding Kevin Rudd's spin.
And don't miss the clueless PM 'tard on the 7:30 report. (Thanks Wand)
KEVIN RUDD: Kerry, my responsibility to Australia is to speak objectively about the problems we face, and equally objectively, about the strengths we have.Yes, there is most definitely a difference between commentary and waffle. Ask Kev.
People running around throwing their hands in the air talking about nightmares is not leadership. That's commentary, and I am not in the business of commentary. The nation requires plain talking, straight talking, about the problems we face and the strengths we've got. And that's what I intend to keep doing.
5 comments:
RED KEZZA: Yes, Sir Humphrey ...
KEVIN RUDD: How will I speak to the working families of Australia about the current crisis?
KEVIN RUDD: Well, let me begin by ...
RED KEZZA: Prime Minister ...
KEVIN RUDD: Don't interrupt, Kerry!
KEVIN RUDD: Thank you. As I was saying ...
KEVIN RUDD: Well...
I wonder what Kruddie’s reply to RedHead would be if the question was something like this?
O’Brien:
Mr Rudd, the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is threatening to sue Iceland because nearly £1bn has been frozen (sic) in Iceland’s banking system and much of that (about £900m ) is British taxpayer’s money. Potentially this will have disastrous consequences for many local Councils in Britain. Are you aware of any Australian government at either a State of local level being similarly exposed and if so what action would the Australian government take?
Krudd:
Well, we are in the midst of a global financial crisis. We've seen some 25 banks, or more than that now, either fail or have to be bailed out around the world. And that's got a real roll on effect to what's going on if the economy globally and the wash on effect here. Our view is this: what are the essential needs? Liquidity in the global financial system, and that's why we've supported both the US and the UK measures, and they are very substantial measures. Why, I was talking to Prime Minister Gordon Brown about his financial assistance package on the telephone this morning. We had a nice chat but he didn’t tell me what to say about this.
But there's a second part to this equation which hasn't been done yet, and that is to summon the global political will to agree on the changes to the regulations in the system. And the reason why that is necessary, it's the other half of the confidence equation. Fixing up liquidity now is one half. Fixing up the rules for the future, that's the other half. And I don't believe we'll get confidence until they are fixed.
I need to add one point though Kerry is that confidence in the system now hangs off both those factors. It hangs off is there enough liquidity in the system now - I go to what the International Monetary Fund said today? It said that on the second half of the equation, getting the rules right, which is a core part of the confidence equation going forward, it's not that there's a great disagreement about what the rules should be. It's the lack of political will between governments to agree on them.
That is why one of the significant things to happen last 24 hours is US Secretary Paulson's decision to convene a meeting of G20 Finance Ministers, including our Treasurer Wayne Swan, this weekend and part of the mandate must be not just global liquidity requirements, but the four to five key changes which must be made to the rules, including transparency, capital adequacy, prudential standards, corporate governance, and for those to be consistent across the major economies.
Kerry, I believe in levelling with the Australian people. This is a very difficult time. It's a very difficult set of challenges. There's no point gilding the lily here. But equally, it's important to say this: our responsibility to government is to provide tough, decisive action to keep the economy strong, relative to what is happening around the rest of the world and secondly to underpin and to maintain the stability of our banking and financial system. These are two great strengths. Is that going to deliver us problem-free out of this virtually unprecedented global financial crisis? Well of course it's not. But is it going to deliver us in a stronger state, stronger condition, would otherwise be the case? You betcha. That's the decisive action to which we are committed, and we're going to do it.
My job is this: my job is to maintain the stability of the Australian financial system. And do you know something: when I see 25 banks collapse around the world, that is a very fundamental and can I say focussing challenge when you've had virtually a global credit strike in terms of inter-bank lending. This has taken much of the Government's time.
And the second is this: a set of policies which continue to generate in Australia positive economic growth when the world IMF tells us today that most of the world is heading into recession, at least the developed world......
Blah, blah, blah.... What was the question again?
Taken almost verbatim from Krudd on 7.30 report last night. My, he sure inspires confidence!
Actually I think this is where Kruddie got his advice about bringing forward the committee to review the options to consider the regulations to obtain a consensus to write the report on the infrastructure to be built, i.e., building surely.
And oh yes -- it brings up interesting images - money frozen in banks in Iceland
From the AM Transcript:
Rudd: That's the bottom line here. We're not simply going to extend to the States any blank cheque and we won't be extending to the States a blank cheque of the order of magnitude that I see reported in today's newspapers.
Surely if it's a cheque in any magnitude it's not a blank cheque at all, is it?
(Not the thing that annoyed me most, just hate it when stuff like this passes for commentary.)
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