The Same But Different . . .

Guest Author Uncategorized

Today’s Guest Author is Victoria Rollinson, with a splendid piece first published at The AIM Network. Thank you, Victoria! And hat tip to Puffy and Leone for their recommendations.

(Image Credit: Angus Mordant; Fairfax)

When Turnbull ‘knifed’ Abbott a week ago after publically shaming Abbott’s terrible government on national television while announcing his intent-to-knife, I wondered how the mainstream media would treat this story. I couldn’t help but worry this would be yet another example of a Liberal story being treated with a completely different narrative to the same Labor story. A sitting PM is replaced by a member of their own cabinet. A late night coup. A first term Prime Minister. Abbott lasted a shorter time than Rudd and had already been challenged 6 months earlier. By my reasoning, the white-anting, destabilising activities of Turnbull and his supporters over the last 6 months was far more bloody and underhanded than Gillard taking the opportunity to lead the Labor government when it was offered to her within hours of her colleagues’ decision that Rudd’s chaotic leadership was not going to improve, second chances or not. However you argue it, overall a fair observer would see great similarities in the two situations. But these similarities are clearly ignored by the media and it turns out my worry was well founded. Low and behold, the Turnbull/Abbott story is being treated completely differently to Gillard/Rudd. Of course everyone in the mainstream media is very busy mansplaining to little-old-us the voters why the two situations are apparently completely different. But I don’t need this situation explained for me, because I can see with my own eyes that Turnbull just did to Abbott the same, if not worse, thing Gillard did to Rudd.

If you haven’t already noticed for yourself the differing tone of the stories about new-PM-Gillard with new-PM-Turnbull, take a look at this apple-with-apples comparison.

Here is a transcript of Gillard’s ABC 730 interview with Kerry O’Brien the evening she became PM on 24 June 2010 and Turnbull’s ABC 730 PR campaign interview with Leigh Sales a week after he became PM.

If you can’t be bothered reading these transcripts, take it from me that Gillard was interrogated about her ‘knifing’ of Rudd for the entire interview, and framed as the ‘villain’ who couldn’t be trusted, a tone which continued throughout her time as PM. Gillard was also hectored about what she would do about the mining tax policy, not forgetting she had become PM that day. Turnbull, on the other hand, was treated like a ‘hero’ and provided with the invaluable opportunity to outline his vision for the country on an unchallenged soap box where he was allowed to sell his government’s refreshed credentials. He wasn’t even tested when he claimed Direct Action was working to reduce emissions when there was no evidence backing this claim. Two interviews in similar political circumstances, yet chalk and cheese in their treatment and tone.

A simple word count showed Gillard spoke for 65% of her interview with O’Brien. Turnbull spoke for 77% of his interview with Sales. Sales even apologised for asking a question Turnbull might ‘find offensive’ and then again said sorry for cutting him off. Soft doesn’t even come close to describing this cringe-worthy excuse for journalism. But it gets worse. Check out the word clouds of both interviews and see if you notice the same thing I did.

Here is Gillard’s interview, where the most used words were obviously Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. So the main topic of the interview were Gillard’s villainous replacement of Rudd.

Now here is Turnbull’s interview.

Can you see what is missing amongst all the positive words? Yep, that’s right. The word Abbott. You can do a Where’s Wally search for it if you like, but I’ll save you the trouble and tell you it appeared twice in the interview. Hardly there at all. Abbott’s already gone and the media aren’t dwelling on the part Turnbull played in his demise. Unlike Gillard, who had to put up with the media’s obsession with the Rudd leadership spill throughout her entire tenure as Prime Minister, even after she went straight to an election to prove her legitimacy in the role. Yet Abbott has been erased and shiny-Turnbull-with-a-sly-grin has got off scot-free. See what I mean about same story but very different treatment? How do you even begin to explain this other than to say Labor is always bashed by the media, and the Liberals always excused? Sadly this is the only explanation that makes sense.

322 thoughts on “The Same But Different . . .”

  2. Leroy,

    The Brideshead analogies should be causing the tories serious angst. This mob, however, won’t recognise the iceberg until it hits them.

  6. This 3D model of the newly formed lava at Holuhraun was made with a drone made by the Icelandic company Svarmi ehf. This model is based on few hundreds of aerial images that were taken 18th of March only about two weeks after the eruption finished. This project was done for the University of Iceland, Institute of Earth Science.

  7. This spring, four years after the nuclear accident at Fukushima, a small group of scientists met in Tokyo to evaluate the deadly aftermath.

    No one has been killed or sickened by the radiation — a point confirmed last month by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Even among Fukushima workers, the number of additional cancer cases in coming years is expected to be so low as to be undetectable, a blip impossible to discern against the statistical background noise.

    But about 1,600 people died from the stress of the evacuation — one that some scientists believe was not justified by the relatively moderate radiation levels at the Japanese nuclear plant.

    http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/science/when-radiation-isnt-the-real-risk.html

  8. Nine years ago, a rice paddy in eastern Java suddenly cleaved open and began spewing steaming mud. Before long, it covered an area twice the size of Central Park; roads, factories and homes disappeared under a tide of reeking muck. Twenty lives were lost and nearly 40,000 people displaced, with damages topping $2.7 billion.

    The disaster, known as the Lusi mudflow — a combination of lumpur, the Indonesian word for mud, and Sidoarjo, the area where the eruption took place — continues today. A “mud volcano,” Lusi expels water and clay rather than molten rock. Such eruptions occur around the world, but Lusi is the biggest and most damaging known.

    Scientists have debated the cause for years, and two intensely argued hypotheses have emerged: Some believe an earthquake set off the disaster, others that the mudflow was caused by a company drilling for natural gas.

    http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/science/9-years-of-muck-mud-and-debate-in-java.html

  15. Jaeger, just checked in at The Pub, the time difference of 10 hours between Oz and Iceland finds me looking in on early morning posts. We have just visited the Myvatn area in Northern Iceland near where the guy you linked to has been. Just to see the extent of the lava flows and the Mordor like landscape produced by lava coming up underneath the ice sheets of the last ice age is overwhelming. The Fumeroles and mud pots that are everywhere and the geothermal power stations add to the effect.

  16. Up watching some rugby and spotted this wonderful news. Fight ya bastards.

    Bolt hits out in News Corp ‘civil war’

    Malcolm Turnbull’s overthrow of Tony Abbott has “set off a civil war within News Corp”, according to one of the publisher’s most popular and conservative commentators, Andrew Bolt.

    Mr Bolt claimed The Australian was probably losing $20 million a year and was being subsidised by the tabloids he writes for, including the Herald Sun and the Daily Telegraph.

    “We worried that Malcolm Turnbull by deposing Tony Abbott would set off a civil war within the Liberal Party but what he’s done is set off a civil war within News Corp. Oh, what a joke.”

    In a personal attack during his regular 2GB radio show with Steve Price, Mr Bolt said The Australian’s editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell had acted unprofessionally by pursuing “personal vendettas” against him.

    “He called it off a couple of days before (News Corp chairman) Rupert Murdoch came to town (in August). Now that Rupert Murdoch is away, back in America, it seems to be on again,” Mr Bolt told Mr Price on Monday night.

    “And, I just say this is unprofessional behaviour, it really is. And I suspect that people in News Corp must have a look at whether this is worth doing……..

    http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/news-corp-civil-war-as-bolt-attacks-mitchell-20150922-gjsczb.html#ixzz3mUbsJnsI
    Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

  17. Twitter very quiet this morning.

  19. Jaycee

    Very much enjoyed your comments re the NBN seminar you attended. I basically endorse what you say, and add my comments here.

    I attended a politics in the pub meeting with guest speaker Jason Clare on Monday evening at Camden. First, a few comments about Jason.

    He’s a very impressive politician. Some youthful charisma which he doesn’t push – so not overendowed with ego – a good thing imho. He has a strong deep voice which carries across a room without him having to shout. I talked to him a couple of times. He looks you in the eye when he speaks and listens. And he does listen. No hint at all of condescension. He has a firm handshake without squeezing the blood out of your hand, which many seem to think is necessary.

    People were listening to him. (There were about 50 or so, clearly Labor supporters. Mark Latham was there.)

    He comes across as a pragmatist, and not an ideologue. There was no “Fraudband is shit” rhetoric. That might have disappointed some. He sees the rollout in a very broad context as something of importance, not a political football.

    When I put to him as the first question from the floor that it was disappointing that the NBN had not been a first-order issue at the previous federal election, he admitted that was the case, but gave plausible reasons for it being so. The main of these was that the agenda had been overtaken by other events.

    I think we can all understand what he meant. Leadershit.

    But he wouldn’t commit to a total about-face to the current multi-technology rollout if Labor wins govt next year. All he was prepared to say was that the ALP’s policy was being formulated and would be articulated before the next election.

    There were no fighting words on behalf of pure FTTP proponents like myself. Disappointing perhaps, but then we have all heard politicians gushing with anything the audience at hand wants to hear. So I respect Jason’s more reserved comments as being at least honest.

    I thought about 2 years ago (and commented on this blog) that Jason Clare was PM material. I haven’t changed my mind on the strength of meeting him on Monday.

    ——————————

    Now, here are a few things on the NBN which I have fact-checked.

    There are significant changes to the NBN-Telstra deal that favours Telstra.

    The new deal with Telstra means NBNCo are BUYING, not just USING, Telstra’s copper network from the exchanges to the premises.

    Telstra retains use of the HFC network to continue running their Foxtel business.

    NBNCo pays for all remediation of the copper, pits and ducts.

    Telstra continues to charge NBNCo for use of some network infrastructure and design, plus use of their exchanges. And will no doubt be the main contractors for the remediation of the copper, which they will benefit greatly from.

    The “dark fibre”, which is basically the enormous amout of fibre running around the country and which connects the exchanges, is not all owned by NBNCo. This will surprise many (it did me). This fibre is owned by many players: Telstra, Optus, AAPT, Nextgen and others. Telstra is the largest owner of this basic fibre backhaul.

    Under the NBN model, Telstra, Optus and all retail service providers will buy data bandwith from NBNCo, the single and monopoly wholesaler, and retail it to us, the consumers. So, in theory, this is a level playing field with all RSPs buying the data from NBNCo at the same rate. But Telstra, because it already has its distribution network in place, will be advantaged over other players, particularly new entrants. Thus it will continue to dominate the retail market.

    Many analysts predict that the retail market will coalesce into one dominated by a few players (Telstra, Optus, TPG, one or two others). The opposite of the competition that we would desire.

    At the National Press Club last week, NBNCo CEO Bill Morrow faced a barrage of fluffball questions which he had no trouble answering with equally innocuous vacuspin. No one asked him a basic question: is the FTTN multi-mix model superior to a full fibre FTTP model, apart from cost? In what ways would it be superior?

    Morrow couldn’t have answered such a question with a straight face, as even Turnbull himself has admitted that FTTP is a superior technology. In a doorstop interview 19 April 2013, he said:

    “We know that fibre to the premises is the best technological solution and if you can build it cost effectively you should do so.”

    There you have it. It’s about the money. And with the latest cost estimate blowout to $56bn, Turnbull’s FTTN version of the NBN is fast becoming a dollar sinkhole.

    Jason Clare was very clear to point this out last Monday.

  21. jaycee@jaycee ‏@trulyjaycee 2m2 minutes ago Adelaide, South Australia

    O ‘allo,Credlin’s about early,”spooring” her territory..an’ there’s The Weekly; treated Gillard like shit.givin’ the”other woman”a platform.

  24. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.
    I’m pleased to say that I’m on the improve and almost certain to be out by tomorrow.

  26. BK

    Fantastic. I don’t know how you do these links every morning. I did some from twitter yesterday and trying to do some today. It’s a bugger of a job. I has made me appreciate all your wonderful effort even more.

  27. Dedalus,

    It is not wholly about the money that the coalition went the cheap route with fraudband. Labor’s NBN which was designed to connect the whole nation with the best communications technology by rolling out FTTP to 93% and using Satellite and wireless to the other 7%, was the ‘super’ infrastructure project which would make distance in this country irrelevant.

    The coalition were horrified to think that a Labor Government would build this fantastic piece of infrastructure and forever more be given kudos and praise for it. Whitlam’s medibank and free education have been attacked by the coalition through the years and therefore they are not about to allow Labor to get credit for a superb NBN… pity their cheap fraudband is proving to be money hungry and require big dollars to maintain the copper or replace it before the whole lousy network is completed. As with medibank, it will be up to Labor to spend even more money to try and get this nation the communications network it needs.

  29. Get ready for Scrott’s economic wizardry straight from the IPA. . Says he will “reward hard working Australians” ( code for high income earners) with a reduction of the top rate and claims “government spending is unsustainable at 26% of GDP” and must be reduced, ( code for slashing services) .

  30. ” and almost certain to be out by tomorrow.”…ah!..all you “old lags” tell the same story..

  31. I said last week seeing Brough walk into that leadership vote with Turnbull was chilling. It’s good that Mal Brough is,at last, getting some media attention. It’s about time.

    Brough, after just one day as Special Minister of State, has already begun a fight with the Senate. Appointing this corrupt bastard as Special Minister of State might be Turnbull’s undoing. If you needed proof that Turnbull ministries were awarded on the basis of who did most for Malcolm, and had been worked out long before the leadership change took place, then Brough’s appointment is it. Ditto prrof of Turnbull’s lack of judgement and poor choices in the men he keeps close.

    Turnbull must owe him, owe him a lot, or Brough has some very juicy dirt on Turnbull. I hope it all comes to a head soon.

    Last night Tony Windsor said this –

    Malcolm reaches out to cross benchers after negotiation neglect by Abbott and silly Mal Brough attacks them -watch motives of this man— Tony Windsor (@TonyHWindsor) September 22, 2015

    //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  33. jaycee@jaycee ‏@trulyjaycee 28s29 seconds ago Adelaide, South Australia

    Don’t know why they are singling out Ricky Muir…The LNP. got in on TOTAL MISLEADING of the electorate!

  41. 2gravel

    What surprised me was how little effort Scrott took to at least pretend things will be different now . With his ambitions perhaps saying the right thing for the right has first priority.

  42. Interesting that Credlin came out so quick with her attack / justification…like it was planned as soon as the whispers of the spill started..sort of like a flanking move to shore-up her political cred’ for the next placement….I wonder if Mugabe is looking for a PR. person?

  44. foreverjanice

    What you say is very true. In fact, there are a bunch of reasons why the Libs went for fraudband.

    They oppose any Labor policy because that is their pure tory instinct. As a matter of strict tautology, to NOT oppose is to support what one opposes. It is why Donald Rumsfeld would make a great Liberal. That, more or less, is what you’re saying. Opposition as an expression of their born-to-rule mentality.

    Then there’s the money angle. This has two parts to it. Firstly, the Libs PRETEND to believe in extreme financial prudence on the part of the government sector. It’s a pretence, of course, but necessary to fool the public into believing that running a country is like running a household. Not a huge business, mind, since it’s actually big business that most truly believe in the power of deficits. Most large businesses are ALWAYS in debt. But normal people, who have limited access to scarce funds, worry about household budgeting, and so the “deficits are bad” meme is very powerful.

    The other part to the money angle is that the Libs are playing to their corporate elite and small business bases. Some key corporate elites, namely Telstra and Murdoch, benefit from fraudband because they will either control it (Telstra) or not be so damaged by it (Murdoch).

    The small business lobby have been sucked in by the “deficits are bad” meme because they fear debt just like households, being that they are captives of it at its most usurious extremes. Small business debt accounts for a large part of those bank profit billions. Small business owners are in the main just ex wage-slaves who’ve “gone it alone”. Their real problem is not so much small debt, but that they can never borrow enough to become BIG businesses.

    Governments are not households or businesses. A critical thing to understand is that governments can borrow as much as they like at the lowest possible rates, can never be made insolvent through default, and, in fact, (as Japan and the US do), can ISSUE THEIR OWN MONEY FOR NOTHING.

    So cost is the most ridiculous reason for not doing the NBN properly as Labor proposed. The real loser in the NBN fiasco is the future of the country. It’s another great example of the motto: “Labor proposes, Liberal opposes.”

  46. dedalus..what you are saying is, in essence, that by denying vital infrastructure that is for the benefit of and social and econmoic advancement of the nation, those responsible for such a deliberate action are committing an act of treason against the state and the people of the nation.

    AND…I for one fully agree with such sentiments….roll out the tumbrills!

  47. If Labor’s NBN could have been rolled out for a cost of $0.50 per connection this government would still have killed it.

    The truth is very simple – they do not want anything Labor initiated to survive. Everything has to be wound back, abolished, killed off, destroyed. For two years now pretty much all the legislation that has been introduced by this government has been about taking away Labor initiatives. Most of it didn’t succeed, thanks to the Senate, so now the Senate has to be nobbled with plans to get rid of independents and minor parties, and the ever-helpful government allies, the Greens are up for that.

    It doesn’t matter about the money, revenue streams have also been killed off, simply because Labor brought them in.

    It’s not government, it’s revenge, petty spite, sheer nastiness.

  48. We’re just about at the point where the MSM stop cheering and say, “What? Hang on…” Not quite there yet but it’s getting close. It took them a couple of months with Abbott, but that was because Abbott didn’t do anything for the first few weeks, and it was an election victory, which is a bit bigger than a leadership change. Turnbull, they’re slowly realising, is the same Turnbull from 2009. With the important difference that he’s now saddled with a bunch of Abbott policies he doesn’t know what to do with. They’ll make his sell a lot harder, but the media/business complex want them to stay, so it’s a bit each way there.

    The idea that Turnbull would be the Messiah was always a flaky one, and not possible to sustain for too long. I think the MSM will eventually settle around “Maybe worth another term, but with reservations”, which is probably the best we can expect from them.

  49. Glad to see you’re on the way back, BK – I wish you all the best. And thanks to 2gravel for holding the Dawn Patrol fort for the last couple of days.

  50. Dedalus, thanks for the NBN fact checking. A slight and possibly pedantic update. Dark fibres are those within fibre optic cables that are not being used. Relative to the cost of installing it, fibre optic cable is cheap so communications companies install cables with many more individual fibres than they need at the time of installation. These are available for leasing to other users. Telstra for example leases fibres to railway operators and power and water utilities as well as NBN Co.

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