In The Australian today:
"If you believe the allegations being reported daily, Eddie Obeid may have earned twice as much out of the resource bonanza as the MRRT. It's comforting that at least one part of Labor takes seriously Wayne Swan's mantra of "spreading the benefits of the mining boom". But that is little help to the government in its desperate search for revenue."

In The Australian today:
"The captain having announced that she intends to land the plane, the crew don their parachutes and
rush for the emergency exits. As far as votes of confidence go, it is a corker."

In The Australian today:
"Tomorrow the nation goes back to work with no clarity whatsoever as to the government's fiscal strategy. Yet exactly a year ago, the Prime Minister was unambiguous. "

In The Australian today:

"You don't need to be a professor of economics to know John Howard was more fiscally prudent than Silvio Berlusconi. And if an econometric study suggested the opposite, you would look very carefully at its data and methods before placing much weight on its results. Unless, that is, you were the Fairfax press and the ABC. "

In The Australian today:

"Bob Hawke wants to abolish the states because he believes the commonwealth would provide services more efficiently. "

In The Australian today:

"With the US facing both the prospect of the "fiscal cliff" and a looming showdown over the allowed debt ceiling, it is difficult to fault consumers and investors for being spooked. These are times to be prudent. And that makes it all the worse that the Gillard government has abandoned even the pretence of having a credible fiscal strategy. "