Kevin Rudd was governing again today, speaking to Barack Obama on the phone (in his tracksuit, mind you) about the ongoing crisis in Syria.
Labor policy announcement
- No new policy announcements as far as we could tell, but a lot of repetition.
Coalition policy announcement
- Tony Abbott campaigned on the NSW central coast, and in the electorate of Dobell, currently held by embattled independent MP Craig Thomson. He’s pledged $21 million of new announcements, for central coast training, for the Woy Woy oval upgrade, new roads, improving water quality in the local lakes.
Must watch
There was quite a bit of discussion as to where this should go, but it just had to be a must-watch.
Not sure if we need to warn about disturbing footage or not…
Quote of the day
It was a war of words between Kevin Rudd and NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell throughout the day.
Mr Rudd called Mr O’Farrell a “grumpy premier”, but it was Premier O’Farrell who gets the prize. When telling the NSW Parliament in Question Time what advice he’d give the PM, he’d replace “stop the boats” with “stop the selfies”.
Tweet of the day
remarkable coincidence? Today’s Spectator cover featuring KRudd on a naval vessel in distress pic.twitter.com/NZYtYi4sn0
— Barry O’Farrell (@barryofarrell) August 27, 2013
Slip of the day
Today’s award goes to Tony Abbott.
Responding to questions from reporters as he unveiled a pledge to offer retrospective compensation to Australian victims of terrorism abroad, Mr Abbott made these comments:
“If you are walking down the street at 2am in Kings Cross in Sydney and you get king hit, maybe you shouldn’t be there. Maybe it was an unwise place to be, an unwise thing to do. But if you do get king hit and you are badly damaged, you are helped by the New South Wales victims of crime legislation and I think that the Australian victims of overseas terrorism should get similar help.”
The father of 19-year-old Thomas Kelly, who died in 2012 at Kings Cross in an unprovoked attack, told The Guardian he found the comments offensive.
Wrap by Liam Quinn and Erdem Koç. Follow them and send them tips on Twitter – @Quinn_LP and @erdemkoc.
