4.6 • 863 Ratings
🗓️ 12 April 2022
⏱️ 85 minutes
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0:00.0 | Well, the Australian Prime Minister has called an election. |
0:04.5 | That means that the chattering classes have begun, oh so, a chattering. |
0:10.2 | And my profession, which I really don't consider to be my profession. |
0:15.7 | Because it brings such shame on itself, my profession of journalism has done its dandest to dishonour itself, discredit |
0:23.3 | itself, and generally muddy the waters of voter information barely a few days into this election |
0:31.3 | campaign. In Australia, if you're wondering outside of Australia, the Prime Minister has the right |
0:36.1 | to call an election in a |
0:37.6 | particular window of time, thereby trying to pick a date that is most advantageous to him or her. |
0:44.7 | I don't know why we still do it that way. Many states, including my state, has abolished that |
0:50.1 | and replaced it with a fixed term as they have in the United States, which makes more sense. |
0:55.9 | But both political parties stand more to gain from retaining the ability to call an election |
1:00.8 | when they are in power than they stand to lose by having their adversaries call an election |
1:06.0 | when they're out of power. So the silly process continues. Nonetheless, we've been waiting with bated breath for the |
1:12.5 | Prime Minister to call it, and it has been called. You may recall that some weeks ago, I expressed |
1:19.7 | my frustration at the predictable gotcha question that many journalists ask of politicians, which goes along the lines of how much is a loaf of bread |
1:30.7 | or how much is a liter of milk. I know my American listeners would not know what a liter of milk is, |
1:38.0 | so you can replace that with a pint, which you probably also don't know, because imperial measurements make no sense. |
1:44.4 | But putting that aside, I railed against a journalist who asked that of the prime minister |
1:49.8 | some weeks ago. |
1:52.0 | And in recent days, the news cycle has been dominated by breathless column inches and bloviating |
2:00.2 | from radio and television hacks about the fact |
2:04.5 | that the opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, made a gaff, a gaff when he was asked what the |
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