Thursday, August 6, 2009

I did but see him passing by...

"Over the decade, Australia's ardour for Britain and the monarchy faded somewhat, but Menzies' had not. At a function attended by the Queen at Parliament House, Canberra, in 1963, Menzies quoted the Elizabethan poet Thomas Ford: 'I did but see her passing by, and yet I love her till I die'." (Wikipedia entry on Robert Gordon Menzies, Australian prime minister, 1949-1966)

"Ferocious opponents in federal parliament, John Howard and Bob Hawke, agree on at least one thing in their post-political lives: the importance of the US-Australian relationship. Yesterday, in a grand show of bipartisanship, the University of Sydney announced that both had been signed to the advisory council of the US Studies Centre." (Hawke and Howard find common cause in US ties, Luke Slattery, The Australian, 30/6/09)

"Barack Obama has a new best friend among world leaders. His name is Kevin Rudd. A senior official in the Obama Administration said the President had bonded more closely with Mr Rudd than with any other leader. Indeed, the two have taken up where John Howard and George Bush left off, according to the State Department official responsible for US policy in the Asia-Pacific, Kurt Campbell." (Barack's new BFF: a match made in Kevin, Peter Hartcher, Sydney Morning Herald, 1/8/09)

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