Election 2013 1

No 3 elections are quite the same.

Here's the Sydney Morning Herald's political editor Peter Hartcher writing in today's paper:

"Approaching the level of the pitiful for a prime minister calling an election, [Kevin Rudd] actually asked sympathisers to send in $10 bucks." (Spot the difference between a reborn contrite Kev and Team Tony)

And here's Hartcher writing in the Herald on June 22, 2010:

"The concern [of Israel lobbyists] intensified last month when the government expelled an Israeli diplomat as a punishment for the passport abuse... All through this, the Israeli ambassador to Australia and some members of the Jewish community felt a chill in their dealings with the government. Phone calls went unreturned, normal dealings seemed to be suspended. The Jewish community reciprocated. When Labor approached key groups to hold fund-raising events for the coming election, they feigned busyness... The Jewish community was an important source of funds for the 2007 election. A single lunch in Sydney raised $100,000. A Toorak tennis court party for 200, attended by Rudd and Gillard, raised more." (What am I, chopped liver? How Rudd dived into the schmooze*)

Ah, those were the days! You can bet Abbott won't be holding out his hat for such petty cash.

[*See my 22/6/10 post The Best Israel Policy Money Can Buy.]