Abbott and Costello show made the headlines even here in Austria !
Seems , according to ORF radio FM4 , that Tony Abbott , leader of the Australian Parliamentary Opposition wanted the Aboriginal Encampment near Parliament House removed and chose Australia Day to make this comment to the Media . Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott were dining in style that night when 200+ demonstrators let their views on this subject become clear with a rowdy and vocal display of what many politicians regard as “ over the top ” behaviour .
Whilst leaving the Restaurant , Gillard lost a shoe as she was carried to “ safety ” by 50+ members of the Law Enforcement Authorities some of whom were wearing riot gear . The Aboriginals even made front page news in a photo by offering to return the shoe . Seems like the whole thing was a “ Media Stunt ” setup to give those Aboriginals cause a more public airing but Mike_Rann former premier of South Australia state is typical of those politicians tweeting their opinions :
“ Appalled by the violent behaviour of 'protestors' in Canberra today, as should every Australian. Do they think they have advanced their …”
“ Do they think they have advanced their cause? ”
Hopefully the camp will be left alone but more Australians will voice their support and when their demands are considered and hopefully some concessions , albeit token , are met they will fade away .
My day started with a call to FM4 during the 8am News to remind them of an email I had sent asking for “ Waltzing Matilda ” to be played to mark our National Day . Some of the staff are Aussies so as I was speaking to them they were downloading a song which contained references to “ Waltzing Matilda ”. As I was speaking to John Mc Gill , a Canadian , I could hear the start of Kylie Minogue’s duet , Dark Prince , start playing . Pointed out that this could be played any old time but “ Waltzing ” was more appropriate as it is so well known worldwide .
When the call had finished and the song faded John came back on air to say there were complaints about this track , then Rollie weighed in with a version of what I had said . He decided “ WTF ” was an abbreviation of my comment . They then announced that “ Waltzing ” would follow shortly . After the 8.30am news they launched a version of a song that I had not heard before , but demonstrated how intrinsic “ Waltzing ” is to the Australian Heritage ! After this finished I again rang to suggest that this item would be more appropriate on the 25th April and John agreed that Anzac Day would have been better . He also was able to remind me that “ Canada Day ” was 1st July so I will be looking for Canadians on the Tour de France that day !
Having made a visit to Schwaz I set out to do some ski touring under bright sunny skies with below breezing temperatures as I had the day before . Half way up the climb the skins separated from the skis so it was back to find some glue to sort the problem . As I set out again I came across a local starting her daily climb , but that is another story elsewhere .
Today I finally got around to ringing a colleague from my days at NCR in Sydney . He was always “ Mr NCR ” to all that knew him and his family . Last year about this time I had spoken with Brian and he had advised that Dee was ill with Cancer so I was on tenterhooks as to her well being . Brian advised that she is in Hospital and thus this Year has not started well for him . His Sons and Daughter continue in good health and success with their careers . At 82yo he must miss Dee greatly so I could only wish them both well and hope I will get to see them when I next get to visit Oz .
