Issue 279

 NICE MR SCOTT KIND TO KATE TORNEY – BUT NOT TO ABC FRANCHISEES

Less than a week after Kate Torney made a stunning appearance in a white frock plus sandals in Fairfax Media’s Sunday magazines (re which see below) she has announced her resignation as head of ABC News and Current Affairs. This is a blow to the public broadcaster since Ms Torney is one of the ABC’s more able managers.  She is a good “get” to run the State Library of Victoria.

Mark Scott announced news of Kate Torney’s resignation by Twitter this morning.  You wonder why the ABC’s media department is so large when Nice Mr Scott sends out his own tweets about staff, programs and the like.

Yesterday Mark Scott announced the closure of the ABC’s retail networks.  Catie Low reported in today’s Australian Financial Review, that “the franchisees were told of the national broadcaster’s plans to pull down the shutters on its retail networks – which also includes 50 stores run by the ABC – at the same time as the media on Thursday morning.”

If Ms Low’s report is correct – and there is no reason to doubt its veracity – this is a most unprofessional manner in which to treat small businesses and their employees – especially in view of the fact that ABC types are invariably lecturing business about best practice and the like.

Nice Mr Scott only seems to give electronic media interviews to ABC outlets – where he invariably fields soft questions from his employees.  And so it came to pass on the AM program yesterday where the following exchange took place:

Michael Brissenden: What’s happening with all the staff?

Mark Scott: Well, we had a briefing of 300 staff last night. This is going to be a phased exit from the stores. The stores are still open today. We expect that most will be open through Father’s Day, through Christmas but when leases come up, we won’t be renewing those leases. 

So we’ve briefed our staff we’ll be looking after them. But I must say, remarkably at our meeting last night, the staff’s top priority was looking after customers, getting them the information that they need and so we’ll be looking after staff but there will be significant job losses. 

We have 300 people who work in our stores and it’s a sad day for them. They’ve been very committed to the ABC and they’ve been very committed to their customers.

 Michael Brissenden: Okay, can we turn to the recent difficulties with the Government. How damaging has the row over Q&A been?

What a load of tosh. Mark Scott told a naïve Michael Brissenden that the 300 staff who had been fired the day before had a “top priority” of “looking after customers” pending closure of the ABC’s retail outlets. And the ABC presenter accepted this without query.  This is not the manner in which ABC journalists report lay-offs in the private sector.

SHOCK-HORROR : LEIGH SALES INTERVIEWS THE PRIME MINISTER WITHOUT INTERRUPTIONS

What a surprise last night when 7.30 presenter Leigh Sales interviewed the Prime Minister. For a change, Ms Sales let Tony Abbott finish his sentences without incessant interruptions. [How frightfully interesting.  Perhaps the 7.30 team have been attending the courtesy classes sponsored by Hendo AC (aka Always Courteous) – Ed]

Ms Sales accused the Prime Minister of running “scare campaigns” and “fear mongering” with respect to terrorism. She also suggested on two occasions that Tony Abbott was “out of touch”.

This from a highly paid operative of the taxpayer funded public broadcaster who works in a Conservative Free Zone.  In private conversations, Leigh Sales has been heard denying the claim that there is not one conservative presenter, producer or editor in any of the ABC’s prominent TV, radio or online outlets.  Yet neither Ms Sales nor ABC managing director and (so-called) editor-in-chief Mark Scott has been able to name any such conservative.

If the 7.30’s presenter and staff were “in touch” with Australia themselves, they would learn that there is widespread support for the essentially bipartisan approach to national security which has been adopted by the Coalition and Labor. Not necessarily in Ultimo or Southbank – but certainly in suburban and regional Australia.

SMH COLUMNIST GLOSSES OVER FEDERAL COURT FINDING ON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DARREN GOODSIR

Shortly after Justice White handed down his judgment in the Federal Court in the case Hockey v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd, the Sydney Morning Herald (editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir) ran an article on its Opinion Page by media lawyer Graham Hryce on 3 July 2015.

In spite of the fact that Joe Hockey had won a defamation award of $200,000, Mr Hryce wrote that “the truth is that this case has been a disaster for Hockey and may prove to be a significant victory for Fairfax”.  Graham Hryce pointed out that Joe Hockey “may have to pay Fairfax’s costs relating to that part of the case in which he was not successful”.

The decision as to costs was handed down by Justice White on Wednesday.  So Graham Hryce was given another article in the Sydney Morning Herald (editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir) today.  This time Mr Hryce reported that the Treasurer “was awarded only 15 per cent of his legal costs”.  He went on to theorise that “there may be an appeal and possibly a cross appeal by Fairfax” and that Joe Hockey’s “legal costs will only increase”. Well there may be appeals.  Possibly. Or possibly not.

Graham Hryce went on to criticise the statement released by the Treasurer after the Federal Court’s decision with respect to costs. The media lawyer wrote in today’s SMH :

Even though he was awarded $200,000 in damages, Hockey did not claim that he had been vindicated. In fact, he said nothing at all. However, after this week’s cost judgment, Mr Hockey released a statement which does little to suggest that his judgment has improved. First, he refers to “malicious people” within Fairfax even though Justice White made a finding of malice against only one Fairfax employee, and pointed out that no evidence of malice was led by the Treasurer against others.

That’s true, in as far as it goes.  It’s just that it does not go very far.  Graham Hryce neglected to advise Sydney Morning Herald (editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir) readers that the “one Fairfax employee” found to have acted with malice in this instance happens to be Sydney Morning Herald editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir. Fancy that.

Moreover, while Mr Hryce had a guess as to Joe Hockey’s net costs following the case, he made no guess as to Fairfax Media’s financial losses in the case – the defamation payout plus the costs which it is required to pay.

According to Graham Hryce, “Fairfax has been vindicated in these proceedings”.  This despite the fact that the case has cost Fairfax Media and its shareholders quite a lot of money and the Federal Court found that the Sydney Morning Herald’s editor-in-chief acted with “malice” towards the Treasurer.  This for a paper which proudly proclaims that it is “Independent. Always”. Perhaps the “Always” reference should be junked following Justice White’s decision in Hockey v Fairfax Media. For a while at least.

PELL-OBSESSION RAMPANT AT CHANNEL 10

The Australian media’s obsession with Cardinal George Pell continues.  George Pell has already appeared as a witness before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Once in person in Sydney and once via video-link from Rome.  He also gave sworn testimony to the Parliament of Victoria’s Inquiry titled Betrayal of Trust  which reported in November 2013.

In other words, on three occasion the Cardinal has voluntarily appeared before hearings into child sexual abuse. Moreover, he has also volunteered to appear in person before the Royal Commission when it resumes its hearings concerning clerical child sexual abuse in the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat where Pell was a priest – not a bishop as RN Breakfast’s James Carleton falsely asserted recently.  [Fancy that.  Wasn’t your mate Bonge – aka the leftist Channel 10 journo Paul Bongiorno – also a priest of the Ballarat Diocese at the same time? – Bonge was also not a bishop. Ed].

No charges of any kind have been laid against Cardinal Pell. Moreover, he has not been interviewed by police with respect to any crimes.

Yet, in another anti-Pell media beat-up last Monday, Channel 10 revealed that recently Pell had “a secret meeting” with John McCarthy (Australia’s Ambassador to the Holy See) and Attorney-General George Brandis at Ambassador McCarthy’s residence in Rome.  What Channel 10 hosts Stephen Quartermain and Candice Wyatt presented as “a secret meeting” was, in fact, a lunch.  Anyone who knows anything about diplomatic practices would understand that it is virtually impossible to conduct a “secret meeting” over lunch at an ambassador’s official residence.

According to Channel 10, Cardinal Pell, who has not been convicted of any charges is not entitled to meet with a senior Australian politician. This despite the fact that George Pell is number three in the Vatican and George Brandis is a high-ranking minister in the Australian government. Can you bear it?

GREEN/LEFT ACCOUNTING ON THE WORLD TODAY

Thanks to the avid reader who drew MWD’s attention to the following exchange which took place between Eleanor Hall and former Victorian Liberal Party premier Jeff Kennett on The World Today on Wednesday.  Note, as we head to the transcript, that these days Mr Kennett refers to himself by reference to the royal plural.

Eleanor Hall: Now you say that we will change when we hit a brick wall. This leaders meeting is partly being sparked by the funding crisis in health that has been brought into stark focus by the Federal leaders’ budget decisions to remove $80 billion worth of funding from the states. Now if you were still premier, you’d be furious wouldn’t you?

Jeff Kennett: You might remember when we were premier which was now a decade and a half ago so, please, I really can’t stand on much of a record, but we actually introduced Casemix which was the first major change in the way in which health was administered. You pay on performance. So I’m not going to talk about hypotheticals.

Eleanor Hall:  It’s not hypothetical though if $80 billion has been ripped out of your budget. I mean you would be –

Jeff Kennett: But sorry. I can only deal with the facts that I know them. I don’t know what I would have done if I was premier today. I wouldn’t have lasted this long if I got back in ’99.  But we had a reform agenda here in Victoria, a major reform across all sectors of the community. We had a vision for where we wanted to take the state. So it’s not difficult to provide good leadership, but I promise you now, if we sit here talking, as your listeners listen, if we just take the easy option of increasing GST or increasing the Medicare levy and you address that to health care, all you’re going to do is find yourself in 10 years’ time with the same problem.

As the avid MWD reader has pointed out, the $80 billion promised by Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan in the Gillard Labor government’s 2010 budget was outside the four year forward estimates period and, consequently, completely unfunded.  So there was no $80 billion “ripped out of” anyone’s budget.  The money never existed in the first place. Can you bear it?

SCOTT BURCHILL – RONALD REAGAN “B GRADE” PUT DOWN

How wonderful to see Deakin University’s very own Scott Burchill again on the ABC1 News Breakfast “Newspapers” segment on Wednesday.

Dr Burchill (for a doctor he is) put on a dark red brand new (or perhaps a brand new second hand) jacket. This gave the impression that – this time round – he was on his way to an up-market tip.  Not his regular tip – to which he usually wears a black jacket and matching worn trousers and sneakers. After an appearance on News Breakfast, of course.

Last Wednesday, Scott Burchill banged on about many issues.  But not the key news of the day – namely the death of Liberal MP Don Randall which will necessitate a by-election in the Perth-based seat of Canning. The learned doctor was more interested in other matters.

At some time during his (on-the-way-to-the-tip) ramble, your man Burchill ridiculed former United States president Ronald Reagan – describing him as a “B grade actor”.  Well, fancy that.

And what sort of grade should be given to the leftist academic Scott Burchill?  He has yet to make it to Who’s Who in Australia.  But, according to Deakin University’s website, your man Burchill has a Bachelor of Arts (Monash University 1983), a Diploma in Education (Monash University 1984), a Master of Arts (Monash University, 1992) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Deakin University, 2004).

Scott Burchill commenced picking up his taxpayer subsidised salary at Deakin University in 1990 – i.e. a quarter of a century ago.  In this 25 year period, he has written one book. Wow.  It’s called The National Interest in International Relations Theory. [Yawn.  It sounds like a boring theoretical Ph.D. thesis – but does it make him an “A” grade academic?  Ed].

But that’s not all.  According to Deakin University’s website, Dr Burchill once made a fleeting appearance on ABC TV Australian Story program (way back in 2005). Fancy that. And, according to Scott Burchill’s own biography, in 2012 he was co-winner of the Deakin University Vice-Chancellor’s Award for “Outstanding Contributions to Communication, Marketing and [wait for it] ‘Positioning’”. Can there be a higher honour in the groves of academe?

Little wonder, then, in some 25 years at Deakin University Dr Burchill has attained the exalted rank of Senior Lecturer in International Relations.  And he bags Ronald Reagan for being a “B grade actor”. Can you bear it?

[Er, no.  By the way I rather liked Ronald Reagan in that 1964 epic The Killers. I also admired his performance in the White House – Ed].

RICHARD DENNISS’ DOUBLE STANDARD

While on the topic gradings, consider the case of The Australia Institute’s Richard Denniss who is much favoured by the taxpayer funded public broadcaster for comment on this and that – and occasionally something else.

On Monday night, ABC TV News asked Dr Denniss (for a doctor he is) what he thought about the tax reform debate and, in particular, his response to the taxation reform modelling prepared for the NSW premier.

Your man Denniss rejected out of hand the modelling process which led to the taxation reform conclusions – and bagged modelling in general:

Unfortunately, with any modelling exercise, it’s all about the assumptions. And in this one, I’d suggest it’s garbage in and garbage out.

How about that?  When it comes to climate change modelling, the likes of Dr Denniss tells us that we should all take heed of the projected outcomes resulting from assumptions.  But when it comes to taxation modelling we should all reject the projected outcomes resulting from assumptions.

That’s the view of Richard Denniss – who has declined to answer MWD’s query as to why we should accept all “assumptions” about climate change but reject any “assumptions” about taxation reform.  Can you bear it?

Nancy has not read Erin O’Dwyer’s cover story in Fairfax Media’s magazines last Sunday about Nice Mr Scott’s leading women at the ABC. She just could not take her eyes off the photographs by Steven Chee.That’s why.

The photo-shoot involved Virginia Trioli, Kate Torney, Leigh Sales, Emma Alberici, Sally Neighbour, Jo Puccini and Annabel Crabb.  And now for the credits – as reported by Fairfax Media’s Canberra magazine.

Styling: Penny McCarthy, Make-up: Max May using Charlotte Tilbury, Hair: Julianne McGuigan, Fashion assistant: Tatiana Waterford.

Virginia Trioli wears Ginger & Smart dress, Christian Louboutin shoes, Kate Torney wears Ginger & Smart dress, Jimmy Choo sandals, Leigh Sales wears Carla Zampatti dress, Stuart Weitzman shoes [sandals], Emma Alberici wears Scanlan Theodore pants, Jac + Jack shirt, Sally Neighbour wears Cue pants, Veronika Maine top, Carla Zampatti blazer, Jo Puccini wears Scanlan Theodore top, Carla Zampatti pants, Stuart Weitzman shoes [sandals]. Annabel Crabb wears Scanlan Theodore top and skirt, Christian Louboutin shoes.

The ABC’s Sassy Seven Sheilas all looked gorgeous.  Absolutely gorgeous.  Especially Hendo’s favourite Ms Torney- who subsequently announced her resignation from the ABC. In Nancy’s male co-owner’s view, not one of the Sassy Seven required a styling task-force almost as many as the number of producers who work on Q&A. And Ms Crabb, who required two hair-stylists, surely could have got away with a mere one.

Nancy noticed that three of the Sassy Seven wore – wait for it – sandals on this occasion.  To name names – Ms Torney, Ms Sales and Ms Puccini. [Enough said.  Not one conservative among the Sassy Seven but three out-and-proud members of the Sandalista Set. Proves your point about the taxpayer funded public broadcaster eh? – Ed].

For some (unprofessional) reason, only La Trioli, Ms Sales and La Alberici made it to the cover shot – while the remaining foursome were left on the interchange bench.  Why? The three on the cover wore your basic black. Which seems to explain the exclusion of the white-wearing Kate Torney and Sally Neighbour.  But why the exclusion of La Puccini and Annabel Crabb?  [Perhaps this might be reason enough for the ABC chairman Jim Spigelman to set up one of his independent inquiries – it should be no less useless than the others.  Just a thought – Ed]

Nancy looks forward to Fairfax Media doing a photoshoot profile on one or more of Nice Mr Scott’s male stars.  Perhaps Four Corners presenter Kerry O’Brien for starters.  For makeup, “Red Kerry” should be able to get by with no more than half a dozen hair-colourists.

Aunty’s Seven Sassy Sheilas – as depicted in Fairfax Media’s Sunday Magazine last weekend. Photograph by Steven Chee

HENDO TO (TEMPORARILY) JOIN THE SANDALISTA SET AT THE 2015 MELBOURNE WRITERS FESTIVAL

Thousands of Melbourne’s finest inner-city leftist-luvvies could barely wait.  So what a relief when, at noon today, the powers-that-be at the taxpayer subsidised Melbourne  Writers’ Festival released details of this year’s program.

The Age’s literary editor Jason Steger gave a hint of what the 2015 MWF might bring in his ever shrinking “Bookmarks” column in The Age last Saturday.  This is what your man Steger had to say:

MWF gets dangerous

The program is launched next week and will be in The Age on July 25. Among the events will be a festival of dangerous ideas that will see speakers such as Naomi Klein, Tariq Ali, Marc Lewis, Jon Ronson, John Safran and Eric Schlosser address such topics as capitalism and climate change, the value of elections, approaches to addiction, the rise of public shaming and the safety of nuclear weapons. Tickets are on sale from mwf.com.au from noon on July 24.

Come off it. Only the intellectually naïve would reckon that getting leftists like Naomi Klein and Tariq Ali to address leftist audiences at the leftist MWF involves any degree of “danger”.  Rather such conversations (to use a cliché) invariably involve sermons by believers to the already converted.

Now, here are some really-and-truly DANGEROUS ideas which are unlikely to be raised at the Melbourne Writers Festival from now until the end of time. Namely:

٠ Cardinal George Pell is correct – and Pope Francis is wrong – on climate change.

٠ Tony Blair and John Howard were right to join George W. Bush’s Coalition of the Willing to invade Iraq and overthrow the Sunni Saddam Hussein’s regime.

٠ Margaret Thatcher was the greatest political leader in the second half of the 20^th Century.

But don’t hold your breath.  The Sandalista Set, which flock to taxpayer subsidised writers festivals, like to pretend that they are hearing DANGEROUS ideas when, in fact, they are having their prejudices endorsed and sanctified.

Meanwhile Hendo is heading off to Melbourne on 22 August suitably dressed for the occasion.  As avid readers will be aware, he has assembled (with a little help from avid readers) his Che Guevara gear, replete with the head-wear. Here’s a pic of Hendo rehearsing his MWF speech – working title: “Why Bob Santamaria was right – we’re all doomed.”

Without question, the greatest load of continuing tosh on ABC Metropolitan Radio takes place every Thursday – after lunch at 1.10 pm – when 702 presenter James Valentine interviews the Melbourne based ABC RN Sunday Breakfast presenter Jonathan (“Proudly the ABC’s Sneerer-in-Chief”) Green about – well, about nothing. Absolutely nothing. That’s why the segment is called “Blather-On”.

The problem with “look-mum-no-hands” radio is that no one knows what will turn up if call-ins are involved.  Especially towards the end of the 702 “Blather-On” segment when it’s a matter of filling up blather-time until the 1.30 pm news-break.

And so it came to pass on Thursday 23 July 2015 when – for no particular reason – Messrs Valentine and Green decided to blather-on about the meaning of the term “rule of thumb” with a little help from callers, including a man called “Mike”.

The segment commenced with Mr Valentine saying: “How are you, Green-arati?” and Mr Green responding: “Good, Valentin-arati”. It didn’t get any better as the two Blatheristas blathered on and on and on. Let’s go to the transcript as the blather-session ends with a discussion about the rule of thumb:

Jonathan Green: [Referring to the web]. The exact origin of the phrase is uncertain. The earliest citation comes from James Durham’s, Heaven Upon Earth, 1685. “Many professed Christians are likened to foolish builders who build by guess and by rule of thumb.”….

James Valentine: …Mike?

Mike: Yeah, I always thought the rule of thumb was the size of the stick you could beat your wife with – was the size of your thumb – the diameter of your thumb.

James Valentine: [laughter] Excuse me? The what?

[Much laughter from James Valentine and Jonathan Green]

Mike:  This is some years ago when that applied.

James Valentine: The size of the stick you can beat your wife with?

Mike:  – it could be no thicker than your thumb.

James Valentine: And that’s the rule of thumb?

Mike: I believe that’s what it traditionally is, yes.

James Valentine: And we got rid of the wife-beating rule in the 1970 -?

Mike: Well, I think it might have been before then when this rule applied.

James Valentine: That the rule applied, wow. And so was there an outcry with wives being-beaten –

Mike: It was before my time, James you know…

James Valentine: – by things larger than the rule of thumb.

Mike: It must have been. But it was before my time.

James Valentine: Wow, fantastic.

Jonathan Green: Baseball bats were right out.

James Valentine: Baseball bats were not it. Wow. That’s an amazing – that’s great origin isn’t it. That’s fantastic.

Jonathan Green: I’m not sure that I’m comfortable with that – or that it’s – well, according to my quick [check]. You know, I’ve looked on the internet and it didn’t mention that so.

James Valentine:  No.

Jonathan Green:  So.

Yeah, right. No, so. So, no. And so on. No?

As Nancy reflected when she heard this – OMG.  There was the James-The-Blatherer-Valentine referring to the (alleged) rule that men were not allowed to beat their wives with a stick that was thicker than a thumb as “fantastic”.  And there was Jonathan-The-Blatherer-Green declaring that at least “baseball bats” were ruled out in this instance. Amidst much mutual laughter.  And this at a time when the taxpayer funded public broadcaster is campaigning against domestic violence. OMG.

 IN WHICH RICHO & JONES FORGET GOUGH WHITLAM

What a lively exchange between Sky News presenters Graham Richardson and Alan Jones on Richo & Jones  last Tuesday – after your man Richo commenced coughing after bagging Speaker Bronwyn Bishop:

Alan Jones: Have a glass of water, have a glass of water.

Graham Richardson: I’ll need more than that – I want a scotch in a minute.

 Alan Jones: I might too. Who threw the glass of water in the Parliament? 

 Graham Richardson: That’s right. And it did happen – didn’t it?

 Alan Jones: Who was that? That threw the, that chucked the glass of water?

 Graham Richardson: I can’t remember.

 Alan Jones: Harold Holt. Or Hasluck!

 Graham Richardson:  I can’t remember. Yeah, Hasluck.

 Alan Jones:  Who’d he chuck it over?

 Graham Richardson: Who knows, who cares?

The idea that the courteous Harold Holt (1908-1967) or the usually mild-mannered Paul Hasluck (1905-1993) would have thrown a glass of water at a political opponent in the House of Representatives is implausible. Richo and Jones should know this.

Yes, there was a glass of water thrown across the table in the House of Representatives. The date was September 1965. The recipient was Paul Hasluck. And the thrower was – wait for it – then Deputy Labor Opposition leader Gough Whitlam (1916-2014).  Saint Gough has been dead for less than a year but some of his most memorable moments are being forgotten.

Age cartoonist Michael Leunig is one of Fairfax Media’s leading leftist Sandalistas.  Why, he even dressed up in Roman sandals when interviewed by Andrew Denton on Enough Rope years ago.

Since he suffers from a severe dose of Abbottphobia, it’s not surprising that Leftist Luvvie Leunig was able to use surfer Mick Fanning’s escape from the jaws of a shark in South Africa the other day to have a go at Tony Abbott.

Here’s your man Leunig’s cartoon – as published in The Age on Wednesday.

And here’s the same tale – told in Leunig language as interpreted by Nancy:

Until next time – keep morale high.

“Gerard’s condescension levels high on #insiders this morning”

– Lenore Taylor, via Twitter, 22 February 2015

“Gerard Henderson and David Marr are on #Insiders this week. Like a political Felix and Oscar.”

– Mark Scott via Twitter 19 February 2015 at 1.10 pm

“I once called Gerard Henderson `a complete f%^wit’. I deeply regret that. I was being much too harsh on f%^wits.”

– Malcolm Farr via Twitter 14 February 2015 at 10:14 am

“Oh Gerard. You total clown.”

– Jonathan (“Proudly the ABC’s Sneerer-in-Chief”) Green on Twitter, Friday 3 October 2014, 4.31 pm [Mr Green must be an obsessive avid reader to respond so soon. – Ed]

“Good morning. All the gooder for being attacked (for thousandth time) by silly Gerard in the Oz”

– Phillip Adams via Twitter, 27 September 2014

“What troubles me most is that he [Gerard Henderson] shows such low journalistic standards, yet he is politically quite influential. He is often on Insiders. It’s hard to see why: he comes across as a crank.”

– Kate Durham as told to Crikey, 16 September 2014

“The unhinged but well spoken Gerard Henderson….”

– Bob Ellis, Table Talk blog, 10 August 2014

“Gerard Henderson and Nancy are awful human beings.”

– Alexander White, Twitter, 25 July 2014

“This is my regularly scheduled “Oh Gerard” tweet for every time he appears on #insiders”

– Josh Taylor, senior journalist for ZDNet, Twitter, 20 July 2014

“…that fu-kwitted Gerard “Gollum” Henderson….”

– Mike (“I’ll pour the gin”) Carlton, via Twitter, 12 July 2014

“[Gerard Henderson is a] silly prick”

– Mike (“I’ll pour the gin”) Carlton – tweeted Saturday 27 June 2014 at 4.15 pm, i.e. after lunch

“If Gerard Henderson had run Beria’s public relations Stalin’s death would have been hidden for a year and Nikita [Khrushchev] and co would have been shot”

– Laurie Ferguson via Twitter – 22 June 2014 [By-line: Mr Ferguson is a member of the House of Representatives who speaks in riddles.]

“[Gerard Henderson] is the Eeyore of Australian public life”

– Mike Seccombe in The [Boring] Saturday Paper – 21 June 2014

“Without in any way wanting to breach anyone’s human rights or free speech – why do people write emails to Gerard Henderson?”

– Katharine Murphy, Twitter, Friday 6 June 2014

“[Gerard Henderson is] an unhinged prick”

– Mike Carlton, Twitter, Thursday 12 June 2014

“There’s no sense that Gerard Henderson has any literary credentials at all.”

– Anonymous comment quoted, highlighted and presumably endorsed by Jason (“I’m a left-leaning luvvie”) Steger, The Age, 31 May 2014

On boyfriend’s insistence, watching the notorious Gerard Henderson/@Kate_McClymont Lateline segment. GH: What an odd, angry gnome of a man.

– Benjamin Law, via Twitter, Thursday 17 Apr 2014, 11:21 pm

Can’t believe I just spent my Thursday evening with a video recap of Gerard Henderson. I’m a f-cking moron.

– Benjamin Law, via Twitter, Thursday 17 Apr 2014, 11:23 pm

“[Gerard Henderson is an] unhinged crank”

– Mike Carlton, via Twitter, Saturday 29 March 2014, 4.34 pm

Complete stranger comes up to me: that Gerard Henderson’s a xxxxxx.

– Jonathan Green via Twitter, 8 February 2014