AUSTRALIANS IN THE NEWS

OCCASIONALLY, Aussies get in the news. The ex-Prime Minister and now Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd, who has been hobnobbing with Hilary Clinton quite a bit lately, has been making some headlines, demonstrating that he has a tough side. This aspect of him was revealed through recent Wikileaks disclosures some of which have been published in the Australian media, showing a certain hawkishness. Today, he is reported as commenting. "Franky, I don't give a damn...". Bravo, Mr. Rudd or, in Aussie speak, Good on Yer, Mate!

Amongst the leaked cables, Australia is acknowledged to be a good friend to the US but, due to economic size, is pretty much small beer and not likely to have much influence on American foreign policy, so it does not matter how loudly we might beat the drum. Other information leaked indicates an opinion held by senior Australian public servants that the ex-PM is somewhat of a 'control freak', overly concerned with details.

The perpetrator of these leaks is another Aussie, Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks. He seems too be unpopular with just about everybody, some calling for his arrest for espionage or even treason, others saying we should just cut the whole nasty business short and have him assassinated. No wonder, then, that Mr. Assange has been lying very low, given haven by influential friends and getting money via PayPal.

Coincidentally, as the agitation at his outrageously indiscreet behaviour in leaking information was reaching a peak, charges against him for sexual assault have been raised in Sweden. There is a view amongst legal authorities, on the side of democratic principles and the right of the public to know more about what governments are up to than the latter would like to be known, that if Mr. Assange were to be guilty of the sexual assault allegations, these would be the only crimes he has committed in the recent past. WikiLeaks is a funnel for whistle blowing on the grand scale, some public servants seeming to agree that the governed need to know more about the actions of those who govern. Some doubt that there is any coincidence at work.

As if in a great game of chess, a serious attack on Mr. Assange's position came when PayPal (owned by eBay) shut down the stream of donations, forcing him to come out into the open to face the sex-related charges. He is currently locked up, presumably safely, in a London gaol (jail, that is, for North American readers). In Sweden, apparently, they take a very dim view of sexual abuse. One might hope, if he is innocent (as we must believe, until proven guilty), that Mr. Assange makes it through the the legal hazards ahead of him and does not get assassinated along the way.

One reason for wishing him well is that he has threatened to take on the Big Banks next and bring them down, revealing their true nature. That would be the ultimate 'treason' at a level not so far attempted by anyone. Ironically, it now falls to Mr. Rudd, as Foreign Minister, to ensure that Mr. Assange gets full consular support.

Falling now, like lightening from heaven, to much more mundane matters, I regret to report that another bunch of Aussies, our glorious Test Cricket Team, have been in the news, disgracing themselves by falling prey to the fiendish Pommy Team (Aussies like to call the English 'Poms', or 'Pommies', these terms being based on their well-known love of potatoes...from the French "pomme de terre"). Having drawn the first Test, played in Brisbane, the Poms well and truly dished the Aussies here in Adelaide, winning in record breaking style. Ahh...the humiliation of it!