It was Christmas Eve, 2008, and the New South Wales government was ''putting the garbage out''.

''It is hoped that by announcing the decision at that time (on the cusp of the biggest holiday of the year) it will not be afforded any media or other attention,'' says a leaked cabinet in confidence report on the process prepared by Clayton Utz.

Australia’s Cardinal George Pell gave the worst media performance of his career at his press conference in Sydney on Tuesday. It was lazy, half-hearted and a complete waste of everyone’s time. He looked more than ever like yesterday’s man.

Until this year, if one were to rely on the parliamentary record to form a view about Eddie Obeid, he might be described like this: A 69-year-old politician who had a moderate interest in business until he joined the NSW Legislative Council in 1991 when he became solely dedicated to his duties as a public official.

But this year, that edifice has been torn down. First by a series of investigative reports in the Herald, and now by a probe by the Independent Commission Against Corruption billed as its "most important" in its 25-year history.

from Crikey …..

Coal mine concerns

The death in Ireland of a woman whose repeated requests for an abortion were turned down - reportedly because “this is a Catholic country” - has sparked international protests and condemnation.

In Dublin more than a thousand people staged a demonstration outside the Irish parliament amid calls for an independent inquiry into the death.

It's a common grumble that politicians' lifestyles are far removed from those of their electorate. Not so in Uruguay. Meet the president - who lives on a ramshackle farm and gives away most of his pay.

Laundry is strung outside the house. The water comes from a well in a yard, overgrown with weeds. Only two police officers and Manuela, a three-legged dog, keep watch outside.

from politicoz ….

keating lashes foreign policy ….

from Crikey ….

You couldn’t make it up. Months of plaintive cries that government cuts to frontline services such as Centrelink are hurting might have fallen on deaf ears. But yesterday it could not be ignored.

from Crikey ….

'Royal commissions aren't called lawyers' picnics for nothing'