bye bye Mr Rudd

[Leaping Lindner]

You've got to admire Downer. There is a man who has worked hard for everything he has got.

[Psyber]

You've got to admire Downer. There is a man who has worked hard for everything he has got.

The guy can't help that his grandfather was an SA Premier and his father a minister in the Menzies government. He still had to pass his university degree at Newcastle on Tyne. He lived in a log house in Bridgewater when I knew him.

CV:
Alexander Downer was born on 9 September 1951. He was educated at Crafers Primary School, Geelong Grammar School, Victoria; Radley College, Oxford, United Kingdom; and the University of Newcastle on Tyne, United Kingdom. He has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Politics and Economics and is a Doctor of Civil Laws (honoris causa).

Before entering Federal Parliament, Mr Downer held several positions:
Economist, Bank of New South Wales (Westpac), from 1975 to 1976;
Diplomat, Department of Foreign Affairs from 1976 to 1982, serving at the Australian mission to the EEC; Australian Representation to NATO; Australian Embassy, Belgium and Luxembourg; and Senior Foreign Affairs Representative in South Australia;
Political Adviser to the former Prime Minister, the Hon. Malcolm Fraser, and Political Adviser to the Federal Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Andrew Peacock, from 1982 to 1983; and Executive Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce, from 1983 to 1984.

Mr Downer is married to Nicky. They have three daughters, Georgina, Olivia and Henrietta, and one son, Edward.

[McAlmanac]

You've got to admire Downer. There is a man who has worked hard for everything he has got.

The guy can't help that his grandfather was an SA Premier and his father a minister in the Menzies government. He still had to pass his university degree at Newcastle on Tyne. He lived in a log house in Bridgewater when I knew him.

CV:
Alexander Downer was born on 9 September 1951. He was educated at Crafers Primary School, Geelong Grammar School, Victoria; Radley College, Oxford, United Kingdom; and the University of Newcastle on Tyne, United Kingdom. He has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Politics and Economics and is a Doctor of Civil Laws (honoris causa).

Before entering Federal Parliament, Mr Downer held several positions:
Economist, Bank of New South Wales (Westpac), from 1975 to 1976;
Diplomat, Department of Foreign Affairs from 1976 to 1982, serving at the Australian mission to the EEC; Australian Representation to NATO; Australian Embassy, Belgium and Luxembourg; and Senior Foreign Affairs Representative in South Australia;
Political Adviser to the former Prime Minister, the Hon. Malcolm Fraser, and Political Adviser to the Federal Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Andrew Peacock, from 1982 to 1983; and Executive Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce, from 1983 to 1984.

Mr Downer is married to Nicky. They have three daughters, Georgina, Olivia and Henrietta, and one son, Edward.

Come off it - could anybody seriously suggest that Alexander Downer (Alex in mainstream Australia) would be Foreign Minister without his blueblood background?

His work background has been offered here as exhibit A. I would like to know of another Executive Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce whose work experience in commerce is as limited as Downer's. Two years as an economist followed by years as, essentially, a backroom politician. Still, I guess the position is a right wing political lobbyist.

Hey - that sounds like the political mirror image of a unionist....

[Psyber]

Come off it - could anybody seriously suggest that Alexander Downer (Alex in mainstream Australia) would be Foreign Minister without his blueblood background?

His work background has been offered here as exhibit A. I would like to know of another Executive Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce whose work experience in commerce is as limited as Downer's. Two years as an economist followed by years as, essentially, a backroom politician. Still, I guess the position is a right wing political lobbyist.

Hey - that sounds like the political mirror image of a unionist....

You may have a point. I remember when Don Banfield [Metal Workers' Union] was Minister for Health in SA under Don Dunstan and had no idea, except how to take home in a paper bag food from the kitchens of the hospitals he visited - I witnessed that a few times in my youth. Peter Duncan was then appointed to clean up the corruption in the health portfolio - he's been in the news lately himself. Then there was Don D's file Commissioner Salisbury wouldn't hand over because it was part of investigating a sudden death....

Hmmm.. at least Alexander isn't actually crooked.

The only other Executive Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce I knew was always drunk by lunchtime.

[am Bays]

You've got to admire Downer. There is a man who has worked hard for everything he has got.

Like Kym Beazley.....Thanks for the seat Dad....

[redandblack]

You've got to admire Downer. There is a man who has worked hard for everything he has got.

Like Kym Beazley.....Thanks for the seat Dad....

You would be well aware that Beazley has had to constantly fight to hold marginal seats to stay in Parliament, TM.

Downer was gifted a very safe seat.

[McAlmanac]

Come off it - could anybody seriously suggest that Alexander Downer (Alex in mainstream Australia) would be Foreign Minister without his blueblood background?

His work background has been offered here as exhibit A. I would like to know of another Executive Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce whose work experience in commerce is as limited as Downer's. Two years as an economist followed by years as, essentially, a backroom politician. Still, I guess the position is a right wing political lobbyist.

Hey - that sounds like the political mirror image of a unionist....

You may have a point. I remember when Don Banfield [Metal Workers' Union] was Minister for Health in SA under Don Dunstan and had no idea, except how to take home in a paper bag food from the kitchens of the hospitals he visited - I witnessed that a few times in my youth. Peter Duncan was then appointed to clean up the corruption in the health portfolio - he's been in the news lately himself. Then there was Don D's file Commissioner Salisbury wouldn't hand over because it was part of investigating a sudden death....

Hmmm.. at least Alexander isn't actually crooked.

The only other Executive Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce I knew was always drunk by lunchtime.

Bit of a tangent there. I never said that Downer was corrupt, just appointed to a position with limited experience via the family name. The Labor figures mentioned there were elected by their constituents.

[Dogwatcher]

Whenever I see Alexander Downer, I think of this song:

Beaumont Rag

I am a wealthy barrister
About 100 bucks a word
I've got a plum stuck in my mouth
I'm really such a
Really such a turd

I attended PAC
I meet a wife at the prefects' ball
I am the elder fotheringay
And she was apprentice,
She was apprentice whore

I passed my matriculation
Four Ds and a C
Daddy bought be a Mercedes Benz
And he bought me a law de'
Bought me a law degree

I voted for Mal Fraser
Was the decent thing to do
Was a vote against the communists
And I hope that you did,
Hope that you did too

I love to read the bulletin and watch the ABC
I love to wear by well-informed opinions constantly
All my friends are professionals from polite society
So come and sing the middle class Liberal
I've got a home in Beaumont Rag with me

I bought a brand new Range Rover
the outback is a lark
I slip it into four-wheel drive
At gates of national
gates of national park

Oh the working class are out of place
when they are on strike
I drive my Jag in circles
Trying to knock them off their,
knock them off their bikes

I love to read the bulletin and watch the ABC
I love to wear by well-informed opinions constantly
All my friends are professionals from polite society
So come and sing the middle class Liberal
I've got a home in Beaumont Rag with
Come and sing the middle class Liberal
I've got a home in Beaumont Rag with me

[am Bays]

You've got to admire Downer. There is a man who has worked hard for everything he has got.

Like Kym Beazley.....Thanks for the seat Dad....

You would be well aware that Beazley has had to constantly fight to hold marginal seats to stay in Parliament, TM.

Downer was gifted a very safe seat.

Ohhh, silly me, I didn't realise nepotism in politics only applies to safe seats....

What is riding on the coat tails of Dads popularity, getting a ministerialship and then abandoning my constituants to stand in a safer seat called?????

The point of my post was that neoptism is alive and well on both sides of the political spectrum so it rather shallow to attack one person without rearding others who have ridden on the coat tails of their political fathers..John Cain, Iain Evans and Michael Wright anyone???

[Psyber]

You've got to admire Downer. There is a man who has worked hard for everything he has got.

Like Kym Beazley.....Thanks for the seat Dad....

You would be well aware that Beazley has had to constantly fight to hold marginal seats to stay in Parliament, TM.

Downer was gifted [!!] a very safe seat.

He was elected by local party members as the candidate for a seat in which he and his family had lived!

He was not shoe-horned into a safe seat he had never seen by a party machine because he was a "star" candidate like Peter Garret. In the LP local members elect their candidate - it is not decided by outside factions. Although some may try to influence the way the locals vote, they can only do it by persuasion. I know, I was on the committee in Mayo at one time. It is the reason I joined the LP despite my family's Labor background - local democracy.

Compare that to the fiasco in the state seat of Semaphore in the 1980s, when the local favourite was ousted by a faction deal and won as an Independent because the local Labor members wanted him, even if the party machine didn't, but were forced to accept an unelectable ALP official candidate!

[redandblack]

Oh, I didn't realise he was chosen by the local branches.

Bit of an upset result, I would have thought

[Psyber]

I'll have to intersperse in the text to repond to this!
The capitals are only to make it stand out.

Whenever I see Alexander Downer, I think of this song:

Beaumont Rag

I am a wealthy barrister
About 100 bucks a word
I've got a plum stuck in my mouth
I'm really such a
Really such a turd

BIGOTRY?

I attended PAC
I meet a wife at the prefects' ball
I am the elder fotheringay
And she was apprentice,
She was apprentice whore

SLANDER?

I passed my matriculation
Four Ds and a C
Daddy bought be a Mercedes Benz
And he bought me a law de'
Bought me a law degree

UNTIL VERY RECENTLY YOU COULD ONLY BUY INTO A LAW DEGREE AT BOND AND YOU STILL HAD TO PASS EXAMS. SOMEONE WITH 4Ds AND A C MIGHT GET IN BUT THEY WOULDN'T PASS.

I voted for Mal Fraser
Was the decent thing to do
Was a vote against the communists
And I hope that you did,
Hope that you did too

IT WAS THE DECENT THING TO DO AFTER THE ECONOMY WAS WRECKED BY GOUGH AND HIS FRIENDS! 17% interest rates and massive debt. And Mal had a Bultaco bike which makes him OK!

I love to read the bulletin and watch the ABC
I love to wear by well-informed opinions constantly
All my friends are professionals from polite society
So come and sing the middle class Liberal
I've got a home in Beaumont Rag with me

BULLETIN - THAT LEFTIST RAG! WE GET THE SPECTATOR SENT FROM THE UK.

I bought a brand new Range Rover
the outback is a lark
I slip it into four-wheel drive
At gates of national
gates of national park

THE RR IS PERMANENT 4WD,AND MY OLD 1986 MODEL WENT THROUGH CREEK BEDS IN THE FLINDERS QUITE NICELY THANK YOU.

Oh the working class are out of place
when they are on strike
I drive my Jag in circles
Trying to knock them off their,
knock them off their bikes

ONLY THE ASPIRING MIDDLE CLASS BUY JAGS, THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN UNRELIABLE! DISCRETE RELIABILITY IS WHAT IS REQUIRED.

I love to read the bulletin and watch the ABC
I love to wear by well-informed opinions constantly
All my friends are professionals from polite society
So come and sing the middle class Liberal
I've got a home in Beaumont Rag with
Come and sing the middle class Liberal
I've got a home in Beaumont Rag with me

BEAUMONT BY THE WAY IS NOVEAU RICHE AND FLASHY - REAL PEOPLE LIVE IN BURNSIDE, TOORAK GARDENS, LEABROOK AND OTHER MORE DISCREET AREAS.

No, I don't have a Law degree in my collection, and my Dad was a railway employee and staunch Labor man.

[mick]

I'll have to intersperse in the text to repond to this!
The capitals are only to make it stand out.

Whenever I see Alexander Downer, I think of this song:

Beaumont Rag

I am a wealthy barrister
About 100 bucks a word
I've got a plum stuck in my mouth
I'm really such a
Really such a turd

BIGOTRY?

I attended PAC
I meet a wife at the prefects' ball
I am the elder fotheringay
And she was apprentice,
She was apprentice whore

SLANDER?

I passed my matriculation
Four Ds and a C
Daddy bought be a Mercedes Benz
And he bought me a law de'
Bought me a law degree

UNTIL VERY RECENTLY YOU COULD ONLY BUY INTO A LAW DEGREE AT BOND AND YOU STILL HAD TO PASS EXAMS. SOMEONE WITH 4Ds AND A C MIGHT GET IN BUT THEY WOULDN'T PASS.

I voted for Mal Fraser
Was the decent thing to do
Was a vote against the communists
And I hope that you did,
Hope that you did too

IT WAS THE DECENT THING TO DO AFTER THE ECONOMY WAS WRECKED BY GOUGH AND HIS FRIENDS! 17% interest rates and massive debt. And Mal had a Bultaco bike which makes him OK!

I love to read the bulletin and watch the ABC
I love to wear by well-informed opinions constantly
All my friends are professionals from polite society
So come and sing the middle class Liberal
I've got a home in Beaumont Rag with me

BULLETIN - THAT LEFTIST RAG! WE GET THE SPECTATOR SENT FROM THE UK.

I bought a brand new Range Rover
the outback is a lark
I slip it into four-wheel drive
At gates of national
gates of national park

THE RR IS PERMANENT 4WD,AND MY OLD 1986 MODEL WENT THROUGH CREEK BEDS IN THE FLINDERS QUITE NICELY THANK YOU.

Oh the working class are out of place
when they are on strike
I drive my Jag in circles
Trying to knock them off their,
knock them off their bikes

ONLY THE ASPIRING MIDDLE CLASS BUY JAGS, THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN UNRELIABLE! DISCRETE RELIABILITY IS WHAT IS REQUIRED.

I love to read the bulletin and watch the ABC
I love to wear by well-informed opinions constantly
All my friends are professionals from polite society
So come and sing the middle class Liberal
I've got a home in Beaumont Rag with
Come and sing the middle class Liberal
I've got a home in Beaumont Rag with me

BEAUMONT BY THE WAY IS NOVEAU RICHE AND FLASHY - REAL PEOPLE LIVE IN BURNSIDE, TOORAK GARDENS, LEABROOK AND OTHER MORE DISCREET AREAS.

No, I don't have a Law degree in my collection, and my Dad was a railway employee and staunch Labor man.

So you're a class traitor Psyber?

[mick]

Whenever I see Alexander Downer, I think of this song:

Beaumont Rag

I am a wealthy barrister
About 100 bucks a word
I've got a plum stuck in my mouth
I'm really such a
Really such a turd

I attended PAC
I meet a wife at the prefects' ball
I am the elder fotheringay
And she was apprentice,
She was apprentice whore

I passed my matriculation
Four Ds and a C
Daddy bought be a Mercedes Benz
And he bought me a law de'
Bought me a law degree

I voted for Mal Fraser
Was the decent thing to do
Was a vote against the communists
And I hope that you did,
Hope that you did too

I love to read the bulletin and watch the ABC
I love to wear by well-informed opinions constantly
All my friends are professionals from polite society
So come and sing the middle class Liberal
I've got a home in Beaumont Rag with me

I bought a brand new Range Rover
the outback is a lark
I slip it into four-wheel drive
At gates of national
gates of national park

Oh the working class are out of place
when they are on strike
I drive my Jag in circles
Trying to knock them off their,
knock them off their bikes

I love to read the bulletin and watch the ABC
I love to wear by well-informed opinions constantly
All my friends are professionals from polite society
So come and sing the middle class Liberal
I've got a home in Beaumont Rag with
Come and sing the middle class Liberal
I've got a home in Beaumont Rag with me

Big Chip yer shoulder mate, you're starting to sound like that friend of the people Paul Keating

[Dogwatcher]

Mick - where's the chip mate? It's a song, by that elitist group of the early 80s Redgum

TBH - it's only this line that reminds me of Alex. lol

"I've got a plum stuck in my mouth
I'm really such a
Really such a turd".

Not much to judge a person on, I know. But people have been judging Mr Keating on his predilection for Italian suits for years.

Psyber - nice replies.

[mick]

I stand corrected. I was never a fan of Redgum even though I attended the same PRIVATE school as John Schumann although we were there at the same time and he and I are about the same age I don't remember him, after all it was nearly 40 years ago. I knew a number of left leaning people in Alexander's seat (in his opposition days) who said even though they wouldn't vote for him, he did the right thing by his electorate and worked hard.

[Psyber]

So you're a class traitor Psyber?

My father would have called me that, and I think did once when I was 13 and said something admiring about Bob Menzies after I had read a history, but my sister and I have both seen ourselves as simply independent thinkers who make up our own minds.

[topsywaldron]

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[Psyber]

I stand corrected. I was never a fan of Redgum even though I attended the same PRIVATE school as John Schumann although we were there at the same time and he and I are about the same age I don't remember him, after all it was nearly 40 years ago. I knew a number of left leaning people in Alexander's seat (in his opposition days) who said even though they wouldn't vote for him, he did the right thing by his electorate and worked hard.

And John as a Democrat gave Alexander a bit of a scare one year!

As for DW's reference to the "plumb in his mouth", I know quite a few people who speak similarly, and it in not pretension. Alexander is a nice guy and not a "turd" at all.

One's accent tends to be shaped by that of the people around you - what you hear is educated Australian with some English influences because he studied there. My wife gave up teaching at Elizabeth fast because of the reverse snobbery based prejudice she met there, but had no problems at Balaklava, and then in a Catholic private school. She was raised in Queenstown.

People keep asking me if I'm English, and I grew up in Croydon and went to Woodville High. My mother is English and presumably had some effect on me.

[silicone skyline]

You would be well aware that Beazley has had to constantly fight to hold marginal seats to stay in Parliament, TM.

Beazley was always the type to fight for a seat.
Parliament, restaurants, buses ...