Democracy — 1
"Regardless of who wins on March 13, the pace of economic and social change is unlikely to slow." — Introduction to a Time article on the federal elections.
Democracy — 2
"The real issue of the election ... is which party can be trusted to govern well and break any or all of the promises it has made ... that are unjustified on social and economic grounds." — Padraic McGuinness in his column in the Australian, February 20.
Peace
"It's bizarre. Somalia is not peacekeeping. If they piss you off, you kill them. That's not peacekeeping." — Major-General Lewis MacKenzie, head of Canadian forces with the UN in the Balkans, quoted in the Moscow Tribune.
Bitter
"Rugby league player and model Andrew Ettingshausen won a payout of ... $350,000 damages against Australian Consolidated Press for a picture in HQ magazine that appeared to show his penis. The Age reported this was almost eight times the amount a man would receive if he lost his genitals entirely in a work accident." — The Bulletin (published by ACP), February 23.
Wrong job, Andrew
"'He left $250,000 in tips for the dealers,' said one worker. 'Mind you, that was low for him. Sometimes he hands out twice that, but he had a bad run this time.'" — Sun-Herald report, February 21, on Kerry Packer's latest Las Vegas gambling binge, in which he is said to have lost $13 million.
Ministerial qualification
"You can't get through to the man — he is a blockhead." — Dr Geoff Champion, president of the Sydney Trainers' Association, on the federal shadow minister for sport, Senator Michael Baume.