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John Howard's Search for a Scapegoat Pt1
With an election only weeks away and poll numbers looking bad, Australian PM John Howard needs to find something new to blame that will scare people into voting for him again.

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John Howard's Search for a Scapegoat Pt4
22 oct  |  John Howard's search for a scapegoat continues. Here he details his concerns about African refugees coming to Australia - namely their joy of life and sense of rhythm. . . read more
John Howard's Search for a Scapegoat Pt3
18 jul  |  With poll numbers looking bad, Australian PM John Howard needs something that will scare people into voting for him again. After 11 years of inaction on indigenous issues Howard has decided now is the time to declare a "national emergency". . . read more
Little Johnny Sends in the Troops
18 jul  |  Some insight into the private thoughts of PM John Howard and decision to send in the military to save aboriginal children, while not saying sorry for previous generations of aboriginal children being stolen by the government. . . read more
Al Jazeera on Australia's Aboriginal Crisis Pt2
19 jul  |  International attention has been focused on Australian PM John Howard's "national emergency" declaration on the issue of Aboriginal child abuse. The second and final part of an Al Jazeera English report. . . read more
John Howard's Search for a Scapegoat Pt2
18 jul  |  With Rudd copying his policies and poll numbers looking bad, Australian PM John Howard needs to find things to scare people into voting for him again. . . read more
Al Jazeera on Australia's Aboriginal Crisis Pt1
19 jul  |  John Howard's declaration of a "national emergency" over child abuse in Aboriginal communities and the measures he chose to deal with the crisis have caused international news. Part one of an Al Jazeera English report. . . read more
A Scared Snake - From 'The Alchemist'
12 oct  |  No more rabbits in the hat. That's what everyone said about John Howard's re-election strategy. It was embarrassing. Bags of gold, funding for hospitals, a war on paedophiles ­- none of it swung the polls. He was finished. Then last night, after a modest admission of shortcomings, he flung another rabbit to the mob. He, John Howard, the man who had long underplayed the sufferings of aboriginals since whitey arrived, now executed a backflip. He would guide Australia, both the left and the right, to achieve the illusive dream: a "new reconciliation" - whatever that is - with the original inhabitants. Halleluiah! One Great Tribe United at Last.

A stroke of diabolical genius. It could work. Howard might convince enough swinging voters that he is answering the call of his heart to heal Australia. Further, that he is the only person in the land who could pull it off. Thus anyone who cast a vote against him, would also be casting a vote against a reconciled, re-born Oz. On last night's TV news, an aboriginal elder offered this comment: "Howard's got a new skin, but he's the same old snake". Exactly. This initiative is driven by desperation, even fear. Something else is going on in Howard's mind, apart from the ignominy of losing office. I think I know what it is — but let it wait until tomorrow's 100 Words. . . read more

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"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -- Ronald Reagan (1986)