another glorious moment in news corp history

THE Howard Government has paid $11,364 of taxpayers' money to conservative News Limited columnist Christopher Pearson to write speeches for Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, including an address to the Hillsong Church.
...
However, the department refused to pay for one speech written by Pearson because it contained material that did not meet the public service's apolitical guidelines.
This speech was Mr Downer's controversial Earl Page lecture in May 2005, in which he accused the Labor Party of having a history of appeasing Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and former Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein.
Asked why Pearson was not paid for that speech, department assistant secretary Lynette Wood told the estimates hearing that he "was asked to provide material on freedom and foreign policy, but it did not meet the contractual guidelines on apolitical material and so therefore was not paid out of departmental monies".
Pearson, a former speechwriter for Prime Minister John Howard in the 1990s, has a column in The Weekend Australian writing on national politics and foreign affairs.
His speechwriting service for Mr Downer is not disclosed.

.......


Nice. Very nice.

nudge nudge wink wink

AL points to what could be a new low for the Australian:

Cloud Kirby land
Pampered Kirby is out of touch with the real world
IT is disappointing but necessary to have to explain the difference between murder and illness to a member of Australia's highest court. But once again, High Court judge Michael Kirby has shown just how out of touch he really is with the community he is supposed to serve. Justice Kirby dismissed what he called the US "obsession" with the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in which 2900 people were killed. Justice Kirby said more people died every day from AIDS than died in the attack on the Twin Towers.
[... snip. The final line, emphasis added...]
The irony is it is Justice Kirby and his ilk who would no doubt fare worst should the enemies of democracy whom they defend ever get their way.

.... wow. classy. Apparently Justice Kirby <3 Osama now, because he raised questions in the Jihad Jack case. I can't imagine why Alexander Downer gets someone from the Australian to write his speeches - oh wait. It's because he's also an offensive cumstain of a person.

See also AL's piece for the utterly vile Peter Faris in Crikey, hammering the same bullshit with even less subtlety.