Today's Headlines
an Aussie's viewpoint
Monday 26th February 1996
International:
Today is D-Day for Super League. After the judge's knock out blow in favour of the Australian Rugby League (ARL) on Friday Justice
James Burchitt will deliver his verdict this morning. News Limited are hoping to get away with a damages claim of Au$100 million
plus combined with an approval to go ahead with Super League. Personally, I think that the judge is going to tell the players to
get back to their ARL contracts and play the game in the ARL. This will be the death of Super League - a venture which has cost
Murdoch's Foxtel Au$100 million plus... and a severe blow to Super League's credibility with their major player (Super League CEO John Ribot)
being called an "unrelaible witness".
Well we had the second great debate between Paul Keating and John Howard. It was billed by the media as the event which could "swing
the election". Credibility of the two debaters was a big issue in an interesting but uneventful talkfest which neither man one.
The debate NOW, however, should be about the selection by Channel 9 (Kerry Packer's station) of "swinging voters" who scored the debate.
Yesterday, (under Global Gripe of the Day) I had a go at the "parameters"
behind news paper polls. Today I am going to have a go at whoever chooses the audiences who the television media MAKE INTO
MEGA BAROMETERS of the entire population's perception of the preformance of Howard and Keating.
The one hundred "swinging voters" who scored the debate at Channel 9 gave Keating the debate 56 to 44. What is quite remarkable is that
Channel 7 (another major national television station) had a delayed program with extensive feedback on the debate in a program called
"Face to Face". They also had one hundred carefully selected "swinging voters" who scored Howard the winner 55 to 45.
Now you can make your own assumptions about that but loook at the following facts:
Channel 9 is owned Kerry Packer - Australia's richest man. Channel 7 is owned by much lesser lights with very little influence over the
Prime Minister. Now why is there a 20% difference in the way in which 100 swinging voters judged the same debate. It sounds mega-sus to me.
Today's News Limited (Rupert Murdoch) papers are towing Channel 9's line emblazening Keating as the winner.. Why?
Why are the media judging not only the performance of the leaders but attempting to influence the decision of the voters at this
Saturday's Federal Election?
Why Mr Packer? Why Mr Murdoch? What use is a debate if the "commentators" have to use the feedback of questionable "swinging voters"?
I think that the mainline media should be debated because the "leaders" are starting to look like bit-players.
Business:
James Hardie Industries only started making fibre cement building products in the US in 1990 but production demand there is already
exceeding that in Australia. By early next year they will be selling three times more fibre cement in the US than in Australia. Hardie controls
about 90% of the fledgling fibre cement industry in the US. In fact its greatest challenge in this unusual off-shore success story is to
be able to cope with future demand.
Sport:
In an excellent series of performances Sweden beat Australia's Socceroos 2-0 at the Suncorp Stadium last night. The return match
between the two international teams takes place on Wednesday at Sydney.
Social:
A new drug might be able to treat paralysis caused by spinal injuries like those suffered by actor Christopher Reeve an Australian
will tell a conference on "Frontiers of Spinal Cord Research" at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research today. Dr Barrett's
drug is based on his discovery that after spinal cord injury a substance called P75 sends signals to nerve cells (neurons) to die.
Having discovered the "death molecule" Dr Barrett was able to develop a substance which kept nerve cells alive in animals by neutralising
P75.
Personal trivia:
Lovely cool day yesterday, showers intermittently and relaxation.. We had an invasion of mud larks after I had finished attacking the grass on our slope
with a lawnmower. Today, yes another perfect day in paradise - with the sun just breaking through a blanket of cloud.
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