Cate McGregor conservatives

The spirit is upon Quadrant contributor James Allan in the latest Spectator:

Some say that this innovative and agile Team Turnbull government continues to  go  from strength to strength. For them, Messrs Brandis, Pyne, Turnbull, Ms Payne and the other executive office holders of the Black Hand division of the ‘progressive/Ultimo/moderate’ wing of the GetUp! faction of the Liberal Party awake each morning knowing that this is the best time ever to be a bedwetter, and that they’ve never had more fun in their lives.

They have the daily office ‘Pick the Pom’ pool to look forward to in the morning, followed by the ‘Guess the Greek’ sweepstakes in the afternoon.

At night they never have to appear on Andrew Bolt or Paul Murray or on any mean and nasty talkback radio show, though an ABC gig or two to slag off Tony Abbott with a few volcano references may round off another perfect day under ‘the greatest Prime Minister this country has ever seen’ (copyright Niki Savva). Then the next morning they can GetUp! to plot the downfall of a few more of their reactionary, non-PC, free speech-valuing, Safe Schools-loathing and generally yucky partyroom colleagues. Bueno!

Jim’s latest Quadrant essay can be found at left, released only yesterday from behind our paywall. If you prefer not to wait for his and others’ contributions to be made available free of charge, follow the link below and subscribe. Mind you, that won’t please Cate McGregor, who in today’s Fairfax press writes us off as “faux intellectuals” in a column that professes to see decency in Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop as an election-winning potential leader. To save readers the trouble of soiling their screens with Age and SMH copy, the column demands Malcolm Turnbull now put conservatives in his party to the sword — a sentiment distinctly odds with her tweet (above) of only 48 hours ago.

Oh, well, what is they say about it being a woman’s prerogative to change her mind?

As Miss McGregor’s jibe appears in a newspaper which only a week ago identified ousted Greens senator Scott Ludlam as “a former cabinet member and deputy Nationals leader”, we’ll accept that her byline has found its comfort zone with Fairfax after the recent and abrupt disappearance from News Corp newspapers. Thank you, Miss McGregor, your disdain for Quadrant is an invaluable endorsement of our worth.

Follow the link below to support Quadrant — a magazine whose mere existence, as Miss McGregor demonstrates, infuriates all the right people.

— roger franklin

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