Laughter mingled with disbelief was the sound emanating from the hallowed halls of RG Casey House – headquarters of the crack and ever so exclusive Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade – this morning when The Australian landed on myriad desks.
Janet Albrechtsen’s cloying essay on Alexander Downer had our Mole, among others, scratching their collective heads, wondering if the piece was really about the former minister or somebody else and our Janet had got the names mixed. Said Mole: “it’s hard to know where to begin mate” – he now feels at ease calling another bloke mate since the advent of Kevin 07 –“poor old Alex; he just didn’t get it while he was here. His manner may have worked in Whitehall a few centuries ago but it sure had no place in contemporary Australia.” As a senior officer, Mole kept an eye on Alexander and he claims as the years dragged on he couldn’t believe he was so stupid.
“I guess the job got to him and he started to believe his own PR and Washington’s never ending cables telling him what a good guy he was didn’t help,” said Crikey’s insider.
Mole claims the UN may have got names mixed up when they courted Downer for the Cyprus gig. This bloke, he said, was all for going into Iraq knowing it wouldn’t work; he’d nuke Tehran if he had his way and he’s comfortable with Israel’s attitude to the Middle East. Cyprus has been a festering sore for decades and Downer is not the answer. We wonder why Rudd was so quick to tell the UN that Alex is the man for the job.
Mole said the most offensive and unbelievable Albrechstens were: the headline Warrior Statesman (I leapt to JA’s defence here, blame the subs for that one I told him), her description of him as a towering figure of the parliament of the past two decades (where, asked Mole, was she when he was Opposition leader?). But, said our informant, Downer’s extreme right wing views were accentuated when, unbelievably, he slapped Washington’s bottom for removing Pyongyang from the list of states sponsoring terrorism. He just doesn’t get it. We believe Bush is rewriting his own history and wants to look sane and moderate before Obama takes over. Alexander won’t be getting any US brownie points for that one.
The gospel according to Mole is interesting. Budget cuts not withstanding, diplomats in DFAT are happy with Rudd and see him restoring the dignity which was trashed by John Howard and Downer in their subservience to Washington.
JamesK, you’ve obviously never seen the clip of Downer singing karaoke! Your point that Rudd’s support for Downer can not be ignored by the anti-Downerites is well made, though.
Mr or Ms Mole, DFAT, misses the point on Downer. Deliberately, one surmises. ‘Representing Australia’ is DFAT’s job. Carrying forward national policy is part of that (Mr or Ms Mole apparently would prefer to carry forward their own vision of national policy, a consistent problem with fractious or irritated Moles). Putting the politics into international representation is the Minister’s job. You might argue the policies Downer was promoting were wrong (I don’t), but you cannot argue with his energy or effect in promoting the then Australian Government’s arguments globally. Those arguments have now changed; but for practical purposes only in detail, as the new Minister would doubtless tell the Mole(s).
Richard,
Let’s face it, he was a prat, born out of political royalty. The silver spoon needs to removed from end and inserted at the other. He was always talking down because he had never dirtied his feet on the ground of reality.
AWB…Iraq? He was nothing but a Bush ‘fawner’.
Australian foreign policy was never lower.
Sounds like Barry’s DFAT mole is a bigger ass than anyone, reasonably astute, might have believed of Downer. Downer was his own worst enemy at times domestically and pompous, he may have been, but unintelligent he very clearly was not. Whatever the tossers at DFAT thouht of their ‘dignity’ is as naught to the embarrassment of the australian people when their leaders shoot their mouths off overseas and make silly blowtorch suggestions or asian union ideas on the run and without consultation. Rudd comes to mind but not Keating, Hawke, Evans and Hayden and not Downer and happily not Smith.
He has been given unequivocal support from Rudd and Smith and that relects well on them as well as Downer.
It seems that most reasonable people consider Downer to be a pompous ass. I can’t disagree but what really troubles me is the support he is getting for the Cyprus job from Rudd and Smith. I hope this support does not tell us anything significant about their judgment in other matters. It will be interesting to see whether the UN secretary general shares the admiration for Downer that our ALP leadership seems to have. He might remember the contempt Downer and mates have shown for the UN and other little matters like an illegal war and the Pacific Solution..