Not really clear cut. Anyone whose view of the great health debate was based on the coverage by the evening news bulletins would not reach the same conclusion as most of us pundits. Any victory by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was much less pronounced in the two-minute version than in the real thing. Tony Abbott need not be too despondent.

Being negative in a positive context. What Kevin Rudd did do well at the National Press Club was to put his negative comments about the Opposition leader in what I call “a positive context” — he contrasted the negative views of his opponent with his own positive proposal. Tony Abbott was just too negative by concentrating on what was wrong with the other fellow. Things will be different when he actually has some health proposals of his own.

Canberra shows how. Tasmanian politicians should take a trip to Canberra to see how minority government that depends on support from the Greens need not lead to chaos. The Labor administration in the national capital is working well enough without having the numbers in its own right.

Dodgy documents remembered. A kind reader has sent me the latest missive from the South Australian branch of the Public Relations Institute of Australia that recounts, among other things, the great success of:

Our first PDP event for 2010, “Secrets of Speechwriting” held on 23 February, was a huge success.

Kevin Naughton, a nationally awarded and recognised public speaker, broadcaster and journalist ran the session and the seven participants had only good things to say about their learning experience.

Comments included:

“I learned how to write a better speech — a more targeted focussed speech”

“The presenter was great. I came away with many new skills and tips”

“All the session was very useful — but particularly the delivery techniques”

Participants all recommend the session to others and feel it was good value for the cost.

My correspondent reminded me that “Kevin Naughton, the former media adviser guru who helped the SA Parliamentary Liberal Party into and through the famous ‘Dodgy Documents’ Affair that brought down former leader Martin Hamilton-Smith. (Kev now writes for the Independent Weekly here. Adelaide is a very forgiving town !) Presumably Kev would have passed on to his young charges the multiple values of exhaustive fact checking, not being caught up in political groupthink, and the old truism that if something appears to be too good, then it usually is !”