Labor MP Penny Sharpe tweeted about it, to which O’Farrell pledged a donation to the NSW ALP if the remark is shown in recordings or transcripts.

There is however a small issue – Sharpe mistakenly tweeted that O’Farrell’s outburst was aimed at Linda Burney. Sharpe has since corrected herself, adding that the outburst is “still sexist” and “still wrong”.

@_cooperman decided to chase O’Farrell up on his pledge. And O’Farrell has backed out, saying he is “still wondering what he said to Linda Burney”.

Bottom line? Barry O’Farrell has not denied he compared a female MP to a yapping dog. Nor has he shown contrition. Nor has he withdrawn his flippant “I’ll donate to ALP” line. He’s “right”, because he didn’t aim his outburst at Linda Burney. But he hasn’t denied his outburst to Carmel Tebbutt.

Say hi to our state’s premier, an example for the people.

O’Farrell has pledged to make a donation to ALP if a recording or transcript of such comments can be found.

[Update: Sydney Morning Herald reported that Barry O'Farrell compared Carmel Tebbutt to a yapping puppy:]

“What’s the difference between the member for Marrickville and a three-week old puppy?…At six weeks a puppy stops whining.” – Barry O’Farrell

[Further update: NSW MP Penny Sharpe corrected her earlier tweet to now reflect that Carmel Tebbutt was the target of the alleged remark by O'Farrell. As her hashtag says, #StillSexist, #StillWrong.]

“we have a Prime Minister and I am the Foreign Minister”

This seems like a pretty clear-cut indication that Rudd will not challenge Julia Gillard’s leadership? – not for certain news organisations.

View the graphic below. On the left is Sydney Morning Herald’s reaction. On the right is that of ABC news.

ABC chose to interpret Rudd’s comment as “failing to rule out a challenge”. At least Fairfax bothered to leave something for readers’ imagination.

It’s getting pretty transparent.

Ronchi will be eligible for NZ selection in January 2013, having last played for Australia in January 2009 and ICC requiring a four-year sit-out period for players wishing to switch between full member countries.

Not a bad move, actually. Australia has a logjam of keepers far younger than Ronchi (Wade, Paine, Nevill, plus Haddin seems certain to return to the Test side despite uncertainty over whether he was “rested” for the current one-day series). But more importantly New Zealand seems to be short on them. After Reece Young was dropped since the Australian Test series in late 2011, New Zealand are still unsure on whether Kruger van Wyk or BJ Watling should be their international keeper. Ronchi might well find himself solving their problem at least in the medium-term.

I won’t glorify the rag, or the piece’s writer Gemma Jones, by linking to their page, suffice to offer their front-page graphic on Daily Telegraph’s web page as Exhibit A, B and C. (The story will not be that hard to find on Google.)

There are a few things I don’t need to repeat to anyone with an iota of critical faculty. That asylum seeking is not a crime. That Australia has an obligation to protect asylum seekers arriving on our shores.

I am, to some extent, glad the Murdoch press ran the story. Reminds us precisely the dangers of the values and ideologies held by their supporters.

The pattern was reportedly designed by Preston Campbell, who was instrumental in the founding of the Indigenous All Stars match concept.

Design and concept are both fantastic, but is the size, placement and colour of the sponsor an absolute abomination?!

(Image courtesy of Gold Coast Titans official site)

Sydney has been ranked the seventh most expensive city in the world in a cost of living survey of 130 cities by the Economist Intelligence Unit, compared with sixth last time.

And Melbourne apparently ranks just one place below Sydney in expensive terms – but is ranked the world’s “most liveable city”.

Wonder where Sydney comes in the liveability stakes? Is Sydney’s elevated expense worth what we’re getting? Can you tell my questions are largely rhetorical?

(Images courtesy of news.com.au and hollywoodhatesme.wordpress.com)

I can only presume they made the declaration out of pride. And to be quite frank, personally I find nothing boastworthy about keeping exotic animals in a circus environment.

Lennon Bro’s circus show at Maitland, NSW, in November 2011 was already subject to activist protests.

RSPCA Victoria opposes the use of animals in entertainment and/or sports. And with good reasons:

Life in the wild cannot be replicated on the back of transportation trucks or at circus sites around the country.  These animals often endure continuous transportation, ongoing confinement, lack of socialisation with their own kind and are not permitted to roam freely.

Unfortunately, as pointed out by Animals Australia, Australian legislation do not offer strong protection for circus animals:

The requirements in the — mostly voluntary — guidelines for the keeping of animals in circuses in Australia are far below what is generally required for the same species kept in zoos and are totally inadequate to protect their welfare.

The NSW Young Lawyers wrote to premier Barry O’Farrell petitioning a state-wide ban on exotic animals in circuses (PDF), citing Sydney’s Ku-Ring-Gai Council’s decision in 2010 to do precisely that.

For those who want to voice their concerns to our democratically-elected government, RSPCA NSW shows how to contact your local Member of Parliament to express concerns for exotic circus animals.