The Australian Financial Rot

IT SEEMS the one thing life guarantees is disappointment. You think things are taking a turn for the better, that there has been an outbreak of common sense, and what happens? Reality goes all AFR on you. A year or so ago, the business paper with all those the anti-business columnists and reporters acquired a new editor from the Australian -- a fire-breathing type, it was hoped, aware of the rather obvious fact that a publication aimed at investors should probably support free markets, limited government and dispassionate appraisal of policies' worth and merits.

And what did we end up with? Lot's of this sort of stuff.

A comedian tells some sexist and unsound jokes at a gathering of the Australian Hotels Association and that is reported, which is fair enough. So what illustration does some unsupervised leftoid mole in the AFR's pictures department choose to illustrate the story? An old picture of Tony Abbott, who did not attend the event, wasn't there, didn't laugh at the gags and knew nothing about it. The picture and caption are below.

Federal opposition frontbencher Bob Baldwin (left), pictured with opposition leader Tony Abbott in October, says he doesn’t “support any attacks based on a person’s race, sexuality, age or weight”. Mr Baldwin was present at an Australian Hotels Association dinner during which Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Finance Minister Penny Wong were the butt of sexist and homophobic jokes. Photo: Andrew Meares

Gina Rinehart has been keeping own counsel of late, telegraphing no intentions or indications of what she might have in store for Fairfax. If she does not make her move soon there will be absolutely nothing left to rehabilitate.

UPDATE: Actually, someone is buying Faifax. FXJ is up to 46 cents and the volume, just 90 minutes into trading, is huge.