He Will Fit Right In

OUR PM's habit of telling lies is a matter of public record, so there is no real need to provide any further links to demonstrate her compulsion for saying one thing one day and quite another the next. It is an approach to truth and consistency which Bob Carr, her soon-to-be foreign minister, appears to share. Here is Carr at yesterday's news conference, where he hailed Kevin Rudd's support for Western efforts to aid Libya's rebels and bring down Colonel Gadafi:

BOB CARR YESTERDAY: I want to praise the achievements of Kevin Rudd in foreign policy. The establishment and consolidation of Australia's membership of the G20, his G20 advocacy was outstanding, the single regional institution for Asia, the US membership of the East Asia Summit, the leadership on Libya and Somalia...

Rudd must have had a good chuckle at that one, as less than a year ago Carr was fuming about that same Western intervention -- a cause Rudd supported and which placed him at odds with Gillard:

BOB CARR,  MAY 2011: I have written before on the sheer, towering stupidity of the so-called “humanitarian intervention” in Libya. Who are we helping? Is it extending the suffering of the civil war? Are the Anglo-French forces (how redolent of Suez!) getting drawn deeper? ... If any good has come out of this wrong-headed, amateur-hour intervention, it has escaped me.

As a professional liar, Gillard must be relieved beyond belief to have a kindred spirit handling the Foreign Affairs portfolio

UPDATE: It is interesting to watch the press gallery come around, pick up Labor's talking points and parrot them. Channel 10s Paul Bongiorno put it this way immediately after the announcement of Carr's ascension:

This morning, Phillip Adams' chummy confidante on Radio National is digging the vibe: