Read an essay over coffee by Judith Brett in the recent Monthly that said that the transition from Howard to Rudd is not about ideologies or new national narratives but is instead about the mechanics of managing a nation and finding solutions of complex policy problems. Maybe Brett is heralding a cultural change in Australia involving less talking about shit that needs to be done and more doing the shit that needs to be done. Although Rudd’s FuelWatch and GroceryWatch both provide a lot of talk and little tangible action. Perhaps in this informationalist economy (Castells 1996) the simple provision of information is the greatest action. Conceptual art has entered the market economy.

Watched a 1958 movie of The Old Man and the Sea last night. There was some nice shark camera work in it. Read that Amanda Vanstone overturned the deportation of suspected Mafia 14 months after the Liberal Party received a donation from the man’s brother. She is the ambassador to Italy now. As John Howard said ‘We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come’. We live on an island with lots of sharks.