An amusing anecdote from Down Under...

[rooboy]

from the Sydney Morning Herald:

The author Frank Moorhouse had an interesting train journey to Oberon for a new year break. "The train was packed and two uniformed policemen were systematically checking tickets before we left Central. They stopped at a clean-cut young man sitting opposite me. The female officer asked why he had written on his ticket. The young man responded by asking if it had invalidated his ticket, to which the officer replied that no, it hadn't. He told the officer he didn't have to answer the question. This kept up for a bit but they soon moved on. Later in the trip I told the young man I admired his stance on civil liberties and inquired what he had written on the ticket. He read it out: 'Why do you bastards get paid $50,000 just to check tickets?' He told me he writes it on every ticket he buys as a sort of protest, which I found strange. While he was standing up for his civil liberties, he certainly was asking for trouble."

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/01/05/1104832176874.html

[velvet]

1. Hallo rooboy, fellow aussie here

$50,000 sounds a bit high for a ticket inspector's pay. Still, the kid has a novel approach to protest. We've got a battle coming up in Newcastle over StateRail's plan to scrap the city rail and sell off the (prime harbour) real estate to developers. Might be a good gimmick, getting people to write an objection on their tickets. Nice one, thanks.

[rooboy]

2. What the hell is WRONG with Bob Carr in NSW?

He's more right wing than the bloody Liberal party, it seems.

Welcome to DU, by the way!!
:toast:

[velvet]

3. cheers

Are there any left-leaning Labor politicians left at all, at all?

[rooboy]

4. Certainly not in NSW.

There may be one or two left in Queensland, but that's about it.