And so the speculation is unleashed.
Who will be the new Gov, now that Richy Rich has been destroyed, self-destructed ... you take your pick.
There is considerable speculation that he was not simply the victim of his own ego. Certainly a dark cynic would see the hand of Machiavelli - tho' that association may be insulting to that clever, dark prince - in the demise of Richard Butler and Lady Butler.
It is curious - especially to an old lush like Hag who has witnessed more darkness than most
- that one day the Premier rails against the conspiracy generators and ponders
if he is reading the British tabloid press - then grants exclusive access to detail his valiant last-ditch
bid to save The Good Name of Tasmania ...
Why Butler had to go: Lennon says he had no choice ... Lennon tells of his 'tough call' ... Rumour mill grinds up on walk-out
Top reporting, yes, but only a drunk cynic, a bitter, twisted old lush like Hag could ever ponder upon and question the possibility of the machinations of the apparatus of state in all of this ...
Then, again, Premier Lennon's loyal first servant Rodney is a former Examiner newspaper editor who must have some idea of the possibilities of the uses of the Tasmanian media mind ...
Whatever, it grows curiouser and curiouser.
And the mutterings persist that at the heart of the Butler coup - and the Tasmanian taxpayers' $1m farewell pressie tucked under the arm which once greeted Saddam - lies the Toe-The-Line-Or-You-Don't-Work-In-Tasmania hand of the Lennon Government's will.
Ponder the superficial evidence
Govt reveals role in Butler staff move
Butler looked at appointing republican as secretary
Opposition denies influencing Butler's decision
Delicious isn't it ... engineer the demise of a recalcitrant embarrassment, then blame a Murdoch conspiracy and generously apportion political blame to Rene Hidding. And keen observers would have noticed the subtle shift in apportionment of blame in the Premier's interview with ABC Radio's Tim Cox this morning.
The Premier lashed the Mainland Media and the Appalling Paparazzi who chased the Butlers in Sydney and from the airport. It's Them not Us.
Perhaps the biggest clue to the whole truth in this sorry saga was provided by the Premier himself.
He had spent a long time as a union operative, he said, and in that time this truth had been affirmed: rarely did an employer-employee relationship break down overnight.
And an employer-employee relationship was rarely "black and white".
Quite Mr Premier. Especially the employer-employee relationship between a Premier and a Governor.
Perhaps the Toe-The-Line-Or-You-Don't-Work-in-Tasmania dictum had been flouted once too often.
Perhaps he was one of Them ...
Now let's move on to the future ... who will be the new Gov? Crikey.com.au
quotes
This
from
Ari Sharp's blogspot,
Here's Ari:
8. The next viceroy of Tasmania will be ...
Now that Governor Richard Butler is no longer - and neither Butler nor the
people of Tasmania seem particularly disappointed at this outcome - the search
is on for the next Queen's Representative in Tasmania. The ABC's PM
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2004/s1173271.htm carried a great quote last night from Tasmanian RSL State President Ian Kennett: "They've looked outside the square and it hasn't worked, so to speak, this time, and maybe they need to look inside the triangle". Boom boom. It seems like Premier Paul Lennon might be struggling for names, so here are a few suggestions compiled by a specially convened Crikey Eminent Persons'
Group:
1. Peter Hudson. We know what they'd do if Jesus came to Hawthorn, but what would happen if one of the greatest ever goal-kickers headed home to Tasmania?
2. Bob Brown. Just to get the guy out of the Senate and away from the balance of power where he might do some real harm. Think of it as a containment strategy.
3. Greg Barns. Ex-Liberal, now Democrat, professional Tasmanian and with a lot of time on his hands.
4. Honey Bacon. A fitting tribute to her late husband Jim, and dammit, you've just got to love the name.
5. Reggie from Big Brother. At least there was more democracy in the selection of Big Brother evictees than there is in the selection of the Governor.
6. Brian Harradine. An elder statesman with a lot of respect from all sides who would bring dignity and gravitas to the job. (No punch line as this one's sorta serious).
7. Kofi Annan. A man who's more Butler than Butler himself.
The Mercury has speculated that "frontrunners to take up the vacancy are homegrown cricketing great David Boon and champion axeman David Foster. Other names in the melting pot include Lieutenant-Governor William Cox, Supreme Court judge Peter Underwood and university chancellor Mike Vertigan."
And AAP trotted out Boonie and David Foster.
They must have been reading Hag's last book:
Governor ... arise (Hag apologises for
the rambling nature of this report, she was smashed at the time)
... Which was completely misguided:
Wrong!
So, in the interests of proper political and social
analysis Hag resurrects the book with a new favourite... and one you've all missed.
The raging Hag favourite was once Tasmania's most popular
politician/Premier, then disaffected and resigned Labor pollie, now doctors'
apparatchik who reconciled with his ex-party during the Bacon tragedy ...
So, The latest book:
4/5 Doug Lowe (Forgiving Former Labor Favourite Son)
6/4 Margaret Reynolds (ex-pollie)
6/4 Michael Vertigan (Career establishmentarian)
6/4 Peter Underwood (judge)
6/4 Stephen FitzGerald (Hobart boy made very good)
3 Fran Bladel (ex-politician)
7/2 Brian Harradine (brian harradine)
7/2 Barry Jones (barry jones)
7/2 Bob Hawke (bob hawke)
7/2 Jocelyn Newman (ex-politician)
5 Amanda Lohrey (novelist)
8 Stephanie Farrell (educator)
10 Margaret Scott (writer/educator/icon)
12 Doone Kennedy (ex-mayor)
14 Michael Hodgman (michael hodgman)
16 Kim Boyer (first woman)
16 David Boon (boonie)
20 David Foster (axeman)
20 Paul Lennon (axeman)
20 John Gay (axeman)
25 Bruce Felmingham (economist)
33 Michael Mansell (michael mansell)
40 Kate Warner (legal academic)
40 Evan Rolley (axeman)
50 Christine Milne (green saint)
50 Bob Brown (green saint)
50 Margaretta Pos (sceptic)
200 Ian McCausland (retired scotsman)
300 Our Mary (tabloid saint, who in an historically unprecedented moment of wonder unites the people of Denmark and Tasmania)
PLUS: Letters
RAPID RESPONSE EMAIL: What do you think?
Thursday, August 12, 2004