Wednesday 23 April 2008

Oi, Rudders! About that 2020 summit - told you so

It's not considered good form to say I told you so.
But if anyone deserved to have it said to him today it's our own PM.
The Australian has just published the inevitable this morning.
 
"THE unity and goodwill that radiated from Kevin Rudd's 2020 Summit last weekend have evaporated, with some participants saying they cannot recognise the "big ideas" attributed to them while others claim they were "systematically silenced".---
Special fury has been reserved for World Vision Australia chief Tim Costello, who co-chaired the Strengthening Communities stream with federal Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek.
Several delegates claim Mr Costello smuggled his personal agenda into the final document, which claims participants discussed "the damage inflicted on communities by problem gambling and binge drinking" and supported "reducing the number of poker machines or tighter regulation of alcohol".
"I didn't hear the words 'gambling' or 'poker machine' at any stage of my time there," Chris Riley, from the community organisation Youth Off the Streets, said yesterday.
"I don't know how that got in. I'm really concerned about leadership in this field. Tim Costello's got his own agenda, and it's just not appropriate." ----
A spokesman for Mr Rudd said last night the final text of the summit's initial report was "finalised by agreement between the co-chairs of the individual streams". "The co-chairs agreed on the text based on all of the discussions and submissions made in and to the 2020 Summit," he said."

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