Flexibility, no more no less

The Rudd-Gillard Government has extended its primary school building program.

As a quid pro quo, they have concomitantly extended the period of schools’ obligation to display government-friendly signage, trumpeting the government’s largesse, until March 2011.

It so happens this guarantees government-friendly signage will be prominently displayed at polling booths for the next federal election.

Deputy PM Julia Gillard ardently wants you and I to know that this is all about flexibility.

Well in these guideline changes we’re showing additional flexibility about completion dates and obviously when you’re showing that flexibility it is mirrored in an increased flexibility for the signage.

Well, there should be at least one comma in there somewhere, but the transcript faithfully records Ms Gillard’s breathless delivery.

The ABC’s Lyndal Curtis sensibly asked, “But if the school is completed earlier, does the sign have to stay up?”

To which Ms Gillard pressed on with the flexibility meme:

Well we’re just showing flexibility in completion dates and consequently flexibility with the signage.

Well, it’s obviously a difficult message to get across. Ms Curtis seemed unconvinced, asking, “The guidelines say the signs must remain on display until the completion of the program on the 31st of March 2011. How is that flexible?”

To which Ms Gillard pressed on, augmenting the flexibility meme with a further refinement:

Well we’re just meeting the duration of the program with the duration of the signage; nothing more, nothing less.

Well, Ms Curtis remained unconvinced, asking, “But if it’s a sign to mark the construction, why does it have to stay up after construction has finished?”

To which Ms Gillard added nothing less than something more:

Well this is just a simple acknowledgement about the source of funds; nothing more, nothing less.

Well, Ms Curtis obstinately declined to be convinced. And so it went...

But the above performance puts Julia Gillard firmly into serious contention for the Award for Mindless Repetitive Government Rhetoric. She’s giving her boss a run for his money, and has eclipsed Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot’s serial refusal to “apologise for caring about the welfare of older Australians.”