March 11, 2004
LEGISLATING UNDER THE INFLUENCE (via Bob Tremblay):
Lawmaker Threatens to Take Fun Out of Australian Politics (AP, 3/10/04)
Instead of engaging in sober debate, politicians in Australia's oldest legislature have been accused of drinking too much and drafting laws with slurred speech and red noses.Lee Rhiannon of the minority Greens Party says some members of the New South Wales state Parliament are obviously under the influence of alcohol when they return to its debating chamber after taking breaks.
"After dinner ... things get a bit raucous," The Sydney Morning Herald Wednesday quoted Rhiannon as saying.
The august institution, set up in Sydney in 1822, has two restaurants and a bar as well as its own liquor store.
In a related story, Ted Kennedy announced his plans to run for a seat in the New South Wales Parliament. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 11, 2004 3:49 PM
Comments
So now we are going to stop Australians from drinking too much? What's next, stopping Eskimos from hunting seal? Take wooden shoes away from the Dutch? Whatever happened to multi-culturalism?
Posted by: Robert Duquette at March 11, 2004 8:56 PMWhen has it ever applied to whites?
Posted by: David Cohen at March 12, 2004 9:02 AM