Heard on radio

Prof Professor Patrick McGorry, Australian of the year speaks to Monica Attard at the ABC. In a long interview he spoke compassionately on his subject of expertise; depression amongst the youth, and I laud him for this. The Professor, is an internationally renowned expert in adolescent mental health. However he needs to tighten up his comments in other fields, particularly Climate Change.
PATRICK MCGORRY: I just come back from Ireland and the day I arrived was about 40 degrees. It didn’t use to be like that in Victoria. Very dry. So obviously we could do more. The whole world could do more.
I can remember weeks of 38deg+ in Melbourne in the sixties. That’s not Climate Change, Professor, it’s weather. Monica Attard didn’t ask for his take on the recent freeze in Europe, she just agreed. It was the ABC after all.

16 comments

  • McGorry on climate change has the same level of credibility as Abbott does on virginity.

    • Primary school teacher Robert?

      You seem unused to being questioned about information you put forward as fact, even though it sometimes lacks accuracy and is heavily embroidered with opinion and large words meant to impress those of us without such a grand education.

  • Wrong. Tony’s advice was what he would say to his daughters – he never suggested or even hinted that it was advice to young Australians. McGorry, with his status as AOTY and professor gives him huge creditability and therefore he should be careful what he says as young people will accept it as the truth. It also makes him look like a non thinking ideologue thus damaging the status of AOTY to at least half the audience.

  • Pull the other one, Kev – it makes a ringing sound…..
    As an ex-journo and a politician, Abbott knows the score when it comes to interviews. The “Women’s Weekly” story was a puff piece, designed to make him look softer for the female voters and sell a “father of daughters” narrative. Rudd is roundly (and correctly) criticised on right wing blogs for exactly the same kind of behaviour (writing kid’s books, for example). Anything the media made of Abbott’s response was fair game. His daughters, are, after all, “young Australians”.
    McGorry, on the other hand, is a trick cyclist, and was making conversation after a long flight – anyone who believes he has credibility on climate science is a nong.

    Bob
    Show me a post that “lacks accuracy”.
    Your crack at primary school teachers demonstrates your ignorance of education. This sector is the most critical, as literacy and numeracy skills are established in primary school, and without them, success at higher levels is unlikely.
    For what it’s worth, since 1968 I have taught in primary, secondary and special sectors.
    BTW the only person who ever called me “Robert” was my mother, and she died in 2000.

    • Abbott was asked what advice he would give his daughters, he answered that question, please don’t pretend he answered a different question.

      Show you a post that lacks accurracy? short memory there, remember being confronted with the facts of life re the “Vietnam meatgrinder v WW1” and how you desperately shifted the posts to try to salvage the unsalvagable? or your ludicrous position on possible japanese invasion plans in WW2 and the govts belief in them in spite of all the proof to the contrary?
      or when you made up your own definitions of the term cannon fodder, in spite of having the dictionary definitions posted, with links?
      It’s probably easier to narrow it down and try to find one of your posts that includes accuracy, you are ruled by ideology and 40 year old bitterness about conscription, fact barely enters an argument for you.

    • Unlikely that I am going to take a crack at the “sector” as two of my children have pursued that line of work.

      My crack was at “Robert” as your mum would have said.

      Simplistic, one eyed outlook not being used to, or able to satisfactorily react to, questions by free thinking people above the age of 11.

  • “Abbott was asked what advice he would give his daughters, he answered that question, please don’t pretend he answered a different question.”
    It’s in your mind; I didn’t talk about what question he answered – I pointed out that he was fair game, just as Rudd is. Get over it.
    “Show you a post that lacks accurracy (sic)”
    Every time you post, you make a fool of yourself.
    Learn to spell.
    “and the govts belief in them in spite of all the proof to the contrary?”
    You lack (or ignore) any notion of historical sequence. What “proof” existed came well after the event, remember. You’re either deliberately obtuse, or totally delusional.
    And you don’t understand the difference between a definition and a description.
    So sad.
    :-)

  • “For what it’s worth, since 1968 I have taught in primary, secondary and special sectors.
    BTW the only person who ever called me “Robert” was my mother, and she died in 2000.”

    Fact-challenged ‘bobby red-herring’ serves up his usual fare of obfuscation and straw-men.

    Even though the ink is hardly dry this time ‘bobby red-herring’ has been caught out again misrepresenting events of the (very recent) past.

    From his favourite lefty comic, the Age, here is a women’s commentary on the interview and a direct quote from Abbott’s interview:

    “In an interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly, one designed to present himself favourably to the voting public ahead of an election year, this is what Abbott had to say on the subject of pre-marital sex. ‘It happens.’

    ‘I think I would say to my daughters if they were to ask me this question . . . it is the greatest gift that you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don’t give it to someone lightly, that’s what I would say.’

    Leaving aside the Opposition Leader’s hackneyed ”gift” metaphor – an idea possibly lifted from a Mills and Boon romance novel where the hero’s name is Rock or Brutus – what is Abbott saying?

    He’s saying don’t bang the first randy, pimple-faced adolescent you smooch at the school disco just because he insists he loves you. He’s saying think about it.

    Isn’t this what many parents would advise their growing kids?”

    No mention of virginity at all – poor ‘red-herring’ must have a nasty dirty little mind to read all that he does into Abbott’s comment and to disagree with his advice to his daughters – still as a ‘free love lefty’ in the same situation he’d probably say “nah daughters, go for it, do as many in the battalion as you like… shag yourself stupid, you’re not 15 for ever…”

    After all, anything we (the media) make of ‘bobby red-herring’ comments is fair game I reckon.

  • Peter W
    My one-sentence comment makes no reference to exactly what Abbott said – go back and read it. My point (which as usual, you’ve missed entirely) was about his credibility in paricular, and that of public figures (especially politicians) in general. It was….wait for it…..a comparison.
    You’ve developed a real obsession with my comments and attach meanings and interpretations that simply aren’t there.
    Do you read tea-leaves?
    I think I’ve worked out what the “W” stands for. First two letters are “Wa – last three are “ker”.
    If you have trouble, let me know, and I’ll spell it out for you.

  • “First two letters are “Wa – last three are “ker”.”

    Oh the wit of the man – the sharp keen intelligence…

    The point dear bobby red-herring is that your childish and ignorant comparison between McGorry and Abbott is only valid if Abbott uttered the word “virginity” during his oft quoted interview published by ‘Woman’s Weekly’.

    As he didn’t your comparison is inaccurate like most of the tripe you post here and elsewhere.

    “My one-sentence comment makes no reference to exactly what Abbott said – go back and read it.”

    I did, you wrote “McGorry on climate change has the same level of credibility as Abbott does on virginity.”

    It was clearly a reference to Tony Abbott’s interview with Women’s Weekly.

    A fact you confirmed in a later post when you wrote “The “Women’s Weekly” story was a puff piece, designed to make him look softer for the female voters and sell a “father of daughters” narrative.”

    Your so called ‘comparison’ implies Abbott’s interview contains uncalled for advice to ‘young Australians’ regarding their ‘virginity’.

    The record confirms Abbott did not give his daughters, or anyone else, ‘advice’ on virginity, but instead as the quote clearly shows he gave a hypothetical answer to a direct question on pre-marital sex.

    Your ill-considered use of the left’s malicious lie that Abbott gave gratuitous advice to ‘young Australians’ regarding their ‘virginity’ confirms your lack of credibility and reveals nothing about Tony Abbott.

    You and the rest of the dissolute left are so deeply concerned his plain-speaking is resonating well in the electorate you seek to attack him personally with your silly ‘staff-room’ remarks and manufactured quotes.

    There is no comparison between the empty headed weather commentary of McGorry and Tony Abbott’s considered and proper advice to his daughters.

    As Harry Buttle put it “fact barely enters an argument for you”.

  • This is Abbott’s quote from the interview with the Women’s Weekly –
    “I would say to my daughters, if they were to ask me this question, I would say … it is the greatest gift that you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don’t give it to someone lightly, that is what I would say.”
    So he didn’t use the “V” word, but you’d have to be delusional to believe that he wasn’t talking about it. To what “gift” was he referring? The dollar coin that the tooth fairy leaves? Come on….
    You may, of course, believe in Immaculate Conception, but I doubt the bulk of Australian voters share your understanding.
    This spectacle of feigned outrage over the media’s treatment of Abbott is making a lot of bloggers look very silly. Get over it – he’s the Leader of the Opposition…

  • “So he didn’t use the “V” word….” Therefore your weak attempt at sledging Abbott has no substance and makes you “look very silly”.

  • So you obviously believe he was talking about the tooth fairy….:-)

  • More red herrings from bobby red-herring…

    You’re turning obfuscation into an art-form here bobby.

  • Pater W
    Didn’t your mother tell you not to play with big words? You might hurt yourself…..

  • No longer content with red-herrings, bobby has opened his favourite tin of smart-arse kippers.

    They reek like most of his posts because he forgot to add logic and truth to the brine before he sealed and autoclaved the tin.

    Which is a great segue to bobby’s new handle, ‘botulism bobby’…

    Here is a ‘virulent’ explanation of ‘botulism bobby’s’ arguments http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism , my favourite bit “…lightheadedness and risk of blackouts, and eventually constipation…”

    Bobby’s posting history to a tee.

    Oh and as primary, secondary and ‘special’ teacher ‘botulism bobby’ seems a bit overwhelmed by ‘big words’ we can only pity the poor sods placed in his care by the Queensland Government during the past three or so conscription free decades.

    I’ll help him out; ‘obfuscation’ = “noun evasiveness, shuffling, deception, fudging, waffle (informal, chiefly Brit.), equivocation, prevarication, sophistry, obliqueness, sophism ‘His speech was incomprehensible and full of obfuscation.’