Had I false teeth, they would have popped out in surprise when I read The Australian’s editorial praising Labor’s scheme to broaden tax-funded dental treatment and means-test it, without a single mention of “CLASS WAR!” (“A dental sweetener with a bite” 30/8). Also gobsmacking were some other opinion pieces which, if not exactly full of praise for the government, were at least fainter in their damnation than usual. Has the paper been secretly taken over by the left-wing inner-city bleeding-hearts it has been warning us about?
Whatever the cause, it’s a welcome relief from the years of monotonous bludgeoning The Australian has been giving the government with whatever blunt object comes to hand, and it is to be hoped that a new phase of fair and balanced journalism is to come.
P.S. Chris Mitchell must have been off sick that day – the next it was business as usual.