Friday, March 21, 2008


I LOVED THIS GORDON RAMSAY STORY IN THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD TODAY.

Yes, Good Friday, and the newspapers are pubished as normal here in Australia.......while in NZ we still do not allow Garden Centres to open on certain days over Easter!!
The potty-mouthed British chef Gordon Ramsay has so raised the ire of the Senate that it agreed yesterday to hold an inquiry into swearing on television and what more could be done about it.
The motion to hold the inquiry was moved by the South Australian Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi after a recent episode of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares in which the abrasive gastronome dropped the F-bomb 80 times.
That episode screened at 8.30pm on Channel Nine. Another that offended the senator, in which Ramsay used the C-word twice, screened at 9.30.

Labor and the minor parties voted with the Coalition yesterday to establish the inquiry, which would concentrate on free-to-air TV. Senator Bernardi promised it would be brief.
The move is understood to have angered the industry group Free TV Australia.
Sources told the Herald that Free TV Australia's chief executive officer, Julie Flynn, protested angrily to the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, his Opposition counterpart, Bruce Billson, and the Opposition Senate Leader, Nick Minchin, as well as the Opposition Leader, Brendan Nelson. It is understood she flew from Sydney to Canberra to make her point.
Ms Flynn did not return calls yesterday, saying she was not interested in talking to the media.
Senator Bernardi insisted he was no wowser but said the frequency and range of profanity on TV was increasing and it was time to establish boundaries.
He said the broadcasting code of practice needed to be reviewed so as to define coarse language. "What is bad language? What defines it?" he said.
The committee would also look at the method of dealing with complaints.
"If I stood up in Parliament and used the type of language that is now being broadcast over our television screens, there would be public outrage," he said.
Other shows that have attracted Senator Bernardi's disdain are Big Brother, The Sopranos and Sex And The City.
FOOTNOTE
Funny thing is that I always thought the Aussies were the greatest and most imaginative swearers of all, world leaders in the field in fact, and yet here is the Senate wasting time on an enquiry into swearing on TV and what can be done about it!

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