Thinking can be treacherous

Thirsty Cow is purely fiction. Any similarities with actual events or something you dreamt once is purely coincidence. Opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily held by anybody.

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PRIME Minister Julia Gizzard is again in trouble over shocking revelations she may have thought about seeking the top job before she actually took it.

A three-month investigation by the ABC's Dark Corners program has rocked the halls of power with confirmation that a speechwriter started working on an acceptance speech for Ms Gizzard two weeks before the coup.

Previously it was believed Ms Gizzard toppled former leader Kevin Rutt on a whim after she woke up in a bad mood one day and wanted to be prime minister.

Political observers said the claims were a further blow to Ms Gizzard's leadership.

"Until now we accepted that she brought down a sitting prime minister and changed the path of the nation out of self-interest with only a couple of hours of thought," commentator Peter Harpy thundered.

"It now appears that she gave it a lot of careful thought and might even have read some party polling and consulted wise counsel first. That is disgraceful behaviour."

The ABC program also alleged Ms Gizzard might have shown the polling evidence to others in the party.

"So now we have someone who has done their homework, obtained actual evidence of the government's declining popularity and exercised due diligence around an important decision," Mr Harpy said. "How can we trust her again?"

Ordinary Punter Bill said he was appalled by the revelations.

"Up until now I thought the big issues impacting the nation were global economic instability, high interest rates and the soaring cost of living," he said.

"But that pales into insignificance compared with details about when somebody in some office wrote a speech about something that happened years ago."

Opposition Leader Tony Abshot said Ms Gizzard should come clean.

"I'm not really sure exactly what she should come clean on but a general coming clean on the broad issues around the whole vibe of the thing is in order," he said.

Mr Abshot said Australians could be confident that he didn't give anything consideration for more than a few hours and he could be trusted not to do any thinking or research. Greens Leader Bob Frown said he was happy to be back in Thirsty Cow after a long stint in the jungle saving rare fungi.

"Unfortunately I missed Dark Corners this week as it clashed with a repeat of Glee but put me down for a shocked and appalled."

Thirsty Cow is fiction.