[Fred Nerks]

I’m a bit late to the party, so please forgive me for jumping in at this point, without having read the thread or previous comments...but I do have to say this:

I first saw that statement attributed to Prime Minister Howard, and he hasn’t been Prime Minister for a very long time, I wish it were true, but it’s been repeated so often it’s taken on a life of its own.

There’s no way Julia Gillard said that. When it first appeared, I wrote to the website that published it, but never heard back. Treat it as a joke, it’s not real.

[betty boop]

Thanks for writing Fred Nerks to point out the text I quoted was very likely a hoax. Sigh. Maybe so. I've written to my friend asking for a cite.

You wrote, "I wish it were true, but...."

Well, other than uncertainty about its authorship, I'd say the text is certainly "true enough" — content-wise, I mean.

Thanks again for writing!