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December 2007

Happy International Year of the Potato

I'd like to get in early and wish everyone a Happy New Year for 2008, the International Year of the Potato.

I intend to do my year in review of cricket for 2007 on about January 5.

If you wish to leave any comments (or any thoughts about the Top 10 Cricket Stories of 2007) please do so in the box below. The Captcha facility is not working too well, so I have disabled it and made all comments subject to approval. It might take a couple of days to get around to approving.

What do Brendan Nelson and Billy Hughes have in common?

Billy Hughes was the Honourable Member for Bradfield from 1949 to 1952.

Brendan Nelson has been the Honourable Member for Bradfield since 1996.

Billy Hughes was a member of the Australian Labor Party before switching to the conservatives.

Brendan Nelson was a member of the Australian Labor Party before switching to the conservatives.

Billy Hughes was leader of the Australian Party until it was wound up, and leader of the United Australia Party shortly before it was wound up.

Brendan Nelson is leader of the Liberal Party... for now.

G'day, Bruce

John Howard wanted to be the new Bob Menzies. Today, it was finally confirmed that he has become the new Stanley Bruce.

There's a difference, though. After Prime Minister Bruce lost the seat of Flinders in 1929, he stood again at the next election in 1931, and won, returning to parliament (albeit as a backbencher) until 1933.