The unusual title of this circa 1920s bright
musical comedy could
well be taken
to represent the current Federal
government’s failure to sell the brutal budget . Some of
the catchy songs
in the stage show have a current
desperate political plea to voters
- Can’t You Hear
me Calling , Caroline ? and Cuddle Up a Little Closer , Lovey Mine.
On the
ABC’s Insiders
( welcome back Barrie Cassidy ) program there was discussion
about the way the Finance Minister, Senator Mathias Cormann had
been manfully shouldering
the burden of
three Liberal spruikers ,
trying to sell the
unpopular budget on his own.
The right wing commentariat even said sweaty Treasurer , Joe
Hockey , had almost withdrawn from sight after finding it hard
to explain himself ; Assistant
Treasurer , Senator Arthur Sinodinos , John Howard’s former chief of staff and
former president of the NSW Liberal party , properly moved to the backbench
over a matter raised in
the ICAC hearing
in NSW and has been silenced . So
Cormann, German speaking of Belgian descent , was left on his own , storming
though the Coalition’s extensive , blood-soaked
lowlands trying to
convince voters that the budget is
beaut . Many observers say he deserves
a 10 cent cigar for effort , if nothing else.
Star of the Three Twins
show was Australian singer, dancer and actress
, Miss Dorothy Brunton , whose popularity with
the Australian population
was gigantic. In Sydney and Melbourne during 1915-16 , she appeared in a number of musical comedies
and a lively
marching song So Long , Letty was adopted by soldiers who
called her the Diggers’ Delight,
and carried her shoulder high to her
cab each night . In 1917 she went to America , crossed to London,
where it was said she
was literally worshipped by Australians
. . . they cheered, they coo-eed, they
whistled with ear-splitting shrillness and joyous abandon;
the male star was not pleased. She entertained
Australian troops on leave at her flat , called Dot’s Diggers’ Rest . While
living in London during the Second World
War, she was injured during
the German blitz . After being
diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, she returned to Sydney in 1949, went to Sweden for medical treatment, died
in 1977 and was cremated .
