DEEPWATER: "Mucking about with refrigerant gases can be a slippery slope," warns Payton L. Inkletter, sticking to his eggs over easy without butterfat

Be all that as it may, meanwhile:

'In other news…'

06^th April 2010

Tuesday: Today lived up to the legendary paradisiacal April weather Perth is famous for: balmy, sunny, faint breezes if any.

I took my mother shopping for the afternoon at Garden City Booragoon, and she forced me to eat treats at Miss Maud's before we hit the shops. It is 15 days since I was last there, when the big storm hit and caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage, and put my mother into shock when she and I were drenched by the rain.

So the calm and balm was a nice contrast. We don't know where the time went, but at least we got a few things done that had been waiting on Mum's list for a while, the sorts of things that take the time that no-one else's patience extends to.

Janny couldn't come with me today, given her deadline to take The Dear Leader to Balingup next week for his keenly anticipated holiday, and the fact that several extended family members pile the pressure on her to do a million things she has neither the energy nor time to do.

I enjoy my time with my mother, but it is hard to witness how frail she is becoming, how vulnerable, how she is losing so much of the confidence and ability youth takes for granted.

I was very weary when I finally got home, not long before My Beloved time after dark. During the evening several times I had Cadbury the formerly stray kitten on my lap, demonstrating to me that she is the most cutest cat in the Antipodes.

My mind is much occupied with ideas for my novel 'Venty Still', which I returned to writing almost a week ago, after almost a year's sabbatical from it. Baby Inkletter set me off on the project almost two years ago when she emailed me a page of a story she quirkily titled 'Venty Still', asking me to continue it, as a progressive story. Now that page has become the prologue for my new novel project. The time off will prove good, for my ideas are radically evolving from the original plans. I wish I could write for hours a day, instead of the few a week I might be able to scratch together. The writing process is most vivifying, though hard work; I am continually fascinated by where it takes me, how the project takes over me, developing where it insists.

I caught Lateline as it was broadcast for we Westerners, while cuddling a purring Cadbury on a pillow in my lap: The (Leigh) Sales Graph: A resplendent – having chosen a crazy patterned white on dark blue shirt and white modesty panel, and very becoming hair style and subtle-effect make-up – Ms Sales' in-studio guest this evening was Shadow Minister for Immigration Scott Morrison, himself smartly attired if a little pastelled and bland with regard to his only means of rebelliousness with dress, his tie, which was a pale blue.

This interview showed that Mr Morrison was the equal of Ms Sales, and that Ms Sales was the equal of Mr Morrison, if that is not too odd a way of expressing my pleasure with this tight and fast moving discussion. Mr Morrison demonstrated his grasp of the principles of Australia's migration statistics and population imperatives, and I could hardly fault what he said on the matter, despite Ms Sales' best attempts to goad him, using, frankly, deliberately fallacious arguments (often a legitimate technique), into displaying red neck attitudes; he held his ground, and credit to him for so eloquently expressing the intelligent and utterly valid point, in his words:

"...my argument is and the Coalition's argument is natural increase is where you start and the migration program is there to supplement.

"It's (migration) not the starting point, it is there in addition to. Now, natural increase we've always encouraged.

"As a result of good strong natural increase, we will be less reliant on a migration program to fulfil our population growth targets."

He made the incontrovertible point also that temporary stayers consume resources and use our infrastructure, and thus need to be factored into the management equation; this is in order to sensibly match Australia's real time carrying capacity to the population load.

Ms Sales was rightfully playful and knowing when she tried, valiantly yet unsuccessfully, to get Mr Morrison to personally comment on Malcolm Turnbull's decision to not stand for re-election this year. Overly strong tact won the day as it usually does in politics when pollies of the same flavour are invited to comment upon each other. Ms Sales' remark, regarding the ideal candidate to stand in Mr Turnbull's stead for the seat of Wentworth come election time, was inspired: "So you might need somebody economically conservative, yet socially liberal - a bit like Malcolm Turnbull."

I am grateful to Ms Sales and Mr Morrison for this intelligent discussion, even if the Labor side would be uncomfortable with some of it. Tonight demonstrated that getting the highly accessible Mr Morrison on his own, rather than putting him into a combative role against his colleagues on the other side of the Parliament, brings out a rare articulateness combined with nous from a politician.

A 3 a.m. walk in the dead still night listening to my favourite talking book was a tonic for me, and on my return Janny was up not being able to sleep well, so I googled up some recipes for her to give her ideas for Thursday when The Babies Ink&Peggletter will join us for din dins. Where would we be without the internet?

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