In real life*, the Hon. Kim Carr, Minister for Manufacturing, is a compliant coward:
At a Cabinet Meeting, the Hon. Tony Burke, Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, is droning on in his usual boring way and as he orates he notices that Kim Carr, then the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, is taking notes; he stops, aghast.
Mr. Tony Burke: I see notes are being taken. That makes me uncomfortable.
Ms. Julia Gillard: That’s right, there’s no need for taking notes.
Sen. Kim Carr: [He lays his pen on the table.] Sorry.
Mr. Tony Burke: Right. As I was saying in laborious detail—
In an alternative reality, however, the Hon. Kim Carr could be a courageous nonconformist:
At a Cabinet Meeting, the Hon. Tony Burke, Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, is droning on in his usual boring way and, as he orates, he notices that Kim Carr is taking notes; he stops, aghast.
Mr. Tony Burke: I see notes are being taken. That makes me uncomfortable.
Ms. Julia Gillard: That’s right, there’s no need for taking notes.
Sen. Kim Carr: [He holds his pen over his open notebook.] So?
Ms. Julia Gillard: There’s no need for taking notes.
Sen. Kim Carr: There may be no need, but I want to take notes.
Ms. Julia Gillard: We have official note-takers.
Sen. Kim Carr: Well, official note-takers have been known to miss details which I might need to recollect later. My notes help me remember details which are pertinent to my ministerial responsibilities and which I might otherwise forget. Some people have such good memories that they have no need of notes;
I, however, need to transcribe the occasional few words to assist my memory. Am I also forbidden to transcribe imaginary notes in my mental notebook or jot down a few words once I’ve left this meeting? What a bizarre injunction!
Ms. Julia Gillard: Nonetheless, I insist that none take notes. It’s the rule.
Sen. Kim Carr: Are those with good memories permitted to make mental notes without the aid of pen and paper?
Ms. Julia Gillard: Look, I’ve just given the best answer I can to your question.
Sen. Kim Carr: But may I remember what colleagues say?
Ms. Julia Gillard: I heard your question and I’ve answered it.
Sen. Kim Carr: In other words, I ought not pay attention to anything?
Ms. Julia Gillard: Well, I’ve given you the answer I’m going to give you.
Sen. Kim Carr: All right, in order not to remember details which might not be written by the official note-takers, lest I hear something I recall later, knowing that the only participation required by a member of Cabinet is to make his own report and then read the official notes, I shall hear no more. [He closes his notebook and places it and his pen inside one of his capacious suit’s voluminous inner pockets, extracts a portable musical device from another pocket, plugs the earphones within his ears, makes a selection from the device’s menu, closes his eyes, and nods whilst listening to that marvellous song, “Faking Man-Made Global Warming”, and softly sings along with Mann and Jones et Al.] “How shall we deal with egregious errors?”
Ms. Julia Gillard: Kim? Kim! KIM!
Sen. Kim Carr: Sorry, I can’t hear you. I don’t want to take notes. “As good as global warming”—
Sen. Carr, by the way, is no longer a member of Cabinet.
Sen. Carr, by the way, is no longer a member of Cabinet.
* See “Ministers felt uncomfortable about colleagues taking notes in cabinet: Stephen Conroy”, by Lanai Vasek, in The Australian:
The Australian revealed today that the Prime Minister told ministers at a cabinet meeting on October 17 last year that they could no longer take notes of proceedings and instead needed to rely on official note takers.Amid a series of cabinet leaks, Senator Conroy said some of his colleagues had become “uncomfortable” at other cabinet members taking their own notes during the meetings.
