In which the pond pays a shilling for a tidal wave of disaffection ...

It seems the fascist government run by the fascist Tony Abbott oppresses freedom of speech, and honest, worthy Murdochian journalists going about their business:

Of course it could just be a coincidence, an amiable twit, who is part of a rag that daily blathers on in an endless way about the dangers of fundamentalism, the new security paradigm, and the need for everyone to be alert, and quite possibly alarmed, and who didn't think part of the job of being a journalist was to know how the business of the house is now conducted.

I'm sure it's just a coincidence that it was Miranda the Devine, who tagged the anecdote on to the end of a standard piece of forelock-tugging, of the abasing, supine kind:

Which might make some people wonder what's so hard about being a Murdoch journalist. Why would anyone need to sit down to watch question time, when all that's required is grovelling and a portrait of Abbott as some kind of heroic Hornblower figure, with Miranda the Devine blowing her horn for him ...

Oh wait, here's a clue:

In workplace relations terminology Tony Abbott has been given a formal first and final warning. He has been put on a “performance ­improvement plan, with agreed KPI indicators,” says Grace Collier, an employment expert who owns a dismissal service business. 
The performance improvement plan will be regularly ­reviewed during that time, but in the event some sort of ­irregular misconduct occurs, immediate disciplinary action will be taken and this would likely result in dismissal.  
Collier says “people who demonstrate genuine remorse, insight and agree to corrective remedies are at a much greater chance of preserving their ­positions than those who take a defiant and obstinate stance. The principles of good and fair performance management ­remain the same for all people no matter how important their position may be”. 

Yes, that's how lazy the Devine is, because that'd be the very same Grace Collier who routinely scribbles a column for the reptiles at the lizard Oz ... not that you'd guess from the Devine that she's a stablemate right wing member of the commentariat, with Collier instead dressed in as an employment expert. That she might be, but why the pretence that she doesn't have any business with News Corp?

Journalists talking to people who write columns for fish and chip wrappings.

It's the greatest disease in the media in these days. It's all over the ABC, and it's rampant in the Murdochians and the Fairfaxians.

But it's hard to see how one columnist chatting to another columnist could ever be be made more difficult by security guards following orders ...

Oh wait, here's a clue:

The Liberal party is being decent and fair to Tony Abbott. 
But there’s a sense that Tony Abbott is running as fast as he can ahead of a tidal wave of disaffection and broken promises, which is rising up fast behind him, carrying the flotsam and jetsam of Prince Philip’s gong, the paid parental leave scheme, various incarnations of the Medicare co-payment, phantom submarines and assorted other policy casualties. 
Ahead is the palm-fringed promised land, if only he can reach it before he is engulfed. And there riding a surfboard high atop the wave bearing down on him is Malibu Mal, having the time of his life, with Julie Bishop on a bodyboard not far behind and Scott Morrison in an orange lifeboat bringing up the rear. 
The odds are against him, but never underestimate Abbott.

Yes, right there, the prices of metaphors and silly images of palm-fringed promised lands - try telling that to the citizens of Kiribati as they face a threat from the climate change the Devine is routinely busy denying - is constantly rising, while drivel about bodyboards and orange lifeboats is hugely expensive ...

By not being able to get into the press box, the Devine seems to be paying top prices for her drivel ...

Of course it's an age-old problem:

'When I use words like palm-fringed promised land,' Miranda said, in rather a scornful tone, 'they mean just what I choose them to mean — neither more nor less.' '
The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.' 
'The question is,' said Miranda, 'which is to be mistress — that's all.' 
Alice was too much puzzled to say anything; so after a minute Miranda began again. 'They've a temper, some of them — particularly verbs: they're the proudest — adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs — however, I can manage the whole lot of them! As for calling someone Malibu Mal ... they just have to like it or lump it.'
Impenetrability! That's what I say!' 
'Would you tell me please,' said Alice, 'what that means?' 
'Now you talk like a reasonable child,' said Miranda, looking very much pleased. 
'I meant by "impenetrability" that we've had enough of that subject, and silly surfing metaphors, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life.' 
'That's a great deal to make one word mean,' Alice said in a thoughtful tone.
 'When I make a word do a lot of work like that,' said Miranda, 'I always pay it extra. A shilling a tidal wave of disaffection. A pound for an orange lifeboat up the rear'. 
'Oh!' said Alice. She was too much puzzled to make any other remark.
 'Ah, you should see 'em come round me of a Saturday night,' Miranda went on, wagging her head gravely from side to side, 'for to get their wages, you know.'

Uh huh. What a pity the security guards didn't go a bit further and lock Miranda the Devine up for a week, for crimes against journalism ...