*Ø* Blogmanac | Aussie G-G's passive voice

(or how to apologise without saying you're sorry)
You know how a small child will say "the cup spilled the milk"? That's what comes to mind with the resignation speech by Australia's Governor-General, Dr Peter Hollingworth today.

"I truly regret the way the matter was handled and I apologise to those involved who have suffered as a consequence," he said. This is kid-speak for "I truly regret the way that I handled the matter ..." and reflects more credit on the $750-per-day PR consultants Hollingworth has engaged for weeks at taxpayers' expense than it does on the former Archbishop of Brisbane. While it took some courage to hang onto office for so long after being exposed for protecting paedophile clerics, and to apologise publicly to those who have suffered, it seems to this writer that something was lacking: the use of the active, rather than the passive voice.

His Excellency retires on $180,000 per annum, for life, courtesy of the Australian people. Like the Archbishop, we look after our own.

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