Lem Johns, LBJ Bodyguard, Dies; Witness To JFK Assassination, Spattered With Paint In Australia

Lem Johns, the United States Secret Service agent who was spattered with paint during President Lyndon Johnson’s visit to Australia in 1966, has died, at the age of 88.

Johns, with his right hand raised, can be seen in the picture below on the right hand side of Johnson’s limousine. The incident occurred during a demonstration in Melbourne.

LBJ

Johnson’s visit in October 1966 came just one month before the federal election of November 26. The election was conducted amidst vigorous public debate about Australia’s commitment of conscripted troops to the war in Vietnam. [Read more…]


Rudd Meets With Vietnamese Prime Minister

The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has met with his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, in Canberra.

The two leaders held a joint press conference this morning.

  • Click the Play button to listen to the press conference (35m)

Transcript of Joint Press Conference with His Excellency Mr Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Prime Minister’s Courtyard, Parliament House.

RUDD: The Prime Minister of Vietnam, Prime Minister Dung, will make some remarks and then as is the custom, we’ll invite a couple of questions each from the Australian side and from the Vietnamese side. [Read more…]


Costello Hints At Benefits Of Deputies Taking On The Top Job

The Treasurer, Peter Costello, says that the elevation of a deputy leader to the leader’s position allows a government to regenerate and pursue new policy directions.

Peter Costello, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and Member for HigginsLaunching a biography by Tom Frame of former Prime Minister Harold Holt, Costello said “when Holt became Prime Minister the Government had the opportunity to reconsider options that had previously been considered and rejected.”

After 10 years as deputy, Holt became Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister in January 1966, following the retirement of Sir Robert Menzies who had held the office for 16 years. He disappeared in the surf at Portsea on December 19, 1967. [Read more…]


Alexander Downer: Earle Page Politics Speech

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, has delivered a speech on Australian foreign policy and politics at the University of New England in Armidale.

Downer gave the Earle Page College’s Annual Politics Dinner speech. [Read more…]