Humph

THERE'S an expression which has developed amongst Sydney hacks: ``This is so bad I'd rather be at a Humpherson press conference.''

You see, NSW Shadow Minister for Emergency Services Andrew Humpherson is notorious for his halting delivery and his repetitive answers. True to form, last week Humpherson put out a press release giving the Iemma government a serve for using the beginning of three day counter-terrorism exercises on Sydney Harbour as a public relations exercise rather than tackling the real issues of what to do if indeed there is an attack.

The problem was, the exercise was jointly launched by NSW Premier Morris Iemma and the Federal government's Justice Minister Chris Ellison. In the obligatory press conference in wintery conditions in the park at the back of NSW Parliament House, the only thing the media wanted to know was if Humpherson was condemning the Commonwealth for being involved in a stunt.

Asked the same question about 55 different ways, Humpherson was forced to claim that Morris Iemma's involvement was a stunt, Ellison's involvement was just the Feds doing their job. He flushed bright red and laughed in an embarrassed way when asked if he expected a call from Ellison later in the day.

``What we have said is very clear,'' Humpherson declared to an amused media pack.