foreign minister "speaks" french

earlier this year at apec kevin rudd caused a stir because he dared to be polite enough to welcome the chinese president hu in his native tongue. alexander downer condemnded rudd saying he was just showing off, boasting he spoke french and learned it in only one month! that sure was impressive. and he bagged out rudd again today at the meet the press debate of foreign ministers claiming rudd's a 'show off'. that seems pretty damn childish. and this man was once leader of the opposition! and downer, it is said, is keen to be pm, to challenge turnbull and costello for the leadership should the liberals win again. well the proof of downer's french talents is in the pudding. today at the meet the press debate downer attempted to show off himself saying 'c'est vrai que je parle français mais alors je suis le ministre des affaires étrangères d'australie et il faut parler anglais si vous êtes australien'. really? all the time downer? even when you attend the opening of the musée du quai branly you shouldn't be kind enough to say a few words in the native tongue to thank them for their welcome? but of course not! but i feel your pain downer, your french is clearly at the lower end of say second semester beginners' french, if even that, and so it would be rather embarassing to bust it out. clearly saying you speak a language is a little different from saying some lines from a phrase book, and even more so from rudd's undeniable mastery of manadrin. how nice it would be to have a pm who speaks a foreign language!