A fair point, surely? Me and Jacques The former French president Jacques Chirac died on Thursday, after a brief illness, aged 86. As I lived in France for four years in the 1980s – playing rugby for Brive in the seat of his power, La Correze – I met him on several occasions and liked him. In 1988, as part of the presidential elections, I was asked to go on stage for his final rally appearance and say words to the effect of "I am not French, but if I was I'd vote for Chirac." I declined on the grounds that their national election was none of my damn business, and in any case I preferred Francois Mitterrand. Peter FitzSimons with Jacques Chirac.

Now, history does not seem to have cared, but I will never forget Chirac's words after, indeed, losing that election, "Quelquefois en politique, il faut se faire oublier" or "Sometimes in politics, you need to make yourself forgotten", and he proceeded to do exactly that, making few headlines in the immediate years following that loss – before storming back to win two presidential elections: in 1995 and 2002. Four years ago, a mate of mine in Brive started up a shop selling Chirac souvenirs, and has done well – never better than from Thursday as la peuple swarmed. Houston, we have a problem Um, just how grim have things to got to before the Trump White House thinks you're not a fit and proper person to attend a state dinner? I mean, in the Trump White House? Such, however, appears to be the case with that authoritative report in The Wall Street Journal revealing "Mr. Morrison was determined to bring as part of his delegation Hillsong Church Pastor Brian Houston — the man he frequently refers to as his 'mentor' - but the White House vetoed the idea, telling his office that Mr. Houston was not invited, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Brian Houston in 2015 was censured by the Australian government's royal commission into child sexual abuse for failing to report his father, Frank Houston, to police for the alleged sexual abuse of children in his church."

Donald Trump and Scott Morrison raise a glass at the state dinner in honour of the Prime Minister last weekend. Credit:SMH Though Houston didn't respond to the Journal's request for a comment, there were soon denials all round that the PM had wanted to bring Houston in the first place, which, if indeed the case, makes Houston's lack of reply surprising. More surprising still was Hillsong's robust denial: "At no stage did the royal commission ever imply Pastor Brian was involved in any sort of 'cover-up'." But perhaps they protest too much? No one mentioned any cover-up, although the royal commission did find that Pastor Brian Houston had a conflict of interest when he decided to be the one to confront his own father - apparently the only step taken to investigate the allegations - while maintaining his roles within the church. I would have thought keeping such things "in the family" would have landed him a seat right next to Trump ...

Reviving a Sydney tradition As a young fellow, from the age of 15 or so, I used to love going to The Domain, opposite the NSW Art Gallery to listen to the speakers on their soapboxes. A great Sydney tradition dating back at least to the 1860s, when anyone who had anything to say - from religious nutters to flat earthers to fascists to weirdos who warned of the dangers of global warming - could count on a crowd. It has fallen on hard times in recent decades as the crowds have gone elsewhere, but efforts are being made to resuscitate it. Speakers' Corner attracted huge crowds to The Domain back in 1949. Credit:Fairfax Photo Library As part of that resuscitation, today at noon, a republic/monarchy debate will be held on the subject: Australia is better off with a foreign boss. Debaters include myself, Ella Finlay, the 2018 Australasian Women's Debating Champion, and Seamus Dove, the 2019 Commonwealth Debating Champion. Come along! Joke of the Week

Which brings us to the case of the woman who remained a virgin, despite being married three times. Her first husband was too young. Her second husband was too old. And her third husband an Australian government climate change spokesman who just sat on the end of the bed and said how great everything was going to be in the future. What they said "What do you want to say to your many Australian supporters who wish you nothing but the best in November 2020? ... There was a wonderful smile on our Prime Minister's face when you were taking on part of the fake news media today." - Sky's Paul Murray, in his opening question to President Donald Trump, in an interview arranged by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. "I do regard this as a transgression by [President Donald Trump] even more egregious and dangerous, and even more clearly calling for impeachment, than the many that have come before it. It's difficult to imagine a purer example, even on the President's own account of his conduct, of why the constitution's framers thought it essential to include the impeachment power." - Professor Laurence H. Tribe, of Harvard, the author of To End a Presidency, a book on impeachment. "People really feel that the beach is part of their personality. But seeing it stripped away unnecessarily really frustrates people and makes them question if they are getting a fair go. We've had bad erosion before, but we've reached a tipping point." - Save Stockton Beach founder Simon Jones, after a devastating five weeks of further erosion, to go with 10 million cubic metres of sand lost over the last century.

"D'habitude, les hommes lisent Playboy ou Lui caché derrière un ouvrage de poésie. Chirac, lui, lit un livre de poésie caché derrière un Playboy." - One of the Jacques Chirac's confreres, on the former French president's attempts to appear as a man of the people. Try Google-translate if you didn't study French at school. "How dare you ... ? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us I say we will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line." - Greta Thunberg condemning world leaders in a speech to the UN. "The Secretary-General was pretty clear when he said, 'Don't come with a speech, come with a plan.' It's obviously pretty disappointing that our government is coming with neither." - Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes about Scott Morrison's absence at the UN climate conference. "You are the keepers of an extraordinary section of the surface of this planet, including the Barrier Reef, and what you say, what you do, really, really matters. And … you've been upstanding and talking about what I see as the truth and you suddenly say, 'No it doesn't matter ... it doesn't matter how much coal we burn ... we don't give a damn what it does to the rest of the world.' " - Sir David Attenborough criticising the Morrison government's record on climate policy and support for new coal mines. "It did look as though the Australian Prime Minister was taking part in an American election rally, and that's not a good look." - Legendary political commentator Michelle Grattan, on the PM being with Trump at the opening of an Australian factory in Ohio, which turned into something that looked like a Trump rally.