Kevin Rudd was visiting a primary school and he visited one of the classes. They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asked Mr. Rudd if he would like to lead the discussion on the word "tragedy".
So the illustrious leader asked the class for an example of a tragedy.
A little boy stood up and offered: "If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a tractor runs over him and kills him, that would be a tragedy".
"No", said Kevin, "That would be an accident".
A little girl raised her hand: "If a school bus carrying fifty children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy".
"I'm afraid not", explained Kevin, "That's what we would call great loss".
The room went silent. No other children volunteered. Kevin searched the room. "Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?"
Finally, at the back of the room, little Johnny raised his hand. In a quiet voice he said, "If a plane carrying you, Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan was struck by a 'friendly fire' missile and blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy."
"Fantastic!" exclaimed Kevin. "That's right. And can you tell me why that would be tragedy?"
"Well," says little Johnny "it has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn't be a great loss, and it probably wouldn't be a fucking accident either!"
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