I can't believe that the Public Service is being encouraged to change the spelling of program to programme. This particular issue was laid to rest many years ago. The accepted spelling in Australia is 'program'. John Howard decreed that it should be 'programme', which he thought was more British and so it became. Typically, he didn't know what he was talking about. The traditional spelling in both Britain and America is 'program'; it became programme only during the 19th century in a period when the English elite loved all things French and adopted lots of French words and phrases - c'est la vie.
Shakespeare used program but Honest John clearly thought he knew more about language than the Bard.
Kevin Rudd reverted to the more-correct spelling in 2007, but now Tony is harking back to the foibles of his mentor and turning back the clock. What a trivial thing to hang his hat on.
Spelling should be simplified if possible. It's ludicrous to prefer a spelling which adds two superfluous letters.
The Grammar Ninja has spoken.
Same here, John. We used to use the word 'centre' to describe a venue that was a focal point for some organisation or activity and the word 'center' for simply the middle of something. Now because immigrants are struggling with the foibles of the English Language we only use 'center'
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