Lessons from 1995

Guest contributor Slim writes:

The lessons of 1995 for the ALP in Queensland have been lost.

It was not that long ago.

The report of The Young Inquiry should be compulsory reading for all Queensland Caucus members and paid ALP employees at Peel St, South Brisbane.

A repeat of the national swing against the State ALP in 2012 of around 5.5% would mean that more than 20 seats, and government, would be lost:

• Chatsworth
• Everton
• Broadwater
• Cook
• Barron River
• Toowoomba North
• Whitsunday
• Southport
• Mount Ommaney
• Townsville
• Springwood
• Cairns
• Mansfield
• Ferny Grove
• Pine Rivers
• Kallangur
• Mount Isa
• Burleigh
• Pumicestone
• Mount Coot-tha
• Redcliffe
• Mount Isa.

Cheers, Slim

Mudoch's approach to his papers' critics - will Island View be next?

I'm well aware that, like its big sister The Oz, our provincial rag the Bulletin has a lot of trouble with its online critics.

In case you haven't caught up - the Oz yesterday outed the identity of anonymous blogger and Murdoch press critic, Grog's Gamut, who just happens to be a public servant in real life.

Kim at Larvatus Prodeo has a great listing of the Blogosphere's reaction to the Oz article as does Tobias Ziegler at Pure Poison in his piece The Grog’s Gamut outing: In whose interest?

Update:  Kim at Larvatus Prodeo has an updated posting on what is now being called 'grogsgate' here

The general online reaction has been rightfully savage - particularly in pointing out the Murdoch press's self interest in doing as they did. 

But I wonder if the episode is more a reflection of their insecurity?  It's pretty clear that the Murdoch press in particular can't handle analytical criticism that shows up the quality of their journalism for what it is.

Which leads me to also wonder whether The Townsville Bulletin will try and out me?  I know they have spent a lot of time and energy in trying to work out my identity and that they certainly don't like criticism

Katter neutered (still) and it's everybody else's fault

Bob Katter's approach to deciding which main party he was going to support to form Government delivered him and his electorate exactly the same degree of relevance, power and influence that they have 'enjoyed' since he was first elected as an independent - zilch, zip, nil.

I'd actually argue that, knowing Gillard would form Government, he quite deliberately chose Abbott,  to ensure that he wouldn't have to find himself in a position of voting for anything that was contentious in Kennedy.  It's an old school act from an old school backbencher - keep your head down and do as little parliamentary work as possible so that you can maximise your time with the punters in the electorate's pubs, fetes and race meetings while blaming everybody else for the lack of progress on local issues.

Maybe he is now so bent on blaming everyone else because he's finally worked-out how obvious and therefore vulnerable his position is? Or maybe he's just p*ssed at having to finally do some work as a parliamentarian (as opposed to politician)

The Townsville Bulletin called to account by the Townsville establishment

I had thought about posting in response to the Townsville Bulletin's trash-piece about school bullying in what must have been a slow news day last Saturday - but to be honest, I was way too busy to pause and bash my head against that particular brick wall.

However, in today's Bully, there is a couple of great letters in response to the 'article' by the Ryan Catholic College community.  In particular, the letter from the school Principal is well worth a read (click on the graphic for a readable version) - pointing out as it does at length the appalling journalism/professionalism represented in the original article by Alexis Gillham.

Interestingly, the Editor of the Bully chose not to make the letter available online or to comment on it as he so often does when his rag is criticised (including [anonymously] through the comments on this blog).

Could this be an admission that the Ryan Principal nailed the paper for what it is and for which there is no defence - a wholly unprofessional regional bullsheet?

Or perhaps the Ed. remembered exactly how much the Catholics spend in advertising in his rag each month and decided to back-off?  Still, they couldn't even come to write a reasonable header for the letter - "Sticking to the rule of pair play" it reads (whatever that means).  They couldn't even come at using the more appropriate and accurate, "Sticking to the rule of fair play"!!

Trash journalism from a trash advertising rag.

Stop Press: The Borg cracks a funny

From a Departmental briefing summary of the morning’s Parliamentary Sitting, Thursday, 16 September 2010:

"Deputy Leader of the Opposition Lawrence Springborg to the Deputy Premier and Minister for Health: referring to a briefing note lost which was asking the Minister to approve a new departmental matrix so the Minister would stop losing briefing notes and correspondence, can he explain how he lost the very briefing note that would stop him losing his briefing notes."

Source: You know who you are!

Note:  From Wikipedia:

"... attempts to resist the Borg ... also demonstrated that it is possible to survive assimilation, and that drones can escape the collective and become individuals, or exist collectively without forced assimilation of others. They are notable for being a main antagonist race ..."

Of Anna and the Vultures

Guest contributor, Dee writes:

"The Queensland Premier claims "16 key achievements" in a list in the article "Three-year Bligh sails on" (Townsville Bulletin, Tues Sept 14) but ill-directed determination is a failure within itself and self-praise is not worth the paper on which the press release is printed.

The Courier-Mail of the same day nominates the list as "Anna Bligh's Sweet Sixteen".

The Bligh government in reality has at least 17 vultures that are feeding on its corpse as it flails around looking for a way out of the appalling situation that is only of its own making.

These vultures are:

• privatisation of taxpayer-owned assets;

• failure to pay proper compensation for Stolen Wages;

• failure to implement findings of the Black Deaths in Custody Royal Commission;

• complete policy failure and discrimination in communities suffering alcohol management "plans";
• failure to have alleged misconduct by police investigated by an independent authority;

• homelessness and abysmal levels of public housing construction;
• high unemployment in provincial areas;
• pay debacle for health staff;

• poor response to the Barrier Reef oil spill;

• large fuel price and fertiliser price rises for primary producers;

• huge rises in specific vehicle registration costs;

• privatisation of water infrastructure and huge rises in water prices;

• failure to remove medical abortion from the Crimes Act;

• corruption at ministerial level;

• failure to fund the Townsville cruise ship terminal at the correct level;

• failure to provide appropriate and sufficient mental health services;
• broadscale lead contamination of people and environment at Mount Isa; and
• contamination of water resources and environment due to failure to correctly control coal seam gas projects.

The government propagandists who have been to the US political skills school who have generated the idea that programs such as "I'll come to your region and govern for a week" or "I’ll spend a day in your shoes" can have some wondrous effect in tricking the voters into thinking that government cares about them, should spend their time more productively for the people of Queensland and fix the items on the vultures list.

There has to be an active commitment from this government to fix the list and the voters must be able to see and positively assess some real change in its outlook and its activities.

There is still time for the Premier to send this privatisation of taxpayer-owned assets policy back to the well-remunerated bureaucrats in Treasury for a thorough revamp into something different which is not a sellout and betrayal of Queensland taxpayers and voters.

How to neutralise an idiot

At first I though that this cartoon by Rex Babin from the Sacramento Bee was the ultimate statement about the US "Christian" "Pastor" who has been stirring up hatred across the world with his publicity seeking threats to burn the Qur’an (no! it's not spelt Koran - well only by white Christians anyway)

But then this morning comes the ultimate statement about the 'affair' by a local Queensland lawyer - it puts the whole thing into perspective and makes the US attention seeking "christian" look like the hate-mongering fool he is:

The End - We have a Government!

nuff said...

Leunig at his best