Does Lindy Nelson-Carr know who she's dealing with

"When a government committee wants to conduct an enquiry based on a report, it is usually wise to do some digging into the source of that report. One major thing to watch out for is the credibility of the report’s author/s and if they happen to be dubious then you have a problem before you even start. It should be especially alarming, if the dubious source is a group of evangelists, anti-drug nutters, religious right fundamentalists, Drug Free Australia ..."

Our own Lindy Nelson-Carr Chairs the Social Development Committee of Parliament - a quaint tradition designed to keep backbenchers busy and which it seems is conducting an inquiry into Addressing Cannabis-Related Harm  that ticks all of these boxes.  This post by Terry Wright in the The Australian Heroin Diaries is a brilliant unpicking of Drug Free Australia and the report that Lindy's Committee is basing its enquiry on.

It got me doing a bit of my own digging about DFA - I didn't even know there were people still around (like DFA Director John Barich) that belong to the National Civic Council !!! See

If you’re a wannabe you need to choose your words carefully

I see that Colin Dwyer the wantabe LNP candidate for Herbert (and Mundingburra and Townsville and…) has trouble taking a bit of criticism.

His response to the Retailers Association’s claim that his Townsville Grocery Price Watch site is misleading shoppers because the data is too quickly dated was a little too precious.

Attacking the representative of part of his own constituency (shopkeepers) with comments like the following isn’t very smart:

''This is a typical arrogant Brisbane attitude,'' he said.

''They sit back and wait for us to do something, then come in and say they can do it better.

''Maybe he should come out and do something for the people of Townsville, instead of throwing mud around the place.''

Personally, I thought the Price Watch site was a good idea (and no doubt was good politics) but the Retailers Association’s comments about it being out of date are fair enough – after all it hasn’t been updated since November.

Expect to see more Brisbane bashing from Col – he has form and after all they are very cheap shots to fire.  He just needs to learn to not fire them at his own wantabe constituency

PS: I wonder whether he was one of the 17 people who attended the recent meeting of the North Qld Party in Cairns along with that great retail politician (god! I hate that term), Bob Katter?

Preselection for Herbert - the never-ending story

You heard it online here first – about 12 hours before the Bully ran the story online.

The most interesting things in The Bulletin’s online coverage of Peter Lindsay’s abdication from the throne of Herbert are:

• Mayor-in-waiting Crissafulli’s indication that his missus won’t let him nominate for the Lib’s preselection (as apparently won’t Kim Faithful, the V8 event manager)
• Serial publicity seeker and failed LNP candidate for Mundingburra, Colin Dwyer, is interested in nominating - if they’ll have him (and if they believe that “somebody who understands economics” is a prerequisite for a successfully candidacy)
• Mooney staying coy about whether he’ll nominate as the ALP candidate

I also liked this online Opinion piece (un-attributed) which doesn’t seem to appear in the hardcopy version and which rightfully points out Lindsay’s failings:

• He has consistently lied to his electorate about his intentions of re-standing
• His lap of honour last year, “…a global study tour to 13 different countries at a significant cost to the taxpayer.”
• His amateurish effort to Photoshop himself into the study tour report, faking his photograph at a Beirut war cemetery.
• His tawdry plagiarism, with huge slabs of his report lifted straight from Wikipedia and other sources.

As the piece asks: “For taxpayers, the question is; why did Peter Lindsay go on an overseas junket last year if he knew two years ago that he was getting out?

As for Lindsay’s list of achievements that he’d like recorded in the history books – everybody (the Bully, Lindsay, the Libs etc) are kidding themselves if they really think a backbencher or Parliamentary Secretary (read letter-signer and inconsequential speech maker for the Minister) can influence a decision like the transfer of a new battalion (3RAR) to Townsville is having a lend of themselves

How to get your picture in the Bully #1

You have to admire anyone trying to establish a foothold in a town where Carey Ramm's AEC Group have most of the economic consulting work stitched-up.

The former and possibly aspiring Candidate for Mundingburra has today released a new economic survey for the town  – a welcome addition to our understanding of what’s happening in the local economy and job market.

No doubt it will also be worth a nice photo piece in tomorrow’s Bully (given they are the sole source the report’s data) - which can’t be bad for recognition in either the business or political marketplace.

But really, you’d think that he’d get with the slow death of newspapers and count on-line job adds as well - otherwise the results are meaningless!

Anyone want to take a bet on where the story will appear in tomorrow's Bully or how big the pic will be??