I notice daylight saving keeps popping up on the radar in various blogs around the traps. I never knew of this mob called DS4SEQ until recently and today received a flyer in my mail box. I think "It's About Time!" is a very good catch phrase. I think they have come at the right time to get the protest vote, particularly here on the Gold Coast.
2
Tuesday, 10 March 2009 14:19
Despair & Agony
This is a sad and pathetic turn of events.
While Bligh(t) has tried, and failed, to make something out of Beattie's mess, she cannot be blamed for the GFC, as Springbonkers is trying to make out, and, frankly, he would not have a clue what to do.
It really makes no difference whether I vote or not, being locked into a safe NLP seat, but I will vote Green and exhaust my vote out of sheer desperation.
Springbonkers is truly a dunce of the first order, with his minature sidekick from the Libs by his side he will hardly bring a 'new' set of political figures to work on the survival of Qld will he?
The NLP is full of hanging-on use-bys, and should have had a Spring clean well before now.
Meanwhile, the ALP is just like the Joh era, with all their 'mates' running everything, and children of pollies being given a go, although not a 'fair go' I bet, which is a reflection of how few people join the ALP these days.
Pretending to be a 'smart state' does not make up for not ever doing anything about achieving that status.
Qld exports minerals, and that's about it. Our hospitals are in trouble whoever is in government, and have been for years, our schools are full of halftrained new teachers and dullard school principals, few new teachers are permanent employees, even though Bligh(t) spruiks 'jobs-jobs-jobs all the time, our roads are woeful, we have no public transport outside Brisbane and no public housing after the Goss-Rudd era decided to go all neo-liberal and support privatisation of public housing through promoting renting, our railways exist only to carry minerals, not people, and we've been burdened with extra large councils who are paying themselves more than the PM, but have even less credibility than a Mr Whippy icecream van salesperson.
That Springbonkers should even been close to winning anything at all, never mind control of the state, is just so appalling it is not worth contemplating... but happen it clearly will.
Will he replace Beattie in Los Angeles with Bligh(t), in gratitude for her losing the election and gifting it to him and his cronies?
I suppose the other explanation could just be, and Graham should have arkst (as Anna says) the question in his surveys... is it that Qld is still not ready for a sheila at the helm?
I believe that is a very large part of it... and I bet it's 'the sheila's' who'd agree.
3
Tuesday, 10 March 2009 14:22
Colette
Graham - I can't help feeling that some of the comments in your article dated 9th March (above) represent your own feelings more than those of respondants (see paras 4 and 5). Unbiased, substantiated reporting of the survey outcomes is essential. Perhaps I am judging you harshly, but that is the impression I got.
4
Tuesday, 10 March 2009 15:53
Graham Young
Hi Collette. I'm not sure how you come to the conclusion that I'm substituting my own opinion for voters on the basis of those two paragraphs. The list of issues is drawn from word counts (paragraph 5), and I assume that most would expect politicians to be running on the most popular issues rather than the least. In my experience that's what most politicians actually do tend to do.
Paragraph 5 draws on this survey plus the federal survey we did earlier this year. Jobs are an issue, but not across the board. I know from the past that jobs eventually tend to become _the_ economic issue, so I'm projecting this to happen later this year or early next when more layoffs have occurred.
I don't footnote everything in the analysis, because if I did it would never get finished! But I do try to analyse honestly.
5
Tuesday, 10 March 2009 16:52
Nicola
Dear Despair and Agony,
I would have to disagree with your assessment that Anna will lose because Qlders just aren't ready to have a "sheila" at the helm. Even though I share the "sheila" gender, I want to give Lawrence Springborg a go because I am sick to death of Labour's chronic mismanagement of the state.
First we had the electricity crisis, then the water crisis. We have had Wine-gate, and failed government investment in some mining projects that Beattie spruiked as being a big revenue raiser for the government.
Our hospital system is still struggling under the strain of too many patients in an inadequate system and what is Bligh(t)'s solution - to close a perfectly adequate Children's hospital and spend billions building another one which won't meet demand. I mean - Please!!!!! That is the sort of political grandstanding which is appropriate in times of plenty, but when the system isn't coping, you put money where it is needed, not where it is not!
You are right - Blight has been handed the poisoned chalice by Beattie, but more fool her for actually taking it!
6
Tuesday, 10 March 2009 17:42
Jack Backer
The State debt at the moment is $74.000.000.000 Seventy-four thousant million.At 4% interest that work out at least $1000 on interest alone for every man, woman and child in Queensland. It is no wonder the slogan is: "It is just not good enough" I wholeheartedly agree with it.
7
Tuesday, 10 March 2009 18:26
Kaboom
Graham,
You say above:
"Which leaves Jobs, a theme which has previously featured heavily in state campaigns and more recently was a decisive factor in the 2008 federal election, so it has some promise."
Jeez, have I missed a Federal election already? What was the outcome?
8
Tuesday, 10 March 2009 20:02
Roger
Im reminded of when my family first arrived in Queensland from the UK a bloke I worked with asked me my opinion of the then new Premier JBP. I commented His manner of speech was, well sort of slow & convoluted. That, said my work mate, is His secret weapon beloved by Queensland pollies, He talks slow but thinks fast. Springborg might just be a newly minted, laser fast 2000 gig. version, watch this space!
9
Tuesday, 10 March 2009 23:02
Alison Alloway
All this hand wringing and brow beating over Queensland's "debt". Funny how the moaners never say a word about our debt to Iraq. The case for war reparations for Iraq is still coming through the system. It will make Queensland's "debt" look like peanuts.
10
Wednesday, 11 March 2009 08:14
Steve
How can anyone vote for Bligh? Forced council amalgamations she could have stopped, saying no to daylight saving - when a report in front of her clearly suggested action needs to be taken, backflips on recycled water, the enormous debt...complete, utter mismanagement! The Borg, of course, isn't proving his worth either, but surely he has to be better. After all, didn't he promise ages ago that he would reverse the council amalgamations? Obviously no chance of daylight saving with him though!
11
Wednesday, 11 March 2009 13:58
Steve
Although nobody seems to be able to get any politician to make fluoridation a serious issue, this one act of ignorant arrogance has caused so much anger in the electorate that it would have been enough to sink Anna Bligh without any other reasons - we've just been waiting for the opportunity. Why the LNP hasn't seized on this to guarantee themselves a decent majority is a complete mystery. Laurence Springborg doesn't even have to say he is for it or against it. All he has to do is offer an undertaking to give us a referendum on the subject.
12
Thursday, 12 March 2009 08:54
Helen
I can't believe the arrogance of this Labor party. They are treating the people with content and certainly not listening to the people. I think they are stale and need to go.
While Bligh(t) has tried, and failed, to make something out of Beattie's mess, she cannot be blamed for the GFC, as Springbonkers is trying to make out, and, frankly, he would not have a clue what to do.
It really makes no difference whether I vote or not, being locked into a safe NLP seat, but I will vote Green and exhaust my vote out of sheer desperation.
Springbonkers is truly a dunce of the first order, with his minature sidekick from the Libs by his side he will hardly bring a 'new' set of political figures to work on the survival of Qld will he?
The NLP is full of hanging-on use-bys, and should have had a Spring clean well before now.
Meanwhile, the ALP is just like the Joh era, with all their 'mates' running everything, and children of pollies being given a go, although not a 'fair go' I bet, which is a reflection of how few people join the ALP these days.
Pretending to be a 'smart state' does not make up for not ever doing anything about achieving that status.
Qld exports minerals, and that's about it. Our hospitals are in trouble whoever is in government, and have been for years, our schools are full of halftrained new teachers and dullard school principals, few new teachers are permanent employees, even though Bligh(t) spruiks 'jobs-jobs-jobs all the time, our roads are woeful, we have no public transport outside Brisbane and no public housing after the Goss-Rudd era decided to go all neo-liberal and support privatisation of public housing through promoting renting, our railways exist only to carry minerals, not people, and we've been burdened with extra large councils who are paying themselves more than the PM, but have even less credibility than a Mr Whippy icecream van salesperson.
That Springbonkers should even been close to winning anything at all, never mind control of the state, is just so appalling it is not worth contemplating... but happen it clearly will.
Will he replace Beattie in Los Angeles with Bligh(t), in gratitude for her losing the election and gifting it to him and his cronies?
I suppose the other explanation could just be, and Graham should have arkst (as Anna says) the question in his surveys... is it that Qld is still not ready for a sheila at the helm?
I believe that is a very large part of it... and I bet it's 'the sheila's' who'd agree.
Paragraph 5 draws on this survey plus the federal survey we did earlier this year. Jobs are an issue, but not across the board. I know from the past that jobs eventually tend to become _the_ economic issue, so I'm projecting this to happen later this year or early next when more layoffs have occurred.
I don't footnote everything in the analysis, because if I did it would never get finished! But I do try to analyse honestly.
I would have to disagree with your assessment that Anna will lose because Qlders just aren't ready to have a "sheila" at the helm. Even though I share the "sheila" gender, I want to give Lawrence Springborg a go because I am sick to death of Labour's chronic mismanagement of the state.
First we had the electricity crisis, then the water crisis. We have had Wine-gate, and failed government investment in some mining projects that Beattie spruiked as being a big revenue raiser for the government.
Our hospital system is still struggling under the strain of too many patients in an inadequate system and what is Bligh(t)'s solution - to close a perfectly adequate Children's hospital and spend billions building another one which won't meet demand. I mean - Please!!!!! That is the sort of political grandstanding which is appropriate in times of plenty, but when the system isn't coping, you put money where it is needed, not where it is not!
You are right - Blight has been handed the poisoned chalice by Beattie, but more fool her for actually taking it!
Seventy-four thousant million.At 4% interest that work out at least $1000 on interest alone for every man, woman and child in Queensland.
It is no wonder the slogan is: "It is just not good enough"
I wholeheartedly agree with it.
You say above:
"Which leaves Jobs, a theme which has previously featured heavily in state campaigns and more recently was a decisive factor in the 2008 federal election, so it has some promise."
Jeez, have I missed a Federal election already? What was the outcome?
Why the LNP hasn't seized on this to guarantee themselves a decent majority is a complete mystery.
Laurence Springborg doesn't even have to say he is for it or against it. All he has to do is offer an undertaking to give us a referendum on the subject.