GI Jayne marched in battle on Friday, saying Mayor Mullet had ‘lied’ about her policy’s impact on rates. Jenny Hill fires off a few blanks of her own, as The Magpie goes ringside.
And who is paying for all this campaign frippery? The old bird has a bit of a beak around.
They want what!?! Is the quest for 4 year fixed parliamentary terms the biggest try on Gina Rinehart visited Victoria’s Secret? The ‘Pie certainly reckons it is.
And don’t fool with us oldsters – or else!
Just To Prove Bentley Really Is Bent
The saga that author Nikki Savva started with her tell-all book about former PM Wingnut Abbott and his Gina-Hard-Faced-Bitch chief of staff Peta Credlin having some intimate … err … downtime together has captivated our resident ‘toonist, Bentley. In particular, that bit about Credlin feeding the PM from her own fork in a restaurant, which no doubt bothered an Abbott predecessor who had warned him about the perception of a relationship.
A variation on the old pub chant ‘ Get off the table, Mabel, the money’s for the beer.’ Ah, those days of innocent crudity are alas long gone.
Jayne Arlett Finally Comes Out Swinging
Jayne Arlett poses for Bully ‘exclusive’.
GI Jayne became a political commando on Friday (no that’s very different to ‘going full commando’, for you jargon junkies) with a full frontal assault what she called ‘Jenny Hill’s lies’ and lack of economic understanding.
Mayor Mullet had pulled her favourite stunt … lying at the last minute about fanciful rate rises under her opponents policies, a ploy that did in Dale Last at the 2012 council election when the paper unquestioningly printed her claim that under Last, rates would go up 7%+ per year (a claim CEO Ray Burton quickly and publicly suggested – in so many words – was a lie) But the Mullet’s timing is out this year. Arlett has had time to call her out on the blatant fibbing. The long overdue bare-knuckling even got an almost unbiased run (except for the pic) run in the Bulletin.
NB To save blog space, The ‘Pie will print Arlett’s full media release blast as the first comment below this blog.
Jenny pulled out the old trope about Arlett’s inexperience in local government. That’s true on the face of it, but quite possibly a good thing, rather than the arcane politicking and dissembling favored by Hill. Not that Jenny Hill’s ‘experience’ – which has been relentlessly been more about politics and power than running the city – has gained anything much for us. And anyway, inexperience is a double edge sword, too. Ms Arlett has proved to be a smart financial and economic operator. Jenny Hill has never run her own business.
So we’re down to more nah-nah-nan-ah nah but with the piquant flavouring of personal bite.
The ‘Well Duh’ Headline of the Week
Joining The Sun Will Rise In The East and Clive Palmer Is A Fat Selfish Drongo, the most pointless ‘no shit, Sherlock’ headline of the week would have to be this one.
This is the Bulletin’s way of backing Mayor Mullet without actually saying so, because this would only be news if the headline was ‘Jenny Hill Pledges A Fair Go For A Selected Few’. Otherwise, what’s news about it? The story is a straight party political, and the paper is now shameless in it’s bias, using placement and images to push their gal to the forefront at every opportunity.
But the story does contain this little nugget of nincompoopery from our Wonder Woman.
“The policy is about ensuring that the suburban areas of our city get their fair share of works and also their fair share of councillor attention,” she said. “It’s about looking after the little things in the neighbourhood and ensuring services are up to standard.”
Umm, isn’t that what local government is all about, what they’re meant to do? That is Local Government 101. Isn’t that the job the mayor and councillors are paid to do? What’ve you been doing?
What trite tripe.
But No Matter Who Wins, The Target Will Always Be …
… your ‘umble emoh ruo
Your house as you see it
As the buyer sees it
As the lender sees it
As your insurer sees it
And wait for it, the one that really counts …….
… how your council rates evaluator sees it.
Something To Keep Your Eye On
There’s been a lot of speculation about who’s up for who and who’s paying the rent when it comes to the funding of these various mayor and council campaigns.
An interesting snippet came The ‘Pie’s way during the week.
First, the name Wellard Corporation bobbed up as a possible donor to the Mullet’s re-election war chest.
Wellard is a Perth-based ag company that operates inter alia a feed lot facility out at Woodstock/Calcium for cattle waiting to board their cruise ships at the new international terminal. Can’t be confirmed and there doesn’t seem to be any direct reason for Wellard’s to donate to the Mullet, although there may be some cross-over argy bargy of land tenure for the feed lot and the proposed driver training facility out there.
Maybe, but far more interesting is the joining of the dots just up the road.
You’ll remember recently Mayor Mullet was howled down by meatworkers when she suggested to a rally protesting about live cattle exports that a new extra meatworks was the answer. No one knew what the hell she was on about, they were unemployed because the one Townsville meatworks was closed.
But a bit of beaking about has turned up this, and it sort of fits with both candidates waffle about up-grading rural roads.
Just past Calcium on the highway to Charlies Trousers and just before the servo, there is a gravel road that runs south for about seven kilometres, and it ends up on – so The ‘Pie is told … a property owned by the Burdekin Cox family. David Cox has apparently expressed an interest in building a ‘quartering’ abattoir there, where animals will be … well, exactly what it says … simply quartered and packed up for export. No boning out and mucking around. Usual blah about lots of jobs and so on. But with traffic like heavy cattle trucks becoming regular users of the road, it would have to be upgraded big time. So what you say, doesn’t sound too outlandish, bit of grading for a bulldozer driver and some work for a dozen stop-go men?
And it isn’t any big deal … until we discover the road is subject to flooding of over a meter of water during wet seasons (remember them?) And to flood-proof it (no point in doing work that’ll be washed away in the first shower) it will cost approximately $3million – per kilometre! To save the mathematically challenged down at the Astonisher, that’s a $21million cost to the Townsville ratepayer if such a scheme were to be adopted. How many jobs would make that sort of investment worth while?
So it will be interesting to see who has donated to whom if this issue comes up in the near future. The road is in Division 10, Messagebank Walker’s divvy. If he gets up over Team Arlett’s Michael Charge I(no sure thing, he was almost rolled by a political unknown last time ) – and the Mullet gets in with a ruling majority, Les will undoubtedly be appointed deputy mayor. That means lots more lovely lolly for the laziest councillor this town has ever seen.
But the lure of that lolly might have The Ghost Who Talks willing to favour such an idea, and those who favour such an idea may well favour Mr Walker’s campaign.
Just sayin’, ya know.
Aaron Harper IS NOT a conman … he’s too dumb.
His startling and truly embarrassing attempt at play acting on ABC radio on Monday afternoon was as pathetically amusing as it was a transparent toeing the line of self-interest.
ABC drivetime man Pat ‘Chaffbag’ Hession was talking to him about whether people should vote for fixed four year terms (for which The ‘Pie will definitely NOT be voting – see below). And Harper’s main reason for a yes vote? On election day it was just too hot.
Quote: ‘It was a horrible time of the year and everybody was saying please don’t have elections at this time of the year again. I went to all 12 booths I had in Thuringowa and right across the entire Thuringowa electorate, people were saying pleeease don ‘t do this in the heat, it was horrible, just horrible experience. So having those four year terms fixed in the October period which is no where near as hot as we are putting up with currently.’
Hession quickly drove a bus through that nonsense, but Harper obviously is unaware of the golden rule about holes and digging … he just didn’t stop, and it quickly descended into loopy weirdness:
‘Look there’s a whole heap of other reasons for the yes vote … ah, ah most people go on holidays just after Christmas and we had it again last year where I returned back (sic) because the election was being called. No one wants to talk to a politician over Christmas anyway and I was (sic) gone away on a holiday with the family, knowing what was about to happen, and it will provide that stability in the tourism sector as well, people can go away and not worry about doing postal votes of there’s an election on in the January sort of period. ‘
Whaaat? Don’t recall any elections over Christmas … ever.
But suggesting an election date be based on the weather – and just how they do that, one wonders – along with ensuring our democratic right to vote doesn’t interfere with our leisure time, is an astounding bit of twerpery for even this A-grade yes man to suggest. Even the official Vote Yes literature makes a fleeting mention only of the NQ WET season.
If people have such a sense of entitlement that should only vote on a balmy day and whinge about the massive imposition of going down the polling station when it’s hot shows why compulsory voting is a good thing in this country.
The man’s demented.
The Magpie Says ‘NO’
The old bird says no to giving politicians job security they don’t deserve … we voters should have the right to ‘fire’ them if they don’t deliver, and not have to wait a ruionous amount of time to do so. How much worse off would Queensland be if we hadn’t booted out, in succession the dud Bligh Labor and worse dud Newman LNP jackbooters? Not that it has domne us much good right now, but still …
And as the literature says, fixed terms give governments more power, more time and less accountability. Longer terms means politicians hear our voices less often, and will feel no compunction to consult with constituents until the smarm season of pre-election time rolls around. And, as the brochure says, in our silence, powerful lobby groups will have a greater say. So be good kids and don’t take those lollies from that politician in the grubby gabardine overcoat … like all smart kids, JUST SAY NO.
Townsville’s Division 4 Has More Action Than The TV’s Division 4.
Joanne Keune all dressed up, but will she have anywhere to go?
The ‘Pie will unwisely give his call of the card next Saturday (a week is a long time in politics, as Harold Wilson wisely said) but one of the most interesting results will the outcome for Joanne Keune, up against Mark Molochino for The Mullet and the man they call Marcel ‘Marceau’ McLeod for Team Arlett.
After umming and arring, and ignoring the logic that truly independent candidates can’t preference anyone if they’re fair dinkum, Labor party member Keune has swapped preferences with Mark Molochino, part of Jenny Hill’s ersatz Labor team. This inevitably leads to the mind-numbing conclusion that when one of these two win, the other will have been beaten by their own preferences.
Ms Keune denies vehemently that she has done any deal with Jenny Hill, but she has been around long enough to know perception is everything in politics. And The Mullet must be laughing up her sleeve, no matter who wins, she can expect some loyalty either way.
But at this stage, Keune’s energetic ‘whack a hamster’ campaign (bobbing up here, then there, then over there) makes her even money or slightly better to sneak home.
A New Occasional Thought Which Will Be Tweeted regularly – Join In
People I’d like to Taser – The person who first told Wendy Harmer she was funny.
here’s A Couple For The Bible Bashers
Kiddyfiddlers of the World’s Churches, UNITE!! …
and one problem Moses didn’t have …
And to round off, Old Codgers Corner
Two for our generation.
First, letter of the year.
Yup, be warned, DO NOT MESS WITH US FOLKS
Special thanks to all those who have helped out with a donation to help The ‘Pie meets the costs of the blog. Much appreciated.
