2011 Clarence By-election Scorecard. Part Three - dumb show

NSW Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis is having his hand held by party minders and has made no major statements in the mainstream media this week. He is finding the going tough on social media, where his presence can be best be described as inane with entries such as this:

Strange what issues you can find whilst out door knocking. I am going to see a person who is experiencing difficulties with truck drivers relieving themselves on their footpath.

NSW Country Labor candidate Peter Ellem in the local media this week:

Country Labor candidate for the Clarence by-election Peter Ellem described the announcement as bungled, saying they should get "fair dinkum about this important project". "There wasn't one single cent allocated for this multi-million-dollar project in the budget which was released only one month ago," Mr Ellem said.

Mr Ellem said the government needed to show budgeted funding for the health centre to ensure it is delivered for local residents. 

And with this yesterday:

Country Labor candidate for Clarence Peter Ellem said he was alarmed at NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith's response to questioning in budget estimates meetings.

"(He) refused to rule out closing further prisons across NSW and Grafton is one of the oldest in NSW," he said.

The department announced 13 redundancies at Grafton jail in August and it confirmed that 12 redundancies had been accepted.

Peter Ellem has demanded that the O'Farrell government guarantee the future of Campbell Hospital at Coraki and urgently fund repairs so the hospital can be re-opened.

The hospital was closed after storm damage on September 25 and residents fear that the 14-bed facility will be closed down.

NSW Greens candidate Janet Cavanaugh continues her social media presence at Janet4Clarence and she has more campaign information posted than all the other candidates combined. She has also seen her policy positions placed in local mainstream media through her use of Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham to call for a fast-tracking of a Strategic Regional Landuse Policy for the North Coast and lines like this:

IN Grafton on Tuesday to support the Greens candidate for Clarence Janet Cavanaugh, MLC Jeremy Buckingham warned the National Party to ignore farmers' concerns at its own peril. "The National Party has got a choice to make, are they the National Party or are they the Multi-National Mining Company Party?" he asked.

Independent Wade Walker has made no public statement for the third week in a row week.

Christian Democratic Party candidate Bethany Camac made only one major public statement in the media this week in which she gave unsolicited and misleading ‘advice’ to sacked workers:

"If they don't want to take up the job offer at Casino and sit around and whinge they can sit around and whinge, if they want to get off their bums and get a new job they can do that," she said.

Outdoor Recreation Party candidate Clinton Mead has had little to say so far – although as a serial election candidate his March 2011 less is more argument when it comes to government funding does not bode well.

Australian Democrat candidate David Robinson is another hopeful serial candidate, who appears to live in the Ballina state electorate and has business interest in Alstonville and Lismore areas. He was/is President of the Alstonville and District Citizens and Ratepayers Association. As Robinson left it to the last minute to nominate, this is all he has said so far:

Robinson is a small business operator, being born into his family’s farm on the North Coast. Robinson’s activity in small business saw him being involved with bringing local dial-up Internet assess to Grafton, through Big River Internet, now Linear G, in the 1990’s, and now operating his free-range poultry and cattle farm. His interests include the breeding of poultry, Simmental cattle, goats, ducks and pigs plus, broadband Internet, web hosting, amateur theatre and community politics. Robinson stood as an Australian Democrats candidate at the 2010 Federal and 2011 N.S.W. State Elections, and has recently been involved in re-establishing the party’s Grafton-Maclean Branch. [Media release 2 November 2011]

Independent Stewart Scott-Irving from Old Bar is another candidate who is a serial nominee of longstanding, having stood as a Queensland Federal Labor candidate in 1990, as an Independent in the North Coast federal seat of Lyne in 2007 and 2008, for the Senate in 2010. Although he is yet to make any form of  policy statement, there is an intriguing glimpse into past history:

What a shame our Senator John Faulkner didn't take some of the blame for the demise of the ALP himself. When I informed him personally on Old Bar Beach of my being sacked along with my School Council when we attempting in 2005 to enrol an Aboriginal family's 3 children, he just wished me luck in my seeking justice through the IR Commission and the Supreme Court. Did I hear anything from him or the ALP subsequently? Not bloody likely!!!
Stewart Scott-Irving | Wallabi Point / Old Bar / Taree - June 10, 2011, 1:40PM

Assessment:

1. Chris Gulaptis remains a policy free zone. He appears to be avoiding the media this week and is relying on meet and greets which involve little critical appraisal of his utterances. Being towed along by party heavies like an errant toddler is not a good look.  He goes deeper into minus territory on the scoreboard.

2. Peter Ellem falters this week after getting off to such a promising start with so many Gulaptis gaffes to bounce off. There is no clear policy vision emerging. His silence on the risks of mining in the Upper Nymboida area of the Clarence River catchment can only be described as deafening. This sees little movement in his score.

3. Janet Cavanaugh is the only candidate who shows any passion with regard to the issues she canvasses in her campaign and deserves brownie points for not just going through the motions like most of the other candidates.

4. Wade Walker is still playing dumb and presenting as a zero.

5. Bethany Camac had become very quiet by the end of the working week as the noise from her day job reverberates across the electorate. She is another deep in minus territory.

6. Clinton Mead last stood for election in the foothills of the Southern Highlands and, currently lives in Bradbury near Campbelltown which is many hundreds of miles away from the Clarence electorate – making one wonder just how serious this candidate is about his own chances.

7. David Robinson fails to establish that he has genuine contemporary links with the Clarence electorate. As he could not turn membership numbers around for his ailing ratepayers association, one wonders how well he would do steering the good ship Clarence.

8. Stewart Scott-Irving as a latecomer to the scorecard does not rate yet. However, as an unsuccessful candidate he has been known to spit the dummy and demand an inquiry with this predictable result.

Rolling Scorecard

Gulaptis -2

Ellem 2.3

Cavanaugh 2.5
Wade Walker 0
Bethany Camac -3

Clinton Mead -1

David Robinson 0

Stewart Scott-Irving 0