Sydney 2GB radio shock jock Alan Jones (born and raised in Oakey Queensland) on Brisbane radio station 4BC News Talk 19 January 2015:
"Campbell Newman told me in my house that if he were to become premier, there would be no Acland stage three," Jones said on air.
"Campbell Newman lied to me. I have no reason to believe anything he's promising Queenslanders today."…
"It's called prostitution ... what was the price that New Hope had to pay to get Acland stage three approved?" Jones said….
"I couldn't back Campbell Newman to win a chook raffle," he said….
Jones said he would have more to reveal about the LNP government over the next two weeks, but refused to give any details.
Qld Premier Campbell Newman on 19 January 2015:
“Alan Jones is a bloke from Sydney who has made all sorts of comments in the past and there’s nothing new about anything he’s said,” Mr Newman said.….
“But I’ll say that everything that Mr Jones has said has been said before and I won’t be responding further.”
Alan Jones on 4BC News Talk on 20 January 2015:
“he and his party have simply lied to the electorate…..
would disturb 1,361ha of strategic cropping land. I’m simply saying no leader should be allowed to get away with that and some inquiry ought to be held into how much money New Hope has given the government. My information is that it’s at least $700,000….”
Full audio here.
Alan Jones on 21 January 2015:
“Campbell Newman’s flopping around like an octopus on a BBQ over his approval and Mr. Seeny’s approval of the Acland Stage Three mine. It’s a simple story. Campbell Newman told me in my own home that Stage Three would not be approved….Just before Christmas Campbell Newman announced the mine was going ahead…”
Full audio here.
Alan Jones on 4BC News Talk on 22 January 2015:
“Well as I’ve told you each day this week and I’ll keep telling you. Campbell Newman on the eve of the last election lied to me. He said there would be no Acland Stage 3….
I’m asking the question; Is lying endemic?...”
Full audio here.
Campbell Newman on 23 January 2015:
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman and Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney are suing broadcaster Alan Jones and Brisbane Radio station 4BC for aggravated damages over comments Mr Jones made in broadcasts this week during the state election campaign.
In a statement of claim filed yesterday in the Supreme Court in Brisbane and obtained by the ABC, Mr Newman and Mr Seeney claim each of them has been "greatly injured in his credit and reputation" by Mr Jones' broadcasts.
The pair are suing over three broadcasts, made on the mornings of 19, 20 and 21 January, in which Mr Jones said Mr Newman had lied to him about plans for the expansion of the New Hope coal mine at Acland on the Darling Downs in southern Queensland.
BACKGROUND
The Australian 12 January 2015:
A FINAL act of the Newman government before calling the Queensland state election was approval for a controversial coalmine development by a company that had donated $650000 to the Liberal National Party. Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney announced that the Coordinator-General had approved the Acland stage-three mine late on December 19, just as business wound down for Christmas and in the wake of the Sydney siege and multiple stabbing murders in Cairns…..
Local opponent John Gordon, of environment group Stop the Brisbane Coal Trains, said the LNP had attempted to “bury” the news before Christmas because the government knew the deal would “fail the pub test”.
Last year, SBCT released Australian Electoral Commission documents that showed the Acland mine’s parent company, Soul Pattinson, had donated $650,000 to the LNP over three years.
These were marked as being on behalf of Acland mine owner New Hope.
The donations were made in three instalments, two of $200,000 and one of $250,000, in the lead-up to the company’s submission of an environmental impact statement.
“The donations are not illegal but they fail the pub test on any measure,” Mr Gordon said.
“The problem with the donations is they were made during the election period when local state member Seeney and Premier Campbell Newman were saying the Acland stage three mine would not go ahead….
