Will Gulaptis lose the Nationals' family jewels?

National Party candidate for Page, Chris Gulaptis, should be having restless nights in the run-up to Saturday's election. The prospects of Page falling to Labor must be causing Gulaptis and his supporters, who include former Deputy Speaker and experienced head kicker Ian Causley, to have grave concerns. The Nationals have bankrolled Gulaptis's campaign to an incredible extent. Nightly commercial television news has had an appearance that it's been the filler between a steady stream of ads for Gulaptis and his counterpart Sue Page, who is contesting Richmond for the Nats. Some locals in Page have been on the receiving end of three, four and in some cases five direct mail outs from the Gulaptis team.

On top of the direct cash funding the Nats have thrown Gulaptis's way, there's been no shortage of Government members visit the electorate and throw their weight behind Gulaptis. Locals have lost count of the number of times National Party leader Mark Vaile has visited the electorate. Local wags reckon Vaile will soon have to notify the AEC of a change of address to one that's in Page. Pity he didn't do that before the rolls closed - that would have allowed him to vote for Gulaptis who resides in the electorate of Cowper and doesn't get to vote for himself.

In a move that shows all the signs of desperation Vaile, speaking at the coalition's corporate lunch in Sydney, said that Labor was a bunch of burglars intent on stealing the coalition's family jewels.

Vaile said, "We cannot allow this to be put at risk. We cannot allow a bunch of burglars to slip through the side window and steal the family jewels now that we have created them."

Who does Vaile think he is?

A local in Page remarked, "I think the biggest issue for The Nationals is that the seats they hold tend to be the poorest seats in the country. What has been happening for the last 11 years? It is only now the money has started flowing because they are desperate."

The local resident added that the issue most concerning to him was the prospect of a nuclear reactor on the NSW north coast.

AAP reports that Gulaptis's son had this to say about his father:

"He is my Dad. How embarrassing."

For further details, read AAP's report at: http://milton.yourguide.com.au/news/breaking/general/strong-economy-taken-for-granted-vaile/1090648.html

How I see the day I quit or John-in-Wonderland

These days John Howard's view of his world is a wonder to behold.

 

Howard in The Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday.

"Mr Howard yesterday said Treasurer Peter Costello would replace him unopposed as Liberal leader when he steps down, even though the choice is ultimately up to the party room.

The prime minister today defended that statement and offered a candid insight into what would happen on that fateful day.

"I will go into the party meeting and say I hereby resign as leader of the Liberal Party, and everybody will sort of say 'right o', they'll know it's coming, then I'll sit down and say 'does anybody want to nominate'," Mr Howard told reporters.

"In our party you nominate by standing and people will stand and in my view nobody else will stand, and he will be elected unopposed."

 

Who is he kidding? If the Howard Government fails to win re-election this Saturday, John Howard will be lucky to survive his concession speech without multiple bloody knives in the middle of his back. If the Coalition regains government by a severely reduced majority, John Howard will face leadership challengers aplenty before his preferred time to resign.

 

The Sydney Morning Herald articles:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/how-i-see-the-day-i-quit-howard/2007/11/20/1195321765417.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/not-faking-pm/2007/11/20/1195321747836.html

Punters odds still set for major Labor victory on NSW North Coast

Sportingbet at 3.23pm today.

 

PAGE

Janelle Saffin (ALP)   $1.53

Chris Gulaptis (NATS) $2.35

 

RICHMOND

Justine Elliot (ALP)     $1.80

Sue Page (NATS)        $6.00

 

COWPER

Not found but Centrebet has Luke Hartsuyker at 1.41 and Paul Sekfy at 2.70

 

It appears that Australia-wide more punters are betting on Labor to win government.

 

The Northern Star today:

http://www.northernstar.com.au/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3755933&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=

Nats' Chris Gulaptis promises $300k to catch a crook and Clarence Valley cracks up

The irony of today's The Daily Examiner frontpage headline was not lost on Lower Clarence residents - "Nat's $300k to catch a crook".

 

Chris Gulaptis' problematic voting record on the former Maclean Shire Council is well documented, and even though Clarence Valley Council has always been careful not to leave any printed or taped evidence of how individual councillors vote, many are still watching Cr. Gulaptis' performance on this council.

 

If the Nats want to catch law breakers they should look to their own ranks.

This party should also consider if promising money will be delivered to the Page via a specific program, the National Community Crime Prevention program, might be as dodgy as Mr. Vaile's recent promise to deliver more funds to another electorate from the now notorious Regional Partnerships program.