Senator Steve Fielding gets personal on the Internet

Australian Senator Steve Fielding from Family First decided to become very personal at the expense of one individual who allegedly has a problem with alcohol.

Fielding mentioned the man by age and home town (mercifully mis-spelling same) on his own political website.
Having dropped any mention of "allegedly" which was contained in the online news article he also linked and pre-empting any court judgment, he sent out a press release which went on to say:
"This man is a disgrace and not only deserves to lose his licence for life, he should also be sent to jail where he can think about the danger he poses to the community."

He then tweeted about the man at senatorsteve so that no corner of the Australian Internet remained uninformed about this particular bloke.

Of course if you were to spend a little computer time on the subject it's possible that you would actually find the full identity of the person being railed about. Especially after Victorian magistrate court lists are published.

I can see Ol' Stevo being slapped with a writ if he keeps this up.

rod3000 sums up the Aussie attitude to Fielding quite well: "I really hope someone has pointed out to @senatorsteve just how much media attention you can get by sailing around the world by yourself"

Causley gets a well-deserved wigging in run up to the federal election

Apparently there were a few surprised faces on the NSW North Coast when the Nationals former Deputy-Speaker and former MP for Page Ian Causley claimed credit for money promised by Kevin Rudd during the 2007 federal election campaign and delivered by the Rudd Government along with further funding to date.

On the strength of a conditional election promise by John Howard in that same election campaign, never delivered because he and his government were not re-elected, Causley claimed credit for $18 million in federal funding in his letter to the editor published in The Daily Examiner on 11 May 2010.

Labor supporter Bill O'Donnell called this ploy in the same newspaper on 17 May:

Preposterous Causley

WHAT an extraordinary letter by Ian Causley trying to claim that the $18 million being spent on Grafton Hospital was his initiative.

Let's look at the facts.

After 11 years in John Howard's government the Nationals had delivered next to nothing in health spending in Page.

In fact, there was a report in the Daily Telegraph by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in 2007 that between 1995/6 and 2005/6 the Federal Government hospital funding decreased from 45 per cent to 41 per cent, while state funding rose from 46 per cent to 51 per cent.

The fact is that after 11 years, John Howard turns up at Grafton Hospital a few weeks before an election he knows he's lost and says I've got $18 million for you.

He knows he doesn't have to deliver because he will be gone.

It was a ploy to try to save Page for the Nationals.

Mind you, that's after 11 years of nothing.

It must be galling for Hartsuyker and Causley to see Janelle Saffin finally delivering the $18 million.

Grafton Hospital upgrade is up and running, with an additional $1.2 million added on.

Fifteen million dollars at Lismore for Lismore Base Hospital for an integrated cancer care centre and $9.1 million for enhanced cancer care service, including second linear accelerator and cancer patient and carer accommodation.

Five million dollars for Grafton Super Clinic.

The list is too long to enumerate, and we're only talking about health spending.

This morning I heard Luke Hartsuyker talking on ABC radio saying he hopes the Federal Budget has money for roads and hospitals.

What hypocrisy.

What did he ever do for hospitals and roads when he was in government?

He cut one billion dollars from hospital funding and in 11 years only spent 1.1billion on the Pacific Highway.

Rudd Labor has promised $3.3 billion after two years in office towards finishing the highway's upgrade.

The fact is that in 11 years in government the Nationals were incapable of delivering anything to the Page and Cowper electorates.

Perhaps they were too busy holed up with Howard, Costello and Abbot planning to abolish the Industrial Relations Commission and to cut workers of their hard-won rights built up over 100 years.

I have a feeling the elephant is still in the room, if they are ever re-elected.

What a breath of fresh air to finally have a hardworking member for Page, with the ability to attract funding to the electorate.

It's a pity Maclean Hospital isn't still in Page because the National Party member for Cowper has shown us his ability to attract funding to his electorate for anything is non-existent.

BILL O'DONNELL, Maclean

"Read my lying lips"

Well Oz Opposition Leader 'Phoney Tony' Abbott certainly made the headlines this week after admissions in an ABC TV 7.30 Report interview.
But don't just believe what the print media says, go to the interview and enjoy being told by Abbott that voters are expected to know when he is not being truthful!

TONY ABBOTT: Well, again, I think that most of us know when we're talking to people or when we're listening to people, I think we know when we can put absolute weight on what's being said and when it's just the give and take of standard conversation.
[From transcript of 7.30 Report interview Abbott quizzed on mixed messages aired on 17th May 2010]
The man's a classic drongo......

Abbott under fire for 'gospel truth' gaffe

ABC Online - Lyndal Curtis

Tony Abbott has come under fire after saying only his 'carefully prepared scripted remarks' could be taken as ...

Don't believe everything I say - Tony Abbott

Herald Sun - Phillip Hudson

TONY Abbott says voters should not believe every pledge he makes unless it is written down, in which case it's the "gospel truth". ...

Only believe me if it is 'scripted': Abbott

The Australian - Samantha Maiden

KERRY'S curse has struck a second political leader venturing into "7:30 report land" with Tony Abbott last night admitting he didn't always tell the "gospel ...

Don't believe all I say, Abbott admits

The Australian - Brendan Nicholson

TONY Abbott has declared to a national television audience that he sometimes promised too much in the heat of a debate and only his formal, scripted remarks ...

Abbott admits you can't always believe him

The Age - Michelle Grattan

TONY Abbott has admitted that what he says in the heat of the political moment can't be taken at face value or believed as a commitment. ...

Read my lying lips: Abbott admits you can't believe everything he says

Sydney Morning Herald - Phillip Coorey

In an extraordinary admission last night, the Opposition Leader said his only utterances that should be regarded as ''gospel truth'' were carefully prepared ...

Own goal for Abbot in election race‎

TVNZ - In a political own goal, conservative leader Tony Abbott, a former university boxer who once trained for the Catholic priesthood, told a television ...

McDonald's versus Yamba: it's one minute to midnight for this small coastal town

It's one minute to midnight for the small NSW North Coast town of Yamba.
Will the town prevail or will the foreign multinational subsidiary McDonald's Australia?

From The Daily Examiner today:

BY THE end of today, the people of the Clarence Valley should know if a McDonald's fast food outlet will be built at Yamba....

Now it is time for the councillors to decide.

This afternoon the seven councillors who have not declared a pecuniary interest will vote on the application....

Councillors yesterday declined to say which way they would vote, saying they would go into this afternoon's meeting with an open mind.

Deputy Mayor, Cr Jim Simmons, said while he had no comment before the meeting, he could see several issues with the development.

"The increased traffic to Treelands Drive is a concern of mine, however, I feel that the opening hours of the business are unjustified," he said.

"The midnight opening hours have the potential to create social problems.

"It will be interesting to listen to the debate and I will be making my decision in the chamber."

The deputations presented at last Tuesday's Environment, Economic and Community Committee meeting changed Cr Craig Howe's opinion on the matter.

"Before last week's meeting, I was sitting on the pro-McDonald's side of the fence," he said.

"The deputations that were presented were very good and drew attention to several potential issues.

"The applicant has done everything correctly. The application was made for a business to be operational in an area that is correctly zoned. We need to make a decision that will be in the public's best interest. That decision is not always popular, but will hopefully be right in the long run."

Councillors Ian Dinham and Pat Comben also declined to give a definite answer, saying that they wanted to hear all of the pros and cons and wanted to consider all of the information before they cast their vote.

Cr Ian Tiley refused to comment, saying he preferred to keep all debate confined to the walls of the chamber.

Councillors Sue Hughes and Margaret McKenna were unavailable for comment as The Daily Examiner was going to print.....