From where the nearest suburb and the city proper meet My window sill is level with the faces in the street Drifting past To the beat of weary feet while I sorrow for the owners of those faces in the street - Henry Lawson Faces in the Street
Labor will lose many seats in Qld in the 2010 Federal Election because of the failure of the Bligh State Labor government.
For example the seat of Wright (margin 3.8%) – will be won by the Scott Buchholz (Liberal National Party).
Scott Buchholz is actually a National (not a Liberal) candidate whom local Liberals think is a blow-in because he worked for Barnaby Joyce; but Labor is so ‘on the nose’ that Buchholz will win. Labor have barely even tried, not even bothering to letter box some of the semi-rural parts of the seat.
The main reason Labor is so unpopular in this seat and the neighbouring seats of Bowman, Forde, Fadden and Rankin is the forced amalgamation by Labor of the shire councils of Boonah, Beaudesert and Logan into the Scenic Rim Shire council. This may even have an impact on the safe Labor seat of Blair which is centred on the city of Ipwich (held by Shayne Neumann, ALP).
This was done by the Labor state government on classic economic rationalist lines but proved to be inefficient, wasteful, corrupt and therefore hugely unpopular. For example all three union delegates on the Boonah shire council were made redundant in the process of amalgamation. This was because union membership, as Labor forced the amalgamation, went from the low teens to the high 80% and so became a threat to management of the amalgamation process. The local mayor (Brent, National Party) lost his majority on the new shire council and may get be rolled by Liberals as corruption and inefficiency grows. The economic rationalists in the state ALP government derailed a growing urban area and may return it tothat of a backwater of social decay, environmental degradation and unemployment.
Ironically, the seat of Wright is a new seat named after famous poet Judith Wright who stood for 2 hours in the blazing sun on 22 October 1977 speaking against uranium mining and export while 5,000 people were itching to march against the State national party government after years of neglect in education, health, and attacks on blacks, workers, women and gays.
When Judith Wright stopped speaking, we marched ingto the valley of death and 418 people were arrested and thrown in jail.
The day of the political street march was over, for several years. But we won it back despite lack of support from the ALP.
Now we will be back on the street again, after the failure of Labor.
And here are the results just to hand
Results in predicted outcomes
Electorate Held By Margin 2PP % Swing Predict
Forde ALP 3.4 51.7 5.0% to LNP LNP GAIN
Bowman L/NP 0.0 60.0 10.0% to LNP LNP
Fadden L/NP 10.4 64.9 4.4% to LNP LNP
Blair ALP 7.0 53.3 3.7% to LNP ALP
Wright L/NP 3.8 59.3 5.5% to LNP LNP WIN
Rankin ALP 11.7 55.1 6.5% to LNP ALP RETAIN
So, to Cameron Dick [State Member for Greenslopes], and his offsider, the young lawyer who thinks that socialism is something for Uni debating clubs, I say this.
Firstly, you are right, socialism is for people at Universities to discuss because the wheels are falling off capitalism .
And Cameron, about the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), you said that you don’t have control over Julia, well mate you don’t have control over Anna either.
While your mob has been making workplaces unsafe – remember the that the roof of the Cooparoo Primary school hall that we voted in collapsed during construction – and privatising everything you can put your hands on, we in the unions have been taking a good look at your laws, they are nearly as useless as the LNP, mate.
Oh and by the way, you remember I asked you and your mate whether it is lawful to kill a blackfella in Queensland and you said a jury acquitted Snr Sgt Hurley – well mate I have news for you, Mr Hurley, the lawyers (his and yours – the attorney general’s i mean) and his jury have a whole more to contend with.
That story is unfinished business, from our side anyway.
One final word, Cameron Dick (barrister), your hold on the seat of Greenslopes is not looking too flash, mate. Better pull up your socks and do something about the injustice served out to Cameron Doomadgee under your government’s 20 year rule, his family and the people on Palm.
Ian Curr
August 21 2010