Issue 743
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Federal Election CoverageSurvey Shows there are too many SurveysBy Michael McDonaldEvery special interest group, from teachers to unions and the soft porn industry, has an opinion on who will take the marginal seat of Richmond. The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) was so interested it commissioned pollsters Irving Saulwick & Associates on the forests issue and found that 40% of undecided voters are more likely to vote for a party that would stop logging in old growth and high conservation value forests. A random sampling of 400 people also found that of all voters 57% regarded the environment as a very important issue, 33% fairly important and 9% not important. The 40-54 age group had the highest percentage (61) rating the environment as very important. So it is probably putting the wind up both major party candidates that the Greens' Jan Barham has yet to commit on preferences. Independent candidate Julie Nathan has decided her preferences, however, and they won't go immediately to the runner from the party in which she held office. In fact, Nathan has put Larry Anthony ahead of Jenny McAllister. She places Barham at 2, Anthony at 6, and McAllister at 8. 'As obnoxious as it is to me, I will be placing Larry Anthony ahead of Jenny McAllister,' Nathan said. 'I do this with the support of ALP members and supporters. At stake here is the integrity of the ALP in Richmond. I resigned from the ALP on September 11. I am Labor in my heart. I oppose the rank and file of the ALP being trampled on.' For her part, McAllister was concentrating on the suffering of Telstra workers under the Howard government. She said local Telstra workers had revealed that a reduction in staffing levels over the last five years has led to service delays in the region. 'The revelations come on the back of Treasurer Costello's admission that Telstra will be privatised.' She said the revelations should make people wary of the government's claims it will improve regional services before Telstra is sold. McAllister also called for one of Labor's 54 Education Priority Zones to be established in the electorate of Richmond. 'Given the local youth unemployment rate of 32.7% an area like Richmond should be among the first to qualify.' Meanwhile Anthony was having another go at ALP 'puppet master' Anthony Albanese over his recent visit to the Tweed. 'A low turnout was always likely for the factional boss's re-announcement of last week's shaky promise to address next year a problem that the Coalition fixed last month,' Anthony said. 'Tweed relocatable home parks have already removed the GST and cut rents from site fees so the true purpose of Albanese's tour probably has more to do with marshalling the Sydney union troops sent up here to campaign for his young protégée.' Anthony said. From Albanese himself, 'The voters of Richmond are angry at Larry's deceit and trickiness and his day of reckoning is fast approaching.' Yea, verily. While usually straightforward on the hustings, Nicolas de Bray Faulkner's prose style runs more to that of Thomas de Quincey on opium. His contribution this week included: 'I have taken the following actions to bring before the People of Australia the manipulation of our Constitution and the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901. Our constitution has been altered without the people's consent, Section 128 is the only means by which our constitution can be amended. 'Are you aware that our Parliament is planning a further erosion of your rights by adopting the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), which will allow foreign corporations, who won't pay tax here, to tender on such services as Education, Health, Water etc without you even being told at this election that both the Coalition and Labor support this further sellout of our Nation's common wealth? This is the new Multi-lateral Agreement.' Independent John Penhaligon saw jobs as a very critical issue. He bagged the influx of foreign capital and called for strong Australian-owned manufacturing and agricultrual sectors. 'If I am elected I will fight to set up a strong, innovative National Industry Policy that will allow both sectors to be successful, and both are needed in a strong, viable economy.' Michael McDonald is editor of The Byron Shire Echo.
Meet the CandidatesThe North Coast Environment Council will host a candidates forum on environment issues at the Great Northern Hotel at 7pm on Wednesday, November 7. The Northern Rivers Friends of the ABC have organised a 'Meet the Candidates' function at the Railway Friendly Bar, 12-2pm on Sunday, November 4. A Meet the Candidates evening will be hosted by the Ocean Shores Urban Association at 7pm on Friday November 2 at the Ocean Shores Community Centre.
Kyoto PrematureNational Party candidate for Page Ian Causley has accused the Labor Party of a 'backflip' in a 'desperate bid' for Green preference following Labor's support for signing the Kyoto Protocol. Mr Causley said signing any agreement now would be premature and could damage the Australian economy 'Right now, it is impossible to assess the cost to the Australian economy of ratifying the Protocol, particularly with the United States, which has the world's largest economy, indicating it will not do so at this stage,' Mr Causley said. 'The Anderson-Howard Government has stood up to noisy domestic interest groups on this issue by insisting on proper consideration and debate. 'A few months ago, Labor opposed the Kyoto Protocol, now it is supporting it.'
Rural YouthThe Coalition has promised to expand rural youth programs if re-elected. New initiatives under the Coalition's Young People in Rural Industries Program include: a young observer mentoring program; an export market development training and program; and dedicated website and Internet forum for young rural leaders. Elements of the program which will be extended include: young rural leaders training courses; grants program for rural youth organisations; study awards program for young farmers; improved governance skills program including company director training; sponsorship of major rural youth conferences and events; and AFFA science awards for young people involved in rural industries.
Ask FirstIndependent candidate for Page Tom Cooper says the Australian government needs to ask the people first before committing troops to the war in Afghanistan. 'Judging from recent comments on talkback radio, it seems people are opposed to the federal government's commitment, but no-one appears to be listening,' Mr Cooper said. He proposes using his MP's office funds to hold a citizen's referendum via the post to guage community support. 'If they support Australia's involvement, then I will vote accordingly in parliament. If however, they are opposed to the campaign, I will represent the will of the people. That is what being the local Member is all about,' he said.
Veterans SupportAustralian veterans with qualifying service aged over 70 would receive a Gold Card under a plan by the Coalition if re-elected. Nationals candidate for Page Ian Causley said the Coalition's 'Supporting Those Who Served' package would also index war widows income support supplement payments and initiate an independent review into eligibility for benefits under the Veterans' Entitlements Act. Mr Causley said the income support supplement would be indexed to increases in male total average weekly earnings, or the consumer price index, whichever was the greater. Who's Standing For ElectionRichmond
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Caravan GSTLabor candidate for Page Terry Flanagan has accused deputy prime minister John Anderson of being 'out of touch' after he claimed the GST on mobile homes was no longer an issue, following changes to the government's rules on GST in caravan parks. 'Ian Causley will get a rude shock if he thinks that the GST on mobile homes is not an issue for the people of this electorate,' Mr Flanagan said. 'He may have said that he opposed it when he was here in the electorate, but don't forget he voted for it in Canberra.' Education policy for dummies (and voters and candidates)
If education is an important election issue for voters - as polls regularly suggest - then there's an obvious limit how much people are willing to act on their concerns, as last Thursday's meet-the-candidates education forum in Lismore demonstrated. Only 70 people turned up to hear what the candidates had to say. About 30 were there to support their candidate, a similar number worked in education as teachers or lecturers and the remainder were students hell bent of sticking it up the major party candidates. ACTU president Sharan Burrow, and National Tertiary Education Union president Carolyn Allport were also there as guest speakers. Kicking things off, they painted a bleak picture of the current state of the education system at all levels. The Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee says universities are struggling to survive in the face of a cumulative deficit of $1.7 billion in federal funding for operating grants. Changes brought in by the Howard government have seen an average cut of 6 per cent to federal grants. Funding has failed to keep pace with increases in salaries and other university costs. Ms Allport estimates Southern Cross University has been falling behind at the rate of $3.3 million a year. 'The University cannot afford to employ teaching and general staff because of a lack of funds. The result is a huge increase in casualisation. Between 50-60 per cent of academic staff at SCU are now employed as casuals,' Ms Allport said. 'Students are the losers, because staff are not on hand to assist them. But it also affects the community - the university is the biggest employer in the area and now the vast majority of staff have no job security. This affects their ability to get a loan for a house.' A Senate report, titled Universities in Crisis, outlines a long list of troubles in tertiary education. The candidates were given two minutes each to solve those problems during a public address. The incumbent, Ian Causley, smelled a union rat, so kicked off grumbling about the imbalance in a democracy where unions talked for longer than he could. He preferred to stand by the Coalition's record on education and highlight the Government's 'Backing Australia's Ability' policy for education. Critics argue it still leaves education behind the eight ball. Labor's candidate, Terry Flanagan, spent most of his allotted time attacking the Coalition in preference to speaking about his party's much-maligned 'Knowledge Nation'. The minor parties, with the exception of Greens candidate John Corkill, offered crackpot remedies. Socialist Alliance blamed everything on big business. Edda Lampis believed the end of capitalism would solve things. The Citizens Electoral Council's Angela Griffiths found salvation in a national bank (not the National Bank). The bewildering Judy Canales from the HEMP Party admitted she didn't know much about education, but if marijuana was legalised, she was pretty sure that would fix things. Fred Nile's man, Arthur Felsch from the Christian Democratic Party was concerned about the state of education, but if God was in there, so was hope. Aside from Corkill, who was not only across his party's expansive education policy, but also able to articulate its vision, only dairy farmer Tom Cooper and service station operator Doug Behn, both standing as independents, offered more than platitudes. Behn was concerned about levels of illiteracy - something he discovered in his own son late in his school career. His other great concern was the declining investment in vocational training through TAFE. TAFE teachers who spoke later revealed their institution, which is jointly funded by the state and federal governments is in serious strife. It's a little-known problem, which needs to become a larger part of the public debate on education. Tom Cooper, in tie and tweed jacket, started off nervously in his first major speech as an aspiring politician, but soon warmed to the task. Taking the public concerns on board he offered solutions with funding provided from a cut in the generous politician's superannuation scheme, plus the money currently splashed around on advertising. His proposal scored a cheer. While the One Nation candidate from Grafton was unable to attend, independent candidate Kathryn Pollard O'Hara of Lismore chose the bizarre course of remaining outside with a megaphone haranguing people with a warning not to go in because the meeting was a 'set up'. She sat in the audience for the latter stages of question time, then vented her spleen on all and sundry forum was over in a surprising torrent of anger . But if you wanted real proof of the crisis in education, it came from some of the students in the audience. While the Trots acolytes quizzed the Christian Democrat about his attitude to gays (have a guess at the answer. Doh!), a post-graduate student who heckled throughout the evening took the microphone to ask a question which turned into a rambling dissertation in search of a point. Playing Punch to his Judy was the student 'politics officer' (no, we don't have a clue what it means either), who started shouting abuse across the room at his fellow student in a verbally violent joust. When the impatient politics officer's turn came to ask a question, he was so incoherent many suspected he was already well acquainted with the policies of the HEMP Party. Maybe older voters who remember their reckless university student days will think Ms Canales has a point. Simon Thomsen
Last Chance to Hear CandidatesVoters in Page will get a final chance to hear from the local candidates about issues affecting Lismore at a special meet the candidates evening on Monday night Organised by Lismore Council and chaired by Mayor Bob Gates the public meeting at Lismore City Hall from 7.30pm will also give residents a chance to question the candidates on their issues of importance. 'It's a return to old-style electioneering where candidates rely on their public speaking skills to convince their audience,' Cr Gates said. A questionnaire of policy issues determined by council has also been distributed to candidates and the results will be released to the public on the night. Cr Gates said policy priorities for Lismore Council included a commitment about Federal funding for Lismore's flood levee, a commitment to the rebuild of the Memorial Baths, support for regional air services and greater funding for regional initiatives. 'Health Services and the Southern Cross University are also major contributors to the economic health of Lismore and need special attention from Federal governments.' All are welcome to the free meeting on November 5, at 7.30pm. The meet the candidates evening is supported by The Echo.
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Ian Caulsey (National), Allen Jeffreys (Democrats), John Corkill (Greens) and Arthur Felsch (Christian Democrats).