 Editorial
with Simon Thomsen
Welcome to Lolly Land
Nothing gets a politician to open their wallet faster than the looming threat of unemployment.
In just a few weeks of electioneering, close to $60 million in federal funding has been pledged to the Northern Rivers region by Labor and the Coalition in the hope of winning the seats of Richmond and Page. It signals that years of cutbacks and neglect may finally be over as the political parties try and appeal to locals with itchy voting fingers.
The major parties would like to convince us there's a world of difference in the way they'd run the country. Listening to Kim Beazley's 'I'm with stupid' pledges on a range existing Coalition policies, it's questionable who runs the better conservative party.
So the difference comes down to the micro level - how will a particular party in government look after the Northern Rivers region.
While Ian Causley says we should beware of Labor 'rewarding special interest groups' his argument is disingenuous. Everyone's a 'special interest group' - dairy farmers, the timber industry, flood-prone Lismore residents or simply then people who live in this unique region.
In Richmond, where the incumbent, Community Services Minister Larry Anthony, sits on a slim and vulnerable margin, he delivered $12 million for job creation (for an area that also includes Lismore) - a huge slice of the Government's $100.5 million Sustainable Regions initiative.
Last week Labor countered by announcing $15 in grants - rolling the Coalition's $12m in with some other programs - to make this region an 'Enterprise Zone'. They tossed in $35m in no-interest loans to boot.
The Nationals also came up with $12m for long-suffering Alstonville residents towards a bypass.
Meantime, the ALP's Terry Flanagan was wooing Lismore voters with $5m for a flood levee, $6m for a clinical school at the uni and $100,000 for a legal centre. It took a while, but a pressured Coalition finally came up with $4m for the flood levee in an effort to ensure Ian Causley keeps his 3.1% margin and his backbench seat. Now, no matter who wins the ballot, Lismore wins.
So is it pork barrelling? Who cares? It's about time the Northern Rivers region received some 'big picture' federal attention and funding. If it means we change our minds and MPs when they fail to deliver, so be it.
That way our power as voters isn't taken for granted. And any party who wants to sit on the Treasury benches in Canberra will be forced to remember the needs of this region when an election comes round. We should enjoy the spoils of power along with any government.
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