Bracks Rorts Bush Of Representation
In yet further proof of the disregard in which the ALP holds country Victoria, preselections for the three country upper house regions (Western, Northern and Eastern) have resulted in all winnable positions being allocated to Melbourne based ALP hacks [See The Age: Danger flagged for ALP in bush.The six urban Laborites sent out to colonise country Victoria are Melbourne-based union officials Jaala Pulford and Gayle Tierney in Western regionl; the Housing Minister and Member for Broadmeadows Candy Broad and the member for Melbourne West Kaye Darveniza, in Northern Region; and the members for Chelsea and Monash, Matt Viney and Johan Scheffer.
The sitting member for bayside Chelsea, Matt Viney is the only one who has had the tact to at least become a nominal country Victorian, moving a few kilometres outside the urban growth boundary to Tonimbuk (20 km north east of Pakenham). The other five haven't even bothered to do that. Housing Minister Candy Broad won't even open an office in her prospective new electorate until she has been elected [See ABC: Minister rejects regional representation claims].
The voice of country Victoria, The Weekly Times, is censorious in its editorial (22/3/06):
Labor's Upper House InsultDianne Hadden, the former ALP member and MLC for Ballarat East, has said she is not surprised:
The Labor Party has insulted country Victorians with its decision to stand Melbourne-based candidates in Victoria's Upper House country seats. [...] It seems the Victorian Labor Party has abandoned country people in favour of factional deals. Dropping city-based candidates who have no involvement in rural Victoria into safe country seats shows contempt for country Victorians. Is Mr Bracks really suggesting that these candidates will spend most of their time outside Parliament in country Victoria? Or is he relying on the party's argument that half these candidates -- like himself -- grew up in the country? [...] Labor's latest decision shows the party's contempt for the country people who in 1999 put Mr Bracks in power.
"Well, I think they will be and they certainly need to be [upset]," she said.
"The proposal by the Labor Party is to have their factional deals done, so that their union puppets are ensconced in the Western Region for the Labor Party and the two Labor Party union hacks will be ensconced in Melbourne." - ABC: Claim
ALP faction 'puppets' moved into country seat
Labels: Election, Legislative Council, Rural
posted by Anonymous @ 11:54 AM
3 Comments:
It's not like this is anything new to country Victorians though. The billion dollar Bracks Games these past weeks have been a reminder to all of us that when it comes to spending, the Bracks government's priorities are always on big spectacles for their inner city chums. While country Victoria went without Police, Bracks and his cronies got to hob nobd around with Her Majesty, half a dozen other members of the royal family and the entire sporting elite. Real egalitarianism that was!!!!!!!
Stupid country people deserve it for helping Steve Bracks winning the election.
I encourage all country Victorians to make sure Steve is made accountable at the next state election.
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