Queensland Election: Count continues in 5 key seats as Labor inches closer to victory



AS Labor celebrates one of the biggest swings in Australia political history that swept premier Campbell Newman and his first-term government from power, the results are still out for some seats in Queensland. 

Counting in five seats will determine if Labor wins majority government in Queensland.

Counting was still underway in many seats across the state, with Labor projected to win 43 of the 45 seats it needs to form government in the 89-seat parliament.

The LNP held 39 seats, Katter’s Australia Party held two and independent Peter Wellington retained his seat.

Labor only needs to win two more seats to form majority government in the Sunshine State.

One of those seats is increasingly likely to be Maryborough where Labor’s Bruce Saunders was leading leading the LNP’s Anne Maddern by about 1200 votes.

Labor has a distinct chance of picking up Whitsunday as well where the LNP’s Jason Costigan was a mere 84 votes ahead Bronwyn Taha.

Less than 1000 votes were also separating Labor and LNP in Mansfield, in Brisbane’s south, and Glass House in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

The seat of Gaven on the Gold Coast is increasingly likely to be retained by the LNP, where the party was ahead of Labor by over 2000 votes on Sunday afternoon.

The Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) says it has directed more staff to the five seats to speed up the counts and find out the overall result more quickly.

“The ECQ is aware that it’s crucial to determine the outcome in those marginal seats quickly so the wheels of government can begin to turn again,” an spokesman told AAP.

Labor leader Annastacia Palaszczuk told the party faithful she was “very hopeful” of forming government.

Votes that were cast on Saturday, as well as pre-poll and postal votes, would continue to be counted on Sunday night and Monday morning.

The official deadline for postal votes is 10 days after the election, but the wait for a victor is unlikely to drag out that long.

If Labor claims victory, it will be an extraordinary comeback after the party was written off three years ago.

The decimated LNP has already lost its leader, Campbell Newman, who announced his retirement from politics on Saturday night when he was ousted from his Ashgrove electorate.

Tully tipping a hung parliament in nailbiter Queensland poll finish

Paul Tully -
 tipping close vote
ELECTION analyst Paul Tully is tipping the likelihood of a hung parliament after all the votes are counted in today's state election.

Cr Tully correctly predicted Labor would win seven seats in 2012 but said today's election "has become tighter and more-difficult to predict" and there were "six key things at play" in deciding the result.

He said Premier Campbell Newman may have overplayed his hand by suing Alan Jones for defamation.

"It reeks of the days of the Joh era with stopper writs and legal threats," he said.

"The LNP 'Just Vote 1' strategy may backfire in several key seats, giving the edge to the ALP in those seats.

Cr Tully said the LNP/Liberals had become "the laughing stock of Australia with the decision of Prime Minister Abbott to give a knighthood to the Greek-born husband of the Queen of England".

"That stupidity might cost the LNP 1 to 2% percent of the vote in Queensland," he said.

"Campbell Newman made unproven allegations (on bikie gang donations) against Labor and then said it was up to the ALP to disprove the allegations - a strange understanding of the law, politics and fair play.

"Annastacia Palaszczuk and the ALP have run a very professional grass roots campaign with brilliant electioneering which will 'bring home in the bacon' in must-win seats like Brisbane Central, Mount Coot-tha, Ipswich and Ipswich West.

"The latest polling shows both major parties neck and neck."

Cr Tully said he had the ALP on a reasonably comfortable 37 seats "with a reasonable likelihood of winning another four" for a total of 41.

"The LNP would be left with 44 seats, one seat short of an absolute majority in the parliament.

"There are likely to be two Katter Party MPs and two independents.

"As a party must win 45 seats to gain an absolute majority out of 89 seats, I predict the likelihood of a hung parliament."

Tony Abbott my be finished: Disaster poll and shock Queensland result fuel leadership rumblings

Tony Abbott - Job on the brink


Abbott has lessons to learn from Queensland poll







Tony Abbott - Not happy
Is the clock ticking for Abbott’s leadership?

CAN Prime Minister Tony Abbott come back from this popularity slump?

As his personal approval rating nosedives to 27 per cent, the situation places Liberal party members between a rock and a hard place.

Changing leaders is a big risk: Should they stick with the man Australia loves to hate, or take the same risk the ALP took prior to the last election and change leaders? That choice didn’t pay off for the ALP.

On the surface, it appears the front bench is standing tall behind its leader.

Today both Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop reaffirmed their support for the PM, both uttering the same phrase on separate occasions: “The Prime Minster has my support.”

Attorney-General George Brandis has also recently defended his boss.

“A few anonymous voices and a couple of people who have been prepared to put their head up do not constitute a basis to unsettle a prime ministership.”

“We are going to see from here on a prime minister who already is very consultative being even more consultative,” he stated this week.

Supporting the PM.
Attorney-General George Brandis.
But the rumblings have become louder from backbenchers who fear their future after the next election.

“We can’t continue as we are. We are getting bad feedback,” said Liberal back bencher Jane Prentice, looking at the federal impact of the Queensland election wipe-out on Saturday night.

After conceding there were lessons to be learned from Queensland’s bloodbath election, there is talk Tony Abbott could have as little as a week to turn things around.

“The Liberal brand is toxic mainly due to Tony Abbott,” Independent Senator Nick Xenophon toldABC News on Sunday.

“I think Tony Abbott has until the end of this week to turn things around,” Xenophon said.
The Leader of the
Opposition, Bill Shorten.

Greens leader Christine Milne.
And those in opposition have also been quick to jump in on leadership speculation in the past week.

“If they think it’s the salesman, not what they’re selling, they will have learned nothing. It’s the arrogance which really frustrates people.” Opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten said.

“This government made a hue and cry about Labor changing leaders from Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd and now they’re doing the exact same debate in even a quicker time.”

Greens leader Christine Milne was quick to blame the party, not the man.

“It’s not just Tony Abbott, it’s the Abbott government policies that are the problem. They have to reject the cruel and arrogant way they have been leaning on the poor.”

One federal MP has predicted the government would face a similar fate to Campbell Newman’s first-term government and another government minister is reported to have warned: “Abbott is finished”.

Poll Blunder: ECQ's election count for Lockyer removed owing to error

Lockyer's election candidates are Clare Rudkin,
 Ian Rickuss, Steve Leese, David Neuendorf
 and Pauline Hanson.

UPDATE, 11AM: The Electoral Commission Queensland (ECQ) is in the process of fixing the error and has now taken down the two-party preferred vote from their site.


EARLIER: The Count in the seat of Lockyer was stuffed up by the Electoral Commission Queensland (ECQ) on their website earlier today, Cr Paul Tully says.

This morning the ECQ site had the two-party preferred count as a contest between the LNP's Ian Rickuss and Katter's Australian Party (KAP) candidate David Neuendorf when it should have been between the LNP and One Nation's Pauline Hanson.

Mr Rickuss had polled 33.06% of the primary vote with Ms Hanson in second spot on 27.6% of the primary vote after 71.76% of the count.

Mr Neuendorf had only 7.51% of the primary vote and was well behind.

Cr Paul Tully, one of Queensland's leading election experts, sent ABC election analyst Antony Green a message to alert him to the error.

"The ECQ has got the two-party preferred figure entirely wrong in Lockyer," Cr Tully said.

"They have the final contest as being between the LNP and KAP when it is really between the LNP and One Nation parties.

"To show how stupid their mistake is, in the two party preferred final figure they have got Ian Rickuss on 7130 votes, when he actually received 7809 primary votes."

Poll Update: 399 votes could determine the outcome of the election: Tully

Paul Tully - Predicts 399 votes
could determine the outcome
 of the election.

ELECTION expert Cr Paul Tully says that fewer than 400 votes could determine the outcome of what has been an historic state election.

Cr Tully, who tipped a hung parliament in his pre-election preview in the QT, said the current state of play had Labor on 43 seats, the LNP with 40, KAP on two and the independent Peter Wellington home in Nicklin.

Mansfield, Maryborough and Whitsunday remain in doubt.

"The LNP cannot win the election in its own right," Cr Tully said.

"If they win all three seats which are in doubt and the Katter's Australian Party sided with them, which Bob Katter said on Channel 7 last night that he would not do, this would give the LNP 45 seats on the floor of the House - a real hung parliament.

"The independent Peter Wellington has publicly said he will not support a minority LNP government.

"If two or three of the doubtful seats go to Labor, that would give the ALP a majority government with either 45 or 46 seats.

"If Labor wins only one of the doubtful seats, it could form government with 44 seats and presumably Peter Wellington as speaker."

The latest official two-candidate preferred margins in the three seats according to the Electoral Commission Queensland show the ALP ahead by 25 votes in Mansfield, the ALP 685 votes ahead in Maryborough and the LNP ahead by 84 votes in Whitsunday.

Cr Tully said 50 % of these margins, plus one, was enough to swing the vote the other way.

"Based on the current margins, it would require 13 votes to reverse the current trend in Mansfield, 343 votes in Maryborough and 43 votes in Maryborough, a total of 399," he said.

"So, just 399 votes could ultimately determine the outcome of the 2015 election when it goes down to the wire with all postal and absentee votes in."

Fast food shock: McDonald's sales worst in 10 years

Huge competition in the US and the global
trend towards healthier eating have
 hurt McDonald's sales.
Sales at McDonald's fast food outlets have recorded their worst results in over 10 years. 

Global sales at the fast food giant dropped 2.5 per cent in June and July. 

Not since March 2003, when global sales plunged 3.7 per cent in consecutive months, has the world's biggest restaurant chain suffered such losses. 

Shenzhen McDonalds, China: Sales have been hit hard
 after a McDonald's supplier was accused
of repackaging old meat.
Australia is part of McDonald's Asia Pacifc Middle East and Africa operation, which was the worst performing sector in the second quarter of 2014. Its sales declined 7.3 per cent. 

After similarly disappointing first quarter results, Australia was singled out as a poor performing market in April. 

McDonald's chief executive Don Thompson described the Japanese and Australian markets as weak. 

"Looking forward, McDonald's is focused on stabilising key priority markets including the US, Germany, Australia and Japan," he said. 

A spokesperson for McDonald's in Australia said: "Despite a challenging environment the Australian business is still strong and growing as we continue to offer our customers top quality food and great value." 

The disappointing global results in June and July come on the back of food scares in Asia, huge competition in the US and the global trend towards healthier eating. 

It has been a horror couple of months for the multinational. 

In July, McDonald's came under fire after it emerged that its workers in China were repackaging expired meat, prompting food safety concerns. 

McDonald's subsequently stopped using the supplies from the OSI plant in Shanghai, preventing many of its Asian restaurants from serving marquee sections of its menu, including Chicken McNuggets and Big Macs. 

Then on July 31, McDonald's was ordered to pay damages of $27 million after claims of relaxed security led to the deaths of two Texan teenagers. 

One of the American victims, Denton Ward, 18, was beaten to death by a mob at a McDonald's in Texas in 2012. 

His partner, Lauren Crisp, 18, was killed in a car accident as she tried to get Mr Ward to hospital. 

The families of both the victims sued McDonald's, claiming that the chain did not protect the teenagers at its franchise in College Station, Texas. 

The Texas state court jury awarded Ward's family $US16 million and Crisp's family $US11 million. 

A McDonald's spokeswoman said that they will appeal against the decision. 

“We respectfully disagree with the jury’s verdict,” she told Bloomberg. 

In Australia, McDonald's has come under criticism from health groups for its home delivery service, which is part of its strategy to stabilise the Australian market. 

Queensland's Australian Medical Association president Dr Shaun Rudd said he was concerned about easier access to junk food. 

"I think unfortunately they'll sell more food and that means there's going to be more burgers and more fries eaten by the population there, and they are already extremely overweight." 

Despite these concerns the rollout of home-delivery in some suburbs across Australia has been a commercial success, with McDonald's planning on extending the service. 

"Our customers have often said they like the idea of Macca’s delivery so we’re currently trialling it in a number of our restaurants," a McDonald's statement said. 

"We will look to extend the service once these trials are completed." 

The chain has also come under fire, along with its competitors, for advertising to children. 

A Cancer Council study found that a loophole in the advertising code, allowed them to advertise higher-calorie adults meals to children. 

“Our study found foods like KFC’s Mint Choc Krusher and McDonald’s Chicken 'n’ Cheese Burger, which aren’t children’s meals, can still be advertised to children," the Cancer Council study revealed. 

Meanwhile, some of McDonald's competitors are reaping the rewards of its troubles. 

Burger King Worldwide posted its third consecutive report of sales growth in the US and Canada. 

While investors and analysts have pointed to the success of US-based stores such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and In-N-Out Burger for adopting a limited menu over the "all in one" approach of McDonald's. 

McDonald's has more over 35,600 restaurants around the world, 19 per cent of which are owned by the company. 

By 2016, the chain is seeking to franchise a further 1500 of its company-owned stores, primarily outside the US market. 

Shares of the Illinois-based McDonald’s dropped 21 cents to $US93.10 at the close of trade on Wall Street on Friday. 


Food scares in Asia: Huge competition in the US and the global trend towards healthier eating have 

Sales at McDonald's fast food outlets have recorded their worst results in over 10 years. 

Global sales at the fast food giant dropped 2.5 per cent in June and July. 

Not since March 2003, when global sales plunged 3.7 per cent in consecutive months, has the world's biggest restaurant chain suffered such losses. Australia is part of McDonald's Asia Pacifc Middle East and Africa operation, which was the worst performing sector in the second quarter of 2014. Its sales declined 7.3 per cent. 

After similarly disappointing first quarter results, Australia was singled out as a poor performing market in April. 

McDonald's chief executive Don Thompson described the Japanese and Australian markets as weak. 

"Looking forward, McDonald's is focused on stabilising key priority markets including the US, Germany, Australia and Japan," he said. 

A spokesperson for McDonald's in Australia said: "Despite a challenging environment the Australian business is still strong and growing as we continue to offer our customers top quality food and great value." 

The disappointing global results in June and July come on the back of food scares in Asia, huge competition in the US and the global trend towards healthier eating. 

It has been a horror couple of months for the multinational. 

In July, McDonald's came under fire after it emerged that its workers in China were repackaging expired meat, prompting food safety concerns. 

McDonald's subsequently stopped using the supplies from the OSI plant in Shanghai, preventing many of its Asian restaurants from serving marquee sections of its menu, including Chicken McNuggets and Big Macs. 

Then on July 31, McDonald's was ordered to pay damages of $27 million after claims of relaxed security led to the deaths of two Texan teenagers. 

One of the American victims, Denton Ward, 18, was beaten to death by a mob at a McDonald's in Texas in 2012. 

His partner, Lauren Crisp, 18, was killed in a car accident as she tried to get Mr Ward to hospital. 

The families of both the victims sued McDonald's, claiming that the chain did not protect the teenagers at its franchise in College Station, Texas. 

The Texas state court jury awarded Ward's family $US16 million and Crisp's family $US11 million. 

A McDonald's spokeswoman said that they will appeal against the decision. 

“We respectfully disagree with the jury’s verdict,” she told Bloomberg. 

In Australia, McDonald's has come under criticism from health groups for its home delivery service, which is part of its strategy to stabilise the Australian market. 

Queensland's Australian Medical Association president Dr Shaun Rudd said he was concerned about easier access to junk food. 

"I think unfortunately they'll sell more food and that means there's going to be more burgers and more fries eaten by the population there, and they are already extremely overweight." 

Despite these concerns the rollout of home-delivery in some suburbs across Australia has been a commercial success, with McDonald's planning on extending the service. 

"Our customers have often said they like the idea of Macca’s delivery so we’re currently trialling it in a number of our restaurants," a McDonald's statement said. 


"We will look to extend the service once these trials are completed." 

The chain has also come under fire, along with its competitors, for advertising to children. 

A Cancer Council study found that a loophole in the advertising code, allowed them to advertise higher-calorie adults meals to children. 

“Our study found foods like KFC’s Mint Choc Krusher and McDonald’s Chicken 'n’ Cheese Burger, which aren’t children’s meals, can still be advertised to children," the Cancer Council study revealed. 

Meanwhile, some of McDonald's competitors are reaping the rewards of its troubles. 

Burger King Worldwide posted its third consecutive report of sales growth in the US and Canada. 

While investors and analysts have pointed to the success of US-based stores such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and In-N-Out Burger for adopting a limited menu over the "all in one" approach of McDonald's. 

McDonald's has more over 35,600 restaurants around the world, 19 per cent of which are owned by the company. 

By 2016, the chain is seeking to franchise a further 1500 of its company-owned stores, primarily outside the US market. 

Shares of the Illinois-based McDonald’s dropped 21 cents to $US93.10 at the close of trade on Wall Street on Friday.

Queensland election: Newman congratulates Palaszczuk

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman's career
 in politics is over after losing his seat of Ashgrove. 
OUTGOING Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has called Annastacia Palaszczuk to congratulate her on the Labor party's success in Saturday's state election.

LABOR is poised to return to government just one term after the Liberal National Party crushed it in 2012. 

The ALP on Saturday won at least 43 of the 45 seats it needs to form government in its own right.Mr Newman, who lost his own seat of Ashgrove to former Labor minister Kate Jones, on Saturday night declared his political career over.

But he will remain as premier until the poll is finalised.

"Today I phoned @AnnastaciaMP to congratulate her on her candidates' success. I'll continue as caretaker until the result is known #qldpols," Mr Newman tweeted on Sunday.

The Queensland Electoral Commission is continuing the vote count.

Mr Newman is not expected to make a public appearance on Sunday.

Holy Moli - This crook's at it again.

Interstate cooperation results in injunction


A joint operation between Queensland and South Australian regulators has resulted in a successful Federal Court injunction against itinerant door-to-door tree-lopper Elevisi Moli.

The Federal Circuit Court in Brisbane yesterday granted an injunction under the Australian Consumer Law against Mr Moli in relation to breaches of the unsolicited consumer agreement provisions.

Mr Moli was prosecuted by the Queensland Office of Fair Trading in 2011 and 2013 for failing to give details of his identity, failing to tell the consumers he had to leave on request, failing to give written agreements that complied with the law and misrepresenting that he had full insurance when he did not.

He was subsequently fined and was ordered to pay substantial compensation to elderly customers on the Bayside and Sunshine Coast respectively.

However, Mr Moli more recently continued this conduct in South Australia.

As a result of shared intelligence and cooperation between Qld and SA regulators, Mr Moli was located and served with the Federal Circuit Court application.

The injunction has force nationally and orders Mr Moli to stop committing offences. Failure to comply will result in a contempt of court order.

- Queensland Government News.

$100 Bill

It's a slow day in the small town of Roma and the streets are deserted.

Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody is living on credit.

A tourist visiting the area drives through town, stops at the motel, and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs to pick one for the night.

As soon as he walks upstairs, the motel owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.

(Stay with this ..... and pay attention.)


The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, the Co-op.

The guy at the Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her "services" on credit.

The hooker rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill with the hotel owner.

The hotel proprietor then places the $100 back on the counter so the traveller will not suspect anything.

At that moment, the traveller comes down the stairs, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, picks up the $100 bill and leaves.

No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole town now thinks that they are out of debt and there is a false atmosphere of optimism and glee.

And that, my friends, is how a "stimulus package" works!

Scott Morrison - Australia's most-heartless and worst Immigration Minister since World War II


Ari Illingworth, 4, with grandad Mark
 Illingworth and mum Eunsil 'Chloe' Park.















Ari Illingworth was born here, making her an
 Australian citizen, and she started Prep this year.
A FAMILY has made a last-minute plea for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to overturn an order that will force a four-year-old Brisbane girl out of the country.

Ari Illingworth was born here, making her an Australian citizen, and started Prep this year but her South Korean mum Eunsil Park, known as Chloe, has been ruled to have no right to remain following the breakup of her relationship with Ari's father in 2010.

Ari's heartbroken grandparents have called on the Minister to use his discretionary powers to allow them to stay so their "Angel Girl'' can grow up an Aussie.

"No one seems to care about what is best for the child in all this,'' Ari's grandfather Mark Illingworth said.

Ms Park, 31, has until next Monday to buy a one-way ticket to South Korea and must be on a flight within a week after that. If she fails to do, officials have warned her she can betaken into detention immediately.

"She is frightened out of her brain,'' Mr Illingworth said.

Ms Park has no home or job to go to and Mr Illingworth said Ari, who is almost 5, would be going to an unfamiliar culture. The family fears both mum and daughter, as the single-parent family would be stigmatised and shamed and discriminated against in South Korea.

"Her whole life has been in Australia.''

"It's still a matter of shame to be a single parent and it would show up on her documentation when she applied for work,'' Mr Illingworth said. "And as a child of mixed race, Ari would be ostracised or ridiculed.

"As a grandfather, I am out of words and it beggars belief that this could happen," Mr Illingworth said. "If they won't allow a woman gainfully employed and paying tax and rent with an Australian child and supportive Australian family to stay in Australia - then just who would be allowed to stay?"

Ms Park came to Australia eight years ago as a student and met Mr Illingworth's son Brett 11 months later. They split up in 2010.

Mr Illingworth said he and Ari's grandmother Sharon Smith were distraught at the thought of losing the little girl.

"We are really close. I want to do the things that grandparents do with their grand kids, taking her to the beach to build sandcastles and all that.''

Ms Park, who came to Australia eight years ago as a student, has been working for the past three years and Ari has settled well into her Prep class at Macgregor State School, where she has lots of friends. Mr Illingworth has offered to provide an assurance of support for them if required.

"I want to stay in Australia with my daughter,'' Ms Park said. "This is our home. I really don't know what to do.''

Mr Morrison rejected a previous application to intervene in the case, and the Department of Immigration last month refused to forward a second request to his office, saying nothing had changed, but Mr ­Illingworth has now made a final desperate appeal ­directly to the Minister, and local federal MP for Forde, Bert van Manen has also made representations.

Mr Morrison's office last night declined to comment.

In his latest letter to Mr Morrison, Mr Illingworth says: "Minister this case has slipped through the cracks in the system and we, the grandparents, implore you to let her stay in Australia to keep doing what she is doing. Working and bring up a beautiful child.''


13.3.14

COMMENT: The Immigration Minister Scott Morrison is proving to be the most uncaring, unreasonable, heartless and incompetent Minister for Immigration since World War II.  How he can possibly fail to intervene in this case, under the special powers which he possesses, absolutely beggars belief.  He is either a complete political troglodyte or he is mindlessly following his policy advisers' disgraceful advice, or both.

Coca-Cola's massive Australian ripoff - Money for nothing!

Coca-Cola Amatil accused of draining Springbrook National Park on the Gold Coast





 A row has developed between Springbrook
 and Coca-Cola Amatil over the global
 organisation’s water-pumping operation from
 Purlingbrook Falls to produce its Mount
 Franklin spring water. 


CASCADING streams tumbling over Purlingbrook Falls are the kind of thing money can't buy – and Coca-Cola Amital doesn’t have to.

The international soft drink giant is under fire from locals in the tiny Gold Coast community of Springbrook over its water-pumping operation to produce Mount Franklin spring water.

Coca-Cola has a lease to extract water from groundwater at Springbrook – and they don’t have to pay a cent.

Under the terms of the agreement, Coca-Cola are restricted to operating from 8.30am-5pm six days a week and can take two tanker loads each day – but there is no limit on how much water they are allowed to take per visit.

Acting Gold Coast Mayor Donna Gates hinted that it might be time to renegotiate the terms of Coca-Cola’s arrangement on Springbrook.

“It’s a very old approval and it probably needs to be updated,” she said.

“It’s possible that a new material change of use application might be needed to alter their operations up there.”

The council’s development compliance department is now investigating complaints by Springbrook residents about Coca-Cola’s operations, but Councillor Gates said there was no evidence the company was breaching its obligations.

Earlier, The Courier-Mail reported residents of the tiny Gold Coast community of Springbrook are in a fizz over Coca-Cola Amatil’s water-pumping operation to produce its Mount Franklin spring water.

Springbrook is home to Purlingbrook Falls, one of Queensland’s most spectacular waterfalls, and the World Heritage-listed Springbrook National Park.

Coke has had approval for the operation since 2006, but residents say Springbrook’s creeks and streams have never looked worse.

Even after recent rain, the iconic Purlingbrook Falls looked more like a trickle yesterday, while other nearby watercourses have gone from cascading creeks to stagnant swamps as Coca-Cola continues to extract thousands of litres of water every day.

Ceris Ash has lived on the mountain for more than a decade and said immediate action was needed.

“They are threatening the world heritage values of Springbrook National Park,” she said.

Ms Ash said a dry summer was all the more reason for Coca-Cola to scale back its operations.

“They might say it’s not all down to them if we’ve had dry weather, but surely that needs to be taken in to account,” she said.

“You can’t just continue draining water away at the same level if there is less water around.”

Resident complaints to Coca-Cola have been defended by the company.

A Coca-Cola spokeswoman yesterday said the Springbrook operation followed guidelines.

“CCA extracts groundwater from its site in the Springbrook area and is compliant with conditions set by the Gold Coast City Council,” she said.

In her latest sponsorship deal, Aussie supermodel Jennifer Hawkins has given Mount Franklin sparkling water a fresh new look.

“They are taking their water out of the ground, but that all still feeds into the creeks and streams that go through the national park and down to the coast.”

“We are just one of 50 or more bore sites in the area, and we certainly support a sustainable water plan for the whole area which must include all the water users.

“We look forward to working with the Gold Coast City Council on such a plan.

Queensland Natural resources Minister Andrew Cripps said Coca-Cola was not breaching any laws.

“Surface water levels are not necessarily linked to groundwater extraction,” he said

The matter is now under investigation by the council’s development compliance department.



12.3.14


COMMENT: It's about time the Gold Coast City Council closed this operation down. Coca-Cola has had it too good for too long, literally drawing down our natural resources for huge profits. Coca-Cola is defending the indefensible and should take a long, hard look at this operation.

Abbott dupes voters: IR changes key to jobs, according to Mad Monk


Tony Abbott says dealing with
"industrial lawlessness" is the key
 to driving the economy
PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has put ridding the country of "industrial lawlessness" at the heart of his plan to grow the economy and improve the budget.

As parliament resumed on Monday, Labor leader Bill Shorten accused the prime minister of being a "wimp" when it came to standing up for jobs in the wake of manufacturing plant closures.

The comment parodied Mr Abbott's description of Immigration Minister Scott Morrison as not being a "wimp" when it came to border protection.

Mr Abbott told parliament he deeply regretted recent job losses, but it was his job in government to give businesses a fighting chance of flourishing.

"I am doing what I can in this parliament as prime minister to remove the taxes, and the regulation and industrial lawlessness which is damaging the job prospects of decent Australian workers," Mr Abbott said.

"I will do that for as long as there is breath in my body."

The prime minister found some support from Business Council president Tony Shepherd, who told a forum in Melbourne that labour costs accounted for a third of cost blowouts on infrastructure projects.

The chairman of the national commission of audit said the reinstatement of the Australian Building and Construction Commission should help control such costs.

The government sees infrastructure spending as one of the drivers of growth, to help bring the budget back to surplus and meet its target of one million jobs created over the next five years.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt accused Mr Shorten of ordering an "industrial go-slow" in the Senate, which is blocking the repeal of the carbon tax.

In a bid to pressure Labor over the repeal, Mr Hunt has issued a ministerial determination to stop carbon emission permit auctions before June 30.

As the government considers a 900-page report from its commission of audit, Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek asked the prime minister whether he could guarantee one of the areas of budget cuts being considered was pensions.

"There is a big challenge and we will address it in ways that are consistent with our election commitments," Mr Abbott said.

Labor families spokeswoman Jenny Macklin said the prime minister couldn't bring himself to use the word pension.

"This is a broken promise to every Australian pensioner who took the Prime Minster at his word on polling day," she said.


24.2.14

Redcliffe swing equates to an extra 54 seats for Labor in 2015

Yvette Dath - new Member for Redcliffe
Yvette D'Ath scored an impressive 16.3% swing to the ALP in the Redcliffe by-election, on figures released at the close of counting on Saturday night.

She easily took the seat off the LNP following the forced resignation of the former member Scott Driscoll last year.

If that swing is repeated uniformly across Queensland in the 2015 state election, the Labor Party would gain an extra 54 seats as well as the 8 seats it now holds.

Ministers and one-term backbenchers would all be given the collective Royal Order of the Boot.

Labor would win office with 62 of the 89 seats in the Queensland Parliament.

Swings are rarely uniform and political fortunes can change dramatically but those figures are reminiscent of the days when Peter Beattie ruled Queensland with a massive majority.

What seems to be certain is that Campbell Newman will be facing impossible odds to hold his seat of Ashgrove which he won with 55.7% of the vote when Labor fortunes were at their lowest ebb since 1974.

If Campbell Newman panics and switches to the safe LNP seat of Moggill, the sitting member Bruce Flegg - who is no fan of Campbell - would almost certainly stand as an independent and win on ALP preferences.

Either way, Campbell Newman would join an array of single term conservative premiers which Queensland has had since 1859.

24.2.14

Sale of Australia Post would be just plain dumb

The Liberals have already proved their policies at the 2013 federal election were a smokescreen to dupe the people of Australia.

But to now be considering the sell off of Australia Post is nothing short of disgraceful.

Australia Post is a proud organisation owned by the people of Australia

The origins of postage in Australia pre-date federation. Originally known as the PMG (Post Master General's Department), Australia Post was formally created in 1975 when the PMG was split in two, including Telecom Australia which was later renamed Telstra.

To sell the nation's postal authority would be one of the dumbest things the Liberals under Tony Abbott could ever dream up.

Imagine if these political troglodytes ever got control of the senate.

Coca-Cola cares for people's health. What a crock!

Their full page advertisements across Australia today are an insult to every fair-minded Aussie.

Vehicle rort rips off battling taxpayers

It is illogical that someone with 80% private usage can claim 80% business usage.

That rort should have been outlawed years ago.

Kevin Rudd has quite rightly moved quickly to stop this statutory ripoff.

Why should the battlers of Goodna be subsidising the Chardonnay set of Ascot and Hamilton Heights?

Consumers complain about Coffee Club pie ripoff

Coffee Club pies - concealing just  a small casserole below
The Coffee Club has rolled out new homestyle pies for winter 2013.
 
On their specials menu, The Coffee Club is introducing Gourmet Homestyle Pies this winter season.
 
The two new pies are Beef & Barossa Shiraz and Chicken & Pancetta. They sound great.
 
But Fran - from the Ipswich suburb of Goodna - has complained that The Coffee Club pie is not a real pie.
 
It has a flaky top with no sides or bottom - just a watery casserole in the porcelain bowl below the crust!
 
Oh dear - what can the matter be?
A Coffee Club pie -
With no symmetry!
Which is a fair point for this gastronomic gal to make.
 
Ask any self-respecting Australian pie connoisseur if you can have a pie with just a flaky top and no crusty sides or base.
 
The Coffee Club beef and chicken pies sound and look tempting on the top - but steer clear of them if you want a fair dinkum, hearty Aussie pie to satisfy your hunger pains.
 
If you're from the dainty Chardonnay upper crust set of Ascot or Hamilton Heights, this half-baked pie might just be for you.
 
But if you're Fran from the working class suburb of Goodna, you will give these so-called pies a big miss because once eaten, twice shy!
 

Hazel Hawke dies


Farewell Hazel.

You were a great Australian.

Finance clause costs couple $13,000 over cancelled contract

A Queensland couple has been ordered to pay more than $10,000 to a unit owner after wrongly relying on the "subject to finance" clause in a sale contract as a "get out of jail free card".

Trevor and Irene Hauff agreed to buy a Port Douglas unit for $575,000 in September 2010 on the condition they secured a loan for $400,000 from ING Bank within seven days.

Under standard sale contracts buyers must take "all reasonable steps to obtain finance".

However, the couple's mortgage broker never submitted a formal application to ING Bank.

Instead, the broker made an application to The Rock Building Society.

The building society could not approve the loan application by the nominated date and the Hauffs terminated the contract.

Not satisfied, unit owner Anne Marie Miller demanded to see evidence that the Hauffs made a sufficient effort to obtain a loan from ING Bank, as stipulated in the contract.

Ms Miller took her case to the Supreme Court, which ruled in her favour.

The Hauffs appealed the decision in March this year but lost.

Associate Professor Kristy Richardson of Central Queensland University's property programs said the Hauff's experience served as a cautionary tale.

"The realisation that you might not be able to afford the great Australian dream may turn into a contractual nightmare," she said.

Ms Richardson said the subject to finance clause could not be taken lightly or used as a "get out of jail free card".

"Under a contract of sale, you as a buyer will be required to take all reasonable steps to obtain the finance that you are saying that you will under the contract," she said.

"Also bear in mind that documents supporting your attempts to obtain finance can be called upon."

The Hauffs were ordered to pay Ms Miller their $13,000 deposit for breaching the sale contract.

www.BrisbaneTimes.com.au
 

Is this really Scott Driscoll's car?

Why doesn't Campbell Newman sack this buffoon?


Queensland Liberal National Party MP for Redcliffe Scott Driscoll link to fund scandal and claims of secret control of taxpayer-funded community association



UNDER FIRE: MP Scott Driscoll faces several serious accusations.


A STATE Liberal National Party MP has been secretly controlling a taxpayer-funded community association that helps the homeless and other people in need, funneling tens of thousands of dollars in consultancy fees to his wife's company.

The Courier-Mail has established that Redcliffe MP Scott Driscoll has been directing the operations of the Regional Community Association of Moreton Bay, a provider of frontline social services to his electorate, from behind the scenes since becoming an MP.

Mr Driscoll cemented control - with the help of friendly RCAMB members - installing political mates on the board in 2012, getting his wife a job on the payroll and having dissenting staff removed and forcing a troublesome board member to resign.

Former RCAMB staffers have told The Courier-Mail that money was so tight last year they could not access funds to buy food for homeless clients of the RCAMB, which received about $1.6 million in public funding and donations in 2012.

It has been established that Mr Driscoll has had secret day-to-day control of the management of the RCAMB for at least the past 12 months, while Norsefire, a company owned by his wife Emma and where he was sole director until she took over on February 25, received almost $120,000 for consultancy work, only some of which was actually performed.

Emails, invoices and other documents show Norsefire charged $1000 a week until the middle of last year for "media communications strategy and management" and subsequently $2600 a week for "secretariat management fees".

From August 2012 there is no evidence of Norsefire having any employees to conduct any work on behalf of RCAMB.

Even prior to this, RCAMB staff say there was little evidence of any benefit from the "press liaison" work they understood Norsefire had been contracted to do.



Scott Driscoll's business world.


Mrs Driscoll, a florist, was from late last year on the payroll as "HR admin officer".

Mr Driscoll wrote her job description, which includes "formal qualification requirement: nil".

On February 28, a day after the Department of Communities asked RCAMB, formerly known as the RCA, for information about payments to consulting companies, Emma Driscoll sent an email to a colleague at the association asking for help to "delete what is in the drop box that was on my laptop which I have of course left at RCA".

"Is there a way we/you can do a complete sweep of that computer both files/trash/word docs etc ... so there is nothing left on there?" she asks.

Scroll down to read the emails.

All the members of the RCAMB board during 2012 except one worked on Mr Driscoll's election campaign, including his campaign director Ben Scott, his campaign treasurer Geoff Jamieson and former local Federal LNP chairman Brian Roselt. Its president until last month was Bruce Mills, another supporter.

The Courier-Mail understands Mr Mills held about half of the votes of the RCAMB's 20 members as proxies, which with the votes of Mr Jamieson, Mr Scott and Mr Roselt gave Mr Driscoll's political mates control of the board.

The other member of the board is understood to be a "client" of the RCAMB's mental health program.







When former RCAMB Treasurer Terry Rogers, himself a former state MP, questioned Norsefire's involvement in the association in March 2012, Mr Driscoll wrote to Mr Mills and Mr Scott saying: "The buck stops with an elected MP or Minister to make any required disclosures not Terry Rogers ...

"I personally suggest it's time his position on this board was considered for him and action taken pretty quickly right now".

Mr Rogers was forced to resign from the board shortly afterwards.

Mr Driscoll has disclosed his directorship of Norsefire but has publicly distanced himself, saying it is "100 per cent owned by my wife".

He has only ever described himself as "patron" of the RCAMB.

But emails show he micromanaged the body, giving instructions on everything from financial audits and how to respond to demands for information from bureaucrats to which airconditioning company should be used.

In January he even banned staff from participating in free health checks provided by Medicare Local.

"The fact paid RCA staff at large are being encouraged or allowed to avail themselves of funded services while the staff are meant to be working in essentially a government funded role could understandably create a catastrophic PR disaster," Mr Driscoll wrote to services manager Tracey Slater on January 17.

Emails also show Mr Driscoll presented Norsefire invoices to RCAMB and chased up payments.

Federal and State Governments are investigating the RCAMB over allegations of mismanagement and financial irregularities following complaints by staff.

Mr Driscoll did not respond to a request for comment. Mr Mills did not respond to questions. Mrs Driscoll could not be reached.

Mr Driscoll won the seat of Redcliffe at the LNP's landslide election victory last year.

Redcliffe had long been considered a Labor stronghold but the force of the LNP victory meant such seats were swept to the conservatives. Mr Driscoll has received strong support from Premier Campbell Newman in Parliament in recent weeks under scrutiny from the Labor Opposition.

www.CourierMail.com.au

18.3.13

RACQ goes from dumb to dumber

With Queenslanders hurting, the RACQ has come up with absolute cracker of an idea - force car owners to pay for compulsory annual vehicle checks.

The brains trust of the RACQ has forced its way out of its cage again.

Latest Queensland News

Weather Bureau's Rod Webb owes the people of southeast Queensland an apology

Any window showed more than the forecast


Bureau collage graphic

    

FORECASTERS have for the first time admitted they were caught unaware by the freak morning super-cell storm that smashed Brisbane's inner suburbs last November.

The bureau has repeatedly claimed it had acted within its guidelines when it failed to issue an early specific warning about the storm, which lashed the inner suburbs between 10am and 11am on Saturday, November 17.

Despite more than 1000 lightning strikes being recorded in the half hour before storm cell smashed into the inner suburbs at 10.30am, a specific warning was not issued until 10.50am, by which time the storm had passed over and was almost at the coast.

By that time there was flooding in some suburbs and dozens of calls for help had been made to authorities.

At the time, bureau bosses backed the decision to not issue a specific warning.

They said the storm had not met the bureau's threshold for a specific "severe thunderstorm" warning until just before the warning had been issued and that a series of general warnings about storm activity over that weekend was sufficient.

It can now be revealed that the day after, the bureau's Queensland regional director Rod Webb wrote in an internal email that the forecasters on duty had been caught unaware by the storm as it had blown up unusually early in the day and directly over the inner suburbs.

The email, only now released after a Freedom of Information application by The Courier-Mail, said: "The storms developed a little earlier than anticipated and forecasters felt the first wave would not produce severe weather.

"This was true on the most part but once the storms approached the city, forecasters issued warnings based on radar evidence."

In an interview yesterday following the release of the documents, Mr Webb acknowledged the warning should have come earlier.

But he denied any shortage of front-line resources at the bureau was to blame.

"That was a meteorological issue rather than necessarily having more people look at it," Mr Webb said.

"In hindsight, you would have like to have something out, but we felt ... much of the community would have been pretty well prepared for severe weather."

www.CourierMail.com.au

9.2.13


COMMENT:  Rod Webb would make the people of southeast Queensland a lot less nervous if he took a sabbatical during next summer's storm season and went  back to forecasting the weather  for the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. He should be pushing his bosses and the government relentlessly for more staff for the Brisbane office of the Bureau of Meteorology. What has he done to get more staff?  He owes it to the people of Queensland to publicly explain in detail exactly what new staff and facilities, if any, he has been actively seeking. 



Rail Back on Track: SEQ fares skyrocket


Media release 7th January 2013

SEQ: TransLink versus TransPerth

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers has highlighted the 7.5% fare rises.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"The recent fare increases will hit residents in the suburbs of Bulimba, Centenary and the Northwest hard as these areas are public transport 'no go' zones and now they are paying 7.5% more for it. High frequency bus services should be extended to these areas as a priority, and in particular to Bulimba."

"Rail users will also be disproportionately affected as much of the network runs sub-par 30 minute frequency outside of peak hour. The exception here is the Ferny Grove Line, however even this is a partial upgrade, interpeak only and where frequent service is not available on weekends."

"Perth's system provides a stark comparison to the situation here in Brisbane. Not only does Perth have fewer people and a smaller network than Brisbane, they have now eclipsed Brisbane in carrying patronage, provide double the train service frequency to all stations on all lines all day, and not only that, charge less than TransLink does for comparable journeys.* Perth also runs identical trains to Queensland Rail."

"If anything is clear, we need a review of TransLink fares. These fare increases are significantly
above CPI and also above weekly wage growth. On trains, passengers are not getting value for money due to low frequency for most of the day. Where is the money going and what is driving such huge increases?"

"We just can't afford to not have a proper detailed fare review, with public consultation."

References:

* TransPerth Perth CBD to Mandurah, 70 km, adult pm peak hour - $9.40

* TransLink Brisbane CBD to Helensvale, 68.2 km adult pm peak hour $10.53

7.1.13
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