Local links should be state election must | dailytelegraph.com.au
3/08/2015 2:53 pm
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Local links should be state election must by: Editorial From: The Daily Telegraph March 17, 2015 12:00AM
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Share this story Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google Email 6 6 In the Queensland election, the Greens fielded a candidate for the seat of Mt Isa who had never in his life visited the area. Candidate Marcus Foth, a Brisbane-based professor in interactive and visual design at the Queensland University of Technology, tried to present his lack of local knowledge as a positive. “I think again it is an advantage to ... come with a fresh view and not having any kind of local vested interest,” he told the ABC. It didn’t work. Foth received only 2 per cent of the vote, making him one of the Greens’ worst-performed candidates. But the Mt Isa loser may have sparked a political trend. Now a small but ambitious party is fielding many candidates across NSW who don’t live anywhere near their prospective seats. The No Land Tax Party, led by former trade unionist Peter Jones, might be more accurately known as the Out-of-Towners Party. For example, the party’s candidate for Newcastle is a salsa dancer who lives in the inner city. Among other out-of-towners, the party’s candidate for Cootamundra lives in Balmain, and the Lake Macquarie candidate lives in Vaucluse. It might strike readers as strange that a political party would field so many candidates who have never met anyone in their electorates, but it turns out the party leader hasn’t met many of his candidates either. “Not personally,” Jones said yesterday. “We’re a small party. By the time of the next election we’ll have a much more robust organisation. I don’t think Clive Palmer met all his candidates at the first election.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/local-links-should-be-state-election-must/story-fni0cwl5-1227265309776
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Local links should be state election must | dailytelegraph.com.au
3/08/2015 2:53 pm
And haven’t things worked out well for Mr Palmer. There is a serious side to this, however. Jones told The Daily Telegraph that one reason his party was standing in every electorate in the state was to “increase our public funding entitlements”. The No Land Tax Party stands to be granted nearly $300,000 in public funding if its welter of lower- and upper-house candidates secure a sufficient percentage of the March 28 vote. “It’s democracy,” Jones said yesterday. Perhaps so, but it also seems more than slightly cynical. Maybe it is time for a change to the electoral act that would require candidates to have at least some residential ties to the area they wish to represent. HIGHLY INFLATED GAS COSTS AUSTRALIA is blessed with gigantic energy reserves. Oil, coal, gas and even uranium — should we ever decide to use it — are all available here in great abundance. Given that massive over-supply, far beyond current levels of demand, Australia should have extremely cheap energy costs. At least, that is how things work under usual economic theories. But theories do not always translate into reality. Instead of being among the world’s cheapest nations for energy, Australia is actually more expensive than some countries to which we export those resources. As The Daily Telegraph exclusively reveals today, Chinese gas consumers will soon be paying almost two-thirds less for Australian LNG than local consumers This is due to two main factors. Firstly, in 2002 the Chinese negotiated an agreement with Australian gas suppliers that locks in the current low supply price until at least 2027. And secondly, gas prices in Australia have increased in recent years and will continue to sharply increase. By one estimate, household gas prices will blow out by 26 per cent over the next four years. This could add a hefty $260 to the average gas bill. The remarkable disparity between the cost of our gas here and the cost of our gas in China understandably leaves AWU national secretary Scott McDine puzzled and angry. “This is not a partisan issue. All major parties have let NSW down on this issue to date. We need a NSW government that is committed to shaking Canberra down for a fair deal for industry and households on gas,” McDine told The Daily Telegraph. “Why should NSW households be forced to shell out hundreds more on gas bills? Surely our nation’s gas reserves should be helping us and not just China and foreign gas companies?” Those are excellent questions. One answer is to produce more gas from coal seam sources. Let’s see the unions support increased coal seam gas exploration. HEALTHY FRUIT AND ALL AUSTRALIAN IN every crisis there is opportunity. The recent hepatitis A outbreak scared consumers away from imported frozen berries — but there is now a healthy local alternative. Ruth Gallace and husband Matt have established the Matilda’s range of frozen berries, which arrive on supermarket shelves direct from Australian farms. It will prove to be a berry good marketing move. Comments (#social-comments) facebook http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/local-links-should-be-state-election-must/story-fni0cwl5-1227265309776
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Local links should be state election must | dailytelegraph.com.au
3/08/2015 2:53 pm
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Garry
Mar 17, 2015
Leasing of Poles and wires = Great Infrastructure for NSW but it also means someone might have to perform a fair days work for their salary. Like
Saint Mike II
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Mar 17, 2015
How much does the NLTP have to contribute "up-front" before it is permitted to register a candidate in any seat?? Surely this should be a realistic amount - $5000 for the Legislative Assembly and $10,000 for the Legislative Council. From your editorial I would suggest that there are grounds for the AEC to investigate the legality of this party. As for where a candidate lives - well it would be beneficial if they lived close to the area, but unfortunately there is no law against it 1
MaxJ
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Mar 17, 2015
What makes you think the 'No Land Tax Party' isn't a Labor wedge party; usually just local 'independents' hoping for a lucky draw on the ballot paper but why not like Country Labor, another wedge group 2
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/local-links-should-be-state-election-must/story-fni0cwl5-1227265309776
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Local links should be state election must | dailytelegraph.com.au
3/08/2015 2:53 pm
MaxJ
Mar 17, 2015
Energy costs ihad the poterntial to assist our return to productivity gorwth at a competitive level but with the news that our gas is cheaper in China than Australia it confirms the fraud of the gas deals approved by govt including the newest fraud, 'lease' of the NSW wires and poles without any consideration of productivity effect. We have few short term opportunities to improve productivity, energy cost is one and government of all kinds have and continue to waste it for sectional interrest they prefer. Good luck Australia, you need a miracle to get out of this one Like
David
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Mar 17, 2015
@MaxJ Really...linking the 49% lease of poles and wires to Gas deals with china. Now that's a long labor bow. 2
gary
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Mar 17, 2015
@David @MaxJ China will also bye the poles and wires,so they will have an influence on our electricity prices as well, really!! Like
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