A whole new class of players joined the Upper House this month, and with a record number of cross-benchers – 18, including the Greens – there will be deals-a-plenty and the “spin cycle” on overdrive. Cards will be kept close to chests; cards will be put out on the table; and, as the last week has shown, […]
Reading the #WAvotes tea leaves: @sarah_capper
April 18, 2014
[clear] Following an Australian Electoral Commission bungle after the federal Senate count last September, West Australians were forced back to the polls earlier this month, in what was supposed to represent either an endorsement for Tony Abbott’s Government and policies – or it would instead show an improvement in Labor’s poor vote in the state last […]
Freedom and Prosperity Party’s @NoDirectAction campaigns from east coast: @GuinevereHall reports #WAvotes
March 29, 2014
[clear] A handful of the 77 candidates vying to represent Western Australia in the rerun Senate election live in other states. I contacted Bill Koutalianos, president of the Freedom and Prosperity Party and its number one senate candidate, via Twitter and email. At first he said he wasn’t intending to come to Perth in the […]
#leardblockade: Whitehaven Coal under criminal investigation for allegedly false statements on environmental offsets for Maules Creek mine
February 26, 2014
Evidence by Environment Department to Senate Estimates Environment and Communications Legislation Committee about Whitehaven Coal’s plan to fell the critically endangered Leard State Forest for a coal mine Senator WATERS (Greens, Queensland): Can I move now to the Maules Creek coalmine approval. Can the department table a copy of the independent review into the offsets issue? Mr Tregurtha : Under […]
#CSG: Conspiracies, mouthpieces and independence: Mark Anning @1earthmedia reports
November 7, 2013
By Mark Anning On 28 July 2013, the oil and gas industry peak body – Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) – issued a press release, stating: “The recent coal seam gas episode of ABC 2’s Shitsville Express was a pleasant surprise – a balanced piece of reporting on coal seam gas.” Shitsville Express […]
Roo Poo and Who’s Who in the Senate Zoo
October 18, 2013
[clear] By Sarah Capper 18 October 2013 It was perhaps the moment in which I found myself googling “Ricky Muir” + “poo” that served as the final straw in realising the need for Senate reform. Not that I needed much convincing – the new Senator-elect from Victoria from the Palmer United Palmer Motoring Enthusiasts Party is just one […]
Australia’s newest political party – interview with the president: @stephaniedale22 reports
September 4, 2013
By Stephanie Dale 4 September 2013 Talking to Keith Douglas is a lot like trying to talk to a ping-pong ball in a Lotto machine – he talks fast and ranges wide. I met the Australian Voice Party candidate at what has become the No Fibs office in Forde – the nearby Zarraffa’s Coffee outlet (one […]
Beattie Surprise: @stephaniedale22 reports
September 3, 2013
By Stephanie Dale 3 September 2013 We are in the dying days of the 2013 election campaign, a campaign that has boasted a handful of idiot policy announcements but in five weeks just one true surprise – Peter Beattie. It was a laugh out loud moment for the nation when the former Queensland Premier (1998-2007) appeared […]
Election campaign? Tangney election wrap by @GuinevereHall
September 2, 2013
By Guinevere Hall 2 September, 2013 I recently discussed the election with my 19 year old hair dresser after I remarked that she would be voting for the first time. She only enrolled when sent a notice saying she was going to be fined. Her colleague called out, “It’s only $20”, to which she […]
Sex Party’s Adrian Trajstman in Wills: @takvera interview
August 20, 2013
By John Englart 18 August 2013 As a minor party candidate in Wills, Adrian Trajstman’s main role in this election is to publicise the policies of the Australian Sex Party and to promote Fiona Patten’s Victorian Senate campaign. I caught up with Adrian at the Edinburgh Castle hotel over a drink and talked about issues […]
