{"id":216,"date":"2013-01-08T03:52:16","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T03:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com\/?p=216"},"modified":"2019-04-13T23:24:25","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T13:24:25","slug":"216","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/216\/","title":{"rendered":"We buy your papers, so give us a little respect! Where is the #Ashbygate judgment coverage?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Noely Neate
\n<\/a>Source:\u00a0YaThink
\n<\/a>Date: December 13th, 2012<\/p>\n

\"\"

Screenshot | 10 October 2012 | Sunshine Coast Daily | Readers, Brough say it’s time for Slipper to quit politics | Caption: “KEEN VIEWER: Mal Brough watches from the Daily\u2019s news room as Peter Slipper resigns.” |<\/p><\/div>\n

Regional areas rely on National media to ensure that we get a very full picture of what is happening in the Nation and the World.\u00a0 Living in a regional area can be great, more relaxed lifestyle, awesome place to bring up a family etc., the flipside is that you are limited in choices and it can be easy to become a big fish in a little pond.\u00a0 If the power being wielded is good, than that is not a problem, unfortunately when you’re the local newspaper and the big fish too long it can be detrimental.\u00a0 Obviously there are area specific issues when you are the only show in town, you can\u2019t go too hard on say Council or sitting MP\u2019s as they may not talk to you at all or give you no access which means you have nothing to report?\u00a0 On the other hand it can also mean that when you \u2018go after someone\u2019, there is no-one else to in the region to give an opposite view, this is what is happening on the Sunshine Coast at the moment.<\/p>\n

Our local paper has been onto Peter Slipper for years.\u00a0 Invested time and money into Travel rorts and the like.\u00a0 At some stages it has been almost fanatical.\u00a0 As Peter Brent in the Australian commented in his article \u201cWe can all dream<\/em><\/a>\u201d on the 19th of December \u201cBut Slipper is no ordinary sitting MP. He has a negative personal vote. Between the 2007and 2010 election his local rag the Sunshine Coast Daily went after him about entitlement transgressions. They went hard, and they were effective<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 This is very true, look at \u201cTopic: peter slipper<\/a>\u201d in the Sunshine Coast Daily and you will see how long and hard they have been chasing Peter Slipper.\u00a0 Even though the man has not been convicted of any wrong-doing the average local now thinks he is the biggest crook in the state?<\/p>\n

Often while prosecuting their case against Peter Slipper in the public eye, Mal Brough was called in to \u2018give comment\u2019.\u00a0 In fact, just looking at the photo on the day Slipper resigned in their report \u201cReaders, Brough say it’s time for Slipper to quit politics<\/a>\u201d is rather telling…\u00a0 Caption \u201cMal Brough watches from the Daily\u2019s news room as Peter Slipper resigns<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 I am not a journalist, though as a punter, am very uncomfortable with the fact that Mr Slippers opposition in that seat would be sitting in the papers newsroom with them?<\/p>\n

I never expect the National media to take an interest in Regional affairs, obviously you want to get a bang for your buck, and that is not going to be achieved by looking at regional issues, unless they are of National Interest.\u00a0 Hence my surprise when the National media, after sticking to every twist & turn in the Slipper saga like poo on a blanket, suddenly went dead quiet when the\u00a0Rares Judgment<\/a>\u00a0came out?\u00a0 I would have thought the following Item 37. In the judgement would have had them frothing at the mouth?<\/p>\n

Item 37. Mr\u00a0 Ashby\u2019s references to \u201cempowering others\u201d, and \u201cnational decisions\u201d, were concerned solely with the political consequences of what Mr Ashby was contemplating. Those consequences could affect the balance of power in the House of Representatives, depending on whether Mr Slipper could remain as Speaker if Mr Ashby used his \u201cpower\u201d and what effect that use would have. That was because the Government did not have a majority in the House and was reliant on cross bench support, assisted by Mr Slipper having ceased to be a member of the Opposition and not being able to vote while Speaker, by reason of s 40 of the Constitution, unless the votes in the House were tied.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now this is not some MP with a political axe to grind stating the above, it is a well respected member of the Judiciary.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 As I stated in a prevous blog post “Where is the #Ashbygate Outrage?<\/a>” “Slipper may or may not be a slimy ineffective dill, but like the others in Parliament we don\u2019t like, WE the public voted these ineffective dills in and WE will vote the ineffective dills out.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

But even with this scathing Judicial response there was nothing in the media?\u00a0 Then on the 23rd of December it was reported \u201cALP calls police on Mal Brough scandal<\/a>\u201d and I was hoping we would learn more.\u00a0 Again, nothing!\u00a0 Even ABC24 waited until hours after the article appeared to even mention it and when they did, they already had a pre-filmed response from Mr Abbott?<\/p>\n

Now, I know many are going ballistic on Twitter about #AshbyInquiryNow.\u00a0 From odd disparaging comments I have seen from journalists on Twitter, they just assume that Labor hacks are calling for it.\u00a0 Well, you’re wrong!\u00a0 Not all of us are?\u00a0 I live on the Sunshine Coast, there is no one here who has the resources to look into this issue like a major paper does and it does need to be done.\u00a0\u00a0The reasons why Journalists have a job is to write for papers or television for the \u2018public\u2019.\u00a0 We purchase your newspapers, We watch your News reports giving you ratings, We read your news articles online generating page view advertising revenue for you.\u00a0 WE are the public!<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Without us, you are not paid and don’t exist<\/strong>!\u00a0 I sincerely hope the silence is because it is a tricky situation now after the legal judgement, appeals, and potential AFP involvement?\u00a0 To think otherwise is just too horrifying a scenario.<\/p>\n

This is of National concern.\u00a0 There is a candidate here who could potentially be a sitting member of Parliament in the near future who has very very serious questions to answer?\u00a0\u00a0 Liberal, Labor, Green or even bloody Purple, irrelevant, the people of the Sunshine Coast need to have some answers, at the very least, they need some questions asked and judging by the previous photo we can\u2019t rely on our lone paper here doing it for us.\u00a0 Some comment from the national media would be nice, even if it is simply to let us know that you are looking into it?\u00a0 For all we know, Mal Brough may actually be totally above-board here and the lingering questions are now hurting his reputation?\u00a0 On the flipside he could be involved in one of the biggest scandals in Australian Government history?\u00a0 Either way, please, WE buy your papers, so give us a little respect!<\/p>\n

Noely
\nSunshine Coast resident
\n@YaThinkN<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Noely Neate Source:\u00a0YaThink Date: December 13th, 2012 Regional areas rely on National media to ensure that we get a very full picture of what is happening in the Nation and the World.\u00a0 Living in a regional area can be great, more relaxed lifestyle, awesome place to bring up a family etc., the flipside is that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3434,59,36],"tags":[216,263,277,302,2566,2575,367,455],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s3t0mw-216","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}