Seems Campbell Newman may be in hot water now that allegations of 'interesting' doings re Bruce Fleggs seat are re-surfacing. Its common knowledge in Queensland that Newman can't hope to retain his present electorate come the next state election, and given his supreme 'born to rule' arrogance, he's casting about for a 'safe' seat. The one of choice has been a Liberal stronghold for yonks, consequently its 'necessary' to boot the incumbent in order that Newman can call it his own. Now we see the CMC taking an interest into certain matters that could potentially result in free accommodation for a number of 'honorable' folk, well thats if Newman / Seeney / Nicholls don't succeed in completely nobbling the CMC as has clearly been their intention since being elected. We can't have the organization messing in 'sensitive government business' can we ?? This issue is by no means the first time the present LNP tribe have aroused CMC interest, the 'Independent' Costello Inquiry being one of the first, followed by a litany of 'interesting' ministerial doings & appointments. For what its worth, the government has in all probability set a record for the number of times a watchdog has seen reason to bark and its only halfway through its first term.

I must say I'm pretty disappointed at his running of the show thus far. I was hoping he'd rid us of the excessively paid vermin within the public service but all he's done is sack ordinary useful workers.
He's not going to get in again once the ALP got rid of that dill of a leader they have at the moment.

individual - He's not going to get in again once the ALP got rid of that dill of a leader they have at the moment

Trouble there are only four (I think) other ALP members left. Someone will need to do a LOT of work rounding up enough to form a legitimate party, let alone enough to oust General Disaster.

praxidice,
Young Campbell might actually count on the dilemma the ALP is in & that could be a reason why he is not doing things just yet because he might count on getting another term. I hope he does but I would like to see him to seriously start weeding the public service. He really shouldn't leave it too long because people are hurting & once that hurt goes on for too long well, they jump the fence & who could blame them. I think Newman is underestimating the support his Government actually gets from the electorate but he is punishing the wrong ones & that's going to have repercussions before long. He'd better start to stop his present tactics.

individual

I've known the General since before he became mayor .. his arrogance has increased unbelievably to the point where I think he really does see himself as a god. What he doesn't realize is the extent of Big Clives hunger for revenge against the LNP generally & Newman in particular. The old saying 'hell hath no fury' doesn't even begin to compare with the quiet resolve of Palmer to squash both the federal & state LNP.

Praxidice are undischarged bankrupts allowed in parliament?

There is a story doing the rounds that Clive is having trouble getting money out of some Chinese partners. If so it would not be the first time the Chinese have not honored an agreement, or have refused to pay up if they think they have been conned.

What ever the case, perhaps Clive should look to his foundations, before vengeance.

P,

You are confusing your dislike of Newman with what the voters think of him. Labor is so unpopular in queensland that there is virtually no alternative.

Whilst Newman in a show of confidence took a marginal seat, it would not be practical for the premiere to remain there. After the travesties of the Labor clowns, I would be prepared to see Newman in charge for about another decade.

shadow Minister

I gather you don't live in Queensland as you'd probably have a completely different attitude if you did. Regardless of whatever media stories, rest assured that if an election were held now, the LNP would be squashed. Newman / Seeney / Nicholls have not only alienated virtually everyone in the state but they have also been embroiled in far more 'interesting' events in 18 months than the red-headed witch since she was first elected. If the ALP had sufficient members left to form a government, there would have been a vote of no confidence in Newman months ago. There is also a growing disquiet about the CMC watchdog after multiple instances where investigations of quite obvious funny business have been quietly dropped. You are totally correct about the Blighters, however this mob are, if anything, even worse. Any advantage they have in financial management is totally swamped by the number of 'interesting' events.

Praxidice wishful thinking, & self delusion are self defeating habits.

If you live in Queensland you must have heard the silly little girl leading Labor today. Hell she makes Swan sound smart, so how much trouble do you reckon Newman is in?

You wouldn't be a Qld public servant would you by any chance would you?

Hasbeen

Firstly I'm not a public servant of any kind, in fact I've been self-employed almost forever

Secondly, poor Anastacia does her best considering her limited abilities & resources but she really isn't devious enough to make a good politician. The ALP didn't even have a parliamentary office til recently. Strictly speaking, the ALP isn't even a party here, they don't have the numbers to qualify. The lack of opposition is only part of the trouble, we don't have an upper house, the governor went AWL the day she got appointed & there are grounds to believe the CMC (watchdog) has been compromized. In short, Queenslanders are between a rock & a hard place. The best we can hope for is Big Clive wading in boots & all after September. There is a collection of local government reform tribes, currently well over a million folk in general who are upsetting a few out of control councils, maybe we'll get into the state politicians later, but other than that there is no recourse at all for citizens.

P,

While I don't live in Queensland, I am privy to the opinion polls that are regularly taken, whilst your friends and family might be vehemently opposed to Newman, I would take professional polling over your hunches every day.

Unless you can offer more than your "feelings" your assurances are not worth the paper they are printed on. If there were an election tomorrow, Newman would finish in a canter.

Shadow Minister

I have a pretty wide circle of acquaintances, majority of whom would be more inclined to be LNP rather than ALP supporters & the mood against the General is virtually universal. Probably the only thing in favour of the LNP right now is the lack of an alternative ... how many seats do the other mob have ... 4 or 5 ?? Actually I believe that with the defection of young Bjelke Petersen last week or whenever it was, Palmer has as many if not more members in Queensland than the ALP.

Prax, there is little doubt that labor (in QLD ) had to go.

So, what would you have done, had you got the top job, in order to address the mess that is the legacy of twenty years of labor?

rehctub

Firstly, we still haven't a clue what is the the real extent of the financial poo. The Costello Inquiry was a rort intended to legitimize the sale of certain interests to his clients.

Secondly, I have no interest whatever in power and / or authority. If perchance I had control of the state I'd appoint a genuinely independent auditor (not a crony with no accounting / auditing qualifications) to find out exactly what is the true state of affairs. Regaining control of the retail electricity business needs to be high on the 'must do' list, likewise reducing politicians perks. Restoring accountability is top priority.

P,

Spouting BS left right and centre. At least make an effort to separate emotions from fact.

Costello was the only competent treasurer in decades. As for the stupid accusation that some of the other clients of his firm would benefit from the sale of assets, any mid to large consultancy would have a diverse client base, with some clients that would benefit and others that wouldn't. Excluding large firms would only leave tiny firms that would not be suitable.

I believe that government has no place in running businesses like electricity distribution and rail, and the sooner these can be flogged off to pay off the $90bn debt left by labor the better.

Shadow Minister

Costello was way out of order by representing clients who stand to benefit from asset sales. Newman likewise is equally culpable as he would certainly have known about Costellos conflict of interest. The cost to Queenslanders of privatization is around five billion per annum, that constitutes an extremely strong argument for public ownership.

P,

Your knowledge of company law and ethics are woefully inadequate.

A conflict of interest would be if Costello's company directly benefited from the sale of assets, were being paid by companies to influence this decision or had an exclusive arrangement with one of these companies. As none of these apply, there is no conflict of interest.

For example Deloittes consults to thousands of companies, many of whom are rivals. Are you suggesting that they are incapable of acting in a professional manner, or that they should trim their clients?

Shadow Minister

Costellos company represents two companies which stand to benefit from the sales of certain assets. The dying duck registered a complaint (as a private citizen) with the CMC regarding Costellos proposed sale of two particular sets of interests which just happened to be on the shopping lists of Costellos clients. Note that both of Costellos clients had previously purchased exactly the same interests in other states that they were attempting to acquire in Queensland. The CMC agreed there was a case to answer, interviewed the dying duck and was proceeding with an action until the General threw a wobbly about the CMC 'interfering in sensitive government business' and threatened to cut funding if the CMC didn't butt out. All the above is in the public domain having been headline news in local newspapers & aired on prime time TV.

P,

I think you are making this up as you go along.

The complaint to the CMC was referred by an anonymous complainant, the CMC after a brief review of the facts dropped the case. They at no point claimed that there was a case to answer, nor were they threatened with the withdrawal of funding. The case simply was not in their purview.

Also the firms that "stood to benefit" owned similar assets but had never expressed any interest in acquiring assets in Queensland, and there was no implication that these would be sold in any form other than an open tender.

Shadow Minister

Believe what you want, I happen to know what really went on. For what its worth, I spent quite a bit of time on the phone to the CMC yesterday & their own staff verified everything. The dying duck has previously confirmed his own part in person at a community function in Brisbane.

Bollocks

The CMC is not going to tell Joe public confidential information over the phone. Now I know you are lying.

Shadow Minister

You are full of **it. You haven't a clue who I am or what connection I have to the issues :) :) :)

P,

Exactly! I have no idea of what your connections are.

An anonymous poster claims to have insider knowledge, of a particularly sensitive type that NO BODY else knows and that would almost certainly be leaked to the press in one form or another.

This is almost certainly a fabrication, and unless you can provide more than your anonymous word to support this fantastical information, this is a lie.

The last poll showed a general election would leave Labor with only one seat from QLD.

Praxidice please explain how you consider this shows any CLP & it's leader is the one on the nose.

Me thinks there are too many contaminants in your crystal ball.

Hasbeen

You'd need to live in Queensland to know whats really going on here. News Ltd is reluctant to print anything adverse to the LNP but Fairfax is occasionally more open-minded even if their stories typically don't stay online for more than a couple of hours. The virtually non-existent ALP has been the main reasons we haven't had a vote of no confidence but I see Anastacia has started looking for new people. Big Clive will also wade in after September, he hates Newmans guts like you wouldn't believe. As I've said elsewhere, the deep north is 'different' because there is currently no opposition, no upper house, mostly LNP local authorities, a nobbled / compromized CMC & an AWOL governor. As such, a dictatorial gubmunt like that of Newman / Seeney / Nicholls has nothing to restrain it. Personally I don't give a flying **ck whether or not anyone in the mexican states believes the sun shines out of Newmans nether regions, those of us who have put up with the grubby little twerp for the past eighteen months or whatever have no time whatever for him.