Long time no blog…

I apologise for my lack of blogging lately. I would suggest attributing it to a complete lack of blogworthy content. Any other suspicions would no doubt be completely unfounded.

I was a Hair’s breadth away from posting some form of comment on the Pakistan cricket fiasco… but then decided not to. If Darrell Hair really does believe ball tampering was going on then good on him for taking a stand. Lucky Dean Jones wasn’t commentating at the time the Pakistani decision not to return to the field was clearly an act of sporting terrorism.

There’s a state election happening in Queensland soon. It must be the least exciting election ever. When you have to choose between an incumbent idiot and two challenging idiots who do you choose? Actually, Springborg strikes me as a really genuine kind of guy, it’s a shame he genuinely has no policy solutions for the health and water crises… neither of which are of his making. It seems unfair that he should have to clean up Beattie’s mess, and be punished for not knowing where to begin. That would be like me having to tidy my housemate’s room – or vice versa.

There were also some interesting word things that I thought I might blog about – but you can look up anally retentive on wikipedia for yourselves.

I went to Magnetic Island again yesterday with a journo from the SMH. It’s the first time I’ve hosted a journalist there in sunshine. We conducted site (and sight (i’ll never tire of that pun)) inspections of some very nice new developments over there that I’d buy if I had the money.

Comments

Joel says:

I think the real crisis in Brisbane is the state of state politics. The fact that Springborg and his bunch of merry men can’t walk this election in with their eyes closed and their hands tied behind their backs doesn’t say much for them. In the last year the Labour gov’t has handed this election over on a silver platter.

I think the major problem, like you said Nathan, is that all the national/liberal coalition can do is point out how badly Beattie has stuffed up. Everyone knows this already. What we really want to know, Mr Springborg, is how you are going to fix it. Saying “That hasn’t happened under previous coalition governments” is not a good enough answer. Can we have some policy please?

Mark says:

Actually, I thought the biggest news in the last week is that Pluto is no longer a planet.

Publishers are ecstatic.

Leah says:

I agree with the comment about Springborg. Beattie isn’t much good for anything anymore (he was great once upon a time, but that time is well and truly past), and while Springborg doesn’t really have any policy at all (that he’s made the public aware of), he at least does seem like a genuine guy. However, he does have one thing going for him… he said he’d expand the T’ville hospital. I almost don’t care what they do in Brisbane. Just don’t dam a crappy river with no water in it.

Nathan says:

Beattie has never been good. Ever. He’s been a spotlight hogging media tart from day one. Hosting a successful photo opportunity does not make you a politician. Policy makes you a politician. Beattie has not contributed any major policies to the Queensland political landscape ever. The state’s economy is strong because of previous government’s “develop at all costs” attitudes. The education system is going down the toilet, the health system has been flushed – or would have been if there was any water to flush it with. What else are the State government meant to be responsible for? There’s a chronic skills shortage everywhere but in the South East corner – tourism numbers are down in most regions – find me a successful area and I’ll find you a failure with a good spin doctor in place. Sure people are moving to Queensland in record numbers – but Beattie has nothing to do with the sunshine.

Plus his smart state initiative was dumb – and the same sitting of parliament resulted in a tightening of Queensland’s Freedom of Information laws, making it harder for journalists to keep politicians accountable and the public educated.

Nathan says:

Pluto’s status revoke was an interesting – and blogworthy story – stay tuned for a blog on that topic.

Joel says:

Only in Australia are the Liberal Party conservative, the Labor party wants to do less work, the Democrats are more like communists and the Greens are more Red than anything.

Anonymous says:

Beattie does not have the funds to expand the Townsville hospital – he is just trying to suck up local votes. He can build all the buildings and make all the promises he likes, but he doesn’t have the staff to provide nursing care even for the available facilities. He has run Q health into the red well and truly, and continues to make promises about things like health education and supply of doctors, that he has repeatedly shown he has no intention of fulfilling.

Beattie has nothing to offer Queensland, and though it is utterly disappointing, neither do the opposition. Can hardly blame them though, for scratching their heads and not knowing where to start with the mess that things are at the moment. There are no easy solutions that can be thrown at the public in the short space of this campaign – and anyone who does promise a fix is a liar.

As for the current Queensland Health System under the beattie governement- it is a joke. Any of you who can afford private health cover would be wise to invest in it, and soon. It is hardly any wonder that our system is filling up with OTD’s (overseas trained doctors) – the offers the other states are providing actually are fulfilled and allow for training and opportunities that the Beattie government is neglecting.

Doesn’t leave us with many options, does it?

Should start my own party. Who’s up for it?

Nathan says:

Yes Anonymous – I’d vote for you. I don’t know who you are, but you’d do a better job than that other mob. On second thought… I’d rather vote for me. I’d just abolish hospitals and make life a Darwinian survival of the fittest.

Mark says:

Abolishing hospitals would probably be a step backward – isn’t our species’s capacity for intellectual reasoning in diagnosis and treatment of illness and injury part of being the fittest for long-term survival.

Of course we do use that same capacity for developing bio-weapons.

CB says:

whoops, Anonymous was me.

And seriously, I doubt you’d vote for me.

I doubt I would…

CB says:

Just got the Labour “Queensland Health Action Plan” in the mail.

In case you were deprived of such a joy, let me enlighten you.

“The Health Action Plan specifically targets:
– Improving Health Services
– Recruiting front-line health professionals
– Building a better system focused on patient care
– Valuing staff”

I mean, SERIOUSLY! What in there is new or exciting? If they hadn’t wrecked the health services, there would be less improvement (read: fixing) to be done; if they weren’t losing many of their best professionals to other states they would be in a better position to focus on patient care, instead of beauracracy, and seriously, shouldn’t valuing staff be a part of any organisation? No, apparently not Beattie’s Health system: it sounds as though they think it is a new idea. And their ‘front-line’ professionals they are talking about are pseudo-med, pseudo-nursing – seriously, fund the poor nurses to do their job, let them have the necessary resources and back up, and let the doctors to their job. Stop stuffing around trying to cut corners, when there are enough problems as is!

SERIOUSLY!

Tim says:

Sounds like there’s one vote for the col. or you could always vote with me for the fishing party.

CB says:

At least the fishing party have some policy, which is more than i could say for the opposition…

Andrew says:

What other reason could you possibly have for not writing much in your blog besides a lack of blogworthy content? (someone had to bite so it might as well be me)

Tim says:

The op. sent me a letter asking what issues were important… Don’t they pay ppl for that sort of thing.

Mark says:

So people seem to agree that at the party level it’s a true dilemma (decision between equally unpleasant alternatives) so that begs the question – do you then vote for who yo uthink will be the best local member?

CB says:

Good question Mark.
Personally, I have no idea.
It is a real dilemma.
AHHH I hate politics!

findo says:

I’ve met Mr Springborg a few times when I was in High-school (the perks of being vice-captian?) and yeah, he was really genuine guy.

I’ve also heard that Mr Beattie used to steal fundraised-money from his grandma when he was a teenager. No seriously, I have heard that.

I actually still have to vote, because we forgot to change our enrolment in time! oops.