Anna Bligh rejects liar tag
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in "Don't you worry about that", Captn Bligh, Costs, Freedom of Information, Political, Privatisation, QLD State Election
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By Patrick Lion
June 22, 2009
PREMIER Anna Bligh has insisted she was honest with Queenslanders before the state election, despite a poll finding that voters feel misled.
Ms Bligh yesterday rejected the findings of the Galaxy Poll, which showed a third of Labor Party supporters believed she lied about the scrapping of the fuel subsidy and asset sales.
The Premier insisted she had told voters she would make tough decisions and voters were simply angry at having to pay more for petrol.
“When I went to the election, I was very honest with Queenslanders,” she said. “I told Queenslanders our Budget was going to include tough decisions.”
Her comments come after the Galaxy Poll, conducted for The Courier-Mail, found the Premier was suffering a credibility crisis: 56 per cent of Queenslanders believing she lied by earlier committing to the fuel subsidy and failing to mention the asset sale.
Labor also has suffered a major collapse in voter support, with the Liberal Nationals now on 55 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.
The Electrical Trades Union will today hold a “Light on the Hill” protest outside Minister Desley Boyle’s Cairns office on behalf of Queensland Rail workers concerned about Bligh Government plans to sell off large parts of Queensland Rail, forestry interests and ports, as announced in last Tuesday’s State Budget.
Deputy Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg yesterday seized on the poll, labelling Ms Bligh a “political dead duck” who would not last until the next election.
“She is a compulsive bare-faced liar,” Mr Springborg said.
“And once people think you are a liar and see evidence to back it up, then they will always think you are a liar.
“(The next election) will be the easiest campaign in the world for us to run.
“She is damaged goods.”
But Ms Bligh said the global financial crisis had changed everything and her job required doing what was right, even if it was unpopular.
“I’m not surprised people will have questions about the sales of assets and, of course, I understand no one wants to pay more for petrol,” Ms Bligh said.
“I understand some of the tough decisions I’ve had to take will hurt people and I understand that they are angry about that.”
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Unions plan campgain against Queensland privatisation plans
June 20, 2009
Article from: Australian Associated Press
QUEENSLAND unions will hold a five-week campaign across the state to oppose the Bligh Labor government’s privatisation plans.
The campaign will begin with a rally in Rockhampton on Monday, June 29, said secretary of the Queensland Council of Unions in Rockhampton, Craig Allen.
Mr Allen said voters who supported Labor candidates at the March 21 election feel “sold out” by the government.
He said the feeling of betrayal accounted for the slump in the government’s popularity in the latest poll.
“The polls were indicating before (the budget) that Labor had a comfortable lead and now that’s gone,” Mr Allen said.
The poll of 800 voters taken on Wednesday and Thursday nights and published by The Courier-Mail found Labor’s primary vote has nosedived from 42.2 per cent at the election to 36 per cent, while the LNP’s support has jumped from 41.6 per cent in March to 47 per cent now.
Mr Allen put the chance of Labor being re-elected in 2012 as “slim”.
He said the state government’s decision to sell off large parts of Queensland Rail, forestry interests and ports is short-sighted.
“Without the sale of these assets they will be back in surplus by 2016 anyway,” Mr Allen said.
“But if you take a thousand jobs out of Rocky you put a significant dent in the community.”
Labor MPs Rob Schwarten and Paul Hoolihan will be invited to address the rally to explain their attitudes to privatisation, Mr Allen said.
The rally will be held outside Mr Schwarten’s Rockhampton office and will precede a community forum that evening.
The Galaxy poll of 800 voters taken on Wednesday and Thursday nights found 72 per cent of Queenslanders believe they were misled by Ms Bligh over the future of the fuel subsidy and asset sales.
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Dramatic decline in support for Qld Labor - poll
June 20, 2009
Article from: Australian Associated Press
A POLL has revealed that Queensland’s Labor Government has been hit by a dramatic decline in support since the election and would now be easily voted out of office.
The Galaxy Poll, conducted for The Courier-Mail newspaper, found that Premier Anna Bligh is suffering a credibility crisis, with voters convinced she lied about the abolition of the fuel subsidy and asset sales at the state election.
Voters are convinced Ms Bligh and Labor deliberately misled them about the future of the subsidy and asset sales and are steadfastly opposed to both as methods to rein in burgeoning deficits and debt.
The poll of 800 voters taken on Wednesday and Thursday nights found 72 per cent of Queenslanders believe they were misled by Ms Bligh over the future of the fuel subsidy and asset sales.
It found that 84 per cent of Queenslanders objected to the asset sales with only 13 per cent in favour, while 78 per cent were against the end of the fuel subsidy and 17 per cent in favour.
Labor’s primary vote has nosedived from 42.2 per cent at the election to 36 per cent, while the LNP’s support has jumped from 41.6 per cent in March to 47 per cent now.
Based on past preference flows, the LNP would win relatively comfortably if an election was held this week, with 55 per cent of the two-party preferred vote compared with Labor’s 45 per cent.
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Water cost to double for Australians
Florence Chong, Singapore
June 25, 2009
AUSTRALIANS can expect the price of water to double over five years as utilities recover the $30 billion cost of desalination, recycling and other new infrastructure.
Australian water experts at the Singapore International Water Week said yesterday the cost of the investment would be recouped.
“Two or three years ago we paid around $1-$1.05 a kilolitre,” International Water Association president David Garman said. “We expect that figure to be close to $2 in five years or so.
“We need to see water prices rise to reflect just how scarce it is,” Australian Water Association chief executive Tom Mollenkopf said. The big cities had started to move towards full-cost water pricing.
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