Cheyne's signs 'absolutely trashed' on Southern Cross Drive

Deref said :

I wonder if anyone’s ever done research into whether these corfutes actually work. I have a sneaking suspicion that they’re probably a waste of time and money, at least the standard one with the candidate’s name and photo.

Yep-u have to wonder. Just drove along Isabella Drive, Ashley Drive and Erindale Drive, Tuggeranong (Brindabella electorate). ACT labor signs must outnumber Liberals/Independents 20 to 1. They are in plague proportions. Very unsightly.

Now, which party is worried about loosing an MLA in Tuggeranong/Brindabella, I wonder ?

I wonder if anyone’s ever done research into whether these corfutes actually work. I have a sneaking suspicion that they’re probably a waste of time and money, at least the standard one with the candidate’s name and photo.

I saw some of what I consider very effective ones a couple of days ago – black signs with white lettering:

MORE HOSPITALS
NO TRAM
LIBERALS

I’m not a Liberal supporter at all, but I thought that the concept worked.

Overall, I think its disappointing that a number of candidates are claiming to seek election on the basis that they will represent the interests of their electorate, however they are in fact blindly towing the party line.
Yes they will find some way to retrofit the party policy to the interests of their electorate – including by resorting to claims of uncosted future network extensions in the case of the tram – but really they shouldn’t be claiming to run as a representative of their electors in this case.
The sad thing is I would consider voting independent on this basis but for this election, the tram really needs to be defeated so will probably have to vote liberal (which is a bit sad in itself).

wildturkeycanoe said :

Back to the topic of those coreflute signs, there looks to be one floating face down in our local water quality control pond. I’d blame the wind for carrying it there but we haven’t had a southeasterly strong enough to carry one for a kilometer or so. I’d say somebody has gone to the trouble of carrying it on their way home from the pub and dumped the candidate’s image where they think it is best suited.

Oh no – god forbid. Its a disaster then ! LOL

Which candidate ? Maybe they can post on here about how very, very disappointed they are !

Back to the topic of those coreflute signs, there looks to be one floating face down in our local water quality control pond. I’d blame the wind for carrying it there but we haven’t had a southeasterly strong enough to carry one for a kilometer or so. I’d say somebody has gone to the trouble of carrying it on their way home from the pub and dumped the candidate’s image where they think it is best suited.

Some serious questions get asked and Tara is no where to be seen.
Few knew of her before her signs got trashed.
Its probably better they did so she could come out of the woodwork for that short time.

The way the promises are going this election it would be much better having elections every year or every half year.
Should just make it 6 electorates and have a new 1/6th act election every 8 months on a rolling vote.

Stage one wasn’t costed but a line in the sand drawn at just over 600million. Congrats never released.

Stage two doesn’t have any cost and we’re likely tied into the same provider.

creative_canberran said :

curmudgery said :

Those signs give you a name, a face and a smile but nothing substantial. That’s what you’ll get when you see the candidate in person, too.

Not sure what’s up with getting personal. I think if you’ve read Tara’s work you’ll see she has a bit of substance. By the time elections roll around, Tara as an individual and other members of the party are mostly irrelevant. They’ve contributed to the process within the party of policy development, and the policies and positions have been locked in according to votes and factional support months ago. Their job now is to spruik that party position.

So from attacking via a comment, to trashing signs of individuals, it’s really meaningless. If you have an issue with the party platform, which all the candidates are attached to, then voice it.

The comment by curmudgery was generic, not specific. And it is 100% correct & certainly reflects my own experience too. People are voicing issues with the party platforms/policies/promises – to candidates as they will spruk their party platform if elected.

If their job after election is just to “spruk that party platform” then that flows through to their interaction with constituents too. So, with the expanded numbers in the Legislative Assembly being elected, its just more and more “spruking” and spin of the party platform. I doubt that what any candidate from Liberal/Labor/Greens has done in their previous life means much actually, once they are subsumed by the party machine/platform. Nothing will change.

creative_canberran said :

So from attacking via a comment, to trashing signs of individuals, it’s really meaningless. If you have an issue with the party platform, which all the candidates are attached to, then voice it.

Ok. The ACT Labor party platform/election promise says that if re elected in October, they will change tram stage 2 to be from Civic to the Woden. That contracts will be signed if not construction commenced, before the 2020 election. Unlike their election promise in 2012 for tram stage 1, their tram stage 2 election promise is not costed. So, ACT Labor/Greens are asking for a blank cheque from ACT Ratepayers/Voters.

Voters/Ratepayers have been asking “what is the cost for tram stage 2”.

I’m sure that the voices are being heard, but there has been no answer from the ACT Labor, including from ACT Labor/Greens MLAs/Ministers.

Candidates know what the policies/platforms are so when elected, will have to tow the line, including supporting the (presently) uncosted tram stage 2 “blank cheque”.

in_the_taratory said :

I support light rail. You use the word ‘tramline’ but light rail is a plan for the whole city, with Stage 1 Gungahlin-City and Stage 2 City-Woden and more stages to come. Our population is expected to hit 500,000 by 2030. To me, we need to plan for the future now and not wait years when solving the problem will be more costly and more difficult.

By 2033 to be exact, though there was a time when the predicted that figure would be reached in 1990. The cost-benefit analysis does not yet provide a strong case for the light-rail. And the announcement of “Stage 2” to Woden was an extremely cynical tactic by the government. It will produce nothing material within the next term. It was a desperate tactic from a government under siege, and I should point out I’ve never voted Liberal. But all through the last few months, the government has been playing catch up to the Libs. And were it not for the larger assembly, I’d have said a Labor defeat were certain this time.

curmudgery said :

Those signs give you a name, a face and a smile but nothing substantial. That’s what you’ll get when you see the candidate in person, too.

Not sure what’s up with getting personal. I think if you’ve read Tara’s work you’ll see she has a bit of substance. By the time elections roll around, Tara as an individual and other members of the party are mostly irrelevant. They’ve contributed to the process within the party of policy development, and the policies and positions have been locked in according to votes and factional support months ago. Their job now is to spruik that party position.

So from attacking via a comment, to trashing signs of individuals, it’s really meaningless. If you have an issue with the party platform, which all the candidates are attached to, then voice it.

Do you really think putting a bunch of coreflutes around attracts people to vote for you? or hate you? Many people see them as another fake smile from another glib, lying politician.

Mark Ellis is a Liberal Democrats Candidate for the seat of Kurrajong http://www.ldp.org.au

Those signs give you a name, a face and a smile but nothing substantial. That’s what you’ll get when you see the candidate in person, too.

in_the_taratory said :

devils_advocate said :

in_the_taratory said :

Well, I guess now you have.

As someone standing for election in Ginninderra, you are asking to represent voters living west of Bruce, out to Macgregor but not including suburbs bounded by the lower border of Kaleen, Lawson, McKellar and Evatt.

My question for you, then, as someone asking to represent those people, what is your view of the proposed tramline?

You know your boundaries! 🙂

I support light rail. You use the word ‘tramline’ but light rail is a plan for the whole city, with Stage 1 Gungahlin-City and Stage 2 City-Woden and more stages to come. Our population is expected to hit 500,000 by 2030. To me, we need to plan for the future now and not wait years when solving the problem will be more costly and more difficult.

Some people have said to me that light rail doesn’t directly benefit them living in Ginninderra or they won’t be riding it for a few years and that’s why they don’t support the policy. To me, that’s like saying that because they haven’t used the hospital or a major road in Canberra they don’t support their existence.

While those of us living in Ginninderra might not find ourselves riding light rail immediately, there are benefits to us because what we’re pursuing is an *integrated* public transport solution. It’s not light rail OR cars OR buses OR ride sharing OR car sharing OR electric buses OR active travel. We can do it all.

Here’s an example. We currently have a lot of buses servicing the Gungahlin-City route – equating to 1.2 million bus kilometres a year. Putting light rail down the middle of Northbourne frees up the lanes that the many buses are using, easing congestion and making it easier for cars and bikes to travel down those routes. And those 1.2 million bus kilometres don’t disappear – they’re reallocated to other areas around the city, like Belconnen routes.

Maybe you could explain for us how much the light rail network is going to cost in total or as a percentage of the budget?

Tara, do you believe there is a risk that the Light rail won’t work and become more of a cost to the ACT than a benefit. If less people are using public transport would that be a failure for the light rail project.

If the ACT light rail project is a whole of ACT project how much do you think it might cost for the full network and how long will it take to roll out the full network?

I agree with other posters, you say that the signs remind them who to vote for but why do they need reminding?

If the ACT budget position changes do you think light rail would be the first project scraped or where would the savings be made? (say if the GST or other income suddenly decreased) or would rates just increase to cover it?

I am sorry you had this happen. It must feel very upsetting and distressing. I know I would feel upset if something that had my face on it was defaced.

Bonkers said :

PS Moulis, put on a shirt.

That’s the second time you’ve made that comment, on two different posts. It wasn’t funny the first time.

Whatever you may think of Moulis, I admire that he’s willing to put his name to his comments and stand by them, which most of us (me included) are not.

Good luck with your campaign Tara. How small minded that someone destroyed the signs.

Tough crowd.

Tara, I admire you for standing up and having a crack to make the joint a better place. That chap from Gungahlin who used to be on here a lot before he ran at the last election also copped a daily tirade from those too scared to have a go themselves – and that was when this site wasn’t just an echo chamber of angry white men shaking their fists at the clouds.

Good luck in your campaign.

devils_advocate said :

Kim F said :

I despair that any candidate thinks these signs will earn them a vote. My part of town is inundated with Liberal signs, 50 metres apart. They are eye-sores. As a swinging voter, I am totally unimpressed by their use.

Yes, it seems a bit strange to be spending money on physical mail, corflutes and even television advertising in a world of email, social media and Netflix. Although at the same time, attempts by candidates to develop dedicated twitter presences, make ‘viral’ youtube clips and otherwise engage in new media are often cringe-inducing. I think in Canberra, genuine community engagement is the only thing I can think of that might work.

It might seem strange, but all the evidence shows that social media doesn’t win elections. As a local example: in 2012 there was a candidate who had the second highest amount of Facebook page ‘likes’ after the Chief Minister and they were not elected. Nothing beats face to face or voice to voice. However, social media still remains another option to engage, especially for people who might otherwise be time poor.

For me, I set up a dedicated Facebook page for the campaign; my Twitter, Instagram and even RiotACT accounts all began many years ago with my blog work and In The Taratory still has its own Facebook page.

Kim F said :

I despair that any candidate thinks these signs will earn them a vote. My part of town is inundated with Liberal signs, 50 metres apart. They are eye-sores. As a swinging voter, I am totally unimpressed by their use.

Yes, it seems a bit strange to be spending money on physical mail, corflutes and even television advertising in a world of email, social media and Netflix. Although at the same time, attempts by candidates to develop dedicated twitter presences, make ‘viral’ youtube clips and otherwise engage in new media are often cringe-inducing. I think in Canberra, genuine community engagement is the only thing I can think of that might work.

I despair that any candidate thinks these signs will earn them a vote. My part of town is inundated with Liberal signs, 50 metres apart. They are eye-sores. As a swinging voter, I am totally unimpressed by their use.

in_the_taratory said :

devils_advocate said :

in_the_taratory said :

Well, I guess now you have.

As someone standing for election in Ginninderra, you are asking to represent voters living west of Bruce, out to Macgregor but not including suburbs bounded by the lower border of Kaleen, Lawson, McKellar and Evatt.

My question for you, then, as someone asking to represent those people, what is your view of the proposed tramline?

You know your boundaries! 🙂

I support light rail. You use the word ‘tramline’ but light rail is a plan for the whole city, with Stage 1 Gungahlin-City and Stage 2 City-Woden and more stages to come. Our population is expected to hit 500,000 by 2030. To me, we need to plan for the future now and not wait years when solving the problem will be more costly and more difficult.

Some people have said to me that light rail doesn’t directly benefit them living in Ginninderra or they won’t be riding it for a few years and that’s why they don’t support the policy. To me, that’s like saying that because they haven’t used the hospital or a major road in Canberra they don’t support their existence.

While those of us living in Ginninderra might not find ourselves riding light rail immediately, there are benefits to us because what we’re pursuing is an *integrated* public transport solution. It’s not light rail OR cars OR buses OR ride sharing OR car sharing OR electric buses OR active travel. We can do it all.

Here’s an example. We currently have a lot of buses servicing the Gungahlin-City route – equating to 1.2 million bus kilometres a year. Putting light rail down the middle of Northbourne frees up the lanes that the many buses are using, easing congestion and making it easier for cars and bikes to travel down those routes. And those 1.2 million bus kilometres don’t disappear – they’re reallocated to other areas around the city, like Belconnen routes.

So basically you are committing your constituents to spend their money – in the form of their contributions to consolidated revenue – on some indirect, potential transport benefits, in the hope that they will gain some more direct benefits at some point in the future, based on other tram line extensions that are neither committed to or costed.

in_the_taratory said :

devils_advocate said :

in_the_taratory said :

Well, I guess now you have.

As someone standing for election in Ginninderra, you are asking to represent voters living west of Bruce, out to Macgregor but not including suburbs bounded by the lower border of Kaleen, Lawson, McKellar and Evatt.

My question for you, then, as someone asking to represent those people, what is your view of the proposed tramline?

You know your boundaries! 🙂

I support light rail. You use the word ‘tramline’ but light rail is a plan for the whole city, with Stage 1 Gungahlin-City and Stage 2 City-Woden and more stages to come. Our population is expected to hit 500,000 by 2030. To me, we need to plan for the future now and not wait years when solving the problem will be more costly and more difficult.

Some people have said to me that light rail doesn’t directly benefit them living in Ginninderra or they won’t be riding it for a few years and that’s why they don’t support the policy. To me, that’s like saying that because they haven’t used the hospital or a major road in Canberra they don’t support their existence.

While those of us living in Ginninderra might not find ourselves riding light rail immediately, there are benefits to us because what we’re pursuing is an *integrated* public transport solution. It’s not light rail OR cars OR buses OR ride sharing OR car sharing OR electric buses OR active travel. We can do it all.

Here’s an example. We currently have a lot of buses servicing the Gungahlin-City route – equating to 1.2 million bus kilometres a year. Putting light rail down the middle of Northbourne frees up the lanes that the many buses are using, easing congestion and making it easier for cars and bikes to travel down those routes. And those 1.2 million bus kilometres don’t disappear – they’re reallocated to other areas around the city, like Belconnen routes.

Errr, when the tram stops on its (light rail) tracks as it trundles down Northbourne Avenue, passengers will have to board and disembark on the median strip and cross the road traffic lanes. How is this going to “free up” the flow of cars and (ha ha) bicycles?

devils_advocate said :

in_the_taratory said :

Well, I guess now you have.

As someone standing for election in Ginninderra, you are asking to represent voters living west of Bruce, out to Macgregor but not including suburbs bounded by the lower border of Kaleen, Lawson, McKellar and Evatt.

My question for you, then, as someone asking to represent those people, what is your view of the proposed tramline?

You know your boundaries! 🙂

I support light rail. You use the word ‘tramline’ but light rail is a plan for the whole city, with Stage 1 Gungahlin-City and Stage 2 City-Woden and more stages to come. Our population is expected to hit 500,000 by 2030. To me, we need to plan for the future now and not wait years when solving the problem will be more costly and more difficult.

Some people have said to me that light rail doesn’t directly benefit them living in Ginninderra or they won’t be riding it for a few years and that’s why they don’t support the policy. To me, that’s like saying that because they haven’t used the hospital or a major road in Canberra they don’t support their existence.

While those of us living in Ginninderra might not find ourselves riding light rail immediately, there are benefits to us because what we’re pursuing is an *integrated* public transport solution. It’s not light rail OR cars OR buses OR ride sharing OR car sharing OR electric buses OR active travel. We can do it all.

Here’s an example. We currently have a lot of buses servicing the Gungahlin-City route – equating to 1.2 million bus kilometres a year. Putting light rail down the middle of Northbourne frees up the lanes that the many buses are using, easing congestion and making it easier for cars and bikes to travel down those routes. And those 1.2 million bus kilometres don’t disappear – they’re reallocated to other areas around the city, like Belconnen routes.

Bonkers said :

I really don’t understand the signs other than a public eyesore. Seeing a pollies mug shot the side of the road doesn’t make me suddenly think “Oh, well I’ll vote for them then!”.

I find the mailbox drops much more influential. And of these, I’m more influenced by positive sentiment (eg “This is what we will do if elected”) vs scare campaigns (“Well if you vote for them they’re going to do [insert unspeakable things here]”).

So Tara? I’m sorry some of your signs were destroyed. I’m not necessarily in agreement with your political stance, but I’m a regular reader of your blog and think you’re a decent person. So on the up side (at least for me), your signs haven’t influenced how I’m going to vote, and so the destruction of them doesn’t either.

PS Moulis, put on a shirt.

Sure, the signs might not influence a vote. But they might remind you that I’m a candidate, or if you’ve spotted me down at the shops and wondered why you might think, ‘Ah, that’s what she’s doing, she’s a candidate’. As I said the other day, signs are a really small part of the broader campaign of knocking on doors, calling people, writing blog posts (see taracheyne.com.au), being active on as much social media as possible, having shopping centre stalls and delivering material. I’ve taken months of leave to campaign full time because I’m serious about this. But there is just one of me and thousands of voters and so we have to try to reach everyone in a range of different ways.

The broader Twitter context is that I’ve been regularly documenting my campaign there over the last year. Good days, bad days, the things that make your heart sing etc – I thought a few people might be interested to know what it’s like to be, and what goes into being, a candidate. Two tweets about a handful of broken signs are part of hundreds of tweets documenting the campaign. RiotACT chose to do a story on those two. That’s their prerogative. *shrugs* I was simply continuing to document my campaign and I’ll continue to do that.

I really don’t understand the signs other than a public eyesore. Seeing a pollies mug shot the side of the road doesn’t make me suddenly think “Oh, well I’ll vote for them then!”.

I find the mailbox drops much more influential. And of these, I’m more influenced by positive sentiment (eg “This is what we will do if elected”) vs scare campaigns (“Well if you vote for them they’re going to do [insert unspeakable things here]”).

So Tara? I’m sorry some of your signs were destroyed. I’m not necessarily in agreement with your political stance, but I’m a regular reader of your blog and think you’re a decent person. So on the up side (at least for me), your signs haven’t influenced how I’m going to vote, and so the destruction of them doesn’t either.

PS Moulis, put on a shirt.

in_the_taratory said :

Well, I guess now you have.

As someone standing for election in Ginninderra, you are asking to represent voters living west of Bruce, out to Macgregor but not including suburbs bounded by the lower border of Kaleen, Lawson, McKellar and Evatt.

My question for you, then, as someone asking to represent those people, what is your view of the proposed tramline?

JC said :

rommeldog56 said :

jett18 said :

What’s very disappointing is that our local pollies are more willing to put money into this kind of campaigning then getting out into the community and talking about the issues that affect their constituents AND THEN acting on those concerns rather than towing the party line.

+1.

If she is “very, very disappointed” that a few of her pesky election signs were broken, I wonder how disappointed she will be if she were to be elected, in having no choice but to tow the ACT Labor/Greens party line and continue with tripling Annual Rates, dreaming up new ACT Govt charges and levies, increasing the territory budget deficit, adhering to the secret MOU between ACT Labor/Greens and Unions ACT, not recognising or calling out conflicts of interest by other ACT Labor Ministers, supporting the tram (including stage 2 to Woden that hasn’t even been costed yet !), etc.

Very, very, very, very disappointed no doubt…

Puts being “very, very disappointed” over a few election signs into cotext really. Its nothing and not worth reporting.

And how are the Libs going to be any different?

Right on cue with an attempt divert attention away from Labor’s many follies. When your party’s only defense is “well the other guys might be worse!”, you’re in trouble. At this stage, I think much of Canberra is ready to take a chance on the other guys, because they couldn’t be any worse.

And in answer to your question, the Libs would do away with the dodgy union dealings for a start. That’s already a significant improvement on the current government.

jett18 said :

Like most candidates I’ve never heard of you before.

Well, I guess now you have.

TuggLife said :

in_the_taratory said :

jett18 said :

What’s very disappointing is that our local pollies are more willing to put money into this kind of campaigning then getting out into the community and talking about the issues that affect their constituents AND THEN acting on those concerns rather than towing the party line.

Thanks for your comment. Since March I’ve been out with shopping centre stalls, writing newsletters, personally responding to the emails I receive, phoning people and going door to door. For the last 6 weeks I have been full time campaigning (and this continues until the election) for the exact purpose of wanting to have as many conversations as possible so that I can be the best representative I can be if I am elected. I am lucky enough to have had thousands of conversations. Signs are a very small part of campaigning – people can’t talk to a sign, but they do raise awareness and can be conversation starters so they are important. And, yes, I *am* disappointed for my volunteers who give up their time to help design, put together and distribute these signs – they are bloody hard workers and it’s frustrating to have their work destroyed.

Tara, perhaps some of your colleagues could pop down the shops to chat with some of us at non-election times, too? And then perhaps act on that feedback?

Twitter as a medium attracts hyperbole. There is no ‘mildly disappointed’ on Twitter, just outrage.

You can read about the kind of MLA I want to be here: http://taracheyne.com.au/statement-to-the-canberra-alliance-for-participatory-democracy/

wildturkeycanoe said :

“If people have problem with the signs, I’d rather they get in touch with me than do something like this.”
Like any politician is going to listen to a member of the community, especially over a bunch of signs. The community doesn’t want them, but no party is going to remove their signs and lose all that free advertising. I wonder how much taxpayers have paid to have these eyesores spread across the state. They really serve no purpose, because the signs are not informative, missing anything even closely related to policies . The only thing some of them do is put a face to a name, but most don’t even do that. We will all find out on election day who is who in the party game, but by then I’d say most have made informative decisions through watching the news or maybe by reading one of the how to vote guides popped into their mailbox.
Nobody is going to change their voting habit because they like the colour of a sign, a clever pun or witty slogan. These advertising attempts are not even in the same league as the Canturf ads.

I explained in my comment at 4.36pm yesterday some of the reasons we use signs. My signs have been paid for by me and donations I’ve received from family, friends and supporters. Not taxpayers. If there is a genuine issue with the position of one of my signs, I will move it.

justin heywood said :

Nobody likes to see their work trashed but I think that, relative to the low-down, dirty, dishonest contest that politics is in this town (practised by all sides), a few destroyed cornflutes is pretty minor.

How I would love to see a candidate instruct his/her team that dirty politics will not be tolerated, that he/she doesn’t agree with every party policy, and that he/she will do her best if elected but can’t guarantee peace and happiness for all.

I’d vote for that candidate.

I agree, it is pretty minor – especially when I’ve been actively campaigning since March. I posted two tweets about it. That’s it. I didn’t write this article and the quotes are drawn from the video in the tweet – not from some interview.

rommeldog56 said :

JC said :

And how are the Libs going to be any different?

If the Libs get in and dont shape up, vote them out in 2020.

We simply can not carry on the way we are under ACT Labor/Greens.

Yes – introducing a genuine sense of contestability in the ACT will impose some discipline on the current lot, who tax and spend with impunity and then use a series of half-truths and distortions to try and make us feel less ripped off.

JC said :

And how are the Libs going to be any different?

If the Libs get in and dont shape up, vote them out in 2020.

We simply can not carry on the way we are under ACT Labor/Greens.

in_the_taratory said :

jett18 said :

What’s very disappointing is that our local pollies are more willing to put money into this kind of campaigning then getting out into the community and talking about the issues that affect their constituents AND THEN acting on those concerns rather than towing the party line.

Thanks for your comment. Since March I’ve been out with shopping centre stalls, writing newsletters, personally responding to the emails I receive, phoning people and going door to door. For the last 6 weeks I have been full time campaigning (and this continues until the election) for the exact purpose of wanting to have as many conversations as possible so that I can be the best representative I can be if I am elected. I am lucky enough to have had thousands of conversations. Signs are a very small part of campaigning – people can’t talk to a sign, but they do raise awareness and can be conversation starters so they are important. And, yes, I *am* disappointed for my volunteers who give up their time to help design, put together and distribute these signs – they are bloody hard workers and it’s frustrating to have their work destroyed.

Tara, perhaps some of your colleagues could pop down the shops to chat with some of us at non-election times, too? And then perhaps act on that feedback?

Twitter as a medium attracts hyperbole. There is no ‘mildly disappointed’ on Twitter, just outrage.

rommeldog56 said :

jett18 said :

What’s very disappointing is that our local pollies are more willing to put money into this kind of campaigning then getting out into the community and talking about the issues that affect their constituents AND THEN acting on those concerns rather than towing the party line.

+1.

If she is “very, very disappointed” that a few of her pesky election signs were broken, I wonder how disappointed she will be if she were to be elected, in having no choice but to tow the ACT Labor/Greens party line and continue with tripling Annual Rates, dreaming up new ACT Govt charges and levies, increasing the territory budget deficit, adhering to the secret MOU between ACT Labor/Greens and Unions ACT, not recognising or calling out conflicts of interest by other ACT Labor Ministers, supporting the tram (including stage 2 to Woden that hasn’t even been costed yet !), etc.

Very, very, very, very disappointed no doubt…

Puts being “very, very disappointed” over a few election signs into cotext really. Its nothing and not worth reporting.

And how are the Libs going to be any different?

“If people have problem with the signs, I’d rather they get in touch with me”
I’ll take you up on that offer.
I don’t like your visual pollution either.

“If people have problem with the signs, I’d rather they get in touch with me than do something like this.”
Like any politician is going to listen to a member of the community, especially over a bunch of signs. The community doesn’t want them, but no party is going to remove their signs and lose all that free advertising. I wonder how much taxpayers have paid to have these eyesores spread across the state. They really serve no purpose, because the signs are not informative, missing anything even closely related to policies . The only thing some of them do is put a face to a name, but most don’t even do that. We will all find out on election day who is who in the party game, but by then I’d say most have made informative decisions through watching the news or maybe by reading one of the how to vote guides popped into their mailbox.
Nobody is going to change their voting habit because they like the colour of a sign, a clever pun or witty slogan. These advertising attempts are not even in the same league as the Canturf ads.

Nobody likes to see their work trashed but I think that, relative to the low-down, dirty, dishonest contest that politics is in this town (practised by all sides), a few destroyed cornflutes is pretty minor.

How I would love to see a candidate instruct his/her team that dirty politics will not be tolerated, that he/she doesn’t agree with every party policy, and that he/she will do her best if elected but can’t guarantee peace and happiness for all.

I’d vote for that candidate.

in_the_taratory said :

jett18 said :

What’s very disappointing is that our local pollies are more willing to put money into this kind of campaigning then getting out into the community and talking about the issues that affect their constituents AND THEN acting on those concerns rather than towing the party line.

Thanks for your comment. Since March I’ve been out with shopping centre stalls, writing newsletters, personally responding to the emails I receive, phoning people and going door to door. For the last 6 weeks I have been full time campaigning (and this continues until the election) for the exact purpose of wanting to have as many conversations as possible so that I can be the best representative I can be if I am elected. I am lucky enough to have had thousands of conversations. Signs are a very small part of campaigning – people can’t talk to a sign, but they do raise awareness and can be conversation starters so they are important. And, yes, I *am* disappointed for my volunteers who give up their time to help design, put together and distribute these signs – they are bloody hard workers and it’s frustrating to have their work destroyed.

How about the hard work the tax payers put into the billions of dollars worth of tax paid to the ACT government only to be spent on a tram with a lousy return?

Your signs are probably destroyed by someone with no idea what a party is.

Like most candidates I’ve never heard of you before.

jett18 said :

What’s very disappointing is that our local pollies are more willing to put money into this kind of campaigning then getting out into the community and talking about the issues that affect their constituents AND THEN acting on those concerns rather than towing the party line.

Thanks for your comment. Since March I’ve been out with shopping centre stalls, writing newsletters, personally responding to the emails I receive, phoning people and going door to door. For the last 6 weeks I have been full time campaigning (and this continues until the election) for the exact purpose of wanting to have as many conversations as possible so that I can be the best representative I can be if I am elected. I am lucky enough to have had thousands of conversations. Signs are a very small part of campaigning – people can’t talk to a sign, but they do raise awareness and can be conversation starters so they are important. And, yes, I *am* disappointed for my volunteers who give up their time to help design, put together and distribute these signs – they are bloody hard workers and it’s frustrating to have their work destroyed.

jett18 said :

What’s very disappointing is that our local pollies are more willing to put money into this kind of campaigning then getting out into the community and talking about the issues that affect their constituents AND THEN acting on those concerns rather than towing the party line.

+1.

If she is “very, very disappointed” that a few of her pesky election signs were broken, I wonder how disappointed she will be if she were to be elected, in having no choice but to tow the ACT Labor/Greens party line and continue with tripling Annual Rates, dreaming up new ACT Govt charges and levies, increasing the territory budget deficit, adhering to the secret MOU between ACT Labor/Greens and Unions ACT, not recognising or calling out conflicts of interest by other ACT Labor Ministers, supporting the tram (including stage 2 to Woden that hasn’t even been costed yet !), etc. Very, very, very, very disappointed no doubt…

Puts being “very, very disappointed” over a few election signs into cotext really. Its nothing and not worth reporting.

What’s very disappointing is that our local pollies are more willing to put money into this kind of campaigning then getting out into the community and talking about the issues that affect their constituents AND THEN acting on those concerns rather than towing the party line.