26 August 2008

Are we all allowed to attach posters to the street lights, or is that only the local political parties that can litter with impunity??

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Did you see the dozens of Liberal Party posters attaches to the street lights this morning? Isn’t that littering??

I was involved in a fund raising fete a few years ago and put out a couple of signs to advertise it and we got a call to tell us to pick them up because it was illegal to put them out there – and it was suggested that we put them out ater 4pm on Friday as they wouldn’t be checked over the weekend.

So, have those rules changed or are there special rules for pollies??

UPDATED The ABC reports that the signage is not legal.

And, like magic, within 24 hours of the massive signage campaign being rolled out, it has disappeared as if it was never there.

ANOTHER UPDATE: The Canberra Times has more.

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Loquaciousness,
The primary difference is that the signs along the Kings Highway are on private land, whereas the signs along Ginninderra drive are on public property.
Private land signs require only the permission of the landholder and (this applied to the 2006 Qld state election, so probably applies to others as well) are subject to a certain limit about size and numbers.

couldn’t get over how big a waste of resources it was

So people are now no longer allowed to spent their own money on what they want?

It’s nothing like the cost of television advertising – some candidates must be rolling in it!

Loquaciousness10:55 am 26 Aug 08

Wish someone would call the scary-looking guy running for local council in Bungendore and get him to pull down the signs all up and down the Kings Highway …

L

tom-tom said :

I was referring to the cost of literature that gets handed out by door knockers as well as the opportunity cost of the volunteers time, I’m an economist so I’m used to comparing things by trying to work out dollar values. And it was all the libs and one labor candidate.

So am I. Fair enough, although your valuation of volunteers time could possibly be quite different to mine, it’s unusual for people to have that perspective so I wasn’t ready for it.

I know plenty of people however who would put up posters and wouldn’t doorknock, so it’s hard to make a direct comparison.

Gungahlin Al10:24 am 26 Aug 08

The Canberra Times article names the guilty parties.

I was referring to the cost of literature that gets handed out by door knockers as well as the opportunity cost of the volunteers time, I’m an economist so I’m used to comparing things by trying to work out dollar values. And it was all the libs and one labor candidate.

Does anyone know which candidates the posters were for? Whether they were for one person or multiple people? That would be a clue as to who did this, whether it came from a campaign team or from Divisional HQ.

As a general rule, political parties exempt themselves from many rules when they write legislation (privacy laws, spam laws etc) so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re exempt in this case.

couldn’t get over how big a waste of resources it was

So people are now no longer allowed to spent their own money on what they want?

One can think that something is a waste of resources without wanting to stop it.

tom-tom said :

No, I was just commenting that it was a pretty dumb decision on cost/result grounds

Elaborate on this tom-tom. Doorknocking is more about leg power than money. Or are you talking about the people actually putting them up (in which case using the word money was an error of convenience)?

No, I was just commenting that it was a pretty dumb decision on cost/result grounds

They’re only illegal if you don’t agree with them. 🙂

They’re no worse than all those Union funded anti-Work Choices signs that are still attached to light and powerpoles around Canberra, even though the last Federal election was in November.

I saw them all yesterday; couldn’t get over how big a waste of resources it was; the amount of money spent on that could have doorknocked a couple of suburbs….. And thumper it doesn’t matter if the signs where just around the poles, as long as they use the poles in anyway, even if its just to stop the wind blowing them away, then they’re up illegaly.

weren’t….

Gungahlin Al7:46 am 26 Aug 08

And in the Times today. 8 weeks prior it says. So how can people want control of the territory’s purse strings if they can’t count?

And before it happens again, anyone planning on a Troy Williams style assault of the stickers on every damn street sign in town – you will be named and shamed on Riot Act and anywhere else possible.

Oh well.. the ABC seems to have that well covered..

So what does it say about the capacity of these people who are putting themselves forward as our representatives when they can’t even follow a very clear code of practice???

Maybe we should consider the independant alternatives – those electorates who have independants who hold the balance of power actually have a much better chance of being looked after..

It seems the smart choice when you think of it..

Jonathon Reynolds12:52 am 26 Aug 08

And here is the complete code document which clearly articulates what is NOT permitted:
http://www.tams.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/12721/The_Code_of_Practice.pdf

Jonathon Reynolds12:43 am 26 Aug 08

TAMS Code of Practice for Placement of Movable Signs
http://www.tams.act.gov.au/live/city_rangers/footpath_signs

Jonathon Reynolds12:41 am 26 Aug 08

ABC Online running the following story:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/08/25/2346051.htm

Yes, the need to get permission.

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