7 February 2012

Gungahlin Al nominates for the Greens in Molonglo

| johnboy
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The Canberrra Times brings word that RiotACT’s own Gungahlin Al (aka Alan Kerlin) is throwing his hat into the political ring as a Green candidate for Molonglo.

With the Greens hard up against it to hold Caroline Le Couteur’s seat (kindly calculated by neutrals to have roughly a snowball’s chance in hell) a new high profile Molonglo candidate would at first blush appear to be what they need like a hole in the head.

So Al, is this a profile building exercise? Or are you seriously tilting for Shane Rattenbury’s seat?

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Gungahlin Al said :

On these policies that some say they don’t agree with, I’d be interested as to what they are?
.

Most loony thngs the Greens try to differntiate themselves from the rest: eg

Billion tram projects:

Segregated pools for the women who see themselves as meat for men.

Gungahlin Al said :

housebound said :

Gungahlin Al said :

To respond to some the things in the CT article and answer some of the concerns raised here, I’ve written a little blog post: http://alankerlin.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/yes-i-have-nominated-for-greens-pre.html

So you agree with the vast bulk of Greens policies, and you want to swamp little interest Belconnen might get politically by lumping it with Gungahlin. I guess it is consistent with Greens policy.

Sorry Housebound I don’t understand. Something about Belconnen. You may be interested to know that I’m on the board of the Belconnen Arts Centre and have a fair bit to do with the folk of BCC.

Sorry Al. Should have had two sentences for two separate ideas:
a) combining Gungahlin and Belconnen into a super-electorate will see even less attention paid to Belconnen
b) agreeing with all, or most, Greens policies (which tend to not pay a lot of attention to Canberra’s western suburbs).

It’s not that Gungahlin shouldn’t have anything – in fact, I would put the third hospital out there and you should have had government offices more than a decade ago.

The concern of a super-electorate is well illustrated by one of the official reasons for closing Hall Primary School – that there was excess capacity in schools in Gungahlin. By going to larger units of planning (which will happen if the electorates were to change), the needs of individual areas are overlooked and important services are withdrawn.

Gungahlin Al7:03 am 09 Feb 12

housebound said :

Gungahlin Al said :

To respond to some the things in the CT article and answer some of the concerns raised here, I’ve written a little blog post: http://alankerlin.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/yes-i-have-nominated-for-greens-pre.html

So you agree with the vast bulk of Greens policies, and you want to swamp little interest Belconnen might get politically by lumping it with Gungahlin. I guess it is consistent with Greens policy.

Sorry Housebound I don’t understand. Something about Belconnen. You may be interested to know that I’m on the board of the Belconnen Arts Centre and have a fair bit to do with the folk of BCC.

Thanks VG and others. Means a lot.

On these policies that some say they don’t agree with, I’d be interested as to what they are?
And thanks to everyone who has gone over to the blog to read that post. Hell of a lot of you! Hope you found some other stuff of interest while you’re there.

Primal said :

LSWCHP said :

Unfortunately, the greens have some policies that I don’t like.

As opposed to every other party?

I’ll be more explicit. The Greens have some policies I really, really don’t like.

They’re an odd mob. I agree with a lot of what they stand for, but the loony fringe seems to have control of the overall operation. If they could get rid of the oddjobs (people and policies) I’d probably vote for them every time.

Gungahlin Al said :

To respond to some the things in the CT article and answer some of the concerns raised here, I’ve written a little blog post: http://alankerlin.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/yes-i-have-nominated-for-greens-pre.html

So you agree with the vast bulk of Greens policies, and you want to swamp little interest Belconnen might get politically by lumping it with Gungahlin. I guess it is consistent with Greens policy.

poetix said :

dpm said :

Holden Caulfield said :

As a resadent (official spelling remember) of one of your listed suburbs can you please advise my what my pressing needs are?

Cafes that allow kiddies, I think! 😉

No, no, no, anyone pretentious enough from the Inner North (and I’m talking only about myself here, for a change) does not want kiddies having swing-sets in cafés. We like quiet cafés for penning immortal works of art, particularly once we have dispatched Jessica or Tristan to an appropriate school for the day. Get it right, sweetie. (-:

Sorry! I meant to say: “Cafes that DON’T allow kiddies, I think! :-)”

I always get those two mixed up….

Holden Caulfield1:57 pm 08 Feb 12

Gungahlin Al said :

…To respond to some the things in the CT article and answer some of the concerns raised here, I’ve written a little blog post: http://alankerlin.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/yes-i-have-nominated-for-greens-pre.html – well it’s a bloody long post actually, but hey it’s my blog so I don’t have to worry about some reporter cutting me off mid thought… I welcome your feedback.

PS: ever tried to write posts here using a phone? :-/

No, but they’ll probably run with the headline…

“Kerlin expects le Couteur to lose seat”

Good luck all the same.

Gungahlin Al1:17 pm 08 Feb 12

“RiotACT’s own Gungahlin Al” hey? That’s nice – thank you.

Sorry I haven’t responded earlier folks. Been a pretty busy few days one way and another – school back, work and now this.

Yes although I suspect the CT piece was actually guesswork, I have indeed nominated for preselection. But the Greens are membership driven and I didn’t want speculation about me to get in the way of due process.

If I’m preselected as one of the Molonglo candidates then I’ll be happy to talk over policy issues. RA is part of my life and my sounding board if you like, and I’m not going away.

In the meantime, I’ve really appreciated the feedback you’ve given here. Very quotable! 😉

To respond to some the things in the CT article and answer some of the concerns raised here, I’ve written a little blog post: http://alankerlin.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/yes-i-have-nominated-for-greens-pre.html – well it’s a bloody long post actually, but hey it’s my blog so I don’t have to worry about some reporter cutting me off mid thought… I welcome your feedback.

PS: ever tried to write posts here using a phone? :-/

Primal said :

LSWCHP said :

Unfortunately, the greens have some policies that I don’t like.

As opposed to every other party?

Yeah but they have less that I agree with.

LSWCHP said :

Unfortunately, the greens have some policies that I don’t like.

As opposed to every other party?

milkman said :

far_northact said :

Agreed, – great candidate! wrong party? Why not independent?

+100000000000000000

+ infinite

The sad thing is that the political hacks around town will no longer see GA’s actions as being those of a normal person trying to do their best for the community. Everything , at least from now on and possibly back a few years, will be interpreted and re-interpreted as part of a bid for preselection with the Greens and later getting elected.

It’s one of the sad things about this town. It must be a huge disincentive against people standing up for election to improve things around here.

One thing, though Al, if elected, will you vote with the rest of the Greens to do another dodgy deal with the ALP? Or are you able to try for something innovative that could bring some real change to the incompetent way things are run here?

(Note – I don’t suggest automatic support for the libs. Can GA perhaps usher in something closer to the town council arrangement we should have?)

LSWCHP said :

Based on his contributions to RA, Al seems like a decent and thoughtful bloke. In other circumstances I’d be happy to vote for him.[/quote

Sorry Al, I agree. As an independent, or possibly even one of the real parties I would vote for you in a second.

But unless the Green make some massive policy changes and get rid of the backward and obstructive elements such as Bob Brown, Sarah Hanson Young and Lee Rhiannon there is no way they will ever get my vote.

You seem to have a working and active brain. I’m not sure they will like that in their little party.

Damn good. Best of luck, Al!

Based on his contributions to RA, Al seems like a decent and thoughtful bloke. In other circumstances I’d be happy to vote for him.

Unfortunately, the greens have some policies that I don’t like. For example, from http://nsw.greens.org.au/policies/firearms “The next stage in protecting communities from the misuse of firearms is to ban semi-automatic handguns.”

Well, bugger their bloody pompous self-righteous next stage. I like my semi automatic handguns. My wife and I currently have two, and I’ll be picking up another one next week. They are stored and used responsibly to punch holes in paper targets, which we’ve been doing for many years without hurting anybody. I know I’m in a tiny minority and it won’t matter a bit, but they won’t be getting my vote as long as they promulgate crap like that.

The next thing you know they’ll try to ban revolvers!

I can understand why Al wants to get into the LA – he feels he could get more done for his community.
I wish we had someone like Al in Tuggers.
Pity it’s the Greens though. I suspect they will get a caning due to their dodgy deal with the incumbents. He would have been ideal as an independent, and probably would get in as one.

Holden Caulfield9:13 pm 07 Feb 12

poetix said :

…Holden C, I can’t think of a *single* problem that Inner North residents really face. I have, however, heard whinges about people from Gungahlin driving through to get to work (something they are perfectly entitled to do).

I look forward to putting that to Gungahlin Al and seeing whether he can make soothing political noises without vomiting. (Actually, he was quite critical of rat-running through the Inner North the other day, and now that All Makes Sense in light of this announcement.) I wonder if he’ll have to put a political party authorisation at the end if he posts on RA now? Or is that only when a campaign starts officially?

Ah okay. Well seeing as I used to drive through Lyneham/O’Connor/Turner on my way to work in Civic when I lived in Gungahlin I have no issues with others doing the same. Ironically, I would, at times, drive past the house I live in now in a bid to avoid the horror of Northbourne Ave.

00davist said :

Considering my only concern here is that you have trouble distingishing Piranha Plants from Triffids, I’m glad to see this!

Provided we are never under full-scale plant attack, I think you have allot to offer Al, and I will be very interested to see what you have to offer.

You obviously know nothing of policies of The Greens if you think any of them would side with Humanity in a war with a Plant. Any Plant.

They would be the first to lay down and welcome our new Flora Overlords.

milkman said :

far_northact said :

Agreed, – great candidate! wrong party? Why not independent?

+100000000000000000

Indeed.

The Greens are watermelons – socialists hiding beneath a patina of sometimes respectable environmental concern. At the bottom of it all is distrust if not hatred of business and “the rich”, a belief that government does everything better than the private sector and individuals themselves, and a determination to coerce people into living in a certain way rather than letting people choose how they want to live.

far_northact said :

Agreed, – great candidate! wrong party? Why not independent?

+100000000000000000

NoImRight said :

devils_advocate said :

NoImRight said :

buzz819 said :

The problem is that I would never in my life time vote Greens….

So you pretty much keep an open mind when it comes to considering your options.

Saying that one would never vote greens in their lifetime doesn’t neccessarily indicate a closed mind – more a reaction to the short-sightedness and shallowness of the party itself.

The ban on “lightweight” plastic bags is, for me, an indication of one-issue thinking and lack of policy analysis that plagues the greens and prevents them from gaining broader acceptance. I feel that most thinking people would have seen how this policy would ultimately backfire, especially in a place with a high income like canberra where a price mechanism would do little to influence people’s behaviour.

It’s a shame because some of their other policies – particularly humanitarian/refugee policy – really appeal to me, and possibly other people. But their single-minded determination to have us all go back to living in caves is hard to get past.

Isnt saying “in my life time” just as short sighted though? The assumption seems to be the Greens have fixed on certain things and can never and will never change. That might be the case now but it doesnt mean it always will be.

” I could never vote for the Greens as they are now” might be a more qualified statement.

No, I stand by my statement, they use their position to buy in to other parties to allow them to become a minority government, which makes the government who was voted in have to go against their core election promises, ie. the carbon tax.

They whore their minority selves off to whoever says yes to their preposterous ideas, ideas which did not win them enough votes to become a majority government themselves. Then when that bill can not be passed through parliament they chuck a hissy fit and say they won’t support the party any further… Yeah what a good party…

poetix said :

Holden C, I can’t think of a *single* problem that Inner North residents really face.

Having one of the highest crime rates in Canberra springs to mind.

Although one of the proposed solutions, of moving the bad public housing tenants into the outer ‘burbs doesn’t sit too well with me.

far_northact6:05 pm 07 Feb 12

Agreed, – great candidate! wrong party? Why not independent?

dpm said :

Holden Caulfield said :

poetix said :

I’m going to have fun monstering him with ‘Yes but what will you do for the Inner North’ until the election. I’m not sure that he has adequate understanding of the pressing needs of people in O’Connor, Lyneham and Ainslie, which are part of Molonglo. Wonder if he’s going to change his name to Molonglo Al.

As a resadent (official spelling remember) of one of your listed suburbs can you please advise my what my pressing needs are?

Cafes that allow kiddies, I think! 😉

No, no, no, anyone pretentious enough from the Inner North (and I’m talking only about myself here, for a change) does not want kiddies having swing-sets in cafés. We like quiet cafés for penning immortal works of art, particularly once we have dispatched Jessica or Tristan to an appropriate school for the day. Get it right, sweetie. (-:

Holden C, I can’t think of a *single* problem that Inner North residents really face. I have, however, heard whinges about people from Gungahlin driving through to get to work (something they are perfectly entitled to do). I look forward to putting that to Gungahlin Al and seeing whether he can make soothing political noises without vomiting. (Actually, he was quite critical of rat-running through the Inner North the other day, and now that All Makes Sense in light of this announcement.) I wonder if he’ll have to put a political party authorisation at the end if he posts on RA now? Or is that only when a campaign starts officially?

And I think that if I ever wrote resadent, a little part of me would die. There it goes now.

devils_advocate4:42 pm 07 Feb 12

NoImRight said :

” I could never vote for the Greens as they are now” might be a more qualified statement.

Unless the two things are the same. The Greens policies are unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. I think they have resigned themselves to wielding a disproportionate amount of power as a result of their ability to extract benefits from major parties who can’t otherwise form a majority government by forming coalitions.

Not that this is wrong, btw, those are the rules and the Greens are exploiting them as best they can. But the current situation doesn’t provide the Greens incentives to come up with a broader policy platform or indeed sensible policies on the areas in which they are currently active.

devils_advocate said :

NoImRight said :

buzz819 said :

The problem is that I would never in my life time vote Greens….

So you pretty much keep an open mind when it comes to considering your options.

Saying that one would never vote greens in their lifetime doesn’t neccessarily indicate a closed mind – more a reaction to the short-sightedness and shallowness of the party itself.

The ban on “lightweight” plastic bags is, for me, an indication of one-issue thinking and lack of policy analysis that plagues the greens and prevents them from gaining broader acceptance. I feel that most thinking people would have seen how this policy would ultimately backfire, especially in a place with a high income like canberra where a price mechanism would do little to influence people’s behaviour.

It’s a shame because some of their other policies – particularly humanitarian/refugee policy – really appeal to me, and possibly other people. But their single-minded determination to have us all go back to living in caves is hard to get past.

Isnt saying “in my life time” just as short sighted though? The assumption seems to be the Greens have fixed on certain things and can never and will never change. That might be the case now but it doesnt mean it always will be.

” I could never vote for the Greens as they are now” might be a more qualified statement.

This may have already happened, but if so I haven’t heard.

I wonder if the candidate is planning on resigning as chair of the Gungahlin Community Council?

devils_advocate3:36 pm 07 Feb 12

NoImRight said :

buzz819 said :

The problem is that I would never in my life time vote Greens….

So you pretty much keep an open mind when it comes to considering your options.

Saying that one would never vote greens in their lifetime doesn’t neccessarily indicate a closed mind – more a reaction to the short-sightedness and shallowness of the party itself.

The ban on “lightweight” plastic bags is, for me, an indication of one-issue thinking and lack of policy analysis that plagues the greens and prevents them from gaining broader acceptance. I feel that most thinking people would have seen how this policy would ultimately backfire, especially in a place with a high income like canberra where a price mechanism would do little to influence people’s behaviour.

It’s a shame because some of their other policies – particularly humanitarian/refugee policy – really appeal to me, and possibly other people. But their single-minded determination to have us all go back to living in caves is hard to get past.

Too bad he’s nominated for the Greens. I like his ideas, I don’t like the Greens ideas as a whole, though.

astrojax said :

buzz819 said :

The problem is that I would never in my life time vote Greens….

why? a sad indictment on civics education in this country, really. which keeps the duopoly of politics alive in this democracy…

why wouldn’t you vote for the best candidate to represent you? or are you blinded by your political affiliations to automatically naysay whatever anyone from another [perceived] affiliation might have to contribute?

Where did he say he wouldn’t vote for the best candidate to represent him? He said he wouldn’t vote for the Greens. Perhaps this is because he’s read the Green’s policies and is ideologically opposed to them?

Holden Caulfield said :

poetix said :

I’m going to have fun monstering him with ‘Yes but what will you do for the Inner North’ until the election. I’m not sure that he has adequate understanding of the pressing needs of people in O’Connor, Lyneham and Ainslie, which are part of Molonglo. Wonder if he’s going to change his name to Molonglo Al.

As a resadent (official spelling remember) of one of your listed suburbs can you please advise my what my pressing needs are?

Cafes that allow kiddies, I think! 😉

buzz819 said :

The problem is that I would never in my life time vote Greens….

Seconded.

buzz819 said :

The problem is that I would never in my life time vote Greens….

why? a sad indictment on civics education in this country, really. which keeps the duopoly of politics alive in this democracy…

why wouldn’t you vote for the best candidate to represent you? or are you blinded by your political affiliations to automatically naysay whatever anyone from another [perceived] affiliation might have to contribute?

buzz819 said :

The problem is that I would never in my life time vote Greens….

So you pretty much keep an open mind when it comes to considering your options.

Holden Caulfield2:23 pm 07 Feb 12

poetix said :

I’m going to have fun monstering him with ‘Yes but what will you do for the Inner North’ until the election. I’m not sure that he has adequate understanding of the pressing needs of people in O’Connor, Lyneham and Ainslie, which are part of Molonglo. Wonder if he’s going to change his name to Molonglo Al.

As a resadent (official spelling remember) of one of your listed suburbs can you please advise my what my pressing needs are?

bitzermaloney2:20 pm 07 Feb 12

“Our slogan shall be: A rotten candidate for a rotten borough. Baldrick, I want you to go back to your kitchen sink, you see, and prepare for government.” – Blackadder

aussielyn said :

The vilification and hate campaign will now start. The electorate of Molonglo is the key to ACT Govt. as the election of Caroline showed in 2008.
PS I have no political party affiliations

Are you kidding me or is this because “The Greens” claim not to be a normal political party but rather a movement?

There may be something to this, given the public defence by many Greens, including Assembly Speaker Rattenbury, of “direct” (ie criminal) action provided that it advances “the cause” (in Shane’s case I am, of course, thinking of the whipper-snippering of the CSIRO Research Station wheat crop, carried out by his Greenpeace colleagues).

Turning to Alan’s chances of election, these would obviously have been greatly enhanced if he had managed to get his way with the recent redistribution of electoral boundaries or if the ACT had single member electorates which would give a candidate strongly identified with a particular area a real shot at being elected.

As things stand, the longstanding gerrymander in favour of inner-Canberra interests (you only need a quota of 12.5% to get elected in latte land, compared to 16.67% in the boondocks). Joh Bjelke would be proud…

I’m going to have fun monstering him with ‘Yes but what will you do for the Inner North’ until the election. I’m not sure that he has adequate understanding of the pressing needs of people in O’Connor, Lyneham and Ainslie, which are part of Molonglo. Wonder if he’s going to change his name to Molonglo Al.

Good luck to him. I just hope Canberrans know who to thank when they forget their shopping bags or haven’t got the right coin for a shopping trolley.

Having said that, better Al than yet another Green from the Inner North. He seems to have a broader perspective of the issues, unlike some of the others, whose world seems to stop at the city gates and does not extend to suburbia

The problem is that I would never in my life time vote Greens….

shadow boxer12:50 pm 07 Feb 12

You should try Federally Al, that would really get us some attention (and some pork barrelling)

He’s gone all quiet. Maybe he’s done a Mal Meninga…

Anyone know many Molonglo MLAs currently live on the northside v southside? Jeremy Hanson is one southsider i’m aware of, any others?

Maybe that’s why the interests of Woden-Weston Creek-Inner South often appear ignored in favour of Inner North and, to a lesser extent, Gungahlin

Gungahlin Al, if elected, would add to this spatial bias. The parties need to preselect more southsiders, or push for more logical electorate boundaries

I was hoping Al would run as an independent Senate candidate at the next Federal Election.

Holden Caulfield12:11 pm 07 Feb 12

The vilification and hate campaign will now start.

From who?

Shane and Caroline?

Chop71 said :

Al will do a fantastic job for those north of the lake.

As long as he is aware that about a third of Molonglo is south of the lake…. He might have to take the “Gunner’s only” blinkers off for his new role, if successful! 🙂

Caroline or Shane from the Greens has attended almost every public meeting, in the inner south; I have been to in the last 3 years. The major party MLAs from Molonglo are never present. Ministers & PR savvy shadows have the benefit of media recognition and profile and so can take re-election for granted.
Al has achieved a lot as advocate for his community through GCC. He is always assertive at the Planning & Development Forum. The vilification and hate campaign will now start. The electorate of Molonglo is the key to ACT Govt. as the election of Caroline showed in 2008.
PS I have no political party affiliations

Al will do a fantastic job for those north of the lake.

Saw this coming 12 months ago.

As knowledable as Al is on Gungahlin what can he bring to the biggest seat in canberra that runs as far south as Woden and Weston Creek?

I think Gungahlin Al is a far superior Greens candidate than Shane Rattenbury or any of the Greens currently in the assembly at the moment.
While I don’t agree with a lot of his politics, I’d be much more confident in the Greens if Al was their member in Molonglo.

Considering my only concern here is that you have trouble distingishing Piranha Plants from Triffids, I’m glad to see this!

Provided we are never under full-scale plant attack, I think you have allot to offer Al, and I will be very interested to see what you have to offer.

Their best chance of getting 2 MLAs elected in Molonglo is running lots of strong candidates. Good candidates will increase the vote for the Green ticket.

Good to see. A person who is really representative of his area, people know him and what he thinks and stands for. The Greens do seem to get better grass-roots candidates (our shire Greens are excellent, and very popular across the area, one of them regularly gets the highest personal vote in council elections), but their national candidates are less impressive (Bob Brown and Scott Ludlam being exceptions).

And sometimes running isn’t about winning, but having a chance to get a wider audience for ideas.

Finally a sensible candidate emerges. Its just a shame half of Gungahlin has bee re-distributed out of Molonglo.

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