Jon Stanhope - Rainmaker?

deezagood said :

I agree Teepee; Zed seems like a really genuine and decent bloke with good ethics. He might be inexperienced, but there is only one way to gain experience and I’d like to see him take a shot. Good values and ethics go a long way with me. Zed instead.

Personally, I fell that the ‘ethics’ of the Christian right should be obliterated and abortions handed out to all.

deezagood said :

I agree Teepee; Zed seems like a really genuine and decent bloke with good ethics. He might be inexperienced, but there is only one way to gain experience and I’d like to see him take a shot. Good values and ethics go a long way with me. Zed instead.

Personally, I feel that the ‘ethics’ of the Christian right should be obliterated and abortions handed out to all.

I’ve always found Steve Pratt to live up to his name.

It’s just a shame that our Iraqi friends didn’t take care of him.

Jonathon Reynolds said :

You can see Jon Stanhope in action here:
http://www.canberravotes.com/2008/09/belconnen-community-council-jon-stanhope-mla-16-september-2008/

This was at the Belconnen Community Council in front of a non-confrontation crowd (gathering) of 13 people (of which 8 were candidates or former candidates). He does come across as reasonably personable when not on the offensive/defensive.

Yes, jonathon, but he was prepared for the event. Any pollie can come across as personable when able to prepare for it. The reactions that they have in the day to day encounters on the street, totally unprepared, are what will give the best insight into the person. He seems to be very arrogant, and in the couple of times I have bumped into him, I did not come away with a positive opinion.

In contrast, Zed, Brendan Smyth and Steve Pratt have all been down to earth and quite happy to discuss all manner of topics. I found myself at ease, not off side.

You can see Jon Stanhope in action here:
http://www.canberravotes.com/2008/09/belconnen-community-council-jon-stanhope-mla-16-september-2008/

This was at the Belconnen Community Council in front of a non-confrontation crowd (gathering) of 13 people (of which 8 were candidates or former candidates). He does come across as reasonably personable when not on the offensive/defensive.

I agree Teepee; Zed seems like a really genuine and decent bloke with good ethics. He might be inexperienced, but there is only one way to gain experience and I’d like to see him take a shot. Good values and ethics go a long way with me. Zed instead.

Chesounds very close to Stanhope and lacks some perspective. The issue is not what the guy is like privately, but how poor his judgement is in his job of public responsibility.

Other people who know him well are the ohter Labor Premiers. Although he is now the “grandfather” of COAG, I am told by observers that the other leaders treat him like a slly sideshow and pay little heed to the nonsense he sprouts.

If he were in any other parliament, he would get little further than a parliamentary secretary or a pretty junior Minister spot.

I agree with Che on one thing. Yes Stanhope is shy. His lack of people skills is precisely why he is defensive, aggressive, paranoid and lashes out at anyone who won’t kowtow. Any bloke could have a beer with Zed I’d bet – he radiates ease and casualness down the TV screen, but Jon wouldn’t even know whether to sip, swill or gulp. Wrong guy for the wrong job.

Mr Stanhope is a big personality and quite a charismatic leader. As a personality, he can be witty, charming, funny and passionate – all endearing qualities. But when riled, he can also be dismissive, patronising and arrogant – not quite so appealing. Beyond his personal traits, I simply can’t vote for any leader who would (either surreptitiously or overtly) allow a huge gas power plant to be built 650 metres away from a lovely, peaceful residential suburb – seriously, all voters should consider that if this type of thing can happen Macarthur, it could happen anywhere.

*Disclaimer – I have been a member of the Labor Party in the past.

Kramer said :

I reckon he’s a positive for Labor. He’s a real bloke, a bit hard headed, stuffs up sometimes, but on the whole has done a good job. Whereas the Zed (and ex buddy Mulchay) come across a bit too slick for me – kinda like used car salesmen.

That sums it up for me too. There is something slightly off about Zed. I don’t know what it is exactly – perhaps rapid ego expansion since taking the leadership, perhaps the company he keeps. Still, he’s by far the most presentable of the lot. Beyond him, the Libs have the depth of talent of a wading pool. Think about it – Vicki Dunne? Jacqui Burke? Steve Pratt? Holy cow. And with 3 weeks to go where are they? Has Zed secretly killed them and made a few clones of himself? To my surprise and enjoyment, Louise Maher grew some journalistic cojones and gave Zed a mini-grilling yesterday. ‘Why isn’t Jacqui Burke here talking about her own portfolio?’ etc.

Serendipity said :

My lasting impression of Stanhopeless is standing in the cue at a bakery at Belconnen mall with my wife one Saturday morning waiting for my turn. Dear John was standing beside me in adjacent row, I made eye contact and wished him good morning. He looked at me, ignored me, and turned away. Both my wife and I were surprised to say the least. This impression has remained. Despite the fact I didn’t particularly like or follow him in the first place, I made an effort. His arrogant attitude has left a lasting impression. I was saying “good morning” to him as both the leader and a man…but he couldnt be bothered or lower himself to even acknowledge this. So anyone but John and his party gets my vote.

I’m sorry, but that isn’t what Jon’s like at all. Assuming you don’t work for the Libs, and you weren’t wearing a loosely-tied dressing gown, I put it down to one of the following:

1. He was not wearing his glasses. He has crap eyesight.
2. You will all probably howl with derision, but Jon is actually quite shy. All this ‘arrogance’ stuff is utter rubbish. I can never reconcile his media image with Jon in person. I challenge those who have actually met him more than once to disagree with this.

3. i was listening to his talkback a month or two back, and some bloke rang up just to say thanks for pulling over last year to help him change his blown tyre. That is the kind of guy Jon is.

VicePope said :

He’s a positive. Pretty good recognition factor. Obviously the sharpest knife in a pretty blunt drawerful.

I disagree with the blunt drawerful bit, unless you’re including all the Libs in your reckoning, in which case yes, the average Assembly IQ is dragged down into the double digits.

In my opinion Andrew Barr, Simon Corbell, Richard Mulcahy and Brendan Smyth are all smart.

No need to torture ourselves with conjecture. Labor will be returned with Greens support and Jon will hand over to Andrew Barr.

He’s a positive. Pretty good recognition factor. Obviously the sharpest knife in a pretty blunt drawerful. Not perfect and his government has made errors, but probably the best candidate for any party that we’re likely to have. The only member of the current Assembly who’d be up there with the best in the self-government period.

(For the record, my list would also include Trevor Kaine, Rosemary Follett, Terry Connolly, Ted Quinlan and possibly Michael Moore, with Kate Carnell able to contibute if someone else was in control).

A range of Sonic’s foibles have been listed above, and I concur with all. In addition, and in conjunction with the bush fire/coroner debacle, I will never forgive the wretch for foisting a statue of a corrupt, verging on criminal, politician upon us. That he is so politically obtuse to let this thing be built is so offensive that he deserves to fail in a screaming heap.

I live in hope.

sepi I would think that you would have to partially blame the market for the lowest rate of bulk billing.

My impression of Canberra is that we’ve got too many rich people, and too many people who turn up their noses at bulk billing GPs. So the demand for bulk billing simply isn’t there, and as a consequence, we have low levels of it.

I grew up in two other capital cities, where everyone I knew went to the local bulk billing GP. The first time I ever came across people who looked down on bulk billing GPs was when I moved to Canberra for uni – and these people were students whose parents ‘never belived in going to bulk billing doctors”!

Rainmaker? That is what happens when he pisses on you from high on up..

ON most measures of health we have the worst system in teh country

– least GPs per capita
– lowest rate of bulk billing
– longest waiting times in hospitals

Yet the govt assures us all is fine, and spends their time conjuring up ‘teen health centres’ and ‘sleep clinics’, that as far as I know noone particularly wants.

I’m still shat off with him calling me a liar on page 2 of the Times, despite there being 10 other people in the room who could confirm that what I said was correct…

sepi said :

I think he messed up with closing too many schools, building on too many car parks in civic (without thinking of any alternative parking spots), removing all public rubbish bins from parks/bustops, approving too many huge buildings in suburbia, and our abysmal health system.

I’ll agree on the point about car parks. It’s an absolute joke with car parking in the city. Unfortunately where I live buses ain’t much of an option either. We are southside, and it’s takes as long for our bus to get from our place to tuggies as it then takes to get from tuggies into the city. This is because rather than have a few buses servicing different areas, they only have the one bus, and it takes the scenic route. Just checked out the action site, for me to get into work for an 8:30 start I’d need to be on the bus at 7:22 am. Tell me that there is not something wrong with this scenario, considering that I can drive and leave home at around 8:00am and make it in on time. Before anyone says “but there are express buses” the times I quoted are for the express buses, if I was to catch a normal bus I’d need to leave home before 7:00am to make it in on time.
[/rant]

As for health, well no city has that right, we can just be thankful that we don’t live in the states (now there is a health system to be ashamed of).

dalryk said :

The Canberra bushfires saga was an appalling and unforgiveable abdication of responsibility and accountability. For Jon and the party’s performance throughout that saga, and for that reason alone I will be voting against Labor in the upcoming election.

Now I’ve just got to work out who I’ll actually vote *for*.

me too.

and once the ash had settled, and the independent enquiry was underway, jon could have saved face by allowing it to run its course. How much in the wrong did he look when he challenged the findings?

oh, and the recent ads on tv – fairly certain that the canberra centre decided for the upgrades, not the CM. makes it look like he had a hand in every major construction decision in canberra. he and katy. (shudder)

My lasting impression of Stanhopeless is standing in the cue at a bakery at Belconnen mall with my wife one Saturday morning waiting for my turn. Dear John was standing beside me in adjacent row, I made eye contact and wished him good morning. He looked at me, ignored me, and turned away. Both my wife and I were surprised to say the least. This impression has remained. Despite the fact I didn’t particularly like or follow him in the first place, I made an effort. His arrogant attitude has left a lasting impression. I was saying “good morning” to him as both the leader and a man…but he couldnt be bothered or lower himself to even acknowledge this. So anyone but John and his party gets my vote.

The Canberra bushfires saga was an appalling and unforgiveable abdication of responsibility and accountability. For Jon and the party’s performance throughout that saga, and for that reason alone I will be voting against Labor in the upcoming election.

Now I’ve just got to work out who I’ll actually vote *for*.

I think he messed up with closing too many schools, building on too many car parks in civic (without thinking of any alternative parking spots), removing all public rubbish bins from parks/bustops, approving too many huge buildings in suburbia, and our abysmal health system.

Most people will have been affected by one of these issues.

This govt is too focussed on ‘announcibles’ (new snazzy sleep clinics, computerised time keepers at bustops etc), and not on getting the basics right – hospital waiting times, over full buses.

On schools – the kids at chifley, weston creek, hall and tharwa have to travel a lot further than 2 suburbs, and the chifley, hall and tharwa kids have no buses available either.

PM,

hee hee. This is best had over another four million beers methinks. and some chops

Arrogant P*%#k with a Capital A & Capital P.

Gives us a Prison & a Human Rights Commission we don’t need but cannot sort out parking in Civic, public transport (buses, airport taxis, gunghalin overpass) & we just about have Australias worst Health system.

Him & Kate Carnell could have been twins.

If you listen to his words directly after the fires he was actually admitting fault. He basically said don’t blame the firefighters, if you want to blame anyone blame me. This of course changed once party politics came back into play a few weeks later.

I reckon he’s a positive for Labor. He’s a real bloke, a bit hard headed, stuffs up sometimes, but on the whole has done a good job. Whereas the Zed (and ex buddy Mulchay) come across a bit too slick for me – kinda like used car salesmen.

As JB says the policies are pretty similar, so for some it may be a personality contest, whereas for me it will be a “how far left of right do you go” contest. So methinks with the current scenario Labor will just sneak in before Libs about last & second last on my ballot paper (except for the loony right who score stone cold motherless last).

“Like fires”

Too quick for me Thumper

Is Stanhope polling worse than Carnell did? Given that a significant chunk of Canberra’s oft-moving population has never lived under a different CM I doubt that they realize what we had to deal with before the current regime.

Stanhope can seem a bit stroppy but Canberra is better under him than it was under Carnell. I can’t see Zed doing any better than either of them, especially with the bunch of stooges he’s trying to drag over the line. Except Morgo, he seems alright.

I really care about his thoughts on the middle east peace process.

I think Jon Stanhope is a genuinely good leader, and not afraid to speak his mind, and accept responsibility for things which are clearly his fault (he’ll even take the blame for things which are not his direct fault).

The problem with this is that typically voters have little real idea what the pollies truely stand for (beyond labor = left, liberal = right) and they have short memories (and this is on both sides), who can be very easily swayed by a good marketers. Because Jon has been so open and honest it’s given the liberal marketers a lot of room to work with. Admittedly they haven’t yet been too nasty in the TV ad’s but there are still a few weeks to go.

Given the murmurings of other states (which is echoed here in Canberra) the libs may actually have a good shot at winning this election. I guess the big problem for the libs is the fact that Canberra typically votes labor.

S4anta, I disagree…

Compared to any other leader the ACT has had, I dare say his record speaks for himself.

Yes he has put his foot in the collective mouth of not only himself, his own party and the general populus but the ACT has matured fairly well.

But the one question that still lingers is; Where is the freaking alternative?

The only bloke with any real chops was spilled out of one party room, walked down the corridor and now is sitting pretty working for the Government.

Stanhope may not be the perfect CM, but as a resident of the Territory I don’t hold him responsible for all the woes of voters in the ACT.

There are some fundamental problems with all sorts of infrastructure in the ACT (transport, housing, health, education) that predates the Stanhope govt. And frankly (as someone who’s lived in 3 other oz capital cities) these are fundamental problems which we in the ACT don’t want a realistic solution to. Things like high density housing (using a Danish/swedish model of liveable cities), which has flow on benefits to great public transport infrastructure and education facilities. I’m sick of hearing the argument that it’s unacceptable for my child to have to travel 2 suburbs away for a school – get real.

Stanhope is sometimes flawed, but much preferred over any libs.

If you look at the last election the Stanhope vote, albeit inflated by the Captain Underpants factor, set a record that will never be bettered – 21,929 first preference votes which was a cool 36.9%. In the lead up to the election he was recording Rudd-esque figures in his approval ratings. While undoubtably the shine has come off and his ratings would have come down to more sensible levels, he would still rate the pants of Zed. He’s a big plus for Labor – I can’t stand him myself, but the great unwashed still like him even if the love has gone.