9 May 2006

Richard Mulcahy goes to Gungahlin

| johnboy
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As if in answer to claims he is the Member for Yarralumla, Liberal MLA Richard Mulcahy, is off to Gungahlin on Saturday to hear what the Gungahlinistes think of things.

The session is a continuation of a campaign that has already seen consultation in the suburbs of Garran, Isaacs, O’Malley, Curtin, Hughes and Deakin.

“The sessions that I have already conducted have been extremely productive. I have enjoyed the chance to meet constituents, listen to their concerns, and make representations on their behalf.

“I am particularly concerned to ensure that the ACT Government’s current budget crisis does not adversely impact the Gungahlin area.

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I stand corrected on a couple of things – my knowledge of ACT electorates should have been better.

I should have also been clearer that my comments about the use of postage entitlements for mailouts were not related to the election period itself, which has caretaker provisions, but the general entitlements in the period before the election is called. I had tried to find the entitlements for Federal members, and came up with “The Remuneration Tribunal authorises postage in excess of the amount authorised by the Parliamentary Entitlements Act 1990. For example, the Parliamentary Entitlements Act 1990 authorises postage to the value of $9,000, while the Remuneration Tribunal has authorised postage above this value, so that the total entitlement is $22,000”. This of course relates to entitlements for Senators and Members, not MLAs, and that was the position in 2001 so the amounts will have risen since then.

Ssanta, I will be more specific next time!

Chris S,

Try reading this, from the AEC. It explains quite well what pollies at any level can get away with in terms of funding and public disclosuer during an election.

In your case (re: this article) I would suggest you read this from ErectionsElections ACT at least twice.

Chris S: Molonglo is basically Woden, Gungahlin and the Inner North/South

Chris S, why be “pretty sure” when the boundaries are linked off the front page of elections.act.gov.au? A quick check shows that Nicholls is in Ginninderra, and the rest of Gungahlin is in Molonglo.

Why do you think so many of us live on the South side…

Pratt’s a dickhead: do you really want to see him out in public? 😉

Andrew, Richard Mulcahy is the member for Molonglo, and I’m pretty sure that Gungahlin is in Brindabella electorate. He’s been busy within Molonglo, and is now doing what Pratt and Smyth SHOULD have been doing for the Libs, and of course has realised that there is a vacuum in community consultation where the ALP memebrs are also pretty much invisible.

Wow!

From and including Saturday, 16th Octoboer 2004 and the proposed date of of Saturday, 13th May 2006 it will be a total of 575 days from the date of the election (or 1 Year, 6 months and 28 days)… and all Gungahlin gets is 2 hours of representation.

Goods to see that Mulchahy can spare so much time for Gungahlin.

From my experience Seven-Storey Call-in Corbell does the worst job in communicating with his constituency, whether his electorate or wider afield.

*cough* email interview *cough*

I wonder, but surely the local MLA’s have a more modest postage allowance compared with federal Members/Senators?

And those mass mailouts are fully tax-payer funded of course. The Federal politicians are particularly notorious for using up their very large postage allowance prior to elections.

Newsletters etc are uncapped entitlements, with office holders have unlimited postage through their particular Chamber department (Senate or Reps), DoFA in their electorate office, and their department for ministers. All outlines in the Senators and Members Entitlements handbook (I just tried to find it on the DoFA website, with no success).

An interesting approach – seems some Members just make the effort to get around their electorates, in a consistent and quiet manner, while others are focussed on mass mailouts to bombard the letterbox and follow through with a little press statement.

Richard Mulcahy has done a great job in connecting with different parts of his electorate, and outside it as well. For those communities who feel that they have concerns about government actions or inactions, it’s good to have someone, even in Opposition, who will take notice and follow up these issues.

At the risk of inflaming a few of the anti-Green people here, Deb Foskey has been just as active in the community as Richard Mulcahy.

This is what old-time politics was about, but these days any contact with Government members are highly orchestrated affairs, controlled by assorted minders, with highly unsatisfactory results. From my experience Seven-Storey Call-in Corbell does the worst job in communicating with his constituency, whether his electorate or wider afield.

Good on Richard Mulcahy for taking some interest in what is happening around Canberra, albeit in between his various junkets.

give this a whirl.

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