7 February 2013

Steven Bailey running in Canberra for the Mad Katter

| johnboy
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The ABC reports that despite the best efforts of his friends (your correspondent included) man about town Steven Bailey is going to run for the ACT Senate for Katter’s Australian Party.

Composer and theatre director Steven Bailey, 29, has been endorsed as a candidate for the Senate.

Mr Bailey says he will be focusing on public service jobs and saving the ANU School of Music.

“When there was unprecedented support to keep that place open last year, I asked where was Labor, where was Liberal, where were the Greens?” he said.

“The ACT had no voice to keep that place open and I’d like to bring that back to the fore.”

Mr Bailey says the Katter’s Australian Party should not be judged on misconceptions.

“I’m not here to ask the ACT for their vote, I’m here to earn their vote and that’s what I’ll be doing over the next seven months or eight months,” he said.

“How people relate to the party is up to them, all I can do is do my best and listen to the people of the ACT.”

Apparently they’re also going to take a swing at Gai Brodtmann in the southern seat of Canberra.

For those who’ve missed the Katter magic, enjoy the above video, it’s real.

katter

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@jimbocool – Your point was perfectly clear, just illusory under preferential voting. Why would rusted on conservative voters who are flirting with another conservative party direct preferences to the Greens ahead of the Liberal Party?

tetranitrate’s Gary vs Zed scenario has some plausibility but it seems a big price to pay to make a point. I suspect Gary’s supporters are more likely to hold their nose and vote Zed at 2 rather than open the door for the Greens.

poetix said :

Was it wrong of me to watch Bob Katter
And pray for just a little splatter?

Note that it rhymes. So it must be poetry.

Or Dr Seuss…

poetix said :

Was it wrong of me to watch Bob Katter
And pray for just a little splatter?

Note that it rhymes. So it must be poetry.

Also, some of the noises he made were ambiguous, in a gender cliche sense. That’s a huge worry, Bob…

Ah yes indeed one can take the boy out of the bush but he’s yet to come out of the closet!

Was it wrong of me to watch Bob Katter
And pray for just a little splatter?

Note that it rhymes. So it must be poetry.

Also, some of the noises he made were ambiguous, in a gender cliche sense. That’s a huge worry, Bob…

johnboy said :

Hmmm

Bob Katter riding a fixie:

http://vimeo.com/59024426

He would’ve been right at home given the handlebars resembled horns but he should’ve worn the stetson!

Hmmm

Bob Katter riding a fixie:

http://vimeo.com/59024426

in “things that are entirely marginal to the current line of discussion” … I follow local theatre a little bit, and have never heard of Steven Bailey’s work… then again, maybe it’s somewhere I haven’t been looking. Anybody have idea what he’s directed?

@tetranitrate, sorry my mistake – the election I was thinking of was actually 1998, not 2001. However, Libs did not make quota on first preferences that year – see Antony Green’s blog:http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2013/02/the-2013-act-and-nt-senate-battles.html although he cites Christian Democrat preferences as getting the Libs into quota.
@frontrow, sorry I didn’t make myself clear. What I meant was that in the ACT you’ve got a rusted-on conservative-voting population of about 35% – enough to give the Libs a quota of 33.33% every time. The exception is when another party comes along – like One Nation in 1998 – that draws a substantial portion of the conservative bloc first preference vote (all above the line). My point was that as long as there is no other conservative party in the ACT, the Lib senate seat is unwinnable for anyone else. Once part of that conservative vote is lured away by the shiny/crazy/interesting new conservative party, well, then things can get interesting. If KAP preferences are directed to Libs then, as tetranitrate says, it’ll just be a bit of a fright on the night.

Steven making a point:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNrU_jAuHfM

The School of Music, as we previously knew it, is dead – just let it go.

Tetranitrate6:34 pm 07 Feb 13

jimbocool said :

2001, One Nation preferences got the Libs over the line

Maybe in the house as a whole, but in the ACT Libs made Quota.

Unlike One Nation Katter makes no secret that he prefers the Libs to Labor, and their above the line ticket will reflect that(though from memory one nation did the same – it was just that their lower house vote only split like 60/40 in favor of libs from memory).
The bigger issue would be if Gary (after losing pre-selection for number 1) still runs in number 2 and draws a decent number of bellow the line votes from the liberal voters, if there were enough to put Zed under quota and they leaked away heavily, then, and only then, might the libs have a problem.

However as far as Bailey is concerned, the difference between now and 1998 is that in 1998 Rick Farley not only split the lib vote, but was himself the 3rd candidate.
Splitting the lib vote doesn’t help the Greens if it all flows straight back once the minor parties are excluded – might give them a scare on election night when they come in under quota, but that’s about it.

Tetranitrate6:22 pm 07 Feb 13

Well, Katter’s ilk are the only political party in the country that give a damn about how the high dollar is hollowing out the economy which is a plus.
Aside from rural areas they might get a bit of traction in places like SE Melbourne, Newcastle, Wollongong, Geelong and the Latrobe Valley, but as far as urban centers go Canberra may as well be on another planet.
The local economy depends mostly on the APS, it’s a regional center to some extent as well, but the people who use it as such aren’t registered to vote in the ACT.

resident_weevil6:12 pm 07 Feb 13

I don’t agree with Katter’s stance on gays and probably plenty of other things. I think the reason so many people like him is that he sounds like someone who speaks according to his beliefs and not generic party lines. Specific issues aside that is a valuable trait.

If we had many more independents operating like Katter all over the country I think our politics would be much healthier not to mention more interesting.

Steve has posted this note to Facebook:

Dear friends,
I’m going to be leaving my Facebook page as accessible as it always has been to you, my friends. Please feel free to express your opinions with courtesy and good measure. I’ll respond as I can. I want you to know that I believe in what I am doing, and that I have thought about my candidacy for the senate for a long time. I believe that politics should challenge us, just like any worthwhile human endeavour should. I often walk away from arguments thinking to myself – ‘that person was probably right’, and I have a lot of time for people who do the same. To some I am a quiet and unknown entity, to others, I am gregarious. To some I am that kid who used to ride everywhere on a motorbike and live in a shed, and others, I am a beer guzzling arts practitioner. I am inspired by the great nation building projects like the Snowy Mountains Scheme, not only because of its long lasting material benefits it gives all of us, but also for its cultural benefits – where a massive wave of immigrants became proud of their toil, and where that toil was shared by a grateful nation. I believe that the KAP will develop and diversify, because I have seen it do so, and I believe that the other parties will not. I believe that rather than musing about the virtues of people from different walks of life working together, it’s better just to do it.
Cheerio!

http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/article/16082475/katter-party-to-field-act-candidates/

http://act-greens.rsspump.com/?topic=katter-party-to-field-act-candidates&key=20130206221740_ac5c6f02b38c9f56ed306f87f5a75847

http://2ca.com.au/news/canberra/1863-katter-s-australia-party-hits-canberra

http://regator.com/p/259213295/steven_bailey_running_in_canberra_for_the_mad/

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/katter-party-set-to-take-flight-20130206-2dz3e.html

http://the-riotact.com/steven-bailey-running-in-canberra-for-the-mad-katter/94241

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-07/katter-australian-party-act-candidates/4505680

http://www.barossaherald.com.au/story/1270745/katters-australian-party-visits-barossa/

poetix said :

Just wondering what Bob Katter’s views are on funding for the arts? He obviously likes poetry…

No question he’d be just as generous as his position towards those ungodly gays.

What are you smoking jimbocool?

Your example requires thousands of voters who will vote for the KAP, below the line, and then give a higher preference to the Greens over the Liberals. (Unless you think that KAP will make that deal for the above the line voters.)

The preferential voting system is is designed to avoid the vote splitting situations that befoul first past the post systems and achieves that goal admirably. I only wish we could get rid of the abomination of above the line voting.

Will the composer and theatre director also wear a 10 gallon hat like his leader?

Just wondering what Bob Katter’s views are on funding for the arts? He obviously likes poetry…

Well, that IS interesting. For there to be any hope of the Greens unseating the Liberal senator in the ACT, two vital ingredients are needed:
1. A strong crossover candidate who can draw votes from both Labor and Liberal
2. A second conservative party to split the Liberal vote
As has been pointed out in other threads, the only time the Libs got close to losing was in 2001 when One Nation split the conservative vote enough to push the Libs under a quota and the Deomcrates had a strong crossover candidate.

If KAP splits the Lib vote and the Greens do as well as last time with more than 20% of the primary vote, then it does actually become possible for the Libs to lose. Note that in 2001, One Nation preferences got the Libs over the line – KAP preferences may do exactly the same this time around too.

I hope he gets more votes then Zed.

gentoopenguin11:17 am 07 Feb 13

Saving public servant jobs and the ANU School of Music? Has Mr Bailey not spoken to the average Katter voter….?!? These are the things they wish to destroy!

Shouldn’t that be “your farce from the north”?

Bush socialism in Canberra???

WTF?

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