14 April 2010

The full list of ALP Candidates

| johnboy
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With Canberra almost certain to elect an all-Labor team to the lower house at the forthcoming election the real interest is in the pre-selection to be held on 24 April (although if the public start really thinking about the implications of recent immigration changes watch for a Green surge).

The Canberra Times has provided the list of candidates.

For Fraser we have: Nick Martin, Christina Ryan, Jim Jones, George Williams, Chris Bourke, Mike Hettinger, Andrew Leigh and Michael Pilbrow.

The Southern Expanse of Canberra has a choice of: Gai Brodtmann, Mary Wood, Mike Kinniburgh, John O’Keefe and Brendan Long.

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merlin bodega said :

Nominations will open when the election is called Mr Evil. Perhaps you could put yourself forward? There were 8 candidates in Fraser and 5 in Canberra. Even ex-sports stars get a chance to stand. There were people who spent a long time working hard on policy for what they believed in and there were people who had been very successful in their careers. As an alternative to some countries where some candidates are arrested, bashed or killed it seemed not so bad. Stop whinging and get involved or STFU. If you think your one vote in the general election is a strong message to send then just keep thinking it.

As for housebound’s response well thank you.

Wow. I reckon I only get that sloshed by 3:30pm each ANZAC day…!

merlin bodega3:36 pm 26 Apr 10

Nominations will open when the election is called Mr Evil. Perhaps you could put yourself forward? There were 8 candidates in Fraser and 5 in Canberra. Even ex-sports stars get a chance to stand. There were people who spent a long time working hard on policy for what they believed in and there were people who had been very successful in their careers. As an alternative to some countries where some candidates are arrested, bashed or killed it seemed not so bad. Stop whinging and get involved or STFU. If you think your one vote in the general election is a strong message to send then just keep thinking it.

As for housebound’s response well thank you.

Bugger, why can’t we have someone decent standing for a Canberra Labor seat for a change?

Surely there must be some idealistic rock star or ABC journo looking for a gig down here? Hell, I’d even vote for an ex-sports star, if we had the choice!

What are Warnie and Boonie up to these days?

justin heywood1:54 pm 17 Apr 10

merlin bodega said :

….many of the comments demonstrate just how dumb the electorate is.

Geez Merlin, this is Canberra. Even the dumbest of us understand the system, and I can’t see any posts above that indicate otherwise. Perhaps YOU should read them before jumping on here to defend whichever hack you are or represent.

#43 – that post says more about you than the rest of us.

merlin bodega11:29 pm 16 Apr 10

Considering this post was about a pre-selection not a general election, many of the comments demonstrate just how dumb the electorate is. Only eligible voters in the ALP get a vote no matter how much all these bloggers would like to vote for their Labor candidate. As for the quality of candidates you need to get out and look at some of the performers around. The Nationals have just selected a 19 year old university student as one of their main guys up north! Is this another ice sliding Bill O’Chea in the making. Now there was a colorful character. As for the comments about Mike Hettinger and John O’Keefe showing that failing characteristic of persistence, well it never seemed to hurt John Howard. I urge the pre-selectors to look at the person standing rather than the hackneyed descriptions that emerge from the bitter, ignorant and lazy. Bring it on on 24 April.

Thoroughly Smashed said :

housebound said :

Pandy said :

Not voting Labor so don’t care.

So your vote basically doesn’t count in a federal election.

What makes you think a vote for Labor would be any more important?

The only votes that count in a safe seat are those that make it less safe – in this case it would be Labor voters who don’t vote Labor this time. Even then, those votes count only if it affects the outcome. It is almost a democratic duty – rearely fulfilled – of all citizens to vote against the sitting member in a safe seat. The parties need reminding from time to time that their privilege is just that.

caf said :

J Dawg: If you must know, I’m not actually intending to vote Labor at the next election. However I have been reading Andrew Leigh’s work for a few years now, and I think calling him a “party hack” is completely unfair.

I never once mentioned anyone as being a party hack, my point was more about the two Canberra seats being easy seats for ALP candidates to get elected. Although I would question someone who truely thinks they “make a difference” (or whatever their cheesy election line might be) in such a safe seat, hence their whole philosophy about entering politics in the first place.

Deadmandrinking10:30 am 16 Apr 10

Thoroughly Smashed said :

housebound said :

Pandy said :

Not voting Labor so don’t care.

So your vote basically doesn’t count in a federal election.

What makes you think a vote for Labor would be any more important?

Too true. I tend to vote Green, but that’s always going to be a stretch here.

Thoroughly Smashed10:11 am 16 Apr 10

housebound said :

Pandy said :

Not voting Labor so don’t care.

So your vote basically doesn’t count in a federal election.

What makes you think a vote for Labor would be any more important?

Thumper: Your “point” wasn’t made anywhere except in your head. I was commenting on what you actually wrote.

J Dawg: If you must know, I’m not actually intending to vote Labor at the next election. However I have been reading Andrew Leigh’s work for a few years now, and I think calling him a “party hack” is completely unfair.

Pandy said :

Not voting Labor so don’t care.

So your vote basically doesn’t count in a federal election.

Not voting Labor so don’t care.

justin heywood7:52 pm 15 Apr 10

Sorry, you are correct. I apologise unreservedly.

They are not party hacks.

They are in fact future party hacks.

To be fair Thumper, the candidates aren’t ALL party hacks, although a good number are prime examples of the species. My own fear is that the hacks will carry the day anyway and we’ll get one more faceless robot representing us.

Peter Costello had a self-serving piece in the Crimes the other day arguing that people who had successful careers outside the political sphere generally didn’t make successful politicians. Unfortunately, I think this is largely true. Parliament is increasingly filled with smooth political operators rather than people with ideals, ideas and talent.

For all their faults, Americans look to their leaders for inspiration and hope. We Australians generally have lower expectations and simply accept what we are offered.

In my view we need more people willing to change their vote when we are treated as mugs.

caf… I think you need to chill about a bit.

Ahhh gotta love how some people get so worked up about politics!

caf said :

I suggest you read what you wrote back up at #4 again.

I suggest you read it again, DMD was comment #4, Thumper was #5.
Oh wait, I guess everyone not of your political persuasion aren’t worth distinguishing as real people. Sorry for the mistake, I’ll just go rejoin the blob of everyone else.

I suggest you read what you wrote back up at #4 again.

Of all those on the list, Mike Hettinger is the only one I would ever consider voting for. He led the ‘Save the Ridge’ charge (not for the merits of a scrappy patch of dry schlerophyll forest, but because he deserves brownie points for the attempt, albeit a failure, to force the government to do an EIS properly before commencing a development). He also had his campaign funding suspended in the last ACT election for being too independent – I think it was his views on conservation. He also got more primary votes than Andrew Barr in the 2004 election – he failed to get in on countback in 2006 because Ted Quinlan’s preferences were redistributed to Barr.

From what my googling dragged up, the others are also all in politics up to their eyeballs, some are just better at doing it more subtly than others.

Thumper, you called them all “ALP party hacks”. How is that not “directed at the candidates themselves”? I think you need to open your mind a bit.

colourful sydney racing identity12:02 pm 15 Apr 10

Aurelius said :

colourful sydney racing identity said :

How many times can someone be rejected by voters before they think “maybe no-one wants me”?

Can anyone say “Jeff Kennett”?
Or “John Howard”?

Political candidates often fail many times before they succeed.

The differnece is that they actually were elected to parliament. By my reckoning this must be Johnny Rock’n’Rolls 4th tilt. That being said I guess it didn’t hurt Steve ‘my dad held this seat’ Whan from eventually getting elected.

colourful sydney racing identity said :

How many times can someone be rejected by voters before they think “maybe no-one wants me”?

Can anyone say “Jeff Kennett”?
Or “John Howard”?

Political candidates often fail many times before they succeed.

Christina Ryan was pipped at the post by Katy Gallagher a couple of local elections ago.
And Mike Hettinger was pipped at the post by ? last election.

He’s the ‘I’m a nuclear physicist!!’ ‘I was educated by jesuit monks!!’ brochure guy.

Me: Northside ALP Member 1996-2010; former staffer to Senior ALP politician; former sub-branch exec for at least half a dozen years.
And I’ve not heard of any of the Fraser people except Hettinger until last week.
Doesn’t say much for the field.

All I need to know is who the candidates will be, so i can take note of who not to vote for.

I live in Macgregor said :

DMD and Thumper, I’m new to this forum so should I suppose reveal that I’m a Labor man. re #4 , #5 I think it’s probably a bit premature to denigrate the whole lot before you know anything about them. I know a few of them personally and I can honestly say they are a good bunch of people who have lot’s of relevant experience and good intentions.

I suppose it’s inevitable in any election that voters will be sceptical about people they don’t know much about so maybe the wisest course of action would be to reserve judgement.
After the preselection process there will (undoubtedly) be more information and coverage about each party’s candidates and an opportunity to make relative assessments about what they have to offer people in the ACT.

Ummm I think the comments weren’t directed towards the people, but rather the fact that the two ACT seats are considered safe labor seats, so it would be more difficult for any pollie in a safe seat to do well compared to a marginal seat (where all the election moolah goes).

Having said that, the current representatives are far from ideal, which doesn’t help the sigma against them, their party, or the two ACT seats.

Andrew Leigh is a professor at the ANU Research School of Economics, and blogs with Joshua Gans and friends at Core Economics (and has his own his own blog too at andrewleigh.com. (This makes him a part of the Great Andrew Conspiracy in Australian political blogging).

justin heywood8:33 pm 14 Apr 10

Having Googled the candidates I must say that they aren’t all the usual party hacks and union time-severs who might be expected to line up for safe seats. Some of the candidates appear to have no background in active politics at all.

Can someone tell me, do the candidates who aren’t from the ALP machine have a chance? How does it work in practice?

I think Christina Ryan is the best of that lot actually.

But right now I am planning to vote Green, as the best chance of a non-labor winner, even tho the Green candidates seem a little low-key to me – where is Roland??

Why would anyone vote for GreeLabour anyway? Or that other bunch, now that you mention it.

If voting wasn’t mandatory, how many would even bother?

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Johnny Rock’n’Roll and Michael Hettinger – do they ever quit?

How many times can someone be rejected by voters before they think “maybe no-one wants me”?

I know both of them, and I reckon they would make better MPs than the two apparatchiks from central casting (Martin and Wood) that the NSW-based factional deal has served up. They’ve done real things and are real people. That’s a nice start.

Christina Ryan? Now that’s one angry lady. She tore strips off a waiter once for making her tea in an unacceptable manner – how dare one serve the extra water in a receptacle without a lid?

I live in Macgregor6:20 pm 14 Apr 10

DMD and Thumper, I’m new to this forum so should I suppose reveal that I’m a Labor man. re #4 , #5 I think it’s probably a bit premature to denigrate the whole lot before you know anything about them. I know a few of them personally and I can honestly say they are a good bunch of people who have lot’s of relevant experience and good intentions.

I suppose it’s inevitable in any election that voters will be sceptical about people they don’t know much about so maybe the wisest course of action would be to reserve judgement.
After the preselection process there will (undoubtedly) be more information and coverage about each party’s candidates and an opportunity to make relative assessments about what they have to offer people in the ACT.

The ACT had no lower house representation before 1949. One seat until 1974 and two seats since then (apart from having three seats briefly from 1996-98).

We had Lewis Nott who was an independant from 1949-1951 (and only ever had limited voting rights anyway). John Haslem from the Liberals was elected in 1975 and re-elected in 1977. Brendan Smyth was also there in 1995. Everyone else has been ALP.

Brendan Smyth was a protest over Ros Kelly’s whiteboard. John Haslem was successful for a longer period because it took a while for public servants to get over not being paid by Whitlam.

Short answer for DMD is clearly no.

colourful sydney racing identity2:02 pm 14 Apr 10

johnboy said :

Deadmandrinking said :

I’m interested to know, however, has Canberra ever not been a safe labor seat?

IIRC Brendan Smyth won the seat of Canberra in a by election after Ros Kelly was forced out in disgrace.

But basically the whole country was looking for a way to give Paul Keating a kicking, it was unusual circumstances.

A bit more to it than that. The ALP also ran an attrocious campaign and the Liberals ran some pretty full on liablous push-polling against the ALP candidate Sue Robinson – who I understand received a substantial settlement from the Liberal party to avoid the details coming out.

Thumper she may of gotten away with the ‘whiteboard as policy’ if she didn’t brag about it to if my memories correct a Senate Estimates Committee.

johnboy said :

IIRC Brendan Smyth won the seat of Canberra in a by election after Ros Kelly was forced out in disgrace.

But basically the whole country was looking for a way to give Paul Keating a kicking, it was unusual circumstances.

True; he held it from 1995 until 1996.

In 1996, Namadgi was created, and then it was abolished by the 1998 election. Since then, the ACT has had amongst the highest number of voters in each electorate.

Deadmandrinking12:10 pm 14 Apr 10

johnboy said :

Deadmandrinking said :

I’m interested to know, however, has Canberra ever not been a safe labor seat?

IIRC Brendan Smyth won the seat of Canberra in a by election after Ros Kelly was forced out in disgrace.

But basically the whole country was looking for a way to give Paul Keating a kicking, it was unusual circumstances.

Ah, that’s well before I had any interest in politics. Despite Rudd’s lack of performance and blatant caving in to religious nuts, I don’t think it’s time for such drastic measures (if ever!).

Deadmandrinking said :

I’m interested to know, however, has Canberra ever not been a safe labor seat?

IIRC Brendan Smyth won the seat of Canberra in a by election after Ros Kelly was forced out in disgrace.

But basically the whole country was looking for a way to give Paul Keating a kicking, it was unusual circumstances.

Deadmandrinking11:15 am 14 Apr 10

This election is going to be so depressing. I’m seriously considering just writing ‘The lot of you get stuffed!’ on my ballot paper.

I’m interested to know, however, has Canberra ever not been a safe labor seat?

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Johnny Rock’n’Roll and Michael Hettinger – do they ever quit?

How many times can someone be rejected by voters before they think “maybe no-one wants me”?

Mike Hettinger has been close in the past. Besides, over time the community gets know them better, even if they failed to get elected every time.

Jim Jones? Not the same Jim Jones that posts here is it?

colourful sydney racing identity8:58 am 14 Apr 10

Johnny Rock’n’Roll and Michael Hettinger – do they ever quit?

How many times can someone be rejected by voters before they think “maybe no-one wants me”?

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