4 August 2006

With father of the year nomination Stanhope deserts his post, again

| johnboy
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On the morning of 18 January 2003 the acting Minister for Emergency Services, Jon Stanhope, was not at the headquarters of the Emergency Services Bureau when important decisions needed to be made about declaring a state of emergency and getting military help to limit the damage of the impending firestorm.

In my opinion he’s had a habit of deserting his post throughout his time as Chief Minister of the ACT.

Yesterday Our Brave Leader put out a media release announcing that he was nominating Terry Hicks (father of Guantanomo detainee David Hicks) as father of the year.

I think Terry Hicks is a brave man. I hope he does get named father of the year. But I think his nomination is a matter for the Premier of South Australia. I think the Chief Minister of the ACT should be nominating a Canberran for the award to recognise their contribution to our community.

Instead that potential nominee has been sacrificed on the altar of Jon Stanhope’s grandstanding for the national media. Missing from his post once again.

The Canberra Times has the story and I find myself in agreement with Bill Stefaniak which is only making me angrier.

UPDATED: Thanks to the Barking Toad for the heads up. Now the Tim Blair mob are hopping on and forcing the center out into the company of the Lunar Right. Well done Chief Minister when the ACT votes for the League of Rights to rid itself of your petulance.

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Thinking about this a bit more: I’m wondering how this came about.

Was it a case of Stanhope went away and thought carefully about nominating a father of the year for a week and a half, thus distracting him from his duties as chief pot-hole fixer for this great bourough?

Or was it a case of, all Chief Ministers and Premiers are asked to nominate potential Fathers of the Year in each location, the Chief Minister had a suggestion list from around the office, looked at it once, said “hey Terry Hicks’d be fun”, and left it at that?

It’s a big call. Bullshit aside. If it was your son? I know if David Hicks were mine that I would find it difficult to control my anger, my disappointment, my rage at the stupidity of it all – but I could never imagine not loving him. Would I respond in the same way? No idea. Does my response being different from his fathers make one of us wrong? Absolutely not.

These stunts like Stanhope’s rely on oxygen. In my view, he didn’t politicise it, the Respondents did. Stanhope would probably have politisised it if Terry Hicks didn’t get up – with the old “you didn’t award it to Terry Hicks just because his some is an accused terrorist” … but he doesn’t have to, because the conservatives who’ve run out of real ideas have politisised it for him – this aspect of the whole thing is lamer than a fart gag.

… and another thing, I think that Stanhope’s flights of fancy are more amusing than annoying and whilst its fun to poke fun at the ACT Government because there are local councils with bigger budgets, we at least have a legislature.

You’d have to be some sort of moronic shit-bag to get the keys to that thing and not want to take it for a spin – sure, the Libs are like being stuck behind gramps on the way home from bowls but watching Stanhope is like watching Indy cars – most of the time it’s just round and round and round – but there’s always the chance that you’ll see a great pile-up!

Yeah and I fully support (not) those dip-shits begging for a government that brings us into line with what people get along the east coast. If you dolts want a 2 hour drive to hospital, before you even join the waiting list, traffic and public transport that makes a 15km journey each way a 3 hour affair, and schools where it’s illegal for parents to enter the grounds (you can tell the school gate – it’s the one with the security guard standing by it) then move to Sydney – I’m afraid it really is simply a case of put up or shut up dick-heads.

Yeah, Stanhope’s a moron sometimes (well probably more than that), yeah he pisses you off with his weirdo lefty agenda – but hell, unless your some sort of sick pinko tosser, he’s got to be more fun the Morry Dilemma, or Bracks. Here endth the lesson.

On th bright side – he’s pissed off that maggot Ruddock – which is always a good outcome – anything that makes that prick have to work on the weekend is worth it.

Well you’e entitled to your opinion, but mine is that Canberra needs a Chief Minister (regardless of party) totally focussed on the improvement and promotion of the city.

And Jon Stanhope has a consistent record of neglect, of which I consider this glory-whoring to be a part.

“Deserts his post”? You know this is a fun site, Johnboy, but it’s suffering under the weight of your desire to bash Stanhope however ridiculous the mental gymnastics required.
I don’t know about you, but I didn’t see “nominating a local for father of the year” in the criteria of Chief Minister’s functions and duties.

I think its a good choice by Stanhope, whatever ill we think of his son, Terry Hicks has been tireless in advocating on his silenced sons behalf.

Though all those saying the job of chief minister aint worth a nat’s testicle may get a chuckle out of this clumsy piece of journalism from the SMH’s story.

Anger over Hicks father nomination

“Jon Stanhope, head of the local Australian Capital Territory government – which has authority over the national capital Canberra”

Makes it sound like he’s in charge of the bake sale…

Jon Stanhope needed a diversion from school closures, division amongst colleagues and ministerial codes of conduct – he found one. He panders to the left’s desire to annoy and defy the Howard Government at every opportunity. The community wants its Chief Minister and his team managing public policy a lot better than they have of late. This nomination only serves to erode his Government’s credibility in the broader community.

*sigh* so i need to thrash kramer into installing irony tags?

No sympathy JB – I have to objectively apply the same criteria that Mr Evil and Bonfire have used. He’s obviously a mand who cares deeply for his daughter and is seeking some form of justice – he is, therefore, by definition – a whinging bitch.

barking toad8:39 pm 04 Aug 06

The comment of the day award goes to “Infidel Tiger” on the timblair blog :

“Being ACT Chief Minister is a less important job than being the dot, on the letter i, in the word shit.”

Can’t argue with that!

Walk a mile in his shoes Big Al.

Clea Rose’s father = whinging bitch of the year.

I know shab every heard of stirring the pot ?

Absent Diane4:59 pm 04 Aug 06

to a better candidate for Father Of The Year – I nominate Clea Rose’s father because he was prepared to forgive that little tosser who took his daughters life. He’s a better man than I am – not that that would take much anyway! 😉

touche

If the Yanks had given David Hicks a 5.56 injection in the head, we wouldn’t be debating about this crap.

As to a better candidate for Father Of The Year – I nominate Clea Rose’s father because he was prepared to forgive that little tosser who took his daughters life. He’s a better man than I am – not that that would take much anyway! 😉

Absent Diane4:46 pm 04 Aug 06

damn we will get brushed as free thinking… whatever shall we do

barking toad4:38 pm 04 Aug 06

And now it’s been brought up on timblair.net (can’t do the linky thing, sorry) the fucking stupidity of the mayor will get international attention and unfortunately the ACT will get tarred with the same brush.

We don’t deserve to be linked to his fucking stupidity

hehehe….good answer.

Absent Diane4:10 pm 04 Aug 06

If i actually believed in love… it might well be true 😉

C’mon snahon – this is a blog. An exercise in shouting into the wind.

OOooOOoohhh… does that mean you love me AD!!???

and yet everyones ranting on about this matters just enough to tell everyone none of this matters…

I’m having a great day actually!

I just thought that was something that you all should know.

Absent Diane3:49 pm 04 Aug 06

i love nihilists!!

having a bad day BK?

we are all going to die and none of this matters.

🙂

Absent Diane3:42 pm 04 Aug 06

well he’s having a crack.. if they pay attention or not is a different matter.

sticking it to the big guns ?

go anywhere in oz and its ‘stanhoe who?’.

you obviously fall for his propaganda.

as marx would say, you are a useful fool.

Lets see – schools closing, potholes in roads, less services to community, reduced weed clearing, reduced forest management, increasing emergency services bureaucracy while reducing efficiency, doing nothing about improving public transport while claiming you are, using the word sustainable as a mantra which means nothing, ignoring significant local issues etc etc.

Instead we get manifestos on human rights (ignored at quamby etc), declarations that teh act will no longer hunt whales, support for various loony causes.

just fix the damn potholes mr mayor.

Absent Diane3:37 pm 04 Aug 06

I also want to know what happened to the underdog culture of this country as well… here is the head of the physically smallest province in the country sticking it to the big guns for the sake of his ideals… and the fact his federal counterparts… that are currently in opposition are too useless to do anything about.BAM

At the end of the day who gives a rats about the CM thinks of FOTY anyway – as others have said, surely he has far more pressing matters to attend to then announcing who his vote for FOTY is. I hardly think the federal govt is going to take much notice of what he thinks anyway.

The hyperbole on the anti-Stanhope bandwagon is, however, quite hilarous. There’s been some dubious management, but the ACT has hardly been brought to its knees.

Of course, considering this argument has morons on both sides, I won’t be surprised if it gets nowhere very quickly…

Absent Diane3:03 pm 04 Aug 06

i agree that you need someone to drive the machine… the guys focused on the crap that goes on inside the box…

But its just rare (and kind of nice for those of us concerned) that we have a poli who is attacking these issues.

In the end I will vote for him and many of you will not.. so you probably will get someone more focused on the local issues. Whether they are more competent is a different issue.

He’s not in any position of power over this issue, though. Which means it’s empty posturing.

Personally, as I get older I have less and less time for people who are happy to mouth platitudes, but never back them up in anything that they’re actually required to do. What Stanhope’s doing will change nothing, affect nobody, and mean diddly squat.

So basically he’s wasting pretty much everybody’s time. Which is not what I elect public officials for.

Your mileage may, of course vary.

AD, no one should be proud of Stanhope. Anyone who voted the muppet into power in the ACT should be very, very embarrassed and ashamed. I’ve lived here for two years and in that time he has bought the ACT to its knees.

Barking Toad thanks for your rant earlier it saves me the trouble now.

JB as for the kids in quamby its a holiday home. Like the adult crooks in the ACT they deserve nothing better than to live in the most uncomfortable conditions possible. They are a bunch of wank stains, so weak as piss wouldn’t last 5 minutes in the big smoke and can only cut the mustard in Quamby and BRC, real ‘hard’ places. Another of Stanhope’s brain farts which resulted in the Human Rights Act, yet again another reason to be embarrassed by the moron.

geez AD, can we please have a local government to deal with local issues?

Absent Diane2:50 pm 04 Aug 06

Johnboy – currently the here and now is useless for the future.

s’all about perspective. I look at these issues from a macro angle…. I don’t know if stanhope does it because of his actual belief system.. I would like to think so.

I just think it is about time that someone in an alleged position of power takes up the important issues, for those of us that can see outside our little box its a bit of a relief.

I like to think we’re better than them. I know I am.

hey big al, go and fist yourelf.

jb and mr scab – the war in afghanistan against al qaeda is not over. it lingers on and may for some time. i’d be happy if the us used the geneva convention on the pow’s but they elect not to. im sure al qaeda adhere to the geneva convention. just ask daniel pearls father, whose son had his head sawn off live on al qaeda tv. i dont see stanhope nominating mr pearl for father of the year.

a typical left softhead stance from stanhope.

As usual Bonfire engages hand on cock before brain.

Absent Diane, from my (little) understanding of the constitution, foriegn policy is the responsibility of the Federal Government. Not the states / territories. They have their role to play and should focus on it.

Bonfire – if Hicks is a POW, then fair cop. Just start complying with the Geneva convention on POW’s…

That’s off topic though. Stanhope’s grandstanding on issues that aren’t the concern of the ACT government are well and good (IMO) when it effects a substantial number of his constituents – but Terry Hicks? Gimme a break.

Sonic is within his rights to nominate anyone he likes, but surely he can see that this kind of thing makes a man in his position look like a sad old lefty.

yes, and he is the resources of the ACT govt for it. Something that has nothing to do with the constituents of the ACT

AD, don’t think I can see thigs from your bigger picture angle unless the FOTY becomes global.

The fences should be higher, the razor wire sharper, the spot lights brighter and the privileges lower…. for both Quamby and Stanhope.

Yes, Hicks is probably living in poor conditions and has been for many years now – is that the indicator that the conditions are not all that poor?

AD, like stanhope, your constant efforts to conflate every issue to a global narrative makes you functionally useless in the here and now.

We didn’t elect Stanhope for his foreign policy.

Tell me again about the human rights of the kids in Quamby? I believe their conditions still breach our human rights act. I’m happy to be corrected if I’m wrong about that.

Absent Diane1:44 pm 04 Aug 06

deadly serious.its about looking at the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that david hicks is being detained illegally by another country. And his dad continues to support him despite everyone telling him his son is criminal. Stanhope despite other short comings stands up for what he believes and I think that is a good thing.

‘Proud’ might be a little difficult to manage.

Ok, he’s within his rights to nominate who ever he wants but surely he has much higher priorities – like covering/fixing his previous mistakes. Would you (or other RA posters) have noticed if he hadn’t made a comment or nomination about the FOTY?

And that war is over.

barking toad1:35 pm 04 Aug 06

“…we should be proud.”

Hahahaha, nice one AD.

err, you are taking the piss

aren’t you?

Absent Diane1:30 pm 04 Aug 06

I don’t see a problem with it. If he wants to nominate hicks that is his perogative. I tend to agree with him, although i do think the whole concept of father of the year is a joke.Anyway The world is bigger than the ACT and if our leader is getting involved with that we should be proud.

Father of the Year? Who cares?

What is wrong with this government? How much time and money are they going waste on crap like this?

How about looking into reducing rates and land tax?

How about the financial mismanagement of public funds by this Government placing the ACT deeper in debt than ever before?

How about looking into the road safety/maintenance and returning to yearly vehicle inspections on vehicles over 5 years old.

How about reviewing sentencing imposed by the Courts in the ACT?

So many issues they ignore and here is a winner – father of the year….. a terrorist.

Wankers.

hicks is a pow – what trial is required ?

Woody Mann-Caruso1:01 pm 04 Aug 06

Homer: That Terry is a real hero!
Lisa: How do you mean, Dad?
Homer: Well, he raised a dysfunctional dickhead who landed his Soldier-of-Fortune-wannabe arse in Gitmo and…he can’t get out.
Lisa: How does that make him a hero?
Homer: Well, that’s more than you did!

Bonfire – shall we wait for the results of the Hicks trial before we pass judgement so harshly? I agree – it looks like our boy was indeed a prime dickhead, but that’s for the court/commission to determine. I’m not sure hyperbole (either Sonic’s or yours) informs the debate.

As for Sonic – smokescreen or grandstanding – you decide…

barking toad12:49 pm 04 Aug 06

After nearly choking on the cornflakes reading the crimes this morning I resolved to make no comment until the blood pressure had returned to normal.

Now that it has, I can make a reasonable comment unclouded by emotion.

Stanhope, you are a stupid cunt.

Why don’t you fuck off out of lives with your political grandstanding and personal agendas. Go and work for gareth gareth at the UN. And take terry with you!

Unless there is a medical miracel, sodomy between two homosexual males does not lead to pregnancy.

You all keep forgetting its his head on block and if he wants to expedite that with silly nominations thats his problem but that doesn’t mean you all have to cry foul because he didn’t get up there say “Here is an ACT father that deserves the award”

Yes the CM made a big deal about it and is obviously grandstanding instead of just quietly nominating but still, why does he have to vote for an ACT person ?

Fine if his nominations are suppose to be politcally based but FOTY isn’t. (Well it shouldn’t be).

snahon – I think part of it is that the CM has made such a big deal about it (CT article + media release). he could have just nominated him and kept quiet instead of his usual grandstanding.

Just because he is the CM doesn’t mean squat. I *thought* that FOTY is non-political and hence anyone can nominate anyone they feel appropriate. (Not saying his choice is reasonable).

If you think there are ACT fathers worthy, go vote for them.

Is that confirmed – that Andrew and his partner don’t want kids? Or is it merely that they’re being realistic and don’t think they can get ’em?

On other matters – I understand proximity to the federal government makes Mr. Stahnope feel like he should be involved in it. But he’s not – he’s a Territory chief minister (in our case – an inflated mayor, or a deflated premier, take your pick). And while, yes, he can legitimately raise concerns where the federal government conflicts with territory affairs (e.g. the gay marriage thing, the local terrorism laws thing, and any time he attempts to resurrect euthanasia or heroin injecting rooms, the two other bugbears that got blocked by the current federal government under previous leaderships).

But if he really wants to do nonsensical protests that don’t influence anything in the slightest, he should go join the greens.

Will I still be voting labour over liberal? Well, I tend to allocate my preferences on a personal basis anyway rather than just party political (ignoring the fact that they’re probably not in the same electorate for a moment, I’d vote for Stefaniak over Stahope, but Stanhope over Pratt).

But any half-decent independants are looking more and more likely to get my first couple of preferences. Hell, if the squeegy-guy who nominated at the last election runs again, I might well vote for him…

When it’s the Chief Minister? You don’t think an ACT father deserves that nomination?

Since when should FOTY nominations by a political figure be a member of their constituency ?

If he wanted to do right-on grandstanding he could at least have nominated Andrew Barr.

Highlighting the oppressive laws which stop Andrew from getting married and adopting kiddies to become a father.

The drawback being it might draw attention to the minor matter of the Minister closing down 1/3 of the ACT’s schools never intending to have children.

Un fucking believable.

im sorry, but what relevance does mr hicks senior have to the residents of canberra ?

ignoring the agenda barrow pushing, i’d like to think there are some residents of canberra this clown can nominate instead of mr hicks senior.

‘…and doing so with graciousness and an exemplary lack of rancour.’

Hicks senior has made many derogatory comments about our prime minister. I assume in labor stanhope world, thats OK.

“In December 2001 Terry Hicks experienced something no parent could ever wish to experience, when his son David was picked up in Afghanistan and handed over to the United States military,” Mr Stanhope said’

In order to bring some reality and truth to the debate, lets pnder a more truthful version:

“In December 2001 Terry Hicks experienced something no parent could ever wish to experience, when his son David who had a long history of involvement as a non-state actor in terrorist organisations was picked up in Afghanistan along with his Al Qaueda comrades, who have foughat aganst Australian soldiers, and whose other branches organised the bombings ion Balie resulting in the death of nearly 100 innocent Australians, and handed over to the United States military who were fighting in Afghanistan to eliminate a terrorist organisation which had launched an attack on America resulting in the destruction oif the world trade towers and the deaths of 3500 people” Mr Stanhope said.

Mr Hicks should be ashamaed of his son, and Mr Stanhope should address the needs of his constituents.

National media exposure and a cheap shot at the Commonwealth – that appears to be our CM’s priority these days.

Agree that he should have nominated a Canberran, what’s Terry Hick’s got to do with the ACT? Although I agree that the way he continues to handle himself is amazing.

Terry Hicks = Fuckwit of the Year.

Stanhope = Idiot of the Year.

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