Articles etc.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Labor faces total bloodbath in Queensland, according to Newspoll

[#Metro]

My hunch is that the ALP is gone, gone gone.

[Mr X]

If they aren't destroyed now in 2012, it's gonna be a hell of a lot worse for them in 2015.

With a statewide result of 50.9% 2PP for Labor in 2009 and an opinion poll of 42% 2PP in 2012, that gives a swing of 8.9% to the LNP, which using Antony Green's pendulum means Labor loses (if swing is uniform, which it won't be):

Chatsworth   ALP 0.1%
Everton   ALP 1.4%
Broadwater   ALP 2.0%
Cook   ALP 2.2%
Barron River   ALP 2.3%
Toowoomba North   ALP 3.2%
Whitsunday   ALP 3.2%
Southport   ALP 3.5%
Townsville   ALP 4.0%
Springwood   ALP 4.1%
Cairns   ALP 4.2%
Mansfield   ALP 4.4%
Ferny Grove   ALP 4.5%
Kallangur   ALP 4.6%
Pine Rivers   ALP 4.6%
Mount Ommaney   ALP 4.8%
Burleigh   ALP 4.9%
Pumicestone   ALP 5.0%
Mount Coot-tha   ALP 5.3%
Redcliffe   ALP 5.6%
Mount Isa   ALP 5.7%
Brisbane Central   ALP 6.0%
Albert   ALP 6.5%
Mundingburra   ALP 6.6%
Greenslopes   ALP 6.9%
Ashgrove   ALP 7.1%
Murrumba   ALP 7.2%
Stafford   ALP 7.3%
Keppel   ALP 7.6%
Bulimba   ALP 7.8%
Mulgrave   ALP 8.1%
Thuringowa   ALP 8.5%
Yeerongpilly   ALP 8.7%

Point 1: Optional Preferencing will have a big impact on the preference flows
Point 2: Swings are never uniform across seats
Point 3: Not including independent seats falling, impact of Katter's Party etc.

[Fares_Fair]

My hunch is that the ALP is gone, gone gone.

People were saying that in 2009, and they won.

[Mr X]

Problem for Labor was that in 2009 they had big swings against them in many seats but retained quite a few with bare margins. Just look at how many have a margin of 5% or less- very difficult to retain unless the members are popular locally.

[somebody]

Sources tell me the Premier's husband's SES contract has been extended to five years from the week before last.  What's that tell you?

Similarly the desperation creeping in to the Premier's behaviour isn't going to resonate well.

[Fares_Fair]

SES are volunteers, aren't they?

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Campbell Newman's LNP to annihilate Bligh Labor Government, Galaxy poll finds

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Bligh to call Qld state election

[ozbob]

SES are volunteers, aren't they?

As far as I am aware Mr Greg Withers is Assistant Director-General Office of Climate Change.  A senior public servant.

http://www.qgd.qld.gov.au/env002.html

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Poll peril puts Bligh in bunker

[somebody]

SES are volunteers, aren't they?

You're thinking of the "State Emergency Service"

I meant "Senior Executive Service" (I think).

[ozbob]

Twitter

Premier Anna Bligh @TheQldPremier

On my way to Government House to call 2012 Queensland State Election

2 minutes ago

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Bligh triggers Queensland state election

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Brisbane bloodbath? Why the capital is key for the LNP

[Mr X]

Brisbane bloodbath? Why the capital is key for the LNP

EDIT: removed article. Ozbob posted it while I was copying + writing my comment 

Both parties focus on Brisbane's ailing infrastructure and what the majority actually want, not noisy minorities who may or may not be in SEQ. SEQ's train system is overloaded, beginning to fail and in desperate need of a helping hand. Cleveland (Fairfield...  ) Any attempt at putting forward cost cutting alternatives that don't deliver the same benefits to the network as a Cross River Rail proposal simply aren't long term solutions. The LNP would do well to support it if they want to be seen as investing in "Critical" infrastructure rather than being full of b******t and hot air like their opponents. Their support for 15min frequencies on the FG line is a great start.

[ozbob]

From the Couriermail 20th February 2012 pages 22 and 23

Melbourne shows how Brisbane can embrace the Cross River project

[Gazza]

Wonder how many blog comments the CM will get from people who have been to Melb/Syd and think CRR should be a loop instead because they like the idea of loops and "loops are a good idea"

[#Metro]

Melbourne isn't that great.
Trams might be popular, but they are a legacy system from waaaay back when. They are now stuck with them in Class C ROW.
We can do better - busways, frequent BUZ services and any new rail services can be in Class B (GCLRT) or Class A for speed and
capacity.

Melbourne might be great, but Toronto does the same thing for a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the infrastructure. Frequencies in Toronto are much better - 5 minutes all day and all night. You won't see that in Melbourne.

Also the definition of Melbourne tends to be very narrow - usually the city block. This is very narrow in my view.
We need to be mindful about Jarret's point about benefits vs purpose too.

[#Metro]

Wonder how many blog comments the CM will get from people who have been to Melb/Syd and think CRR should be a loop instead because they like the idea of loops and "loops are a good idea"

Yes- one has to fight tooth and nail to review route 198!

[Mr X]

I don't hate loops, they can be useful at times. Just provided that they run in BOTH directions and are frequent! For me, the 198 was (past tense) useful up to the point when the 196 became a BUZ, purely because if I wanted to go to anywhere on the Southside on the weekend, it was quicker to take the 198 around to Mater Hill and save a zone than wait for the 1/2 hourly 196.
NOT useful going the opposite way though.. tour de west end, no thank you!

[#Metro]

I went on 172 yesterday for a Sunday Safari. Wow, it is even worse than 105 and 414!
Highly recommended if you have visitors and want a cheap safari somewhere.

[Mr X]

You took route 172 on a Sunday?
Just took a squiz at the timetable:
- illegible backstreet route
- goes to the city duplicating BUZ
- operates every TWO hours, with a grand total of 4 services on a Sunday
- has a rocket bus to match

[ozbob]

The Bligh bus --> http://yfrog.com/gzuwccaej

They all have buses, LNP, ALP and the KAP ... 

They need trains!!

[Fares_Fair]

Maybe they know that the trains would just create another bottleneck at the bottleneck !

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[ozbob]

Couriermail -->Katter Australian Party's campaign bus registered in New South Wales after 'bureacratic nightmare' with Queensland Transport and Main Roads

[SurfRail]

Couriermail -->Katter Australian Party's campaign bus registered in New South Wales after 'bureacratic nightmare' with Queensland Transport and Main Roads

More to this story than meets the eye, no doubt.  He's not running the thing in service in NSW to begin with.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Poll shows Campbell Newman failing some LNP voters

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Costings check as candidate quits over claims

[Stillwater]

The poll of voters to gauge the extent to which LNP supporters believe Campbell Newman was letting them down is interesting because:

- who commissioned the poll?
- if the pollster did it on spec, what were the factors that it believed showed there was an issue?

Of course, what is unsaid, and maybe we need another poll to determine this, is whether those disaffected with Mr Newman will change their intended voting.  Where would those votes go?

And isn't it interesting that people see a disconnect between Mr Newman and their local LNP candidate.

[Golliwog]

The CM poll sounds Dodge to me. The question was did he live up to your expectations. Everyone would expect different things of him, so it really says nothing. Personally, I had kind of low expectations of him, and so far he has met them pretty well. Is that a 'good' thing?

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> QR sell-off to continue under LNP

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Gold Coast mayor confirms state tilt

... Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke has confirmed he'll make a tilt at state politics, two days after his 75th birthday.

The former Olympian announced on Sunday he will contest, as an independent, the marginal seat of Broadwater, in the Gold Coast's north, at the March 24 state poll ....

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/state-election-2012/gold-coast-mayor-confirms-state-tilt-20120226-1tw8c.html

[somebody]

Does he need to quit as mayor first?

[ozbob]

Does he need to quit as mayor first?

Tomorrow he resigns, Council goes into caretaker mode ...

[SurfRail]

Does he need to quit as mayor first?

Tomorrow he resigns, Council goes into caretaker mode ...

[ozbob]

Front yard of a house near Goodna railway station,  each way bet!



Photograph R Dow 27th February 2012

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> RACQ calls on all parties to freeze registration until 2015

[Jonno]

Even better still. Removep registration all together and charge by distance travelled x fuel efficiencyof vehicle.

[somebody]

Even better still. Removep registration all together and charge by distance travelled x fuel efficiencyof vehicle.

Err, what does fuel excise do?

Bring back indexation though.