Hello Poland, Brazil, Germany, and the USofA and welcome to the blog...and an unmitigated farce of an election, what appears to be a very cynically timed pro-Labor stunt, and 4 more years of an Adelaide obsessed Labor government that will continue to sell off the state to garner the support of it's voter base in Adelaide...(yay-Ed)...and another day of soulless, sickening lies from the Catholic Church in the Child Abuse Royal Commission...(well, it's just a laugh a minute with you today isn't it?-Ed)...
Many observers have stated that this election clearly defines just how corrupted the SA election process is and how if favours Adelaide over the regions...it's a sort of democracy after a fashion but not really...and just how generally selfish and ignorant Adelaide is as an entity...however, I honestly believe that many people in Adelaide would be a little less impressed with the 'Bread and Circuses' governing of Labor, but they largely have no idea of what is going on in their state outside of Adelaide...the combination is a disaster that the Regions have lived through for 12 years now...
But first another apology from me in that I got my numbers horribly wrong with my calculations re the position of Speaker and how that plays out...having checked the SA Parliament website, I was wrong to state that awarding the role of Speaker would change voting numbers in the Lower House, and I quote from the section explaining the role of the Speaker which state that one of the Speaker's roles/tasks is;
"In giving a casting vote where necessary"
which means I was wrong in saying that awarding 'Speakership' would rule out one member, but only further complicates the issue.
Again I apologise but I was following what I thought was the Parliamentary standard, eg, the appointment of ex-Liberal Peter Slipper to the Federal Speaker's position by Labor to keep their voting majority in the House of Representatives...however, having checked Federal rules as well the same basic rules apply, namely that the Speaker should attempt to stay absolutely impartial, maintain parliamentary standards and procedures, etc, and protect minor parties, Independents, etc, but in the event of a tie, the Speaker gets the deciding vote.
(The same thing applies at City Council level where the Mayor has the deciding vote in a tie...except of course that would usually be the Deputy Mayor in Mt Gambier because Mayor Steve Perryman is up and down like a jack-in-the-box, in and out of the Chamber like a rat out of an Aqueduct, with his multiple Conflicts of Interests-Ed)...good point Ed, I knew that...and a third apology, for this is a clumsy mistake to make based on a flawed observation, but quite frankly I preferred it when I was wrong because if the Speaker couldn't vote that would ensure genuine Independence...if the Speaker votes, that's not independent, that's supporting a position or ideology or party, etc.
It further complicates the matter re the SA Election because it undermines the position that Geoff Brock jumped to Labor for stability because he and Bob Such could have both chosen the Liberals to give them 24/23 with control via that 24th vote, the Speaker's vote...and again, how is it that the government can be decided with a member just 'dropping out' and suddenly their vote doesn't count?...and again, why the mad rush?
Call Me Paranoid: but this looks like a carefully timed pantomime that allows Bob Such and Geoff Brock to support Labor but deflect the inevitable and generally warranted criticism for what some are calling 'betrayal' of their respective Conservative seats...the fact remains that if they both chose Liberal it would be a Liberal government...it can also be strongly argued that Geoff Brock has taken advantage of Bob Such's absence to jump in and get himself a better deal, but I don't believe that is what's happening.
Call Me A Cynic: but the 2014 South Australian state election has shown just how corrupted and biased our electoral system is...many commentators have proffered various forms of this same observation...and I re-iterate my personal belief that the machinations of the weekend resulting in Independent Geoff Brock joining Labor, are exactly that...this whole Independent pantomime reeks of collusion and manipulation...my paranoic opinionising aside, this dumps SA back to 2002 when Mike Rann used disenfranchised Liberals Peter Lewis, and then Karlene Maywald and Rory McEwen, to secure power for a minority Labor government.
I'm not suggesting that Bob Such is faking his illness in the same manner as Rory McEwen's alleged 'heart attack' back in 2007, or that Geoff Brock has committed to covering-up the gross abuse of a class of 7 year old children and used that to buy his way onto the front bench, the way Rory did with the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up in 2002...(hang on, hang on...'alleged heart attack'?...'bought with a Child Abuse Cover-up'?...those are extreme claims, even for you-Ed)...and I make no apologies for it...
The Child Abuse sell-out re St Martins is not up for debate, it's exactly what Rory did...it may not be the sole issue but it was the main one...starting August 2002 he repeatedly promised myself and other parents that he would help us get it sorted, and 'together we will sort out a broken Child Protection system'...and how "brave" we are (were)...and after 4 months of that, in December 2002 signed onto the Labor Party and immediately told us 'you're on your own'...
I don't care whether Labor made the request or Rory made the offer, Rory promised me and other parents that he would help, then he signed on with Labor, dumped us and then went on the attack repeatedly denigrating us as nutters and liars, including on the front page of The Border Watch newspaper...(ok, that is all factually correct and covered at length in previous posts, I'll give you that, but 'alleged heart attack'?-Ed)...
I can only go on what I see and hear, and I saw Rory McEwen under intense political scrutiny and criticism and he suddenly had an 'attack'...and when Rory was rushed to Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide there just happened to be a TV News crew there to interview him and was sitting up smiling and waving...then when Mrs McEwen was interviewed on the ABC Local Radio that week she was repeatedly asked directly 'is it a heart attack?' and she didn't say yes, didn't say no, just kept going off on a tangent about potential symptoms of this, possible indicators of that.
(So you're suggesting that it was a political stunt to deflect heavy criticism and that Mrs McEwen's evasive and obfuscatory responses indicated a desire to avoid committing to a definitive answer, and that this coupled with Rory's happy Vox Pop outside Flinders prove conclusively what you claim?-Ed)...I'm just sayin' that what I saw and/or heard looked and/or sounded like a carefully orchestrated exercise not a drastic medical emergency...and I note that shortly after this radio interview, the ABC and others started referring to the "massive heart attack" that Rory had.
And I always find it bitterly amusing when the Forestry Sale issue is trotted out because 'that happened with alleged Independent Rory McEwen as Forestry Minister and was his idea', etc, but it's the pro-paedophile corruption that saw him on the Labor front bench in the first instance...and that never, ever gets a mention...same way that the Lutherans have been allowed to just walk away without answering one single official question...
And just announced (1700hrs) that Governor Scarce has agreed to Labor forming government...holy crap...and from an interview this morning with Premier Jay Weatherill, he's apparently going to "reach out to the regions" and be 'more inclusive' and some waffle about how he's just 'discovered the Regions'...(what the shreck does that mean?-Ed)...dunno...maybe he drove up the freeway a bit and bingo there it was?...and apparently he/Labor secured the "single most important" regional issue which was apparently the Murray Darling Plan, and there are "many substantial achievements in Regions" but he failed to name one.
With some Regional seats 70-80% against Labor, even higher in Mt Gambier, this is a catastrophic failure to represent the will of Regional SA...and as commented by Jay Weatherill, says Adelaide wants more government subsidies and the Liberal's free market proposition has been rejected...he then went on some ramble about being 'bolder, more imaginative', but when questioned about SA's yearly billion dollar deficit, said 'imagination will grow the economy' using mining I think, and that SA should be proud that Adelaide is the most livable, safest and most affordable city in Australia...(well yay for Adelaide-Ed).
I shall continue this shambolic electoral ramblage along with some other issues:
Tomorrow: Fiscal Restraints and Railway Feints
Changes to Federal protections that just don't make sense, and Rail Lands shenanigans again my friends...and a very brief 'Comment' from yesterdays post which I think is being nice but could be sarcasm in that it praises Ed's work..(really? my work?-Ed)...yeah, but it could be in reference to the bit where you suggest that I might stop being such a paranoid idiot...(well I'm just sayin'-Ed)...
I am Nick Fletcher...(are you sure?-Ed)...and this is his, my, blog...my blog...cheers and laters.
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