http://www.bendigoweekly.com en-us http://www.bendigoweekly.com N/A letters@bendigoweekly.com.au Fri, 09 May 2008 08:28:29 CDT 20 http://www.bendigoweekly.com/blogs/47/SWITCHING-OFF.html When I went to school it was called the Greenhouse Effect. Because of carbon emissions, the weather was going to get hotter and wetter. Don’t know about hotter, but they certainly stuffed up on the wetter bit. Anyway, what is really wet is the Big Switch and their climate change survey for politicians. The Big Switch is an umbrella group of 10 of the countries largest green groups. For more info go to www.thebigswitch.org.au All fair enough so far. The group has sent a very basic 10-question survey to all the country’s politicians in the lead up to the federal election. The questions are based on their agendas and they rate the politicians’ stance on climate change issues according to whether they agree with that agenda or not. A bit dodgy, but hey it’s an election and there is a message to get out. What is really dodgy is what they have done with these responses. The Bendigo Weekly received a media release for the local electorate highlighting the results. It was headed: "Steve Gibbons a switched on MP". No complaints so far. It went on: MP Steve Gibbons is blitzing the field of candidates for Bendigo in this year’s federal election on the critical issue of climate change after earning a high score on a national survey. Mr Gibbons not only topped his own parties’ score, but is well ahead of fellow candidate the Liberal’s Peter Kennedy – who is yet to fill in the survey and remains on zero. The Bendigo MP is only beaten by Green’s candidate Toby Byrne. Mr Gibbons scored 3.2 out of 5, compared to the ALP’s national score of 1.8, in The Big Switch survey that has been sent to 450 MPs and candidates and is the only barometer of individual politician’s personal views on climate change. Mr Byrne scored 5 Hang on. Steve Gibbons is blitzing the field? Only two of the four candidates handed back their responses and Steve finished second. I thought I would take a closer look, so I looked up the Ballarat electorate and press release. Guess what I found: Catherine King a switched on MP MP Catherine King is blitzing the field of candidates for Ballarat in this year’s federal election on the critical issue of climate change after earning a high score on a national survey. Ms King not only topped her own parties’ score, but is well ahead of fellow candidate the Liberal’s Samantha McIntosh – who is yet to fill in the survey and remains on zero. The Ballarat MP is only beaten by Green’s candidate Belinda Coates. Ms King scored 3.9 out of 5 – the best so far for any ALP MP - compared to the ALP’s national score of 1.8, in The Big Switch survey that has been sent to 450 MPs and candidates and is the only barometer of individual politician’s personal views on climate change. Ms Coates scored 5. In both cases, the Greens candidate had easily out scored their Labor opponent, but it was the Labor candidate that got the plaudits. One must ask whether this survey and this organisation is simply interested in promoting Labor candidates ahead of their Liberal opponents. Why else would it almost ignore the strong Greens results? The survey itself is flawed as it doesn’t allow any room for discussion, clarification or what the candidates are doing personally to combat climate change in their homes, offices and day-to-day lives. On this measure, I am sure the Bendigo stats would be a lot different. Pushing these agendas this way will lead people to turn off the Big Switch. This way of politicking creates questions of legitimacy and cover ups. It also causes people to switch off the issue of climate change, which is dangerous and surely counter productive to what The Big Switch is trying to achieve. Steve Gibbons might well be a climate change blitzer, but nobody is going to care because by now they would have given The Big Switch the flick. Anthony Radford Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:00:00 CDT http://www.bendigoweekly.com/blogs/46/Taken-Hostage.html When you first learn about media, either at uni or at high school, you learn about bias, spin and they way different media outlets report and portray different events. It is nothing for different parts of the media to report the same story two totally opposite ways. That talent is also not lost on politicians, especially when dealing with the media. Last Friday, I was one of the 100 or so politicians, journos, pipe contractors and hangers on ‘taken hostage’ by about 70 farmers at Colbinabbin. We were there for the official turning on of the Colbinabbin to Lake Eppalock pipeline, but the farmers were there for a different reason. They were there to protest the state government’s plan to build a pipe from the same system to Melbourne, a plan that also includes upgrading the irrigation system to save hundreds of billions of litres a year. The farmers used their tractors, trucks and utes to block all the entrances and stop Premier John Brumby from leaving for more than an hour. To his credit, Mr Brumby spoke with the farmers for almost half an hour, answering most of their passionate questions. However, that didn’t lead to an immediate lifting of the blockade. The farmers illegally drove into crown land, were asked to leave and didn’t (trespassing). Mr Brumby foolishly accused the farmers of being Liberal and National Party stooges. They were not. The were organised, but they were simply farmers in fear of their future. They had a message, legitimate in their eyes, and they took drastic action to make a point. A larger-than-usual police presence ensured they didn’t get out of control and were on hand to escort Mr Brumby out when the farmers voted to end their protest so the journos could go back to Melbourne and the story could make it onto that evening’s news. A couple of days later, a group of anti-something-or-other protestors broke into the Loy Yang power station in Gippsland and chained themselves to a coal conveyor belt. The ensuing six-hour wait saw power generation halved for most of the day. That action prompted an interesting press release from Victorian Nationals leader, the well-respected Peter Ryan. "Leader of The Nationals Peter Ryan says community safety is put at risk whenever illegal protest action diverts police resources from normal activities," it opened with Headed ‘Ryan Slams Protest Action’, the release quoted Mr Ryan as saying the issue of diverting police resources from normal operations was a major concern. "More than 20 police personnel had to attend the protest at Loy Yang which meant resources had to be diverted from other stations to cover the Latrobe Valley," he said. "If there had been another major accident or incident requiring a significant police presence in Gippsland, our resources would have been stretched to the limit. "I’m concerned that the selfish action of protestors is placing community safety at risk." Hearing police at Colbinabbin say to protestors: "If we weren’t here doing this we would be somewhere else", Mr Ryan’s comments sparked an obvious contradiction. A quick email to Mr Ryan’s chief of staff, media advisor and former Gippsland journo Darren Chester asked what Mr Ryan thought of the farmers at Colbo who, too, tied up police resources. Were they "placing the community at risk"? Not so, according to Mr Chester, who said the most obvious point of difference was the "nature of the protest". Was that the nature of the protest or of the protestors? Anyway, he promised to run it by Peter, and 15 minutes later I received a phone call from the leader himself. "I feel a long bow coming on here," he said. He said resources were already at Colbo because of Mr Brumby’s visit "Otherwise they did nothing more than present their case," he said. "That has to be contrasted with the four fools who broke into Loy Yang without permission and shackled themselves to the station. "Who also caused a major disruption to local policing by requiring another 20 officers to be called to the scene. "The comparison is stark. Any nexus to be drawn between the two events is ridiculous." Having covered a number of anti-globilisation, G8, S11, P76, you-sunk-my-battleship protests, I do not have a modicum of respect for the violent protests we will see in Sydney over the next week or so. They achieve nothing. They simply turn people off the cause. However, a good old fashioned stonewalling or blockade is always guaranteed to get the right sort of attention. Provided, it seems, that you have the right sort of message. Last Friday, I was one of the 100 or so politicians, journos, pipe contractors and hangers on ‘taken hostage’ by about 70 farmers at Colbinabbin. Anthony Radford Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:00:00 CDT http://www.bendigoweekly.com/blogs/45/Wanted.html Would you apply for this job? Of course you wouldn’t. No matter what your thoughts are about the current batch of City of Greater Bendigo councillors, what is above is the truth –it is their life, what they face every day. Take it from someone who has worked closely with councillors of all creeds, colours and abilities in at least two states, and someone who was once the son of a councillor – being a local government representative is not fun. Yes, there are rewards, which is why usually-sane people put their hands up to run for council, but those rewards are definately not financial. I am going to say something now that most who know and work with me will see as surprising – I think councillors should be paid more. If I was made prime minister tomorrow, teachers and nurses would be paid like doctors and schools and hospitals would be palaces. CFA and SES volunteers would have free transport and university and TAFE fees would be tax deductible. While that won’t happen (much to the relief of RBA governor Glen Stevens), the common thread is community service (apart from the uni thing which is aimed at making us a cleverer country). Most people, especially in regional areas, become councillors for one reason – to help the community, whether it be in a general community sense or to push one issue. They do not run as a career choice. State and federal politicians have, for the most part, the same motivations. Unfortunately, a lot of them see stars in their eyes, become greedy and see every day purely as an opportunity to further their careers. Councillors need to be paid more for two main reasons. Firstly, they need to be properly compensated for the work they do. Councillors are hardly ever home. If they happen to pop home to share a couple of moments with their loved ones the phone rings, or someone pops over for an urgent chat. They work hard trying to take in all the information they can in a short time so they can be confident of making the right decisions. They attend a countless number of community meetings and events and, in some instances, travel endlessly to get there. Secondly, we need to attract quality people to vote for. Criticism of councils across the state is almost as popular as bank bashing, so we need to do something about it. We need to make something in the job attractive. They don’t get weekends like most of us, they don’t enjoy the buzz phrase of the noughties – ‘work-life balance’– and they certainly don’t do their health any good. By doubling the wages, as has been suggested in this week’s Bendigo Weekly, at least councillors will not be disadvantaged financially. Over to you. Anthony Radford Thu, 16 Aug 2007 00:00:00 CDT http://www.bendigoweekly.com/blogs/44/Bendigo---On-the-move.html Good news travels fast, but press releases about good news travel even faster. On Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its annual report on Regional Population Growth. It listed the growth rate of all local government areas across the country to June last year. The results were good news for Bendigo, which recorded a growth rate of two per cent for the 2005-06 financial year, the second highest in inland Australia. As this information was picked up by staffers at all levels of government, the credit started rolling in. The City of Greater Bendigo was quick off the mark, claiming ‘strategic policy frameworks’ were one of the reasons people choose to come to Bendigo. My wife last night laughed this off saying: "You didn’t even look at the council’s policies before we moved to Bendigo, so there isn’t much chance anyone else did". The state government also reacted quickly to the increase. "It is due in no small part to the determination of the Bracks Government to drive population and business growth across the state," Regional and Rural Development minister John Brumby said. "We have worked hard to get the economic fundamentals right and as a result conditions in provincial Victoria is (sic) able to withstand the pressures of drought and bushfire. "Government initiatives – to inspire people to work and invest in provincial Victoria and to equip local councils to capitalise on the resultant interest – are creating a prosperous and growing rural and regional Victoria." However, perhaps the growth was down to the federal government, as this press release from the local Liberal Party claimed: A decade of strong economic leadership by the Howard Government had helped position Bendigo and central Victoria as the 21st-century regional capital of Australia, Liberal candidate for Bendigo Peter Kennedy said today. Mr Kennedy said new ABS population growth data showed the region continued to be a major winner from the policies of the Coalition Government. "The latest population figures put Bendigo within a quick breath of breaking through 100,000," Mr Kennedy said. "We have many more people employed in the manufacturing and telecommunications sector than a decade ago and business continues to see Bendigo and central Victoria as the region of choice for investment. "An extra 95,855 people in Bendigo, a similar percentage rise in Macedon Ranges Shire plus modest gains in Central Goldfields and Mount Alexander Shires underscore the rapidly increasing importance of our region with people sharing our vision and contributing to the inspiration of the communities." Mr Kennedy said well-planned infrastructure projects were vital to the region’s continued sharing of the benefits of the Coalition Government’s economic leadership. For those of you who don’t know, I came to Bendigo from Australia’s largest city – Sydney. Why did I make the move? One word – family. I was looking for a safe place for my kids to grow up and for a real community to live in and flourish under. I can say I have found both in Eaglehawk where I live and Bendigo where I work. Did any government policy make me move here? No. Did I check out the political or policy situation before I moved? No. If you weren’t born here, why did you move to Bendigo? Anthony Radford Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:00:00 CST http://www.bendigoweekly.com/blogs/43/The-new-Bendigo-Bank-building.html When you are in the media, you often get to find out things at least a couple of days before the rest of the community.Whether its building plans, program launches or visits from the odd luminary or politician, journos are often well aware of most things before they happen.An example of this is the new Bendigo Bank building.When the plans were released mid 2005, the reaction from inside the office was mixed.While we all new it would be great for the city, there were some, including me, who had doubts about its design.First a disclaimer. I live in a 19th century miners cottage. My two favourite places in Australia are The Rocks in Sydney and the site of the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat, purely because of their history.I used to stand on top of Mt Bunninyong near Ballarat and picture the train-load of troops coming into the city with Mt Warrenheip in the background.I could see where the stockade would have been and imagine myself watching on Sunday, December 3, 1854 as the first shots were fired.Yes, as you can gleen from that last sentence I am boring, but it seems to be working for me.Anyway, I have a great love of history and being in places where major events actually happened, so living in Bendigo adds another dimension to each day for me.That aside, I was somewhat taken aback by the design of the new Bendigo Bank building. I was ready for the size of the development and the fact it would tower above everything else in the city.What I wasn't ready for was the colour scheme. I thought it would look like the proverbial sore thumb.Others were prepared to 'give it a go' but I took a stance. I said it would be ugly and the community wouldn't realise how ugly until it was too late.When Weekly photographer Andrew Perryman and I toured the site, we came across the coloured squares of metal in a store room that would adorn the High Street side of the building.When I started to watch the coloured squares adorn the building like baubles on a Christmas tree I started telling anyone who would listen the city was getting behind its very own 'yellow peril'.However, after taking a quick drive around the CBD last Friday I can publicly announce I was wrong.While I am looking forward to the obtuse glass frontage of stage two of the development, I can safely say stage one has passed my taste test.Admittedly the design is something different, but so is the Bendigo Bank.This first question any newcomer will ask when driving into the city is what is that building.It will stand out, but it is a big sore thumbs up from me.What do you think? Anthony Radford Mon, 19 Feb 2007 00:00:00 CST http://www.bendigoweekly.com/blogs/42/Is-the-Aussie-thong-dead.html About three years ago I was standing in the queue at a chemist shop when I saw, on a stand, various pairs of what looked like plastic clogs. They were brightly coloured with holes in the toe and a strap at the back. I remember thinking: ‘What a great idea for gardening.’ My attitude changed when I saw the price tag of $30. Fast forward a few years and the things are everywhere. A company called ‘crocs’ in the US has had great success manufacturing and selling this flouro fun-wear. According to Radar online, in 2005 more than 6 million pairs were distributed in America with sales tipping $US 100 million. The company now has a major share of the $US 1 billion market. Like the ugg boot, celebrities are falling over each other to be photographed in them. Celebrity chef Mario Batali apparently owns 30 pairs of orange crocs and cleans them all in the dishwasher (wouldn’t want to east at his restaurant!). In America you can buy crocs in your university, hockey or football team colours and the range of products is astounding. There is now a Disney brand of crocs that, instead of having round holes on the top of the shoe, there are little Mickey Mouse ears. There is even a croc gumboot available. Check them all out on www.crocs.com The fashion craze has, predictably, spurned a counter culture. Check out www.ihatecrocs.com It is very funny and clever in parts. However, in Australia the plastic shoe craze has more serious consequences than just bad fashion sense. I recently spent a week at the beach and before leaving Bendigo I needed to buy my wife and I some shoes that we could wear to and from the beach and were easy to clean. I succumbed to the temptation and bought a pair of crocs look-a-likes from Rivers for the both of us, for $9.95 each. Since then our two year old daughter has also received a bright pink pair. My son, however, has not, and the reason is disturbing. A few weeks previous his grandparents bought him a pair of thongs – his first– so there was no need to double up by buying the plastic fantastics. This got me thinking. Is the plastic clog a threat to the pair of Aussie thongs? While at the beach the clogs were everywhere. People playing in the sand, walking the dog and even doing the shopping were wearing these holey heel exposers. During the Australia Day weekend, ironically, I was wearing my cheap imitation sandals while I was gardening. My son was kicking the soccer ball in the yard and it ended up at my feet. I stood up and kicked the ball back to him. My first thought was if I was wearing thongs that would have hurt by foot and possibly dislocated a couple of toes. That started another chain of thought comparing the thong to the plastic clog. The clogs do everything a thong can. You can kick them off with ease, wash them off with a hose and wear them with most forms of clothes, including jeans and skirts. Like thongs you can also wear them in water and while playing sport. There have also been reports of brides wearing them on their wedding day. You can even wear them with socks, something only the older generation ever did with thongs. In conclusion, more than ever the deathnell is being tolled for the Aussie thong. Should we rally against it or is the plastic clog and its many variants just another fashion trend that will die off, once again propelling the thong to its rightful position as number one on the ‘shoes-by-the-backdoor’ list. Anthony Radford Sun, 28 Jan 2007 00:00:00 CST http://www.bendigoweekly.com/blogs/41/SIGNING-OFF.html Well, the final week of the election campaign caused a bit of heat between candidates and also resulted in a few unnecessary stunts. The week kicked off with a slanging match between Bob Cameron and federal Liberal Party power broker and member for Murray Sharman Stone. A childish debate between the two, hosted by yours truly, resulted in nothing more than a "yes I did", "no you didn't" argument. Sharman noted the Liberals would pay for water for the Lake Eppalock pipeline, while omitting that would be only for about five years. She also said she did not say Bendigo would steal Goulburn water, although she was happy to use the phrase "robbing Peter to pay Paul" on numerous occasions. Bob was happy to continually take credit for the Eppalock pipeline, while, a, ignoring the fact it took then six years to come up with it and, b, had to be dragged kicking and screaming by the Weekly readers to make it happen. The silliness continued on Monday with Bob and Jacinta unveiled the 'Bendigo-o-metre' and the 'scrooge-o-metre'. Their 'Bendigo-o-metre' was created using old posters, electrical tape and red paper. It is amazing what you can find in your electorate office, Jacinta said. The 'Bendigo-o-metre', a full thermometer, pointed out the amount of money the government had promised to spend in Bendigo. Not surprisingly the 'scrooge-o-metre' was empty, making direct comparisons with ALP policies. It seemed to miss the other Liberal promises made earlier, but never let the facts get in the way of a good story. One thing Bob and Jacinta failed to do while using the 'big scissors' was look a couple of house down the Calder. While they were keen to say the Liberals had not spent any money in the election (see 'scrooge-o-metre'), Treasurer John Brumby had been getting stuck into the Liberals for spending too much money with a splurge-o-metre. Who was it that said "all politics is local". Later in the week it was signs of a different kind that were getting the media's attention. Big Ted's Excellent Adventure kicked off on Wednesday as his bus laden with signs and slogans turned up at the Old Post Office. The coach itself carried only four people, before the media and local candidates jumped on. After struggling through the southern corridor, stopping to buy a copy of the Weekly Times, the bus slowly, very slowly, made its way to somewhere near Harcourt or Sedgwick. The bus finally stopped near the main channel that travels between Malmsbury and Sandhurst reservoirs. It was greeted by the metropolitan media, who struggled in their designer dresses and dangerous high heels among the Harcourt granite, long grass and steep hills. Why this couldn't have been done somewhere a lot closer to Bendigo, or civilisation is unknown. Although it got good media coverage here - and water always does - it received little in Melbourne. Anyway, enough of my complaining. I think I am just tired after a long campaign, and looking tremendously forward to waking up on Sunday with no idea what I am going to write my blog about next week. Although the last week of the campaign turned negative, overall I believe the situation for Bendigo is a positive one. All candidates, in all electorates in all seats have had a couple of things in common. They are all hard working and genuinely interested in the community and what it wants. All parties have been busy lobbying media for space, well the Weekly at least, they have been door knocking, going to meetings and putting in the hard yards. Whatever the result in Bendigo East and West, any makeup of the four main candidates will serve the community well. No one has worked harder that Bruce McClure in this election, well maybe Kevin Gibbins who has been door knocking for six months. Bruce has been working around the clock since the campaign began and I'm sure his family is looking forward to Sunday as well. Jacinta and Bob have looked over Bendigo during perhaps its most prosperous period since the goldrush. Although jobs have been lost, they have been managed to be replaced. The city is growing and we need representatives to cope with than and capitalise on it. If Ian Tulloch's predictions in the Weekly this week ring true, then the upper house is where your vote will really count. Who am I going to vote for? I haven't made up my mind yet in my seat, Bendigo East, which is probably just an excuse to not reveal my intentions. In the upper house my concern is with the size of the seat. I abhor party preference deals and always vote below the line. That is how I make my vote count. With the electorate spanning most of the top half of Victoria, and a little bit of Melbourne, I have to keep my upper house vote local. With that in mind my top five will be, in no specific order, Damian Drum, Laurie Whelan, Donna Petrovich, Marg Lewis and Jennifer Alden. That should do it.   Anthony Radford Thu, 23 Nov 2006 00:00:00 CST http://www.bendigoweekly.com/blogs/39/CAMPAIGN-ON-TRACK.html “So they can say that the trains run on timeAnother man there was made the trains run on time.” At the risk of exposing my student leftist days, Tim Freedman from The Whitlams echoed these words in the anti-gambling song ‘Blow up the Pokies.’ Freedman was referring to the fascists who, apart from all there other faults, apparently managed to make the trains stick to their schedule.While gambling seems to be the order of the campaign in Melbourne, it was the trains that grabbed the headlines in Bendigo this week. The Liberals’ Transport spokesman Terry Mulder visited Bendigo on Monday, not to necessarily make the trains run on time, but to make them run. His press conference on the almost abandoned Kangaroo Flat station resulted in a stunning series of events that could not have been dreamt up. Anyway, more about that later. The first delay of the week centred around the ballot draw for the local seats. On Friday, pollies of all colours got together for the Victorian Electoral Commission’s drawing of the local positions on the ballot. The two Lower House draws went by pretty smoothly, with the two Liberal candidates getting top billing. However, the Upper House draw was, well, drawn out. A last-minute independent nomination in Melbourne for the Northern Region seat saw a delay while the candidate’s nominees references were checked. Anyway after about two hours, and with a lot of high-profile candidates standing around, things were finally sorted and order was returned. Attention on Monday then turned to trains, and delays again dominated. I am not sure exactly what the definition of ‘irony’ is, but I am pretty sure we saw some of it on the Bendigo to Melbourne track at the start of the week. Mr Mulder took the train to Bendigo on Monday to release the latest plank in the Liberal’s transport policy. The policy would see every V/Line train stop at the Kangaroo Flat station, a total of 34 more each day. The announcement was planned so media crews could get vision of Mr Mulder and the two local Liberal candidates on the platform chatting while a train came ‘hurtling’ past. However, that train never came, and Mr Mulder and his offsider had to leave to catch another train back to Melbourne. Mr Mulder was told the expected train did not run because of a signal failure between Sunbury and Gisborne. Mr Mulder’s train was also affected by the signal failure and he was told he would need to take a bus to Kyneton and then a train to Melbourne. However, when he got to Kyneton, they were told they would need to bus it all the way. The pair were then ushered into a ‘Holiday Adventures’ bus, prompting some quick wits. “Travelling V/Line is certainly one hell of an adventure, but I am sure my fellow travellers don’t agree,” Mr Mulder said. The upshot of the trip was that Mr Mulder was late for a meeting in Melbourne, but who was the meeting with? You guessed it, Mr Mulder had a scheduled 1.35pm meeting with the managing director of ... V/Line. With apologies to Freedman, I have penned a little version of his hit song below: BLOW UP THE LOCIES There was the train, two red lights and a dodgy PAYou were on time way back then,And its strange that you’ve changed again, and again. And I wish I, wish I knew the right timeTo make it to the station, walk out of this placeAll these new trains are a battleTell me when will I be home again? Don’t, don’t explainI know these are meant to be faster trains,Why then is it a longer journ?Just for safety, I do yearn, I do yearn And I wish I, wish I knew the right timeTo make it to the station, walk out of this placeAll these new trains are a battleTell me, when will I be home again? And I wish I, wish I knew the real costOf these new locies and the new tracks‘Cause the money is needed in hospitalsWhy do we try to make Melbourne in record time Shiny billboards, it’s a real showWhy it’s needed, I don’t really knowTwo train tracks were once thereAnd now there is half a pair, half a pair And I wish I, wish I knew the right timeTo make it to the station, walk out of this placeAll these new trains are a battleTell me, when will I be home again? And I wish I, wish I knew the real costOf these new locies and the new tracks‘Cause the money is needed in hospitalsWhy do we try to make Melbourne in record time ~Another man there was made the trains run on time Anthony Radford Thu, 16 Nov 2006 00:00:00 CST http://www.bendigoweekly.com/blogs/38/WHAT-IS-IT-GOOD-FOR-.html What a week it has been in politics. Bendigo wasn't just the centre of Victoria geographically this week, it was also the centre of Victoria politically as the water issue finally began to eat up column inches in the metropolitan press. The week started and ended with a bit of election warfare. Last Friday the two main parties jostled for position in Hargreaves Mall to hand out their pamphlets. For the past month or so Liberal candidate for Bendigo West Bruce McClure has been handing out his pamphlets with help from a couple of local volunteers. Last Friday, they were joined by Bob and Jacinta and the tactical battle for prized positions began. It might take a bit more than this to improve Ted's election chances. Photo: Andrew PerrymanAs one punter put it the two groups battled over the top spot outside Killians Walk, a battle that only ended when the two ALP ministers retreated (read: Had lunch at much ado about muffins?). When the Weekly left them the two groups were separated like fighting children, with an acceptable space between them. Speaking of children, Sunday saw the launch of the Family First campaign at the botanic gardens with a child-friendly family day. The Nationals were the next to officially launch their campaign. Leader Peter Ryan visited on Monday to announce Glen Murrells as their candidate for Bendigo West. That immediately prompted a war of words with Bob Cameron claiming Glen did not live in the electorate. Bob is a stone thrower from way back, but this time he managed to smash more than one window in his glass house. Labor's number one candidate in Bendigo's upper house seat of Northern Region and local government and housing minister Candy Broad currently lives in Melbourne. However, she has said she would move to Hepburn after the election. It's a pity that's not in the electorate either. The campaign was stopped in its tracks by the announcement 380 jobs would go when AAPT closes its Bendigo call centre over the next 12 months. While not an election issue per se, it will be something the politicians are called on to do something about. During the news of the job losses we continued to see press releases from the government about keeping provincial Victoria strong, moving forward, creating jobs et cetera. Water fight. Denis Napthine discusses his water policy with a vocal local. Photo: Andrew PerrymanIf federal Labor can criticise the Howard government for promising to keep interest rates low and then presiding over four hikes in a row, does that mean we can blame the state government for promising jobs growth and then seeing massive job losses at Empire Rubber and AAPT? The attention focussed on the two main political leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday as they both strolled into town for water announcements. Ted Baillieu was ambushed by the local ALP branch when he finally announced the Liberals' water policy at Rosalind Park. While his policy leaked like a sieve, it was designed to please the irrigators up north, as well as guarantee water for our pipeline, not an easy thing to do. Premier Steve Bracks and water minister John Thwaites also attempted to placate irrigators at an announcement at Lake Eppalock. The pair was joined by Bob and Jacinta as they walked across the dry lake bed, which was full until people tried to placate irrigators. That should put a target on my back. Anthony Radford Tue, 07 Nov 2006 00:00:00 CST http://www.bendigoweekly.com/blogs/36/A-MISSED-PIGGY.html Most of our local pollies wasted no time in getting their faces and ideas out this week as the state election campaign officially began. I said most, because the Liberal Party are still stuck on the starting blocks, but more of that later. The Nationals’ Damien Drum got the week off to a flyer with a massive story and photo in the Herald Sun about footy grounds and the lack of water. I guess when your electorate covers most of the state local papers are almost superfluous. The Libs finally got a local election policy off the ground on Tuesday with a pledge from Bruce McClure to save Golden Square Secondary College under a “revised” Bendigo Education Plan. I put revised in quotation marks because the detail of the new plan is unknown. Overall, though, the idea will have some impact with locals, with about 60 per cent of the students at the school living in Bendigo West, the electorate Mr McClure is standing for. Also on the hustings this week were Labor’s Jacinta Allan and Bob Cameron. The pair hit the ground running with a  $12 million promise to re-build the Stella Anderson Nursing Home to current standards. There is no doubt this will be one of many big-ticket election items in the government’s campaign. While Jacinta and Bob had a make-believe tea party with some Stella Anderson residents, one hack was prompted to moan that this was only the first week of what is promising to be a very long and somewhat pedestrian campaign. Speaking of walking, the Libs tripped over their own feet last Friday by failing to release a local water policy for the Bendigo Weekly’s campaign coverage. Their excuse was they wanted to release one by themselves at a time they would get the most exposure, rather than with all the other parties. Nice idea in theory – and I believe that theory came from the Melbourne head office – but the problem with that is they have been carping on for months about the government missing the water crisis boat. At least the government, and all the other parties for that matter, were at least standing on the wharf when the boat sailed off into the harsh, clear sunset. The Libs’ wait-and-wait approach to Bendigo doesn’t hold water, with the party already producing a water policy for Ballarat and Geelong. This move makes it very hard for local voters to punish the government over the issue, something the Libs are hoping for, because there is no alternative. Instead, the Libs will release their water policies later in the campaign as pork barreling kicks off in earnest and policies are flying everywhere from candidates in both parties. While we are on the swine theme, John Howard has a favourite saying: “You can’t fatten a pig on election day”. Perhaps the Victorian Liberal branch has too much water in its ears to take notice of such advice. Anthony Radford Tue, 31 Oct 2006 00:00:00 CST