The 4350water Blog highlights some of the issues relating to proposals for potable reuse in Toowoomba and South East Qld. 4350water blog looks at related political issues as well.
...polls show NSW Labor to win with increased majority.
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 6:40 AM
For many years, the 4350water blog has informed readers of plans by the Toowoomba City Council (now Toowoomba Regional Council) and the Qld government to introduce recycled water for drinking in Toowoomba. It has also looked at the issue from a State and Federal perspective and dealt with related State and Federal political issues. There continues to be a need for the Toowoomba Regional Council to be completely transparent in its dealings with the ratepayers and residents of Toowoomba. There also continues to be a need for open debate on the benefits and risks of potable reuse and long-term studies on the effects on humans of drinking recycled water. Coal seam gas water is emerging as a possible alternate water source for some uses for the region. The 4350water blog is a collective effort and thanks go to its many contributors.
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2 Comments:
First, he thinks people want to drink recycled water.
Then he thinks people with 8 investment properties are the average family.
Now, even the Liberal Party thinks they have backed the wrong horse.
Excerpt from SMH:
Debnam's stunts unsettle party
28 February 2007
Devastated by opinion polls placing them in a disastrous position, NSW Liberals are expressing open concern about Peter Debnam's leadership style for the first time since he took the reins.
They worry that he behaves as a one-man band despite talking about the team, is too aloof and relies too much on stunts that distract from policy messages.
Liberals are clinging to the hope there is "a disconnect" between polls and voters' intentions in the marginal electorates.
According to the Herald/ACNielsen poll published yesterday, the Coalition is so far behind it could lose one seat to Labor, increasing the Government's majority to 17. The poll gave Labor a two-party preferred lead of 57 per cent to 43 per cent over the Coalition. A Newspoll, also published yesterday, put the margin at 59 per cent to 41 per cent, which implies the loss of three seats.
Yesterday the official approach was a brave face.
"I can't explain the polls and I wouldn't attempt to, but the feeling I have on the ground in NSW and around the electorate is that people do want a change," Mr Debnam said yesterday.
The federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Joe Hockey, also went in to bat: "I think [the polls] are wrong."
Nevertheless, senior Liberals are deeply worried.
"It is gutting," one senior Liberal said. "Did I believe we could win a majority of seats? No, that's hard. Did I hope we could get some new talent into the party room and close the gap this time around? Yes."
The Opposition needs to win 16 seats to form government in its own right. Senior strategists have admitted that a gain of six seats or more would be a plausible result this time around, despite the public rhetoric that the party is out to win.
But what is confusing senior Liberals is the message they are picking up in marginal electorates. "Two out of five people we door knock say they [Labor] have got to go. They really want a change," another said.
But the polls show that despite being angry at Labor, they are struggling to warm to Mr Debnam. The Herald poll says just 26 per cent of voters prefer him as premier. Newspoll says he is preferred by just 19 per cent.
"If Peter is the problem, then the oldest way in the book is to combat that by surrounding him with the team. We did that at the launch, but since then he's been a lone voice again," one MP said.
There is also concern about Mr Debnam' s numerous aquatic appearances. One Liberal suggested stunts should only be done where they underline the policy announcement, not distract from it.
Another was particularly critical of Mr Debnam's decision to go diving, pointing out that shots of him underwater were obviously liable to be used as a visual metaphor for the Coalition's chances - exactly what happened yesterday.
12:48 PM, February 28, 2007
More from SMH:
Facing apocalyptic polls in yesterday's newspapers, the NSW Opposition Leader, Peter Debnam, ventured to a muddy copse in Cranebrook, in the Labor-held marginal seat of Penrith.
Overnight rain had created a bog. Broken branches lay rotting. All the while, the besieged leader tried to spruik his proposed cuts to land tax.
Mr Debnam pointed to the Banning family, who agreed they would be $800-a-year better off under the Liberals' plan to raise the tax-free threshold on investment property.
However, by day's end the Banning family had turned into Mr Debnam's worst nightmare.
Initially Mr Debnam was forced to explain his choice of the Bannings, who own a real estate business and have four investment properties: scant consolation to those struggling to buy their first home.
Asked if voters' hearts would bleed at the family's situation, Mr Debnam mounted a heroic defence of "mum and dad" investors. "I think it's very important to have a look at this," he said. "The tax burden is one of the reasons people have left the state."
However, Mr Debnam was left red-faced when a later search of the state's land title records revealed the Bannings to be in possession of eight properties. These included three holiday units in the Snowy area, two units in Penrith and a house each in Penrith, Cranebrook and Orchard Hills. Last night the family said it had omitted to tell the Opposition Leader's office about its other properties, which were being managed independently by a super fund.
The embarrassment capped off Mr Debnam's darkest day of the campaign.
12:49 PM, February 28, 2007
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