Electioneering

Good articles in the Sunday Mail today. Senator X tells us that being an independent is akin to being a virgin....and you shouldn't give it away for nothing....I like this (and agree)

We should not be surprised that the two big parties don't like this...they like to be in TOTAL control.

So they wouldn't like Mr T who writes to the Advertiser advocating (as I do) that Senate voting needs to include the option of PREFERENTIAL-ABOVE THE LINE - that is not just vote 1...and then allow the parties to decide where our preferences go...but rather to vote what ever preferences we want. Good idea.(see my previous blog)

And the opinionated David Penberthy tells us that if the big parties give in to the gang of three or four (depending on your inclination) and their demands to be transparent and to actually be allowed access to accurate information (like costings)...then all hell will break loose.

It's interesting that Steve Bracks, one of the few Premiers to actually have experience of minority Government seesm to extol the need to be more transparent as a big pluss!!!!!

I suppose we shall just have to wait and see.

What passes for journalism

I am still waiting to see if The Messenger interview happens. I suppose something is likely to happen since they came and took my photograph.
All this begs the question about what passes for journalism. I was rung up for probably less than five minutes about decline in church attendances. Poorly formed questions, and even more poorly formed (very off the cuff) answers.
While the electric telephone is a great blessing it is also a liability. Once upon a time a reporter would actually have physically fronted you and would have had to spend 10 or 15 minutes engaging you in some face to face struggle. Now they can(and obviously do) sit at their desk and wonder who they can ring up.
I was interested because I was at a seminar yesterday when someone else referred to having been rung up for the same interview though for a different Messenger region. And I had been at something else a few days ago when a similar thing happened.
I had qualms at the time about what I was saying and what was being heard. They spent more time taking my photograph (what does that mean?) than getting my interview straight.