Hi Geoff Although I am not in your electorate or in your party I think you are on the right track with your environmental beliefs. I don’t know what faction you belong too but Gray seems to be of the rightist variety. Good luck Geoff

Bill Weller
Greens for Kingston
AMWU

The ALP has a stark choice between myself and Gary Gray.

I was an organizer of the Walk Against Warming last November that saw 5000+ concerned Western Australians march through the streets of Perth demanding action to prevent global overheating. Gary Gray is a greenhouse sceptic.

I have been a lifelong campaigner against the uranium industry and have written a review on the effects of “depleted” uranium – the bulk of mined uranium, on current and future generations. My work is a contribution to the global effort to ban uranium in armour-piercing shells that become mutagenic dust.

Gary Gray supports mining of uranium in WA, contrary to Party policy.

I have proposed democratization of the Party by inviting all members of affiliated unions to accept one year free membership of the Party, after which they can choose to opt in as full voting individuals. This would break the power of certain factional leaders and produce a democratic Party.

Pollies are pollies are pollies. That Garrett has made millions through Midnight Oil and any other means does not indicate his political and philosophical leanings.

He has always wanted to make a difference – through Oil’s lyrics, his public comments etc and now he has got himself into federal politics. He still has enough of his earlier ideals to believe he can make a difference. His personal dosh is of no consequence. What is of consequence is that he is becoming more pragmatist than ideologue. And that happens to all of us as we grow up and weigh our beliefs against reality.

There is no way anyone could call me poor, however neither could anyone call me a right wing conservative. Them’s the breaks.

Federally, in the long rung, the Burke thing will probabbly mean didly squat. WA is not the rest of Australia. We are VERY insular…

Any from both Howard and Rudd its war already.

This will be facinating

Anyway, I’m going to go out on a limb and say the Howard knew full well Campbell met with Burke and went ahead savaging Rudd anyway He knew Campbell would find his position untennable, especially after Costello’s remarks that “ANYONE who meets with Burke is morally and politically compromised”, and so Campbell had no choice but to submit his resignation. This ramped up the pressure on Rudd and damages him further. Poor Campbell was the sacrifical lamb in Howard’s bloodthirsty pursuit of Rudd.

Remember, Labor got a swing to it in that byelection, after the sitting member was sacked for his connections to Burke. It may look strange on the East Coast, but it appears so far that WA voters have a different approach to Burke/Grill and his links to both sides of the political fence.

The story on Ian Campbell’s meeting with Burke just illustrates that the ALP and Liberal Party have links to the former premier of WA.

>From Crikey: Peter Garrett: healthy, wealthy, unwise?
Christian Kerr writes:

Opposition environment spokesman Peter Garrett went on ABC Radio in
Adelaide yesterday to talk about Ron Walker, Robert de Crespigny and
that nuclear power plant – only to suffer some nasty fallout of his own.

“A caller says: ‘Fair’s fair, we’ve talked about these other
millionaires, and we should mention that Peter Garrett is a millionaire
as well’,” host Matt Abraham said.

Garrett got a little coy about that description – so Abraham and his
colleague David Bevan went nuclear on the Oil’s former front man:

BEVAN: Are you a millionaire?

GARRETT: Well, anybody who owns a house in Sydney or around Sydney
probably qualifies for that but I’d say I’m a person of moderate means.

ABRAHAM: But hasn’t being a rock star made you a millionaire?

GARRETT: Well, to the extent that I’ve been able to buy a house and
live in a comfortable way, yeah, there’s no question about it that I
had a successful career as a musician but I’m a man of moderate means.

ABRAHAM: Where do you live when you’re in Canberra?

GARRETT: (laughs)

ABRAHAM: Are you in a shed like Brendan Nelson?

GARRETT: Oh, I stay with a mate.

BEVAN: Okay, but is it correct, putting aside your house, because we
don’t want to get these things wrong and it’s been thrown around a
lot, Malcolm Turnbull’s described as a multi-millionaire and people
ring up I suppose from the conservative side and say “well, hang on,
what about Peter Garrett?” Peter Garrett, putting aside your house
which is a moderate house, can we call you a millionaire?

GARRETT: Well, gentlemen, if you want to you certainly can. I think
a person of moderate means, not to the extent of Mr Turnbull’s
wealth, but frankly I don’t think that’s the key issue…

ABRAHAM: But, we don’t want to call you a millionaire if you’re not.

GARRETT: Well, feel free to call me what you will.

ABRAHAM: No, well…

BEVAN: Well, we’re just trying to be cooperative.

ABRAHAM: If you are a millionaire, putting aside the value of your
house, then you’re a millionaire because as I said Malcolm Turnbull
and others targeted Kevin Rudd and yourself as being millionaires
effectively because he was. I just… if you’re not, you’re not, and
that’s fine and that’s the end of it and if you are, you are.

GARRETT: Yep, and I’m quite happy to say I am.

ABRAHAM: Okay, well, Peter Garrett we appreciate you coming on the
program.

**********************

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s1858712.htm

Fourth WA minister falls to commission inquiry

Reporter: Hamish Fitzsimmons

KERRY O’BRIEN: And now, to the latest political drama from the West, and
the fall of yet another State Government minister. This afternoon John
Bowler became the fourth minister sacked or demoted from the Carpenter
government in the past year – the third connected to the Brian Burke
scandal – as the Corruption and Crime Commission juggernaut continues to
pound the Government. On Sunday, Environment Minister Tony McRae
resigned over his links with former Labor minister turned lobbyist
Julian Grill, a business partner of Mr Burke’s. Premier Alan Carpenter
was forced to act today after the CCC played tapes of Mr Bowler
discussing sensitive Cabinet information that it secretly recorded at
the home of Mr Grill. By late afternoon, Mr Bowler was dismissed by his
Premier…

John Bowler had been caught on tape talking about a proposed railway
line through an Aboriginal heritage area in the Pilbara. Mr Grill and
his business partner Brian Burke were representing the mining company,
Fortescue Metals, which was proposing the line. Cabinet initially
rejected the railway plan but here Mr Bowler reveals the Aboriginal
Affairs Minister, Sheila McHale, had opted to reverse the decision.

JOHN BOWLER (TAPE): Now, Woodstock Abydos, apparently Carps said he’s
happy in the way it’s going, that although they said, you know, the
decision of the, of that committee, ACMC, Sheila, Sheila understands
that they have to say that and that she will now overturn it.

JULIAN GRILL (TAPE): All right, so if I can just take a note on this, er -

JOHN BOWLER (TAPE): So it’s expected that, um, Sheila will overturn the
ACMC decision.

JULIAN GRILL (TAPE): So Carpenter just told you that, um, Sheila should
overturn the decision?

JOHN BOWLER (TAPE): I think Sheila says that she will…she will, she will.