candidates:

http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/local/lg2008/BrisbaneCity/mayoralCandidates.html - get your mayoral candidate's email address here.
http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/local/lg2008/BrisbaneCity/candidates.html - get your ward candidate's email address here.
http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:BASE:981238251:pc=PC_1983

wards:

http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:STANDARD:981238251:pc=PC_5
These two mapping systems appear to contradict each other, but both claim to be for this year's election. The first one matches the candidates list above.
http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/profiles/mapsDistricts.html
http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/2008/html/BrisbaneCity.html

ECQ:

http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/local/lg2008/BrisbaneCity/index.html
http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/asp/index.asp?pgid=177

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Labor and Liberal policies:

Greg Rowell (Labor)
bikeways: $50 million construction in 2 years, $100 million all up 'missing links, bike hubs etc'
water - no plan on prices as consumption control mechanism
tank rebates - support
Public transport - peak hour - departure every 5 mins for citycats and key bus routes, every 15 mins other times

Campbell Newman (Liberal)
$100 million on bikeways (initially promised by Liberal, copied by Labor)
11 citycats now, will build 8 more (promised 6, planning for 8 - depends on source constraints) and 3 new terminals,
500 new busses (Labor has promised 480)
has not considered water pricing, however price likely to go up due to extra infrastructure
supports tank rebates
desal - gold coast council, with state support
Traffic congestion - more balanced aproach because they are including cars
has promised improvements to road network that Labor hasn't promised
Labor 'may' stop Hale st bridge, but have said they will support it
Jim Soorly only built 66 busses, Campbell built 330

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From James Sinnamon:

Dear Friend,

I realise this is very late in the day, but I am writing to seek your vote for
myself as a indicate candidate for Lord Mayor of Brisbane.

However before I continue, I would like to draw your attention to a public
debate amongst Candidates to be held at:

Brisbane City Hall

tomorrow (Friday 14 March) at 12:00 noon

All nine candidates, Labor, Liberal, Green and independent have been invited
to attend.  Your presence, to show support and to raise the profile of the
event in order to give it as much prominence as possible in its coverage in
the evening news, would be greatly appreciated.

One reason I am standing is because, at best other candidates are
insufficiently addressing what I consider are the critical issues for
Brisbane residents.  These are:

1. Population growth which is the main driver of virtually all the serious
social, environmental and economic problems faced by Brisbane Residents.

2. Openness, Council Accountability and Democracy

3. The inappropriate application of free market policies including the
National Competition Policy, privatisation, public private partnerships,
contract out of council services, etc.

4. An industrial relations policies which gives all council workers, decent
wages, job security, a career path and a say in decisions which affect their
lives.

5. An immediate end to extravagant infrastructure projects such as the Hale
Street Bridge, the Northern Link, the Airport Link, the second airport
runway, and, if possible, the North South bypass tunnel.  Only infrastructure
projects which improve Brisbane's livability and enhance it's long term
sustainability to be undertaken from now on.

6. Oppose the Federal Government's North Bank redevelopment.

7. A plan for food security which is to rely principally on locally grown food
and reduces our dependence upon fossil fuels, for the transportation, storage
and packaging of foods.

8. Protection of all of Brisbane's remaining bushland and farmland from
sub-division, adequate protection for Brisbane's heritage buildings and
character houses.

Time forces me to cut this short.  Please visit these sites for further
information:

http://candobetter.org
http://wikispaces.com.au

Your comments are welcome and can be posted directly on to these sites.

yours sincerely,

James Sinnamon


--
James Sinnamon
Independent candidate for Lord Mayor of Brisbane
jaymz |AT| bigpond net au
0412 319669
http://candobetter.org/james
http://candobetter.wikispaces.com

Don't forget to vote Liberal this weekend.

from crikey:

Some naysayers and doom-mongers may declare that, in being out of power in every State and Territory and federally, the Liberals face bleak times.

Fortunately, not everyone is so negative. Some Liberals retain a capacity to look on the bright side of life.

Joe Hockey yesterday hailed Campbell Newman’s retention of the Brisbane mayoralty as an "emblematic moment that indicates that the Liberal Party has reconnected with the community and has built up a core base of support for better government and stronger values in government."

You may recall the Liberals' focus on good government and strong values from such incidents as Children Overboard, AWB and the Regional Partnerships program.

Still, even if Newman played down his Liberal connections throughout his campaign, they have to start somewhere.

George "did I mention I’m a QC?" Brandis also lauded his Party’s effort in the Gold Coast council election as "a good thing" and "not a bad result for a first go."

The Liberals haven’t won a single seat there.

Still, Brandis has a point – next time they’ll be coming off a low base and the only way is up.

What next for the resurgent Liberal Party? School P&C bodies? Local soccer clubs? Too bad VSU obliterated student unions, otherwise the Liberal renaissance could be sweeping through tertiary education even as we speak.

On the strength of this performance, one hopes Brendan Nelson won’t be cancelling the "listening tour" he’s planning to announce tomorrow, along with a five-point policy framework.

Unfortunately for the purposes of brand differentiation, Kevin Rudd has already laid claim to a five-point plan. The options are limited, however – a "six point plan" would look like cheap one-upmanship, while a "four-point plan" would draw criticism of a lack of vision. Sometimes Opposition Leaders just can’t win.

You can’t help but think the Liberals have the whole thing backwards. When Rudd became Labor leader, the ALP set about advertising Rudd himself, introducing him to the electorate, branding him as caring but cautious. There was plenty of images of him playing with The Kids, talking about education, looking serious and can-do.

The policies came later or, in a number of areas, not at all. But that wasn’t the point. Labor understood that specific policies were far less important for voters than feeling safe with Rudd. And they did. NSW Labor managed the same thing in 2005 when they spent heavily to introduce the newly-minted Premier Iemma to voters, to the extent of explaining how to pronounce his name. Obviously they skipped the bit about him being an incompetent hack.

Nelson, however, has let himself be branded by events. His consultative style has been portrayed as weak, and his terrible polling has become the main thing voters know about him. Maybe he should spend part of his "listening tour" doing some talking, so that voters can get to know him better. The policy stuff can wait.

freediver wrote on Mar 17^th, 2008 at 3:25pm:

from crikey:

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Just this has me reaching for the smelling salts these days - if these guys were any further left they'd think Stalin was a capitalist.