CANBERRA : A clear indication that the Liberal National Party (LNP) in Queensland is doing poorly and the Turnbull government is impotent , is the desperate decision to pull ousted former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce out of his own byelection campaign to spruik in central and northern Queensland seats .
This move comes after the fiasco of Joyce accepting an inaugural $40,000 Hancock Prospecting award from mining and farming magnate Gina Rinehart for being a champion of agriculture . That Joyce and Rinehart did not twig that there would be an almighty uproar in the rural and wider community as a result of the award speaks volumes, an indication of people out of touch with the common herd and sod busters .
Reporters in central and northern Queensland have a record of not asking obvious questions. Frustration at this sorry state of affairs regularly come through in lively comments in The Magpie , Townsville's rip snorting website , run by Malcolm Weatherup .
Why, asked one writer, did not a posse of television journalists ask Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and the Mayor of Townsville, Jenny Hill, hard hitting questions about Adani at a photo opportunity ?... " How on earth do we as a community get honest, properly investigated news. TV journos grow some balls and do your job .The newspaper just won't..."
Surely the fact that Joyce accepted the 40 grand , said he would spend it on his farm, and then , a day later , decided not to accept the dough , will force them to really ask hard questions of him when he lobs up north . They should also grill him about the survey that further confirmed that lots of backpackers and others are being grossly underpaid in fruit and vegetable picking , some in Queensland . He would truly become a champion of agriculture if he stopped crooks -which includes some labour hire outfits , some backpacker accommodation , farmers - robbing workers .
In addition , Joyce and LNP leader Tim Nicholls should also be strongly grilled about Queensland now listed as a global rainforest deforestation hotspot . Right now a farm near Cairns is the subject of an allegation that a large area of land has been illegally cleared . The LNP is backing an easing of land clearing laws.
Barnaby was choppered into Ayr , walked through a near empty pub, and addressed a small gathering saying what a mighty job he and the Turnbull government are doing for farmers . Despite that message, he and PM Malcolm Turnbull are on the nose in the region over their slack response to the cane farmers' long running dispute with the overseas owned sugar company Wilmar . Farmers wanted a marketing choice between the long standing Queensland Sugar Limited and Wilmar , instead of being at the mercy of the company .
Barnaby was choppered into Ayr , walked through a near empty pub, and addressed a small gathering saying what a mighty job he and the Turnbull government are doing for farmers . Despite that message, he and PM Malcolm Turnbull are on the nose in the region over their slack response to the cane farmers' long running dispute with the overseas owned sugar company Wilmar . Farmers wanted a marketing choice between the long standing Queensland Sugar Limited and Wilmar , instead of being at the mercy of the company .
Great cartoon by David Rowe of the Australian Financial Review , rightly named Cartoonist of the Year , sums up the unbelievable award to the man who was the Minister for Agriculture , his nomination endorsed by the Department of Agriculture !!! The Murdoch Townsville Bulletin , which has been bellicose in its coverage of the ALP campaign in Queensland , gave the Barnaby Joyce cheque affair five paragraphs. Tucked away was a short report about Adani which said the company, no spokesman named, would continue to push for a billion dollars from NAIF in an outcome which could only be achieved if the LNP wins the election or Labor overturns its promise of a veto .
