David Marler

David Marler

Queensland reporter at No Fibs
David is a full time Queensland carer for his son and in quiet times contributes to NoFibs.
David Marler

Latest posts by David Marler (see all)

David Marler
https://nofibs.com.au/meeting-david-marler-nofibs-twitter-activist-by-griffithelects
Blogging the week in Queensland politics and news.
The Qld Weekly - No Fibs

Prepare for impact - Federal budget 2015

Table of contents

Can’t get their heads around it.
(May 16, 2015) – State governments in a world of pain.
(May 15, 2015) – Media has gone to the dogs.
(May 14, 2015) – War against Abbott Government.
(May 13, 2015) – Budget fallout.
(May 12, 2015) – Legal walk.
(May 11, 2015) – Concern over Federal budget.
(May 10, 2015) – National Volunteer Week.

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Can’t get their heads around it

Try as we might, we’ve been unable to explain the decline in the rate of increase in federal funding for Queensland’s health and education to Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg. The LNP appears to be still making the same mistake as when they were in government of trying to win over voters with flashing dollar signs. However, Queensland’s social media population is far wiser.

Springborg even suggested that there was no problem because “Those arrangements don’t kick in until the end of this parliamentary term. You’re talking about an issue which is a reduction in growth, not a reduction in funding. But that doesn’t even come into play, at all, until the end of this state parliamentary term, only six months out from the end of this term of the Palaszczuk-Gordon government.” Read more at: Federal Budget 2015 ‘failed Queensland’: Curtis Pitt.

We even tried getting him to listen to Campbell Newman from 2014 who, despite his many faults, understood the problem.

As Lawrie is a champion giant pumpkin competition winner, Robert Dow from Rail Back on Track suggested a pumpkin analogy. (Read more about his pumpkins here: Springborg’s pumpkin smashes record).

No response as yet from the OL. We’ll keep you posted.
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(May 16, 2015) – State governments in a world of pain

Professor Anne Tiernan speaks to 612 Brisbane

What of Far North Qld?

A look at the Carmody Crisis with barrister Ross Bowler

Campbell Newman’s new $2 company

  • Anthony Marx reported, “YOU would expect Campbell Newman to be doing a bit of multitasking now that’s he’s got more time on his hands. There’s that tell-all memoir to write, of course. The former premier is bashing it out with the help of former Cairns MP Gavin King and readers are likely to find copies in bookstores in the lead-up to Christmas. Can Do is also casting around for a bit more work, and we noticed that he is now listed as a director of Araluen Capital. Newman registered the $2 company just two weeks after his shock defeat in the January 31 state election. He and wife Lisa are the sole directors and shareholders of the entity.”: City Beat: Campbell Newman sets up new investment entity as he writes book.

Johnny Depp’s dogs gone

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(May 15, 2015) – Media has gone to the dogs

LNG centre opened on Curtis Island

Geoff Breusch reported: A $20 billion gas project that could pump billions of dollars back into the Queensland economy has been officially launched.

Geoff Breusch reported: A $20 billion gas project that could pump billions of dollars back into the Queensland economy has been officially launched.

Media obsessed with Johnny Depp’s dogs

The world media went into meltdown as Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce threatened to euthanise Johnny Depp’s dogs Pistol and Boo which had been snuck into the country. Even top Queensland political reporter, Amy Remeikis has roped in.

https://twitter.com/brookewylie/status/598972518997733376

https://twitter.com/Knightcartoons/status/599045952968609792

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(May 14, 2015) – War against Abbott Government

Paid parental leave cuts sparks union fury

  • Amy Remeikis reported, “Having won their war against Campbell Newman, Queensland’s unions have found a new battle to fight. The Queensland Council of Unions has sounded a call to arms to fight against the Abbott Government’s proposed changes to parental leave agreements, announced in the last budget.”: Queensland unions find new fight in parental leave.

Adani court case continues

  • Joshua Robertson reported, “Lawyers fighting to have Queensland’s land court stop the construction of Australia’s largest coal mine say they have made the touted economic benefits look “ridiculous” beside the risk of environmental damage. In a closing statement against the Carmichael mine proposed by Indian coal giant Adani, barrister Saul Holt told the court there had been “dramatic changes in the picture of this mine” as a result of legal proceedings brought by conservationists.“: Adani’s Carmichael mine: damage far outweighs benefits, lawyer claims.

False accusation against Treasurer Curtis Pitt

Former member for Cairns Gavin King accused Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt of parking in a disabled parking spot. However, investigation by The Courier Mail revealed it was his mother’s car and a permit was held. King refused to apologise.

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(May 13, 2015) – Budget fallout

What’s in it for Qld and what’s not

  • Tony Moore reported, “Queensland reaction to the federal budget handed down on Tuesday May 12, 2015.”: Federal Budget 2015: Queensland reacts.
  • Amy Remeikis reported, “The Queensland Government’s first reaction to the federal budget is in – and it’s not good. Treasurer Curtis Pitt told more than 2000 members of business and industry at the annual PwC breakfast on Wednesday that Joe Hockey’s second budget had “failed Queenslanders again”.The state missed out on any funds from the Commonwealth’s asset recycling infrastructure pool, an unsurprising move, given Queensland voted against off-loading assets.”: Federal Budget 2015 ‘failed Queensland’: Curtis Pitt.
  • Cameron Atfield reported, “Australia’s north will be opened up to more development while the Great Barrier Reef will have a $100 million boost through federal budget measures announced in Canberra on Tuesday. Queensland will be one of the main beneficiaries of the $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, which aimed to develop the nation’s sparsely populated north.”: Federal Budget 2015: What’s in it for Queensland.
Geoff Breusch reported: How Qld faired from Federal budget 2015 and the Health & Education cuts to come.

Geoff Breusch reported: How Qld faired from Federal budget 2015 and the Health & Education cuts to come.

Joe Hockey confirms cuts to health and education

https://twitter.com/ABCNews24/status/598417985582182400

Money for roads

  • Tony Moore reported, “Toowoomba’s $1.6 billion Second Range Crossing project finally gets the go-ahead in Tuesday’s federal budget with $317 million provided in 2015-16 to let the important freight project begin. The long-awaited project has been one of Queensland’s highest-profile highway projects since it was developed in the early 2000s and has been subjected to detailed talks between federal and state governments since.”: Federal Budget 2015: Toowoomba’s second range crossing gets green light.

Springborg supports budget

https://twitter.com/SpringborgMP/status/598300685302566912

https://twitter.com/SpringborgMP/status/598301059472236544

https://twitter.com/SpringborgMP/status/598261482913038337

Great Barrier Reef funding not enough

NSW calls out for Qld water

Tim Carmody’s promise

  • Richard Ackland wrote, “Bias is in everyone’s skin – except judges, who are supposed to be blemish-free. If it does bubble to the surface there are quaint procedures whereby judges are supposed to hear submissions and contemplate their own “apprehended bias” and, if need be, disqualify themselves from sitting.Last week, from the vexed supreme court of Queensland, emerged a display of behind-the-scenes angst as senior judges grappled with dark shadows that fell over an important and much anticipated criminal appeal.”: Tim Carmody’s appointment fractured Queensland’s courts. Will he keep his promise to leave?

Drought relief funding

Queensland Literary Awards revived

https://twitter.com/nick__w/status/598310818749493248

John Howard supports budget

  • Amy Remeikis reported, “A good political budget, if not a reforming one, is former prime minister John Howard’s verdict on Joe Hockey’s second budget.Speaking to 2100 Queensland business and industry leaders, Mr Howard said while Mr Hockey’s second budget addressed growth issues, it didn’t go far enough in reform.”: Federal Budget 2015: John Howard urges government to go full term.

https://twitter.com/nick__w/status/598255787849318400

Front pages

Cartoons

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(May 12, 2015) – Legal walk

Walking for legal week

Think of the poor rich

  • John Birmingham wrote, “I am led to understand, by the distant squeals of outrage I faintly hear drifting up from the downstairs quarters, that some of the lower orders are a tad put out by any suggestion that those of us with a mere hundred and eighty-five thousand in the back pocket might consider ourselves hard done by. To which I can but reply, how dare you! The very cheek of it! I am spluttering with outrage, spluttering I tell you! Partly because I’ve been pulling on this velvet bell rope for three minutes now, waiting for the footman to summon to splutter-boy to come clean up my mess and nobody has responded to my summoning at all.”: Blunt Instrument: Think about the poor rich, you ungrateful swine.

Schoolgirl left off Gold Coast bus

  • Kim Stephens reported, “A schoolgirl left behind at a Gold Coast bus stop is the latest in a series of similar incidents being reported by Queensland parents, according to the state’s transport minister. More than a decade after the abduction and murder of Sunshine Coast schoolboy Daniel Morcombe from a roadside bus stop prompted the establishment of the No Child Left Behind policy, Jackie Trad has expressed outrage that Lucinda Bleakley, 12, was prevented from boarding a bus last Friday when her Go Card would not scan.”: Schoolgirl left off Gold Coast bus.

Palmer United Party quits state politics

  • Amy Remeikis reported, “Clive Palmer has announced his party will no longer contest state elections. The Palmer United Party’s strongest state representation came from Queensland, but that fell apart last year when Alex Douglas and Carl Judge, who both left the LNP to join Palmer United, abandoned the party to run as independents at the 2015 state election. PUP MPs failed to win a state seat outright at any state election.”: Clive Palmer’s Palmer United Party pulls out of state politics.

Meeting with US Ambassador

https://twitter.com/SpringborgMP/status/597939233735577600

BHP $1.4 million biodiversity partnership with Qld museum

The defining front line

Federal budget 2015

https://twitter.com/nick__w/status/597924925148561408

https://twitter.com/nick__w/status/597925555153997824

https://twitter.com/SpringborgMP/status/597956784964276225

Legacy Way tunnel opening

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(May 11, 2015) – Concern over Federal budget

Premier concerned about federal budget

  • Tony Moore reported, “Gold Coast’s tourism boss says it is absolutely critical that the federal government help kickstart stage two of the booming Light Rail project in Tuesday’s budget. Martin Winter, the Gold Coast Tourism chief executive, said the light rail project has been “an unmitigated success” but it needed to connect to Brisbane’s day commuter market. “It is absolutely critical that we get that link,” Mr Winter said.”: Gold Coast light rail ‘absolutely critical’ for federal budget: tourism boss.
  • Amy Remeikis reported, “The Queensland Government has one wish ahead of the federal Coalition Government’s second budget – for the Prime Minister to keep his promises. For the last few weeks, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and her ministers have been running a concerted ‘save our funding’ campaign, as they fight $18 billion in cuts to health and education in the forward estimates.”: Federal Budget 2015: Palaszczuk’s budget wish: Keep your promises Tony.
Ten News Qld: Concern for cuts to Qld education, health and Commonwealth public servants ahead of federal budget 2015.

Ten News Qld: Concern for cuts to Qld education, health and Commonwealth public servants ahead of federal budget 2015.

https://twitter.com/nick__w/status/597563765660393472

Deregistered charities in Qld

  • Natalie Bochenski reported, “Six out of the ten organisations stripped of their charity status since the establishment of an independent industry regulator were from Queensland. The Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission has issued its first compliance report since it was created at the end of 2012 to provide oversight for the sector. It found 1307 complaints were made against charities and not-for-profits between December 2012 and December 2014, a rate of 12 per week.”: Six out of ten deregistered charities from Queensland.

Lobbying against UNESCO

Hopes Qld NAPLAN results will improve

Peter Doherty reported: Hopes Qld NAPLAN results will improve with Year 7 taking test from High School this year.

Peter Doherty reported: Hopes Qld NAPLAN results will improve with Year 7 taking test from High School this year.

New Woolworths opening – 2000 jobs

Carmody crisis – Premier hints at review

  • Amy Remeikis reported, “Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has not ruled out a Vasta-style review into Chief Justice Tim Carmody. Justice Carmody’s release of emails between himself and President of the Court of Appeal, Margaret McMurdo, ahead of his withdrawal from the appeal of Daniel Morcombe’s convicted killer last week, was only the latest chapter in the fractured relations between the state’s leading judge and the judiciary.”: Annastacia Palaszczuk refuses to rule out Tim Carmody review.

Homes waiting on repairs

FBI on Gold Coast

  • Nine News Brisbane reported, “It is now more important than ever for global police forces to work together to tackle tech-savvy terrorists. The weekend arrest of a 17-year-old boy in Melbourne highlights the problem and has made people “uneasy”, Queensland Police Minister Jo-Ann Miller said. “Technology can link everyone in the world in milli-seconds (and) it is more important than ever for police across the world to work together,” she said ahead of an international conference.”: Global police unite to fight tech terror.

Anti-infection move for those living without a spleen

  • Tony Moore reported, “Queensland on Monday joined a Victorian and Tasmanian scheme to provide the very latest information on fighting infection for the 3000 Queenslanders who do not have a spleen. The spleen is the body’s main organ to fight bacteria and infections. Living without a spleen – if left untreated – can become fatal. Some patients can lose limbs from infections”: Infection-fighting service introduced to Queensland patients.

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(May 10, 2015) – National Volunteer Week

Celebrate our selfless seniors

  • Coralee O’Rourke announced, “Minister for Seniors Coralee O’Rourke has given a great big shout out to Queensland’s selfless seniors this National Volunteer Week (11-17 May). Minister O’Rourke said although National Volunteer Week was a time to thank Queensland volunteers of all ages for their inspiring contribution to the community, senior volunteers deserved special recognition. “They really are unsung heroes and recognising and valuing their efforts is going to become more and more important as our community ages,” Mrs O’Rourke said.”: Celebrate our selfless seniors – National Volunteer Week.

Gamma Knife

  • Cameron Dick announced, “The Palaszczuk Government has secured the first and only Gamma Knife for a public hospital system in Australia. Health Minister Cameron Dick said he was very pleased to deliver the $4.3 million dollar, four tonne machine which allows radiation oncologists to treat brain tumours without cutting into a patient’s skull.”: Queensland’s First Gamma Knife for Patients.

-Ends