IT seems as the March 16 date rolls closer there’s a bit of increasing tension in the air. A few Meet the Candidates forums have had an air of aggression, dare we say unprofessionalism, about them as candidates form alliances and get a bit bolshie.
Given it’s not a state or federal election and polling is very expensive, it’s a little hard to tell who is in front, but if election spend equals votes then here’s the likely outcome: In first place, with a spend of about $75,000 (according to the latest ECQ expenditure report) is Jason O’Pray.
Coming in second is hinterland favourite Wayne Parcell, who won’t die wondering, having spent nearly $55,000.
The rest are a distant third, fourth and fifth.
Anyway, it shouldn’t be about money, but this is a democracy, so it is.
COR BLIMEY
RULES and regulations of election campaigning are tightly controlled and monitored to the point any member of the public can see the spending of any candidate. Wondering what Jason O’Pray is spending on his billboard advertising? It’s $11,688.00. His spend on corflutes and signage? That’s $16,500.
This is all available on the Electoral Commission of Queensland website.
In some ways it shows you pretty quickly who has the deeper pockets.
But calls to ban corflutes because a few get vandalised or go missing is a bit much. It’s an election. It’s democracy. It’s a few local candidates having a go.
And for a few weeks every four years the public has to put up with a bunch of them staked in, anywhere and everywhere but generally according to the rules. The good news is that most of them can go back into storage and get rolled out in 2028.
That’s something to look forward to.
