The South Australian Political Landscape

[mighty_tiger_79]

not read his twitter

but when he is in the radio, he cant even hold a pleasant tone, he is an attack dog, but is far far worse than Christopher Pyne in the manner in which he speaks!!!!

it would be funny if those bastards didn't influence our living costs.............

[cracka]

not read his twitter

but when he is in the radio, he cant even hold a pleasant tone, he is an attack dog, but is far far worse than Christopher Pyne in the manner in which he speaks!!!!

it would be funny if those bastards didn't influence our living costs.............

Yeah whenever I hear him on 5AA, he's always "disgusted" by what the opposition does or says then someone will ring in after his interview & set the record straight make him look like a fool.
Plus I will always remember him for getting all those speeding fines while being the Transport Minister.

[mighty_tiger_79]

who can forget the speeding fines

I remember one battle he won was over simon Birmingham and didn't he just love that!!!!!!!!

[Grahaml]

Koutsantonis has the same self belief of his image that Foley had, and has many of the same attributes
Difference is, Kouta has the shoppies boss onside - very close friends
Kouta has seen Abbott win, despite similar personality flaws, and that's given him the confidence he can do it as well

I see the point about the similarities but to me there are some major differences between Kouts and Abbott that are important here. Firstly, Abbott was a flawless team man. Some of the Liberal policies he was strongly opposed to behind closed doors but everyone got the impression he was a fervent supporter. Workchoices a case in point. In cabinet he wanted it dropped, yet huge sections of the public thought he was a major pusher of it. Secondly, Abbott had nothing but tales of success in his political career. TK will largely be remembered for being a huge flop as transport minister and he had to resign. They may share some flaws but the differences were very important to Abbott's rise and subsequent election.

[Gozu]

I see the point about the similarities but to me there are some major differences between Kouts and Abbott that are important here. Firstly, Abbott was a flawless team man.

Malcolm Turnbull circa Dec 2009 says hi

[Psyber]

I did my good deed for ALP-SA yesterday - I drove Greg Crafter home from lunch.
(He'd come straight from the airport to the pub where we met, and was still carting his luggage around.)

Saturday its dinner with Isobel Redmond and the local Libs supporting her.

[Dogwatcher]

Congrats.

[dedja]

Jeez Psyb, where we you when Trevor Crothers needed a lift a few years back?

[Jimmy_041]

http://indaily.com.au/news/2014/02/06/govts-gillman-story-unravels/
This Gillman spot is really starting to stink
Koutsantonis is kidding isn't he?
ICAC

[Psyber]

This is from Liberal Party releases, but it is disconcerting if correct:

Weatherill’s Footbridge work walks out of SA.
In another snub to South Australian businesses, the Weatherill Labor Government has used an interstate contractor to undertake work on the Adelaide Oval footbridge. A Brisbane-based company has been given a $2 million paving contract for the Footbridge. This is despite South Australian businesses struggling under tough economic conditions and 27,000 full-time jobs lost in the State since the June 2013 Budget was delivered.

Other examples of government contracts that have been awarded to interstate companies include:

$600 million Housing SA maintenance contract (over eight years) awarded to two interstate companies;
$100 million plumbing contract for the new RAH awarded to a Victorian company;
Contract to develop the Master Plan for Adelaide’s Riverbank precinct awarded to a Victorian consortium;
Newsagent contract (supply to schools of stationery etc) awarded to an interstate firm;
School bus contract awarded to a Victorian company;
TAFE’s student management system contract awarded to London-based Sungard;
Stone for pavers used in the redevelopment of Rundle Mall imported from China;
The associated economic modeling for the Government’s Economic Statement awarded to a Victorian company;
Manufacturing and supply of number plates for SA vehicles worth $4.7 million awarded to a Queensland company; and
The $1.4 million SA brand contract awarded to Victorian graphic designer Ken Cato.

“Sadly for South Australians, the Weatherill Labor Government has form in awarding government contracts to interstate firms,” said State Liberal Leader Steven Marshall. “Every year, the Weatherill Labor Government awards $2.3 billion worth of work interstate.

“There have also been more than 34,000 net interstate migrants under Mr Weatherill and State Labor since 2002. “However, the Weatherill Labor Government’s solution to fixing South Australia’s devastating “brain drain” crisis is to send work interstate! “Maybe if the Weatherill Labor Government awarded more contracts to South Australian companies, that would encourage job growth in SA and help stem the flow of South Australians moving interstate for better employment opportunities.

“If elected to government in March 2014, I have already committed to reviewing the government procurement process.

[bennymacca]

Always wary of something like that - it would have gone to tender and the best contractor would have been chosen. If they chose an SA company for 2.5M for instance they would be accused of nepotism and wasting money by not going with the best quote.

[Jimmy_041]

I know of two cases where SA companies were not even given the chance to tender for part of the Adelaide Oval project.

One had been the long standing incumbent. They paid an American $1m to advise on the IT and he gave the job to a US firm without even talking to the SA owned and based incumbent.

The other company that supplied furniture was told that the contract had already been awarded to a Victorian company and went eventually into administration due to a lack of new orders here - 25 jobs down the gurgler

I appreciate the need to Tender (Very obvious that Weatherill and Kanttenderonis don't) but this is OUR money they are throwing away or sending interstate or overseas.

Maybe both need to get a real job because they are $hit at this one

[Jimmy_041]

I had a laugh at Weatherill who keeps asking the Libs to reveal their costings.
Last night when questioned on his election promises: "We will reveal all of our costings at the end of the campaign" So, he wants different rules to apply?

[dedja]

If elected to government in March 2014, I have already committed to reviewing the government procurement process.

If he has to review the procurement process then he doesn't know what they are and hence has no idea whether these contracts were awarded on merit or not.

Also, he hasn't committed to anything, confirming that is just a political stunt.

[mighty_tiger_79]

why oh why cant we have an opposition who are clearly more reliable than the current govt????

[Psyber]

If elected to government in March 2014, I have already committed to reviewing the government procurement process.

If he has to review the procurement process then he doesn't know what they are and hence has no idea whether these contracts were awarded on merit or not. Also, he hasn't committed to anything, confirming that is just a political stunt.

I took reviewing the procurement process to mean looking at the checks and balances that exist and see if they are adequate and/or can be improved so that the jobs didn't just go to somebody's mate, or that the lowest quote so far wasn't revealed to a mate so they could undercut it by the minimum margin at the last minute. (I saw that happen in a local council situation once and followed it up.)

In any case I think it may be worth paying a bit more (within reason) to support a local firm rather than give the job to a foreign firm.
( I don't buy Chilean oranges either.)

[Dogwatcher]

Is it true that popular restaurant Enzo's is bugged?

[Gozu]

Premier has officially dissolved parliament for the election, Sat March 15.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-15/s ... ns/5262232

[smac]

So why did those ******* posters appear on light poles yesterday?

[dedja]

Because they illegally jumped the gun but no-one enforces it.

Just like the Poodle leaving his posters up for a couple of weeks after the Federal election, no-one seems to GAF.