Comments on: Howard’s Ryan debacle

By: lightman

lightman — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:26:31 +0000

This may be well off track, but Johnson could well loose Ryan not because of the Goodna By-Pass, but because of the traffic problems he and his band of merry “hand wavers” cause when waving to passing motorists from the roadside!
The naive notion that this â€œvisible presenceâ€ somehow connects with voters is surely not based on any substantial research â€“ probably most likely on anecdotal drivel.
Last week the Centenary Highway was banked back from the river to Ipswich Road as early as 7am – you would naturally think as a result of an accident.
But no, Johnsonâ€™s hand wavers were on the Jindalee side of the bridge, waving and carrying on, and the traffic was slowing (maybe to abuse them, I am not sure). The ripple effect was that the traffic was still slow at the Mt Ommaney on-ramp at 9.30am.

By: SimonC

SimonC — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 10:06:58 +0000

If Michael Johnson is the Queensland Liberals great hope then they must be in a sad state of affairs. From his branch stacking start to his ‘unique’ campaign funding arrangements and now the ‘Where in the World is Michael’ headlines in the local Westside news – he’s not exactly a knight in shining armor.
On a side note, I recall seeing a picture of MJ sitting in the front row of a Liberal Party get together in Brisbane a couple of years ago. He was quite easy to pick out of the crowd, not only because he was the only person there wearing a t-shirt instead of a suit but he was also the only guy who had a picture of himself (or was it his name?) printed on the front of his shirt. Does anyone else recall this or have a copy of the picture somewhere?

By: Graham Bell

Graham Bell — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:25:33 +0000

Graham:
Wouldn’t it be poetic justice if Michael Johnson in Ryan ended up as the only United Australia Party, oops, I mean, Liberal Party parliamentarian from Queensland left in the next federal parliament? L-O-L
I make no apologies whatsoever for not weeping. The Liberal Party really has only itself to blame for its self-destruction. Attacking its traditional supporters [war veterans, small business operators, migrants, aspirational home owners, retirees, etc.] might make some Liberals feel tough and hairy-chested but it doesn’t bring in too many votes. Nor does having its Man-Of-Rust, its semi-demi-hemi-king, running hither and yon doing messages for a manifestly failed foreign potentate bring in many votes either.
Wonder what political entity will fill the niche currently being clogged by the Liberal Party?

By: John Quiggin

John Quiggin — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:18:32 +0000

I must say my (admittedly limited) experience as a Ryan resident has been the opposite of that quoted here. Johnson seems very active as a local member.

By: Charles Worringham

Charles Worringham — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:34:58 +0000

Well, Liberal Party polling may suggest that the main reason incumbent Michael Johnson is now facing possible defeat in Ryan is his support for the proposed Goodna by-pass. But I’m hearing otherwise. It’s true that this $2 billion plus proposal was never the subject of proper community consultation or fair comparison with an upgrade to the long neglected Ipswich Motorway.
But what I’m hearing from substantial numbers of Ryan voters on many door-steps is more fundamental, and brought up a lot more frequently than the by-pass. And, of course, I acknowledge both a conflict of interest in saying this and the fact that this isn’t “objective data”, but it’s true nonetheless:
Across a range of issues Ryan voters are telling me in many ways that they just want representation in Canberra that is balanced, substantial and constructive – and they don’t believe these attributes have been much in evidence over the last six years. It’s about a lot more than the Goodna by-pass.
Charles Worringham
Independent Candidate for Ryan 2007