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PETER DRAPER MP HAS "NO COMMENT"
The Northern Daily Leader newspaper sought comment from John Della Bosca, MLC - the Health Minister, Peter Draper MP (Tamworth) and
Christine Robertson MLC (Tamworth - Convenor of Country Labor) regarding it's front page story of 18 April 2009.
John Della Bosca said, inter alia, "the Premier has given his undertaking that the project will be commenced this term” and Christine Robertson
had not replied by the time the newspaper went to print on 21 April 2009.
REMARKABLY - the newspaper reports that Peter Draper MP had "no comment". The "no comment" response was remarkable, not just because
it was a story concerning a vital election promise made to the Tamworth electorate, but also because we have been warning Mr Draper for nearly
2 years now that the promise had all the hallmarks of a "Spit Bridge promise" and cajoling him to work 24 hours a day to ensure it came to
fruition, but also because at the same time as he could not apparently find time to comment, he was busily commenting on NSW Labor's land
grab at Hurlstone Agricultural High School. On 20 April 2009 Draper issued a media release in which he describes those concerned about the
possibility of a similar land grab at Tamworth's Farrer High School as "political opportunists", saying he was assured by the NSW Labor
government that there were no plans for a similar land grab in Tamworth. What is so remarkable about Draper's comfort in the assurances given
to him by the Education Minister is that he is prepared to simply accept at face value those assurances, at a time when he is looking in the face
of almost overwhelming evidence that the same government is welshing on a promise to construct a new Tamworth Hospital and the government
is seemingly seeking to sell off anything it can get its hands on, including the State Lotteries.
Peter Draper has a lot of explaining to do regarding the Tamworth Hospital.
SOURCES :
Editorial, Hospital a dream, or castle in the air, Northern Daily Leader, 21 April 2009.
Alysia Ferguson, New hospital seems dead in the water, Northern Daily Leader, 21 April 2009
Alysia Ferguson, Cancer wouldn’t wait on red tape, Northern Daily Leader, 21 April 2009
Farrer’s safe, now hands off Hurlstone: Draper, Northern Daily Leader, 21 April 2009
Peter Draper MP, No Plans By Government To Sell Farrer Land , Media Release, 20 April 2009
NSW LOTTERIES TO BE SOLD OFF
On the eve of Easter (a non-ratings period for the media) the NSW government announced it was flogging off more of the family farm, this time
selling off NSW Lotteries. The economic wisdom of such a sale, especially in a Global Financial Crisis, has been questioned. However, flogging
off the family farm seems to be a favoured pre-occupation of the NSW Labor government.
SOURCES :
STEVE GREEN, Lotteries up for grabs, The Young Witness, 17 April 2009
Saffron Howden , Newsagents label NSW Lotteries sale a 'sell-out' , Northern Star, 16 April 2009
Editorial, Fire sale we shouldn't have had, Sunday Telegraph, 12 April 2009
Brian Robins, Gamble on sale of NSW Lotteries, Brisbane Times, 10 April 2009
Bob Walker, Slaughtering The Cash Cow, New Matilda, 20 April 2009
Phillip Adams , Oh, what a state I'm in, The Australian, 18 April 2009
Clancy Yeates, Spare us from another flawed privatisation - do it properly, Sydney morning Herald, 13 April 2009
WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS ROOM STAYS IN THIS ROOM
Footballers on annual end of season pilgrimages have a motto - What happens on tour - stays on tour.
In a recent briefing to NSW government staffers by Premier Nathan Rees' chief of staff Graeme Wedderburn, the staffers were told what was said
in the briefing, was to stay in the room. Despite this a report of the meeting was made by at least two of those present to a journalist. It seems
government staffers consider the media performance of ministers as absolutely hopeless, and the ministers, including Premier Nathan Rees, are
to undergo a course of media training.
Apart from demonstrating what a farce the government of NSW has become, the incident also demonstrates the deep divisions within the
government, the lack of loyalty and the internal squabbling - as the Rees government disintegrates before our eyes.
see : Andrew Clennell, Memo, Rees and co: you're all so bad you need media training, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 April 2009.
PETER DRAPER WONT TALK
Up until 22 April 2009 Peter Draper MP, the local member for Tamworth, is refusing
to talk about the new Tamworth Hospital fiasco. The Northern Daily Leader revealed
in a front page story on 18 April 2009 that the NSW government had left the new
hospital off its list of funding applications to the federal government, that there were
no funds allocated by the NSW government for construction of the hospital and that
the cost of construction had exploded from $130million to $333million. Since then
Peter Draper has maintained a stoney silence.
However, convener of Country Labor, Tamworth based MLC Christine Robertson did
respond to the Northern Daily Leader's request for comment. Ms Robertson says she
trusts Nathan Rees' assurances the hospital will be built as promised.
Draper was sent to Macquarie Street in 2007 with one major task - to deliver on the
promise to construct a new Tamworth Hospital. His failure to report to the electorate
on the progress he has made with his alloted task, is a staggering indictment on his
performance. Perhaps his admission earlier in 2009 that his voice didn't count in Macquarie Street provides the explanation for his failure.
SOURCES :
New Hospital crisis: Draper stays quiet, Northern Daily Leader, 22 April 2009
New Hospital crisis: Robertson says Rees will deliver, Northern Daily Leader, 22 April 2009
Alysia Ferguson, Negative message, Northern Daily Leader, 22 April 2009
REES RAMPING UP THE MEDIA SPIN
It seems that as his government disintegrates around him, Nathan Rees has decided to resort to media spin, to make his government "look" good.
It has been reported that Tim Gleason is to join Nathan Rees' staff.
Gleason is famous for being a former husband of Iemma's Health Minister, Reba Meagher. In Reesesque style, Gleason eloped with Reba
Meagher to Las Vegas, United States, where they married in 2005.
He was press secretary to Bob Carr for 5 years, but retired when Carr did in 2005, to join CPR Communications. He was part of a team led by
Graeme Wedderburn (who recently became Rees' Chief of Staff) credited with giving Bob Carr a stranglehold over the media. In February 2007
he joined the staff of then federal opposition leader Kevin Rudd. After Rudd became PM, Gleason stayed on as a media adviser to the PM, but
quit at the end of January 2009. He denied the relentless workload in Rudd's office was a factor in him leaving and told the Sunday Telegraph
that he simply wanted to return to his Coogee beachside pad, and was " looking forward to moving to Sydney, having a short break, going on
holiday and being able to watch South Sydney play again. Then I'll look to do something different later on."
During his time with Rudd, Gleason was forced by PM Rudd to make a written apology to then federal opposition leader Brendan Nelson, after
Gleason turned his back to Nelson during Nelson's apology speech.
The tactics that Gleason might seek to employ in his role as spinmeister for Rees can be gleaned from these self promotional comments made
on 12 May 2007 on the Hawker Britton website:-
Rudd has surrounded himself with a team of aggressive political professionals, hungry for power like him, but unused to the tough
grind of opposition and how to play politics on a national scale. Many of Rudd's key advisers come from the NSW Labor government,
with experience under former premier Bob Carr.
Close observers say staffers such as Walt Secord, Tim Gleason, Michael Salmon, Alex Cramb and Troy Bramston have typically used
the tactics of "extreme media control" from their NSW experience.
The same goes for Bruce Hawker, an old Carr staffer who runs successful consultancy firm Hawker-Britten and now also works for
Rudd..
In a well-resourced state government, the political agenda is highly localised, focusing on basic services such as hospitals, trains and
roads. In this smaller world, political professionals could treat the media like feeding chooks and get away with minimal scrutiny.
But suddenly they -- and Rudd -- have discovered that running media spin on a 24-hour news cycle, neatly packaged for slick
presentation by a political leader in office, will not necessarily work on the tougher, bigger national scene.
It will be interesting to see whether Gleason can treat the current crop of journalists covering NSW politics as "chooks".
Gleason's first task may be to convince the "chooks" that there is some value to Premier Nath Rees's absence from the state for 8 days from 19
April 2009 to 27 April 2009 for a jaunt to United Arab Emirates and Gallipoli.
His second task may be to convince the "chooks" that Rees will still be Premier on 1 January 2010. There are some people who hold the view so
firmly that Rees will be banished by then, they will not even contemplate the possibility Rees will still be the leader of the parliamentary Labor
Party on New Years Day 2010.
SOURCES :
Andrew Clennell, The party's over, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 January 2006
Ben Cubby and Jordan Baker, In union is strength, Spike, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 August 2005
Kevin Rudd's staff exodus, News.com.au , 10 January 2009.
Michelle Grattan and Misha Schubert, Rudd staff rebuked for shunning Nelson, The Age, 14 February 2008.
Hawker Britton, The numbers that changed the game - A new set of figures shook up both sides of national politics , 12 May 2007
ABC News, Rees jets off to United Arab Emirates, Gallipoli, 19 April 2009.
Andrew Clennell and Brian Robins , Heat on Rees over jobs, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April 2008.
The Northern Daily Leader newspaper sought comment from John Della Bosca, MLC - the Health Minister, Peter Draper MP (Tamworth) and
Christine Robertson MLC (Tamworth - Convenor of Country Labor) regarding it's front page story of 18 April 2009.
John Della Bosca said, inter alia, "the Premier has given his undertaking that the project will be commenced this term” and Christine Robertson
had not replied by the time the newspaper went to print on 21 April 2009.
REMARKABLY - the newspaper reports that Peter Draper MP had "no comment". The "no comment" response was remarkable, not just because
it was a story concerning a vital election promise made to the Tamworth electorate, but also because we have been warning Mr Draper for nearly
2 years now that the promise had all the hallmarks of a "Spit Bridge promise" and cajoling him to work 24 hours a day to ensure it came to
fruition, but also because at the same time as he could not apparently find time to comment, he was busily commenting on NSW Labor's land
grab at Hurlstone Agricultural High School. On 20 April 2009 Draper issued a media release in which he describes those concerned about the
possibility of a similar land grab at Tamworth's Farrer High School as "political opportunists", saying he was assured by the NSW Labor
government that there were no plans for a similar land grab in Tamworth. What is so remarkable about Draper's comfort in the assurances given
to him by the Education Minister is that he is prepared to simply accept at face value those assurances, at a time when he is looking in the face
of almost overwhelming evidence that the same government is welshing on a promise to construct a new Tamworth Hospital and the government
is seemingly seeking to sell off anything it can get its hands on, including the State Lotteries.
Peter Draper has a lot of explaining to do regarding the Tamworth Hospital.
- Did he constantly keep on the back of the Labor government to ensure the hospital was included in the state's application for federal
funding? - When did he first become aware the NSW government had left Tamworth Hospital off its federal funding application made in January 2009?
- Why he did not report this failure to the electorate as soon as he became aware of it?
- Does he sincerely believe the assurance given by Premier Nathan Rees that the hospital will be built with construction to begin by the end
of 2010? - What does he propose to do to ensure the 2007 election promise is fulfilled in the time left before the end of 2010?
- Will he keep the electorate informed of progress in the Hospital's construction on a regular basis, including reporting that there has been
no progress, where none has occurred. - Will he explain to the electorate where the funding is coming from to fulfill the 2007 election promise?
SOURCES :
Editorial, Hospital a dream, or castle in the air, Northern Daily Leader, 21 April 2009.
Alysia Ferguson, New hospital seems dead in the water, Northern Daily Leader, 21 April 2009
Alysia Ferguson, Cancer wouldn’t wait on red tape, Northern Daily Leader, 21 April 2009
Farrer’s safe, now hands off Hurlstone: Draper, Northern Daily Leader, 21 April 2009
Peter Draper MP, No Plans By Government To Sell Farrer Land , Media Release, 20 April 2009
NSW LOTTERIES TO BE SOLD OFF
On the eve of Easter (a non-ratings period for the media) the NSW government announced it was flogging off more of the family farm, this time
selling off NSW Lotteries. The economic wisdom of such a sale, especially in a Global Financial Crisis, has been questioned. However, flogging
off the family farm seems to be a favoured pre-occupation of the NSW Labor government.
SOURCES :
STEVE GREEN, Lotteries up for grabs, The Young Witness, 17 April 2009
Saffron Howden , Newsagents label NSW Lotteries sale a 'sell-out' , Northern Star, 16 April 2009
Editorial, Fire sale we shouldn't have had, Sunday Telegraph, 12 April 2009
Brian Robins, Gamble on sale of NSW Lotteries, Brisbane Times, 10 April 2009
Bob Walker, Slaughtering The Cash Cow, New Matilda, 20 April 2009
Phillip Adams , Oh, what a state I'm in, The Australian, 18 April 2009
Clancy Yeates, Spare us from another flawed privatisation - do it properly, Sydney morning Herald, 13 April 2009
WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS ROOM STAYS IN THIS ROOM
Footballers on annual end of season pilgrimages have a motto - What happens on tour - stays on tour.
In a recent briefing to NSW government staffers by Premier Nathan Rees' chief of staff Graeme Wedderburn, the staffers were told what was said
in the briefing, was to stay in the room. Despite this a report of the meeting was made by at least two of those present to a journalist. It seems
government staffers consider the media performance of ministers as absolutely hopeless, and the ministers, including Premier Nathan Rees, are
to undergo a course of media training.
Apart from demonstrating what a farce the government of NSW has become, the incident also demonstrates the deep divisions within the
government, the lack of loyalty and the internal squabbling - as the Rees government disintegrates before our eyes.
see : Andrew Clennell, Memo, Rees and co: you're all so bad you need media training, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 April 2009.
PETER DRAPER WONT TALK
Up until 22 April 2009 Peter Draper MP, the local member for Tamworth, is refusing
to talk about the new Tamworth Hospital fiasco. The Northern Daily Leader revealed
in a front page story on 18 April 2009 that the NSW government had left the new
hospital off its list of funding applications to the federal government, that there were
no funds allocated by the NSW government for construction of the hospital and that
the cost of construction had exploded from $130million to $333million. Since then
Peter Draper has maintained a stoney silence.
However, convener of Country Labor, Tamworth based MLC Christine Robertson did
respond to the Northern Daily Leader's request for comment. Ms Robertson says she
trusts Nathan Rees' assurances the hospital will be built as promised.
Draper was sent to Macquarie Street in 2007 with one major task - to deliver on the
promise to construct a new Tamworth Hospital. His failure to report to the electorate
on the progress he has made with his alloted task, is a staggering indictment on his
performance. Perhaps his admission earlier in 2009 that his voice didn't count in Macquarie Street provides the explanation for his failure.
SOURCES :
New Hospital crisis: Draper stays quiet, Northern Daily Leader, 22 April 2009
New Hospital crisis: Robertson says Rees will deliver, Northern Daily Leader, 22 April 2009
Alysia Ferguson, Negative message, Northern Daily Leader, 22 April 2009
REES RAMPING UP THE MEDIA SPIN
It seems that as his government disintegrates around him, Nathan Rees has decided to resort to media spin, to make his government "look" good.
It has been reported that Tim Gleason is to join Nathan Rees' staff.
Gleason is famous for being a former husband of Iemma's Health Minister, Reba Meagher. In Reesesque style, Gleason eloped with Reba
Meagher to Las Vegas, United States, where they married in 2005.
He was press secretary to Bob Carr for 5 years, but retired when Carr did in 2005, to join CPR Communications. He was part of a team led by
Graeme Wedderburn (who recently became Rees' Chief of Staff) credited with giving Bob Carr a stranglehold over the media. In February 2007
he joined the staff of then federal opposition leader Kevin Rudd. After Rudd became PM, Gleason stayed on as a media adviser to the PM, but
quit at the end of January 2009. He denied the relentless workload in Rudd's office was a factor in him leaving and told the Sunday Telegraph
that he simply wanted to return to his Coogee beachside pad, and was " looking forward to moving to Sydney, having a short break, going on
holiday and being able to watch South Sydney play again. Then I'll look to do something different later on."
During his time with Rudd, Gleason was forced by PM Rudd to make a written apology to then federal opposition leader Brendan Nelson, after
Gleason turned his back to Nelson during Nelson's apology speech.
The tactics that Gleason might seek to employ in his role as spinmeister for Rees can be gleaned from these self promotional comments made
on 12 May 2007 on the Hawker Britton website:-
Rudd has surrounded himself with a team of aggressive political professionals, hungry for power like him, but unused to the tough
grind of opposition and how to play politics on a national scale. Many of Rudd's key advisers come from the NSW Labor government,
with experience under former premier Bob Carr.
Close observers say staffers such as Walt Secord, Tim Gleason, Michael Salmon, Alex Cramb and Troy Bramston have typically used
the tactics of "extreme media control" from their NSW experience.
The same goes for Bruce Hawker, an old Carr staffer who runs successful consultancy firm Hawker-Britten and now also works for
Rudd..
In a well-resourced state government, the political agenda is highly localised, focusing on basic services such as hospitals, trains and
roads. In this smaller world, political professionals could treat the media like feeding chooks and get away with minimal scrutiny.
But suddenly they -- and Rudd -- have discovered that running media spin on a 24-hour news cycle, neatly packaged for slick
presentation by a political leader in office, will not necessarily work on the tougher, bigger national scene.
It will be interesting to see whether Gleason can treat the current crop of journalists covering NSW politics as "chooks".
Gleason's first task may be to convince the "chooks" that there is some value to Premier Nath Rees's absence from the state for 8 days from 19
April 2009 to 27 April 2009 for a jaunt to United Arab Emirates and Gallipoli.
His second task may be to convince the "chooks" that Rees will still be Premier on 1 January 2010. There are some people who hold the view so
firmly that Rees will be banished by then, they will not even contemplate the possibility Rees will still be the leader of the parliamentary Labor
Party on New Years Day 2010.
SOURCES :
Andrew Clennell, The party's over, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 January 2006
Ben Cubby and Jordan Baker, In union is strength, Spike, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 August 2005
Kevin Rudd's staff exodus, News.com.au , 10 January 2009.
Michelle Grattan and Misha Schubert, Rudd staff rebuked for shunning Nelson, The Age, 14 February 2008.
Hawker Britton, The numbers that changed the game - A new set of figures shook up both sides of national politics , 12 May 2007
ABC News, Rees jets off to United Arab Emirates, Gallipoli, 19 April 2009.
Andrew Clennell and Brian Robins , Heat on Rees over jobs, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April 2008.
