Kuttsywood's Couchcushion

If you can see this reblog...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:11:12 +1000

I’m worried there is a problem with my tumblr and nobody can see my posts…

Road to George St: The Grand Finale.

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 15:33:00 +1000

The 2012 Vision part 1: Daylight Saving post is now up at Kuttsywood’s Couch.
Also, the Ask box is now open.

Welcome to the final edition of Road to George St, for the 2012 QLD election. Last night saw the biggest landslide at a QLD election, since the removal of the gerrymander twenty years ago. The results at the end of the count last night were:

ALP: 6 seats.
KAP: 2 seats.
LNP: 78 seats.
Others: 2 seats.
(However: South Brisbane will to go to a by-election in the near future, due to this morning’s resignation of Anna Bligh)

Tweet of the night: Both leaders chose to do their speeches away from the tallyroom last night. This image, by Sue Lappeman, who is the political reporter for the Gold Coast Bulletin, sums up the view of the tallyroom.

The speech lectern in tally room no one has used. twitter.com/sueGCB/status/…
— Sue Lappeman (@sueGCB) March 24, 2012

Election Night Coverage review:

10: Normal programming interspersed with election updates, could do better. However local weekend news praised, needs more of it. 3/10.
ABC: Comprehensive coverage on ABC1 in QLD, and for the first time, live nationwide on ABCNews24. 6/10
Channel 31: First time election coverage has been done by a community TV station, although with a couple of issues with computers, and some technical difficulties. 5/10
Nine: Good panel, good graphics and lots of good banter (not to mention that they were in the tally room). Viewer interaction through social media was encouraged. 5pm start also applauded. 8/10
Seven: All the cards were pointing for them to have a great night, with a stellar panel, but two things held them back in this commentators opinion. 1. Reluctance to match Nine’s 5pm start, and 2. having a longwinded opener, after the news that likely turned more people off than on, especially in a era where there is more choice. They say they are QLD’s #1 news: they certainly didn’t look like it (nor use social media well), as well not using the network’s big advantage: regional QLD’s various 7 Local News bureaus. 2/10.

The DST Update March 25-April 1 2012

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:57:09 +1000

The 2012 Vision part 1: Daylight Saving post is now up at Kuttsywood’s Couch.
Also, the Ask box is now open.
The official hashtag of the DST update, is #2012visionDST

Welcome to the last DST update for 2011-12. It has been a long six months, and I hope that this service has been of some assistance to QLD viewers. Here is a general reminder for this service’s resumption: the fifth annual DST guide will be out on the (newly moved) Queens Birthday long weekend (29 September-1 October), with the DST update returning on October 6 2012, unless Campbell Newman or Anna Bligh gets the itch to introduce DST in QLD.

AFL: Round 1 continues: Thursday: Richmond V Carlton: live on 7Mate.
Friday: Hawthorn V Collingwood: live on 7Mate.
Saturday: Melbourne V Brisbane Lions & Gold Coast Suns V Adelaide live on 7Mate.

NRL Round 4: Sunday: Bulldogs V Knights: delayed as usual.

NRL Round 5: Friday: Broncos V St George Illawarra live into QLD.
Storm V Knights: delayed, however will be live into NSW.

V8 Supercars Tasmania Challenge: will be live into QLD.

Reminder: All interstate live programming delays into QLD will cease after 2am April 1, and will resume on October 7, in which this update service will resume it’s duty.

Timings are sourced from sporting schedules and both print and online TV guides. Sport and national news are the most common delays during DST, followed by event and reality TV.

Road to George St: Week 8.

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 11:58:30 +1000

The 2012 Vision part 1: Daylight Saving post is now up at Kuttsywood’s Couch.
Also, the Ask box is now open.

Welcome to the second last edition for the 2012 election, of Road to George St. This week sees Campbell Newman and Anna Bligh wind up their campaigns, for the most important day of the 2012 election cycle.

Tweet of The Week: This week’s Tweet of the week goes to Sylvia Jefferys who moved to Sydney earlier this year, to work on the Today Show. With the flood inquiry report coming out last week along with the upcoming class actions against SEQwater, this is what she predicted will happen after the poll…

Happy and relieved for the 1000s of flood victims who are now likely to get the pay out they deserve…
— Sylvia Jeffreys (@SylviaJeffreys) March 16, 2012

Seems somewhat counterproductive (any annoying) though that tax payers will foot the enormous bill.
— Sylvia Jeffreys (@SylviaJeffreys) March 16, 2012

At this point, I wonder if any part of Bligh or Newman hopes they DON’T win the election. Next premier has an awful mess to clean up.
— Sylvia Jeffreys (@SylviaJeffreys) March 16, 2012

The final countdown…

For many people, the 2012 election has been one hell of a rollercoaster ride. Just before we enter the station, there could be a corkscrew in the way. A last minute policy? A major announcement? Simply, they have to do many things, before the political ad blackout hits on Wednesday night. Expect many many ads, in the next three days, as the final countdown has well and truly begun, after three years of waiting, and one year of Newman’s shadow campaign, it all comes down to the ballot box on Saturday.

Next Week: The review of election coverage on the night.

The DST Update March 18-24 2012

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 10:11:43 +1000

The 2012 Vision part 1: Daylight Saving post is now up at Kuttsywood’s Couch.
Also, the Ask box is now open.
The official hashtag of the DST update, is #2012visionDST

Welcome to the DST Update, our second to last for 2011/12, our 25th update and we have a pearler this week… to be sure to be sure.

Melbourne F1 Grand Prix: live, no Project tomorrow night.

NRL Round 3: Panthers V Rabbitohs: It will be delayed as usual.

NRL Round 4: FNF: Parramatta V Penrith: delayed 1hr.
Broncos V Rabbitohs (played in Perth): delayed 1hr.

AFL Round 1: Giants V Swans: live on 7Mate into QLD.

Timings are sourced from sporting schedules and both print and online TV guides. Sport and national news are the most common delays during DST, followed by event and reality TV.

Road to George St: Week 7.

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 12:17:35 +1000

The 2012 Vision part 1: Daylight Saving post is now up at Kuttsywood’s Couch.
Also, the Ask box is now open.

Welcome to this week’s Road to George St, coming in just after watching the Bligh campaign launch on ABCNews24. We will have the review of the Newman launch today: along with a “tale of the tape” comparing Wayne Goss and Campbell Newman.

Tweet of the week: This week’s tweet of the week is from the Greens candidate for Noosa, Jim McDonald, with his opinion on the Sunshine Coast Daily’s local state election coverage, compared to another big Sunshine Coast political story.

Sunshine Coast Daily devotes 3pp to Slipper staffer’s temper & @the_daily is a shocker in local coverage of State election #qldvotes #media
— Jim McDonald (@Jim4GreensNoosa) March 10, 2012

Review of Newman speech: Campbell Newman last Sunday, outlined his vision for QLD. It was a great speech, but did not layout the plans in case Newman doesn’t win Ashgrove. Another highlight was the speech by Tony Abbott, which almost overshadowed the speech by Newman. Overall, I rate the Newman speech 7/10.

Tale of The Tape: Wayne Goss V Campbell Newman.

Wayne Goss: elected as opposition leader in 1988, launched shadow campaign in late 1988, won first election in December 1989 in a landslide. Stayed on for two terms, and lost office after Mundingburra by-election in 1996, resulted in a hung parliament.

VS.

Campbell Newman: elected as Brisbane Lord Mayor in 2004 on TransApex tunnel platform, delivered Clem Jones Tunnel and begun work on Northern Link. Re-elected in 2008, Begun Brisbane City Hall restoration, along with investing in updating Brisbane bus fleet. Resigned as Lord Mayor in March 2011, to run for Ashgrove, for the LNP in 2012 election.

Next week: The final countdown to election day.

The DST Update: March 11-17 2012

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 10:35:13 +1000

The 2012 Vision part 1: Daylight Saving post is now up at Kuttsywood’s Couch.
Also, the Ask box is now open.
The official hashtag of the DST update, is #2012visionDST

Welcome to this week’s edition of the DST Update: as the NRL season starts to hit it’s stride, and the beginning of the qualifiers for the London Olympics, for Australian swimming. Also, this vital community service will cease in two weeks fitting, as it will be election day.

NRL Round 2: Sunday: Panthers V Roosters: delayed, as usual (even in DST off season)

Intrust Super Cup (QRL) Round 1: Wynnum-Manly V Tweed Heads at Kougari Oval: The return of local league to commercial television (after a long absence) this Sunday, will be live on Nine.

NRL Round 3: FNF: Broncos V Knights: will be delayed.
St George Illawarra V Wests Tigers: will be delayed even more.

Australian Swimming Titles/London Olympics qualifiers: delayed on both 10 and One.

Timings are sourced from sporting schedules and both print and online TV guides. Sport and national news are the most common delays during DST, followed by event and reality TV.

Road to George St: Week 6.

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 14:39:00 +1000

The 2012 Vision part 1: Daylight Saving post is now up at Kuttsywood’s Couch.
Also, the Ask box is now open.

Welcome to another edition of Road to George St, this week being published after watching the Newman campaign launch on ABCNews24: and we will have a review of the speech in next week’s Road to George St. Bligh, has also been doing stunts, and the Courier Mail has pulled their staff off the campaign buses, to do a better election coverage, including their own bus touring QLD.

Tweet of the Week:
This week’s Tweet of the Week, comes as a two-parter from the editor of the Courier-Mail, announcing their intent to assign their journos off the Bligh/Newman buses, along with launching their Sunshine Express initiative.

The Courier-Mail will no longer travel on the leaders’ buses during the state election campaign. Time for a better debate. Details tomorrow.
— Michael Crutcher (@MJCrutcher) February 28, 2012

Why The Courier-Mail is off the election buses: tinyurl.com/88trdxd
— Michael Crutcher (@MJCrutcher) February 28, 2012

Going out on your own terms: some of the retiring members at the 2012 QLD election.

Most politicians careers live and die by elections. Others have had very distinguished service to their communities, as the local member (particularly with electoral success or gaining ministry positions), and decide that the time is right to step down at a upcoming state election, instead of causing a multitude of by-elections. I will feature three of these retiring politicians, and a mention of the rest at the end.

The hard act to follow: John Mickel, Member for Logan (Labor)
When I mention the word hard act to follow, I am referring to someone who has been in a seat where the previous member had been very successful: just ask Grace Grace, who followed Peter Beattie (after he retired as premier in 2007) as the member of Brisbane Central. John Mickel, however had a even harder act to follow when he was elected as the member for Logan in 1998: Wayne Goss, (who led Labor back into power in 1989). Mickel has since gone around the ministries of Beattie and Bligh, until he was appointed Speaker in 2009. Mickel announced his retirement the speakers position, and parliament in the middle of 2011.

A reminder of the past: Dorothy Pratt: Member for Nanango (Independent)
Dorothy Pratt, in political terms in QLD is a survivor. First elected in 1998 for Barambah (historically known as Joh Bjelke Peterson’s electorate), as part of the wave of One Nation members that were elected. However, Dorothy left One Nation in 1999, and the seat of Barambah was redistributed, to become the second incarnation of Nanango (the first incarnation was also Joh’s seat) in 2001. Since then, Pratt has become a powerhouse, for the electorate including defeating Joh Bjelke Peterson’s son, John (first running for the National Party in 2006, then for the LNP in 2009) twice. Retirement is well earned for Dorothy Pratt.

20 years in the game: Mike Horan: Member for Toowoomba South (LNP)
Mike Horan earned his spot through a 1991 by-election caused by a law change that still affects QLD today (meaning Campbell Newman had to resign as Lord Mayor of Brisbane, to contest Ashgrove), as the previous member for Toowoomba South, Clive Berghofer was also the mayor of Toowoomba, and had to choose between the two jobs. Berghofer chose the mayoralty, and Horan contested the resulting by-election and won. Part of the new blood in the National Party, he rose through the ranks, until Borbidge retired in 2001, and Horan became the National Party’s leader. Eventually, he faded into the background, and announced his retirement for family reasons, in late March 2011.

The Retirement list:

LABOR:
Julie Attwood: Mount Ommaney
Desley Boyle: Cairns
Paul Lucas: Lytton
Caroline Male: Pine Rivers
John Mickel: Logan
Lindy Nelson-Carr: Mundingburra
Neil Roberts: Nudgee
Steven Robertson: Stretton
Robert Schwarten: Rockhampton
Julie Spence: Sunnybank

LNP:
Mike Horan: Toowoomba South

INDEPENDENT
Dorothy Pratt: Nanango

May these people enjoy retirement, as their service to their communities is unparalleled.

Next week: Tale of the Tape: Goss V Newman, and analysis of Newman’s launch.

The DST Update March 4-10 2012

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 08:43:00 +1000

The 2012 Vision part 1: Daylight Saving post is now up at Kuttsywood’s Couch.
Also, the Ask box is now open.
The official hashtag of the DST update, is #2012visionDST

Welcome to another edition of the DST update, now with the federal leadership sorted, we now look forward to the formal end of the Australian cricket season, as well as the major speculation of the QLD election. It is now four weeks until this community service terminates for 2011/12.

ODI Finals: live, with Nine News at innings break, or 6pm (as coverage will be on GEM during news)

NRL Round 1: Sunday (Warriors V Manly) will be live from Eden Park (New Zealand, same place that held the Rugby Union World Cup final last year), at 11am QLD time.

NRL Round 2: FNF (in order of QLD airing)
Broncos V Cowboys: delayed by one hour.
Manly V Wests Tigers: delayed until after the Broncos/Cowboys game.

Timings are sourced from sporting schedules and both print and online TV guides. Sport and national news are the most common delays during DST, followed by event and reality TV.

Road to George St: Week 5.

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 15:29:11 +1000

The 2012 Vision part 1: Daylight Saving post is now up at Kuttsywood’s Couch.
Also, the Ask box is now open.

Welcome to another edition of Road to George St. This week has been the start of the real campaign after months of phony campaigning, and it all turned out well, until Rudd resigned as Foreign Minister. Since Wednesday, the QLD campaign has taken a back seat, to the upcoming leadership challenge in Canberra, between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd. The major change this election in the journalism game, isn’t just Twitter. It’s the swarm of iPads, that are being used by the packs following Newman and Bligh to give much more detailed coverage to people, including what to expect in the 6pm TV news.

Tweet of The Week:

This week’s tweet of the week, is awarded jointly to all of the journos who were on the Bligh bus, who got the instant reaction to the Rudd resignation from Anna Bligh on Wednesday afternoon, and we have selected one tweet, with video, as a example of this outstanding piece of journalism.

twitvid.com/HMVRD - Anna Bligh’s impromptu presser on Rudd quitting. #qldvotes
— Natalie (@girlclumsy) February 22, 2012

Editorial 5: The Independent risk…

There was going to be a post this week about retiring MP’s, which will now appear next week.

But this editorial is about the risk Kevin Rudd plays if he were to win the leadership challenge. Back when Gillard rolled Rudd in 2010, the Labor Party had a majority. Now, it is reliant on independent members, to hold on to power. I honestly think that the fun for Labor won’t end, when the leadership speculation does. What if Rudd were to become the new Labor leader? Would the independents, who signed on with Labor, and Gillard, decide to change their minds and go to Tony Abbott, if they were dealing with a new Labor leader. Or worse: Rudd loses, and decides to vacate Griffith, and plunges the federal government into chaos, with Labor’s slim majority riding on whether they retain Griffith or not.

The DST Update: February 26-March 3 2012.

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 09:51:00 +1000

The 2012 Vision part 1: Daylight Saving post is now up at Kuttsywood’s Couch.
Also, the Ask box is now open.
The official hashtag of the DST update, is #2012visionDST

Welcome to another edition of the DST update: this week taking a look at the first round of NRL, the final round of ODI’s, and the second round of Rudd V Gillard. Also, due to the Rudd-Gillard issue, tomorrow’s Road to George St, will not run the planned editorial on retiring MP’s (held off until next week), instead featuring one on how the independents in federal parliament may cause a fresh federal poll due to the duel in Labor ranks. Also, we begin a new countdown: with six weeks until this vital community service ends for 2011/12.

ODI’s: Australia V India (Sydney, Sunday): Live into QLD, with Nine News at 6pm.
Sri Lanka V India (Hobart, Tuesday): Live on GEM.
Australia V Sri Lanka (Melbourne, Friday): Likely to have 1st half of game live on Nine, with second half of game live on GEM.

NRL Round 1: Brisbane V Parramatta (FNF Parramatta Stadium) Live into QLD.

Rudd/Gillard Leadership Challenge: Any breakfast program worth their salt, will be live into QLD on Monday. Further information is available at TV Tonight.

Breakfast: After the leadership is settled, Breakfast will be on a (h)our d(e)lay.

The Oscars: Will air after leadership is settled.

Timings are sourced from sporting schedules and both print and online TV guides. Sport and national news are the most common delays during DST, followed by event and reality TV.

The ask box is now open!

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 11:04:34 +1000

The ask box is now open!:

During the election campaign, this site is asking visitors to submit their questions about the QLD election campaign (as a trial, looking towards the ask box staying if it is successful during the campaign), and I’ll endeavour to answer it. Note: If a question is good enough, it may feature on “Road To George St” in the coming weeks.

Road to George St: Week 4.

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:43:39 +1000

Welcome to this week’s edition of Road to George St, or as this week’s should be known as “Road to Government House” due to the fact, the official election campaign starts today with Anna Bligh, going to Government House to dissolve Queensland’s unicameral legislature for a March 24 election. The ask box is now open.

Tweet of the Week.

This week’s tweet of the week literally takes the cake.

Behold the #qldvotes cake! twitter.com/MelindaHowells…
— Melinda Howells (@MelindaHowells) February 16, 2012

Editorial 4: The Starters Gun: looking at past QLD election campaign starts.

What follows, is a tale of three different elections in QLD, and how critical the lead-in was, in to shaping the course of that election. The three I have chosen, are the 1983, 1989 and 1995 state polls.

1. 1983: Lib/Nat coalition ripped apart…
A lot of older Queenslanders, looking at the LNP today, still remember when relations were very frosty between the Liberals and Nationals in QLD. It began, with some QLD Liberal Party members (collectively known as the “ginger group”) not just defying Joh, but their own leader Llew Edwards (later to get a knighthood, and also become head of the Expo 88 Authority), and voting with the ALP on a motion that would have kept a eye on government spending. The leader of the “ginger group” was Terry White, who had a cabinet ministry (which he lost quickly afterwards), and soon after, a leadership spill occurred with Llew resigning, and Terry White took his place. One of the most notable acts White did when he became the QLD Liberal leader, was tearing up the coalition agreement with the National Party. But Joh was craftier, when he adjourned QLD parliament until the 1983 election.
Result: Nationals win the election on October 22 1983, one short of a majority, while the Liberal Party was reduced to eight members, then six after two Liberal MLAs jumped ship to the National Party. As for Terry White, after he lost his seat of Redcliffe in 1989, he went back to the business he operated, a pharmacy on the Redcliffe Peninsula and eventually expanded his business nationwide, as Terry White Chemists. The Liberal and National Parties eventually patched up their differences (with new blood at the helm) leading into the 1992 election.

2. 1989: What led to Goss becoming the Boss.
What campaigning Campbell Newman has been doing, in the last year or so isn’t new. Wayne Goss pioneered it from inside parliament, when he began a “shadow campaign” in late 1988, to win over voters, in a election that many pundits thought at the time was un-winnable for Labor. That opinion changed on May 13 1989, when the National Party vote collapsed in the Merthyr by-election. A couple of months later, the Fitzgerald Inquiry report came out, and eventually saw a leadership change for the National Party, not long before the state election.
Result: Landslide win for Wayne Goss on the 2nd of December 1989, after the National Party vote collapsed in SEQ, an trend that wasn’t picked up after the Merthyr by-election result.

3. 1995: How a tollway proposal cost Goss.
Sometimes, the littlest issue could have the biggest impact. Case in point, the Eastern Corridor tollway. A year out from the 1995 election Wayne Goss announced the project, which would have delivered a toll road from Brisbane, to Nerang, paralleling the then four lane Pacific Hwy. Enviromentalists, were concerned particularly about the section in and around Daisy Hill, which is a major koala habitat, and gave the project it’s name as the “Koala Tollway”. The other factor was Labor was on the nose federally, and any impact from the QLD poll, would have a greater impact on the upcoming federal election.

Result: The tollway issue saw Goss’s majority reduced to just one seat on July 15 1995. However, the result in one seat outside SEQ that Labor won, (Mundingburra in Townsville) was voided, and plunged QLD into a political mess, for nearly six months. A by-election was called for Feburary 3 1996 (one month out from the 1996 federal election), and Labor lost, leading to a hung parliament. The only independent member in the house at that time, member for Gladstone, Liz Cunningham chose to side with the National/Liberal coalition, and Rob Borbidge became premier. The first big decision Borbidge made, was to scrap the Eastern Tollway, in favor of a full upgrade of the Pacific Hwy between Loganholme and Nerang. As for the section of Pacific Hwy between the Gateway and Logan Motorways, (which the controversial Daisy Hill section of the Eastern Tollway would have bypassed), it has had sporadic upgrades since 1997 and is now a bottleneck, much like the old Pacific Hwy was between Loganholme and Nerang prior to it’s upgrade.

Next week: Stepping back: The retirement list of 2012, and a plug for #2012visionDST

The DST Update: February 19-25 2012.

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 10:03:00 +1000

The official hashtag of the DST update, is #2012visionDST

Welcome to the DST update for another week, this week sees more cricket, including the first international one-dayer of the summer held in Brisbane tomorrow night. It is now only five days until the first post of the 2012 Vision (Daylight Saving) is up on Kuttsywood’s Couch. Also, the ask box will be open tomorrow, from when Road to George St is posted until the end of the election campaign.

ODI’s: Australia V India (Gabba): live into QLD, with Nine News during innings break.
India V Sri Lanka (Gabba) live on GEM.
Australia V Sri Lanka (Hobart) live into QLD, with Nine News during innings break.

Toasted TV: Last week on Ten will be delayed, however since it’s a pretaped show, delays don’t matter.

Meet The Press/Bolt Report: delayed into QLD.

Timings are sourced from sporting schedules and both print and online TV guides. Sport and national news are the most common delays during DST, followed by event and reality TV.

Road to George St: Week 3.

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:41:31 +1000

Welcome to week three of Road to George St. This week has been dominated by more shots being fired prior to the real campaign starting next Sunday, along with the teasings of Katter policy. Also, from next Sunday, until the QLD state election, the Kuttsywood’s Couchcushion ask box, will be open for business as a trial run during the actual election campaign, with a eye towards keeping it permanently if it is successful. I am looking forward to questions on election coverage, along with the campaign itself.

This week’s Tweet of the Week, is talking about Friday’s ruling out, of the Australian Sex Party, from the 2012 QLD election. Warning: a double entendre is in play with this one.

Oz Sex Party excluded from Qld election - needs more members #qldvotes via @korenhelbig
— Chris Bartlett (@bartman6) February 10, 2012

Editorial 3: The Katter Factor, what does it mean?
The latest force in politics in Australia, Katter’s Australian Party, is taking a big gamble and could actually hold the balance of power in Queensland, should we go to a hung parliament. However, you need to understand the mind of a 2nd generation politician who has seen in his career many things, and has learned many things to do with politics. While there has been some policies that have been announced (like the gun policy announced last week, with journos invited to shoot at a rifle range as part of the press conference), there has been some lighter moments: like the strategy meeting last year, where he started singing, to show candidates how to stand out. Will it work? It may work, because Katter’s got the knowhow, it may work because of the fear of Campbell Newman, coming into the state arena, and try to shift the LNP’s thinking. Time will tell, as there is still a lot of water to flow under the bridge before March 24.

Next week: The starters gun: looking at past QLD campaign starts.

The DST Update: February 12-18 2012.

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:42:00 +1000

The official hashtag of the DST update, is #2012visionDST

Welcome to another edition of the DST update, this week kicking off ratings season with a bang. But there is another major story on the horizon: that we will be letting you know about now. From next Sunday, until the QLD state election, the Kuttsywood’s Couchcushion ask box, will be open for business as a trial run during the actual election campaign, with a eye towards keeping it permanently if it is successful. I am looking forward to questions on election coverage, along with the campaign itself. In 12 days, the 2012 Vision’s first piece will debut, “Daylight Saving” a piece talking about the DST debate in QLD, and how it has evolved since the 1992 referendum.

Packed to The Rafters: delayed by a hour, especially if reading tweetstream.

50Fifty Cricket: live into QLD, with Nine News during innings break.

Sunrise Cash Cow: moo moo moo moo moo moo moo moooo moooo moo. (translated from Cash Cownese (Malanda dialect) This is a cheesy ratings grab that will wake you up in QLD due to the delay. No wonder I wake up with… Toasted TV (it features bread and butter, this cash cow’s favorite treat).)

Reminder: Excess Baggage is now on GO!

Timings are sourced from sporting schedules and both print and online TV guides. Sport and national news are the most common delays during DST, followed by event and reality TV.

Road to George St: Week 2.

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:10:46 +1000

Welcome to our second edition of Road to George St, our weekly wrap on all things #QLDvotes. This week has seen more water under the bridge, with the reopening of the flood inquiry, along with Yasi commemorations, and the ongoing flood event in outback QLD.

Now it is time for Tweet of the Week: which is a comment on Bob Katter’s concept of a policy launch at a rifle range.

Katter is apparently revolutionising the humble presser with a shooting competition for journos. Can’t see that going wrong #qldvotes
— Siobhan Heanue (@siobhanheanue) February 3, 2012

And now here is this week’s editorial:

Editorial 2: The Sunshine Coast Matters Too!
Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, is one of the fastest growing areas in this country, yet there has been little infrastructure investment to cope with this growth, hence this area is screaming out for a second major public hospital (to accompany Nambour Hospital), along with a public transport system that works. Residents are scared that there will be delays with building the second public hospital (at Kawana Waters) if there is a LNP government, as well as people wanting answers on urgently needed public transport projects like duplication of the North Coast rail line to Nambour, with the spot where the dual track currently ends at Beerburrum affectionally called “the bottleneck” by commuters (and is a major choke point in QLD’s rail transport system), while the CoastConnect bus priority spine (from Caloundra to Maroochydore) is being pushed back a year (along with the Sunshine Coast Regional Council, consisting of the former Noosa, Maroochy and Caloundra local councils, is seriously starting to think about light rail, similar to the Gold Coast Rapid Transit system due for completion in two years) and the big one: a second Sunshine Coast heavy rail line (entitled the “CAMCOS” corridor), from Beerwah to Maroochydore. Sunshine Coast commuters who pay as part of their council rates yearly a public transport levy, want to see some change from their state politicians, and it has to start with three things on the transport front (along with some clarity on the new public hospital):

The QLD Goverment supporting the Sunshine Coast Council’s light rail push: A simple one, CoastConnect planning can fold into a much wider spectrum, for a light rail network linking major centres, including feeders into the future rail line.
Duplicate the current NCL to Nambour, then to Cooroy: Simply, this means a major rethink on how we view the North Coast line, not just as a freight corridor, but also a passenger rail line connecting communities.
Rethink the Maroochydore rail line, and look north for extensions: The original concept for the CAMCOS rail line, was for a rail corridor from Beerwah to the Sunshine Coast airport. Going north of Maroochydore needs to be revisited, looking, not just towards the airport, but Noosa’s outskirts along with a investigation of moving the long distance passenger rail corridor (currently serving Nambour and Cooroy) to a extended CAMCOS corridor, including stops at Caloundra, Maroochydore (in a separate long distance facility) and Noosa, before rejoining the existing North Coast line, north of Cooroy, which would free up the existing line between Beerwah and Cooroy for suburban and freight services. Other factors that need to be looked at include how Cross River Rail in Brisbane, would affect services.

Next week: The Katter Factor. What does it mean?

The DST Update: February 5-11 2012.

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:36:52 +1000

The official hashtag of the DST update, is #2012visionDST.

Welcome to another edition of the DST update: as we march out of “appeased tennis fan season” and into the first week of 2012 ratings. This week is dominated by one thing: 50-Fifty cricket, or what they call “one day cricket” Also, it is only 48 hours until the arrival of “20 Years of Hell” (the much anticipated 20 Years of Extra piece, am not saying any more) on Kuttsywood’s Couch, and 18 days until the main event: the first of the 2012 Vision series, Daylight Saving, and how it became QLD’s talking point.

50-Fifty internationals:

Sunday-Australia V India: live on Nine, with coverage on GEM, while Nine News is on.

Wednesday- India V Sri Lanka: Note: this game in it’s entirety will air live on GEM.

Friday- Australia V Sri Lanka: Will air live on Nine, with news at 6pm.

Timings are sourced from sporting schedules and both print and online TV guides. Sport and national news are the most common delays during DST, followed by event and reality TV.

Road to George St: Week 1.

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:37:15 +1000

Welcome to Road to George St, our weekly wrap of the 2012 QLD state election campaign, aka #QLDvotes. We have heard of the news earlier this week, that Anna Bligh has called a state election for March 24: (something the LNP predicted last week) and this will be a long and bitterly fought out campaign, between a Labor Party which lost itself, and a LNP, who could return to power in the biggest electoral landslide in QLD since Wayne Goss in 1989. Then there is the unknown: Bob Katter’s Australian Party… along with the woodwork of the various minor parties.

First up is our tweet of the week:

So the much-ridiculed LNP election countdown clock was right after all! State poll on March 24 #qldvotes
— Daniel Hurst (@danielhurstbne) January 24, 2012

And now here’s our editorial: talking about the issues of the election campaign from a unique standpoint: not the political columnist, but from the common voter.

Editorial 1: Public Transport.

SEQ commuters, are fed up with the price hikes, along with the axing of daily tickets last year. Does this mean that they aren’t vocal? Of course they are. These people also want value for money: Buses in most areas are capable, although there are some that need work: e.g. why is it Sunshine Coast commuters can get 15min frequency 7 days a week between Maroochydore and Caloundra, while North Lakes commuters struggle with a bus service to Petrie station and Chermside, that isn’t coping with off peak usage growth, with a bus service running only every 30mins weekdays, hourly weekends, when it should be 15min frequency 7 days a week, as a bare minimum. Trains need a overhaul, including listening to commuters, who are asking for 15min frequency on suburban lines. The infrastructure also needs to be improved, such as committing to keeping Kippa-Ring rail-line priority (as well as Cross River Rail), along with fixing the big bottleneck on the Gold Coast: the single track between Helensvale and Coomera stations, that is preventing better services. Whoever takes power, will need to look at these priorities, and realise it goes much further than frequent user discounts.

(Next week’s editorial: The Sunshine Coast: It Matters Too)

The DST Update: January 29-February 4 2012.

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:55:00 +1000

The official hashtag of the DST update, is #2012visionDST.

Welcome to another edition of the DST update: this time leading into a election campaign this site will enjoy working on, as I will launch tomorrow, our weekly wrap which will run for the duration of the 2012 QLD election campaign, “Road to George St”. This week, all your favorites return, as we lead into a new ratings year, and it is only eight days, until the arrival of “20 Years of Hell” at Kuttsywood’s Couch.

Excess Baggage: carrying a hour delay to the scales.

My Kitchen Rules: cooking up a hour delay, with a overdone schedule (two days is sufficient for a show of it’s type, not four)

Australia V India Twenty/20: The first ever international cricket match at Stadium Australia, will be delayed by 1/2hr, due to news airing at 6pm.

Timings are sourced from sporting schedules and both print and online TV guides. Sport and national news are the most common delays during DST, followed by event and reality TV.