Bowman covers Brisbane’s coastal outer south from Thorneside through Capalaba and Sheldon to Redland Bay, and extends across the southern part of Moreton Bay to North Stradbroke Island. It has existed in name since 1949, but did not include any of its current territory until 1969, instead being based in Brisbane’s inner south-east. The 1969 redistribution caused the redrawn electorate to extend from the mouths of the Brisbane River in the north to the Logan River in the south, the latter also marking the Bowman’s southern extremity today. The area now covered by Bowman began to acquire its suburban character at around this time. With the redistribution of 1977, the southern part of the electorate came to be accommodated by the newly created electorate of Fadden. Bowman’s present dimensions were established when its northern neighbour Bonner was created to accommodate the Wynnum-Manly area at the 2004 election, setting Thorneside as the northern extremity of Bowman.
Bowman in its various permutations has been a marginal seat for most of its history, having been held by the Liberals throughout the Menzies and Holt years outside of a win by Labor as part of its near-victory at the 1961 election. It next changed hands with the big swing to Labor under Gough Whitlam’s leadership in 1969, and would henceforth go with the government of the day until 1998. Leonard Keogh held the seat for Labor from 1969 to 1975 and again after 1983, and also contested unsuccessfully in 1977 and 1980. Keogh was defeated for preselection in 1987 by Con Sciacca, who lost the seat to Liberal candidate Andrea West in 1996 before winning it back again in 1998. The Liberal member during the Fraser years was David Jull, who re-emerged as member for Fadden in 1984.
The reorganisation caused by the creation of Bonner in 2004 boosted the Liberal margin in Bowman by 4.4%, prompting Sciacca to unsuccessfully try his hand in Bonner. Bowman meanwhile was won by Liberal candidate Andrew Laming, an ophthalmologist and World Bank health consultant who added a solid 5.9% to the notional Liberal margin of 3.0%. Laming spent much of 2007 under the shadow of the “printgate” affair, in which he was investigated for allegedly claiming $67,000 to print campaign material for state election candidates, before being cleared two months before the election. After rumblings that the affair might cost him his preselection, Laming survived an 8.9% swing to Labor at the 2007 election to hold on by 64 votes. He had a much easier time of it in 2010, his 10.4% swing being strong even by the standards of Queensland at that election. There was a correction in Labor’s favour of 1.5% at the 2013 election, going slightly against the trend of a 1.3% statewide swing to the Liberal National Party.
Laming was promoted to the position of shadow parliamentary secretary for regional health services and indigenous health after the 2010 election, but was dropped after the Abbott government came to power.
There are plenty of people who’ve had quite distinguished state careers who could’ve made a leap to the federal arena and possibly made it to the top but didn’t. There probably are some in local government but I don’t really know because I don’t care much about that level (they’re useless.)
Outside of the elected arena, there’s a few diplomats who might have been wise leaders, had they ever gone into elected politics.
It’s honestly quite hard to pick individuals out, TBH.
OK, so who was the last Australian ambassador to the US who did NOT get an AO?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_Ambassadors_to_the_United_States
sustainable future @ 998
I agree.
At the time I opposed Hewson, but I never knew how extreme the “conservatives” would, in future, become.
if he had have won the Libs would probably be a different party than the Howard-Minchin fascists they are now.
sometimes even the smallest things can sink a popular computer application. Twitter may be teetering?
Twitter users would have noticed that certain pictures attached to tweets now show up in your timeline, and there is no way to turn this “auto-preview” feature off
Annoying? You betcha
https://dev.twitter.com/discussions/22490
Swamprat
[At the time I opposed Hewson, but I never knew how extreme the “conservatives” would, in future, become.]
The current crowd make Hewson look like a pillar of reason and insight. Certainly, on climate matters, he does.
[Annoying? You betcha]
I’ve been trying for days to turn that off. Guytaur insisted it was simple to do through settings, but I’ve not been able to work it out.
Glad it isn’t just me.
Of all the Federal Liberal leaders I recall, Hewson is the one I can most imagine voting for (I was too young in 1993.)
Speaking of also-rans, Beazley, IMO, is the best PM we never had.
[Having been the largest single contributor to the election of Tony Abbott’s Coalition government, Rupert Murdoch is looking for his reward, according to word around the industry. The Sun King – as he has been crowned – is said to have been talking to the freshly minted Canberra legislators about the possibility of acquiring the Ten Network.]
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/murdoch-wants-his-pound-of-flesh-20131105-2wzhs.html#ixzz2jll4Q987
[The Sun King – as he has been crowned – is said to have been talking to the freshly minted Canberra legislators about the possibility of acquiring the Ten Network.]
Well, Paul Bongiorno probably should start updating his resume…
Regarding Hewson, it wasn’t only on climate that he was reasonable. The GST he proposed was needed. Plus he was also intending to reform a lot of corporate welfare as well as reducing tax avoidance. No doubt the wealthy would have benefitted from his planned tax cuts, but many rorts would have ben stopped, that continue to this day.
He was a smart and reasonable guy, just a lousy salesman of ideas.
Carey Moore
[The Sun King – as he has been crowned]
Before that the poms called him a more appropriate name. “The Dirty Digger”. All those page three tits out pics in Rupes paper an all that.
Just FYI, I was quoting Victoria, who was quoting a news article.
[Before that the poms called him a more appropriate name. “The Dirty Digger”. All those page three tits out pics in Rupes paper an all that.]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_DK8-29P_4
[390
AussieAchmed
Gutless Abbott Govt.
What are they hiding? Their incompetence?
Their real intentions.
victoria:
Hope the break away is going well.
We knew about Rupe’s ‘pound of flesh’ before the election – it was obvious to anyone who cared to look. But like other ‘revelations’ which have suddenly occurred to the press gallery since the election, there was nothing about this in OM in the years before the federal election, yet here it is presented as a bona fide news item now.
Honestly!
Swamprat IPhone auto-correct and just can’t be bothered over-riding the US spelling all the time. In any case I will take-a-fence.
[349
badseed
‘Blu-Ray’ will tend to look ‘better’ than broadcast HDTV as it’s usually encoded at both a higher-res (1080p vs 1080i or 720p) and at a higher-bitrate (less artifacts in the image due to compression).
In my experience it’s the low bitrate and thus high number of compression artifacts that determines whether something is of good viewing quality – the resolution is very much of secondary importance, and only when you’re at a suitable viewing distance.]
Hi-res, low bit-rate video encodes…
Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggghhh!!!
The blocking, the blocking,…
I know some people think the end justifies thie means, but this nonsense report on the auto industry annoys me.
[New research suggests the cost to the South Australian economy of Holden’s potential closure would be $1.24 billion and 13,200 jobs – more than double estimates released yesterday by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.]
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-05/holden-closure-cost-south-australia/5071704
Sure some jobs will be lost if we stop propping up the car industry (though not many, and it may go even with the assistance). But thhe real question is how many other jobs might be created with the same cash doing something else. Tis irrational obsession with a SMALL number of jobs is getting silly.
Holden employ less than 2000 people in Adelaide. So what? There are more jobs than that in a sinle large shopping centre, and on similar (low) pay.
Nor does propping up Holden end the many social problems in the area of the plant.
[The problem is particularly severe for the South Australian suburb of Elizabeth, due to the location of the components manufacturers that supply Holden’s Elizabeth plant.
Today Elizabeth and its surrounding suburbs have some of the country’s highest unemployment and entrenched welfare dependency.]
Something new is needed with or without Holden. The same money would be better spent retraining the workers. That would fix the problem for them. The problems for the rest of the region will remain.
Why the SA state government insists on trying to subdivide more land in the Elizabeth area, increasing the number of people in a job-poor region, defies logic. It only makes it worse.
Time to stop this farce. One reason it continues – there are hundreds of bureaucrats in economic and planning roles in the SA public service who make their living justifying this nonsense. They do not want to admit it is futile because then their own jobs would also be exposed as pointless.
Meanwhile we make cuts in our Uni and TAFE systems that actually employ more people.
I am glad I was never dumb enough to take a job in industry policy development.
comfessions
I have returned home. The break was excellent. Thanks.
As often said, we have been poorly served.
William Bowe
😆 had not seen that before.
Socrates, the protectionism around Holden is nothing more than politics. It sells votes in the suburbs. Of course it makes very little difference to the employment figures. However, it has become a part of the mindset that it’s the company that’s keeping Adelaide employed. Everybody on the inside of government knows that’s not true, which is why alternative economic investment has occurred in the last decade or two. It’s just it’s too good an opportunity to pass off to make the other side look like a job killer by letting the company go under.
The good news for Labor is that the company will probably shut down its SA operations under Abbott and Marshall, giving Labor a moral victory on the issue, while being able to finally shake the Holden monkey off its back.
Carey
You are correct about the car industry. Not only that, it will probably happen before the probable WA Senate election if and the psychological impact on voters of that could be big.
Carey
We are agreed on the reality, yet the fact is the SA and Fed governments still plough millions into it. Before Mitsubishi shut the subsidy per worker actually exceeded their average income. We would have been better off just giving them the money.
But in fact I am not sure about your claim that everyone in SA government does understand. Do they? They continue writing silly policies saying that manufacturing jobs will increase. WTF?? Meanwhile spending in other areas has ben cut, and SA has been in sharp recession for at least nine months. Many suffer to keep this charade on the road.
I think it is a sad day that Labor is more interested in posturing to improve its own standing, than actually doing what is in the best long term interests of workers. SA Labor will lose the next election, and deservedly so.
A surprise for the Liberal party.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/surprise-resignation-of-state-liberal-director-20131105-2wzoo.html
[You are correct about the car industry. Not only that, it will probably happen before the probable WA Senate election if and the psychological impact on voters of that could be big.]
I think there’s at least a year left. I sincerely doubt the Elizabeth plant will close before the SA state election (or the WA Senate election for that matter), especially considering the Federal Government has declared it won’t announce its policy on the issue until the end of March (after the SA state election, for obvious political reasons).
Carey
So are you actually saying it is OK to low around $500 million per year to keep this joke alive?
Also If you know Adelaide, and your claims about understanding inside government are true, then can you explain why they are still subdividing land near Elizabeth? We are just creating a bigger slum, at public expense. Meanwhile there are other projects all round the city we are told that we do not have enough funds to complete.
Kim Carr’s name should also not be forgotten among the group of liars/idiots who have perpetuated this mess.
Carey
Holden has told the government that review period is too long for Detroit HQ’s timeline.
[So are you actually saying it is OK to low around $500 million per year to keep this joke alive?]
No, I was just explaining why it’s happening. I don’t agree with it at all.
[Also If you know Adelaide, and your claims about understanding inside government are true, then can you explain why they are still subdividing land near Elizabeth?]
Outdated institutional economic policies that have haunted the state since at least the Bannon era. I don’t pretend to know every single government policy, nor understand why it’s in place.
[Kim Carr’s name should also not be forgotten among the group of liars/idiots who have perpetuated this mess.]
Agreed. Again though, it’s politics. Not justifying it, I’m explaining it.
Night all.
Carey
Fair enough, then we are agreed. I have to deal with some of the bureaucrats who “champion” those policies. It is like a conversation with Sir Humphrey. They are world champions at justifying their own existence, which they have been doing since the days of the multi-function polis.
[Fair enough, then we are agreed. I have to deal with some of the bureaucrats who “champion” those policies. It is like a conversation with Sir Humphrey. They are world champions at justifying their own existence, which they have been doing since the days of the multi-function polis.]
Yeah, I agree with that too. I do happen to know a few people who (and they would thoroughly deny this publicly) actually want to see Holden’s plant shut down, so the security blanket is gone and there is an update of political economic attitude. Problem is most of them are political staffers who want it to happen under the other side’s government.
One of the most annoying things about SA Labor though is the cardinal belief that the only thing that matters to voters above Grand Junction Road is the automotive industry. That is definitely an institutional failing of the ALP and could leave them weak in the future. However, as long as they keep getting wins in places like Wakefield and Light, it’s not going to bother them too much.
New Jersey and New York voting under way
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/nyregion/in-new-jersey-big-money-flows-to-foil-christie.html?hp&_r=0
I wouldn’t waste my time with NJ. Christie will win that. VA is more interesting though, with the Democratic candidate likely to win. The main difference between the two (besides the fact that Christie’s an incumbent): Christie isn’t a far right tea party candidate and doesn’t see Democrats as the enemy he has to fight against to the bitter end, whereas the Republican candidate in Virginia is. Had they gone with a more sensible candidate in Virginia (which is one of the most middle ground states there is, although starting to trend more and more Democratic, due to the rural population dwindling in favour of the cities and DC suburbs) the Republicans could’ve had a better chance at winning the race.
NYC is interesting because a Democrat (and a left wing one at that) is set to be Mayor of that city for the first time since 1993 (despite the city’s strong Democratic lean.)
1034
The article linked to in 1033 is not about the governorship, it is about control of the state legislature.
[The article linked to in 1033 is not about the governorship, it is about control of the state legislature.]
My post was about the governorships of NJ and VA, as well as the Mayorship of NYC.
1036
1034 was clearly a dismissive response to 1033.
Gosh! Thanks Tom for letting us all know what my post was really about!
1038
Glad to be of service.
Nevertheless my point still remains
1040
Your point still remains a flippant dismissal of an article of with some actual point. Control of the New Jersey state legislature is not irrelevant.
Tony Abbott will be a brilliant PM, he is already getting things done and parliament hasn’t even sat yet.
@Sean/1042
Not sure what you call getting things done without Parliament.
Sean Tisme will always be a idiot. He is already posting bollocks and Abbott hasn’t actually done anything yet.
Except rip off bushfire victims compo, grovel overseas, ofend the Russians, appoint (LoL!) Bishop the Younger as FM,…….
“Murdoch wants his pound of flesh ” says SMH
Abbott now under pressure
who’ suprised ?????
Murdoch has always been and will remain the Complete Bastard
and Great Monster of the World…a bigger media dictator than anyone since Dr Goebells
http://www.smh.com.au/business/murdoch-wants-his-pound-of-flesh-20131105-2wzhs.html
Sean’s post in 1042 is him expressing an opinion. 99% of the shit he posts is annoying but, in this case, he’s done nothing wrong except say things others disagree with.
1042 would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.
[in this case, he’s done nothing wrong except say things others disagree with.]
Meh. I find his mindlessly sycophantic cheerleader style repulsive.
If you’re no fan of Rupert, follow William’s link at 1013.
Many thanks, William. I loved especially the bit about making the story up so that you can be quite sure of the facts.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers.
Very convincing Barnaby, very convincing.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/barnaby-joyce-says-rugby-league-expenses-were-official-business-20131105-2wzqs.html
Labor should play this for all it’s worth. Disgusting!
http://www.smh.com.au/business/murdoch-wants-his-pound-of-flesh-20131105-2wzhs.html
Not to be rude, but John, do us all a favour and piss off!
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/the-claims-are-exaggerated-john-howard-rejects-predictions-of-global-warming-catastrophe-20131106-2wzza.html
Would there be any political (or other) favours buried in this?
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/new-barangaroo-proposal-shuffles-public-space-to-make-way-for-james-packers-casino-20131105-2wzqx.html
This may be an entertaining journey.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/david-hicks-lodges-us-military-court-bid-to-overturn-terrorism-charge-20131105-2wzqv.html
There’s so much to like about this outstanding family.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/obeids-750000-legal-bill-family-reneges-on-guarantee-it-gave-law-firm-20131105-2wzjr.html
The facts will speak for themselves.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/cutting-greenhouse-gas-emissions-senate-plan-to-test-tony-abbotts-claims-20131105-2wzim.html
The OECD has already examined them.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/oecd-takes-aim-at-direct-action-plan-20131105-2wzgv.html
You’d better tread carefully, Tone!
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/05/opinion-poll-abbott-audit