G\u2019day readers, welcome to a short and sharp Feeding the Chooks, your unmissable guide to what\u2019s really going on in Queensland politics.<\/p>\n
Cash for Connections<\/p>\n
Queensland taxpayers are forking out millions of dollars to a struggling small airline business to subsidise flights into far-flung parts of the state to \u201cmake Queensland easier to visit\u201d. <\/p>\n
Great idea! Except, that\u2019s not exactly what Tourism Minister Andrew Powell announced this week, when he confirmed the first domestic flight deal from the Crisafulli Liberal National Party government\u2019s $75m Connecting Queensland Fund.<\/p>\n
Instead, Queenslanders are paying Jetstar \u2013 yes, part of the Qantas Group that made a record underlying profit before tax of a measly $1.46bn for the first half of this financial year \u2013 to run flights from the new federal government-owned Western Sydney airport at Badgerys Creek to the Gold Coast and Brisbane.<\/p>\n
Ah yes, that famously inaccessible route, Sydney to Brisbane.<\/p>\n
Of course, just how much taxpayer cash was gifted to Jetstar will remain a mystery shrouded in \u201ccommercial in confidence\u201d opacity.<\/p>\n
The handout means that from October 25 (when the new airport will open), Jetstar will run four services a week between Western Sydney and the Gold Coast and three a week between Western Sydney and Brisbane. <\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not as if Queensland is rewarding Jetstar and Qantas for their undying commitment to the state.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s not forget that in April, Qantas announced the temporary suspension of Melbourne-Hamilton Island flights and Jetstar temporarily suspended its Darwin-Gold Coast service.<\/p>\n
There have also been flight reductions on some crucial regional routes \u2013 those legs that make it easier for Queenslanders themselves to move around in our sprawling state \u2013 including Brisbane-Bundaberg and Brisbane-Mackay.<\/p>\n
Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson lauded the decision as a \u201cmilestone in Australian aviation\u201d and boasted Jetstar had \u201can incredible history of growing new markets\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing the first airline to launch will give one of the country\u2019s fastest growing regions better access to low fares to some of our most popular destinations,\u201d Hudson said. <\/p>\n
Sounds like a great deal for Qantas. <\/p>\n
Read the Chooks <\/p>\n
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Not spotted: bipartisan admiration in Cairns<\/p>\n
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie popped up in Cairns on Wednesday, accompanied by the local member for the neighbouring electorate of Barron River, Bree James, to announce $5.37m for Norship to upgrade its servicing yard.<\/p>\n
The pair were in the electorate of Cairns, held by one of Labor\u2019s last regional MPs standing, Michael Healy.<\/p>\n
Political watchers may remember Bleijie has repeatedly attacked Healy in parliament for the ALP MP\u2019s unwise social media re-posts, labelling the Opposition frontbencher a misogynist and an antisemite. <\/p>\n
But time has passed and perhaps relations have thawed.<\/p>\n
While it would be unusual for an Opposition member to appear at a government announcement, Chooks asked Bleijie at the end of a spirited press conference whether Healy had been invited along.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael Healy?\u201d Bleijie asked incredulously. \u201cNot a fan of Michael Healy.\u201d<\/p>\n
He then cut off a local journalist\u2019s follow-up questions: \u201cHe\u2019s an opposition member of parliament, by the way, and he had nothing to do with this announcement. This is a Queensland government, Crisafulli LNP announcement, nothing to do with Mr Healy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which witch is which, Pauline? <\/p>\n
Women politicians have been putting up with sexist nonsense for decades, as this snapshot from the archives of a Chooks correspondent reveals.<\/p>\n
Back in the late 1990s, after Pauline Hanson won the federal seat of Oxley \u2013 then based on Ipswich \u2013 in 1996 and One Nation won eight Queensland state seats at the 1998 election, there was a fervent local Labor campaign against her.<\/p>\n
In this picture, longtime Labor-aligned Ipswich councillor Paul Tully can be seen holding up a sign: \u201cThe Wicked Witch \u2013 Curse of Ipswich\u201d.<\/p>\n
This week, Hanson told Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan to \u201csuck it up, sweetheart\u201d after the Labor leader was targeted by a billboard campaign \u2013 partially funded by a Melbourne brothel owner \u2013 urging Victorians to \u201cDitch the Witch\u201d. <\/p>\n
Hanson aside, the appalling billboards have been condemned by everyone<\/a> from Anthony Albanese and Julia Gillard (who was targeted with the same slogan at PM) to Victorian Liberal leader Jess Wilson. <\/p>\n Feed the Chooks<\/p>\n Got a tip?<\/p>\n elkss@theaustralian.com.au<\/a>
scottm@theaustralian.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n