The non-party party
HERE’S a party that isn’t a party announcing its party candidates, but admitting they won’t be standing as a party because they lost registration “and because the ACT’s electoral law will not allow it to re-register in the same electoral cycle”. If anyone can understand the propeller heads masquerading as ACT Democrats could they draw us some pictures to explain it. Anyway, they have announced three candidates to stoically contest the election in that electoral stairway to heaven, the Ungrouped column. The candidates are: Greg Tannahill, 28, Molonglo; and Ginninderra aspirants Marilyn Kay Dennis, 61, and Darren Churchill, 43. Mercifully, the carbon footprint of the polling booth pencils at Brindabella will be untroubled by this trio.

Right question
DURING a heated press conference “Bites” questioned the Chief Minister about whether he had rushed to announce the Government’s GDE duplication program because he’d heard the Liberals were hours away from announcing theirs. We asked six different ways, six different times. Our seventh and final time: “Chief Minister, you’re not going to answer the question, are you?” No response. We took that as a “yes”.
GDE? News to me
AFTER the Libs GDE move spooked the Government into what universally seems to be seen as “me-too” policy on the run, “Bites” was privy to a conversation with one surprised (and nameless) Labor MLA who confessed:  “I saw it [the Labor announcement] on the news like everyone else – and must admit to being taken aback. I had no idea it was coming.”

Barr humbug!
“A LOT of people criticise my guerrilla style of campaigning”, CAP’s wannabe leader Norvan Vogt breathlessly told “CityNews” readers recently and we wondered what he meant. Then, up pops a very different media release from the usual Community Alliance tut-tut finger wagging. Headed “Grab a Barrgain from Andrew Barr”, Nifty Norvan hoes into Planning Minister Barr for the cock up on Section 63 with the Barbb (sorry): “If you’re a property developer, the planning minister is your best friend.” Then, gorilla-like, he blunders on: “He will allow you to buy ACT Government land under a restrictive agreement, ensuring you get it for a Barrgain price. Then when it comes time to develop it, those restrictions will have magically disappeared.” As Andrew probably hopes Norvan might on October 19.