Party with no policies?
ONE look at the policy section of the ACT Greens for the forthcoming election (http://www.actgreens.gov.au/147) reveals that they actually have no policies and are totally subservient to their federal counterparts. It says: “Please note that the Australian Greens’ policies take precedence over the ACT policies below.” There’s nothing below but the line: “The policies of the ACT Greens will be available shortly”.  Funny that, not 24 hours before the word “shortly” had read “April”. 

Give it a miss, Deb
AFTER ACT Attorney General Simon Corbell failed to get re-assurances from his Federal counterpart that if a Bill was introduced into the local Assembly effectively allowing gay marriage then the Feds wouldn’t overturn it, Greens MLA Dr Deb Foskey has weighed in by introducing her own Bill. She has asked Federal Leader Senator Bob Brown to lob in a call to Federal Attorney General Robert McClelland asking him to re-assure them that if Foskey’s new bill is passed he’ll let it ride. Yeah, right. What a waste of time on Foskey’s part when, with only a few months left in the Assembly, she could be doing more useful work.

Oh, yes, mum
LABOR’S feather-ruffling candidate in Brindabella, ex AFP hard man Wayne Sievers, had other things on his mind when officially launching his campaign with Shirley Shackleton, veteran activist and widow of Balibo Five member Greg Shackleton, recently. Sievers confessed to “Bites” that his mother had recently taken ill, so if he wasn’t campaigning he was spending time with her in hospital. “I actually told her that I was willing to put aside the campaign given what has been happening with her health,” said Sievers. The answer came back: “Don’t you dare, Wayne!” Sievers, who ran at the ’04 ACT election as a Democrat, topped the Labor pre-selection Brindabella – beating Minister John Hargreaves, who we understand was none-too-happy to be beaten into second place by the not-so-backwards-in-coming-forwards Sievers. 

Oh, no, Giulia
LIBERAL candidate Giulia Jones must be feeling a bit of a goose (thats her waving at right). Several days after the GDE announcement by the Liberals (“CityNews”, July 24) and the very public “us-too” promise to fix the road from Labor, Jones was seen standing by the side of the soon-to-be-widened GDE with a huge sign that reads “Fix the GDE”.  “Bites” hears that some commuters slowed to alert her to her party’s policy in language best described as unparliamentry.