A Liberal candidate for this year's federal election has been forced to stand down after describing Victorian Transport Minister Lynne Kosky as a "bitch" and "f---wit" on his blog. Hamish Jones, 24, was the Liberal candidate for the safe Labor seat of Maribyrnong, where he was pitted against ALP heavyweight Bill Shorten. But Mr Jones quit after it emerged that he had abused Ms Kosky in his blog, Ranting and Rambling, in April. He was responding to an email Ms Kosky had sent to her state colleagues, saying that they should not refer their constituents' complaints about public transport to her. Instead, she advised them to go directly to the private operators of the public transport system or the ombudsman.
When the blog remarks were brought to the attention of state Liberal director Julian Sheezel, he immediately told Mr Jones such comments were unacceptable, leaving him no option but to quit. The blog last night appeared to have been taken down. Mr Sheezel told The Age last night: "Hamish Jones had a blog which contained inappropriate and unacceptable material. His candidacy was untenable." The Liberals will now have to move quickly to find a replacement. Federal Labor frontbencher Jenny Macklin said last night that the comments about Ms Kosky were "extremely inappropriate".
Let that be a lesson to all you candidate bloggers out there!
Shows you cannot be to careful what you write on blogs! A message not just for candidates...
ReplyDeleteI sometimes read comments on blogs and remind myself of the riposte to one speaker in a debate: 'do you realise you are speaking out loud?'
Eleanor Mills (bitch) wrote a piece in the Sunday Times "world web of malice" that you should all read. She says, not very originally,
ReplyDelete"when our fingers hit the keyboard we seem to lose all sense of decency or propriety".
In it she has a go at all the people out there who are losing sympathy with the McCanns. Apparently there are a lot, but I could not possibly comment.
It is pretty obvious that most of the anonys and pond life that write toilet wall trash on the blogs wouldn't dare say any of those things in public, but what about the rest of us?
I can think of a few, The Hitch for example, who is probably the same in real life as he is on here,and, I like to think, myself. Many of the Iain Dale regulars probably also would do reasonable approximations of their cyber identities.
The problems come when real life catches up and the very things we rant about start to take over. We can't be Boris Johnson in real life (Even Boris cannot be that) because there is always some prissy preening puritan who will report us to the thought police.
I say "hurray" for the blogs, and if you don't agree, you can f**k off you c**t. (Ironic use of f**k and c**t to make a point, please allow)
Gee those aussies are getting pompous these days. Shame but PC seems to be getting the better of them too. I remember being called all the names under the very hot sun there in the 1970s, and no one batted an eyelid. No worries. He should write more traditional fare next time - such as 'Hope yer chooks grow legs as long as emus and beat your dunny daahn.'
ReplyDeleteSo am I to take it, Iain, that you do not intend to stand for office again?
ReplyDeleteTim, you are probably the last person I would share that information with, as you are probably aware. It's for me to know and you to guess.
ReplyDeleteBut do feel free to point out where I have called someone a bitch and a f***wit or anything similar. I'm sure you will have every single thing i have ever written stored on your harddrive somewhere.
Not every potentially compromising statement involves a swear-word, Iain.
ReplyDelete"bitch" and "f---wit" ?
ReplyDeleteI can imagine Tony Saint rewriting his script as I type, just as likely Mrs T would have said such words as claimed within his "dramatic interpretation" Although IMO the second word very much sums up the traitor Heath.
So the self-actualizing tendency weeding out the morons seems to be working.
ReplyDeleteCan't condone the actual words, but as a reader of The Age online and someone who's about to move to Melbourne, I can't wait to hear politicians (or wannabes) speak with a bit more gusto and conviction than the meaningless, PC tripe we get from our lot.
ReplyDeleteWould anyone disagree with Howard's "grubby dictator" comment on Mugabe?
Note that the seat of Maribyrnong (try saying THAT three times fast!) is one of the safest in the country for the Australian Labor Party. The Liberals (actually conservatives) need a swing of over 9% to capture it . . . whereas in the upcoming election the swingometer will heading in the opposite direction.
ReplyDeleteOf course John Howard's Liberal Party is worried about the impact it's rogue blogger's screed upon women voters in other, more competitive seats.
Such as Howard's own constituency of Benelong in suburban Sydney . . . where the latest polls show PM Howard trailing his ALP opponent . . .
Reminds me of a story told by late US Senator Stephen Young (D-Ohio) who was famous for his bitting wit, which he was NOT afraid to direct upon his own constituents.
ReplyDeleteWhenever he received an insulting letter, his practice was to return it with the following notation: "Just wanted you to know that some idiot sent me this letter and signed your name to it."
One one memorable occassion a distressed citizen wrote a very scathing letter to Senator Young, questioning his honesty, impuning his character and lampooning his intelligence. Then the voter ended on a more positive note, by inviting Young to engage him in further "intercourse" upon the issues raised.
"Go have intercourse with yourself" was the Senator's immortal reply.
PS - My sources report that Iain likes to swear in German, which could prove unpleasant (or suspect) for right-thinking British electors . . .
So apparently the comments were "unacceptable " and "inappropriate" but nobody said they were untrue now did they.
ReplyDeleteI've got to disagree agree with there Herr Dale as what Hamish Jones said about Lynne Kosky applies to 99% of the Left.
ReplyDeleteWorse things happen in Russia:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.robertamsterdam.com/2007/08/russian_blogger_faces_jail_kom.htm