By ERWIN CHLANDA
A former Country Liberal Party front bencher, Roger “Stainless” Steele, says it’s likely that NT Senator Jacinta Price “could contribute even more to the North of Australia from a seat in the House of Representatives.
“The resignation of Scott Morrison from Federal Parliament offers an excellent opportunity for the Coalition,” he says.
Mr Steele, after working as a drover, camp cook and cattle station manager for 17 years, served as a Member of the NT Legislative Assembly from 1974 to 1987, representing Ludmilla until 1983 and Elsey after that.
His ministerial responsibilities included transport, industry and primary production. He is part of a small group of early CLP figures, including Paul Everingham and Shane Stone, continuing to influence national Coalition politics.
Mr Steele says Senator Price’s redeployment “at first sight would seem to be a substantial loss to the NT” but it would enable her to deal with a “significant division in mutual understanding, views, attitudes and priorities” between Australians living in regional areas and those in the cities, particularly the inner cities.
“The rapidly escalating problems associated with social breakdown amongst Aboriginal people in rural and regional Australia” could be tackled by Ms Price, Mr Steele writes in a statement to the Alice Springs News.
Mr Steele (centre) with drovers friends. Note below his response to comments.
“This is an area that is rapidly worsening and the Labor Party has little idea on the policies that should be adopted to overcome this major issue.”
Mr Steele says a movement of Ms Price from the Senate to the “Reps” would be “a wonderful opportunity” for the Coalition to elect another Senator for the NT.
Senator Price did not respond to related questions put to her by the News yesterday.
PHOTO: Mr Steele speaking about his days as a drover at a Buderim Foundation dinner last year.
Dumb idea. She will never be elected to the House of Reps. The NT won’t elect her because she is on the nose to people who know her personally and people generally don’t like parachutes candidates. So Cook is out. Can’t see how it can happen.
CLP Luminary – an oxymoron?
A brain fart in the true Scomo tradition. Worthy of the man himself.
Speaking of which, here I was thinking AUKUS was just a Morrison brain fart.
But no: “Scott Morrison’s next job will be ‘non-executive vice chairman’ with consulting firm American Global Strategies, which was founded by Robert O’Brien, who was national security adviser to Donald Trump.”
AUKUS is really a job application for a post-politics sinecure in the nastiest end of the Military – Industrial Complex.
And for this he signed up the Australian public for a bill of a cool $380 billion, or so.
How good is AUKUS.
Social breakdown in Alice Springs is escalating.
In retrospect, it is clear that this could, and should have been, avoided in Australia.
There have been many on-going examples from overseas countries, over long periods, about the impact of the movement of Indigenous peoples to the fringes of urban areas and the descent of such fringe communities into poverty, drug abuse, crime and homelessness.
Such breakdown has obvious negative impacts on associated urban centres.
While we often rightly, call out governments for their failure to anticipate and overcome such problems, what we have been reluctant to do is sheet home any responsibilities to community leadership for their apparent inability to propose ideas and possible solutions.
A successful, healthy community depends on the involvement of community leaders, from a range of backgrounds, working toward agreed and positive community development aims. It requires long and committed engagement to build trust and partnership arrangements between citizens.
Has this been lacking in Alice Springs and if so, why – and how do we fix this?
Criticism and blame of others has been a common reaction in Alice Springs, as well as elsewhere in the Territory.
If we are to progress in solving problems we need to hear more about plans that can be advanced, not only by government, but by community leaders and those living in Alice, to overcome the escalating problems of crime associated with social and community breakdown.
Roger, meaningless motherhood waffle.
What about some serious money spent on education, health and housing?
What has this has to do with Price and Cook?
I have never heard anything remotely resembling a “plan” from Price.
And she does not have, and has never had, any legitimacy as a “community leader”.
Nailed it, Charlie.
Spot on Charlie, well said.