New party takes swipe at Giles, outlines policies

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  p2264-Braedon-Earley-SMBy ERWIN CHLANDA
 
The gloves are clearly off for the new political party being formed in the NT, 1Territory.
 
President Braedon Earley (pictured) said in an interview with the Alice Springs News Online today: “You’re asking me questions about problems in Alice Springs. How come the Chief Minister doesn’t live there?
 
“I’m not going to give you the heads-up on what our solutions are going to be so that someone who lives in Darwin, while supposed to be representing Alice Springs, can pick up our ideas and run with them.”
 
Mr Earley says the party has more than 700 supporters. He says he could not give the “exact number off the top of my head” of how many of these are in Alice Springs.
 
Best guess? “I don’t do guesses.”
 
He says 200 supporters will be nominated to the NT Electoral Commission as members “in the next couple of weeks”. This is the minimum required to form a party.
p2264-1Territory
 
That will make 1Territory the first political party to be registered in the NT through registration by the commission. All others, including the ALP and the CLP were transplants from interstate “where their masters currently reside,” says Mr Earley.
 
The party will be standing candidates in every seat.
 
NEWS: Who are the candidates?
 
EARLEY: We are not prepared to divulge that until we’re closer to the election.
 
The party will be against fracking: “We don’t believe that there is enough science to prove that it is 100% safe for the environment”.
 
The party will also be formulating a policy to deal with the “ice epidemic which is gripping every community in the NT”.
 
Policy platforms to deal with “everyday problems facing Territorians” would be based on “grassroots solutions” – including for Territorians in Alice Springs.
 
Mr Earley says “solutions, policies and platforms will be developed by the members in our first meetings in the next three or four months”.
 
He was a life member of the CLP, a former president, and left that party about two years ago.
 
NEWS: Why?
 
EARLEY: I didn’t agree with the direction they were taking … their change from what they went to the election on, and where they ended up going. They said they were going to reduce the cost of living for Territorians, only to increase it. They would be open and transparent only to adopt a scorched earth policy with regards to anyone who spoke out against the government.
 
NEWS: What are some examples?
 
EARLEY: I would open myself up to litigation.
 
NEWS: One question in The Centre is, are you not just another party with its centre of gravity north of the Berrimah Line?
 
EARLEY: A couple of weeks ago I stood in the Mall for a couple of days and spoke to 35 or 40 people about the issues confronting Alice Springs and Central Australia.
 
Mr Earley says he gathered a list of problems and suggested solutions “not limited to alcohol abuse and violence, or the increasing vacancy rate in the Alice Mall, lack of spending, lack of transparency, tourism numbers and activity.
 
“There are some topics I’m not going to go into, and I’m not going to give the other parties the heads-up on our policies and solutions to make Alice Springs a better place.”
 
NEWS: Voters would be looking for something more specific.
 
EARLEY: You’ve got to remember, we’re 12 months out from an election.
 
He says the shortage of tourist accommodation in Darwin, much of it taken up by gas plant workers, has had an impact on the industry in The Centre.
 
As a tourist “you are treated like a farm animal, you are flying in here [Darwin] at midnight, you can’t get a night’s accommodation because it’s taken up by construction workers, before you hire a van or a connecting flight. There is your impact.
 
“We also need to talk about international airlines flying over the top of us and not being allowed to land here [to pick up] domestic passengers, or drop off on domestic terminals. That’s something we’d like to look at a later date as well.”
 
Tourism issues need to be seen from the perspective of the entire NT, not just selected destinations, says Mr Earley.
 
Experience of neglect outside Darwin has been with him all his life: “I grew up on a cattle station on the Roper River. I know all about a lack of spending south of the Berrimah Line. I’ve experienced it. I can relate to the issues that surround that mentality. We will not be falling into the same trap.
 
“The Territory hasn’t really advanced in 16 years. It’s been in a state of vacuum. Both parties are guilty. We’ve experienced career politicians with very little experience of living in the Territory and growing anything apart from their own personal wealth,” he says.
 
“We need to address the Fifth Floor, with people from a grass roots level, whose background is common sense and whose interest is the Northern Territory.”
 
 

12 COMMENTS

  1. How encouraging to see an alternative from CLP and Labor.
    My concern is that all it will gain is disgruntled ex party members and then come the Liberals.
    Not like true Independents who will only vote in Parliament for those of their own electorate which voted them in.
    EARLEY Days yet.

  2. Alison, Larissa, Robyn, now Braedon – four disgruntled ex members that seem to have all the answers, all self centered personal gain people who hated being part of a team and walk away when things don’t go their way.
    Go back to Darwin and stop pretending you have concerns down here as you never said or showed your face before.

  3. @ John: If you believe Braedon is “self-centred personal gain” you obviously haven’t met the man. I also see no evidence that anyone else you mention is involved in the new party.
    Yes, there are disenchanted former CLP members who are part of 1 Territory; there are also disenchanted former ALP members as well.
    It is by no means the Braedon Earley Party; I don’t know if he will even run as a candidate, nor will anyone who has been identified as part of the new party.
    To allay some of Rita’s fears, from the draft constitution it is clear the new party is neither conservative nor socialist; it could best be described as centerist.
    Clearly, the current government has lost support during its term; just as clearly, not everyone has forgiven Labor for its apparent sins during its time in office, so a Territory Party – not one which panders to the ego of some lunatic fringer from the east – may be a handy thing to have on a ballot paper.
    While I recognise Phil Walcott’s views on the value of Independent members and that such a system works well in parts of Canada, I believe the current political climate could lead us to an unworkable legislature unable to run a chook raffle.
    Surely, a group of Territorians looking for better ways to do things can only help us, whether they form government or not.

  4. John is clutching at straws. The only element of fact in his comment is that there are four disgruntled members.
    The rest of his contribution is garbage and should be treated with the contempt that it deserves.
    He should wait a while and see for himself what 1 Territory is capable of doing.
    I have known Braedon Earley for all of his adult life and much of his formative years.
    He is a person of integrity and is absolutely trustworthy and his presence at the coalface of this party will also attract that regimen.
    All that will come to the fore in coming months.

  5. If you’ve now spent time here, Mr Earley, you’d see we don’t care or rate Giles and his Government, i.e. don’t even mention them! We don’t care.
    Instead, tell us only what your party offers and how you’ll fix the mess compared to Labor and independents.
    Continuing to be secretive does not help you or your new party at all.

  6. Integrity, come on. Do we forget he was also a member of the PUP party that was going to save Australia and the Territory. Do we remember who was involved and how they all again deserted.
    Wake up and smell the roses they are organizing for their own agendas and trying to play the caring card.
    Do you really think they aren’t talking to the deserters about joining the revolution and maybe that’s why they won’t declare anything.

  7. Do we forget who were the founding members of the Territory PUP party – Brandon, Alison, Larisa and Co and they deserted that party after stating it was going to be the great savory.
    Didn’t half the statements that have been said by the new party founder say the same about his beloved PUO party?
    And again they walked away and now they start again – 3rd party in two years and you say integrity please.

  8. 1territroy, here’s one for you: How has a business got a Federal grant to open new outlets on communities under their town business name?
    Does this mean the communities own the business, or do they buy it off the owner, and does he repay the tax payers for the original grant to set up the expansion of his business?
    I think it’s a great idea if owned by the communities, not by individuals to on sell while being funded by tax money.

  9. Another policy free party…if they were paying attention for the last two years it’s all over bar the shouting. You’re dreaming.

  10. Twelve months out from an election is a great opportunity to release policy positions so that people have time to digest the content, enter into discussions about their relative merit and tweak them as required.
    It takes people time to digest and understand the potential implications of the philosophies underpinning the development and proposal of such policies.
    As an IndependeNT candidate (we won’t know now until mid-September what the Redistribution Committee’s boundary decisions are), it’s important for me to get my ideas out in the community early so that discussions can be had and the ideas of constituents incorporated into them. IndependeNTs are guided by their constituents, not a political party machine or platform by which an elected Member is bound.
    If you need evidence of how broken the current political party system is, simply look at all of the tawdry infighting going on WITHIN the respective political parties (of whatever persuasion) at both Territory and Federal levels and the time wasted fighting with each other over personal ambition instead of getting on with the job of working for the people who elected them to do it.
    People wonder why I’m not interested in joining any of them!
    It is time for the political process to grow up rather than simply grow old. We people and the planet are far too important to be dismissed by the process.
    People who have been interested enough to follow my political interests and journey over the past six or seven years will know that my mantra is about strengthening the unity in commUNITY. This is the philosophy underpinning my approach to policy positions.
    I have already announced my desire to have a child-care centre created at the Alice Springs Hospital for ASH staff to free up places in other centres around town for other people.
    Such a centre has the value-adding capacity of providing a training centre for child-care staff and registrar paediatricians.
    I have already announced a desire to see the health and education sectors of government molded into one seamless service, especially because they influence the early childhood sectors of our urban and remote communities.
    If our town, region and Territory are going to mature into something better than they have become in relation to social justice, growth and prosperity we have to focus on new generations who can be nurtured and raised in a positive environment.
    I have previously announced a desire to have the Anzac Oval Youth and Community Precinct developed so that the current infrastructure surrounding the oval can be incorporated into a broad one-stop precinct to help promote and develop healthier life choices inter-generationally.
    I focus on using language that is positive and proactive in its messages – for example: looking at what domestic HARMONY is and how best to develop that; and strengthening the positivity of relationships we have with each other and our environments.
    Everything we hope to achieve is built upon how strongly our relationships evolve.
    There are other policy initiatives being developed as part of the constituent consultation process that will be rolled out over the course of the next 12 months prior to the Legislative Assembly election on August 27, 2016.
    Unlike this new party or any others who are keen not to release policy initiatives or details until five minutes to midnight, I am keen to seek people’s views and input NOW and over the course of the ensuing period so that when people go to the polls next year, they’ll have a good idea about who I am and what I’m seeking to represent.
    Being reluctant to release details of party policies probably means they don’t have any.
    Not nominating candidates early (no pun intended) is polly-speak for “we don’t have any yet”. Who are the Greens / Labor /CLP / 1Territory / any-other-party candidates for next year’s election?
    Are there any other IndependeNTs?
    Let’s be open, honest and transparent with the people we are asking to vote us into the Assembly as their elected representative.
    Phil Walcott
    IndependeNT Candidate for the NT Legislative Assembly.

  11. Australia’s preferential voting system is relatively unusual, and makes it very difficult for the Independents candidates.
    Most countries use some form of first-past-the-post or proportional voting. (It’s simple to understand and thus doesn’t cost much to administer).
    The voter can clearly express a view on which party they think should form the next government;
    Or the two-round system (also known as the second ballot) system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate.
    However, if no candidate receives the required number of votes (usually an absolute majority or 40-45% with a winning margin of 5-15%), then those candidates having less than a certain proportion of the votes, or all but the two candidates receiving the most votes, are eliminated, and a second round of voting occurs.

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