Congratulations …

Well it’s been a long campaign, but finally we are at the end, and it looks like the LNP’s Jason Woodforth is going to be the next member for Nudgee.  Congratulations to Jason and his campaign team on a job well done.

The next 3 years are where the real challenge starts for a new member though, I will be watching the progress on the promises about police services in Banyo and the Geebung Overpass that the LNP made, as well as keeping an eye on a very large and very keen new government.  It’s part of my promise to the people here in Nudgee who do expect a lot of their member and all local leaders and politicians.

What’s next for me?  Well, obviously I’m not going to be representing the area through parliament, but I will be around.  I’m always contactable here, on my facebook or on my twitter (@anthonypinkgr) about any local issue that you would like a second look.  You will also see me in the community a bit more, just to lend that extra set of hands where they are needed and hopefully to bring some new ideas to our suburbs.  So watch this space as to say.

Finally, I would like to thank all of my volunteers who did a great job during the campaign, my campaign manager Nadia who helped me immensely, and of course the voters of Nudgee who stood up and made their voices heard at the ballot box on Saturday.

The blog will go through a few changes, returning back to a non-electoral mode, but I’m still here, and you never know what the future might hold.

FAQ: The Greens, Carbon Tax and ‘Working Families’

Let me start by stating very clearly to dispel the treacherous myth; the Queensland Greens are supportive of Queensland families. We recognise the diversity of families, and circumstances that effect families are not universal, and as such, we are in no way interested in attacking families or undermine their relationship unit.

Today, I met a man at one of my stalls, he proceeded to tell me that my ALP ‘Mates’ and I were undermining families with the carbon tax. I know there are a lot of people out there saying the same thing and I won’t re-argue the carbon tax debate, that’s for other people to do, but there is one thing I would like to address. No one in the Greens, regardless of their background and political leaning, are in any way interested in attacking ‘families’ or undermining their ability to exist.

Yes, we are a party of environmental protection, we believe strongly in that, but we all know full well that a pristine environment will be worth very little if we fundamentally undermine our society. It’s why we support three fundamental tenets when developing our policies; care of the environment, care of society and care of the individual. The carbon tax was made with that in mind, and so will all the policies following it that we create as a party. What we saw in this policy was a way to combat a potential hazard in our environment that would affect our society, we knew that the cost to the individual would be too high if we fixed the problems with direct funding, so we opted to support a market driven approach. We honestly want no one to pay this tax, and the way to do that is to avoid products and services with high carbon contents, buy only what you need and promote self sufficiency (solar panels, water tanks etc.), literally this could be the first time a government has wanted you to evade a tax, please take them up on that offer.

In the mean time, if you are struggling family, there will always be support for you from any government that we are a part of. Whether it is from good government services, improving the opportunities in the job market, supporting your educational goals or changing the tax system to improve outcomes for families, you can bet the Greens will be there to support it, and we will do it because it’s the right thing to do. It’s my promise if I were in government, and the vow of every Greens member that we have.