At long last , the sign for MHR Cathy O'Toole (ALP) went up over the premises of ousted Ewen Jones (LNP) in Townsville at a busy intersection , apparently unnoticed by the local media . One would think the fact that the increasingly vital seat won by Labor by 37 votes for the first time in 20 years and by a woman makes it a thoroughly newsworthy event. Nope
And just last week she was present in the House of Representatives in Canberra during which the Turnbull Government twice lost a vote in the biggest upset for a government in half a century .
One would think the local media might have done an in depth report about Ms O'Toole's impressions of Canberra, finding her way round the maze , the voting event which rattled the government , other colourful snippets . Nope .
Here is a news tip for the Townsville media ...your representative , when in Canberra , has an office diagonally across from ousted PM Tony Abbott , aka the Mad Monk , now a vocal back bencher. She could be near the frontline of a Guy Fawkes like plot by unhappy , babbling delcons and extreme right wingers , hosed off , to put it mildly, about Turnbull's leadership and the narrow election win , especially O'Toole's victory.
After Abbott today criticised PM Turnbull for calling the Royal Commission into the Don Dale Juvenile Detention Centre in Darwin , the gunpowder plot has thickened , there is an alarming smell of burning Cordy-ite in the air in the Coalition corridors of power.
Should Ms O"Toole see the above bunch of desperadoes heading towards Abbott's grotto, she should immediately press the alarm button and dive under the desk .
With talk of Turnbull not likely to last much longer and even Abbott coming back as leader !!! , the Member for Herbert , in more ways than one , is in a strategically important office in Canberra. She should keep a close watch on those going to and from Abbott's office.
Another tip for the media : the deadline for an appeal to the Court of Disputed Returns in the seat of Herbert is September 16 , so get in and ask Senator Macdonald and Ewen Jones what is happening ...this is called being on the ball, following up the obvious angles and not waiting for a media release. Could even lend itself to a count down series. It might also pay to check to see if the betting shops are holding any money on the likelihood of a challenge, the outcome . Surprising what you learn when you ask obvious questions .
