Re. Gunns, Launceston City Council and Robin Gray. 1) What will Launceston’s ex-police officer Mayor Ivan Dean do in response to the apparent threat to one of his aldermen by Gunns director, ex-Tasmanian premier Robin Gray [reported in Saturday’s Mercury]. Respected Alderman Van Zetten, head of the charity Launceston City Mission, had voted against supporting the proposed pulp mill at a recent Council meeting. Gray threatened to take away Gunns’ support for the charity. Is it an offence to threaten a local government councillor? 2) Why wasn’t the Gray threat story reported in the Launceston Examiner?

ABC are requesting Michael Tunn take down his website saying it breaches their trademark “The Request Fest”, even though the ABC ceased using it in 1998 when Michael left the night show, and they renamed it “Super Request”. The ABC are scrambling to renew their trademark registration which ends in October. Michael is refusing to take down the site saying he has not breached the trademark as he is waiting til OCT 15 — the date it runs out — to launch the station and that this is the only area the trademark covers. Also a UK operation has been using the same name for their site for sometime requestfest.co.uk and the ABC has not taken similar action.

Mark Bahnisch is right on the money with respect to the QLD Libs. It has cancer and it threatens to kill the entire federal Liberal Party “patient” at the election later this year. Part of the tumour was cut out earlier this year with the resignation of Santo but by leaving him as a member of the party they have not cut out the entire cancer so the Santo tumour is re-growing. Santo is back fiddling with fec chairmanships, pre-selections and attempting to be the “go-to” man for the QLD Liberals. He obviously can’t be the face so has organised through factional pals Greene (State Director) and Parer (State President) to anoint Ros Bates as the “fund-raising” face for the QLD Liberals to business. What a 40 something mother of two ex-nurse and failed State candidate can offer in the boardrooms of Queensland is something it seems only Santo can see. However, she is loyal to Santo. No question. Meanwhile the State Administration under Greene has still failed to issue renewal notices to the 4,000 odd Liberal party members statewide to date – 43 days late. After 60 days existing members will become defunct and will have to re-join. Interestingly Santo supporters have been given the heads to pay their renewals anyway. Not a bad way to clear the decks of your opponents with a State Conference due under the constitution before 31 December. Santo & Caltabiano are desperate to keep Greene as State Director & Parer as President – that way they keep control of their party. So the cancer continues to live and grow back. Until Howard cuts the Santo tumor completely out of the QLD Liberal party it will continue to fester, forcing members and representatives to be focusing inward to defend their patches rather than face outwards and attack Labor. Without the Santo blood supply Greene, Parer and Caltabiano will continue to survive and thrive, slowly killing the party.