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kc
13-02-2006, 02:06 PM
Rumours are strange Fish


I was at the Brisbane South formation meeting for the Fishing Party last week and had the chance to meet some Brisbane supporters.

Some guys did ask me about a few rumours that seem to being spread about the Fishing Party - and I really appreciate that they spoke to me.

I know that politics is a grubby game – but it makes me sad when I hear that people in the fishing community are trying to undermine us & wonder as to the motivation to do this….are we a threat?. I expect that the Greens will have ago at us in any way they can – but not people in Rec Fishing. Never mind – I’m thick skinned!!

The Fishing Party has no secrets, nor any hidden agenda…we are just about fighting back in the “main game”. Sometimes things like the election advertising needs to be kept private until we launch - but apart from that we are going to be 100% open. So please send me an email or call me with all the embarrassing questions or rumours you like. Sometimes I need a good laugh.


Rumour: The Fishing party got $100,000 in the last election what did you do with it?

Rumour: The Fishing Party owes the Government $7,000 and is about to be shut down.
I thought I would answer these two rumours together.

The Government (Electoral commission) does give money to political parties who get more than 4% of the vote. All of this is on the AEC website. They NEVER give grants or money in advance of an election. Only after an election do they hand out some cash to some but not all parties.

To get any of this money you have to get over 4% of the vote in the Senate (TFPQ only stood in the Senate) and then you get about $1.60 per vote. We did not get more than 4% of the vote so we got no money at all.

So the idea that we got money and had to pay it back is garbage. No money is ever handed out until the Electoral commission does the calculations AFTER an election so no Party ever had to pay some back, because you don’t get it in advance. So whoever made up that rumour either doesn’t understand the government system or they intentionally made up that BS!

And in any case we didn’t get any money from the AEC. Not $100,000 Not $7,000 - nothing.

We will certainly do better next election and get some share of the millions that the big parties get after election results are in.


It is true that the Fishing Party Qld has a debt of $7,000. The only reason I do not announce this is because it is a private loan and loaned to TFPQ so that we could pay all our bills after the election…..no supplier is owed anything! You see, a lot of people have given a lot of help to the party, both in terms of time & money and I am just one of them. This particular loan is long term and interest free.

We pay our own airfares to go to meetings, and when we are there pay for our own hotel rooms and meals. We use our cars, phones and photocopiers without payment. Not to mention hours and hours of work every week No one in TFPQ is on the “gravy train” and no one in TFPQ is paid anything.

In the mean time we have enough in the bank to keep going and paying our bills.

This is all above board and legal. We have had an audit from the Electoral Commission and another from the Tax Office since the last election. We are squeaky clean.



Rumour: The Fishing Party will be squashed just like Pauline Hansen

We are about to register for the Queensland State Elections. Again we have had a good hard look and we are 100% squeaky clean. I guess that we are even more careful after we saw a politician go to jail.

Perhaps we are too careful but we have very fussy rules like sub branches don’t even have a bank account - any money collected is banked in the state account immediately and only accessed by joint signatories

We won’t be squashed and we are here to stay.

The Fishing Party is going from strength to strength. The Victorian Branch is getting their numbers so they can register. We are soon going to form a national executive.


So- are there any more rumours out there? I would like to hear them and respond. No problem if people want to sit on the fence throwing hand grenades....they just should remember to take out the pin!


Post them here, call me PM or email - The quicker I can answer this BS the quicker we can get on and defend Recreational Fishing.


Cheers

KC

BAIT_MAN
13-02-2006, 03:10 PM
Good on ya KC. Let them bring it on. By the way how many branches do we have now.

kc
13-02-2006, 04:41 PM
Hi Shane,

Branches now in cairns, Whitsundays, Hervey Bay, Brisbane North (Bribie) and Brisbane South with moves well advanced for a branch in Townsville and interest on the Sunshine Coast.

Regards

KC

gone_phishin
13-02-2006, 04:59 PM
G'day kc. Can you point me in the right direction for more information on the party please?

Kind regards
Geoff

gone_phishin
13-02-2006, 05:05 PM
Whoops :-[ Sorry kc I should have looked at the top of the "News" page eh! 8-)
Geoff

Derek_Bullock
13-02-2006, 06:14 PM
KC

The news were on to the debt a couple of weeks ago when the following appeared in ABC Online.

Cheers


Derek


Last Update: Friday, February 3, 2006. 11:37am (AEDT)

Fishing Party to address small debt

The Queensland convener of the Fishing Party says a small debt from the last Senate election campaign should be quickly recovered.

Australian Electoral Commission figures showed the party with a debt of just over $7,000 after standing federal candidates in Queensland and New South Wales.

The party, formed seven months before the election, spent just over $32,000 in its first campaign.

Kevin Collins says there has been a significant growth in membership since the last election.

"We are the fastest growing political party in the state, if not the country," he said.

"I noticed only the other day a political party that would be considered one of the larger ones, which is Family First, doesn't have enough members to form an actual party in Queensland - you need 500 - we are over the 1,000 mark."

Sportfish_5
13-02-2006, 08:37 PM
Who runs the Bribie branch KC ?


Cheers

Greg

dazza
13-02-2006, 09:34 PM
hi greg,

we are only a small group, approx 5 members, who meet every few months. we are having our agm soon. to date we haven't been all that active, but in saying that our local members both state and federal know we exist.
hopefully we can increase our profile in the area primarily by gathering members, we keep our ear to the ground so to speak, and feed local information back to state level. generally we are only a small group who do what we can to help out.
anyone who is keen to know more, let me know and i will try to provide as much info as possible.
always looking for more helpers
cheers
dazza

Gazza
15-02-2006, 10:47 AM
Thanks KC, bushfires are dangerous ,if allowed to go unchecked [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

Pre-empt ,REBUKE ,and turn up-the-heat mate [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
Kind Regards
Gazza