Peter Goers: It’s time costly, taxpayer-funded electoral newsletters went in the bin along with corflutes

Those bloody ugly, intrusive, dangerous and vain election posters will soon be banned. Next, get rid of electoral newsletters, which clog up our letterboxes at the taxpayer’s expense.

The curse of the corflutes may be over.

Thanks to our diligent and often visionary Attorney-General Vickie Chapman those bloody, intrusive, ugly, dangerous, vain electoral posters will be banned from every Stobie pole.

Of course, most of us couldn’t pick our elected member in a police line-up. So pollies work hard to increase their visibilty in their electorates.

Pollies become masters of the pop-in to community events thus they pop-in, make sure they’re welcomed, have photo ops and leave pleading other pressing hit and run engagements. Pollies love a camera. I think they smile when the light comes on when they open the fridge.

One SA pollie is notorious for having their own personal photographer recording their every engagement.

Thankfully, election posters on Stobie poles across the state will soon be a think of the past, writes Peter Goers.

Another way pollies promote themselves at the taxpayers’ vast expense is the electoral newsletter which is delivered to every constituent. It never counts as junk mail.

I received two electoral newsletters recently and since pollies publish them at taxpayers’ expense and since they are exercises in self-promotion it’s fair that they receive scrutiny.

David Basham is the Member for Finniss and one of his constituents sent me his “Finnis Advocate”, an eight-page faux tabloid newspaper. It has eight pages and 16 photos of David Basham.

I am interested in Basham’s views on the planned destruction of the much-loved, 170-year-old, State Heritage-listed causeway to Granite Island.

A horse drawn tram on the causeway at Victor Harbor. Picture: Keryn Stevens.

Despite it being safe to use, Basham wants it replaced by a concrete road for use by cyclists, possibly tour buses, horse trams and pedestrians.

Electoral newsletters promote a personality cult of the local member. So we see David Basham in front of a new roundabout, David Basham presenting a huge novelty cheque, David Basham with school children in the Strangers’ Gallery at Parliament House and David Basham with Buzz Lightyear and Woody.

An artist's impression of the new causeway to Grainte Island. Picture: SA Government.

King of the open-necked shirt, David Basham has a big grin but in the self-promotion stakes, he is a rank amateur compared with my federal member, Boothby MP, Nicolle Flint.

In her latest glossy, six-page brochure there are 23 photos of Nicolle. There’s Nicolle with troubled MP Sam Duluk, Nicolle with constituents, Nicolle with ministers, a curious photo of a photograher taking her photo, and Nicolle with a photo of an over-dressed old lady – oh, it’s the Queen.

There’s lots about what Nicolle has been up to but no mention of her support for Peter Dutton, Tony Abbot, bank CEOs and climate change sceptics.

Nicolle wears pearl earrings and a pearly smile. She favours a vast wardrobe of blazers, coats and tight, black, ankle-freezing trousers and stiletto heels. She’s presents herself in her own newsletter, 23 times as a fashion plate. She has blazers and coats in black, blue, pink, red, beige, green, white, cream, floral and two in grey.

Liberal member for Boothby Nicolle Flint at her campaign office. Picture: Tom Huntley

The newsletter does not name the Aboriginal man with whom she is sharing a shovel and all of her constituents are un-named except for Sam Duluk. Perhaps they prefer it that way.

The sultan of self-promotion, Dick Smith once published a 28-page brochure for Dick Smith foods which included 30 images of himself but he was promoting Australian tucker and paying for it. We taxpayers are paying for the promotional publications of pollies.

Peter Goers can be heard weeknights and Sundays on ABC Radio Adelaide