At youdecide2007.org - our campaign-focused citizen journalism initiative - staff and many of our citizen journalists have been having enormous difficulty getting Liberal candidates on the phone.

Representatives in some Brisbane-based seats seem especially shy. Andrew Laming (Bowman) and Teresa Gambaro (Petrie) did the right thing, but then the curtain seemed to fall in September, and Messrs Vasta (Bonner), Hardgrave (Moreton), and Thomas (Griffith) have either failed to return repeated calls, or made and then broken successive appointments with our team.

We thought, post-Crategate - our first big scoop - that it might just be us. Perhaps, we surmised, when Herbert MP Peter Lindsay's unguarded answers in an interview with us were used by the Opposition to stir the pot on housing affordability, and then picked up by the Fairfax press, we may have been added to the enemies list.

Although citizen journalists are first and foremost constituents, who vote for candidates and pay their salaries, we guessed that the Libs mistakenly thought that our independent, non-partisan initiative was out to trip them up.

Of course, a closer listen to the tape of the interview with Peter Lindsay would reveal that we didn't do any tripping. Rather we stood well out of the way and let Mr. Lindsay give vent to his obviously sincere opinions.

Further investigation suggests that perhaps that's precisely the problem: the Liberals just don't trust those members who aren't A-list performers to deliver, even in the gentlest unscripted interview. And it's not just citizen journalists who they are nervous about.

One South East Queensland member who is particularly hard to get hold of is Michael Johnson, the Liberal member for Ryan. We here at the youdecide2007 office have tried to contact him repeatedly for the purpose of a simple electoral profile, but he never seems to have time to get back to us.

But we're not taking it too personally. Those with access to factiva or newstext archives will see that last May 16th, local suburban the Westside News reported that residents had dubbed Johnson "Houdini" due to the disappearance of his office and his resultant uncontactability for several weeks.

They also report (23 May 2007) that when the Federal decision to put in the Goodna bypass was announced - an issue that may well cost the Liberals the seat - Johnson was in India for the weekend. After being absent when a crucial decision was made, Johnson has since avoided other public forums where he might have been able to clear things up.

Just yesterday (Thursday 18th), at a higher education forum at the University of Queensland, Johnson didn't show, leaving the stage to Labor and the minor parties. In a contest where every vote will count, and in one of those "Rudd wet", "heartland" electorates that Howard must retain to win, Johnson appears to be avoiding opportunities to win people over.

He might say this latest forum was organised by the NTEU and would therefore be unfriendly, but wouldn't that just indicate a reluctance to debate the issues in front of an important part of his constituency? And its hard to believe that a non-ministerial MP would have had a more pressing engagement in campaign season.

These higher education forums are being held state-wide, and the USQ leg earlier this week was given a wide berth by Ian McFarland. Later in the month they will be held at Griffith University (in Moreton) and James Cook University (in Herbert). We hope that Gary Hardgrave and Peter Lindsay do not feel similarly constrained to avoid discussion on a topic that is so important to Australia's future.

Meanwhile, if you see a local candidate - Liberal, Labor or otherwise - out and about, please take the opportunity to ask them about the issues that are important to you. It's your right. If you are equipped at the time with a mobile phone that can record sound or video, ask them if they wouldn't mind doing a quick interview for youdecide2007*

Remember - YOU pay them to represent YOUR community. A point blank refusal to answer straightforward questions when they're on the hustings might lead us to think that they are scared of making their feelings known on the issues that matter in their communities, or that they're uncomfortable with spontaneous interactions with their constituents.

*Of course, it goes without saying that you should NEVER record interviews where you haven't asked permission first, or otherwise break the law in gathering news

Display 4 of 4 comments