Author: media

Hi there folks, the Ruddster Anthony Ackroyd here.

I’m the Bullet Train for Australia candidate in the Griffith by-election.

I’ll be your new member of parliament once you great people vote for me on Feb 8.

Along with putting Australia’s first comedian into Canberra (excluding the current clowns), you will also get a brand new Bullet Train that takes you to Gold Coast and Sunshine coast in just 15 minutes!

Griffith has a great story. The Story Bridge. But the story doesn’t end there. We have 8 great bridges in Griffith: the Go Between, Goodwill, Kurilpa, Victoria, Grey Street, Pacific motorway, and railway bridges. And we’ve also got a tunnel called Clem.

But, my good peeps, something is missing – we don’t have a bridge to the future. We’re missing out.

We’re being ripped off by the boring parties and their ‘time warp’ approach to nation building.

That’s why we need to build the Bullet Train for Australia. And that’s why YOU need to vote for ME, your good old buddy the Ruddster – Anthony Ackroyd.

A Bullet Train for Australia will be our greatest infrastructure project ever. It will mean fast travel times to the beach, and interstate; over 100,000 new jobs, and less aircraft noise over your house.

You can sleep easy knowing that there will be fewer planes in the air, less cars on the road, and less pollution in the air as we start travelling in 350+ km/h Bullet Trains.

Who do you know? Who do you trust? Who do you really want to represent you?

Not the big party politicians. That just means more of the same rubbish and lies.

I’m the man for you, and you’re the people for me, and I won’t go seeing other electorates on the side like some ‘local’ members. I’m committed to Griffithites – this is no casual affair for me.

So let’s you and I consummate on Feb 8. Griffith needs more than a stock standard, puffed up politician to represent them in Canberra – Griffith needs a man with style, flair, wit, killer gags and a Thank you in advance for delivering me a glorious victory.

All aboard for an exciting future!
The Ruddster – Anthony Ackroyd

See other candidate statements on the Westender

State Library has been transformed into an explosion of colour for new exhibition Our Dreaming: animating country.

Large scale projections, three-dimensional art installations, augmented reality, hands-on activities and a wide range of animated films combine in the exhibition, which showcases stories from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Acting State Librarian Prashant Pandey says the exhibition carries a message about the importance of storytelling and the role of new technologies in continuing this tradition.

“State Library is dedicated to preserving Queensland’s diverse stories. Our Dreaming: animating country explores how new technologies have contemporised traditional storytelling, preserving these stories for future generations.”

Mr Pandey said that visitors are encouraged to leave their mark on the exhibition by way of interactive activities.

“There are opportunities for both the young and the young at heart to draw inspiration from the exhibition, bring their own stories to life and add them to the space for other visitors to discover.”

Our Dreaming: animating country takes place throughout the library until 9 June, with three exhibition spaces to explore.

SLQ Gallery has been transformed into a neon wonderland showcasing 18 animations from The Dreaming series by Aboriginal Nations Australia (ANA). The award-winning animation series is used widely as a teaching resource in Australian educational curricula. This is the first time the series has been featured in an exhibition in Australia.

Philip Bacon Heritage Gallery has been transformed into an animation studio, offering a behind the scenes glimpse of how animation artwork is created and providing an opportunity for visitors to try their hand at stop-motion and traditional two-dimensional animation.

Our Dreaming: animating country in the kuril dhagun space tells Indigenous stories through Indigenous voices. Featured are nine digital storytelling projects that have been carried out in recent years in Indigenous communities. The resulting films present a collection of retold traditional stories, new urban legends, and personal stories about country.

“Our Dreaming: animating country is a celebration. It celebrates the vibrancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, the power of animation as a storytelling medium, and each person’s own unique story which we hope they will share with us,” said Mr Pandey.

Our Dreaming: animating country runs until 9 June 2014. For more information on the full program, visit slq.qld.gov.au.

45,000 people in seat of Griffith have solar, thanks to Renewable Energy Target.

Analysis released today by the Australian Solar Council shows over 45,000 residents in the electorate of Griffith have solar PV or solar hot water systems on their homes.

“This analysis confirms the importance of the Renewable Energy Target to the people of Griffith, who will be electing their new federal MP on 8 February”, said John Grimes, Chief Executive of the Australian Solar Council.

“There are tens of thousands more considering getting solar PV or hot water right now and they would be horrified to hear the Federal Government is considering radically changing the Renewable Energy Target.”

“Those other Griffith voters are entitled to invest their own funds to get the same power savings benefits as the existing 45,000 people in Griffith who already have installed solar.”

“The Renewable Energy Target works. It helps Australians reduce their power bills by installing solar, and in the future will help build big solar plants throughout the Sunshine State.”

“The Renewable Energy Target has also helped create an important new industry, with more than 18,000 Australians working in the solar industry. Given the size of the Griffith market, it’s likely that a hundred or more people in Griffith work in the solar industry.”

“Make no mistake – if the Renewable Energy Target is abolished, there will be massive job losses and hundreds of thousands of Queenslanders will miss out on the chance to reduce their power bills.”

“The Australian Solar Council calls on all candidates in the Griffith by-election to support an expansion of the Renewable Energy Target to ensure Queensland reaps the benefits of being the Sunshine State.”

“The Australian Solar Council calls on Griffith voters to ask their candidates the hot question: do you back the Renewable Energy Target?”

“Analysis by the REC Agents Association shows the cost of the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme – a key part of the Renewable Energy Target – will be just 0.3% of the power bill in 2015. That’s $1.90 out of an average $500 quarterly power bill.”

Griffith by-election Labor candidate Terri Butler stood up for motorists, truckies and their families this morning when she took her pledge to save the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal for a safer and fairer road transport industry.

Held at a Transport Workers’ Union members barbeque, TWU State Secretary Peter Biagini said Ms Butler showed her commitment to the people of Griffith and to the unacceptably high level of fatal truck crashes on our roads.

‘Hundreds of people die in truck crashes each year on Australian roads, devastating families and communities in Queensland and across the country,’ Mr Biagini said.

‘Truck drivers share the roads with everyone else, that’s why Safe Rates is so important.’

‘Look at the last week, already we’ve seen far too many truck fires, crashes and deaths on Queensland roads.’

‘Safe Rates through the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal will remove the economic pressures major companies put on drivers to skip breaks, delay maintenance and work faster and longer to deliver their goods,’ Mr Biagini said.

‘Truck drivers are out there on the roads everyday trying to make a living and deserve to get home to their families safely at the end of the day.’

Joined at the barbeque by Opposition Leader and Safe Rates advocate Bill Shorten, Ms Butler said she understood the pressures on her community and looked forward to delivering in parliament on their behalf.

‘Safe Rates is important to the people of Griffith because it means drivers can afford to properly maintain their vehicles, can drive safely without having to meet impossible deadlines, and can earn a fair wage that allows them to put food on the family table,’ Ms Butler said.

‘Safe Rates make our trucking sector viable and sustainable – and they save lives.

‘Now it’s time for Mr Glasson to let the local community know if he think it’s ok for truckies to be squeezed to breaking point just to put food on the table.’

Healthy Waterways and Sea World Research & Rescue Foundation have announced a grants program to help fight plastic pollution

Healthy Waterways and the Sea World Research & Rescue Foundation have launched a Community Marine Debris Grant Scheme to fight against the staggering amount of litter entering South East Queensland’s waterways and threatening marine wildlife.

Healthy Waterways’ Clean Up Crew collects over 250,000 items of floating litter from South East Queensland’s waterways every year – and this is just the tip of the iceberg. The Community Marine Debris Grant Scheme is offering 14 grants to support catchment groups, schools, landholders and the general community in South East Queensland to undertake on-ground waterway litter cleanup activities for the long-term prevention of marine debris.

Chief Executive Officer of Healthy Waterways, Ms Julie McLellan, said Healthy Waterways and the Sea World Research & Rescue Foundation hope to inspire the community to get involved in the issue of waterway litter.

“Waterway litter and marine debris, particularly plastic, pose a serious threat to sea turtles and other marine wildlife. These grants are a great opportunity to monitor the impacts of waterway litter while encouraging people to lend a hand in cleaning up their local waterway,” Ms McLellan said.

“Up to 14 projects can be supported through the grant scheme and each successful applicant will receive up to $1,000 to support waterway litter cleanup activities,” she said.

Director of Sea World Research & Rescue Foundation, Trevor Long, said marine debris is a huge problem for marine life especially for some of the many turtles the foundation rescue and rehabilitate each year.

“This program aims to gather information regarding the extent of marine debris in South East Queensland while also raising community awareness about the issue. Together with Healthy Waterways and the community we feel we can make a difference in addressing this growing problem,” he said.

Grant applications close on Monday 10 February 2014. For more information, visit www.healthywaterways.org

The Coffee Club today announced their new range of colourful babycino karma cups, which are now available at all Queensland stores to help raise funds for the Children’s Hospital Foundation Australia. $1 from each cup sold will help fund ongoing treatments and long stays of little patients in the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Babycinos are free at The Coffee Club and are proving more popular than ever with young customers, as over 7,000 babycinos are ordered each week across the 140 Coffee Club stores throughout Queensland.

John Lazarou, Director of The Coffee Club, said the group has loved supporting the Children’s Hospital Foundation for the past 13 years and is very excited to launch the range of babycino karma cups as its latest initiative to help raise funds for an extremely worthwhile cause.

“What better way to raise money for the Royal Children’s Hospital, than making something for the kids. Our junior customers can collect and re-use these on each trip to The Coffee Club with mum or dad, all while helping the Children’s Hospital Foundation. They are colourful, fun, lightweight and a nice take home too,” said John.

According to the Children’s Hospital Foundation, the funds raised will also go towards providing fun bedside entertainment to help brighten the day of little patients while they are in hospital.

The Coffee Club are big supporters of the Children’s Hospital Foundation; donating funds raised from The Coffee Club’s Charity Ball and also supporting the Special Children’s Christmas Parties as well as the B105 Christmas Appeal each year.

The babycino karma cups are refillable, reusable and collectable, available in five different colours – pink, purple, green, blue and black.

Last year, The Coffee Club served 364,000 babycinos and 40 million cups of coffee and proudly employs more than 6,000 people nationally. The Coffee Club is open seven days a week with varying trading hours across Australia, depending on location.