NEWS DESK
Frankston lobbies against port plans Keith Platt keith@baysidenews.com.au Game on: Arcade game adversaries Donkey Kong (Paul Edbrooke) and Mario (Sean Armistead) take a break in political hostilities to catch up for a drink. Pic digitally altered by Gary Sissons
It’s on like Donkey Kong ANY goodwill between Frankston Labor MP Paul Edbrooke and narrowly defeated Liberal candidate for Frankston Sean Armistead has disappeared in the wake of comments made by Mr Edbrooke in Parliament. The pair had been on friendly terms in the immediate aftermath of Mr Edbrooke’s victory in last year’s state election with Mr Armistead calling the Labor man “a gentleman throughout the campaign�. When speaking about the state budget in Parliament late last month, Mr Edbrooke turned his attention to Mr Armistead’s Facebook page which, he claimed, “has more pictures of me on it than mine has�. Mr Edbrooke said Mr Armistead is “an aspiring politician waiting for his party to feed him a rubbish opinion. I note that he now suffers from relevance deprivation on Facebook.� Mr Armistead, who missed out on winning the seat of Frankston by less than 200 votes, has taken to social media to continue to push the Liberals’ cause in the months after the state election. In Parliament, Frankston MP Mr Edbrooke listed Labor
projects such as the TAFE Rescue Fund as showing “it’s on like Donkey Kong in Frankstonâ€? while talking about Mr Armistead’s Facebook page. When contacted by The Times Mr Armistead said he found Mr Edbrooke’s comments “bizarreâ€?. “I think it’s bizarre that the member for Frankston is wasting Parliamentary time carping about me as a former candidate,â€? he said. “In my mind it really shows how inexperienced or naĂŻve he is as a new member of Parliament.â€? He said he would continue “to hold him [Mr Edbrooke] to accountâ€? when he believed Labor is not delivering on its pre-election promises to the Frankston community. The phrase “It’s on like Donkey Kongâ€?, a reference to an arcade game first released by Nintendo in 1981, commonly means “that it’s time to throw down or compete at a high level; something is about to go downâ€? according to online slang words dictionary Urban Dictionary. Former N.W.A. hip hop group member Ice Cube coined the term “It’s on like Donkey Kongâ€? in his 1992 rap song Now I Gotta Wet’Cha. Neil Walker
FRANKSTON Council says its call for a container port at Hastings is based on economic benefits and concern for the environment. The mayor Cr Sandra Mayer said on Friday that the state government’s “commendable� plan to remove rail level crossings “should not come at the expense of the south east and in particular Frankston City�. Before the November 2014 state election Frankston was touting itself as the logical commercial hub for an expanded port at Hastings. But those dreams have faded with the Labor government planning to lease the Port of Melbourne along with a promise of no new competitive port for 50 years. Infrastructure Victoria will investigate whether a container port is eventually best built at Bay West, in north of Geelong in Port Phillip or Hastings. In the lead-up to the 2014 election Labor favoured Bay West. Cr Mayer said Frankston Council had written to all members of the Legislative Council urging them to block the government’s bill for a long-term lease of the Port of Melbourne. “A long-term lease will effectively kill off the Port of Hastings expansion for the foreseeable future, and that means killing off a major employment boost in our region,� she said. “In addition, if the Port of Melbourne
remains our state’s only major port, further destructive dredging will be necessary at the Port Phillip Heads to cater for larger container ships, potentially having a serious impact on the Mornington Peninsula tourism industry.â€? State and federal Liberal MPs have claimed the seabed at the Heads will need to be blasted to provide sufficient depth for larger ships. However, logistics experts from Victoria University who say the world’s largest ships will never come to Melbourne. Cr Mayer also makes no mention of the estimated 24 million cubic metres of dredging required in Western Port for a container port at Hastings. “Given the Mornington Peninsula region was recently voted one of the world’s top 20 destinations by National Geographic, anything that jeopardises our local environment would be grossly irresponsible,â€? Cr Mayer said. Following in the wake of the scaling down of the Port of Hastings Development Authority Cr Mayer said her council wants a resumption of the studies into the Port of Hastings. â€œâ€Ś If blocking the legislation in the upper house is the best way of doing so then council supports this move,â€? Cr Mayer said. “Given the potential environmental impacts of dredging at the Port Phillip Heads this is a matter of state wide importance and I ask all members of the Legislative Council to vote in the best interests of Victoria.â€?
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Frankston Times 13 July 2015
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