Queensland Government

4PM UPDATE: SEE BELOW FOR DAVID’S PICS FROM MAGNETIC ISLAND TODAY

Regular Punch reader and commenter David Pierce spent the night in his weatherboard home on Magnetic Island, 8km off Townsville, bunkered down against the fury of Cyclone Yasi with his wife and two children.

“My darkest moment came when the wind shifted and stuff was breaking up and hitting the house,” he told The Punch this morning. “The worst part was not knowing what was hitting the house.”

Fortunately, Pierce and his family got though the night. (Check the wind gusts at a nearby weather station on this link). And as he spends today cleaning up the debris in his yard, he has no doubt why Yasi’s human toll has been so low.

Continue reading "Survivor’s tale: over-warned is better than under-prepared" »

The worst thing which can be said about a politician in a time of crisis is that they are trying to cash in on a tragedy for electoral gain.

Only the most miserable cynic could make such an assertion against the Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, whose performance this week has been dutiful, sober and workmanlike as she has kept her state and the rest of the nation up to date with the latest on the flood situation.

After Kristina Keneally in NSW, who also faces an election this year, Anna Bligh is the least popular state leader in Australia and is just as likely as her NSW counterpart to be removed by the voters when her government goes to the polls. Perhaps it’s for this reason that Bligh has adopted such a bullshit-free approach in her handling of these appalling floods, acting like a person who knows she probably won’t be around much longer, and would like to be remembered for at least doing the right thing during such an extraordinary crisis.

Continue reading "How Anna Bligh, politician, acted just like a human" »