KAP ON HUNT FOR LONE MP
THERE was talk this week that One Nation Member for Mirani, Stephen Andrew, would do a switcheroo to Katter’s Australian Party. Were KAP and One Nation’s Mr Andrew sharing the same sleeping bag or were they sleeping in separate swags? Voyeurs of all things political were saying KAP had baited the hook and was waiting for Mr Andrew to bite. He is the sole ON Member in the Queensland Parliament. That makes it a pretty lonely gig. The only blokes he has anything in common with are the three KAP members, Robbie Katter, Shane Knuth and Nick Dametto. Mr Andrew is a keen pig hunter and so is Mr Knuth. The pair of them surely must get together in the Members Bar for regular catchups on the yarns and photos in Bacon Busters and Chicks Smashing Grunters ( they get it for the stories) magazines. Mirani runs from just south of Mackay to Mt Morgan, down near Rockhampton, and is prime grunter hunter territory. Mr Andrew phoned me back yesterday to say he’s good mates with Robbie and the boys, but he was sticking with One Nation. “It’s good to feel wanted, but I’m a One Nation person, always have been,” he said. The conversation meandered a bit, but Mr Andrew did tell me that during his days off last week he disposed of 126 feral pigs on a property northwest of Mackay.
Beat that, Shane Knuth.
WET PAINT AND PUDDLEDUCK
SIXTEEN thousand visitors have been through Winton’s new $ 23 million Waltzing Matilda since it opened on April 20. Governor- General Peter Cosgrove did the opening along with our Premier “A to Z” ( they call her that because just about every letter is in her name, Annastacia Palaszczuk). Those at the opening might recall that Cosgrove, upon moving to the lectern to make his opening speech placed his hands palm down on the woodwork. He immediately lifted them up, looked at the fresh, black paint on his palms and calmly said “wet paint” and went on to deliver his speech. No bother, no fuss, from the best man- of- thepeople Governor- General we’ve ever had. I asked Mayor Gavin Baskett about the paint incident this week. He laughed and said the lectern had actually been painted the previous morning. It had an entire day and then some to dry, but for some reason remained wet. I asked him if council was cutting costs and buying its paint from the Reject Shop or was it Black and Gold paint from Coles? He assured me it was of the highest quality. Paintgate is destined to go down as on one of Winton’s enduring mysteries. Now, getting back to Premier “A to Z”. I was talking to a bloke the other day and he referred to her as “Annie Puddleduck”, which he reckoned was easier to pronounce.
OASIS OF THE ROAD IS UP FOR GRABS
IT is not every day that a rolled gold outback roadhouse comes on the market. The Lynd Oasis Roadhouse on the Hann Highway, just down from the junction of the Gregory Development Rd and the Kennedy Highway, 240km northwest of Townsville, is for sale. It has many distinguishing features, chief of which is the wardrobe- sized bar measuring 1.37m by 1.42m. While it is undoubtedly the smallest bar in Australia, it is most likely the second smallest bar in the world. An indepth Talk of the North investigation found the Guinness Book of Records lists the smallest bar in the world at the Dove Inn in London. It’s 1.27m by 2.39m ( we have yet to see proof the Dove Inn is in fact a bar with its own servery and not just an alcove or faux bar). The record for the number of people crammed into the Oasis bar is 25. Here’s something else: You haven’t lived until you’ve had an Oasis burger.