There's nothing like a reliable and committed Branch

Well, we’re close to the end of the first week of the official campaign and we’re counting down to 21 August 2010.

Last Saturday we woke up to morning television saturated with repetitive shots of Julia Gillard (pictured) boarding the plane from Melbourne to Canberra. These were quickly replaced by continual long empty shots of the road to the Quentin’s house. In the background, news crews loitered wrapped in coats and scarves. Morning show presenters filled these empty shots with chatter about Mel and Oxana.

Surely a tracking airmap of Julia’s plane flying from Melbourne to Canberra would have been more fascinating. Thank god she didn’t decide to drive to Canberra although if she had, we may have been treated to 'car-cam', perhaps a bit of road trip music and the occasional glimpse of some cows. The one lesson we should learn from this is that the road leading to Quentin’s house needs some colour and if we are going to have to endure television like this ever again, can someone ask Quentin to line her street with some potted colour?

Back in Brisbane, Annerley Branch members had to tear themselves away from this riveting television to set up street stalls around the Moreton and Griffith electorates. Sadly, dedicated branch members missed out on live scenes of Julia’s plane landing, the drive to Government House and the shots of Quentin letting her in.

I set up a street stall wondering if Quentin was going to answer the door in her dressing gown and if so, what colour would it be. Sadly again, I will never know, too busy putting up Kevin Rudd corflutes and handing out Graham Perrett shopping lists.

The Annerley Branch are committed to winning two seats (apart from winning government). Our two electorates have different temperaments and challenges. In Griffith, we face the continual and false speculation that our candidate is really not standing, and in Moreton, we need to continue to strengthen and maintain our local support if we are to win again.

As we go into Week Two, it’s great to see how reliable and committed our Branch is to these two campaigns. It’s hard waking up early, it’s hard out there in the cold and it’s hard to pull ourselves away from riveting Saturday television. Here’s to it all being worthwhile on 21 August 2010.

Sasha M