Giant PR machine swings into gear against the Convoy

It’s important for the big-government-dependent parties to deny the power of the Convoy.

Less than a week ago, there was a rally at Parliament House with around 3,000-5,000 people. And today there was another one, this one with around 600 vehicles according to Matt and Janet Thompson, and this one by people who have gone to extraordinary lengths, driving up to 5,000 kilometers from all corners of the country.

The convoy is a rolling protest that involved thousands of people across the nation. In Sydney, people switched their headlights on in sympathy, and Andrew Bolt records at least one witness suggesting half the cars on the road had their lights on.

Feelings and support for the convoy are widespread and running high. One of the convoy supporters from near Clermont reports: ‘In only 24 hours, we gathered 300 signatures for the petition, local beef producers had organised fuel donations of over $13,000 and the CWA had organised food and drinks for everyone on the convoy. This support from a town of only 2000 was amazing and a testament to a united effort.’

Dale Stiller’s comment is typical on Just Grounds: The convoy has experienced nothing but support. There have been […]

Gillard has a problem: Growing Convoy on the way — powers through North Queensland!

1,410 miles or 2,270 km to go

Fifty cars, trucks and vans, and there were at least four helicopters watching the action as the North Queensland Convoy headed through Charters Towers. Images like these will make the Labor Party break into a sweat.

These pics from the You tube of the aerial shots as the convoy went through Charters Towers.

The Convoy travels through Charters Towers

Over 100 in the convoy in the NT last night! ANNIE HESSE Katherine Times (via Carbon Sense Coalition Blog) 18 Aug, 2011 09:17 AM A Convoy of more than 100 vehicles – including road trains, campervans and utes – rolled into Katherine last night to show their support for the Convoy of no Confidence, a convoy heading to Canberra to raise a voice against recent government decisions.

Rashida Khan, who led a trail of vehicles from Darwin to Katherine yesterday, said she was on her way to Canberra to speak up for “some of the toughest people” she knows, who “have been pushed to the edge by the decision to ban live export”.

Have a look at the convoy passing through Ingham: (H/t Val Malkus). Send in those links!

7 out of 10 […]

More photos from both sides of a Nation protesting!

UPDATED: Former CSIRO researcher talks about the lack of freedom to speak against the government.

See Angry Anderson’s speech and Art Raiches speech about the decline of CSIRO: Art Raiche on CSIRO Canberra Protest. Dr Raiche talked of the days when the CSIRO was a world class organisation and worked for Australia, Agriculture and Industry.

“Management learned how to bring the most senior climate scientist under their control. It was OK to think independently…as long as Management approved of it.

We were given very strict, VERY strict guidelines on not publishing anything or publicly discussing any research that could be seen as critical to Government policy.If we did not do it, we would be subject to dismissal.

We had now become a Government Enterprise. We were told by the Chairperson that we Scientists no longer worked for Australia, we had to learn that we worked for the CSIRO.”

Destination Canberra – nearly 4000 km away

This is a protest to set records. For these vehicles in Perth, it’s 4 days of driving nearly every waking hour (and another 4 days minimum to return). The cost of petrol, accommodation, wear and tear and camper-hire, not […]

Convoy leaving from Perth 7am tomorrow (Thursday)

Janet Thompson, organizer of the Perth Convoy (the Orange convoy) writes to me:

The Perth Convoy departs Thursday 7am sharp at Belmont Racecourse.

Please come and drive with them for a short while just to give them a big send off on their long journey to Canberra.

Janet also says: “Hey, you gotta watch this!” It’s a Convoy wrap up on Youtube. Nicely done too.

Matt and Janet explain below in a youtube spot, why they are joining the convoy, (as usual, they selflessly don’t mention their own shocking story).

5.5 out of 10 based on 2 ratings […]

Is this Australia’s Tea-Party Moment?

Tomorrow, a road convoy will set off from Port Hedland in Western Australia for a journey across the country. Two more convoys will leave Perth and Cairns on Thursday. By the end of this week, 11 convoys will be in motion, all heading to a single convergence point next Monday. This is the ”convoy of no confidence”. [SMH]

Finally, the mainstream media has realized the Convoy of No Confidence is historic, real, and unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Monday, the news was front page of The Australian (Mass convoy to make ‘real’ voices heard), and thanks to Paul Sheehan, was featured by The Sydney Morning Herald too (Cattlemen driven to desperation by Canberra).

FOR some it’s climate change alarmism; for others too much wasted taxpayers’ money on boatpeople, school halls, or pink batts; and for others still it’s the importation of Chinese apples, the temporary ban on the live cattle trade, or same-sex couples rearing children.

But the common thread in what is emerging as a national Tea Party-style revolt in the form of a “Convoy of No Confidence” to Canberra is a burning conviction that politicians of all persuasions have lost […]

The Petition, and flyers and posters for the convoy

In some towns closer to Canberra there will be so many vehicles that the AFP, and local councils have been called in to help. Some convoys are so large that up to five separate ovals and fields are being arranged per town to accommodate all the traffic overnight.

The final petition has been put together. Many thanks to commentors here. I was not involved in writing it, but I did connect together the people who did, and they found the feedback here useful. Thanks 🙂

Download the final petition PDF file. 7.8 out of 10 based on 4 ratings […]

The DRAFT(?) petition the Convoy will carry to Canberra is available

UPDATE #2

The final petition will be released NEXT WEEK. Thanks to commenters for feedback here, it’s been very useful and passed on to all the people that matter. It’s been decided that the petition will be redone. The preferential voting point has been dropped and I think the rest of the petition will be carefully reconsidered too. Time is short, so that’s a shame, but Mick Pattel wants to do this properly. And oh my goodness, but the plans for this Convoy are becoming bigger than Ben Hur. You should hear behind the scenes! They are looking for 4 or 5 ovals in some towns in order to accommodate the trucks and cars and caravans… HUGE! — Jo

The Convoy to Canberra protest is generating a massive response. Organizers have been astounded at the number of cars and trucks joining in. Gobsmacked! It is shaping up to be a historic event! Remember, even if you can’t drive the whole way, you can show you support and join the convoy just for an hour, especially at the start to send them on their way! 🙂

The cover of the petition is copied below for people to read. Please […]

Overflow thread – Convoy of No Confidence

It’s time to flow over…

These were the second 500 comments on the Convoy Thread.

Click here to see the original post on The Convoy of No Confidence.

 

The original numbers of these comments was numbers 500 – 1000.

6.7 out of 10 based on 3 ratings

The Convoy of no confidence is amassing towards Canberra

Something beautiful is unfolding. From all over Australia, people whose businesses and jobs are being driven into the ground by spectacular government mismanagement are gathering to drive from the corners of the continent to converge on Canberra to demand an election.

Cars, utes and semitrailers are descending on Canberra from all over the country

A large map for printing and the media CONVOY JPG (600kb) or CONVOY TIF (2.6Mb)

The productive class may not have easy rent-a-crowds for rallies and chirpy letter campaigns, but they have something that the keen teens do not — they have capital assets — in this case, assets that move.

When it’s obvious money and choices are being poured down a bottomless well, people are prepared to go that extra mile, or in this case the extra 4,000.*

It started with Mick Pattel — a livestock transporter from North West Queensland — who suffered a 50 percent drop in business when the Federal Government banned live exports to Indonesia. According to Beef Central he declared that the time has come for a re-election. The owner/driver from Richmond, who also serves as president of the National Road Freighters Association, started planning a protest […]