Shock tactics!

Is it just me or does everyone welcome the debate over drunken teens on the Sunshine Coast?

Yesterday, on Mix FM, Mark and I spoke to a local policeman who said he has had enough – and wants to get out of the service.

The long term cop said his colleagues were calling for tasers, because they need them to control crowds of drunk kids. This guy was adamant – NOBODY in the force wants to taser a kid – but teenagers are big these days, and when they’re on the drink they can get out of control.

We saw it this weekend on the Sunshine Coast (see below)

Something I didn’t know when I posted yesterday - one of my work colleagues was bashed and robbed in Maroochydore on Saturday night….by drunk young thugs. Peter is a young guy – he was walking near the Big Top talking on this phone and he was hit from behind and set upon…. He looks like he’s been in a motor bike accident.

Late yesterday the Queensland Government conceded, youth violence has gone far enough. Within six months every police officer on the sunshine coast will be armed with a taser…..

As with all these things – there are two sides to every debate.

This morning on the air we took a call from a mother whose 16 year old daughter was arrested at Mooloolaba on Saturday Night.

The girl claims that when she tried to hide her drink from police, it smashed in the garden and the police put her on the ground and hit her with the baton.

Her mother is concerned about what might have happened, if the policeman was holding a taser.

Let me know what you think….
On balance, I’m on the side of the police. I know they’re not perfect. I’ve seen it myself, when police treat young people disrespectfully. But like I said, on balance, I’m on the side of the police. Stay out of their way, don’t act like a tool and I’m pretty sure you won’t be tasered!

Child protection...everybody's business!

Is it just me or does everyone really think we need to start talking about teen drinking on the Sunshine Coast?

Who wants to be a police officer at the moment?


About 100 people were arrested at Australia Day celebrations on the Sunshine Coast over the weekend. Maroochydore watch house actually ran out of beds.


In Noosa, two police officers were attacked in the Noosa Woods on Saturday afternoon …by teenagers.


Also in Noosa, a 13 year old girl was arrested after being found ‘heavily intoxicated’ in Hastings Street. The girl was taken to the cop shop – her parents were called and when Darling Dad turned up he gave the police a dressing down and returned his daughter to the party in Hastings Street.

Meanwhile, in Mooloolaba at McDonalds, hundreds gathered after the Saturday Night fireworks.


Around 3.30am they smashed the window of the Subway restaurant and the poor kids at Macca’s had to lock themselves inside the store, in fear of their safety.

I saw the vision on local news last night – I didn’t see anyone over 18 in any shot….

We have a culture of drinking in Australia. I know that.


I know lots of parents are happy for their 16 17 year olds to drink – and it’s legal for them to do it at home – but IT IS NOT LEGAL FOR THEM TO DRINK ON THE STREET.

It’s not legal for anyone, actually.

On the radio this morning Mark and I were called by a police officer who said he’s had enough.

He reminded us that police in Queensland are calling for more taser trials. They are already using capsicum spray just about every day – often on children.


And, if you let your kid out on Saturday night – without managing their access to alcohol or what time they got home or who they were with – then you can't complain when they suffer a squirt of capsicum spray. A 110kg drunk bloke causing trouble is a problem for police, it doesn't matter how old he is.


On that note, if your kid is drunk and in public (possibly behaving like a tool) then they are at risk of being king hit or stabbed or raped. It happens every single weekend.


As a parent it is your job to protect your child from themself.

Hindsight.....

Is it just me or does everyone wonder if we’ll ever learn?

Heath Ledger is dead. He was rich, famous, handsome, hounded and now he’s dead.
It will be days before we know exactly what killed Heath but whatever it was, it found him all alone in a Soho loft.

There was always something fragile about Heath Ledger. I’ve loved every movie he’s done (except Four Feathers, that was a little bit crap) and been mesmerised by the megawatt smile.

But I also bought the bull. I worried that he didn’t like us much in Australia and it made me wary of him.

I certainly haven’t wasted sleep over Heath, I just never raved about him. I’ve never been as proud of him as I should have been.

Now he’s dead and there’s new press. Audio grabs of Heath having a laugh and saying beautiful things about the people he worked with and the women he loved. Stories of how he saved every “per diem” from acting jobs and sent them home to a mate in Australia still waiting for his big break.

His school principal wants us all to know that Heath Ledger never forgot where he came from. He stayed in touch with his school mates and every last one was welcome to a spare bed in Soho.

Apparently, when their neighbourhood in Brooklyn had an environmental competition, Heath and his (then) fiancé Michelle Williams painted their house green – just to give everyone a laugh.

I don’t know where these stories were a week ago but I wonder if they might have changed the way Heath Ledger felt about himself and if that might have made a difference in the end.

It also makes me wonder where the good press is on Britney or Paris. It’s ridiculously easy to believe there is none, but then again, maybe we’re just waiting until they die too, then slightly shame-faced, we’ll celebrate their good side.

In almost related news, I saw a great movie this week.

Charlie Wilson is a real live Texan. In the 1980s he was a hard-drinking, hard-snorting congressman, famous for womanising and honesty. A very unlikely crusader.

Through a friend he learned of carnage in Afghanistan. The hundreds of thousands of dead and homeless sacrificed by the Russians as they advanced across the border.

Charlie Wilson visited the refugee camps and met the victims of “toy bombs”, a shiny piece of evil rained down daily on Afghan villages. Toy bombs would glint in the sun enticingly and when kids ran to pick them up, they’d explode in their hands.

The soviets figured every wounded child needed an adult to care for it and that was one less grown-up available for the war effort.

I’m not sure how historically correct the movie is, but I support the sentiment, so bear with me.

In short, with Charlie Wilson’s support, nearly a billion dollars was allocated to help the Afghan Mujahideen expel the Soviets.

Charlie Wilson convinced congress that America was wrong to let innocent women and children take the bullets that were indirectly intended for the US.

America allowed Charlie Wilson his war, providing it stayed under the radar. Providing nobody ever found out where the money was coming from.

The Soviet army eventually called it quits in Afghanistan in 1989, within one year the Berlin Wall was down and the Cold War was all but over.

Immediately the US withdrew all support and money for Afghanistan and the rest is history. Civil war broke out, the Taliban came to power and America had effectively armed a nation of people who hated its guts.

Not for one second do I blame the War on Terror on a small piece of US foreign policy but it’s still an important lesson.

We reap what we sow.

When we turn our back on people who need us, even when they’re the rich and famous, there will be consequences.

Our Heath....

Is it just me or does everyone suspect that fame and fortune are not all they’re cracked up to be?

Heath Ledger has been found dead in a Manhattan apartment. Alone, and surrounded by pills, he was discovered by his housekeeper when a massuese arrived for an appointment.

Not that long ago, Heath Ledger was just a kid from Perth. His mum is a French teacher his dad is a race car driver and a mining engineer. They split up when Heath was 10.

He went to Mary’s Mount Primary School and Guildford Grammar. He was a pretty good hockey player and led the school to its first and only Rock Eisteddfod victory!

He did some local tv, and met a slightly older actor called Martin Henderson. Before he finished school he left and headed to Sydney with his best mate to bunk on the floor at Martin’s house.

That was in 1996 and it wasn’t long before Heath got a break. He was in a short lived Foxtel thing called Roar quickly followed by a couple of no name Australian movies.

His big break though was probably Two Hands with Bryan Brown. That got him noticed in America and he did Ten things I hate about you with Julia Stiles.

After that, teen movie offers started pouring in and he turned them all down. He lived on the bread line for a year before finally being asked to audition for the role of Mel Gibson’s son in The Patriot.

And I guess the rest is history. Very selective with his movies. A great actor (That's what I think anyway). Cranky with the media. Dead at 28.

Rest in peace.

Not dead yet!

Is it just me or does everyone wonder what might be said at their funeral?

Country star Chad Morgan got the shock of his life yesterday when a radio station reported he had passed away. Mark and I chatted to him earlier this morning and can confirm he is alive and well at the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

It’s not the first time someone has been mistakenly reported dead. Remember a few years ago when an obituary writer preparing for the Queen Mother’s demise accidentally posted his work on the internet and news organisations around the world went crazy?

I always thought that would have been depressing for the poor Queen Mum the moment she realise the whole world was expecting her to cark it - any damn second!

My next door neighbour Jeff Watson (who is standing in division 8 - upcoming council elections) told me another beauty yesterday – apparently the most famous "mistaken obituary" was Alfred Nobel.

A French newspaper printed the headline - "The merchant of death is dead" The story began "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." Apparently Dr Nobel made his fortune inventing dynamite.

Anyway, when he read his own obituary, Nobel was so shocked at the newspaper's summary of his life that he decided he wanted to change the way he would be remembered.

So, before he died he committed millions to set up a special prize, now known as the Nobel Peace Prize. Hopefully, he got a much nicer obituary because of it!


The other famous "mistaken obituary" was when the New York Journal reported the death of author Mark Twain had died. Mark Twain responded with a telegram: "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

Imaginary friends!

Is it just me or does everyone have great memories of an imaginary friend?

There’s a story in the Sunshine Coast Daily today about a bloke arrested on the Bruce Highway at the weekend after a car accident - www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008/jan/20/imaginary-friend-blamed-crash/

Despite being well over the blood alcohol limit, the arrested man assured police there was no cause for alarm, because he wasn't actually driving the car when it crashed! Apparently it was a mate he picked up at the casino in Brisbane. He didn’t know the man’s name or where he lived, and the alleged driver was nowhere to be seen at the time…..but the arrested fellow was adamant…it was a mate driving – not him!

I had an imaginary friend. His name was Little Monkey and he was 7 years old – I was 4 at the time, so seven seemed to me a very cool age, something I could only aspire to!

Apparently I used to drive my family mad with Little Monkey. No one could tell me anything, because Little Monkey had already told me.

Mum says when my older brother and sister were at school and I wasn’t, every afternoon they’d get in the car and try to tell mum what they’d learned. I’d be in the front seat saying, “Yeah…yep…knew that…uh huh….Little Monkey already told me that."

If Brigid and Lenox (that's my older sister and brother) could have found Little Monkey – I’m pretty sure they would have killed him…

My son Gabe had an imaginary friend too, with a much better life than him! The imaginary friend was an elephant called Dinghy whose dad was a policeman and his mum worked in a wire shop…a wire shop (by the way) is somewhere you can take absolutely anything that needs fixing and Dinghy’s mum could fix it. She was a very handy woman, much more useful than Gabe’s mum!!!!

Anyway, provided they’re not crashing your car, imaginary friends are pretty useful.

Experts say by age 7, nearly two-thirds of children had had at least one imaginary friend. Some kids have heaps more than that. They are good for company, creativity or helping kids through a difficult period, like starting kindergarten or pre school (and annoying the crap out of older siblings…obviously)

When you gamble, you must be prepared to lose!

Is it just me, or does every person wonder what’s next?

That’s me. Sometimes I think it’s the best thing about me. Sometimes I think it’s the worst.

I am back at work this week after a tilt at federal politics.

In October last year, six weeks before Australia went to the polls, I announced a plan to run as an independent for the seat of Fisher.

It was always going to be big job but I love politics, I have completely lost my heart to the Sunshine Coast and I felt (feel) very strongly that we would be better served by an independent.

Turns out, the electorate didn’t agree (a pox on democracy).

Sometimes, in quiet moments, I feel a little embarrassed by the election result.
STOP! Before anyone gets excited and sends me a letter – either to tell me what a trooper I am OR to point out they always knew I had Buckley’s – let me explain.

I’m not talking slit-your-wrist-humiliation type embarrassment, just slightly red-faced.
That doesn’t mean I regret doing it, I’m just saying that when you gamble, you’ve got to be prepared to lose.

Over the past couple of years I’ve had a crack at three potentially life-changing ventures.

I am passionate about each of them and have loved every journey, which is pretty bloody lucky because not one of those suckers could be described as an unqualified success. What is going on with that?

In case you’ve just joined us, there was a little reality TV show called Overhaul. I loved it – adored it, actually. My husband John and I travelled around Australia, learned new tricks, lost weight and made lifelong friends.I’m guessing middle management at Channel Nine feels slightly less excited by the memory of Overhaul. The show was pulled from primetime immediately following the first episode. Darn.

Then there was a book, a collection of columns from seven years in the Sunshine Coast Daily.
The result is an amazing gift to my family, a chronicle of my children’s early years, a commemoration of my own parents and a celebration of my marriage.
When I say it’s an amazing gift to my family, I’m not joking. Boxes and boxes of this timeless masterpiece currently line the walls of my garage and will be filling Christmas stockings from here to kingdom come!

And then, of course, there’s the election.

I’m not really sure why I felt compelled to put this all in print; it’s certainly not meant as a cautionary tale. In absolutely everything, I say: “Go for it”.

I like to think of it as a positioning statement. I know everything hasn’t worked out exactly as I planned. I know some people probably think I should get the hint. I’m not even sure what’s next, exactly, but I know something will turn up.

In the meantime, I want to tell you about election day, just to prove it really is about the journey.

My favourite story involves seven-year-old Charlie McCulloch. Charlie (and his whole family) handed out “How to vote” cards for me ALL DAY at Alexandra Park Uniting Church. At one point Charlie smiled a big smile, held out a card and said, “Vote for Caroline”, to a bloke coming his way.

The bloke bent low and said, (chortle chortle), “I’m Peter Slipper”, to which Charlie replied, “Yeah? Vote for Caroline”. To his credit, Mr Slipper just took the card and said, “Thank you very much”.Can’t confirm if he took Charlie’s advice.

In the afternoon at the Kawana booth, my friend Cheryl fell and hit her head on the concrete.

A bloke called John from the Labor Party organised an ambulance, then donned a “Caroline for Canberra” shirt and handed out my “How to votes” until a replacement arrived. Amazing.

At polling booths all over the Coast, rival supporters stood side by side in the rain, sharing a few laughs, umbrellas, tents and even slurpies!

Democracy is alive and well in the lucky country.

And for just one day, I was smack bang in the middle of it.

Party boy!

Is it just me or does everyone have mixed emotions about Australia’s favourite party planner?

We can’t say his name anymore, because Melbourne’s 16 year old party boy has been charged by police and is awaiting a court appearance.

He was charged with producing child pornography and creating a public nuisance.

According to one report, the child porn charges relate to photos of a nude twister game, taken on a mobile phone and posted on the internet.

It makes me really sad that kids that young are getting up to that stuff – but I’m not sure I’d call it child pornography.

Anyway - the party boy is still a tool. He’s a show off and selfish and has treated his parents very badly. His parents by the way, are the only people in ALL this who truly love him and actually give a rat's arse about his future (If you know Corey, could you give him a call for me and remind him of that?)!

Despite all, there is something I have really enjoyed about the whole fiasco. I think it was the moment on A Current Affair when Corey had Leila Mackinnon on the ropes. He didn’t behave at all the way he was supposed to. The plan, I'm sure, was to chastise the errant child and have middle Australia nodding in solemn agreement with the sensible current affairs host. The problem was, nobody told party boy the script. There’s no doubt that kid needs to be taught a lesson – but it’s sometimes nice to see the media get a bit of their own medicine.

As for the kid’s celebrity – I think it’s hilarious that event management companies and night club promoters are talking about this 16 year old like he’s some sort of party genius who can potentially make thousands of dollars organising under age events.

Didn’t he post one invite on my space and then sit back bewildered as 500 people 20 cops and the police air wing turned up? Doesn’t exactly seem like the master technician to me.

I'm back!

Is it just me, or does everyone think 4am is an absolutely ridiculous time to get out of bed?

For those who don’t know – today was my first day back on the radio today, since I took leave from Mix FM since October to contest the federal election.

For those not too quick on the uptake – clearly, the election didn’t go as well as I’d hoped – hence, here I am!

I wasn’t sure what to blog today, so I thought I’d just let you know what I’ve been up to.

First of all – contesting the election was a fantastic experience. I met a huge number of amazing people doing remarkable things from Alexandra Headlands to Kilcoy and beyond. I also met every nutter in the same region!

After the election, I took the kids to Straddie. It was awesome, as usual.

Took the kids for a week to Straddie. Awesome.

For Christmas, John knocked me out with tickets to Jack Johnson. Mind you, following the mobile-phone-earpiece-as-a -gift effort of 2006, he really needed to pick up the pace.

My mum left home. Actually she just went back to WA for a holiday. Gabe went with her for a couple of weeks and has had an awesome time in Dunsborough with his cousins.

Milli got her first job, at Wendy’s Sunshine Plaza. Please be nice to her while she’s got her training wheels on.
Bodhi (hitherto – the world’s most useless dog) caught a six foot King Brown snake in our back yard last week. When we all freaked out he dropped the snake and it got away. Hence, I haven’t been able to go outside ever since.

Finally, for Christmas and her birthday, Jemima got Sing Star and the Hairspray DVD. Only the parents of an eleven year old girl who’s into musical theatre can really understand what we’ve been through, but suffice to say, if the radio station hadn’t paid me to be back at work today, I probably would have turned up anyway.