What a day!
I guess we always knew that today was going to be big for us, we have packed so much effort into such a short time that we were always going to go down to the wire on some things, and getting all our candidates registered in time certainly did. Cut off time was 12 midday today, we left the ECQ building at 11.50am – hey, we actually had 10 minutes to spare in the end! What was I worried about 
But the big news THIRTY TWO CANDIDATES!!!
OK, not the full complement of 67 we would have ideally liked, but lets get this in context. We are a single issue party who have been registered for less than 3 months. Or, to look at it another way, we are fielding more candidates than Family First and One Nation …… put together! Whichever way you look at it, getting this number of candidates together is a stonking achievement in it’s own right and one I think we can be justifiably proud of.
I am proud not just for this achievement, but also for the fact that 29 other party members (outside of our executive) have chosen to put their reputations on the line, stump up the cash for an electoral deposit, and back our view that ‘it’s about time’ the people of South East Queensland got daylight saving. That’s a huge leap of faith on the part of all our candidates and one I wish to publicly thank each and every one of them for.
So, now we have to set about the fun bit – getting our message out there. We have a number of activities planned for the remaining weeks of the election campaign, watch this space for more details. Right now though my real concern is that one thing may trip us up, and it’s not the competition, political risks, or Pauline Hanson pointlessly grabbing all the media attention! It’s money, or more accurately the lack of it!
DS4SEQ has been put together on a total shoestring budget, but the trouble with shoestrings is that they only stretch so far. We have barely enough cash in the bank to do the minimum essentials to support our candidates, with just a little more we could so much more. I know the begging bowls have been out on many fronts recently and for very worthy causes, but if you or anybody you know can stretch to contributing a few extra dollars it really could make all the difference for us. Donations can be made on line via the website at www.ds4seq.org.au/donate.html
Finally, and on a much more positive note, we held our first party general meeting this evening. Well attended by a number of supporters and candidates, thanks to all those who came along. Fortunately for me I was largely able to leave the running of the meeting in the capable hands of our Chairman, John Burkett, and Secretary, Marcus Fitz-Gerald, who between them made it all run like clock-work. We rounded off the evening with a good general chat and exchange of ideas with the candidates present, a really useful discussion. We are running with some really smart people as candidates, all of whom are passionate about what we are looking to achieve – I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to working with this team of great people over the next three weeks!
Remember – ‘It’s about time’
Jason Furze
DS4SEQ Party Leader