Electoral Commission "investigating" Team Quirk tactics

NEWS

 

Brisbane Lord Mayoral independent candidate Jim Eldridge says the Queensland Electoral Commission is now investigating his formal complaints to it earlier this month over Team Quirk election material “that is misleading or likely to mislead voters” .

As the only media outlet that has campaigned solidly since the 2012 poll against the LNP/Team Quirk’s copycat council cleat, The Independent applauds Mr Eldridge’s actions.

And it issues a simple challenge of its own to the QEC: If the organisation’s basic remit is to conduct fair and open elections, then it must use whatever powers it has to make the LNP and Team Quirk desist immediately from tactics that this newspaper believes the vast majority of voters would see as clearly deceptive and politically dishonest.

And the QEC has only one question to answer: why does Team Quirk use yellow and blue blocks down the left-hand-side of election material if not to let voters think it’s the council’s official branding “cleat”?

In his letter of complaint, Mr Eldridge (pictured) hit out at the use of both the copycat council cleat (this newspaper's description) and the way the LNP placed official ECQ postal vote forms inside LNP envelopes using maroon colours that match ECQ documents.

In his letter seeking an urgent investigation with the 19 March poll date looming, Mr Eldridge said both tactics were “creating the impressions that the ECQ and or BCC endorses the featured LNP candidates” and “carries great weight and direct influence on voters and misleads them in relation to the way of voting”.

Mr Eldridge suggested the QEC also investigate LNP candidate vehicles “featuring the official BCC logo and LNP billboards and signs displaying the BCC blue and yellow [design] in the left borders which BCC uses to distinguish their materials”.

Mr Eldridge said of these and several other Team Quirk tactics: “Aside from being morally inappropriate, it appears this conduct was illegal”.

“With local government elections fast approaching, I respectfully request an expedited investigation of this matter.” Mr Eldridge concluded.

And he continued his attack in a recent media release.

“Graham Quirk is misleading voters into believing he is the Brisbane City Council. He is not. He is a member of a political party and holding himself out to be officially endorsed by the BCC during an election campaign goes to his lack of moral values.”

“It also raises serious questions about the independence and integrity of the Chief Executive Officer of the BCC, Colin Jensen, who should be the one prosecuting this complaint to the ECQ”, Mr Eldridge said.

 

Below: A Team Quirk political pamphlet that Mr Eldridge included in his request for a QEC investigation: Bottom: The official council cleat on a bus timetable in the Valley.

 

 

 

 

 OUR SAY: What the QEC needs to know….

The LNP/Team Quirk only use their copycat cleat for Brisbane City Council elections.

It is designed for no other purpose than to let voters think it’s the council’s official branding cleat. It is used for no other reason than to link Team Quirk with council, thereby creating the impression Team Quirk are the council’s official election team.

For four long years, Lord Mayor Quirk refused to answer questions from The Independent asking him to explain how his copycat council cleat differed from the real thing, and why he believed those differences are sufficient that the average Brisbane voter could tell the difference.

Council CEO Colin Jensen has admitted to The Independent after examining Team Quirk political material that it uses the same colours as on the official council cleat. But he told the paper he could not take action because the dimensions on the blocks used by Team Quirk were not exactly the same as on the official branding cleat.

The dimensions of the blocks used pervasively by Team Quirk in 2012 and again now fall well inside the range that the official cleat displays to the public eye.

Some legalistic notion that what Team Quirk uses “does not impinge on the council cleat” is, in this newspaper’s view, highly risible, as is its claim that what it uses is in fact LNP branding.

The LNP/Team Quirk’s sneaky and tricky use of its copycat council cleat is giving them a totally undeserved advantage over political rivals who are doing the right thing and obeying the council rule that says the council’s cleat must not be used for political purposes.

Vicki Howard sidesteps our questions yet again

 

TOP: A sample of Brisbane City Council's official branding "cleat" that council rules strictly say must not be used for political purposes. ABOVE: Team Quirk footpath signs in  2012.

 

NEWS

Central Ward councillor Vicki Howard – the woman who worked so very, very hard at the 2012 poll to look like she had already been elected – has hidden behind a short, stock-standard LNP response to our latest questions over the use by her and other Team Quirk candidates of the copycat council cleat.

“Team Quirk branding does not use the Brisbane City Council cleat or logo” was the belated response to our questions.

 The Independent will let the voters of Central Ward make up their own minds about her ongoing refusal to answer what this paper believes the vast majority of its readers would accept as legitimate, fair and reasonable questions that deserve to be answered in an open and honest way.

Our questions from a few weeks ago:

Preamble: As in the 2012 Brisbane City Council elections, you are once again putting your name and photo to a lot of LNP/Team Quirk material that uses a pattern of alternating blue and yellow blocks down the left hand side of political material of all sorts. Accordingly we pose the following questions, including some you’ll be very familiar with as you have steadfastly refused to answer them for some years. And please advise that you've received this email, regardless of whether you intend to reply or not.

1.  Do you share The Independent’s view that Brisbane residents should always obey both the spirit and the letter of Brisbane City Council rules and bylaws?

 2.  Do you believe that in putting your name and image to the design feature mentioned above, you are obeying both the spirit and the letter of that council rule that bans the use of the City Council’s intellectual property – its branding “cleat” of alternating blue and yellow blocks run vertically down the left-hand side of official council material - in political material?

 3.  The council’s CEO told The Independent last year after viewing LNP/Team Quirk political material that the blue and yellow colours used on such material were the same as those used on the council’s official cleat. Do you agree with his assessment?

 4. Do you also accept that the dimensions of the blue and yellow blocks used on official city council material vary widely as seen by the public?

 5. Do you accept that if just one voter in Brisbane thinks that what appears on your political material is the council cleat, then that’s one too many?

 6. The Independent has long argued that you and the LNP/ Team Quirk in general have deliberately used such a design feature to make some voters – The Independent argues it would be the vast majority - think it’s the council cleat. If you disagree with that then why are you using it?

 7. The Independent has also long argued that the use of the copycat council cleat in LNP/Team Quirk political material including your own is there for no other reason than to link Team Quirk with the council’s name so that Team Quirk becomes the council’s official election team, thus giving it an electoral advantage, one we argue is unfair, unethical and politically dishonest. Assuming you disagree with that view, please explain why we are wrong.

 

Below: It's the 2016 campaign and when you've cheated once and it's worked, why not cheat again?

 

 

Independent candidate joins "cheating" chorus

NEWS

Independent Brisbane Lord Mayoral candidate Jim Eldridge has fully backed this newspaper's long-running campaign against the LNP/Team Quirk's ongoing use of their copycat council cleat to try to cheat their way back to the keys of City Hall.

And Mr Eldridge has used three simple one-word answers to show what he thinks of the tactic that this paper has always claimed - and one we believe a vast majority of Brisbane people would agree with -  blatantly breaks the council rule that says the council's cleat must not be used for political gain.

Here are the questions we put to the candidate and his short, sharp and telling replies:

1. Do you regard Team Quirk's pervasive use of what The Independent believes the vast majority of Brisbane people would see as the city council's intellectual property - its branding image of alternating blocks of blue and yellow down the left-hand-side of official council documents (its cleat)that council rules say must not be used for political purposes - as cheating?

Answer: Yes.


 2. The Independent has argued for years that the LNP/Team Quirk's use of the council's copycat cleat is underhand, sneaky, unethical, rule-breaking and politically dishonest. Do you agree with any or all of those descriptions?

Answer: Yes.

 3. The Independent has long argued that there's no way the upcoming municipal elections can be conducted on a level playing field if the LNP/Team Quirk continue using a feature we believe is designed for no other reason than to create the impression in voters' minds that Team Quirk has some form of official council support/blessing. Agree or disagree?

Answer: Agree

If you can't beat them, join them!

NEWS

 

Take a long hard look at the Brisbane City Council election sign above. It's what happens when you have political "leadership" that's weak on ethics and honesty; one that doesn't think twice about trashing a branding image for political gain.

 

Independent councillor Nicole Johnston has clearly decided if you can't beat them, you may as well join them. She has either decided to use the council's official branding cleat which is against the rules, or she's adopted the LNP/Team Quirk's copycat version of it. The Independent has long argued the average Brisbane voter couldn't possibly tell the difference.

 

Which begs the question: will the LNP/Team Quirk take legal action against Ms Johnston for infringing upon their intellectual property, their branding image? The Independent doubts it very much.

 

Below is a sample of the real City Council branding "cleat" and what Team Quirk used in 2012. Council rules are strict and say it must not be used for political purposes.

 

Don Gordon-Brown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Team Quirk tricking and conning voters: Harding

 

NEWS

 

Labor’s pick to run City Hall has labelled Lord Mayor Graham Quirk’s use of "pseudo" city council branding in political advertising as a dishonest ploy to trick and con voters.

And Rod Harding (pictured) challenged Team Quirk and the LNP to stand on their own records and plans rather than "try and cheat to win votes".

"For a political party like the LNP to use the council colours and ‘pseudo brand’ is just not being honest with voters," Mr Harding said in response to questions put by The Independent. "The integrity of the Brisbane City Council’s corporate brand is being put into question by the LNP.

"It’s not appropriate for any candidate to be using the Brisbane City Council design to try and trick voters. This has been a long-standing ploy by the LNP in my opinion. To not only trick voters, but go down the road of politicising the organisation and bureaucracy. Candidates shouldn’t try and cheat to win votes, they should stand on their own record and plans for our city.

 

"It’s clear that Team Quirk and the LNP are attempting to con voters and trash the Brisbane City Council reputation along the way, but I really think voters are seeing through this ploy and would rather myself and other candidates focus on real issues such as addressing bad development being approved against the community’s wishes, investing in public transport to cut congestion, and providing better basic services across the city."

Mr Harding said Labor councillors have long been questioning the LNP’s tactics and had formally written to the CEO of Brisbane City Council raising their concerns.

"Sadly these concerns have not been adequately addresses by the council. I believe residents deserve to be treated with respect and given more credit than Team Quirk currently gives them.

"If elected as Lord Mayor and on behalf of every one of my Labor candidates running in the election, I commit to honouring council’s marketing, communications and advertising policy which clearly outlaws this sort of electioneering," Mr Harding said.

 

Below: Team Quirk footpath banners from the 2012 council elections, with the legitimate council branding "cleat" shown at right. 

Editor's note: It is against council rules to use the official branding image for political purposes. Graham Quirk denies using the council cleat. Personally I think he should have gone to Specsavers.

 

 

 

 

 

Taking logic to a new dimension

NEWS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An exclusive Independent survey of how the Brisbane City Council’s official cleat appears in public shows that Team Quirk’s copycat version sits right in the middle of the dimensions of the yellow and blue blocks used on the official branding image.

Our survey makes a mockery of any piece of tricky, sneaky, fancy legal footwork that Graham Quirk relies on (not that he's ever been prepared to tell us) to make his bold claim that the LNP does not use the council cleat. With that claim comes the unspoken assumption that your average Brisbane person could tell the difference, which is an absolute nonsense. 

The council’s CEO Colin Jensen told The Independent last year that he had examined Team Quirk political material from 2012 and while the colours were the same - we had plenty of hardcopy evidence of that anyway - he couldn’t defend the council’s intellectual property because the dimensions of the blocks Team Quirk were not "exactly the same". We asked for those dimensions but Mr Jensen refused or forgot to supply them.

But does it matter? Even if somewhere deep in the administrative bowels of City Hall, guidelines do indeed exist as to what the real city council "cleat" dimensions are, Mr Jensen has done a very poor job in enforcing them.

For our exclusive investigation we chose the Valley mall and its immediate environs, right in the heart of LNP councillor Vicki Howard’s Central ward. It's probably safe to say that no candidate used the copycat council cleat in 2012 more than just-a-humble-citizen-at-the-time Vicki Howard.

From the back of buses, to bus timetable signs, to safe precinct signs, to leaflets on what’s happening locally, to rubbish bins, the blue and yellow blocks on the council’s official cleat vary in dimensions from short and fat, to square, to slightly elongated, to very tall and thin. And Graham Quirk and his Team Quirk candidates would know that more than anyone.

So when the LNP/Team Quirk print political election material with blocks of colour exactly the same as the council cleat - as admitted by Mr Jensen - when they put them down the left-hand-side of political documents exactly where the official cleat goes and when no reasonable person could possibly tell any real difference, then we say they’ve used the council cleat. If it looks like the cleat, if it’s positioned like the cleat, if it has alternating blocks of yellow and blue like the cleat, then it’s the cleat!

It’s why we believe Lord Mayor Quirk lied to this paper – and you, its readers – several years ago when he said Team Quirk candidates didn’t use the cleat in 2012. They most certainly did. As they are again now.

But let’s put this nonsense to bed once and for all with the one final public example of the official council cleat that The Independent thinks is an absolute doozey that perfectly sums up the con that Team Quirk is perpetrating on the public.

Pasted on the window of one entertainment Valley mall venue is a very serious council edict (see right) on the importance of following council health rules about food standards. It has the tallest, skinniest blocks this paper has ever seen.

 

The author was none other than that brave defender of the council's intellectual property and branding image, Colin Jensen, and we are absolutely confident that he seriously believed the points he was making were being reinforced in the venue owner’s mind by the use of the council’s official cleat.

 

Don Gordon-Brown

A cowardly silence: it's what we're used to

NEWS

LNP state director Lincoln Folo has failed to answer questions from The Independent over the ongoing use of a copycat council cleat by Team Quirk candidates.

This paper believes its readers would regard as fair and reasonable the questions put to Mr Folo as the person who authorises election material carrying the copycat council cleat. The questions are similar to ones Lord Mayor Graham Quirk and Central Ward councillor Vicki Howard have refused to answer for years.

Here are the questions asked and the preface to them:

In the run-up to the 2016 Brisbane City Council elections on 19 March, you and/or other LNP officials are authorising LNP/Team Quirk material that uses a pattern of alternating blue and yellow blocks down the left hand side of all sorts of political material, from roadside billboards to footpath candidates’ signs to all sorts of leaflets/pamphlets
.
Accordingly we seek prompt answers to the following questions:

1. Do you share The Independent’s view that Brisbane residents should always obey both the spirit and the letter of Brisbane City Council rules and bylaws?

2. As LNP state director, do you believe that in using the design features mentioned above, the LNP and Team Quirk are obeying both the spirit and the letter of that council rule that bans the use of the City Council’s intellectual property – its branding “cleat” of alternating blue and yellow blocks run vertically down the left-hand side of official council material - in political material?

3. Do you accept that the dimensions of the blue and yellow blocks used on official city council material vary widely as seen by the public?

4. Do you also accept that if just one voter in Brisbane thinks what the LNP/Team Quirk are using is the council cleat, then that’s one too many?

5. Lord Mayor Quirk told the Brisbane Times recently that the colours being used on Team Quirk material in 2016 are different from the official cleat, yet the council’s CEO told The Independent last year after examining material used in the 2012 campaign that the colours were the same. Has Lord Mayor Quirk lied to the media? Or has the LNP subtly changed the colours used for this current campaign? If so, please explain any such differences.

  6. Looking at the attached image of one LNP/Team Quirk north-side billboard that is clearly political as it proclaims it was not produced at council expense, please explain fully to our readers why you believe, if there are any differences in those blue and yellow colours or indeed in the dimensions of those blocks of colour from those of the official council cleat, they are sufficient that any reasonable Brisbane voter – for example, a motorist driving past - could not have possibly mistaken one for the other?

7. The Independent has long argued that the LNP/ Team Quirk have deliberately used such a design feature to make voters – The Independent argues most - think it’s the council cleat. If you disagree with that then why are they using it?

8. The Independent has long argued that the use of the copycat council cleat in LNP/Team Quirk political material is done for no other reason than to link Team Quirk with the council’s name so that Team Quirk becomes the council’s official election team, thus giving it an electoral advantage, one we argue is unfair, unethical and politically dishonest. Assuming you disagree with that view, please explain why we are wrong.

9. If you have been or unwilling or unable to explain why the design the LNP/Team Quirk use is sufficiently different from the council's official cleat that the average Brisbane voter could tell the difference, do you undertake, in the interests of local politics played openly, honestly and cleanly and on a level playing field, to move immediately as LNP state director to ensure that that design feature is covered over on billboards, footpath signs and the like that are in the public eye, to pulp any other existing print material that features that design, and to ensure it is not included in any fresh printed or electronic media/social media campaign material in the lead-up to the 19 March elections?

The Sneaky Quirky, Tricky Vicki show rolls on

 

 

Comment ….  By Don Gordon-Brown

 

It’s always tempting, as you watch Team Quirk candidates cheat away with their copycat council cleat once more, to form the conclusion that they just don’t get it.

That what is bleedingly obvious to any normal, decent person – that using the copycat cleat is really, really tacky and wrong  – just doesn’t register with these people.

 But I realised a long time ago that they know very well what they are doing is wrong. They know it would be wrong if they used something that looked just a little bit like the council’s official branding cleat, let alone something that looks so much like it that they have never been able or willing to explain the difference.

 They knew full well they were breaking council rules when they used their copycat council cleat in 2012 and they know full well they are breaking the same rules by doing it again now. They are cheating again because they cheated before and it worked for them. They just can’t help themselves. It’s all about votes.

 Personally, I’d fear for my safety if I ever got between Team Quirk candidates and a vote, and that certainly applies to Central Ward councillor Vicki Howard.

 I doubt there was anything more that Vicki Howard could have done, back in 2012 when she was just a humble citizen, to pretend she was already the councillor for the area. In a ward where the long-term councillor was retiring and one with a high percentage of new voters each election cycle anyway, pretending to already be already elected - to give yourself the advantage of incumbency - was a very good idea. 

Vicki smothered herself in the LNP’s copycat council cleat. Signs, leaflets, business cards. Everything. Her campaign car looked like the city council was trialling some new mini-bus service. Maybe some people got into it thinking it was a council minibus and tried to tap on?

Of course she was rarely if ever the LNP’s "candidate" for the election. She was the “representative” for the ward, albeit the LNP’s or the Lord Mayor’s.

Then there were her election leaflets with the copycat cleat down the left-hand-side that told people from the very first paragraph about how council was all about achieving things and then outlining how she’d sprung into action to do just that!

 The use of the council cleat by Vicki then was red-hot wrong, and remains so. It’s against council rules. The other touches are pieces of political trickery that all parties probably engage in. But wouldn’t it have been nice back then if Vicki had told the LNP that “candidate” was fine by her for that’s what she was? And had pleaded with the LNP powers-that-be to tone down the leaflets and maybe use a “if I’m elected” somewhere near the top as a matter of decency and transparency?

I know little about Vicki Howard and she might be a decent, open and honest person overall. But engaging in political campaigns in an open, honest and fair way doesn’t appear to be Vicki’s shtick, for once again, the copycat council cleat is all over her 2016 campaign material like a rash.

 Will she get away with it? Who knows? If she has spent even just half the time and effort at being a city councillor over the past four years as she did back then pretending to already be one, she might have a shot.

 But I have a different view. You don't deserve to lead if you don't play by the rules. You can't expect the people of Brisbane to obey council rules and bylaws if you don't abide by them yourselves. Leadership brings responsibilities.  For what she’s done and for what she’s doing again, I believe she deserves nothing more than to be turfed out on her ear.

But all would not be lost. Both the Can-Do and Team Quirk administrations have been very good at PR, so I was thinking maybe Vicki could apply for a PR job with the police if she loses on 19 March.
 

I can see in my mind's eye the letterhead she could use on her application. There'd be a nice little pattern of blue and white checks across the top that would look a lot like the one at right but knowing Vicki she'll probably change the dimensions of the squares ever so slightly so she'd always be able to stare anyone in the face and declare: "I do not use the police branding!" Under that, and over on the right, would be a lovely photo of her with bold printing that describes her as Constable Vicki Howard. It would only be when you look really closely above the word “constable” you’ll see in very small print size the words “I’m not really a”.
Her opening paragraph would begin something like this: "Police work can be tough, dangerous and exacting and I know from my own experience that whenever I'm called out....."
 

 

 

 

 

 

Team Quirk rules nothing out

 

 

 

NEWS

By Don Gordon-Brown

Team Quirk is relying on a “ruling” that this newspaper knows nothing about to somehow condone the shameful use of its copycat council cleat in the current Brisbane municipal poll.

“As you are aware, this matter was raised during the last two elections and the ruling was that the LNP branding did not infringe on Council’s corporate branding” was the short, sharp reply from some anonymous hack at Team Quirk as his boss Lord Mayor Graham Quirk once again refused to answer questions this paper believes the vast majority of its readers would regard as reasonable and fair. They were directed specifically to him.

As the media outlet that has campaigned ferociously against the disgraceful use of the copycat council cleat for years, The Independent knows nothing of any such ruling. Or anything about who might have raised the issue during the 2008  (the Can-Do era) and 2012 elections. And our request for the who, what, where and why details of this “ruling” has been met with the chicken-hearted, cowardly silence we’ve come to expect from Team Quirk and the LNP.

So here’s our best guess. The “ruling” was probably made by….

1.    A gathering of the council’s spin-doctors as they enjoyed a well-earned Friday night drink after a busy week of spin-doctoring, provided they could find a venue big enough for all of them

2.    A meeting of LNP councillors just before a Tuesday night sitting of the full council, probably through a quick show of hands

3.    Some LNP lawyer-type who probably can’t spell “intellectual property” let alone know the legalities of how or why it’s enforced, or

4.   Cr Quirk himself, fully robed in his Lord Mayoral finery, and nodding furiously into a mirror at City Hall while agreeing wholeheartedly with himself that everything he was doing was perfectly reasonable and above board.

 

 

Con-artists, cheats and cowards

 EDITORIAL

 

  
The Independent warned repeatedly over time that the LNP and Team Quirk planned to cheat again at this year's Brisbane City Council elections and they are doing exactly that .... big time!

 They've rolled out again their copycat council "cleat" that they also used extensively at the 2012 poll. It's there for no other reason than to hoodwink the public into thinking it's the council's official branding image, that distinctive design of alternating blue and yellow blocks on the left-hand-side of official council material.

The LNP/Team Quirk are con-artists, cheats and coward and here's why.

They are con-artists because what they use is there for no other purpose than to let the public think it is the council cleat. And that deceptive, devious and politically dishonest exercise has no other purpose than to create the impression that Team Quirk has the backing of council. Team Quirk becomes the Council's Team Quirk. It gives them a powerful advantage over rivals who are playing by the rules.

They are cheats because it's strictly against council rules for the official branding cleat to be used for political purposes.

They are cowards because while Lord Mayor Quirk will happily repeat a claim that his candidates do not use the council cleat, Cr Quirk has never had the courage of his convictions and answer legitimate and reasonable questions from The Independent over years, challenging him to explain how what Team Quirk uses differs from the official cleat, and to explain how any reasonable person could tell the difference. In other words, we called Cr Quirk's bluff. He and his team stand condemned by their silence.

The Independent asks the voters of Brisbane a very simple and basic question: why should you obey both the letter and the spirit of council rules and by-laws if Team Quirk candidates happily and blatantly break them for political gain?

Citizens who break council rules, such as overstaying on an expired parking meter or using a water sprinkler out of hours when restrictions apply, run the risk of a fine. Team Quirk candidates are blatantly breaking council rules to improve their chances of keeping or gaining well-paid jobs on the public purse.

What the LNP/Team Quirk are trying to get away with once again has nothing to do with politics played in an open, fair and honest way. It has nothing to do with strong and decent community leadership. It is devious, deceptive and politically dishonest.

It is this newspaper's view that the LNP/Team Quirk shouldn't be in charge of running a chook raffle, let alone a great city.

Top: A current Team Quirk sign in New Farm. Above: the real council branding 'cleat' in a print advertisement. Amazing likeness, eh? Editor's note: both these images were taken by a phone camera. Both RGB images have been resized but have not been altered or enhanced digitally in any way. In printed form using CMYK, the yellow in both of these images looks yellower to the eye.  

Top: Footpath signs used by Team Quirk at the 2012 council elections. Above: the real council branding "cleat". Lord Mayor Quirk for three long years (and Cr Vicki Howard, then just a humble citizen, for almost as long) have refused to answer our basic questions over their use of the copycat council cleat. Fresh questions for the current election have once again gone unanswered.