{"id":9661,"date":"2014-07-09T10:25:42","date_gmt":"2014-07-09T00:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/?p=9661"},"modified":"2014-07-09T10:49:55","modified_gmt":"2014-07-09T00:49:55","slug":"qld-premier-campbell-newman-gets-super-politician-powers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/qld-premier-campbell-newman-gets-super-politician-powers\/","title":{"rendered":"QLD PREMIER CAMPBELL NEWMAN GETS SUPER-POLITICIAN POWERS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Queensland\u2019s Premier, Campbell Newman, has discovered new abilities to see and hear, thanks to modern medicine.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Newman was seen leaving Brisbane\u2019s Hearing Life clinic late last week, sporting two cochlear implants and a pair of myopia-correcting lenses in a set of snazzy Ralph Lauren frames.<\/p>\n<p>When we sought comment, the Premier was happy to tell us all about his good fortune.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOld age can creep up on anyone.\u201d said Premier Newman, \u201cI hadn\u2019t realized my hearing and eyesight had suffered over the years until I spent a small fraction of my pay-rise getting them checked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alistair Brite, Queensland representative for the Australian Council of Literacy reports: \u201cIt can be quite embarrassing for adults to admit they can\u2019t do something as simple as reading. Sometimes there is actually a health issue contributing, but people are reluctant to believe they have a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI couldn\u2019t read.\u201d admits Premier Newman, \u201cI was receiving all these letters from people, and even if they had really big font in red, which a lot have been written with lately, I just couldn\u2019t read them. I\u2019m sorry to say, I just had my staff write back thanking people for their concern and then chucked them in the bin.<\/p>\n<p>But I am happy to report that now I can read all the letters I receive, and wow, it seems I have some catching up to do!\u201d the Premier mused.<\/p>\n<p>Deaf Services QLD director, Ivan Maldon, was involved in the Premier\u2019s decision to also look at cochlear implants for a hearing correction solution.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9662\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9662\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9662 \" alt=\"skynews.img.1200.745\" src=\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/skynews.img_.1200.745.jpeg\" width=\"620\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/skynews.img_.1200.745.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/skynews.img_.1200.745-300x185.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/skynews.img_.1200.745-565x350.jpeg 565w, https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/skynews.img_.1200.745-600x371.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-9662\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;I can see his lips moving&#8230;nah, he can&#8217;t be talking or I&#8217;d hear it. Must be chewing.&#8221;<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHearing loss can affect anyone. Many people experience partial deafness due to noisy workplaces, concerts, etc.\u201d Mr Maldon informed us, \u201cIt is not uncommon for people to endure low level hearing for years and years, before seeking help. Like our eyesight, some people can feel embarrassed by the effects of age.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Premier\u2019s staffers are delighted he has resolved any moderate sight and hearing issues he may have had. One public relations officer, Jason Lyes, told us how happy he was.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWork was pretty upsetting for a while. Mr Newman would throw coins at me and call me a \u2018stupid machine\u2019. I thought I was a victim of workplace bullying because my wife rides a Harley, but it turns out I\u2019ve just put on a bit of weight and he had me confused with the vending machine. Now he just asks nicely for coffee and there\u2019s no coin throwing, so things have improved dramatically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, a staffer known only as Elizabeth is not so pleased with the Premier\u2019s new super-powers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a consultant, not a full time staffer, so I bill the office monthly. Now that the Premier can actually read the numbers on my invoices, and realised I&#8217;m a public health consultant instead of an oil and gas lobbyist, we unfortunately now find ourselves in dispute. Actually, I shouldn\u2019t even be talking about this pending legal action. I\u2019m out of here faster than penalty rates for paramedics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Premier Newman says his hearing aids have given him more control over the Queensland government, making them an even more effective leadership team than ever.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9663\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9663\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9663 \" alt=\"Campbell_Newman_131015_AAP\" src=\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Campbell_Newman_131015_AAP.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Campbell_Newman_131015_AAP.jpg 620w, https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Campbell_Newman_131015_AAP-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Campbell_Newman_131015_AAP-526x350.jpg 526w, https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Campbell_Newman_131015_AAP-600x398.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-9663\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;All the bikies can get fucked. All of them.&#8221;<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI thought Jarrod was just nodding and smiling in meetings, so I was nodding and smiling back. Turns out I accidentally actioned whole rafts of legislation, because he was actually saying things, but his voice was too high pitched for me to hear. I look forward to being more involved in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, even Superman has his Kryptonite. We asked the Premier a quick question.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWere the projected profits from current state owned assets added to the future government funding model where those assets were retained in the recent Strong Choices program, and why couldn\u2019t investment to expand those assets increase both profits for general revenue and create jobs in Queensland?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr Premier?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHuh? Sorry, what? The batteries must have gone in my hearing aids. Both of them. At the exact same time. Weird, I know. We\u2019ll have to pick this up at another time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Queensland\u2019s Premier, Campbell Newman, has discovered new abilities to see and hear, thanks to modern medicine. Mr Newman was seen leaving Brisbane\u2019s Hearing Life clinic late last week, sporting two cochlear implants and a pair of myopia-correcting lenses in a set of snazzy Ralph Lauren frames. When we sought comment, the Premier was happy to [&#038;hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":9664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[61,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9661"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9661"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9668,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9661\/revisions\/9668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}