THE Labor candidate for a central Queensland seat has apologised to a couple for calling them "warmongers".
Hervey Bay couple Tom and Rosemary Arthurs told The Australian that Garry Parr insulted them when they approached the Labor candidate at a local shopping centre two weeks ago.
The couple's 41-year-old son Julian Arthurs is currently serving with the British forces in Afghanistan.
Mr Arthurs said they just wanted to have a chat with Mr Parr about Iraq and Afghanistan when they were called "English warmongers".
Mr Parr, who is standing in the Bundaberg-based seat of Hinkler held by Paul Neville for the Nationals, today released a statement on the incident.
"I apologise unreservedly for any hurt caused by my insensitive comments to Tom and Rosemary Arthurs," he said.
"I will be contacting Mr and Mrs Arthurs to offer my personal apology for any offence that I may have caused them during our discussion a fortnight ago.
"In addition, I publicly express my support for all the men and women of the Coalition forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, and their families."
Somehow, I don't believe that his apology will make much difference to anything. He's already expressed how he really feels, and that's refreshing for a Labor politician.
1 chatterbox. 5yo ex cond runs on solar. Comes with ear muffs. Get in quickly! Freedom from boredom guaranteed.
I love Magilla like nothing else, but some days she is so full on she does my head in.
It's nearly 2pm, and she's finally slowed down. She started up around 6am, and has been non-stop ever since.
Swimming lesson and a bit of playing in the water after didn't slow her down.
I know that four year-olds love the word "WHY", but when they get to five, they start on sentences. Because I'm a big fan of the english language in all it's variety, she's developing a great use of it so far.
She recently told the Godmother that she was "hungry, a peckish even," which broke me up to hear.
She also goes into great detail about her likes and dislikes, and is picking up on my speech patterns.
This means that when she's trying to explain something to me, she tells me, "listen to me, I'm speaking english. Pay attention to what I'm saying." (I copped that one in the supermarket.)
Closely followed by, "stop laughing at me. It's not funny, I'm trying to explain this to you!"
I was going to leave her home with YR when I did the grocery shopping, as Magilla dislikes shopping intensely, but took pity on YR and the rest of the household.
So my girl and I went off to provide entertainment for other shoppers while YR, the Godmother and young Spiderboy* have gone househunting. There is one house that looks promising which is open for inspection this arvo, and a whole list of others to drive past and see if we're interested enough to want to look inside.
With luck there will be a couple of possibilities.
*Spiderboy is the new name for the Godmother's baby boy. When a spider is dying and in the process of curling up into itself, if you poke it there's a reflexive action where the legs open out again. With Spiderboy, when he's drifting off to sleep, if he gets poked or bumped, he has that same reflex of flinging his arms and legs out in startlement. It's no doubt terrible of us, but we do find it funny.
The last few months have seen quite a lot of upheaval going on in Chez Bogan.
Back in June, for a number of reasons YR came to live with us. As she's 16 and therefore umbilically attached to modern technology, it has meant that I don't get untrammelled access to my computer at the moment. It will be changing soon, never fear, as I have a new computer and we can set her up with my old one.
July was a bit of a lost month due to illness and birthdays, and August there was a lot of stuff going down (not my stuff), which led into September and my currently even more expanded household.
The Godmother is single and has a son. The last couple of months have been very intense and trying for all of us, but especially for her and her little one.
He is 6 weeks old and adorable, and I've not thought of a nickname for him yet, so you'll have to bear with me on that one.
And he and the Godmother have moved in with us.
So in my 3 bedroom house we have myself (40), the Godmother (29), YR (16), Magilla (5) and the baby (6 weeks).
Oh, and the Fat Cat is still taking up heaps of room and food, too.
What does this mean? Just that it's taking longer to get back to regular programming. I do have the occasional small bleat, as I have been trying to pull together a post on patriarchy, but it can wait a bit longer. It's not like the Feminasties are going anywhere.
We are househunting, as this place is inadequate for a group this size, which is taking time, and then there is the Battle For The Keyboard, which takes place regularly.
I'm thinking a roster could come in handy!
In the meantime, I'm still collecting epithets: I've recently added "bible-basher" to the list that so far only stretches to nazi, racist, bigot and fucking bitch.
I need a few more, so I really should get back to posting more and upsetting more.
While you're waiting for the next instalment, however, have a free hug!
Please leave your Political Correctness at the door. Freedom of speech and thought are mandatory.
Good grammar will be rewarded (although posting and drinking may impact upon this at times).
