Pubdate: Fri, 16 Mar 2001
Source: Australian Financial Review (Australia)
Copyright: 2001 Australian Financial Review
Contact:  GPO Box 506, Sydney 2001
Fax: (61 2) 9282 3137
Website: http://www.afr.com.au/
Author: Sam Strutt

BEAZLEY EXHALES AFTER GRASS AMBUSH

At least the hecklers in Ryan are polite.

When the Federal Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley, and the Queensland 
Premier, Peter Beattie, were ambushed by the pro-marijuana candidate, Nigel 
Freemarijuana, and his supporters at a function at a local primary school 
in Ryan yesterday, it could have turned very ugly very quickly.

Armed with placards, Freemarijuana and about 50 supporters heckled the 
Opposition Leader from the party's campaign bus known as the cannabus 
parked outside the school ground.

While Freemarijuana, the first candidate to be endorsed by the newly 
registered Help End Marijuana Prohibition party, or HEMP, was eventually 
ejected from the school grounds for lecturing a group of students about 
drug culture, his supporters were keen to ask Beazley questions and listen 
to his answers.

But as Beazley drove from the school, they rather politely made sure their 
message was heard. "We are not criminals, Mr Beazley," one blared through a 
loudspeaker attached to the bus.

Beazley defended his decision to attend a function to celebrate Public 
Education Day, which just happened to be held at the Jamboree Heights State 
School, located in the Ryan electorate.

Before tucking into a plate full of the obligatory triangle sandwiches, the 
Opposition Leader denied that holding a political function at a State 
primary school was inappropriate.

"This is a vibrant democracy, and there'll always be a bit of anarchy at 
the edges," he said.

What Beazley did finally admit to was that the federal Labor Party had 
employed the help of Beattie in the final days of the campaign simply 
because of his vote-pulling potential. "He's a vote-magnet," Beazley said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens