Shouts from the desert

The Greens have selected Lindsay Peters, who ran for the State electorate of Epping this year, as their candidate for Bennelong. His bio for the New South Wales election is still available, and my assessment from the Cheltenham candidates forum is probably a reasonable starting point for considering his suitability:

Lindsay Peters' knowledge of his points was fine, but the presentation was not quite there. There was nothing wrong with it - it just seemed to lack any particular flair and if he had to speak to much longer in one stretch might have difficulty holding the attention of the audience... [He] presented sound policies in [his] area, but did not show off any personal talent for policy development.... while Lindsay Peters presented the Greens position adequately he did not go beyond that. In a University grading scale [his performance on policy] may merit a credit or low range distinction but would not make it quite to high distinction.

In public speaking and policy argument I can comfortably rate Peter Goldfinch above Lindsay Peters, and Maxine McKew would easily trounce Peters in any comparison of presentation skills.

Meanwhile, the independent candidate David Allen, who announced his candidacy last year, has dropped entirely off the radar. He seems to have no campaign web site and no noticeable media exposure since his announcement, leading me to question whether he still intends to run.