Transcript of the exchange is now available from the ABC. Here it is...

TONY JONES: We certainly will in a moment. Okay. We’ve actually just had a web question come in. People are watching the program, sending in web questions. This is from Marnie in Victoria. Speaking of appropriate behaviour of politicians, is Anna Bligh respecting her office when she enters Celebrity Master Chef. Who wants to pick that up?

BILL HEFFERNAN: Well, I have to say, in view of the fact that she’s locking up Cape York Peninsula - Cape York Peninsula is the size of Victoria. If you take out Cooktown, Cairns and Port Douglas, there are 14,000 people live in an area the size of Victoria. To do a deal - Peter Beattie told me he did a deal with the Wilderness Society to get inner city preferences - I’m coming to it. Anna Bligh was part of that government. They’ve locked up for all production, which has irritated the indigenous people...

TONY JONES: And this is related to Master Chef?

BILL HEFFERNAN: This is related to the relevance of her government. She might as well be doing Master Chef as running the state. Cape York Peninsula is the size of Victoria. There are 80,000 feral pigs there, there are 20,000 feral cattle. There are 14,000 people live off the coast. 12,000 of them are indigenous and that mad mob up there have said to the indigenous people, “You can’t get any development opportunities out of that. We’re going to lock it up.”

TONY JONES: Okay, we...

BILL HEFFERNAN: It’s got fantastic potential.

TONY JONES: We did have half a program on this subject.

TIM WILSON: I understand we’ll get to it then, Bill. Look, is she respecting office? It’s extreme. How much are you respecting the audience and going on Master Chef versus Ronald Reagan and George Bush never used to take they coat jackets off when they were in the Oval Office in the White House, which is sort of polar opposite extremes in terms of public engagement and the relaxed attitude of an office. I think it’s a bit extreme to say she’s not respecting the office. But is it a good choice? Probably not. But in the age of populism where - I was talking to Tony before the show. He Tweets about - and I’m sure he Tweets before the show, “I’m being on Q&A.” You know, it’s just a new medium. She should probably exercise better judgment and give it to the tourism minister.

TONY JONES: Helen?

HELEN LIDDELL: Well, I’m sure there’ll be lots of politicians who are extremely jealous, because think of the exposure she will get. Master Chef is massively popular and it is an opportunity to promote Queensland and Queensland’s produce.

TONY JONES: She could become incredibly famous as the premier who can’t cook a sausage.

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There is a bit of a tiff at the Wilderness Society...

A certain Mr Marr is ruling over it like a little despot. Many members who would like him to go have resigned. One of the last one to leave in disgust is Mr Schneiders....

From the SMH:

...

But Mr Schneiders said the society had failed where it mattered most - in Canberra. ''Going under the radar hasn't been helpful for us. Our public voice doesn't exist … There needs to be strong accountability placed on the federal government and we're not doing that. We're nowhere to be seen.''

The current crisis began last July when the national campaign committee passed a vote of no confidence in Mr Marr. In a counter-attack, a small group of Marr-aligned forces then held an AGM which few knew about. Under the society's constitution, notice of the meeting must be advertised in a Tasmanian newspaper. But instead of putting the notice in the Hobart Mercury or Launceston Examiner, it was advertised in the low-circulation Burnie Advocate. Only 14 people attended the meeting.

When news of this reached the wider membership, 144 members, staff and volunteers signed a petition to get rid of Mr Marr.

The tit-for-tat continued with Mr Marr and the management committee threatening to withhold campaign funding unless the public fighting stopped.

The state groups are now concerned that if funding is cut off, staff will have to be sacked and campaigning ceased.

Mr Marr said he would announce immediate plans for the society this week. But perhaps more crucially will be a legal challenge to the legitimacy of the ''secret'' AGM, to be heard in the Tasmanian Supreme Court later this month.

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Gus: I believe the Queensland Labor government "needs" the green votes to stay in power... So, the Wilderness Society and the Queensland government made a sort of a sneaky deal for preferences in exchange for a draconian protection of Cape York (wild rivers legislation) which in effect only stuffs up the Aboriginal people living there and leaves mining and other commercial concerns such as pastoralists unscathed. This is achieved via some cleverly designed loopholes in conflicting laws applying to two separate ministries of the government — in which, of course, energy and mining take precedence over conservation... The people who have been let down by all this are the Aborigines.

A former manager (former president?) of the Queensland branch of the WS is now working for the Aborigines of Cape York to make sure this say undemocratic "wild rivers" legislation which disadvantage the Aboriginal people is repealed... He also is at loggerhead with Mr Marr. This fellow, I believe, is a very dedicated conservationist but not to the detriment of the original inhabitant to whom we owe the protection of the rivers so far, rather than any WS grand standings and dirty tricks...

This is why Heffernam is right in saying that Anna Bligh Cape York policy is horrible. See toon at top.... see also land rights robbery by stealth.

A Supreme Court judge has described the behaviour of the Wilderness Society's hierarchy as evasive to the point of dishonesty.

The society has been ordered to pay all costs arising from a failed court case.

A breakaway group, Save the Wilderness Society, challenged the election of the society's national management committee at a meeting last November.

On April 22, the Tasmanian Supreme Court ruled the meeting was invalid because proper notice was not given.

Justice Peter Evans on Friday ordered the Wilderness Society to pay the group's solicitor and client costs.

He said "the subterfuge in relation to the meeting ... was blatant to the point of dishonesty".

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see toon at top and comment above this one...

The battle for the future of the Wilderness Society will come to a head tonight when the organisation holds its annual general meeting in Adelaide.

For the past year, Australia's largest green group has been crippled by internal infighting over calls for reform at the top of the organisation.

South Australia is the only state that has not joined the grassroots revolt against the Wilderness Society's long-term leader, Alec Marr.

The event in Adelaide tonight will be another attempt at holding the 2009 AGM, after the Tasmanian Supreme Court declared the previous meeting, held in November, invalid.

Amidst allegations of bullying and a culture of intimidation, Greens leader and Wilderness Society founding member Bob Brown has called for new, or at least independent, management.

It is believed Senator Brown told Mr Marr he should stand down.

Wilderness Society executive director Alec Marr says he is unsure about his future after a new management committee was elected at the organisation's AGM in Adelaide last night.

The majority of voters elected to replace the entire board with eight new members following months of factional infighting between the former committee, led by Mr Marr, and the new board led by David Mackenzie.

Mr Marr says he is unsure what will happen now.

"We'll now see what attitude the board takes," he said.

"Is it going to take an attitude of trying to bring some healing to the organisation and solving some of the problems that this group has actually helped to create? Or is it going to continue the jihad?"

Mr Mackenzie says the committee has the power to sack the executive director.

"I think that's a matter to be decided over the coming weeks. The Wilderness Society board of management is now going to be talking with the executive director," he said.

"Obviously the executive director has a vision for the organisation which perhaps isn't shared with the membership.

"We saw that clearly tonight and we need to talk with Alec about that."

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see toon at top...