A few days ago, I used the relevant Facebook page to ask a number of questions of Jaimie Abbott (LNP), who’s standing for the federal seat of Newcastle. Among other things, I was critical of her party’s not-actually-broadband policy, which she was praising, but I wasn’t especially ruthless (on a scale of “0” to “Leigh Sales 2012”, I was probably a 4). Today, I noticed that all of my posts were gone, along with many others that weren’t completely flattering to Jaimie’s party. So, I just posted the following on her page. Because it will be deleted soon (federal Libs don’t know how else to handle social media), I’m repeating it here:

Jaimie, I notice you’ve ignored/deleted a significant number of posts, from me and others, where legitimate questions were asked and thoughtful policy critique was offered. Looking through your page just now, I see nothing remains that in any way questions the coalition or its policy platform.

Given you are standing as a Liberal for the federal seat of Newcastle and hope to play a significant role in leading this country, I urge you to communicate openly with constituents via all available means, and to avail yourself of the opportunity social media provides to do this transparently. Asking people with inconvenient questions to move the discussion to email is cowardly and shows little respect for the office you intend to hold as this region’s representative in Parliament.

None of the posts I made contravened the social media policy you’ve published here, and all were significantly more edifying than most of your own party’s contributions to, say, question time in Canberra. So, why were they deleted? Do you intend to communicate openly with those you’re asking to represent? Are you interested in adding a little substance to the political conversation in this country? Or are you just another victim of Tony’s cone of silence?

Will she respond publicly? N/N