Tuesday 20 July 2010

Barron River MP Steve Wettenhall told to go take a jump

His detractors rudely call him Wet-and-no-balls, but local Barron River MP has done something that proves the opposite.


Steve Wettenhall, who is also the State Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, jumped off the Smithfield bungy, with legend, AJ Hackett.
"Breath-taking, sensational," Steve Wettenhall told CairnsBlog after he plunged 50 meters to the bottom. "It was also a world first, as it was the first time that AJ had jumped with a politician."

It was to celebrate the Kiwi AJ's 20 years of bungy jumping in Australia. The Cairns bungy was the first purpose-built bungy platform in Australia. AJ Hackett has sites in France, Germany, New Zealand, and Macau Bali.
"AJ Hackett has achieved a lot of world firsts," Steve Wettenhall said. "I was absolutely delighted to have jumped with him, as it was a first for me."
Asked if he took much convincing to jump, Steve Wettenhall said he searched for many excuses. "I couldn't think of a good reason to say no, and frankly it was a great opportunity to jump with someone like AJ, whose done a lot for the tourism industry here in Cairns, and he's world famous. How could you possible say no?"
"My idea of an adrenalin rush is to sit by a campfire with a beer, it was an opportunity too good to refuse. Politicians love a challenge, and there's always challenges around the corner. I'm open to suggestions from other pollies who would like to jump. I'm happy to show them the way," Steve Wettenhall said.
Steve Wettenhall's perennial political opponent, Wendy Richardson, who'll be back in 2012 to contest against his Barron River electorate as an independent, laughed when asked if she would bungy jump.
"Yes.... I would do it," Wendy said, with trepidation and a laugh in her voice. "My father, Sir Bob Norman, was the oldest person in Australia to do it at the age of 76. He won the chance to jump in a Rotary Club raffle, then he did it again when he was 89."
"I've never jumped. I always say, I have enough adrenalin in my life," Wendy Richardson told CairnsBlog. "Dad always thought it was safe, but to me it's like... why would you do that to yourself, especially when you're 89."
Wettenhall's jump culminated a huge weekend of celebration at the Smithfield bungy site, with an impressive national line-up of acts at the new amphitheatre. Butterfingers, Dirty Laundry plus internationally-acclaimed DJ Sam La More, MC Shureshock and seven local DJS, took part.
“Every day you should so something that reminds you you’re still alive,” AJ Hackett says. It's something that many politicians could take heed of.
So, like the chicken and the egg, we now know the answer. In this case, who has balls. Steve or Wendy?

1 comment:

Too scared to jump said...

I'm glad this post didn't include the lie that AJ Hackett invented bungee jumping.

I was part of the support crew on April Fools Day 1979 when the first bungee jump was made from the Clifton Suspension bridge, seven years before AJ Hackett.

Hackett has claimed many times that he invented "Modern" Bungy [his spelling] jumping.