… and it’s a secret the mayor is reluctant to reveal but it won’t really surprise. The Magpie reveals the stumbling block of gouging that could cost rate and taxpayers millions.
The latest blatant and cynical lie about the North Rail Yards on Flinders Street West gets the inevitable kybosh … but how much ratepayer money was wasted before the totally obvious outcome ended so predictably. NYR is emerging as a major scandal for Jenny Hill.
And the cat’s well and truly out of the bag regarding the Voice proposal … backers forced to admit it is a naked and potentially catastrophic power grab by the academic inner city indigenous elite.
And this week’s American gallery is led by a brilliant Australian illustrator’s take on the Great American Obscenity (no not Trump.)
NEWS ALERT: The Magpie would like to announce that he is to be arrested this Tuesday on totally false charges of falling asleep with hooker Monsoon Mary in a two minute tryst before he started this blog. 13 years ago And he then paid her not to tell Mayor Mullet. IT’S A WITCH HUNT. Please use the donate button on the right, or at the bottom of the blog to help the hapless old bird fight these cofefe charges. Hey, wtf, worked for Trump.
Now, onward before the wallopers are on the doorstep.
Voice ‘Vibe” Hits Iceberg
No wonder they didn’t want to release any details.
The cat is now well and truly out of the bag … Attorney General Mark Dreyfus has finally had to admit to the major flaw in the Voice proposal as it stands at the moment .
In a nutshell, that means that if the Voice is allowed to directly ‘advise’ cabinet of their wishes and are rejected, they will have the right to appeal to the courts over the knock back. And the issue and anything related to it will be frozen until the glacier-like court makes a ruling. (Incidentally, we did not elect the judges who sit on the High Court.)
So this whole smoke grenade of a Yes campaign – it’s the vibe,the principle, and if you vote no you’re racist – has just blown up in the faces of the Indigenous inner urban elite urgers. Bentley believes ancient rock art is pointing the way the referendum will go.
‘Us & Dem’ ocracy’ says it all, Benters. It is no way alarmist or tabloid exaggeration to say this is nothing but a cloaked attack on how the way democracy works in Australia – we are being asked to vote for a new, self-elected and self-interested grouping and give them the power of delaying vetos on legislation. And that could mean ALL legislation.
The ‘Pie still reckons Albo and Labor are deliberately running dead on the issue, with lukewarm confusing waffle, hoping the No vote gets up. After all, what pollie wants an unelected self-interested mob given the power to interfere with their agenda – for chrissake, isn’t bike’s mole Lidia Thorpe and the whole cross bench is bad enough?
‘Possibility’ And ‘Certainty’
While Dreyfus airily dismisses disruptive court action as only ‘a possibility’ – and ‘possibility’ is drastic in itself – the far more qualified constitutional law expert Dr Greg Craven, who has resigned from the Voice advisory board over this very issue says it’s not a ‘possibility’, it’s a ‘certainty’, with the potential for chaos across the whole system of government. He told The Australian government decisions vulnerable to judicial challenge were a “certainty” under the government’s proposed wording, arguing the model would have damaging legal and political ramifications. He said the final referendum wording to “make representations to the parliament and the executive government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples” was too vague and will lead to perverse outcomes. Mr Craven, who supports the voice, has quit the government’s constitutional expert group after Labor released its proposed wording last week. “It’s not a possibility, it’s a certainty,” he said. “There is no doubt that Indigenous people will use the High Court to do this … you’ve got proponents that say this is absolutely right and these things should be completely open to judicial challenge. I think it becomes an administrative and legal nightmare; you have potentially the voice running off to court all the time, which will have the effect of frustrating government decisions.”
As previously stated, no wonder they didn’t want to reveal any details. ‘
And When Does An Indigenous Australian Suddenly Not Be An Australian?
Not a silly word joke, it’s deadly serious. The Alice in Wonderland logic of one side of this debate has not been addressed.
The Voice is demanding that it be able to rule – under threat of chaotic court delays – ‘on any matter that affects indigenous Australians’.
But while they’re indigenous Australians, they are also … well … Australians, just like the rest of us. But with a very special lobby group. Ergo, ANY matter that comes before the Australian Parliament affects the indigenous members of the population. And is therefore open to challenge.
Big corporations, the churches, and other ethnic interests like Italians, Jews, the Chinese community et al, all have lobbying rights as anyone can, and sometimes, politicians accept their submissions,and sometimes they don’t, and that’s the end of the matter, as it should be in a democracy – and many of these organisations and groups have more members than the Voice indigenous lobby. What none of these groups have, though, is a constitutional right to spit the dummy and wreck the government machinery because they don’t get their own way.
It’s all so silly and childish. We are not mugs. Or are we?
Boardwalk Interrupted. Two Words That Explain A Question Everyone Wants Answered
Mayor Mullet’s PR division has been working overtime in this election campaign, fighting rear-guard actions all over the place. In this weekend’s Astonisher. stenographer Leighton Smith was dutifully doing his bit for his favourite lap, faithfully reproducing what was hoped to be a moment of revelation about the mayor’s $6million boardwalk gift to her chums, the Wagner Brothers.
But there’s a sticky little problem that somehow evaded bold, investigative stenographer Smith. Have you ever wondered why Mayor Mullet’s Ross Creek boardwalk to nowhere in particular didn’t start at the logical place, the Denham Street bridge.
Well, it was … and still is … supposed to start at the bridge, and may well do so eventually, sometime and maybe a few million dollars down the track.
So why didn’t it?
The two word answer is Barry Taylor.
Big Bazza Taylor
It is now some years since Taylor contributed to the ‘Beautify Townsville’ project by leaving town to live in Noosa, but he can still get his hand into ratepayers and state government pockets from afar.
When Taylor’s private company Fortune Property Developments bought the old ferry terminal site at 168-192 Flinders Street, plus the adjacent site of Monsoons Bar and Grill (which formed part of the old ferry terminal holdings), it appears it was a state government deal, so Bazza also became the owner of 17m out into Ross Creek. There was a similar situation with Monsoons, which has a dining deck out over the creek. Nothing indicates that Bazza has sold either property, since buying it more than a decade ago, and his Emanate Legal offices are still at 168-192 FSE.
So what’s the betting that when the boardwalk matter came to the stage of purchasing the required rights, Baz, a known fee gouger according to one court matter, set a price that even Mayor Mullet (an old chum) couldn’t meet. As delightful as the image of Jenny Hill and her purple doona stretched over a barrel may be, it seems the taxpayer and the ratepayers of Townsville are, too, and sooner or later are going to be get a belting from Big Bazza.
At least some decent community figure has bought his crumbling, derelict property that greeted visitors on the main FSW entrance to the city, and made it look respectable.
As Eleanor Roosevelt once observed: Some people leave a mark on this world, while others will leave a stain.
The North Rail Yards Debacle: Surely It’s Time For The Authorities To Step In.
Last October, the Dudley Do Nothings aka Townsville Enterprise put out this press release about the Build-to-Rent model. Why TEL took it upon itself as its remit to meddle in these shoal-infested waters is a mystery, but the release you’ll see contain this line: “Build-to-Rent apartment complexes are designed and constructed by a developer who retains ownership of the building when it’s complete. Sites in the CBD such as the North Rail Yards could provide a prime location to develop this housing solution.”
Now this really is not, by any stretch, the business of Townsville Enterprise, so what the hell were they doing rabbiting on about this. The answer is because TEL’s deputy chair, none other than our Mayor Mullet, had been making similar noises on behalf of the council, but wanted a fall guy should no one fall this guff.
And so it was to be, The Magpie is reliably the North Rail Yards site is about to officially nixed (no developer would touch it with lead-lined gloves,) but the most aptly initialled TEL CEO Ms C B-S (the C is for Complete) and the mayor definitely knew this when they blurted the idea into the media stratosphere, seeking brief credence as doing something about a problem the maor herself created and has proved to be a major clusterfuck.
But putting forward the deeply contaminated North Rail Yards fr rentable flats site was window dressing codswallop, given the deeply suspect history of the site.
Honeycombe quickly declined an offer to grab it off the government because of remediation costs, so in 2014 the Financial Genius of Walker Street decided the 4.6 hectare parcel was a bargain at $20,000. That ludicrous price on a site that would normally be priced in the millions didn’t seem to raise any flags in with our gal, who was no doubt snickering at her cleverness. Since then, as one observers said, the North rail Yards has had more starts than Gunsynd, the Goodiwindi Grey. There was a grandiose plan for a tech hub, with an anchor tenant named and southern architects and developers involved, all of which quietly and without credible explanation (it was clear it was remediation costs) fell over. Obviously it was going to be a hard sell, but tentative toe dipping came and went. Not helping was the added demand that some rusting, derelict sheds be kept and restored for laughable ‘heritage value’. A Caterpillar driver after half a bottle of Jim Beam and a tab or two is the real answer, but the nanny state won’t allow it.
But by now, Mayor Mullet was in full crash or crash through mode, and the council decided to consolidate their white elephant by buying the trunk and tail in the form of a former street-front car yard in two lots. Cost $785,000 for one, the other $863,500 total $1.64million. Maybe this is where it is hoped a developer will walk into Jenny’s web and go for a Build To Rent exercise. The ‘pie wouldn’t like to be hanging by the left one while waiting for action.
The NY purchase was explained by the rationale it was a long term strategic move. Then the Build-To-Rent nonsense was floated to maintain the illusion that the council was ahead of the game. Being well aware of the remediation costs, how could the mayor and her minions not know of the sheer impossibility of a Build-To-Rent development while maintaining the rust bucket heritage sheds?
This seriously needs investigating. The Magpie is sure that the reason Jenny Hill is running for mayor again is in the hope of winning, thus keeping the books closed on this and other profligate matters, then stepping down mid-term in favour of her deputy doo dah Frothy Molachino while she pisses off into the sunset, leaving others to carry the can for decade of egotistical self-indulgence an d ignorant mismanagement.
Suggestion for Jenny: stop looking for a legacy to be remembered by … you may rest assured. you will be remembered by ratepayers for decades to come.
Telling It Like It Is
As a cadet journalist back in the age of ink wells and quills, The ‘Pie was instructed that if you had to quote anything from a press release don’t try to re-write something already well written in plain language, let it stand but with attribution. It is with that in mind that The Magpie makes a majnor departure in The Nest this week. So impressed was The Magpie with this in the weekend Astonisher …
… by former colleague and sprightly wordsmith Shari Tagliabue, that he decided he could not have said it better – and agrees with every word..So at the risk of doubling her weekend Bulletin readership he reproduces it here.
Shari’s columns are undoubtedly one of the few good things left at the Bulletin, the others being the occasional story by Tony Raggatt, sudoku and the cryptic crossword.
The ‘Pie doesn’t count the paper’s continual amusement value, although that’s accidental, but nonetheless appreciated.
NEWS FLASH: TCC Adopts Radical New Policy
| The Magpie 12,119 approved |
Submitted on 2023/03/31 at 1:15 pmTCC ANNOUNCE MAJOR POLICY CHANGE
In a run-of-the-mill media release today, detailing some water pipeline works in the ‘burbs, tucked away towards the end was an unheralded change of heart for the council. QUOTE: “Water and Waste Committee chairperson Russ Cook said Council was committed to providing clean and safe drinking water to Townsville residents.” The new policy will be welcomed by residents who have been beset by smelly, brackish brown water on occasions, and is to be applauded even if long overdue. Mayor Mullet will be breathing a sigh of relief, no longer facing the possibility of again having to skoll a glass of the murky brown stuff for TV cameras, before immediately retiring to her office suite to take suitable precautions involving finger and throat to avoid any possible infection.
And folks in Aitkenvale can again be invited to dinner parties. |
American Priorities: The Week In The USA Has Been Just That
Before the indictment of the former mobster president, political prudery about classical art – Flordia demanding school kids not be allowed to view the Statue of David – dominated the chattereri until the school massacre happened. And it fell Australian’s brilliant social commentator Cathy Wilcox to show why a one brilliant image is worth thousands of words. Her illustration – which she labelled American Obscenity – heads this week’s American gallery.
Passing Observation
Some really nasty grizzle and grunts playing footy these days, with all these possibly fatal shoulder charges and head attacks in both major codes.. The ‘Pie never minded a bit of biff, but attacking an opponent when he can’t defend himself is lowest of the low.
On the matter of ‘biff’, The ’Pie once commented to a bespectacled bookish English teacher mate who would be 70kgs wringing wet, that there was the parody song current at that time called Bring Back The Biff. He said he’d never heard, but to The ‘Pie’s astonishment, added ‘That’s a great idea, looking forward to it.’ It turned out he thought I was talking about the abandoned Brisbane International Film Festival.
And Finally, Because it’s been A Grim Week, A Few Laughs
………..
That’s it for the week, and if you don’t help The Magpie’s plight, he will be writing next week’s missive from the watchhouse. The get out of jail card is called the donate button, and is below.
Townsville is a mess with Council failing on basic responsibilities water , City cleanliness + upkeep , public transport , crime . Team Hill pyscophant Councillors letting the Mayor run a muck with her pet projects . Were Councillors even briefed on 1,000 units North Rail yards costs , possible exposure Council , impact property values cbd ? .
The Pie’s theory about the missing link,from Jenny Hill’s entry in the Guiness Book of Records as the most expensive piece of boardwalk in the world, raises some serious questions.
For example, is the mayor holding off paying Bazza Taylor triple the going price for the two buildings adjoining the Denham Street Bridge until after next year’s election to avoid another scandal?
Furthermore, there was brief mention in Saturday’s cocky’s cage liner of a Ross Creek foot walk overpass going from Flinders Street East to the Metropole Hotel, so is this the reason Wagners suddenly took an interest in Townsville real estate and purchased said pub and the hotel/apartment block behind?
And is Wagners seen by our mayor as the preferred developer of the Build-To-Rent accommodation boxes in the old railway yards (or on the former car sales block). giving them the chance to duplicate their Wellcamp windfall in North Queensland?
So many questions – so few answers.
By definition our Jen is in a “mare’s” nest of her own making, probably green in colour too..
mare’s-nest in British English
noun
1. a discovery imagined to be important but proving worthless
2. a disordered situation
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
noun
1. something supposed to be a wonderful discovery but turning out to be a hoax or a delusion
2. a disorderly or confused condition; mess
Actually, the Ross Creek foot walk overpass is not shown going from Flinders Street East to the Metropole Hotel, rather to the intersection of Tomlins Street and Plume Street, i.e. the intersection on the creek near the Yacht Club. It then talks about a “public realm upgrade along Tomlins Street to the George Roberts Bridge”. That’s all very well, except that the walkway actually ends in a stairway up to the South Townsville end of George Roberts bridge, with no way of going under the bridge to connect to the pathway near the Eddie Mabo memorial. Seems a bit of a pointless exercise really. Another case of making it up as we go?
Think you’ll find that the plan is perfectly sensible, but completion will wait until the George Roberts bridge becomes opening span to stop Denham Street traffic to accommodate Jenny’s ferries to the stadium, which will be starting from …. ummm, oh yeah, hadn’t thought of that. Will get back to you.
I wonder how much more the Enema Legal offices are now worth now they are the blockage for the boardwank project? This may be one of the Mullets greatest triumphs to pay Anna Alphabets mates a few million for a road to nowhere and then pony up another few millions to her own mate to buy the building which blocks the project no one needed.
She is a really stable genius.
Firstly, your comments on TCC issues are generally on point, it’s a terribly run organisation cloaked in mystery. Perhaps an unfortunate result of the general lack of civil engagement in Townsville.
Secondly, there a many many people outside of the so called ‘inner city lefties’ that support the voice and will vote yes. The Voice is about two things, recognition and a consultative body that can make representations to the Executive and Government.
The important language that the AG used in the second reading all comes down to ‘may’ and it’s only on issues that impact Indigenous Australian’s. Yep, you’re right some decisions may end up in court. What’s wrong with that? It’s literally the point of the judiciary.
You also suggest the Voice will be self-elected, what do you mean? The voice will elect themselves or Indigenous Australian’s will elect the voice? If it’s the latter, news-flash Government bodies including Royal Commissions and many others elect themselves.
The Voice is not a danger to democracy. You’ll still be able to vote in elections.
For too long Indigenous people have been ignored in this country, ‘Closing the Gap’ is going backwards under all Government’s. One of the main failings is not listening to Indigenous people about what they need. We are always making decisions on what we think is best for them, it hasn’t worked.
You have also Cherry-picked one legal experts opinion. Exactly what News Limited are doing. Have you read Former High Court justice Kenneth Hayne’s opinion? Another point you neglected to mention is Professor Craven is going to vote yes to the voice! He can’t be that worried about the legal implications.
The last point I will make goes to the lack of detail people complain about, there is a reason for this. It will be decided by Parliament if the people vote yes in the referendum. All members of parliament will be able to take part in the debate, propose amendments and the legislation may not even get passed! It seems hard to argue that all the details should be announced now before the democratic process of a Bill’s passage through Parliament.
Thanks for all your reporting on TCC, it’s sorely missing from the Bulletin.
Thanks for your thanks, the Bulletin is now compromised more than ever because a click driven unpopular editor is selective in the coverage offered to a community he doesn’t know and couldn’t give a fuck about … like all his predecessors, he’s just waiting to end his traditional punishment appointment and move on elsewhere in Rupertania. More reports coming in about an unhappy newsroom, because the bloke is apparently a dislikeable arsesole. The Bulletin is now entrenched as part of the problem blocking both progress and honesty in reporting. The courage of some with TCC tio redress the imbalance is to be lauded, anonymous or not, the possibility of discovery is always there.
That the council is terribly run (no argument here) is what happens when thrusting self interest and insidious political motives gut a once compete body of staff.
The Magpie will make a separate response to your other points so as not to confuse the two issues.
Simon, you are obviously a smart person so help a dumb engineer out here. Are any of these issues “matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”? Defence, Taxation, International Trade, which brand of rum to have in the Parliament House bar? Unless the Voice proposal specifies which issues are and which are not relating to ATSI people it seems pretty obvious even to a dumby like me that any issue they want to have a say on is a “matter pertaining”. I like that you are so positive that it will all be sorted out after we sign the blank cheque because it is being left in the hands of politicians and the usual cast of Indigenous industry trough dwellers and they are both groups which are beyond reproach.
I’m not that smart, generally not smarter than an engineer. I can’t even get my outboard motor to start! Any ideas? I am not a legal expert and yes it seems that the language will open up legal avenues. My position is…
The voice to parliament will not have a service delivery role so it’s not like ATSI in that case, the funding would be significantly less. I don’t have a problem with questions like this being tested in the courts. It is the system we have developed in Australia. I may be to positive about it, but I chose to believe people will operate in good faith and believe consultation with First Nations people is super important on issues that pertain to them.
The choice is to think.
1. OH MY GOD the wheels of government will come to a screaming halt because of the imposition of consulting with the voice
or
2. It will all work perfectly, nothing will be delayed and every issue will be solved perfectly.
Obviously the reality will be somewhere in the middle. I think any attempt at government consulting with people better is a good move and it’s also obvious that Australia is not doing well on Indigenous Issues and hasn’t for since settlement.
If the voice is supported by the Australian people the sky won’t fall in and we’ll still all be getting screwed by the cost of living increases.
Read your last line after inserting ‘not’ in front of ‘supported’ – same outcome. Absolutely nothing will change if the referendum doesn’t get up, That is one of the most galling aspects, particular from Burnie, whose brad argument amounts to nothing more than ‘gom on, vote yes, it’s the nice … indeed, te moral thing to do’. No substance of how the Voice would really operate, and I will never alter the view that to vote on something so fundamentally important only to be continually derided as racist and fascist for wanting more information clearly shows there’s something in the background we aren’t supposed to know or consider.
And The ‘Pie stridently disagrees with your proposition that’s there’s no problem with testing matters in court. In this instance, that ability to challenge will be weaponized as a constant threat to coerce the government to allow a tiny minority to hold sway over the greater good of all Australians. The delays caused by the power of challenge will be lengthy and costly, no matter what their outcome, and it is a totally unjust and undemocratic sword put into the hands of the academics, lawyers and self-seekers of the inner urban Aboriginal Industry.
It also means that unelected members of the High Court will in effect be ersatz policy deciders on indigenous issues … so much for the will of the people in any tangible sense.
Simon, First name Simple.
“For too long indigenous people have been ignored in this country”
This from a TTE Saturday Astonisher.: “there are 1,304 entities and organisations funded by the Australian Government specifically for our aboriginal population.”
You will find that the people advocating this ‘voice’ come from those organisations. So again the question is Why do we need a voice for 3% of the population and as the Magpie has stated, what about all the other cultures that go to make up this multicultural population?
Here’s one thing we number nerds are good at, maths. The current Indigenous population of Australia is 896,300. With 1,304 organisations dedicated to them, there is one ATSI organisation for every 687 people across the nation. At that rate how can it be that any ATSI person is unemployed when these groups are full to the rafters with staff.
That would be because most of those employed by most ASTI organisations aren’t ASTI people.
Pretty simple.
A significant number of these companies do not employ staff or generate any income. They are often set up to hold native title. There is a requirement that Native Title is held by these types of organisations. They draw zero government funding or act as lobby groups. It’s an important point that is often neglected in the debate.
Fair comment, Simon – oops, am I allowed to use ‘fair’.
However, just so we know, here’s the list of indigenous organisations, for you to check and advise us which ones your talking about.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Organisations_serving_Indigenous_Australians
Alahazbin made the initial claim, Alahazbin has to prove the point.
When your first sentence is an attempt at a terrible insult it negates the rest of your argument. I was hoping this blog would be an alternative to the cesspit of other places on the internet to discuss local politics.
If it really does take 1304 different trough dwelling institutions to service the needs of 3% of the population, who the hell is looking after MY interests? As a person who worked hard and long like a lot of others, did without a lot of luxuries, rarely bought anything until I had the money, and saved for a decent retirement ( started too late for Super to rescue me) only to be gouged by the Hockey plan, I’d like to know how many Government bodies are looking after my welfare? I can’t even get a doctor to bulk bill me any more. I might have to identify as indigenous, (the signs in the doctors say I can), then maybe things could be different, I might even have a Voice when all the non indigenous fools vote it in!! We are headed for trouble with a capital V!
Simon, since you have elected to make your points about the Voice in a civil and constructive manner, The Magpie – whose golden rule when replying to comments is to give as good as he gets and in the manner he gets it – will reply your same reasonable tenor. And will try to explain politely why you are dead wrong in certain respects.
1. There a many many people outside of the so called ‘inner city lefties’ that support the voice and will vote yes. The Voice is about two things, recognition and a consultative body that can make representations to the Executive and Government.
Yes there are, and there are just as many one sees daily who do not support the current concept of the Voice or trust its backers. (An aside: we’re here in north Queensland, why hasn’t the Bulletin interviewed the people and leaders on Palm Island, and travelled to other indigenous centres to get the views on the ground, whatever they may be. After all, indigenous people are what it’s all about, right? Probably sounds too much like hard work.)
2. The important language that the AG used in the second reading all comes down to ‘may’ and it’s only on issues that impact Indigenous Australian’s. Yep, you’re right some decisions may end up in court. What’s wrong with that? It’s literally the point of the judiciary.
Dreyfus has admitted not just ‘may’ but that challenges are ‘a possibility’. And The Magpie made his point quite clearly in the weekend blog about the vagueness of what will constitute a matter impacting on indigenous people … it could very easily, in the hands of academics smartarses like Langton and Davies et al, come to mean that since indigenous Australians are also just ‘ordinary garden variety citizens’ just like you and me, ALL matters coming before parliament could be the concern of the Voice. These are the sorts of details we are ENTITLED to know BEFORE we vote.And your comment about the judiciary seems deliberately disingenuous … this is not about the judiciary or its established embedded powers, it is about if an unelected wedge group, backed by constitutional right, which can bring a halt to government action that could be in the interest of all Australians. We then all sit around waiting the glacier-like speed of the courts to deliver a judgement. The bench of the High Court, like all judges, and like the Voice proponents, are not elected by the people … parliament is the elected body chosen by the people and checks and balances are already in place.
3. You also suggest the Voice will be self-elected, what do you mean? The voice will elect themselves or Indigenous Australian’s will elect the voice? If it’s the latter, news-flash Government bodies including Royal Commissions and many others elect themselves.
Sorry to be a little blunt here, Simon, but that’s just plain silly. As to how the 20 members of the Voice are chosen – or whatever number is eventually decided – it will not be a vote of the whole population, and are therefore unelected by popular vote of 97% of the population. But unlike Royal Commissions and your ‘many others’, the Voice will have the constitutional power to demand ‘my way or the highway … to the High Court’. And don’t expect us to be so gullible to believe that there not be a lot of infighting and blood letting among the fractious tribes to get a seat at the table, which will certainly include much of the elite of the aboriginal industry. All with axes to grind with simmering historic resentment and an agenda of mischief and vengeful obstinacy, a conclusion reached after observing how self governing aboriginal organisations have operated in the past decades. Most destroyed themselves with infighting and rorts but are now saying its all the fault of governments changing and dissolving them. Pull the other one, it yodels.
4. For too long Indigenous people have been ignored in this country, ‘Closing the Gap’ is going backwards under all Government’s. One of the main failings is not listening to Indigenous people about what they need. We are always making decisions on what we think is best for them, it hasn’t worked.
That is simply a self-serving but insupportable statement – the number of expensively funded indigenous organisations have had great opportunities to achieve much in tandem with governments and a populace generally sympathetic to overall aims. But somehow, this now all the fault of ‘the rest of youse’. And the ordinary Australian taxpayers can be justifiably insulted by the claim that First Australians have been ‘ignored.’ The Australian taxpayer has by and large been a willing contributor to the cause of bettering the lot of the black community. Refusal by the indigenous lobby to take ANY responsibility for the parlous state has disaffected many previously supportive people – including The Magpie.
5. You have also Cherry-picked one legal experts opinion. Exactly what News Limited are doing. Have you read Former High Court justice Kenneth Hayne’s opinion? Another point you neglected to mention is Professor Craven is going to vote yes to the voice! He can’t be that worried about the legal implications.
This bit of irrelevant sophistry ignores the fiery rhetoric of Langton and others Billy-come-latelies who, now they’ve been found out in their hidden motives, have shifted to a ‘ well, we deserve it, so suck it up’ approach, a not so tacit admission they don’t mind having, indeed demand, a wrecking ball to run through the machinery of government if any if the ‘advice’ is knocked back in the interests of the wider community.
The Magpie will happily vote for constitutional recognition of indigenous people, it is the only dignified thing we can do, for ourselves and for the indigenous … but only if the insidious power to unfairly disrupt is specifically denied in the the wording BEFORE we vote in the referendum. Having witnessed the perfidy, dishonesty and moral turpitude of Australian politicians in the past three decades, you want us to trust that this parliamentary omelette of rotten eggs will do the right and fair thing? Good luck with that.
If the Voice proposal is embedded in the constitution as currently outlined, it will be a divisive racist wedge, which bows to Orwell’s famous statement ‘ All men are equal, but some are more equal than others’.
And if the Yes proposal gets up, I will be proud that I had the fibre not to be bullied about being racist in denying the amorphous ‘vibe’ and alleged principle of the Voice. When it all hits the fan, as it surely will, I will at least know I had the moral courage to stand up for my country, modern Australia, and for my own rights.
Excellent response Mr Magpie.
Yep, good read pie, well said … Ducks, you around? … I’m still voting no mate, cheers.
That’s the beauty of a democracy Weary, you get to vote however you choose.
I know mate, it’s awesome isn’t it? … how good is it that no one particular group of people has any more say or influence over our system of government than any other group of people … thank fck nobody’s trying to change that!! … oh, hang on a minute …
I believe if you look in one of those drawers in the kitchen you’ll find a roll of alfoil for your hat.
Do you realise you’ve just shot off those nuts Ducky … your comment says you’re replying to yourself. But if the tin foil caps …
This comment also says I’m replying to myself Magpie, but I’m replying to you. It’s how your blog works. After a certain number of replies the “reply to” function disappears.
Doesn’t seem to for anyone else. Not that The ‘Pie has been told.
We’re laughing at you Ducks ,,, not with you
,,, cheers mate
Magpie, after the second reply to a reply on a comment there are no longer any “reply to” options. Your blog has worked like this for some time, and on a number of platforms.
Then you must be aware of it, so don’t make a goose of yourself again, Ducky.
Magpie, by taking your particular ‘no’ position and stating ‘I will be proud that I had the fibre not to be bullied about being racist in denying the amorphous ‘vibe’ and alleged principle of the Voice’, you make it clear that you are not open to persuasion. You have made up your mind and that’s it. Fair enough. At least in the ‘Nest you have not been subjected to any of the invective you perhaps feel swirling around but who knows what happens to you in other organs of social media. You are able to speak your mind here with complete abandon and as far as i can see no one so much as quibbles with you. I note that your particular stumbling block is similar if not identical to that of Prof Craven. He worries about the High Court too. Interestingly, despite his legal concerns he says he will vote yes anyway, seemingly on principle.
Rubbish. Certainly open to persuasion], but no one has tried to do so, just waffle about principle, and ‘be nice, the poor buggers deserve it’ and so on and empty so on. The ‘poor buggers’ that deserve a better deal won';t even get a look-in once the elite of the aboriginal industry get their racial wedge into the process.
So persuade the old bird why he should accept an unelected constitutionally supported group based solely on one race (if you don’t do blood tests) having the power to temporarily block proposed legislation on ANY issue (because ALL issues affect All Australians and that includes the indigenous) if the government of the day does not accept their ‘advice’.
And state clearly, yes or no, if you support such a scenario, no twisted words and convoluted self-serving reasoning please.
Not sure about you but I grew up under a monarchy. People of my parents and grandparents generations fought and died on principle for that unelected, self-serving, elitist royal family and Australians of our generation voted a few years back to maintain that undemocratic un-Australian entity as the foundation of our constitution. The Voice is nowhere near as weird as that. I can live and work with it and look forward to doing so, warts and all.
Ok Dolan. Sit down and take one of those pills you were caught with at the Casino. See, I told you everything wasn’t so bad. Every dog has his day and old fella, you have certainly had yours.
Novel assumption.
Fair dinkum April 3, 2023 at 9:54 pm
Ok Dolan. Sit down and take one of those pills you were caught with at the Casino. See, I told you everything wasn’t so bad. Every dog has his day and old fella, you have certainly had yours.
Reply
The Magpie April 3, 2023 at 11:20 pm
Novel assumption.
Magpie, this is for you – about the ‘reply’ function on this site. I have copy / pasted direct from the above exchange. As you can see, the ‘reply’ function (in red on my screen) occurs after Fair Dinkum’s comment but there is nothing after The Magpie’s comment. In this case there is only one ‘Reply’ function after one comment, in others there are sometimes more. As someone else has suggested this has been happening for ages. It is not a problem but it may appear that people are replying to someone somehow out of sequence. No big deal, just an observation.
Thanks for the info. There are some mysteries of WordPress that even a couple of techo chums can’t figure out. We’ll just soldier on.
Do we have an emerging “DEMocrUSy”?
No we have an emerging DemocrATSI
In the 2021/22 TCC annual report the Council mentioned that they are striving for a ‘circular economy’. That methodology would continue in the current financial year of 2022/23. A circular economy is a systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. Well I see very little of this. All I see is a debt of around $700m and growing daily, especially as interest rates on loans increase.
Our Mayor barely breathes a mention of actual green projects or of addressing climate change and improving waste management. Instead, under the Mullet and part-time CEO Ralston, they have cut human resources, cut spending, and the city looks more like a third world shithole every week. The Mullet doesn’t encourage environmentally focused businesses to either put a foothold in the region or increase their foothold if they are already here. The Mullet and Ralston are lazy when it comes to business. All she cares about is tyre burning/fuel spewing V8 race cars which are not an environmentally friendly activity. No doubt the next annual report leading into the 2024 election year will contain pages of fluff and twaddle.
To be fair Rollmop, the mullet did try and pass off the work being done by Atlas Soils, as work instgagated by council. FOGO bins and some amazing recycling initiatives.
As part of Jenny’s boardwalk there is also “the proposed Wickham St. Bridge” which the council plan omits to show will take out about 14 marina berths at the Townsville Yacht Club.
People with yachts don’t vote for Mullets they just use them for bait to catch decent fish so obviously her approach is to just ignore them.
14 yacht berths or a bridge for tens of thousands of pedestrians, tough choice!!
‘Tens of thousands of pedestrians’.
You are a card, Plucker, very humorous.
20000 / 365 = 55 people per day. Easy. Fuck them yachties.
Hahahaha … do you use the same formula down the other end of town for the Castle Hill stairs to nowhere used by fuckall people?
ince these were opened, The Magpie, who drives past and makes a mental note at least three times a week has seen EXACTLY 3 people using the stairs. Perhaps it was my bad timing that I missed the 55+ days.
You know plucka, I don’t agree with a lot that you say, but I like your style when it comes to the yachties and I agree entirely – fuck em!! They are a minority, a small group of sea persons who whinge about everything from mooring fees to the price of fuel – whinge whinge whinge. As you say plucka – fuck em.
I didn’t say anything about the stairs. You said it, they go nowhere. The bridge would directly connect South Townsville and Palmer Street to Flinders Street, the Strand and the Ville.
The Council will add the cost of reimbursement of the 14 berths to the “consolidation of the elephant by buying the trunk and tail”! Magpie, I almost choked on my chewing gum when I read that marvel! Well done!
(Magpie note: This comment appears not have come from the real BCE.)
Perhaps better to explain it as permanently removing the ability for anything to navigate the waterway for the sake of a few thousand people too lazy to walk around on the current bridge. Townsville people are really bad pedestrians unless too drunk to care or too broke to call a cab. The only people who will be using this unicorn shit bridge are models posing for TCC promotions photos or people you do not want on your side of the river.
Nothing is permanent but that’s a small price to pay for.
Terry, could you give a reference for the (TCC?) document which contains “the proposed Wickham St. Bridge” . That looks like a quotation from something. What exactly is it?
Further to Terry and the Engineer, here is a TCC media release with a concept picture of the East End boardwalk area – no bridge is marked. You can see the Tomlins Street corner in the bottom right and Wickham Street in the top right. Where are the “14 berths” you are talking about being eliminated and where is there any reference anywhere to a “Wickham Street bridge”?
26/08/2022 – Construction to start next week on the new East End boardwalk
Sorry, no image. If it was a link, re-send, but comments on this platform cannot take photos or other images, they have to be sent via email to email hidden; JavaScript is required or email hidden; JavaScript is required
Of course, by doing this, commenters will be aware that they may be providing their identity to The ‘Pie, which you may not want to do
You should get your tech people to investigate that Magpie. There’s a plugin for WordPress that enables comments to upload attachments.
Worth looking into, The ‘Pie will have a beak around, but he’s been holding off doing anything immediate while trying to put together a new look Nest. It’s slow going. But thanks.
Sorry, can’t create a clickable link but you can copy/paste into your browser. The thing is, it looks like Terry and the Engineer are just making stuff up. There never was a Metropole bridge or a Wickham Street bridge on any published plan. WTF?
The only historic mention of a Ross Creek bridge was a thought fart from His Radiance Tony Mooney yonks ago, but that was at the end of the Strand across to near the Metropole. It was a bit of glitzy bullshit window dressing, something to do with the SDA of a port terminal building and that arsesole Craig Gore’s ridiculous grifting fairytale of a canal development in the ‘pond’ in front of the casino. The ‘Pie has never heard of anything beyond rumour of a Wickham street connection, which doesn’t really make much sense anyway. Neither development will create a single permanent job or assist the progress or the attractiveness of this city.
Would this be the link Palm? Is Terry referring to the Active Transport Bridge?referred to in this link as
“Future stages proposed in this area include:
an active transport bridge between Flinders Street and Tomlins Street at Plume Street for pedestrians, cyclists, scooters, etc.”
https://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/building-planning-and-projects/council-projects/east-end-boardwalk
Yes, that is it.
Thanks for this link Ducky. Looks like it’s not being made up on the run after all. Just a bit disjointed is all. Cheers.
Many of us will gladly support the Voice, and I sincerely hope enough to enable the Referendum to pass. Our First Nations people have suffered at the hands of colonialism and racism since we invaded their land. Giving them input to decisions impacting them is but a small reparation for the way we’ve treated them since 1788. Show some grace and goodwill instead of peevishness and adversarialism, please. It’s the least we can do after the pain we’ve inflicted on generations of our First Nation.s people. We have much to learn from New Zealand and their approach and respect to their Māori nation.
Absolutely … and The Magpie would vote Yes but for one aspect …. the power to block or at the very least cause ruinous delays to legislation framed for the greater good. That’s the greater good of the 97% of the rest of population by a group that the 97% have not elected or even had a say in. And having pride in being Australian and ensuring that your right to democratic government is not unjustly trampled is more dignity and pride … mixed with a certain justified indignation …. are attributes that you choose to label peevishness and adversalism. And grace and good will, in normal circumstances of civilised society, is a two way street.
That argument is fallacious Magpie. The way our system of government works, everyone in parliament is NOT elected by 97% of the population.
That is sophistry of the first order, a deflection of no value but while I can explain it for you, I cannot comprehend it for you.
However, yes, The ‘Pie will rephrase … every Australian eligible to vote elects the parliament. But not even the three percent of the indigenous population will ‘vote’ in a closed, unsupervised selection of the Voice contingent seeking its wholly representative powers.
Ph Ducks, surely you jest.
Wonder if you will be so supportive when they claim your house thru native title.
Weak at the knees mate?
That’s what you’re scared of? Your house being claimed by native title. There’s more chance of the bank repossessing my house than a native title claim being successful.
The ‘Pie agrees, this is a recycled scare tactic from the days of native title and can be safely ignored – that is not to say that The ‘Pie is conversant with the state of your mortgage, Nutty.
You accidentally called yourself realist instead of “delusional fuckwit”.
I’m on the North side, my ‘rent’ on my place is going to the Bindal mob!
Magpie, you need to check your facts, please. The Voice will provide an avenue for input and consultation only and has no powers of veto on government policy or legislation. The Attorney General and the PM have made this quite clear, and constitutional experts such as Prof Anne Twomey (Google her credentials) have confirmed that to be the case. If this is your only objection, you mind should be set at ease. Please be a force for good here!
Don’t be an impertinent prick, with eristic misreading arguments that wilfully don’t reflect what the Magpie has said. NEVER EVER has he suggested that a Voice would have any powers of veto … that’s an absurd and juvenile suggestion, because if that were the case, there would not be a referendum, it would be dismissed out of hand. And rightly so. But he has pointed to a back door scenario of disruption. What The Magpie has said … start the lips moving and read slowly … that the Voice in the current available wording, is seeking to have, and WILL HAVE the power to mount court challenges if the government of the day chooses not to agree to their ‘advice’. That equals lengthy delays, unfair disruption and also leaves the field open for corruption, backroom deals and unfair outcome for the Australian taxpayer.
And continual unwarranted costs to the taxpayer.
Final comment to avoid further nastiness from you, Pie…..If the referendum on the Voice fails, no-one will come out of this a winner, and Australia will be diminished as a country.
How come?
The Australian people will for sure, if Yes means the handing over of powers no one unelected group has.
And you flinch at a few robust responses by The ‘Pie, labelling them nasty. Tell you what is nasty … telling a person who has clearly outlined his objection with research, facts and logical possible conclusions to be ‘a force for good’ – just to state that without any facts or a well argued point of view is a bit arrogant, isn’t it?
Try not to melt so quickly, and think what you are saying in this issue … but importantly, think WHY you are saying what you say, examine how you reached your conclusion. Please share, this is a discussion.
Contributor – there actually shall be an effective power of veto. If a recommendation is made by the Voice and this recommendation is not accepted by the government of the day, imagine the outrage and accusations of racism that shall ensue. What government would be brave enough to not follow the demands of this body? I worked in the old ATSIC, which had a not-dissimilar remit. Black Politics are venomous and fiercely tribal. Self-interest, patronage and nepotism ensured that corruption was never too far away. Overall, your attitude is similar to the trans mob – if you don’t agree with us and do exactly what we say, then you are a left-wing nut job/bigot/racist/Trump Voter. Personally, I intend to vote “No”, because I disagree with the model proposed. Acknowledge the original occupants of the land in the constitution by all means. Set up an advisory body by legislation so the inevitable problems can be fixed. Having said that, I am sure that the referendum shall get up. And unlike your mob, I shall accept the decision and get on with my life. I can well imagine the riots in the streets if it doesn’t get up. Love is love, Bro.
Thanks, Grumps, you have saved the Magpie further trouble in clearly laying out his position.
BTW, reading the manner and choice of words by Contributor, don’t reckon it’s bro, more sista … bet she’s a gal. No problem there, just a conceit by The ‘Pie A through his fascination with words and phrasing by different groups. Seems Contributor has a good heart, just hope it doesn’t get too bruised in this robust forum
Grumpy, in some ways government process already works this way. Under the EPBC Act, the minister must not only demonstrate that they have considered advice, they seem to have to prove it. If they don’t or can’t the matter is sent back to them for reconsideration. But in the end, if they don’t want to act on the advice they can reject it. Of course the decision they finally make is appealable, as presumably a rejected Voice advice is appealable – maybe directly to the HIgh Court. But even the High Court can refuse an application for leave to appeal, and in fairly short order. At least one retired HIgh Court judge has expressed no concerns about the ability of the Voice to hold the legislature to ransom. I guess the proof will be in the pudding.
So now the game has shifted now it is out in the open.
The yes argument now is ‘of course a rejection of advice can be challenged, and yes, it can be dragged at length though the courts, what’s wrong with that?’.
You really are trying to promote a race war, aren’t you? The simmering resentment this divisive and undemocratic provision will not just be directed at members of the Voice, but at the indigenous communities generally (yes, plural, there are 390 of them, not one) but also at a Labor Government and a Prime Minister who rammed this through as some sort of virtue signalling triumph.
And the most hateful thing – voters will then have to turn towards political extremes simply to protect their position of equality in this society.
Whoa, Magpie. I am amateur Palm Sunday in the front bar not “the Yes argument” sitting in their day job as lawyers and strategists. You can say what you like about them and their position. I’m not worried about the High Court and will be voting for the Voice as outlined in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Sorry, The ‘Pie missed the bit in the Uluru Statement from the Heart about the sell-out of democratic principles. Righting a wrong by removing someone else’s legitimate right – in this case, the right to democratically elected government – is frying pan into the fire stuff.
And the fact that YOU are not worried about high court challenges is no recommendation to vote yes. Quite the opposite.
Magpie, in matters relating specifically to Indigenous Australians such as, say, Native Title, I would not expect that the “97%” would have an equal say. The founding fathers in their wisdom already decided that. our constitution would create a them-and-us, it’s not something new.
‘The founding fathers’? Getting a bit confused with the usual cultural cringe towards the US of A, there, Palm.
But your basic premise seems to be that a reversal of the ‘us and them’ you speak of is incorrect. To the framers of the Australian constitution, there was no ‘them’, indigenous people were simply ignored, disgracefully for decades after federation, they were ghost people to be treated little better than stock. But in the past 70 years, that disgusting attitude has changed and common decency and empathy to right past wrongs has slowly, in incremental advances, been established – at least legally and gradually, socially.
Now, a power grab by an inner urban academic elite threatens to divide the country in a reverse fashion … and mate, 3% against 97% is never gunna prevail. Given a arbitrarily chosen cohort the ability to create turmoil in government – which is certainly what will happen – will put Australia at great disadvantage in an competitive global marketplace and further affect our standard of living. There is a big difference between ‘respect for’ and ‘subservience to’. And the latter forced on people will inevitably undo the former completely.
It’s just scaremongering to say that the Voice would delay legislation or cause turmoil for longer than the five minutes it takes the High Court to say that they’re just an advisory body per the constitution.
Your apparent ignorant optimism regarding the speed at which the High Court moves is matched only by your cavalier conclusion of its ruling.
And when details of what we are being asked to vote on are proving harder than pulling teeth, seeking clarity on specific likely aspects of a Voice with these powers is hardly scaremongering, a desperately emotive charge trotted out by those who know they are losing an argument. cf Trump and ‘witch hunt’.
You raised the prospect of a race war you desperate old scaremonger you!
Palm, you miss the point (or are being deliberately obtuse). I am well aware of legal processes. All a frustrated Voice would have to do is ring the ABC and whine about one of their recommendations/demands being rejected by the Government of the Day and it’s a media frenzy no PM wants. Imagine all the walks over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
(Magpie note: This comment appears not have come from the real BCE.)
So you are telling us that all the ATSI people who sit or have sat in parliament had have no involvement in the decision making process and none of the tens of thousands of ATSI public servants have had any influence, is that right? Because if that is the case how will another ATSI political sheltered workshop make any difference. If this would in any way improve the lives of people on the ground I would be all for it but it smells increasingly like another land grab by the “Black Industry” rather than anything else.
ATSI people who sit in parliament or work in parliament, like everyone else there, represent, their constituents, and the residents of Australia. They arent elected to just represent only other ATSI people. Just like Italian people in parliament arent elected just to represent only those of Italian descent, and those of Belgian origin don’t just represent Belgians.
The Voice
Depending where you look and who you believe there are somewhere between zero and over 2000. Organisations looking after the aboriginal peoples of this country.
I am no expert on these organisations, however I am a betting man, and always keen to bet on a certainty! My bet is that 99% of these organisations are run by white blaclfellers! The type you see walking around the big cities and Canberra. The group known to be members of the Aboriginal Industry, I have unfortunately been introduced to a couple of these urgers.
If the BcEngineer is correct and there are 896300 people who class themselves or are classed as Aboriginal, and if this information (see the link), although old, (it was the best I could find) is discounted by a third, we still have 1835 organisations in the Aboriginal Industry, i.e. to say one for every 488 Aboriginal people.
To pick a location out of the hat, say Bamaga, which in the 2016 Census had 957 aboriginal residents, I wonder which two of these organisations are in residence there.
The voice I am certain will become another one of these organisations which will be a bottomless pit for even more tax payer’s money. Millions more will be spent, cars, offices, staff, consultants etc. etc. etc. The money will not be spent however improving the lot of the underfed, under educated, under housed, under medicated and underrepresented Aboriginal peoples who live in camps and reserves throughout Australia. The poor people who need our help and empathy and who are never consulted by these all knowing all seeing White Blackfellers!
https://www.oric.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/11_2017/Top500_2015-16.pdf
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBD_en-GBAU782AU782&q=How+many+Aboriginal+corporations+are+there%3F&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjq7uHQl4z-AhVSjGMGHakpAsYQzmd6BAgeEAY&biw=1600&bih=789&dpr=1
I WILL VOTE NO! If I had the opportunity I would vote early and often!
And I also !!!
Maybe they are all knowing but most definitely they don’t see the people currently living under the Ross River bridge who were shifted out of the centre of town! Can anyone convince me things will be different for this class of people after the Voice is installed, and how much will it cost?
1099 Days until Ms Hill is relected as Mayor. Bloody hell, is Fran the only option here.
Lab Rat {Jenny},
Relected ?
I think you mean rejected.
NQ Gal, I think I love you!
News (very) Limited is slowly but surely conditioning what readers they have left to getting a big dose of the Courier Mail, with a Townsville story on the side. They didn’t even have the result of the Cowboys disaster on the website at 8am today, 12 hours after the game. Were they asleep or did they just suppress the bad news?
How did the Magpie put it?
Ah yes, yesterday’s news tomorrow, and mixed in with a huge dose of anywhere else.
Why do they bother having an iditor?
The office cleaner could do a better job.
It’s Tuesday and I still don’t know who won the F1 race in Melbourne on Sunday!
Ejected
LRat, you used a non-word ‘relected’. Did you mean rejected or reelected. With about a year to go, there’s every chance of more nominations for mayor and each of the divisions.
Congratulations to the Iditor of the Astonisher who managed to get 10 local stories, plus 5 local sports stories into the paper today. Keep up the good work!
General / Misc comment … thanks Pie for saying all the things we’re all thinking but we just don’t know how to articulate them … your command of the English language and interpretation of the law are greatly appreciated … keep up the good work mate.
This is the question
“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
Do you approve this proposed alteration?”
If you limited the wording to:
to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia
then I would vote yes
Just got back after a few days in Cairns, can’t believe what a dirty unkempt third world city Townsville has become under Jenny’s dictatorship.
While we’re talking about the purple doonas list of white elephants lets not forget about this one.
https://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/about-council/news-and-publications/media-releases/2019/august/north-queensland-data-centre-booting-up
The French have come to their senses. Now how long until our illustrious leaders follow suit and get rid of these blasted things.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-03/parisians-vote-overwhelmingly-to-banish-for-hire-e-scooters/102181660
Amidst the TCC Galleries’ halls,
Where artistry and beauty calls,
Galleries Director Jane Scott’s tenure cut abruptly short,
Her resignation; a culture retort.
A revolving door of staff they say,
A serious issue at the City’s display,
Magpie, we beseech thee, hear our plea,
Unveil the truth, let justice be.
Investigation please, Mr ‘pie,
Peck at the truth, do not let it lie,
Unveil the rot within the walls,
Expose the culture’s fatal flaws.
In Townsville, a city so bright,
The Council’s staff turn over in a fright,
A year in the job, too much to bear,
Each departure, a culture in despair.
The revolving door spins with great force,
Discouraging those who seek employment’s source,
An issue so major, impossible to ignore,
The Council’s reputation shaken to the core.
For art’s sake, for the city’s name,
Do not let this issue be the same,
Let light shine on this murky plight,
Expose the wrong, set things aright,
So art may thrive and flourish free,
In our city of no integrity.
Well, your the one with the inside goss,
So YOU spill the beans on your unhappy boss,
But don’t be a tease,
Do so in prose please,
Clarity is sometimes lost in rhyme,
The ‘Pie has enough to fill his time.
I hear your words, and I understand,
But I’m just a poet, with pen in hand,
I don’t have intel or insider goss,
My words flow freely, without any loss.
In verse, I write, with passion and with skill,
My words a canvas, my thoughts to distill,
My rhymes may make you wince, but don’t be shy,
For in my verse, worlds of wonder lie.
For words are my canvas, my tool and my art,
A way to express the emotions in my heart,
So let my verses wash over you like the sea,
And in my poetry, perhaps you’ll find some glee.
But don’t be fooled, I’m just an outsider,
A messenger of words, a mere provider,
Of tales and stories, of truth and lies,
Whispers and rumors, that seem to arise.
Jane Scott’s exit has set tongues wagging,
Was she forced out or just tired of nagging?
The town’s rumor mill is working in full force,
But the truth will come out, as a matter of course.
And so I ask Magpie, with a hopeful plea,
To share some intel, to enlighten me,
For surely, with his eagle eye and sharp beak,
He must know something, of the truth we seek.
Magpie, spread your wings and take to the skies,
Uncover the truth, cut through the lies,
Let your sharp beak and piercing eyes,
Expose the secrets, to our surprise.
Through the city’s streets and council halls,
Search for the facts, let no stone stand tall,
Unveil the stories, big and small,
Let truth and justice reign for all.
Noble sentiments, soaring words,
Tho’ probably wasted on we turds,
Alas, so eagerly did we bend,
Our ears for what you would send,
But no, no info to hold us in thrall,
Seems – just like us – you know fuck all.
He’s not a poet,
But he doesn’t know it!
Got a nose
And doesn’t blow it.
Ah kindergarten, those were the days, eh?
In Townsville, a city once so grand,
Now labeled by some as a ‘shtty’ land,
Back-to-back titles it claimed with ease,
As ‘Sht Town Of The Year’ it did seize.
Mayor Jenny Hill, a spin she tried,
To mask the shame she could not hide,
A blogger’s list, a desperate plea,
To spin a win for all to see.
“Most liveable cities” was the name,
But a Perth blogger’s list? ha! oh the shame, she is so lame, so hungry for fame,
None other than Perth got no 1 rank,
And Townsville’s pride, now in the tank.
But we’re not fooled by these gimmicks and ploys,
No smoke and mirrors can mask the noise,
Of a city struggling with a bad reputation,
Desperate, desperate for a new narration.
Embarrassing, oh what a blow,
For a city once with a mighty glow.
May hope and change soon come to be,
For Townsville’s people to live more free.
The “new look” Bulletin, different typefaces for the headlines on a page. Looks messy.
Page 6 today subheading ” GPs closing oors as…”.
Page 15, the 2nd line of text under the picture runs over the text of the story.
These all apply to the print edition. Doesn’t anyone even glance at the edition before it goes to print?
If today’s Townsville Bulletin is any guide the Magpie’s prediction that our local paper will become a liftout in the Courier Mail has already happened, in part at least.
Knowing that locals would be up in arms if News Limited shut down the local paper, the bosses in Sydney and Brisbane have come up with a cunning solution – keep the name, but turn the paper into a version of the Courier Mail, with a sprinkling of local news to fool local subscribers.
The following figures would be laughable if they weren’t so serious:
(NB: The Editorial, Letters to the Editor and Text The Editor have been excluded):
– of the 32 pages today 22 are full page advertisements, including the inside front page, back page and inside back page. Half the front page has also been sold off to The Good Guys
– In the general news section just 7 of the 34 stories are about the Townsville region (north to Ingham, south to the Burdekin and west to Charters Towers)
– In the sports section just 6 of the 22 stories are local
If they can get away with this rort, why would they bother closing down the Townsville Bulletin.
Same can be said for Seven Local News, which seems to regard stories from the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Mackay and Cairns as local news.
On the subject of local news, the Townsville City Council is spending a small fortune of ratepayers money on ads promoting its What’s On In Townsville website, which is already promoted free of charge during Seven Local News.
Jenny, please assure us that you’re not currying favour with Seven in advance of next year’s election.
https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-townsville/townsville-crime-teen-girls-charged-after-stolen-ride-crashes-into-tree/news-story/a731ca396803647bcd82b87b2456d9f8
“Police are investigating after a silver Holden Captiva was stolen during a burglary at a Kirrama Ct, Bushland Beach address on Saturday, March 1.”
“are investigating” five weeks on??
And, question : How do two girls, 14 and 15, hide a car for five weeks?
In their bedroom?
Astounding!
Butterfly, (I make sure I address who I am replying to now so there is no confusion) police were ordered to return to their station and not leave after a police car was rammed and a crow bar thrown at another police car this week. So I guess the girls could have hidden the car in broad daylight and the police would have been hiding in the station waiting for orders to leave.
The ‘Pie hopes you’re not implying a lack of ticker on behalf of the coppers … they follow orders on pain of penalty for disobeying, and the distant hierarchy are not thinking of their well being, but of the possible claims if they get hurt or worse, And how Madam Palaszczuk in her ivory tower might take her vengeance on them. Even with the playing field tilted massively against by a headless chook government, those in the field will still do what is necessary to the point when they can’t.
Magpie, the question needs to be asked, who is protecting the public, from the non car ramming criminals, while the police are on orders not to leave the station?
Ask the hierarchy who pulled them back.
Someone at work compared Townsville to the Wild West but that is not true. In the Wild West citizens were armed and entitled to protect themselves and their property. Townsville is much more like one of those tin pot African countries where the government forces sit around and watch the gangs terrorise the population because the political class are busy deciding what colour drapes they need in their new palace.
They have just found a chook with 4 legs at the Atherton Tablelands, it has been named “Pallachook”, it also has a forked tongue.
How good is the editor, in today’s editorial he has the Cowboys playing the Titans on Friday night.
Also on page 29 (sport) with team selection Cowboys v Dolphins Qld Country Bank Stadium SUNDAY 8 PM…
And the question of the Total Tools stadium capacity remains flexible apparently …. in the Good Frid ay booze regulations story, Tony R. says the match between the (two correctly named teams) is going to be a sell-out 25,000. And that is the official stadia website number BUT on 9/6/21, the new stadium set a record of 27,533 for a State of bOrigin match, and in October last year the Boys and the Eels pulled in 25,372. It would be nitpicking in extremis to pull up Tony R for that statement, but what no one has ever questioned is the WPH&S regulations that were apparently broken on these two previous occasions.
Looks like the spel checker at the Astonisher has failed again. Page 4 of the print edition headline reads
“Holiday treat at musuem”
sigh
I see the editorial in the bully this morn is going on about the Liquor Laws at the stadium on Good Friday night, the only problem is he has the Cowboys playing the Titan’s not the Dolphins, i’m sure we played the Titans a couple of weeks ago, doesn’t anybody there check his work ? well someone should because it’s clear the editor is not up to speed.
From the editorial:
Coming from Aussie Rules dominated states in his previous posts, iditor Herbert clearly doesn’t give a toss about RL beyond raking in the dollars it generates. But his lazy carelessness is highlight by the front page, which had he done a final check of his paper, might have given him a clue about this Friday night.
I’m no prude. Far from it but I grow tired of these special dispensations. Screw Lancini Stadium, if it can’t get the crowds without the booze then so be it. Reminds me of V’landys squealing during COVID and getting similar dispensations.
Either apply the one in all in or remove the restriction all together for all licenced establishments FFS.
Today’s Irony Award goes to the American Government’s justice system.
Crikey reports that even if Donald Trump is convicted and goes to prison, under American law, he can still run for President and if he wins, he could govern from prison (in the nanosecond before he pardoned himself).
The irony? While a prisoner can therefore run the country from gaol, other fellow convicts CANNOT EVEN VOTE. In some instances, a convicted person can be disenfranchised for life, but rights are usually restored after release.
Comparison note: Australian prisoners serving less than three years or on parole or home detention can still vote, only those on sentences longer than three years are disenfranchised for the period of their imprisonment.
And the media have now started their version of Where’s Wally, only now it’s Where’s Melania.
Mrs Strumpet has been conspicuously absent from Donny’s side in all this and has previously displayed publicly a failed gold digger’s contempt for her loopy President husband.
The funnymen are having a field day, led by the America’s top satirist Andy Borowitz in the New Yorker.
Andy also reckons Melania rummaged through her closet and dug out an old favourite to save any boring questions and answers. seems to say it all.
And a favourite Magpie tweeter, Miss Texas 1967, was way ahead of the game three years ago.
Currently driving the Bruce dirt track and have decided that the appalling condition is to keep you awake in the fatigue zones. No eyelid drooping when you are being rattled around.
Good old Bruise Highway. Just follow the advice of the signage.
Just couldn’t help myself.
looks like Mrs McGillicuddy from Upper Cumbucta West!
Startling news that Qld Pacific Metals has acquired 100% of the Moranbah Gas Project from AGL and Arrow Energy. What’s even more startling is that 15 years after buying the project for $268m, AGL and Arrow are now effectively paying QPM $30m to take it off their hands ($5m sale price but then $35m back to QPM “as consideration for assuming obligations” for existing gas supply contracts) QPM will use some of the gas in their Landsdowne plant to process the anticipated 1.6m tonnes of ore. That’s a LOT of trucks
A lot of trucks, also a lot of slag and other waste to be “dumped” somewhere!!
Lurker this got me thinking. Why would a company give away an asset and lots of cash unless it was a real dog. Second thought was why would an other company buy said dog unless they intend doing a Clive Palmer and just using it to pump up their assets then onsell the entire company to someone else. This sounds more like another Lansdumb ponzy scheme than a coup for Townsville. Anyone want to bet that Qld Pacific Metals either does a massive fundraising or sells out to an overseas investment group?
Civil there is no doubt the Moranbah Project in its present form is a dog. Poor management and less than stellar drilling results meant the gas supply side always struggled but it is still a very valuable asset in its own right. Reasonable volumes of confirmed gas reserves with all the neccessary pipelines and infrastructure in good condition, in-place, revenue-producing offtake agreements, good future demand prospects, and guaranteed gas supply and pricing for QPM’s own operations mean that it’s a good deal at the right price, which according to the bean counters at QPM, AGL and Arrow is around -$30m.
AGL and Arrow sank a great deal of money into the project after purchase too but overly optimistic projections and ongoing management failures meant the project was wildly over-capitailised. End result QPM pick up a great multi-faceted project that they can cut, slice and dice to suit their purpose, with very little risk. I’ve no idea whether QPM can do any better than the previous management but it would be hard to do worse.
QPM is one of the few good news stories for Townsville, with apparently solid management practices and a refreshing attitude of doing rather than talking. There seems still to be a bit of a question mark over final funding, but the lack of outlandish claims makes one hopeful that they are the real goods. And let’s trust Mayor Mullet doesn’t fuck things up with some last minute swerve.
This was an interesting Twitter post this morning.
https://twitter.com/TheMarketBullAU/status/1643407546936352773
Arrow have lots of conflicting leases with some very big players in the Bowen Basin like Anglo and BHP.
The gas can’t be fracked as the seam is too tight, unfortunately a lot of Bowen Basin coal is similar. To get the gas they have used for production they have had to directional drill.
Also a lot of their tenements are in the way of of BHP’s Goonyella/Broadmeadow mine. Also wouldn’t be surprised if Pembroke want to develop Red Hill East. Then lastly there is the landowner there who is even despised by his neighbours but I’ll leave that at that.
I’n not surprised they are jumping.
All true and all very valid points Dave. Another key point is that what gas is available is pretty well stranded, with only the Townsville pipeline in place to get the gas out of the field. It has no connection to the rest of the east coast network, severely limiting future commercial sales. But most of the hard yards have already been done by Arrow, and QPM isn’t (supposedly) looking to prove up or produce export quantities of gas. In the end they only need enough to be able to meet their own power generation (electricity) needs, plus a bit more to supply the existing revenue-raising contracts. Anything else is gravy. It’s not that the Project wasn’t profitable, it’s that it wasn’t profitable enough. Arrow and AGL were never going to get the returns needed to recoup their plus billion-dollar investment. In contrast, QPM have literally invested nothing. They simply don’t need to find, produce and then pipe large quantities of gas to make a profit. All they have to do is slightly exceed the opportunity cost of any future investment.
Is there a requirement for another voice ( what is it now, 14th, 15th) to recognise the prior arrival of aboriginals and islanders to this continent? Is the Constitution a set of rules and instructions, or an historic document?
We need a Voice for the original pre-historic inhabitants of this land. No one ever hears from the dinosaurs and after checking I can say with great conviction that there is not a single government or community group which represents them and their legitimate political agenda in modern politics. This is an outrage.
The Coalition speaks for the dinosaurs if you look at poll crosstabs.
Define dinosaurs, please.
A member of the public asked me today why the water main works on Ross River Road in Aitkenvale are being done at night to reduce the impact on near by businesses but the long running saga of the busier Charters Towers Road is being done during normal working hours and peak traffic periods. The honest answer is I don’t bloody know why beyond price being the main driver of TCC thinking along with the fact that we really dont care about voters. Maybe someone from that block in Aitkenvale got in Maurie or the Rotten Mullets ear. Dont ask me I just work here.
TCC did a complete fuck up of pipes last year in the same part of RRR in Aitkenvale- took them months to complete the job and business owners were not happy.
Hey, stead on there NQ Gal. If anything it was an incomplete fuckup and we have come back to complete it now. Happy Easter.
I came across this well written and researched response to common concerns regarding the Voice to Parliament. It’s worth a read.
https://www.anu.edu.au/about/strategic-planning/indigenous-voice-to-parliament
DN,
I could not see where the subject of eligibility was addressed. In this country you can be 1/16 indigenous and claim preferential treatment (entrance to educational institutions etc). That means 15/16 Europeans or Artificial Aborigines will have a Voice to Parliament. This whole thing is a can of worms!
Go ahead, Dave, join the 3.2%. It won’t bring you any “special” privileges. Or didn’t you read that bit?
PS,
Address the subject, don’t just gob-off. I will put it this way;
A glass of water with a teaspoon of chardonnay added is a glass of water with a teaspoon of chardonnay added, it is not a glass of chardonnay, no matter how much that glass of water wants to be a glass of chardonnay.
A young distant relative of mine married a young lady who is 15/16 European. She was admitted to university, not on her academic achievements, which she did not have, but her 1/16 Aboriginalaty.
The question of eligibility is yet to be addressed. I would suggest that to be considered Indigenous you must have, at least, one full blood grandparent.
Hahaha, Dave, IF we use your analogy that a glass of water with a a teaspoon of Chardonnay added, is still a glass of water with a teaspoon of Chardonnay added, then you are still recognising the Chardonnay. Therefore, by your own definition, the young lady in question would still be entitled to recognise her 1/16th indigenous heritage.
Currently, universities are so desperate for students that high school graduates who did not get an ATAR are eligible to apply and are being accepted. JCU offers bridging courses to upskill and prepare those students who don’t quite meet the eligibility requirements but could meet them after some study. This isn’t about aboriginality, it’s about universities looking at ways to attract students.
If what you say is the case, why doesn’t it apply to everybody?
So you have an absurd view about an irrelevant subject and you want the world to stop while you get off?
hey, dave, The Magpie has had a drink in that restaurant. Wouldn’t have really minded but it was TCC water from Aitkenvale.
@Magpie the university entry requirements i have described do apply to everyone. Regional and remote students also get preferential entry to university courses at JCU and some other universities regardless of heritage.
DN,
Recognize the 1/16 fine. I identify as Viking. My forebears lived on the northern part of what is now known as Scotland. With the repeated Viking raids, the killing and raping I have Viking blood and Viking DNA in me. These days bugger all but what the hell, I IDENTIFY AS VIKING! And I want a Voice to Parliament. Danish Parliament that is.
Well, no, that is bullshit, or, maybe not. Actually no. I’m claiming all the benifits of a Viking and DN and PS, given your sympathies in this area I expect your full support.
I have 1/400 Viking blood in me but what the hell, I am Viking, and I have a plastic helmet with horns to prove it. .
Why is it that those with 1/16 indigenous heritage disregard their 15/16 European heritage?
Dave.. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed… but you don’t fucking live in Denmark.
Calling BS on the uni claim
Just as believable as the “you’ll lose your backyard” BS
“No such thing as race”? Oh, dear.
Grumps from a scientific perspective, and the human genome project, it was proven there was no such thing as race. Unfortunately, the general population have biases.
That is so deeply stupid and pointless, The ‘Pie hesitated to publish it, but eventually decided to in the interests of letting Nesters know what they’re dealing with.
Would love to see you address a town hall meeting in Mississippi or Arkansas with that theory. Or better still, Pakistan. How about you do a trial run on Palm to test it out.
If you ever do, where should we sent the flowers?
Ok. Instead of just insulting me, explain what you believe in my comment is “deeply stupid and pointless”?
OK.
It is stupid to introduce a well known scientific and correct theory …
https://medium.com/swlh/there-is-no-such-thing-as-race-at-the-genetic-level-e0e1ba86a540
…that is of academic interest only and does nothing to address or accept the reality of racial differences. What you’ve tried to do – which the scientists have also done to bolster a valid but dull scientific finding – is load up the word ‘race’ with a cloak of non-existence. Race doesn’t just refer to skin colour, it refers to real and perceived social differences, mores and morality. And of course antecedents.
As Lewis Carroll so famously had Humpty Dumpty saying ‘“When I use a word… it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” And so it has always been and still is for everyone using language in different social groupings …. And race has a very deep seated, very real meaning, that is the hard reality. Take for instance ‘nigger’ – what it means to the white red neck is very different to what it means to a black person when it comes from a fellow black person. Same with gay and queer, although that’s not race based but the rule of language is the same.
Did you know that until a few hundred years ago in Europe, all fruits were called apples
https://www.etymonline.com/word/apple
So posting your comment in the middle of debate that most certainly is about race – as the word is perceived by 100% of people – is a prevarication that is both unhelpful and time wasting … ergo stupid.
So in the sort of debate going on in Australia right now, and America forever, and elsewhere, your slightly arcane genome theory holds as much relevance as saying because all humans have one head, two hands and two feet, we are all the same.
So where does leave the apes, you ask.
Probably at Tropical’s next family reunion.
Ducky – biases? You mean that some people are racist? Believe it or not, I spent an interesting couple of hours reading up on DNA and its relationship with race. Whilst the actual science is beyond me, I gather the result is that the general consensus is that, on blind testing, my DNA is basically indistinguishable from that of a Kalahari Bushman. But, I didn’t see anywhere that this “social concept” of race is fundamentally wrong or non-existent. I could hardly be mistaken in the street for said Kalahari Bushman or, in fact, Xi Jinping. Race is real – as is racism.
The ‘Pie has addressed all this in a separate reply, but the most terrifying aspect is that The Magpie might actually be related to Tropical. Pass me the pills, someone.
Ducky, “well written and well researched” should NEVER be used in conjunction with ANU.
Russ, one can only assume you are more educated and informed than the authors.
Thanks Ducks. Interested to see if any of the Magpie’s queries are answered.
Today’s Astonisher has lived up to its woeful reputation by an own goal.
Page 14 has a story about spelling mistakes and how employers think “your a bit dim, socially inept and slapdash” if your resume is packed with spelling mistakes.
I don’t think I have to say any more, over to the comedians now!
Brief review:
The Melbourne Comedy(?)Festival
ABC TV
(All fucking week unfortunately).
Comedy, like beauty, is in the eye – and ear – of the beholder. This gem sent by a Magpie mate was a reminder of simpler days when we could laugh at innocent silliness and not feel silly or somehow inadequate while doing so.
https://www.google.com/search?q=colin+caropenter+witness&oq=colin+caropenter+witness&aqs=chrome#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:e73aa6de,vid:ylnHNt7EX7o
Kym Gyngell is one of the best comedians Australia has ever turned out, the skill he put into this sort sketch with a brilliantly conceived comedic character is unmatched.
AND it was in stark contrast to the pallid, pathetic Melbourne Comedy Festival currently on the ABC, which featured mostly fat disappointed women insisting we know about the sexual preferences, plus the occasional fey gay mincer, in turn occasionally interrupted by some ageing blokes whose day has well and truly passed. (Dave Hughes, for God’s sake, the male equivalent of Wendy Harmer, or Judith Lucy). It is more like a self-pitying therapist’s couch rather than aiming at entertaining with laughter. Even the audience was subdued in its responses, with several acts falling flat as they embarrassingly paused for applause that didn’t come. Last night, I watched it for 40 minutes of toe-curling discomfort, but decided since there was not even the glimmer of a laugh or any cleverness, I switched over the Sky After Dark, always reliable for a guffaw or three.
Perhaps next year, the festival organisers could just move the after-6pm Sky line-up onto the stage at the Palais. Gales of laughter assured.
A major problem that “comedians” have is that so much material is denied them.
So many non issues that are raised by the “choosing to be offended” brigade that we are left with mediocrity and no fun any more, so that the pious self-righteous can nod approvingly at the amateur dross that remains.,
Well, no, sorry, mate it is exactly the opposite. It’s like telling a child they can’t say fuck because its naughty. So so many modern stand up comics think it is cutting edge to carry on about things that stopped being taboo areas ages ago. But they think by being, in their minds, daring, they are being funny, and it is lazy, lazy stuff. And not funny.
Seriously, not just saying it, but I was bored stiff and so was the audience.
Dare say I got more laughs out of Sky after dark than the festival too!
I must say, I watched a bit of the mobster President addressing his followers and I’m seriously impressed. Love him or hate him, he is quite articulate.
You are seriously fractured.
An unfortunate choice of adjectives; articulate doesn’t just apply to speech. it can also apply negatively to character, as in bendable, pliable and malleable!
Here’s a very concise but still debatable explainer and overview of the role and make-up of the Voice from the Guardian. But you will see some things still are not clear and are open to change after the referendum. And definitely not in a good way.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/24/what-is-the-indigenous-voice-to-parliament-wording-referendum-question-constitution-change-details-australia-vote-how-would-it-work-what-does-it-mean-explainer?utm_term=642de1576d402b89f534a4cfb2670c03&utm_campaign=TheRuralNetwork&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=ruralnetwork_email
This excerpt from the article will indeed be good news for the Yes camp if it is true … and if it is guaranteed to be the case before we vote.
“The voice would be able to table formal advice in parliament, and a parliamentary committee would consider that advice. But all elements would be non-justiciable, meaning that there could not be a court challenge and no law could be invalidated based on this consultation.”
But the claim of non-justiciable is to be verified – why hasn’t any of the yes supporters picked up on it and loudly proclaimed to debunk the widespread concerns, shared by The Magpie about court delays throwing a spanner into the works of government.
But reading further down, that point, even if true, is somewhat negated when we read the following:
How would disputes be resolved?
The report recommended mediation in the first instance. If that failed, matters would go to an independent review. The report suggested there be an agreed list of people with appropriate experience to conduct such reviews, and at least one of the reviewers should be an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person.
It suggested the final decision-maker could be the relevant minister, alongside two respected, independent Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people.
First question: what disputes? How does a ‘dispute’ arise if an elected government seeks and listens to Voice advice, but ultimately, in the overall interests of the nation, rejects it? Are we then to subjected to the delays, machinations and costs of some double dipping second chance committee process …. which certainly seemed stacked in favour of the interest group complainants.
So what happens if the Voice gets a ruling from the review committee that it’s advice should prevail and the government is wrong in rejecting it? Must the cabinet must change it’s initial ruling in favour of an unelected pressure group, arbitrated by vested indigenous reviewers.? One minister and two ATSI members? Can they overrule the minister with a two to one vote?
This is clearly saying that there will be disputes between the Voice and the government, ‘dispute’ obviously means’ challenge’, delays and costs, and even if the government prevails, who foots the bill for this expensive review process? This is the court challenge nightmare revisited.
And here’s a thought … will legislation around the Voice prohibit the government of the day who lose an issue in this review process, itself be able to challenge it the High Court? Or has this right also been removed?
And while we’re in this neck of the woods, a question that has been airily dismissed elsewhere but needs an answer before the vote: WHO DECIDES WHAT ISSUES THE VOICE IS ENTITLED TO ENJOIN CABINET TO HEAR ITS ADVICE?
What issues DO NOT affect indigenous people? Defence? Think again, especially about land use. Diplomatic relations? Foreign policy? Lidia Thorpe for the UN? Gracelyn Smallwood for WHO? (No not the spy outfit, the World Health organisation.)
Remember all you who are screaming scaremonger, alarmist, racist – everyone thought Trump was a joke and an impossibility, and we see how that’s played out. We also thought we were on to a good thing and welcomed Prime Minister Scott Morrison to The Lodge. And we all know how that ended.
MASSIVE BOOST FOR THE VOICE NO VOTE. ALBO ROPEABLE.
Yes supporters are in dismay and disarray, because …
AARON HARPER SAYS VOTE YES.
Excuse me Arron,
Due indigenous juvenile crime in Townsville, aided by your Youth Justice (?) Act I have to keep my driveway gate locked as well as front and back doors. Thank you very fucking much.
I would like a voice to Parliament as you, as well as being deaf, and stupid, are totally mute, and ineffective. “Hello Annie Puddleduck, things here in Townsville are pretty fucked. I tell you this cause Fucknuckle Harper will not.”
This Voice thing is a vehicle for those woke folk who feel uncomfortable in practicing public self flagellation.
Hasn’t learned, has he!
Again, forgot the 6th State, and it’s vote may be crucial for a YES result.
Michael Mansell will whip ‘em into shape, no doubt.
Happy Easter long weekend to the Pie and nesters . Aaron Harper is a hypocrite to democracy and the Thuringowa electorate . He didnt listen to the voice of his electorate blocking any voice that disagreed with him or his Government tax payer funded facebook page . Crime , lack of public housing , Catholics , Business , newscorp employees who highlight his failures , anyone who didnt vote labor shouldnt have a voice in Aarons World . The Queensland election is 18 mths to go and the only upside is the Labor Government will have to pork barrel spending to try and hold any of the Townsville seats key to Government .
Given the looming five ring catastrophe about to befall Queensland, any promises will be emptier than a pommy’s bathtub during a coal strike.
And here’s another South East corner financial sinkhole….
https://amp.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/queensland-s-inland-rail-calamity-laid-bare-20230406-p5cylv.html
G’day Readers, simply write YES if you would like to see Harpic f..k off from the Qld Parliament!
Si, si, papa.
Now that is something I WILL vote yes for.
I wonder if Hapric even bothered to read Phil OAMs reason for voting NO. It was a bit longer than a cartoon so probably not.
Link?
The dispute resolution matter you raised is NOT about the Voice to Parliament. The process (proposed by the Calma-Langton report, but not formally adopted) would be for resolving disputes within the Voice itself, between members.
OK, if you say so, it is somewhat ambiguous the way it is presented in the Guardian … but if you are right, why is a minister involved? Shouldn’t the process be that Voice members one way or another sort out what they want to present to the Cabinet? So what would it have to do with a minister? And boy, if you are right, and a minister is involved in making a ruling that is sure to angrily disappoint one group or another, that all makes for smooth sailing, eh? This is shaping up as more damaging and more far reaching in egregious outcomes than Robodebt … because it will touch on every single person in Australia.
Magpie, the dispute resolution process is clearly explained in the Voice Co-Design Process Report. There’s even a flow chart to explain in pictures how it will work.
https://voice.niaa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-12/indigenous-voice-co-design-process-final-report_1.pdf
Checked that out. No mention of a minister there. Can you narrow that down a bit, please? Re-reading the Guardian infio again, it remains confusing.
And what an academic bureaucrat’s wet dream all that report is. Most of it …. or at least the 20 or so pages of the 282 pages The ‘Pie read … is unintelligible buzz word bureaucracy speak that would be lost on the average reader. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong, but falling back on this report as providing ‘detail’ to simple questions is the best way to lose an argument. Simply arrogant deflection by those not wanting to reveal their full agenda.But as the suddenly (and mercifully silent) Steve of Belligerent Gardens kept pointing out, those who didn’t read the report (which he put at 500npages FFS) then one was a racist. How dare we ask for straightforward answers to simple questions, was the catch cry …. but it now emerges, like pulling teeth, there are a few things that need explaining.
The Magpie has never said he would not vote for Indigenous people to be recognised in the constitution, but only if he was satisfied that the powers that come with that recognition are fair to all Australians and do not threaten good federal governance based on democratic principles.
https://www.townsvillemagpie.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-07-at-2.42.33-pm.png
It must be something in the water in Tamworth. Like The Magpie, who identifies as a proud Tamworth man from the Wheelabarraback people, the current good burghers of the city want more detail on the Voice before they vote. And, like the ‘Pie, they want to hear what a yes campaign has to say. officially.
Their reaction to the demented appearance of Barnaby Beetrooter, a quavering and quivering Pauline Hanson and Alana Jones at a No rally is precisely the same as The Magpie is taking on the Voice.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/07/if-i-had-to-vote-right-now-id-abstain-tamworth-residents-call-for-details-on-the-voice?utm_term=642f7925f6f0da1fd57180cd73511988&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayAUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTAU_email
Perhaps the city is not yet ready for an annual Golden Didgeridoo Festival just yet, but you never know.
Magpie, I agree, it was ambiguous. Damn journalism eh? You chose the wrong interpretation and raced down the first available rabbit hole. The proposal was not formally adopted and may never see the light of day. Are you persuaded by the sober ANU material linked by Ducks Nuts a day or two ago?
Palm, having time at ANU 72 – 75, I can’t recall many sober times.
Grumps,considering how university students generally conducted themselves in the 70s I’m surprised you remember anything at all.
Grumpy, be that as it may, the Q+A provided a number of fairly straight answers to at least some of the queries raised by the Magpie, especially about the legal/democracy stuff. Some of the answers are quotes from retired judges and so on but of course how we personally weigh these opinions and how they fit with our personal prejudices in a fact-free zone means that there is no perfect resolution.
Let’s cut through all the puff and vapour, shall we?
The bottom line, as it stands, is that we will not know what we are voting for, because, incredibly, we are asked to leave that to politicians and members of the (understandably) self interested to decide after the fact how this Voice idea will work and what powers it will have. In that instance, the lie is given to the pompous assumption that a retired judge’s opinion of the unknown is worth more than the ordinary sensible ‘man in the street’ they are so eager to impress upon juries and witnesses to demand common sense in deliberation. Judges know about the law, but can have no claim of special expertise in the perfidy of politics, they have no need of such knowledge – but ordinary Aussies have plenty of experience in that, and can smell a rat when straight ansswers are in short supply. are not as dumb as some would like to think.
This nonsense, particularly from Burnie et al, that this issue should be at an elevation ‘above politics’ is pure poppycock … THIS IS ALL ABOUT NOTHING ELSE BUT POLITICS AND POWER. Nothing else. So far … and The ‘Pie is hoping this will change very soon … the Yes campaign has consisted of bloviating fact-free cant about perceived principles, morals and conscience. But when asking questions about actual real world effects, gets you branded a racist, a dinosaur (nothing like a good old ageist insult aimed that those who have lived and experienced life longer than the accusers) and a social recidivist.
Much of the empty sound and fury, name calling and personal attacks are coming from these morally ambushed promoters, whose unquestioned assumption of being right has been suddenly and outrageously challenged. And that reaction is itself must give any thinking person pause.
Then come out and say it, Magpie. You are not for turning. You say you are open to persuasion on matters of, for example, constitutional law, but there is apparently no one in the country that you know of whose opinion you would accept. Unless they agree with you. No one here is calling you a racist or a bigot for it, it’s just your view. OK.
The ‘Pie asks questions only, and requires answers in order to vote. he expresses an opinion about unfair advantage. You know absolutely nothing of The ‘Pie’s politics, reasoning or beliefs, because you are blinded by your prejudices.
We ask politicians do make decisions all the time. That’s their job. And if they make bad choices they can be undone and the politicians removed at the next election.
Magpie. Don’t argue with the Weekend Wanker. As an ALP employee he/she/they/it is keyed into all the policy in a way real Australians will never be. And also just engaging gives oxygen to its ranting.
Grow up, Engineer. You claim to be an employee of TCC, an ALP council. That alone makes you way closer to the ALP dime than I will ever be.
I do love how it’s assumed on this blog that anyone with a differing opinion or point of view is either Dolan or an ALP shill.
Yeah, The ‘Pie’s with you there., And at the risk of spoiling everyone’s fun, the ‘Pie will give readers an assurance that Dolan Hayes does not comment here … never has and probably never will.
Another of life’s little ironies … the Bulletin gets a truly worthy front page story … on the one day of the year there is no paper!!
But yet again, we see the reluctance of the Bulletin … this time, to The Magpie’s surprise, by Tony Raggatt … to ask the most obvious question of all.
Given the vendor, The Gleeson group and the Gleeson family, has such well established ties with this city, one would have thought Mr Raggatt might have thought to ask Gleeson Group MD Therese Smith obvious question: why did you sell?
The ‘Pie isn’t suggesting there is something sneaky afoot, but the anodyne comments she did make make the reason for the sale stick out like prawns eyes … Ms Smith has proved to be a pretty straight shooter in the history of the development and has stood up to a bullying mayor amongst other things … perhaps she may have given an insight into the difficulties facing developers in the current uncertain climate.
Surely even the rawest cadet would’ve asked that question, and the editor would’ve demanded it be asked. Even if the answer is no comment, it has to be asked and reported.
Perhaps Ms Smith, whom The ‘Pie knows to occasionally read this blog, might give us a couple lines to fill out the picture. But maybe not.
Anyway, although not something The Magpie would normally do, but here is the whole story, which you will, no doubt be asked to part with $3.50 to read in tomorrow’s weekend Astonisher. And The ‘Pie has spared you the old recycled ‘artists impression’, on the grounds that you may rest assured they will bear absolutely no resemblance to whatever eventually arises behind the Strand.
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The 1.7ha site, comprising almost an entire city block including the former Queens Hotel on the Strand, has been owned by the Gleeson family since the mid-1990s who for the past 10 years have been planning the concept of The Hive project.
Described as one of the most transformative projects in Townsville’s history, approval for the project was obtained in 2021 when Townsville City Council approved an application for the first stage of the Hive development.
At the time of approval, the proposed development comprised of retail, entertainment, cultural, education and community space, civic areas, mixed use and open spaces, all while retaining and incorporating the grand Queens Hotel structure into the design.
An artist impression of redevelopment plans of the Queens Hotel area on Townsville’s Strand.
Other approvals included two residential towers. A shared pedestrian and vehicular laneway providing access from The Strand through to Flinders Street was also planned.
Conrad Gargett was engaged to design a state-of-the-art commercial building located at 45 Flinders Street and 10 The Strand in Townsville as part of the proposed master planned precinct, The Hive.
High construction costs stalled development of the first stage, commercial offices to provide head offices for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, last year.
Founding Partner of Centurion Global Mark Tonge said they saw an opportunity to reposition the development with a slight variation on its focus while retaining the core use approvals.
“We are thrilled to be acquiring the Hive development site in Townsville from Gleeson Group,” Mr Tonge said.
“This acquisition is an important step in our expansion into the Townsville market, and we look forward to bringing a development of this level to the vibrant Townsville community.
The Hive development site bounded by The Strand, Flinders, King and Wickham St in Townsville.
“We are committed to working collaboratively with the Townsville community to ensure that the Hive development site becomes a vibrant and dynamic hub that meets the needs of the local community.”
Gleeson Group Managing Director Therese Smith said they were happy to hand over the project Centurion Global to bring The Hive plans to life.
“Our father and grandfather, Jack Gleeson, was a visionary leader. He saw this unique site as a legacy for our city, a special place for all Townsvillians and visitors to enjoy.
“The Queens Hotel was his pride and joy and we look forward to seeing the plans for residential and hotel developments become realised for this unique site,” Ms Smith said.
It is intended the Queens Hotel be retained and incorporated into the proposed development. The Criterion Hotel has Development Approval for it to be replaced with a modern residential accommodation tower that will overlook Anzac Park and the marina with views to Magnetic Island and the Palm Islands group.
Colliers Associate Director Angelo Castorina, who brokered the deal, said Centurion Global had a proven track record of projects and a reputation for delivering high-quality developments that met the needs of the communities in which they were located.
The bulletin, including Raggatt are completely inept. Raggatt has already done this hive story twice. Everyone knows the mayor stopped this development multiple times. No wonder glesson family sold it off. How many times has this been announced? Until Jenny hill is gone nothing will happen in this town. Everything she has done it was an idea from someone else. Jane arlett bowering money for a pipeline????? That sounds familiar. Watch the group of “save the CRI “ pop up again now. Thanks for saving me go through a rubbish bin to read this story. No way I’d ever pay to buy it.
On the other hand, the residential element will now probably proceed, and it will do well since the location is superb. Commercial in this part of town just doesn’t work unfortunately.
I don’t know if you picked this up but I just looked at the artist’s impression and if you look to the bottom right corner past the brown building that looks like a block you will see a green colour roof. I’m hoping it’s a mistake but that is the run down halfway house accommodation next to mollys. I understand that will be demolished along with the CRI. I know mollys isn’t going because it’s owned by someone else. But that halfway house? If it’s in the artist impression I hope it’s not meant to stay. Just another fuck up made by the paper.
The ‘Pie actually wondered if there was a racist element lurking in the artist’s mind, with one illustration showing white outline figures.
I’m only saying this because I think we are having a dig at the bully for being lazy. But I did think about the many ghosts that appear in this picture from the artist as well. He/she is obviously not a local artist because the red car on Wickham st in the pic is driving the wrong way! Probably sums up the bulletin correctly. Always going in the wrong direction and is are car crash waiting to happen.
I heard that halfway house might be heritage listed.
I your talking about the one opposite the ABC studios on Wickham Street, it deserves to be listed, beautiful old building, had a mate lived there once and was impressed with its art deco style. Never knew it was any sort of halfway house though …, said mate was in the army.
All the fluff about how the Gleeson family loves the site and the Queens sounds a bit hollow now that they took the money instead. Hard to claim up undying love for something when you put a for sale sticker on it.
Well, bit harsh without knowing the situation. Perhaps as circumstances piled up, costs, inflation, a pig headed mayor, it all just became untenable.
And take it from The ‘Pie old chum, this sudden change bof hands of a prime site didn’t happen overnight, so what’s the betting The Hive is now back in the mix for a concert hall AND council offices, the latter knocked back on the terms (free) offered. All sorts of promises from the mayor to get the new owner over the line. With all the other developments the new company has going on around town, you can bet Jenny’s in peak nipple twisting form.
And The ‘Pie has been looking around for where Tony Raggatt asked the new owner if any special conditions had been imposed or removed that clinched the deal. Again, if if it’s no comment, it should have been asked.
Magpie, there’s a few answers in the Hive developer’s notes from a couple of years ago (don’t worry, Engineer, it’s all on the public record online):
“DMA Partners were engaged to determine the optimum development strategy for this site. To fully understand the opportunity our team went back to basics to fully understand the market demand for the proposed uses. After undertaking the research internally, DMA Partners found that the key constraint to the project included the significant initial development costs in the upfront cash flow such that the project was not feasible in its current form. The development was also far too big for the regional market and the structuring of the asset types made financing high risk.
DMA reconfigured the site plan to allow it to be staged according to market take up, therefore reducing the upfront capital required and simplifying the pre-leasing required to achieve financial close and a commercially successful project. A new development strategy was then prepared and approved by the client group for execution.
DMA Partners has an ongoing role as the client’s Development Partner and working with Conrad Gargett as part of Stage 1, we have recently prepared a commercially led design for the commercial office space proposal to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). The scheme has received development approval in September 2021. Tender and Construction is due to be underway in 2022.”
So, not sure about TCC ever having office space there but the fact that GBRMPA’s reconstruction, supposedly coming from Phillip Thompson’s $195 million slush fund, seems to have dried up and vanished, would have pulled a considerable rug out from under the original Hive concept.
It has not ‘dried up and vanished’, The ‘Pie understands it is on hold because of the rising costs of construction up here in northern Australia. The plans are still in place … or at ,least the Bulletin has reported otherwise, so that must be the case, eh?
Questions need to be asked of this council in two areas, why was the contract to build the boardwalk let when council knew full well that there would be problems with the access to the route in relation to private ownership of the area over the water, especially the offices of Enema Legal and also the old Santa Fe site. Also why was the water pipeline carried out when all the access permits with private land owners had not been realised. Both are from nowhere to nowhere.
Commercial in Confidence
My 2c worth the Wagners dealings with public entities period are getting a very smelly appearance and some sunlight directed by journalists would be a good start.
Tradie, are you sure about the ‘over water’ deck being in what you call “private ownership”? Could that be a lease, with a term and a get-out clause, issued by the state? Just because they are smartarse lawyers doesn’t mean they are always correct and above board.
It would only ever be on lease, and possibly with the Port, which oversees such waterway matters. And your last line is worthy dry comedy.