Maybe, but some very unshaggy dogs – greyhounds in fact – are involved in an emerging stoush. Chubbychops Palmer may indeed be fingering his chequebook, if he has heard (or even helped engineer) the uproar among the local dish-licker fraternity over a ‘staggering’ increase in annual rent of the show ground track. Seems owners now want to leave, and start their own venue. The Magpie gets the goss.
The gloves really are off now … federal Liberal MP Phillip Thompson openly calls into doubt Mayor Jenny Hill’s mental state, and if she is unfit through stress to hold office. Thompson returns fire after a childish playground threat from the mayor.
Uh Oh! Is the Hermit Kingdom of Walker Street about to get another middle management sluicing? There is evidence that council’s new CEO Prins Ralston is about take his scimitar to the executive ranks. The latest from inside the civic bunker.
Cancel culture on the rampage – it wasn’t just Dr Seuss incurring the wrath of the unhinged virtuous this week … closer to home there was a more pathetically demented attack on … well, you won’t believe it.
And why Townsville is an undeclared leader of international fashion … The’ Pie has the pictorial proof. New York is only just catching up.
A small pause for a message from our sponsor … which The Magpie hopes might be you. The Magpie’s Nest will be forever free, and will not risk being compromised by accepting advertising, despite several offers. Although the weekly missive is taking up more and more hours, and the sometimes onerous embedded costs don’t diminish, The ‘Pie reckons it’s worth it; in its own silly, sometimes humorous, sometimes serious way, The ‘Pie believes this blog is a community service, especially by bringing you information unlikely to be aired anywhere else. It encourages debate, and tries to offer a humorous perspective. If you think so too, you might consider joining the generous folk who have already supported the upkeep of the blog with a donation. Nothing flash is sought, just a helping hand. It will always be as appreciated as it is so often necessary. The donate button can be found at the bottom of the blog. Thank you.
Now down to the doin’s of the day …
Good Help So Hard To Find … Just Ask Christian Porter.
If ever an issue proved the truism that opinions are like bum holes – everybody has one – the story that has engulfed the nation in the past week would be that proof.
That being said, The ‘Pie doesn’t intend to express any of his faux wisdom on the matter itself, others are far better equipped to do that, like this excellent summation from Annabel Crabb on the ABC website.
Little rabbit holes kept appearing all around the place, with frenzied media scurrying down them in those frequent vacuums of fresh news. Even Brittany Higgins factually separate rape story melded into the over-arching them of the male chauvinist culture of Federal Parliament. Higgins’ former boss, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds muddied the roiling waters by calling her a ‘lying cow’ over her version of timeline events AFTER the rape (NB Linda Reynolds never once suggested the rape claim wasn’t true). One rabbit hole that was apparently quickly blocked up was the twitter tornado just before the drama started suggesting ABC reporter Jane Norman was enjoying pillow talk with Porter. Once the allegations of the 1988 rape hit the headlines, this fairly widespread Twitter tease disappeared. (A small but important point. A reporter for the national broadcaster having a compromising relationship with a serving minister of the government could not be tolerated, by any media organisation. A direct denial by Ms Norman might be appropriate – or not.)
But the babblanche of commentary across this broad spectrum depressed Bentley so much, all he sees is a lawyers picnic as all sorts of aggrieved parties get in on the act.
But on the matter of Christian Porter, there is something slightly off-kilter about the way this allegations of raping a drunken teenager in 1988 has been handled. It is astounding that he and the Prime Minister both claim not to have read the letter send anonymously to three parliamentarians. This surely cannot be true of either him or the PM, these claims, true or untrue, are so politically so explosive, you’d surely want to across every detail of what was being alleged? if not, why not?
And the other bothersome aspect was canvassed by The Magpie in comments during the week
- The Magpie
March 3, 2021 at 9:00 pm (Edit)
Porter should fire his media manager, chief-of-staff or whoever advised him on this. Even if Smirko had forbade him to say anything until it was inevitably forced on him, Porter should have had the self-esteem and personal courage days before to personally ‘own’ what is essentially a personal issue. He should NOT have left it with the media pack to play around with in an information vacuum, and should have taken charge of the issue instead of it taking charge of him. Especially if he was, as he claims, totally innocent of the allegations. At the earliest possible point, HE should have called a media conference to make his point that he made today. Why should he be teary about this issue? Where was the indignant denial verging on anger at being subjected to an accusation he plainly – and we must take him at his word at this time – says did NOT happen. Categorically. If there is no ambiguity, why the wait? Morrison in the background here?
And when he came to confront the media pack, he should have been advised to simply say ‘It didn’t happen, and that is all I have to say.’ Why go on about something that he says didn’t happen, and why get all twisted knickers and blubby about it how it affected him? Porter could’ve softened his statement with a merited sympathetic tone regarding the woman, but appear confrontational to those ‘friends’ who sent the letter anonymously.
That’s called issues management.
Of course, one can’t help thinking that would’ve been the course of someone who was indignant and furious at being falsely accused. Instead it looks like panic took hold and he’d been caught with his dick in the cookie jar.
This is far from over, no matter what Smirko wants.
Jenny Hill Invokes Motherhood as A Threat In An Extraordinary Outburst – Now Phillip Thompson Is Questioning Her Mental Well-Being
All The ‘Pie can say to that is, Phil, welcome to the club.
The issue was sparked when Mayor Mullet pulled on Doc Martens, and clumped onto the stage at a business breakfast during the week, and tried some bully-girlie tactics to get Thompson to stump up $50 millioin for her ‘baby’, the proposed Landsdown industrial estate.
Calling on Thompson to release some of Federal Government’s $195 million kitty earmarked for Townsville, Clr Hill appeared to have momentary breakdown when she blustered, ‘Never get in the way of a mother who is out to protect her young, she will cut you apart.’
It was as nonsensical as it was insultingly juvenile. But she picked the wrong target this time, Thompson is not the type to be bullied with this sort of tripe. His no-nonsense response sparked some lively exchanges on the whole issue in comments.
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- The Magpie
-
March 5, 2021 at 5:13 pm (Edit)
An now, Phillip Thompson has taken the gloves off, reasonably casting doubt on Jenny Hill’s mental state. If you check out the comments, doubt you’ll find one that doesn’t support Thompson. She really is an embarrassment for those with any sense of shame … which I guess answers that.
- Celibate Rifle
March 5, 2021 at 9:50 pm (Edit)
The Mullet is an embarrassment. Her comments towards Phillip Thompson show that she is a bully, nepotistic, vindictive and untrustworthy. Probably pretty standard for most politicians, but she really is unfit to run a raffle, let alone our city’s economy. Her fucking days are numbered surely? Townsville have had enough of this freak and her freak show.
- OWL
March 5, 2021 at 5:49 pm (Edit)
“Never get in the way of a crook who is out to protect her kickbacks”
- The (barely) Civil Engineer
March 6, 2021 at 11:42 am (Edit)
I find it odd that no one has asked the obvious question in all of this. Why do we need a third industrial estate when the government-owned Stuart Precinct is largely empty even though it is gazetted for industries just like these and already has all the infrastructure and services needed, and the Bohle Estate still has lots of space.
Where is the benefit of another being behind someplace where Slasher can park her white elephants with no real intent of building anything. Perhaps our Planning pen friend can shine some light on the level of planning and design done for Toonpan?
- The Magpie
March 6, 2021 at 2:06 pm (Edit)
Ahem … The ‘Pie has repeatedly asked EXACTLY that question numerous times when discussing the Landsdown matter. It is more than strange, indeed irresponsible for a supposedly environmentally aware Labor foghorn of a mayor to bulldoze through an industrial estate idea which will require far greater pollution with truck, car and rail travel, heighten the chances of deteriorating roads, greater traffic congestion (if her job number predictions are anywhere near correct) and the greater chance of industrial transport and just plain old car crash mishaps. Not that the last one seems to bother our chuckling chucklehead. If we had any real journalists in this town – Mr Raggatt, where are you when we need you, the mayor’s lap dog iditor got you pinned down? – the question of why Landsdown and not the SDA at Stuart show be asked loud and clear … BUT NOT ASKED OF OUR SHAPE-SHIFTING MAYOR, THE QUESTION SHOULD BE PUT SQUARELY TO THE COMPANIES SUPPOSEDLY EAGER TO MAKE LANDSDOWN THEIR BASE.
Questions of cost should be foremost, considering the Stuart SDA is right on the door-step of the Townsville port import-export hub. And whether their shareholders know of this less financially onerous SDA alternative, which is presumably already cleared of any necessary EPAs.
This is sheer bloody-minded madness.
Going To The Dogs – Or Are The Dogs Just Going?
Show Society boss Chris Condon
Show ground boss Chris Condon is no stranger to confrontation with authority, and his score with the police is an impressive 8-nil in his favour– which actually says more about the police rather than about Mr Condon. And at this time, there seems to be nothing forthcoming out of the AFP raid on his show ground office, as reported here last year.
But now it is reported to The ‘Pie he faces a different sort of challenge, the twin threats of the booming greyhound scene in Townsville leaving the venue, and totally unconfirmed reports that Chubbychops Palmer is sniffing around to buy the site for re-development. Now that is as it may be, but should the show ground be put on the auction block (it would probably require an Act of Parliament), Palmer would face some pretty stiff competition.
But the possibility of a sale has been foreshadowed by a far more local stoush that is brewing.
The story goes that there is a big blue between Condon, Racing Queensland and the local greyhound community – there’s even talk that Racing Queensland is going to sue him personally.
Why might this be so?
Well, an industry insider tells The ‘Pie Townsville dogs are absolutely booming, ever since obtaining national TAB status a couple of years ago. The contact says Townsville attracts more money (turnover) Australia-wide than Albion Park dogs on Thursdays. Which is pretty incredible, but some positive news nevertheless for our poor old burg.
The contact, who does NOT own a greyhound or is involved with a dishlicker industry, then states:
“The club, while enjoying the boom, is incensed that Condon has put the rent up to $225,000 (from $185,000) a year. And Racing Queensland is peeved because the 20% rent rise came immediately after RQ gave the Townsville club more TAB dates – twice a week now.
This has sparked a new push for a re-location of the Townsville dog track, which was once mooted to be part of the recently completed million dollar Cluden racecourse redevelopment.
Local trainers say they have had a gut-full of the Showgrounds and the treatment by Condon’s Show Society. Officials of RQ visited Townsville last week to discuss the situation which has been described by one leading owner as ‘totally untenable’.”
The ‘Pie’s contact said one RQ official told him “He (Condon) has ruined what was once Queensland country’s best and biggest show fixtures. And now he is doing his best to ruin the dogs”.
Well, given the last available figures The ‘Pie has seen, that must be an aesthetic point of view, not a financial one. things seemed to pretty up and up in that area as of last year.
Believing RQ, an organisation which once allowed Barry Taylor to sit on its board before he got found out takes a certain amount of faith, which The ‘Pie is unable to muster just yet. And personal circumstances have prevented The Magpie from checking the other side of this story with Mr Condon, and happily offers him space for any reply.
One feels whatever happens, it ain’t gunna be pretty.
Speaking Legal Foghorn Taylor
The ‘Pie’s is teary-eyed writing this, but seems Taylor decided to cop a big loss and part with his Townsville gem, the derelict building on Flinders Street West.
Nothing official yet, but the Astonisher suggests it cost businessmen Mark Bogiatzis $500,000, well below Bazza’s typical gouging ask of $900,000. That’s what happens when you deal with a real businessman, Bazza. Those rumored gambling debts must getting a bit too hot for you, mate, sounds like a visit from Da Boyz might not be too far away.
Mr Bogiatzis says he doesn’t know what he will use the building for, but he’s already doing it up, which will get rid of the derelicts and rats that have infested it through neglect.
Maybe this sale, if coupled with a successful sale of Taylor’s house on Castle Hill, will finally rid the city of another derelict rat.
How Has It Come To This – Hard To Believe It Has Been Allowed To Happen
It seems the killing floor has been readied for more action at the Walker Street abattoir.
Reports coming to The Magpie during the week indicate there is a culture of fear and toxicity across the TCC office block. One Magpie contact said he would be hard pressed to get any info about rumoured changes, it would take him ‘ a secret meeting due to the fear instilled in staff for speaking out. Phone records can be reviewed etc. The fear is real. As it is everywhere now. Jobs are insecure and excuses to lay people off are highly sought after. And you’re never sure who you could talk to about any issue.’
One thing The ‘Pie does know is that CEO Prins ‘The Prince’ Ralston changing the organisation structure and two General Manager positions have been created in the Planning, Infrastructure & Assets department.
Maybe that is why this has suddenly appeared on the Seek recruitment site for both Townsville and Brisbane.
strange that it’s not posted in Darwin, where Nous has a branch office. We’ll see.
Lam’s Fry
Worried about cancel culture? Don’t be, it seems it is well on its way to self destruct and disappear up its own foolish fundament. There are signs that like a wounded jungle beast, cancel culture has started eating its own entrails.
This venomous practice is nothing new, it is just the viciously extended modern equivalent of a group action that started with Captain Charles Boycott back in 1880 in Ireland. In what was a justified non-violent protest about the Irish being thrown off their lands by the British aristocracy, Boycott was shunned and ostracised.
But the modern social media version – cancel culture – now leaves the field open to all manner of destructive dingbats to further their increasingly ludicrous demands with politically correct bullying.
But here’s where a crucial and pernicious difference occurs beyond a boycott … the bullying isn’t of the anyone who is judged guilty of an ‘offensive’ action or statement, it is of the corporate users of the alleged offenders services. They are threatened with targeted action if they don’t agree with the views of politically correct. The best example of this is the threatened secondary actions here in Queensland targeting companies that did, or still do, business with Adani. Notwithstanding that secondary boycotts are outlawed by Australian Union Laws, that principle hasn’t deterred the self-proclaimed virtuously superior , who will out-moral you 10 to 1 any day.
But it isn’t just political activism utilising cancel culture, it is worming its way into all aspects of our everyday life. Even what our restaurants should be called, and FFS, the type of font they should use on their signage and their menus!!
Yvonne Lam, foodie fool.
Enter Yvonne C. Lam, a completely disorientated oriental, it seems. And it cannot be denied, she is an out-and-out racist hiding behind faux political correctness.
Ms Lam has penned an extraordinary piece for Gourmet Traveller magazine, slamming a restaurant in which she has never set foot, planted bum or opened big gob in.
The object of Lam’s ludicrous racist lambasting is one of the Sunshine Coast’s most popular nose-baggeries, Sum Yung Guys.
It’s cardinal sin: it is owned and run by four men who are all white Australians.
Take it away, Yvonne Babbeee!
“Sum Yung Guys is symptomatic of a society that weaponises languages against the very people who own them. It’s not the Sum Yung Guys name alone that offends, it’s the overall aesthetic, the extra details that bloat the package.”
Not clear what their sin is just yet, you moral dullards? Well, Ms Lam to the rescue, because, you ignorant buffoons, you had the clue glaring and blinking right in front of you. Read on with head hung in shame.
“In multiple iterations, the Sum Yung Guys logo is presented in wonton font – fun and vibrant colour-wise with the same Orientalist messaging. It homogenises and flattens Asia’s 40-plus countries and cultures into a kitsch two-dimensional tableau.”
“It’s lazy. It’s mediocre. It’s a neo-colonial act of erasure.”
Got it now, you thoughtless bastards? No? Well, read on, Ms Lam isn’t restricted by any border closures. Down in Mollymook on the NSW south coast, there’s a restaurant called Gwylo which takes its name from “gweilo”, the Cantonese word for foreigner.
The problem here for Ms Lam is that Chinese people might feel that they were being discriminated against because the name suggested that only foreigners – white people – would be served there. Foreigners in this case, weirdly being white Australians.
“If we’re talking about whiteness, power, and privilege, it’s uncertain how this exercise in language-ownership evens out the field of equality and representation by symbolically shutting out Chinese people There’s still something discomforting about a white owner, in the 21st century, proclaiming his whiteness in neon lights while cooking and profiting from food cultures that are not his own.”
We could keep on mocking the afflicted here, but that really is an extraordinary call in a free market democracy .. regulation that only Chinese can operate Chinese restaurants, Italians only run trattorias, the French run their bistro froggeries, and maybe only lesbian allowed to own muffin shops.
And Ms Lam – who incidentally is an appallingly bad writer with zero analytical skills – is nothing if not inconsistent. She previously wrote another article on the same theme, approvingly quoting folks saying:
“You don’t have to be of a certain origin to be a scholar in that cuisine. cultural heritage in and of itself does not automatically bestow culinary authority”.
C’mon Ms Lam, which is it? Do we gweilos - in our country – qualify to whip up a fried rice with bats feet or a pangolin chow mien hot pot, or must we shun such cultural appropriation? You seem to have two minds on this, and you can’t make up either of them. And while your about it, you might want to have a word with the editor of Gourmet Traveller, and set them right about appropriated stuff like this.
As Mike Connor said about Ms Lam’s lame claims, in the Courier Mail,
There are now those who are so desperate to find a reason to be offended that they seek out evidence to support the belief that they are victims in every corner of our society. I cannot imagine having a life so empty and bereft of achievement and purpose as to be reduced to seeking proof that Australia is a racist nation because of its restaurant names.
Well, tell ya, Mike, you know what this country needs right now? More silence from these Lams.
A Touching Conversation In The William And Wendy Woke Household
It is William and Wendy Woke’s anniversary.
Wendy: What are doing for our anniversary, Willy?
Willy: Darl, don’t call me Willy, you know that’s politically incorrect language that might offend the undecided. Anyway, I thought a lovely quiet meal out. Where would you like to go, your choice? Rustic Italian, elegant French, fiery Indian?
Wendy: You know, I really feel like making a neo-colonial act of erasure out of a really a kitsch two-dimensional tableau. Nothing too homogeneous though, I want to be able to come home ready to celebrate our anniversary with (deepens her voice) my Willy (giggles)
Willy: Then I know just the place down on the Coast. And they have a signature dish that should put you in the mood (wink wink). It’s a special soup called Cream of Sum Yung Guy.
But In The USA, It’s Worse – They’ve Just Shat On The Cat In The Hat
And what makes this even worse still is that it was a matter of self-censorship. The estate of the late much-loved Theodor Seuss Geisal – Dr Suess – which controls the on-going multi-million dollar boom in his books, has said it will no longer print six of his titles: “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” “If I Ran the Zoo” —
“McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!,” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.” The Cat In The Hat is safe … they wouldn’t bloody dare.
But the discontinued (read banned) books have been described as being “steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes.” Like little black kids in the jungle riding elephants.
Be that as it may, thousand of of Americans, have swamped sites like Amazon and Ebay with orders for the books that remain, since the edict was announced a few days ago. And that doesn’t make them racist, it just makes them fed up with being told that reading Dr Suess at bedtime is instilling racism and the dreaded ‘stereotype’ into their children.
That was the number one subject engaging the USA funnymen during the week, but there were a few other bits of unfinished business too.
Is New York Celeb Society Taking Its lead from Townsville?
Sound silly, eh? Well, just check this out, unbelievers.
Our mayor is famous for her Michelin Man outfit readers have dubbed ‘the purple doona’.
But no sooner does that feature in The Magpie’s Nest than Vogue Magazine NY swoops in and runs away with the idea.
That’s not the only copycat idea these Vogue plagiarists commit to print. This appeared recently …
… when we all know that this has long been a fashion statement popularised ages ago by the founder of the Townsville Residents and Ratepayers Association (TRRA) Peter Newey, who has made this fashion combo de rigeur for his TRAA meetings.
And they think we’re a bogan backwater. Ha, that’ll show ‘em.
…………………
Enough now!! Comments are awaiting your input on any subject you wish to vent about, be it in the blog or elsewhere in the world.
That donate button mentioned earlier is below.
You know that Smirko was in Newcastle during the week opening a Battery Factory that’s actually up & running.
Obvious question is does he want to stump up for another?
Are you sure the Tomago plant is up and running, Peter? It was only announced last October.
Scomo was there recently and proudly announced.
Although plans unveiled last year suggested the plant would require a workforce of 1,200, a greater use of automation means the total jobs will be closer to 100.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-04/australias-first-lithium-ion-battery-manufacturing-plant-tomago/13216070
So the Tomago Plant and the Lansdown Plant are at the same stage then. Be interesting to see which, if either, actually starts production – and when.
Umm, no, unless The ‘Pie has missed something. The Newcastle venture will start construction next month and be operational by October. Haven’t seen any such timeline for our unicorn battery factory, still bogged down in a pre-feasibility study to see if a pre-feasibility study is feasible … got held up by an inquiry into the inadequacy of the pencil sharpener in the draftsman office, and the subsequent legal hearing when a female staffer claimed $1M compo for trauma after being told ‘For fuck sake, buy a proper one next, you silly bint.’
But the two other ventures seem solid enough at this time. And have VERY GOOD pencil sharpeners.
Russell, if you look carefully at the ABC story about the Tomago plant it is clear that the battery place will be simply assembling parts already manufactured for the purpose. Something similar is planned for Lansdown BUT that plant will be alongside an actual refinery and metals/chemicals production plant – made clear in the Port of Townsville news release from last week:
“The proposed Townsville energy chemicals hub project requires sufficient capacity at the port to import up to 1.5m tonnes of bulk high grade nickel ore a year and export in excess of 500,000 tonnes of product, including nickel sulphate, cobalt sulphate and by-products such as high purity alumina and hematite.”
Two different facilities at Lansdown, just one at Tomago.
And given all that heavy metal imported, all the more reason that the STA would be a much better option from any number of standpoints, for the community (traffic, noise, dust), the environment (distance travelled) and an impetus to get the eastern rail corridor closer to reality.
Ah, the eastern rail corridor. Now that just might ring a few bells for Phil O’Herbert, Kid Crisafulli and Jenny Hill all at once. Of course it will jingle the cash registers at ALP HQ as well ’cause His Radiance, Mikey Boy and the old Guildford Coal mob are still wet-dreaming about exporting north Galilee Basin thermal coal via the Mount Isa to Townsville railway out of the about to be expanded Townsville port. Getting Jenny to pull Phil’s handle to deliver for Tony and Mike would be the wank of the century. A fucking coal stockpile and shiploader at the port of Townsville all paid for by Queensland and ScoMo’s taxpayers. Now I really want to know what the opposition tourism spokesman and The Kid from Ingham really has to say about Lansdown.
just because Crisafulli calls himself a wog in a jocular manner privately doesn’t give you license to use it in that pejorative way publicly … you or anybody. About anybody.
Edited his time, deleted next time.
You’re better than that, comrade.
Fair enough, I’ll stick with “Opposition Leader”. But to the substantive question, are we watching the ducks fall in a row?
You ask why the Council favours industrial development at Woodstock (Lansdown) rather than the State Development Area at Stuart. That is easy- the Council owns the land at Woodstock, and doesn’t own the land at the SDA.
How did htis happen? I don’t guarantee the following history is exactly right, it was a long time ago, but my recollections are as follows.
Back in the late 90s, the Council accidentally made a large amount of money, when by historical accident it turned out it owned the land which became the Riverside Gardens suburb at Douglas. Enter prominent developer Delphin. I suspect the whole idea was theirs, and TCC and Delphin entered into a joint development arrangement whereby (a) the Council provided the land, (b) made sure that all Town Planning approvals were forthcoming, and (c) (perhaps) made it difficult for competing developers. Delphin did the infrastructure bit and sold the blocks. In effect TCC became a developer, with the advantage of regulatory control, and made a lot of money. The Director of Planning at the time actually moved to Delphin, and later moved back to TCC. It was all a bit sus in my opinion, but they got away with it.
The TCC leadership at the time thought that this was an excellent model, and tried to repeat it. The concept got the internal name of “landbanking”, and opportunities were sought. Lansdown station came up for sale, and TCC swooped on it for $1M. They organised the town planning approvals to change the right of use from rural to industrial. The locals at the time were largely supportive of the project, as they were told it had the potential to increase their land values, and some of them sold. And then TCC waited.
And nothing happened. For a long time.
I suspect that without Delphin, TCC did not have the development expertise to make it happen. The competing SDA happened. The world changed- the downturn in the metals processing industries occurred, with the failure of QNI and the impending end of the Glencore copper refineries -there was no market for large scale industrial land.
The activist locals at Woodstock are not necessarily the same locals from the 1990s. The new ones bought in with full knowledge of the TCC industrial development project, but now see that their land values could increase if the TCC project goes away. The alleged environmetal concerns are a furphy.
So that is where it stands. Mayor Jenny vaguely remembers she was told there are big bucks to be made at Woodstock by selling industrial land, but she has no idea on how to get hold of it.
That is simply one of the most grammatically correct, accurately informed and valuable insights ever received into The Nest.
Wanna buy a blog ..,. you’re a lot better at than The ‘Pie.
Excellent, Selene, but which “environmental concerns” are a furphy?
Responding to No More Dredging
The modern world relies on complex scientific and technical principles that require experts to understand them. We advance by trusting these experts, who, though not infallible, have a better chance of getting it right than the man in the street. That does not stop people with no training, experience and little understanding from loudly voicing opinions to support their other unstated goals.
Environmental science is one of those fields.
I am not an environmental engineer, but I know that the Department of Environment (or whatever their name is at the moment) has many. I have worked with some of them on several projects, and I can report that they are very serious, seem competent, and it is impossible to get them to change their professional opinions to suit your desired outcomes. Sure they can possibly be compromised by their political masters, but it would be very difficult- some are the types who would resign in high dudgeon while puffing manfully (or womanfully) on the whistles permanently attached with lanyards round their necks.
So when I say that the environmental concerns at Lansdown are a furphy, I say that in the knowledge that if there is an environmental issue, it will be (or has been) identified by those who have the expertise and responsibility to do so. It does not need the assistance of uninformed and unqualified bloggers and local residents (with vested interests) to bray alarm on issues they know nothing about.
Have concerns- sure- get hold of the environmental assessment reports (these are public documents) and make sure they are doing their jobs. If you understand them, you will probably find that they are.
Selene, thanks for responding. You haven’t identified a single “environmental concern” in the Lansdown site nor an expert who has reported on the particular use that we are talking about here ie. a nickel refinery and chemicals industry. Has there been a specific report (soils, geology, wetlands, hydrology etc) from which you could spot a potential furphy or are you assuming that TCC has all the bases covered? I know this is what happened at Yabulu in the 1970s and what we have there now is hundreds of acres of seriously polluted landscape in the tidal zone protected by nothing but a bankrupt promise – but taxpayers will pick up the tab. Do you even know what an ‘environmental concern’ is?
Its ironic that Townsville City Council strive to be a mentally healthy City yet its Mayors comments seem anything but . Mayor Hills hubris in front of her Labor mates Deputy Premier Miles and our 3 State MP,s has left more industry and business people questioning whether the Mayor is a fit and proper person to be Chair of Taskforce NQ , Board Member of LGAQ , Chair or deputy of any organization . Instead of leaving the breakfast designed to actually promote and build confidence in the rate payers funded Landsown , Mayor Hill turned it into “its all about me ” and Townsville is my baby and explains why so many developers have left the City . Aaron Harper decided to “draw the line on trolls and cyber bullies attacking him on Facebook and that ” we need collaborate and solve issues ” but was inundated with comments on his inaction on Crime and support for Phillip Thompson .
Not sure if HTML image embedding works in comments, so to match the Mark Twain “quote”:
“Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet just because there’s a picture with a quote next to it.” – Abraham Lincoln
Jenny Hill – you are an absolute disgrace. Your bogan language, masculine mannerisms, and vindictive attitude are sickening.
Wake up to yourself and do us all a favour and step down.
To the dumb and dumber electorate of Townsville: Wake up!
Palmer deals in 100’s of millions of dollars. Could be true, but I would be surprised if he was even remotely interested in doing a development on the Showgrounds scrap heap. For someone who makes in excess of $1M a day I would not think it would be worth his effort. On another note, thank goodness Mark Bogiatzis has purchased Barry Taylor’s crappy building. At least now a decent owner who I’m sure will clean it up. I bet he even considers extending his own neighbouring business into it.
Rupert, have you noticed how distractions like a proposal to buy the showgrounds or the Lansdown nickel refinery/port development take everyone’s attention away from the derelict site of Palmer’s dead and cremated nickel plant at Yabulu? How many years now have we been told it will reopen “shortly”? Whilst ever this vacant speculation takes place there will be no action by Palmer or the Queensland government (of whatever political persuasion) to actually accept that QNI is finished and the site must be rehabilitated. It’s outrageous that a greenfield site in the catchment of the Ross River dam is being considered for a toxic heavy metals refinery (with colourful tailings dam?) even before there’s any intention of cleaning up the oldest and worst state-sponsored metals pollution site ever visited upon the ‘Ville.
Impressed to see that dry cleaner Mark has moved to swiftly to board up the rat infested eyesore in Flinders Street West, formerly owned by that pillar of society Bazza Taylor.
Mark could have been filled with fear after Jenny Hill announced she would be chasing him up to clean up the mess, although I suspect he was just doing the right thing (as reputable business people do).
So why didn’t Mayor Hill use the same enthusiasm for cleaning up our city over all the years that Bazza owned the downtown disgrace.
Wouldn’t have anything to do with brown paper bags and election campaigns, would it?
Well it’s good to see our Beloved Mayor at least being consistent with abuse directed at people who don’t have her views politically, like the last council elections last yr when she started too abuse two elderly ladies who were handing out flyers for a independent candidate who had to go to the toilet, and also abused a indigenous candidate who she said was too close to the centre handing out his flyers, she is one nasty piece of crap that Mayor of ours, and yes after seeing her tantrums I don’t think she is a fit person to lead our city.
Hmmm … maybe she is EXACTLY the right person to reflect the majority opinions of this city.
Re “gweilo”, the Cantonese word for foreigner [sic]. When I lived in Hong Kong the term gweilo was usually used as a derogative term and translated to “white devil”.
In fairness often said in good humor, much like pommie, wog or dago before the loonies took over the asylum.
Funny selective process goes on with words like that … Afro-Americans (or whatever the PC term is this week) can call each other ‘nigga’ but it would be less than wise for anyone not of the darkest hue to also do so. And in this neck of the woods, ‘wog’ and ‘dago’ are used generally and humorously by those of Italian descent. Kid Crisafulli, speaking about his and Laurence Lancini’s rise in the world once said to The ‘Pie, “Not bad for a couple of wogs from Ingham, eh?”
An etymological note: dago is a corruption of the original Diego, a commonplace Christian name for those of Spain and Spanish heritage, but it has morphed over to almost exclusively refer to Italians in most of Australia.
Achilles, nup. Don’t want to encourage them.
Speaking of the Queensland Opposition Leader, where would he and his party be on the Lansdown project?
Good question.
Chris Condon is no fool & why isn’t he entitled to increase rent by 20%, with the tenant (RQ/TSV Greyhounds) increasing their usage of the site by 100%? RQ & the State Government know they are in the hole for at least $5M (even with a token peppercorn site lease) to create a new home for the dishlickers, they had their opportunity 10 years ago & totally botched it! So they are game, set & match to Condon, who is far from gouging on this reasonable increase based on usage!
Maybe RQ & the State Labor State Government could get Bob Bentley back so he can ride roughshod over everyone in the racing industry again…..even he though couldn’t match up with our man Chris!
Indeed. As The Magpie explained, the late info from a known informed source (except maybe the Palmer thing is bullshit) prevented him from seeking the other side of the story. What was written in the blog was not reported as fact, it was reported as what was being said.
My information is Clive is funding some community orientated spaces, ever so quietly, but wants nothing to do with the ‘rogue of the Showgrounds ’ his words. Playing the long game and after cashing out his shares in overseas orgs he has a few $B to spare. He’d get Yabulu up again if the local & state allowed him too, only Jenny Tax and the fact the removed his fuel line will cost the plant a refurb of $280M
So by the sounds of it, Clive is a victim, and not his fault he closed Yabulu? Poor pootle.
Far too many conspiracy theorists on here at the moment. Life can be tough when people start to peddle feelings, instead of hard facts. This alone can be a sign of mental illness. Barking at shadows………we know, we’ve been doing it for years!
Yup, every four years or so.
Yes indeed, I have mentioned for some time now that the Sultan of Sweat is most certainly lining up some mid-level managers for a boning and that some internal restructuring will take place. This is disheartening to the good ‘faceless’ workers at TCC who genuinely take pride in their work and do the best they can.
As for the Hill/Thompson stoush, Madam Hill is just an awful, selfish, vile human being.
So we have a mayor of dubious mental status who is chairperson of the local disaster committee, in the middle of cyclone season.
Oh dear.
Cyclone, pffft! jenny, ever mindful that she has no legacy for when she leaves office, is praying for another monsoon, so she can claim to have (again) created the Venice of the North.
Isn’t the original Venice already in the North?
No. Pompeii.
or maybe Atlantis … it was a lost city too.
I Pliny get the point….
Showoff.
The utter bastard!!!
https://www.theshovel.com.au/2021/03/02/christian-porter-stand-aside-after-allegedly-cartier-watches/
G’day Pie … re: donations … thanks to you and your blog I’m saving about $80/month by not purchasing the astonisher/bullsheet, haven’t bought one for about 4 years now, cheers … I’m now donating a fraction of that to you each month to help keep the site going … I’m happy to donate a larger fraction … so, serious question, how much more do you need to stay afloat / keep things going comfortably? … maybe you could say something like “if everyone who is already making a monthly donation could increase their donation by 25/50/75% etc that would cover it”
Thanks for the thought, mate, but it’s a week by week affair, which The ‘Pie – who lives solely on the age pension – can accept going backwards a few quid before someone comes to the rescue (and for all of you who do, it so greatly appreciated). The ‘Pie doesn’t think it’s his call to suggest how much, readers circumstances vary, just whatever one thinks it’s worth, and of not, well, it’s there and it’s free. But it’s noted that rather than an occasional helping hand, a few folk just whack in a standing order that comes in every month, they range from $2 (from a very loyal reader – MS – for years now, thanks, mate) to $20 or more.It all gives The ‘Pie more than just help with web, phone and petrol finances, but also the vital encouragement that he isn’t wasting his time, talking to an empty room.
The Magpie certainly doesn’t want anyone to feel obligated, because he well knows that probably half the readership would cheerfully strangle him given half the chance … or throw darts at his effigy. Not everyone reads the weekly missive with a glint of requited love and admiration in their eye. Eh, Jenny?
ok fair enough … “probably half the readership would cheerfully strangle him given half the chance” … yeah that’s prolly only NMD and the rest of the extreme lefties … annoying as they are, we do need their input for entertainment / comic relief … hang in there mate
Not intending to go anywhere, Allah willing.
The Landsdown project reminds me of when the company formally known as Adani promised 1,000’s of newly created jobs if granted approval. It was all bullshit. BS coming from under a purple doona most likely.
And we well remember how that executive with the unfortunate face (birthmark?) was quickly shut down after he said they intended the mine to become one of the automated in the world. he wasn’t heard of much after that piece of unintended honesty.
“More silence from these Lams”. Very good. Indeed, one of the better ones.
Yeah, must say The ‘Pie was kinda pleased with that one.
Courier Mail item…
“The Queensland government has launched new travel vouchers in a bid to revitalise the far north of the state’s tourism industry.
On Sunday, the state government announced it will release 15,000 travel vouchers for Queenslanders wanting to visit Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.
The Cairns Holiday Dollars vouchers which are only available to residents of the sunshine state are valued up to $200 and are designed to be a 50 per cent discount on eligible tourist attractions in the region.”
What about Mackay, the Whitsundays, Townsville, Tablelands??
The LNP Oppositiojn spokesman on Tourism should have a field day with this one.
But then, hang on…maybe not!!
MAKE it happen … make sure they know about it.
Where’s little patty o’hangtheman when you need her?
She never did anything for Townsville (or the North), when she was paid a bucketful, so why call her now?
Scathingly Brilliant Idea 1hr 11min into Happy Hour.
Recommendation for new monthly segment in the Magpie Blog.
“Psych Assesment” (que serious orchestral music 2 bars only)
The ‘Pie gives to a physiologist friend 5 years of contributions from various Nesters and back comes……….
Ta Darrrrrrr……….
THE
“Psych Assesment”
One a month at most. Noone would object, would be an interesting read, and what could possibly go wrong?
well, if The ‘Pie went down that path, the first one would be easy … the above post.
The ‘pie’s bet is ylou indulged in some Astonisher maths … seems more like 11 hours and one minute into Happy Hour.
Why would you give them to a physiologist? You would be better off giving them to a proof reader from the Bulletin!
Comment of the Day!! Luv it.
Dave if you’re trying to get a psych assessment for free, you’re in luck. It just so happens that here in Australia we have social service providers who offer free psychological services. So you can take yourself off to one of those providers, make an appointment and get one from a paid professional. No need to bludge off one of Magpies mates.
DN,
Oh, I have had more than one psych assesment for the jobs I have done. I do not know how well I did but I got the jobs.
Actually it is some of the other ….?…… well all of the other Nesters assesments that would make good reading and no doubt mine too.
Now, I have lost my bloody wine glass!
You might be confusing psychometric with psychiatric. But if not… just what jobs were they?
OTG,
Sorry Mate,
Serious stuff, now well retired. We will leave it there, and enjoy being hosted by the Magpie.
The jobs were probably hitman, serial killer, mayor, sniper, politician, forward scout, secret agent, MI6 operative, SAS commander and TEL CEO.
Serial killer is job? Where does The ‘Pie apply?
If you’re well retired it shouldn’t matter. I had TS SCI clearances when I served and never saw a psychiatrist. Had a psychologists interview before a couple of postings but that’s it. And they were very sensitive postings in Mil Int.
Oooh …spooky.
Hey DoK I saw the photos of the demo. Are you the old fart with the red socks and the sign that says jail for breach of bail?
So why isn’t les walker facing the same questions from media as porter? Sexual assault?? Let’s see the footage
Good news! All is so good with local water supplies and wastewater systems (ignore the stink from both) that here in Walker St we can cancel the normal meeting of the Water and Waste Committee.
Nothing to see here – move along.
It seems about 1/4 to 1/3 of the senior management ranks are being recruited, including the director of planning, a very critical position. That is a huge turnover rate, unless they are new positions being created. Potentially worrying times ahead for our fair city
Don’t worry, The Bulletin is non to it. They have booked an appointment to ring the mayor.
Mocking up the headline now – “Mayor blames Phillip Thompson for high council staff turnover”.
Some of the titles are new. Like “Director Planning, Economy, Environmental and Lifestyle” (‘scuse me while I take a breath) and “General Manager Culture and Lifestyle”. So technically they are new positions.
I wonder how this fits in Prince Sweaty’s plan for reducing the management burden as per the Nous report? Or did that just get thrown out the window yet again.
Interesting. But what do you mean by ‘management burden’? Is that buzz talk that means in plain language, too much management?
I means this, as per the original Nous report:
“The current size, structure and culture of management is a barrier to effective service delivery and financial
sustainability.
The operating model review identifies that specific attention needs to be given to TCC’s management structure to support
the success of the recommended improvement initiatives. TCC’s management structure is too complex, siloed and has too
many layers, reflecting a failure to execute on post-amalgamation consolidation. This has impacted the agility and
responsiveness of the organisation to economic changes and evolving community needs. It has led to duplication, a low
risk tolerance and increased red tape. It stifles council’s ability to pursue a common purpose and presents an
unsustainable labour cost to the organisation.
One of the key report recommendations is a consolidated organisational structure that will reduce unsustainable labour
costs and encourage a more focused leadership team.
The recommended organisation structure:
• Consolidates the number of divisions in the structure from five to three.
• Flattens the management structure by consolidating the Executive Manager and Manager roles into a General
Manager role. This will remove overlapping levels of accountability and reduce the number of managers in the
organisation.
• Transitions Corporate Services functions to a business partner model to ensure that more structured support and
expertise is directly embedded in the key business areas.”
https://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/23193/Organisation-Review-Report.pdf
That in fact makes sense and is sensible management practice, but in true hands-off consultancy fashion, it doesn’t make any recommendations for softening the blow (natural attrition for instance), for any fairness in how people were eased out of their jobs. It wasn’t their fault they were hired in the first place, and then through bad management and bad politics, gradually became surplus to requirements. Now the man who had a major hand in that report is in the hot seat himself, and can’t be ‘hands off’. An interesting sort of karma.
And let’s not forget, the man to thank for this is actually Peter ‘Dentures’ Beattie and his final finger to the Queensland community, rushed and ill-timed council amalgamation.
Dear Jenny,
♥️International Women’s Day.
Today let’s celebrate the efforts of our forebears who fought for women to have real choices.
Let’s honour our mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleague’s, etc with a token.
True equality has not been gained yet, but the movement has brought great improvement.
Be inspired by a women in your life today♥️
Lots of love from all the fabulous women out there. Xx NMD
Whatever. Hoping for a root, mate?
Is there an angry mob of hi-vis sheilas waving tin snips marching on the office of Industry Queensland trade mag? The mining, manufacturing and trades site must get the fail award for headline of the day for International Womens’ Day.
We are getting the predictable reports of continuing tough times for the gals, especially in the rarified intellectual and PC climes of the world of tradies, with predictable stuff like this …
… then this headline in IQ is destined to be nailed up on work sites across the country … perhaps the most unfortunate choice of words for a headline for this subject and on this day, seems this is exactly what the fems are complaining about …
So here is the thing, if women want to be treated as equal then they need to act as equals. If I’m expected to jackhammer concrete then so should my female equivalent. If I’m expected to carry 30kg bags of concrete then so should my female equivalent. And as far as sexual harassment goes, from female employees I’ve had my ass grabbed, my stonker fondled and I’ve been propositioned ALL WITHOUT INVITATION. And I never complained to anyone. In fact, I’ve even had a couple of sly roots with female tradies on the job site and I loved it. I didn’t complain, haven’t gone public and haven’t started some kind of ‘male movement’ of sorts. And don’t get me started on some of our lady truck drivers and what they get up to. These #movements need to stop, it’s fucking unbearable and childish.
Oh, really? Yeah, right, mate.
You must be exhausted, having to turn up to work worn out by tossing and turning all night with all those erotic dreams. Best wear gloves to the cot, old son.
I think we all know what you should do with that bag of cement, Sledge.
I was even thinking of chipping in to help you out, but after this pathetic misogynist crap, not today.
The ‘Pie is at a loss to know what you’re talking about … if you’re referring to the headline comment, one would think the facts fall on the side of the gals. irony obviously isn;’t one of your points, let alone a strong one. But if it’s the jocular tone you’ve misunderstood about an inadvertent blooper headline, then you sum up a large part of the problem, you poor shivering humorless mutt.
And donation don’t help ‘me’ out, they help out those who want to continue to read the blog because they think it is a good and for the most part light-hearted take on matters of the day. But there can be no doubt you’ll continue to make the donations you always have made … your two bobs worth on all sorts of issues. Vastly over-valued at that, too.
The Magpie March 8, 2021 at 1:08 pm
Whatever. Hoping for a root, mate?
This is what I was referring to. NMD posts a great article on International Womans Day and this is your reply. The older you get, the seedier you become. Are you sure that you are not in the Liberal Party?
Seeth, baby, seeth.
Last drinks, good. Now fuck off
NMD, going ugly early ?
State Government website for the $200 Cairns travel experience has crashed . Did the Premier use the Government Jet to fly to Cairns with the Minister and Tourism groupies to announce this Promotion ? .
The rollout of the vaccine comes down to a simple case of public servants first then the plebs come second, yet the plebs just sit back and say nothing, our society is fucked.
Hi Malcom,
Thank you for the invitation to respond to the Tsv Greyhounds/Tsv Showgrounds dispute…
Firstly I want to mention that there has been no rent increase, just the normal CPI Increase as per the rental agreement & the additional day of racing has incurred a fee of $800. This agreement is something that was negotiated between Tsv Greyhounds & TPAIA, whilst I am the Secretary Manager at The Showgrounds all rent agreements go to the committee for a decision which it is then my job to deliver to the sub-lessee/tenant. The original agreement was for 10 races per night (48 meets per year), this has grown now to 12 races per night (in excess of 90 meets per year) with no lease agreement in place for the additional races/meeting.
Secondly it was brought to my attention that the Tsv Greyhounds were trialing dogs outside of the agreement terms & as a result there had been dogs injured in doing so, I simply excised the right of the TPAIA & enforced the timeframe for trialing in an attempt to reduce the risk to the animals here on site. It is my understanding that a maximum of 11 trial races can be ran before grading the track is required…I have personally witnessed this requirement be completely disregarded on several occasions with over 70 dogs being trialed some nights (avg of 2 dogs per trial) without the track being graded more than once (and at $10 per dog that’s not a bad earn for the Tsv Greyhounds)…certainly makes me question their motives for trials, is it for performance/training or an earn?
On racing nights trainers are paid $60 appearance fee & some have 12 dogs racing each night & prize money ranges from $500-$1500…all of this money is Tax Free, which make me wonder if the person who has reported this to the Magpie is possibly the leading trainer who makes a measly $720 per week tax free (hardly a hobby).
As for a dispute amongst Tsv Greyhounds & Tsv Showgrounds, this is news to me as the Tsv Greyhounds have been compliant with requirements since I imposed the restrictions (as per their agreement) , however it is my job to continue to monitor this on behalf of the TPAIA, the current President Gary Heath I believe has been doing a great job & truly hope that the committee continue to support him. I’d like to hope that the trainers, official & owners also continue to ensure the safety of their dogs each & every meet/trial here at the Townsville Showgrounds.
If QR had any concerns I have no doubt that they would have contacted me, my door is always open & I am always happy to discuss any concerns.
As for the Townsville Show…Townsville Show is the largest regional Agricultural Show in QLD & I am proud to say that TPAIA & myself have worked extremely hard to ensure it continues to be the most affordable for families to attend also. We aim to deliver an affordable family event each year & I personally feel that we have delivered this each & every year to the Townsville Community. We have a great relationship with the local volunteers & organizers, vendors, exhibitors & Showman’s Guild…something that we had to work hard to achieve to ensure that The Townsville Show continues to be a viable event in an ever struggling local NQ Community.
I would like to ask you to name your source so that I can address this directly with them to ensure that there are no grey areas between us, as it sounds like whoever has reported this to you has either been the recipient of some tall stories or enjoys twisting the truth to suit themselves.
Thanks, Chris, a very comprehensive reply that evens the playing field somewhat.
And mate, nice try, but journalists NEVER reveal their sources of information, and in this instance, the information was accepted as one side of an argument since The ‘Pie knows the source to have a wide network of contacts in Racing Queensland. As said in the blog, it came in late on a Saturday, so yes, it was made clear it was presented in a somewhat lopsided manner, but that has now been rectified.
‘The ‘Pie will see if the source wants to add anything, and if they do it, seems you might be able to chalk up another challenge met and successfully dealt with.
It’s a cruel and barbaric sport just like horse racing is and it should be banned. It’s also a sport that is rigged and encourages gamblers to piss all of their money away and leave their families with food on the table. Pox on the whole industry.
In other words, an ideal Aussie growth industry.
And pox is freely available anywhere. And everywhere, The ‘Pie is told.
I personally don’t like either sport, but only because I find them boring. However I would never support a ban, people like you should just shut up and let others enjoys whatever they choose unless it is clearly cruel or damaging to children.
Let the adults choose, and not be hounded by self-righteous morons.
I’m not a greyhound person, but I personally think the dogs really like to race. I know a greyhound breeder and his dogs seem really well cared for and definitely happy dogs. I think the barbaric aspect is that small percentage, just like in any other industry, who do the wrong thing and tarnish everyone else with the same brush.
I had the pleasure of dealing with Chris recently. I can assure you his door was always open and he returned all calls/emails and was very generous with his time.
Chris doesn’t need my endorsement as he is a successful Townsville entrepreneur (and don’t we need more of these!) but one sided reporting where there is the loud sound of axes being ground gets me boiling. Good on Chris for posting a very clear rebuttal.
Hey Pie
I wish that I could trial my horse at the Greyhound’s in Townsville for $10 it cost me $200 plus to trial him at Doomben with Qld Racing !!
Harry and his missus………….. yawn
I reckon Defence Minister Linda Reynolds should go and Jim Molan should get the gig.
Won’t happen as it wouldn’t be PC to drop a woman and replace her with a man.
Despite her Army Reserve background, Defence deserves better than Reynolds
Racing Queensland is a basket case.
They throw their weight around and use bullying tactics to push through their private agendas.
But I doubt if they’ve ever locked horns with anyone as capable of defending himself as Chris Condon.
Like him or loathe him , he fights for what he believes in -and invariably wins.
Look what happened to Tony Mooney when CC took him on with his roadside billboads.
The greyhound whingers need to pull their head in. From what I’ve seen they are getting a very reasonable deal from the Showgrounds.
As for Racing Queensland taking on CC, good luck with that.
The interview with the two young Royals revealed nothing new. The ‘family’ have a legacy that dates back many hundreds of years that is steeped in racism, incest, burning of heretics at the stake, murder, pedophilia and the occult. They are morally bankrupt and are a scourge on society. Put simply they are not nice people. However, the gullible public line up to worship these dickheads as they ponce around in horse and carriage and look down on the lowly people lining the streets. What a complete joke. Society needs to wake the hell up.
The concept of the Royal family is an outdated prehistoric idea that doesn’t fit the mould of 2021. A bunch of pontificating fuckwits living in palaces tax free and acting like their shit doesn’t stink and pretending they are almost godlike. Well they aren’t. ‘Royalty’, a Monarchy, should be disbanded, assigned to the history pages and they should become like the rest of us – tax paying Smiths and Jones’s with no special privileges. Twats
A fairly widely held view, but The Magpie cannot work himself up enough to even care.
Towards the end of last year, The ‘Pie found himself COVIDed-out. Suddenly, there were ‘trigger-alerts’ (how woke of the old bird) warning of the threat of ennui. At the first mention of jab, supplies, masks, Dan Andrews, Jeanette Young, masks, Steven Miles, lock-downs or mutant strains, it was a chance to amble into the kitchen to make a cuppa and check what’s for tea. Virus stories suddenly became the ABC and SBS equivalent of handy ad breaks, along with the long standing standard items about breakthroughs in rare diseases and refugee demonstrations. This royal saga joined this elite group of issues almost instantly. Soon it will be like watching The Drum on loop (The ‘Pie’s idea of hell).
And to those ‘shocked’ that the royal have been ‘revealed’ as racists … hello, no one been paying attention to the public pronouncements of Phil the Greek? (Best – to a group of Pommy exchange student in Beijing: ‘If you stay much longer in China, you’ll get slitty eyes.’)
I quite like the pomp and ceremony, for its pageantry and historic value; unfortunately its the bowing and scraping to mere mortals that I find irritating.
After all the Brits have not had a British, let alone an English royal since Alfred.
When I had a connection to the Royal Family (the Queens secret topless pool cleaner and corgi walker), I found them all to be quite upstanding and rather ordinary. Friday night was fish and chips watching reruns of Benny Hill. Prince Charles, or ‘Chuckman’ as we affectionately referred to him as, liked nothing more than to go out and shoot a Swan or two for the freezer. Afterwards he would spend hours texting Camilla. Wills and Harry were quite young at the time and I considered them real tear aways. Always up to mischief, and Harry had this game he called ‘guess who my father is’. I won’t get into it too much but you should have seen the Royal shenanigans when Phil invited the 23 year old maid to have dinner at the Royal table as his guest ! God Save the Queen I thought to myself.
Back in 1941 when my father joined the RAAF he pledged:
“I will well and truly serve Our Sovereign Lord the King as a member of the Air Force Reserve of the Commonwealth of Australia, and that I will resist His Majesty’s enemies and cause His Majesty’s Peace to be kept and maintained, and that I will in all matters appertaining to my service faithfully discharge my duty according to the law. So help me God!”
Of course he didn’t agree to pay any attention to what the lowly brothers, sisters, cousins and also-rans of the royal family did or did not do. I don’t see why we should either.
Doesn’t it fill your heart with despair that we are going to be subject to weeks… nay, bloody months, maybe a whole fuckin’ ice age … looking at every angle and irrelevant detail of this largely self-promoted hokum. This pair deserve their families and in-laws, every which way. Meghan Markle contemplated suicide? What crap We are expected to believe that? Rorters, scammers and successful social scramblers NEVER top themselves … that only happens when they’re found out, not when they are busy working towards being paid a U-Haul load of dollars for a quick chat with over-rated TV babbler.
And this is the sort of tabloid turdery we will be subjected to seemingly forever (The New Daily is actually a very good news site, but they too indulge in the dreary click-bait side of the industry)
Sure, Queen Liz has been steadfast in keeping her coronation promise of whatever her version of ‘serving her people’ actually is – chewing up tax dollars by the gilded wheelbarrow load, probably – but given her callous behaviour on the death of Diana, this headline couldn’t be further from the truth … she couldn’t give a dog’s toss (corgi of course), she and her brainless brute of a husband have had their innings. She’s happily chucking this hospital pass to Prince Chuck, who must be shitting bullets at the prospect of an end to the monarchy. He well knows that his go-to fantasy of he and equine-faced wife having a cackling late night root on the throne when no one is about is in danger of remaining just that – a fantasy.
It would only be a bombshell, and would only rock the Pommy public, if the Queen was actually shown to care less. As Mr B Holly once famously warbled ‘That’ll be the day.’
Aw, no, don’t tell me the Queen was callous and indifferent when Diana died? Was that story on the front page of some tabloid (owned by Murdoch probably) or some classy Aussie ‘ladies’ magazine? FFS, why do we wet our pants about these celebrity-seeking minor players in the royal family? There’s only one that counts and that’s the Monarch – currently Australia’s Head of State. The rest are irrelevant – we’ll hear from them soon enough when the Queen carks it.
She was indeed a right royal shit head when Diana died, and it was only the massive ground swell of recreational grief by the public that made her relent, which was too little too late for many Poms anyway.
There he is, a real sleaze in his day, past it now I would hope, anyway out and about supporting Women’s Day.
Well said, No more dredging.
So Phil is at deaths door, good timing me old Greek geek. If he chucks in the chiton and buggers off over the Styx he’ll actually be their posthumous savior from the tabloids.
That is until Andy fucks up again,
… and gets caught doing it doggy style with a seven year old.
I think you are all been a bit hard on poor Harry Markel, he is just carrying on the proud family tradition of totally losing all perspective once shown an American vagina.
I thought Meghan Markle was Canadian?
Ask Wiki. #WGAF
I did that and it comes up ‘who gives a f&#k’. Is that correct?
With talk of the Duke shuffling off this mortal coil, I can’t help but be reminded of some of the condolence book quotes for the Queen Mother. No idea if they are true, but they are funny.
“I thought she would never die, she has let us all down very badly”
D.Holmes, Somerset.
———————————————————-
“She was a marvellous woman, and a wonderful lover”.
L. J.Worthington,Penrith.
———————————————————-
“I am absolutely devastated, at least we could have got the day off”.
S.Wilson, Bristol.
———————————————————-
“How refreshing to be able to mourn the death of a member of the Royal family without being accused of being homosexual”.
J. Fletcher, High Wycombe.
———————————————————-
“On behalf on all blacks, I send the sincerest condolences”.
T.Watson, Ilford.
———————————————————-
“Once again the Queen is not upset enough for my liking, the woman should have a bit more compassion, how would she feel if it was her mother?”
W.Waugh, Richmond.
———————————————————-
“I am sure the Queen Mum will not let this setback put an end to her public duties”.
N. Wallace, Swansea.
———————————————————-
“We must do all we can, send blankets, food parcels, jumpers, anything to help these brave souls who are queuing up to walk past her coffin”.
R. Thompson, Bath.
———————————————————
“Good God, who is next, Geri Halliwell?”.
R. Combes, Romford.
———————————————————
“No matter how she felt, no matter the situation, she always wore a smile. Just like a retard”
G. Hollins, East Sussex.
———————————————————-
“I remember she came to visit us in the East End one time. She was so kind, so generous and so sweet. She whispered softly in my ear, ‘you know it’s not true’ she said, ‘you don’t smell of shit’. She was a wondrous person”.
E.Collier, London.
———————————————————-
“Whichever way you look at it, it just is not as exciting as Diana”.
G.Williams, West Midlands.
An example of TCC’s new road repair policy. i
Apparently to save money, the new intervention level for pot hole repair is to place a ‘witches hat’ traffic cone in the pot hole. When the hole is large enough for the cone to disappear inside, a crew will be sent out to patch it.
This one is on the road in Fairfield Waters. My only question: is this a traffic cone in the pot hole or the Mullet’s mayoral hat and she has fallen in?
Well done, TEL, Mayor Mullet, your efforts have been successful, we locals will not be harassed by those touristy arseholes – that you have successfully kept them at bay and have forced them to choose Rocky (good God!) Whitsundays and Cairns instead gives us great peace of mind. Not even a passing mention of Townsville. And sadly, that’s understandable.
Quote: While tried and tested family holiday destinations like the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast continue to prove popular, destinations further north including Mackay, the Whitsundays, Cairns and Port Douglas are trending, as Aussies look to recreate their overseas holidays closer to home. It’s clear the appetite for travel is considerably higher this year.” Unquote
Attention everyone in Queensland planning to holiday at home this year as we have urged you to do. STOP , WAIT A MINUTE.
If you are planning to go to Townsville or the Whitsundays or Mackay STOP, dont do it.
We (The Qld Government) will give you a bribe to go to Cairns instead $200 off you holiday.
So not only are we actively not supporting certain regions we are actively trying to take people who may already be considering visiting these struggling regions and getting the to go to Cairns instead.
I would think that by the 25th June when there deals expire we will have destroyed most of the operators in Mackay, Whitsundays and Townsville so we wont need to give them any help later at all.
Perfect solution all round I would say.
Fuckwits
Shades of a RACQ article, in I think the 90’s, about Christmas holidays in the Qld State. Every Region and major town out Brisbane mentioned and tourists spots recommended, EXCEPT Townsville. Nary a mention, obviously we didn’t exist then and still don’t exist to the Brisbanites.
I see in the Bully this morning a photo of Dep Premier Miles looking for more Warehouse Space to store medical supplies here in Townsville, maybe they could use his head there is a lot of wasted space between his Ears.
Total tools stadium? Lots of empty space there on any given game night
Only reason tourists would want to come to Townsville is to get to Magnetic Island.
Just in time for Easter, I had a dream of TEL’s advice for visitors to Crimesville:
Don’t bring your car – there’s a good chance it will be stolen and even if it isn’t, you’ll be charged a small fortune to get it to the island
If you must bring your car, make sure you have it insured to cover damage from potholes
Don’t go anywhere near the CBD. You’ll be accosted by drunks and angry ant itinerants. Anyway, most of the shops have gone broke and closed. And if you have ignored the previous advice and brought your car, expect to get fined if you go even one second over your meter deadline. No meter maids here.
Don’t drink the tap water.
Don’t buy the local paper in the hope of finding local news and happenings. Its been taken over by Harvey Norman, so its only good for finding a bargain tv.
Stay clear of the local mayor. She’s been threatening to “cut” people.
Don’t go fishing in Ross Creek or Ross River. The fish have three eyes and the crabs have an extra nipper on the back of their shell.
Wear a face mask when boarding the ferry. No problems with covid, but you could get lead poisoning from black dust from the Port across the creek.
Otherwise, have a great time.
And don’t go to the Mad Cow unless you want to get drunkenly assaulted by a local MP.
The FIFO Prince is very cranky again this week, not at all happy that leaks about restructures have been leaking out of the leak-proof TCC. A few of those veins in his neck and hands have been bulging. The Prince is trying to put his foot down on ‘salacious gossip’ and ‘corridor whispering’. However, this not so intelligent CEO doesn’t realise that the ‘walls have had ears’ in TCC for many years. TCC people are connected like an octopus tentacles. Hell, I.T can read everything, numerous staff are playing the game of Survivor, Councillors have people they can get info from within the Council and who knows, there may even be some ‘electronic ears’ positioned in discreet places around TCC. Not even those ‘off site lunch meetings’ are safe, dear Prince.
Anyway Prince, you should keep your giant 13lb head low because if you upset too many people it may just get chopped off by Jenny and her acolytes.
That raises a few questions, first one is why does he publicly advertise positions – some that don’t even exist yet … if he doesn’t want it known? And can he be so up himself that he thinks people aren’t going to push back against him continuing the ‘culture of secrecy’ that was exposed and condemned in an official report a year or two ago. Mayor Mullet gave her word to fix that and bring in transparency, so we know why that didn’t happen. What’s wrong with being open and up-front about how you intend to restructure the council for our benefit, sport? That would be fair to staff and the ratepayer. Like you could give a fuck about either. There’s the smell of an imposter and poser about you Prins, with no vision that extends beyond a short term task before you piss off to your next mark.
I suspect the shifty sneakiness is hard boiled into the Pric’s DNA. Once you make a career of being a devious bastard intent on ripping everyone off, it must be hard to behave otherwise.
I’d provide the pike to Mount his scone on, if someone chops it off. Having it at the city gates as a warning has a good sense of completion.
Colourful.
Saw our beloved CEO hopping on a flight to Brissy yesterday with some female exec type. Great to see our rates in action. Even planned to have his name called over the PA on arrival at Brisbane airport.
Mal, I contacted Dave Crisafulli’s office regarding the CCTV footage of the Les Memory Blank Walker knock out and if he could get access to it, his office replied that he wasn’t able to gain access to it, and it was up to the Police or the owner of the footage to release it, I’ve sent a few TTTE texts asking when would the CCTV footage be available and when would the other parties be interviewed, I think a lot of the readers would like to know what really happened, maybe the Bulletin think it’s past news, I for one don’t think it is, I’ll keep trying.
Karma can be a real bitch. Jugears Daniels in hospital with broken ribs and a spine fracture after slipping on wet tiles. It seems those big ears of his failed to cushion the fall. Considering how many people’s lives he has fucked up with his heavy handed nonsensical approach to COVID lockdowns in Victoria, I would say karma has done her thing.
Your a very generous person.
Well, Charon the milk of human kindness is flowing from your beneficence. I have no liking of the Vic Premier, yes! he and those to whom he delegated made a hash of the quarantine initially. But it was uncharted waters, with no precedent.
But to spitefully kick him when he’s down, ‘literally” speaks more about your shortcomings than his.
Well Achilles, theses politicians certainly have no qualms about kicking us lowly shit-kickers in the head when we are down. Using COVID as a political tool from which families have been destroyed, businesses lost, children who couldn’t attend a parents funeral and a spiralling suicide rate basically because people’s way of life, and their futures, has been robbed from them, not due to COVID but due to politicians. So spare me your lecture mate. Fuck the lot of them and may the Styx River Boat pick up as many of them as possible.
TEL has done it again!
This time its the Federal Govt that is giving away half price airfares to tourist locations in an attempt to “get people flying again”.
You can book on any major airline from April 1 (no, its not a joke) but you can’t fly everywhere. Cairns, Mackay/Whitsundays are on the list but not Townsville.
Seems ScoMo and his crew have worked out that Crimesville is not a tourist destination.
Correct me if Í’m wrong, but didn’t TEL recently lead a begging bowl group of the usual suspects to Canberra to get a better deal for the Townsville region?
That obviously went well.
Colour me flabbergasted.
Here is the thing that no one seems to ask
If you were to say that the average flight on the proposed routes are currently around $300 one way (which they are less than $300 today enforce the airlines hike their prices) then the subsidy would be on average $150 per flight.
800,000 flights @ $150 equals $120,000,000 exactly 10% of the $1.2 billion spruced by the government. I wonder where the other 90% will end up going?
Why doesn’t anyone in the media ask such simple questions?. I am not saying it is a bad thing but lets not be fooled here by the repeated statement of $1.2 billion……….ohhh look a shiny thing over there, $1.2 billion…….yes $1.2 billion.
First we had the QLD Government’s $200 travel incentive.
No Townsville!
Now we have the Federal Government’s $1.2 billion half-price fare travel incentive.
Again…no Townsville!
If this is not enough evidence as to why Townsville Enterprise should be dissolved, and dissolved immediately, I don’t know what is??
Our Federal Member Phil Thompson has just been slapped in the face big time by his “I’m Never Wrong” boss!
What a fucking disgrace!
Crikey reports today that the tourism package will apply as follows: “Between April and July, 50% discounts on tickets will be offered for flights to and from the Gold Coast, Cairns, the Whitsundays region, the Sunshine Coast, the Lasseter region (which includes Uluru), Alice Springs, Launceston, Devonport, Burnie, Broome, Avalon, Merimbula, and Kangaroo Island.”
Perhaps the Feds have remembered that Townsville already has a personal $195m package being rolled out by Phil O’Herbert?
You are spot EB – What a fucking disgrace Jenny Hill is.
You can’t expect to pick a fight, and abuse the local MP then get goodies from the Federal Government.
Chalk up another lose for Jackboot Jenny, the sooner she leaves office the better.
Let’s hope the bell tolls soon or should we say the mobile phone without handsfree.
Nickster, I’m trying to think of a single multi-million dollar Townsville tourism operation that is dying on the vine in the current circumstances. Magnetic Island ferries and barges are flat out, Easter is fully booked, even backpacker places have a trickle of activity. Haven’t been to the casino or the Cowboys Club but I bet the pokies are turning just fine thank you very much. Compared to all the places mentioned in the Commonwealth-funded tourism booster, Townsville is actually doing OK apparently. Add to that, the government-funded Stadium is about to get back into business and the semi-government airport will get some trade with it so it could reasonably be argued that our town is already getting a lion’s share without having to pretend we are a suffering tourist destination.
Precisely.
The only one, not a multi million dollar venture but anyway, is the permanent closure of the Magnetic Island Horse Ranch. In any case it is already fully shut down and no assistance will ever reopen it.
Or for that matter, pick a fight with Qantas/Jetstar and then expect them to offer us direct flights to some of these tourist mecca areas. I would love to be able to fly straight to the Gold or Sunshine Coasts rather than Brisbane and waste 2-3 hours driving or catching a train to the end destination. Thanks for nothing Mayor Mullet.
Was going to fly up about a week & half after New Years but drove instead. Cost of flights from Newcastle-Port Stephens to Brisbane, $89-109 one way on JQ tagged flights. Brisbane to Townsville was anywhere between $250-300 and if I wanted to go with the red roo and be packed into an aging Qantaslink B717 $350 upwards. Virgin weren’t much better.
I suspect the Government market with Army & state bureaucrats is a nice little cashcow for airlines, my contract manager used to regularly comment on the prices when I was living in the city and doing FIFO work.
Is it true despite being able to social distance and having such a large area the TSV airport is forcing people to wear masks and blaming Government regulations despite there being no such mandate currently still in force?
Phil Thompson is an even worse Local Member than Ewen. That is how bad he is.
Having the likes of you saying that, now we know just how good and effective he is. Squirm, comrade, squirm.
Like you Magpie. Pale, Male and Stale.
And you chum – or one suspects chumette – remind The ‘Pie of our ailing Aged Care Minister.
I see that ‘Nobody’s Girl’ Kristina Keneally is still after Peter Garrett’s twin, Peter Dutton, over his pork barrelling of money from the Safer Communities Fund. She has asked the ANAO to audit the books, which would be quite interesting. As we all no, all levels of Government manipulate taxpayer monies and misuse it to ‘buy off’ sections of their electorate to gain votes. It’s a system as old as the Model T Ford. Of course the Politicians always scream innocence and are outraged that their honesty is brought into question, but they are the only ones believing in their own lies the fucking grubs. I guess Scomo will be slashing the ANAO’s budget even more next year!!! Revenge is sweet.
Please don’t insult Peter Garrett
He might burn your bed of pink bats … with you in it.
Peter Garrett could not be insulted.
Happy 90th birthday Rupert, you lovable old rascal.
Yup, the world’s old pickled walnut turns 90 … talk about Jerry and the Pacemaker.
From Facebook,
Stolen BMW crashed head on into 4×4 on Ingham Rd this afternoon. No details of the BMW driver.
I just has a great idea to boost tourism for Townsville ! Bring back little pattie for a short term contract to organise cardboard cutouts of ‘The Person Previously Known As’ Prince Harry and Prince William and put them on a helicopter ride around Boyes Ct in Heatley.
Little Rupert, can the TCC Prince join in as well?
G’day ‘Pie,
This is short notice, but only found this out this morning.
Qld Parliament Legal Affairs & Safety Committee, re amendments to the Youth Justice Act.
Submission must be received not later than NOON TODAY. Email address:
email hidden; JavaScript is required
Guide for making a submission and all other info including public hearings in Townsville can be found here:
http://bit.ly/2N4cAki
You have to register to attend the hearings.
Regret late notice.
This travel thing has blown up on Scott Morrison’s face and so it should, what a stupid idea to single out certain people for special treatment, that’s the sort of thing socialist governments do, not so called conservatives, it’s just pathetic. Cairns were happy to put up the borders and keep out all the infected low life’s from down south, then live with the consequences. Morrison has once again given in to the begging whingers of Qld who dont want to fund their own packages like other states have done who have every right to be pissed off.
I think you have socialists and conservatives mixed up.
Steve old mate, haven’t seen you staring at the dryer going round at the BG Laundromat lately, have you moved on?
Not sure why, I’ve seen you going in and out of Vinnies every pension day.
I volunteer there BG Steve, so why do you watch the dryer going around in the laundromat???
What planet are you on? At the October 2020 election Queenslander’s gave this ALP government a mandate to keep us safe throughout this pandemic. Don’t single out Cairns as supporting border closures as Cairns business and civic leaders businesses opposed the border closures many times and certainly aren’t beggars as you put for assistance as many other tourist areas have requested assistance. I’m waiting for Townsville’s expert head grant and financial assistance beggar, Mayor Mullet, to request mega $$$$ assistance for the non-existent Townsville tourism industry. Honestly, as a Southern tourist would you come to Townsville to visit for a few days after searching the web for a list of attractions, things to do and 4+ star hotels. Cairns and the Whitsunday region have numerous attractions, activities to do and 4+ star accommodation to suit the needs of a wide range of visitors. A visitor in North Ward recently asked me where she could get a coffee and light meal after 2pm and I really had to think about a response and ended up suggesting Mecca’s but then that’s the close down at 2pm Cafe industry in Townsville so not really a visitor friendly city.
The state govt kept us safe did it, from what you gullible fuckwit, no area should receive any special consideration, the cheap tickets should have been offered for people to visit anywhere they want, not just to areas where pathetic hypocrites who were happy to tell people from other states to piss off for most of the last year and not come to Qld, now they want more Govt money. If a business can’t survive on its own now, shut the doors and find something else to do, it’s fucked already and won’t last.
Juliettes. Coffee Club. Watermark. Etc.
Interesting story heard during the week from a reliable tomato that as part of the “Cowboys High Performance Centre” the submission for funding included a representation that the facility would accommodate administration and training for Townsville Fire staff and players, therefore ticking the requirement for catering to a gender diverse population.
Upon completion of the facility that understanding has changed and there is now no longer any space available for either Townsville Fire Admin Staff or time allocated for players to use the facility?
Has anyone evidence to the contrary?
Here’s the NAÏF media release – https://naif.gov.au/what-we-do/case-studies/cowboys-community-training-and-high-performance-centre/ Matches up with the first part of your post, as well as use by JCU I see. If any of that has changed, I think our local Federal MP should investigate as breach of conditions.
Be helpful to know what ‘evidence’ your reliable tomato had for either claim. The submission for funding must be an actual document somewhere and the claim that “there is now no longer any space available for either Townsville Fire Admin Staff or time allocated for players to use the facility”, well, who says so? If the Fire had been dudded you’d expect them to be all over the media.
But would the media be all over them?
Touche, CrankyPants.
Or on them Grumpy (as opposed to over); shenanigans in Canberra would suggest ‘on’ is a better term!!!
JSM, this has been a joke right from the start.
One only had to look at how Lancini got the new stadium purpose built for the Cowboys (no AFL or cricket) to know the so-called Centre of Excellence was going to be designed purely for the Cowboys.
Now it is built we see Cowboys signs everywhere, even in the swimming pool.
We have also now discovered that the Centre Of Excellence is actually the Cowboys administration office, with all their office staff moving in recently from their previous workplace at 1300 Smiles Stadium.
To add insult to injury in today’s paper it is described as the “Cowboys Ranch”.
They are no longer even trying to pretend it is for the use of the whole community.
Big question now is, assuming it is owned by the Queensland Government
(or is it?) what rent, if any, are the Cowboys paying for their exclusive use, and who is paying the wages for the workers who run/upkeep the place?
Good luck with getting answers.
All I will say on Lancini and the stadium is that I don’t think it was all about the Cowboys. An observation and without accusations of malfeasance, is there’s a saying that fits, “always back a horse called self interest”. His motives at the end of the day may be above board but hardly altruistic.
Feel free to disagree but as I am on record as saying if the stadium had been built during the early 2000’s boom I would have begrudgingly supported it. However at the time it was rammed through and the snouts in the trough it fed. I felt it was opulence the city could ill afford with water issues and collapsing population/property prices borne by the downturn. Having been in the city recently nothing has changed my opinion of that.
Dudding the city in terms of public money and, in the terms of self-interest, building a structure with taxpayer money that will disadvantage the city and at least another generation of citizens makes Laurence Lancini not the initial laudable rags-to-riches success story he was admired for, but suddenly a self-seeking public sleazebag. And a prolific philanderer to boot. Now there’s someone who the Townsville Bulletin kiddy reporters really could call ‘iconic’ – an icon being ‘a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something’.
Cranky, you should stop digging. Here’s the population growth figures for Queensland over the same period (in case you haven’t bothered to look before you leap):
2011 4.47 million n/a
2012 4.56 million 2.01%
2013 4.69 million 2.85%
2014 4.72 million 0.64%
2015 4.78 million 1.27%
2016 4.82 million 0.84%
2017 4.90 million 1.66%
2018 4.97 million 1.43%
2019 5.046 million 1.53%
2020 5.11 million 1.50%
Now get out your little calculator and work out whether Townsville has grown faster than the state as a whole. Don’t bother spluttering your way through with the answer.
And your evidence of a “collapsing” population?
Wow, go look at the Stats in the Census Bob…
Dave, evidently you don’t take your own advice. Based on 2016 census data, Population Australia has published the following table showing Townsville’s population growth (rate) over the past ten years:
2011 167,847 n/a
2012 171,824 2.36%
2013 175,202 1.96%
2014 177,422 1.27%
2015 180,333 1.64%
2016 184,101 2.09%
2017 187,025 1.59%
2018 189,429 1.29%
2019 192,730 1.74%
2020 195,430 1.70%
If you can’t or won’t accept these numbers consider the electoral rolls. In the most recent three elections, locally (mayoral), state seat of Townsville and federal seat of Herbert, where there had been no change of electorate boundaries, each electorate had an increase in electors over the previous election.
In other words, I can find no evidence in the official (census) record of a decrease in population, even over a short term, for any part of Townsville. Are you prepared to alter your ‘opinion’ or not?
Technically quite correct, but would be most interested to see the figures for the 2000s, The ‘Pie well remembers the paper getting all excited around 2007/2008 that at the annual rate of growth that saw just 5000 new residents each year, we would hit the 200,000 mark by late 2009. And going only on memory, we were at one stage on 193,000 – or so the Bulletin said – which means we’re more or less back where we started 12 years ago. But it is fair to say that while this city has been a poorly run shambles for the past decade since amalgamation, the blame for what happened, and in terms of what could have been, is largely caused by national and global forces. Civic management did not adjust accordingly.
Also ‘Pie, some people think holding opinions is the same as knowing facts. Dave hasn’t got a clue but he’s sure he’s right and that the “Stats” will back him up, even if he hasn’t read them.
Dont worry Dave, NMD failed maths badly some many years ago, too stupid to realise if you below the mean average you are in fact going backwards.
” . . . . if you below the mean average you are in fact going backwards”. Wondered when Cankers would crawl out from under his rock – a rock rooted in fake statistics. So what is this “mean” average, Cankers? Is it an ignoble, small-minded, penurious, stingy average or is it some back-of-the-envelope bullshit from Fake News After Dark? Every time someone measures Townsville’s population it is greater than the last time. It has grown continuously year on year for at least the last ten years. Like Dave, you have never presented evidence to the contrary. If you below the average intellect, you backwards.
So now we have a rock violated by something called fake statistics. this is getting very sexy.
And even sexier still, but The ‘Pie knows you guys are all over this. (Footy’s on in a few minutes, guys).
Definition
Given a data set {\displaystyle X=\{x_{1},\ldots ,x_{n}\}}{\displaystyle X=\{x_{1},\ldots ,x_{n}\}}, the arithmetic mean (or mean or average), denoted {\displaystyle {\bar {x}}}{\bar {x}}[2] (read {\displaystyle x}x bar), is the mean of the {\displaystyle n}n values {\displaystyle x_{1},x_{2},\ldots ,x_{n}}x_{1},x_{2},\ldots ,x_{n}.[3]
The arithmetic mean is the most commonly used and readily understood measure of central tendency in a data set. In statistics, the term average refers to any of the measures of central tendency. The arithmetic mean of a set of observed data is defined as being equal to the sum of the numerical values of each and every observation, divided by the total number of observations. Symbolically, if we have a data set consisting of the values {\displaystyle a_{1},a_{2},\ldots ,a_{n}}a_{1},a_{2},\ldots ,a_{n}, then the arithmetic mean {\displaystyle A}A is defined by the formula:
{\displaystyle A={\frac {1}{n}}\sum _{i=1}^{n}a_{i}={\frac {a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots +a_{n}}{n}}}{\displaystyle A={\frac {1}{n}}\sum _{i=1}^{n}a_{i}={\frac {a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots +a_{n}}{n}}}[4]
(for an explanation of the summation operator, see summation.)
For example, consider the monthly salary of 10 employees of a firm: 2500, 2700, 2400, 2300, 2550, 2650, 2750, 2450, 2600, 2400. The arithmetic mean is
{\displaystyle {\frac {2500+2700+2400+2300+2550+2650+2750+2450+2600+2400}{10}}=2530.}{\frac {2500+2700+2400+2300+2550+2650+2750+2450+2600+2400}{10}}=2530.
If the data set is a statistical population (i.e., consists of every possible observation and not just a subset of them), then the mean of that population is called the population mean, and denoted by the Greek letter {\displaystyle \mu }\mu .[2] If the data set is a statistical sample (a subset of the population), then we call the statistic resulting from this calculation a sample mean (which for a data set {\displaystyle X}X is denoted as {\displaystyle {\overline {X}}}{\overline {X}}[2]).
The arithmetic mean can be similarly defined for vectors in multiple dimension, not only scalar values; this is often referred to as a centroid. More generally, because the arithmetic mean is a convex combination (coefficients sum to 1), it can be defined on a convex space, not only a vector space.
What’s a mean average?
My golf score.
It’s the average you fucking brainless dickhead, the word mean was always applied to ensure there was no confusion against the median data. So if Townsville population is 1% less than the average rate of population growth then the place is going backwards, you fucking simpleton. The same way if wages are growing at less than the cost of living then people are actually going backwards, get it, fucking moron.
And still you wonder why you lost your job as a high school economics teacher, Crankypants.
“Cowboy’s Ranch” ?
How sickeningly American!
Time to end any pretence and just fly the bloody stars and stripes Yanky flag atop Total Tools Stadium.
A long time ago we had the chance for a truly fair dinkum Nth Qld football team with a fair dinkum Nth Qld name that we can identify with and be proud of.
And what was inflicted on us?
The “Cowboys”. For fuck sake? How bloody lame and pathetic! I am surprised they do not take to the field each game to ‘Yanky Doodle Dandy’ played by their own John Philip Sousa marching band.
‘The Cowboys’ FFS. Australian as John Wayne, Minnesota hot pot, or Donald Trump.
The Cowboys, how cringeworthy.
North Queensland Ringers has a much better ring to it.
Yes BG Steve, the plural rather than the singular (in this case, Rings).
I vote to call them the ‘Cowflops’.
What’s wrong with Cowboys, Kelso? There’s alot of us out here on the NQ fence line, doing our best.
Desperrado,
You are a stockman, or a drover. In Australian parlance a cowboy is an old broken down stockman, no longer able to work cattle, employed to look after the house cow, chooks and station veggie garden.
Also a cowboy in this country is also someone who has a reckless and dangerous disregard for rules and regulations, often endangering equipment and life. Most often in the transport, maritime, and aviation industries.
In that case, maybe BOTH definitions, covering players and management, are exactly right.
Kelso, come out here and tell me and others who do the work, that we’re not cowboys and we’re broken down and let’s see what happens.
Oooohh ah, Brokeback Mountain time.
Well that was a hoot! Let’s see now, who else can we rope in??
Real men who do the work on the land in Australia are Jackaroos (essentially apprentices) , Ringers or Stockmen. Drovers are those who drive mobs of cattle. And Cowboy’s are a joke. Australians don’t have Ranches. They are called stations, pastoral holdings and sheep or cattle properties.
Precisely. As someone born on a sheep and cattle station, The ‘Pie can confirm we had jackeroos and boundary riders … the word cowboy was only heard at the ‘pitcher theatre’ on a Saturdee arvo in town. (Cody of the Pony Express was a favourite.)
One legged tap dancer . Townsville orthopaedics + sports surgery + Nth Qld Physiotherapy are moving in as Commercial tenants . Podium cafe has opened to generate revenue and JCU sports medicine also moving in so not sure about your conspiracy theories on getting information . Compare that with the ratepayers half of the cbd development that sits empty .
Well, be a bit fcair Mike, he did say his informant was a vegetable. But a reliable one, whatever that means.
(And yes, yes, all you smarties, tomatoes are fruits, but not for the purpose of this reply.)
Know the difference between knowledge and intelligence?
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit.
Intelligence is NOT putting it in a fruit salad.
Didn’t I read where the first three have had an ongoing association with the Cowboys for many years so it makes sense for them to move in where the team is training. Also, JCU Sports Medicine would logically move in so their students are able to easily complete placements and associate with professionals in fields they hope to enter. As for the Cafe, I wish them well.
Has the Elusive Butterfly gone into a cocoon with NMD over the cheap airflights for Townsville?
No, but expect Mayor Mullet will, she must be spitting green chips with all the positive accolades Phillip Thompson is getting for his perceived achievements in getting tourism package giveaways to include Townsville.
The ‘Pie says ‘perceived’ but make no mistake, this was an orchestrated ‘gotcha’ aimed squarely at Jenny Hill … pollies and bureaucrats alike in Canberra DO NOT change tack that quickly on anything, so this whole ‘no Townsville package flights’ was a set-up from the start. A tyro MP whingeing about something like this would be dismissed out of hand, even if it got the ear of anyone vaguely influential in the area.
This is not a conspiracy theory, this is good ol’ politics 101. Thing is, it’s usually Labor doing it.
More on this masterstroke in tonight’s blog.