Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Into A Polling Booth Again …

Lots of sudden scrabbling and squeaking behind the political skirting boards,  now  Troy Thompson has realised the jig is up and has resigned as mayor.  But the agony isn’t over for us just yet … early indications are we could be in for a Forest Gump box of chocolates election … God know what we’re gunna get.

Thompson, who resigned to avoid the incomplete CCC findings being made public,  has announced  he’ll run again, saying there’s nothing to stop him.  But is that right? One of a couple of things would stop him dead in his tracks.

And are we in for more disappointment with Lansdown?

The LNP goes back to the future,  re-badging their 2012 kiddy crim boot camp policy as Regional Reset. But with an alarming major change in emphasis that will assuredly doom it, too,  from the start.  And so it should.

And in America, free speech gets up from the canvas to give Trump a black eye.

We soldier on in The Nest regardless,  but always appreciate those who can help out with the inevitable costs incurred by an endeavour like this. If you think your weekly Nest is worthy of your support, the donate link is at the bottom of the blog. We could do with it about now. Thanks.

The Con Man Quits And Half Townsville Line Up For The Egg And Spoon Race

No matter what he says, TwoNames Thompson was clearly spooked by the CCC information passed on to him by Minister Leahy, so after a day or two of pouty sulks,  he gave up his mayoral position and, since the allegations must be of such a damning nature, he forwent the last couple of weeks of his $5000 a week free ride on the gravy train. Be interesting to know how much super he had stashed away for him courtesy of a weak-kneed government and hapless minister.

But sticking to his MO of pointless bravado,  this truly despicable sialoquent ramped up his charade of fake law and moral misjudgement, continuing to spit in the face of Townsville by declaring he’d done nothing wrong and would run in the now inevitable mayoral by-election. Which The ‘Pie thinks is bloody damn decent of him, the one noble gesture of defeat he has  ever uttered, allowing the electorate to let him know precisely what they think of him.

But hang on a sec ..,. can he run? On the face of it yes, but here’s a couple of matters canvassed by readers during the week.

The council reprimanded him for sending an ‘inappropriate and unfair’ email to a council staffer, and  voted that he pay for his own ‘conduct training’ . The question here is does he have to prove he has done suitable conduct training before being eligible to stand as a candidate?

And of course, there is always the matter of the CCC findings that led the minister to issue a show cause notice. If the CCC evidence went so far as to justify a show cause notice, how can he possibly stand? He thinks his resignation will shield from having the findings released, but since he himself has them, how can he not release them if he is serious about transparency, integrity and honesty while campaigning to return as mayor? The full stop with exclamation mark to all this is if the CCC release their findings. The CCC is the only other entity that can release the details apart from Thompson.

We now wait to see how much is Sov Cit MyPlace pals will pony up for his campaign, if it ever does actually get off the ground.

The ‘Pie’s bet: he’ll pull out at the last minute, Michelle’s magic crystals having forewarned him of the doom approaching, and a rush of reality will prevail.

And about fucking time.

At Least This Time Around, We’ll Have A Choice … Premier Crisafulli’s Candidate, Or Someone Else

But whoever, this time around,  we will actually have to vote FOR a candidate, unlike last time when the overwhelming urgency was to vote AGAINST someone. Our choice was limited, something the arrogant Thompson has never admitted. Instead, he falsely claimed a mandate, which is given only on policy, not personality.

The ‘Pie understands the premier himself tapped Nick Dametto to have a run,  whose resignation leaves KAP one down and open to losing Hinchinbrook. But the calm acceptance of Dametto’s resignation by the KAP hierarchy shows plainly that some sort of state-level deal has been done in Brisbane,  and Crisafulli could have a like-minded person as mayor of the major regional city in NQ.  Dametto himself says his connections to the state government makes him a strong contender for mayor, but around here,  given the ebb and flow of sentiment on key policies, that might not be the smartest boast.   And if the premier was worried about Nick’s ill-judged pic with neo-nazis at the recent Townsville rally,   he had a super sub standing in the wings to covertly carry the Crisafulli colours.

The recently resigned CEO of Regional Development Australia (Townsville and NWQ),  Wayde  Chiesa,  recently stepped down after four years in the job, but with no apparent plans for a new gig.  That in itself is a bit unusual where there is no hint of scandal in the stationery cupboard.  But Mr Chiesa is apparently well regarded , and is a former TCC employee in charge of City Activation, whatever bullshit make-work position that may be. But at the time of writing he  seems to have missed out on the premier’s  patronage this time around.

However, the final field is yet to be sorted out.

And It Ain’t Gunna Be No Field Of Dreams

And crikey , what a possible line-up, a panoply of choice that Barnum and Bailey would be proud of . .. a barroom brawler who didn’t even win that one, a state MP who canoodles with the jackboot faction,  a former councillor who is said the state MP’s good mate, a local businessman with a history of failure and incompetence,  a former public servant who thinks she deserves the job for just sticking around Jenny long enough,  and three sitting councillors, two of whom haven’t a hope.  And an honest but unelectable bloke named Harry Patel, God bless him.

Not much point in delving deeper at this point,  some may get the tenor of their popularity before having their egos pricked and their wallets picked for the $250 nomination fee.

So let’s talk more when he know for sure whose sticking their heads up.

But Here’s A Bit Of Curious Info 

A knowledgable insider reckons there is some sort of swap deal between Dametto and Molachino (the latter double crossed by Jenny Hill over a resignation promise and backing him for mayor). Dametto and Molachino are good mates and conjecture is that Frothy won’t run for mayor, but will have a shot at taking over Dametto’s Hinchinbrook seat. Molachino has always been close to KAP folks, so that makes sense.

And … steel yourselves …

After a period of licking her wounds and keeping a low profile,  Jenny Hill is apparently starting to become politically active again, but for the moment, very much in the background. She recently combined her Railway Estate Branch with the Currajong Branch, which just happens to be the richest ALP branch in Herbert.  Works well if you are a member of their branch and want a donation towards your campaign.  Anyone who has observed Jenny over the years knows she always has a plan and a reason behind these sorts of actions. There have been murmurs that she might stand again, but The ‘Pie doubts it,  Jenny may be many things, but she’s not stupid. But let’s see the field before we draw a line through that idea.

State or senate aspirations are more likely.

The Kid Goes Back To The Future, But The Wheels Are Sure To Fall Off This Reheated De Loren Of A Policy

Remember Campbell Newman’s big Boot Camp policy to straighten out, by gum, yes, juvenile offenders? It was so unworkable and such a dimwitted social policy, it was  scrapped in 2015,  the trials ultimately deemed an “expensive failure’ due to poor planning, lack of transparency, and inconclusive effectiveness.

Well, guess what, it’s back, but this time with the more upmarket buzzy  title of Regional Reset program.

The official description of this truly dense policy – God knows who advocated revisiting this idiocy –  tells us that this program will offer intensive, short-term intervention for at-risk children aged 12-17, combining digital detox, early mornings, bush walks, and education with cognitive behavioral therapy and mentorship to prevent youth crime and provide a path for positive change. These programs provide a structured environment focused on building discipline, life skills, and resilience through military-style training and post-camp support to address issues like school disengagement, family instability, and early signs of substance abuse.  

The lunacy of this  utter codswallop lies in a vital change .. the emphasis is going to be on ‘at risk’ kids, 12 to 17, NOT NECESSARILY OFFENDERS.  Just a ‘you need smartening up son,  off you go’ purely on the recommendation of a school teacher or a police officer.  From the information The ‘Pie has seen, unless it is an offender, no judicial directive is required. Parents  can also seek that their children be sent away, sometimes  hundreds of kilometres for one to three week camps. And they will be shoved there unwillingly, having committed no crime – just judged ‘you’re good for it ‘. Christ, how do you spell ‘counter productive ? Being uplifted … perhaps grabbed off the street is a bit too dramatic … and frog-marched into a totlly alien  ‘military-style’ environment in such a jarring manner,  will likely have one of two effects on children … total alienation from any form of authority …. or suicide.  If you go to jail, there’s been a process that seeps through the thickest skull, but if you’ve done nothing but looked like you might,  you have every right to believe you’ve been victimised in extremis.

This is Trumpian in its blind stupidity.

Be assured, The ‘Pie hasn’t gone soft, he just hates stupid policies that aren’t thought through, (cancelling the car immobiliser program for instance) or are cobbled together to appease a public justifiably pissed off with the lack of workable policies to keep us safe. And it’s only a layman’s guess, but taking a non-offending child away in this manner, with all its inherent risks of unintended consequences,  is very legally challengeable.

So what’s you’re answer, you bellow at The Magpie? Answer, The ‘Pie doesn’t know what it is, but he knows what it isn’t.  And this isn’t it.

You could make a TV comedy in the setting of one of these camps, kids running rings around the do-gooders. Only problem is, it wouldn’t be funny,  more likely a tragedy.

Sex Lies and Barrel Scrape

In an emerging swerve into greater irrelevance, The Bulletin takes a bellyflop into the bottom of the barrel, answering the question, what’s the difference between ignorant, click-bait social media posts, and the Townsville Bulletin. Answer: increasingly  nothing.

But the biggest lie the paper tells is about itself that is the most unbelievable thigh-slapper of the week/month/year. But before we get to that,  let’s take a wade through the week’s sewer.  ‘Readership engagement’ is the Bulletin’s euphemism for its prurient policy of making excuses for sexual titillation with pointless non-news like this.

This, and the recent forerunner of where the state’s most violent killers are doing time (so what?) serves absolutely no community benefit and just gives the paper the pointless opportunity to revisit the darkest sides of our society.

But this week saw another shift that moved the Bulletin firmly into direct competition with the more free-wheeling language of the internet.

And if that was as subtle as a grenade in a bowl of porridge,  this one attempts plodding crude humour about crime.

Adding to this clearly discerned shift into social media trivia and crassness is the policy of cheapening the editorial space, which Poulson fills mainly with earnest if poorly argued opinions about serious issues. But even the tone of her pursed-lipped mimsy mewling  is immediately nullified by the new addition of a second editorial under the banner ‘And Another Thing …’ , which usually gives oxygen to matters a real paper would simply ignore. Like this …

And it’s never a week worth savouring without one of stenographer Lighton Smith’s brazen plagiarism of media releases  – yes, mate, it is ‘permitted plagiarism’ because you put your name to what others have written without acknowledgement. And you publish such media releases  unchallenged or sullied with original comment based on questions.  He doesn’t even write the misleading headline that decides a very nondescript building on the fringe of the CBD is ‘historic’  and its refit into an everyday office area as ‘dramatic’.

yousee, Lighton, this would all be fine if you just didn’t put your name to them

And we are always entertained by the imaginative use of English by the anonymous click-bait writers. This one suggested a TCC union dispute in a school headmaster’s office.

But the biggest lie belongs to the Bulletin’s general manager/advertising boss  Suzanne Wilson, when she allows the Townsville Bulletin to make this risible claim when you google it.

84,000 weekdays? 104,000 Saturday? Not in your wildest, Suzy darlin’. Pull the other one, it sings Ave Maria.

Even before the accelerating circulation slide, as recently as 10 years ago, the Bulletin’s print run was dwindling to below 20,000 weekday papers,  and there was and is anecdotal evidence that digital subscriptions (closely guarded CinC secret) were and are, to be generous, negligible.  To suggest that fully half of population of Townsville accesses the weekend Bulletin is an insult to the intelligence, second only to the absurd weekday figure. Even its heyday, the Bulletin never cracked 50,000 readership. And in those days, figures were only covertly manipulated, risking regulatory punishment for in effect, lying to advertisers about the bang they would get for their buck. Thjose rules disappeared more than a decade ago.

Dodgy mayors, lazy councillors and rorting outfits like TEL aren’t this city’s only problems … without a credible community news platform that leads with maturity instead of following the lowest common denominator of public accountability  is a damaging and hypocritical circumstance for a paper to allow itself to sink into.

Brief Memo To Leighton Smith

Perhaps you might like to go behind the scenes with this story from last Monday …

… and have a closer look into the background and timelines surrounding this bloke, Quinbrook’s spokesman on the investment crowd’s plans for Lansdown.

Now, The ‘Pie s not saying Mr Restall is some sort of shady character, but we’ve been down this track before. And more than once. So there can be no harm in having a bit of a nose around. When you start throwing out truly absurd figures like $8billion … $8billion, Leighton, spare a moment for a little thinkette about that … it would be wise to cover all journalistic bases, wouldn’t it?

Hint: Mr Restall’s available background biography appear to raise a question or two,  like just how did he end up representing a company planning an $8billion (that’s $8BILLION, Leighton, get it?) investment in remote north Queensland, while operating out of a mall shop front on the Gold Coast in a office rental building.  He certainly seems an experienced and indeed successful businessman, having started two bio-power generating plants in Byron Bay before taking a few years off from that to establish the Byron Bay distillery.  Now all this this may well be on the up and up, but the clearly evidenced entrepreneurial side of Mr Restall begs a few questions on behalf of a city that’s been taken for several rides by carpetbaggers in recent years. And doing that is the job of the paper of record. For which you toil, Mr Smith.

And don’t forget, Leighton,  that is $8billion  being invested in Lansdown. Please, wake up, mate.

Looking forward to seeing what you find, and sincerely hope you prove The ‘Pie a silly old sausage.

*** Please note, Pat Driscoll on the right in the first photograph is about the only genuine person whose been involved in Lansdown so far, with the DriveIt facility which he has championed for so long now a reality. Well done, sport.

Amerika

The New Star Strangled Banner

In a way, Trump’s invasion of the lounge and bedroom activities of America – i.e incessant TV watching – is perhaps his most dangerous popularity killer yet. Politicians have always used bread and circuses to curry voter favour, but with the Orange Abomination’s  whacky but unfunny ignorance of his financial decisions making the ‘bread’ part a negative, he has left h just the circus. And now he’s gone and shot the lions, frayed the trapeze ropes  and ordered that punters to leave the tent.  While muted by the Charlie Kirk/Jimmy Kimmel circus, the blow-back rage at the unwarranted suspension of the popular Kimmel over comments regarding the politics involved of Kirk’s murder was widespread and grew exponentially.  To the extent, Big Corporate now face a no-win choice … death by presidential interference over  business matters that are none of his business,  or death by viewer starvation. Disney, currently negotiating a broadcast regulatory deal with Trump is the one which felt the most overt public heat over Kimmel’s sacking and quickly backed down.

 

But We All Know This …

Well, Patrick, send in your arm and I’ll autograph it.

And speaking of birds, is that the patter of little claws I hear? YES it is!! Old friends the Curlews, of the 12th Tee, Rowes Bay have welcome a new addition.

…………….

Fun and games galore in store, and we’ll be here to report it all.  If you are just itching to unload a burdensome dollar or two, the link to make a Nest donation is below.