Rockhampton’s mayor Margaret Strelow stole a march on our own secretive Kim Il Jen in a clever political manoeuvre regarding what is looking more and more like a very damaging document about the Adani airstrip. Mayor Mullet must be spitting chips and so too Townsville ratepayers watching their dollars flow into legal pockets, while Rocky ratepayers have a laugh. The Magpie doesn’t hide a certain admiration when reporting Strelow’s fancy footwork.
But could other multiple matters from our mayor’s mushroom cave of a past could be about to catch up with her? The mayor recent self-pitying moans that the new Belcarra laws banning developer donations appear to be attempt to keep a lid on a powder keg. The ‘Pie reveals the man who just might light the fuse.
It certainly wont be deputy mayor Messagebank Walker … he proves he’s so wet during the week, they should use him to fight bushfires.
And Clive Palmer causes the single funniest line ever to be appear in a court document … while in the UK, a television comedian gets the gong for the most hysterically funny put down of Palmer lookalike BoJo Johnson.
But first ….
Down In The ACT, They’re All Singin’ “Hey Dude’
You’d think political priorities were weird enough without encouraging the use of wacky baccy, but the ACT Government’s soy latte sippers have made possession of mary jane legal. Which should free up a few coppers for more deserving matters.
And given the events of the past few weeks, you’d think the Bong Bong races had come to town anyway. Bentley is deeply suspicious of Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s recreational preferences, given his swing through country areas to reassure drought stricken farmers that ‘she’ll be right, mate’.
But thinking about it, perhaps we’d get more sensible government if MPs were allowed to take their bongs onto the benches. The speaker would have his hands full …’ The honourable member … ha ha ha … for Wheelabarraback will leave the chamber, and not return until he … hee hee hee … stops his … snurffle wheeze… giggling.’
Doing The Political Polka: Strelow Treads On Jenny’s Toes …
First a quick recap of last week’s revelation of the fight to keep the Adani airstrip deal secret (which apparently remains a Magpie exclusive … the Bulletin doesn’t think it worth a mention).
When the Townsville Council refused an ABC reporter access to the agreement between parties over the controversial Adani airstrip – proposed to be funded jointly by the Townsville and Rockhampton councils – the ABC then appealed the decision to the Office of the Information Commissioner.
As per procedure, Right To Information Commissioner Louisa Lynch asked all relevant parties were informed and asked for their positions on the issue. Predictably, Townsville Council, Adani and construction crowd Wagners all suffered –as we say in cyclone season – a massive self-evacuation – they immediately and vehemently opposed the release of the agreement, known as a Term Sheet.
Rockhampton Mayor Margaret Strelow
But unpredictably, Rockhampton Mayor Margaret Strelow said she and her council were happy to have the Tear Sheet made public. So Right To Information Commissioner Lynch went ahead without them, and per last week’s Nest, we all know the outcome of that investigation … TCC was ordered to release the document, and subsequently made at least four attempts to have the ruling overturned. Now that all those expensive attempts have been rejected, Adani has now taken the deeply ironic step of hauling Mayor Mullet into the Supreme Court seeking to prevent the TCC being forced to release the information that the TCC had fought tooth and nail not to release anyway. And that is where the matter is at the moment, with a further court hearing at a date yet to be discovered. Talk a about a legal Moomba Festival, Brisbane’s legal chambers must be all decorated out with bells and whistles!!
But after the dust had settled, The Magpie uncharacteristically got to thinking … and the more he indulged in this rare activity, the more he suspected there was something a bit skew whiff.
Suddenly it dawned on him … the Rockhampton Council did not really want the Tear Sheet released at all, far from it – if it so threatened Jenny Hill then so it would also threaten Clr Strelow and the RCC. But Mayor Strelow was ‘woke’ that these bureaucratic investigations can be ruinously expensive and frustrating, and immediately showed she’s a pretty canny strategic thinker. In a masterstroke that had the twin benefits of falsely virtue-signalling open and transparent governance AND saving money, she said she was happy to have the document released. Because she knew full well that Mayor Mullet and Adani would do everything at their disposal to try to reverse Right To Information Commissioner Lynch’s release order.… and spent their own money doing it.
Neat, eh? But it still remained a theory only, so The Magpie sought confirmation for his Baldrick-like grasp of the situation.
He sent an innocent and earnest email off to the good Clr Strelow, which he said in part:
However, I cannot find any injunction or other legal prohibition on the ability of the RRC to release the Term Sheet, unless there is an automatic hold triggered by the Adani court action. I cannot find any reference to such a situation, so I ask if you could advise me if, done through the correct channels, the RCC is at liberty to and would agree to release the document to me. This is, and has been ever since it was revealed, a matter of great concern and likely consequence in Townsville, and the starkly different approach of openness of the RCC versus the TCC is causing a great deal of consternation in our community.
Even if this is not possible, or you decide that you cannot accomodate this request at the moment, a formal reply from you of your position would greatly assist and may help clarify matters for us in Townsville. It would be greatly appreciated.
Then presto, as though to underline the difference between the Rocky and the Townsville councils, at least in efficiency, transparency and civic responsibility, this lobbed into the Nest A MERE ONE DAY LATER.
Good afternoon Mr Weatherup,
Thank you for your email. At the request of both Mayor Strelow and Council’s CEO, I have referred your email to Council’s records management team and have been advised that the Term Sheet you have requested would not be the type of document released by Council under its Administrative Access Scheme. You may however apply to seek to obtain a copy of the document via our Right to Information or Information Privacy application process. The application process under RTI can be found on the following link: https://www.rockhamptonregion.qld.gov.au/AboutCouncil/Right-to-Information-and-Privacy/Applying-for-Access-to-Information. If you have any queries in relation to this matter, please do not hesitate to contact Council on 4932 9000 or 1300 22 55 77.
Kind regards,
Damon Morrison
And there you have it, folks. In essence, we need make an RTI application, and of course the Rockhampton Council would consider and approve such a move, but gosh, those blackguards at Townsville Council and Adani would be sure to block it, as of right for any involved party to do. So Rocky gets the bouquets and TCC the brickbats.
The Magpie dips his lid to you, Mayor Strelow, nothing short of brilliant.
So Townsville ratepayers, dig deep to fund the Walker Street Hermit Kingdom of Kim Il Jen’s panicked attempts to keep in the shadows. It was solely down to her to fashion a deal in which SHE unilaterally decided to spent YOUR $18.5 million on an airstrip 400kms from Townsville which we would never own or operate, and would in fact have to pay to lease back . And would’ve done absolutely bugger all for jobs in this town.
And to think this is the woman who singlehandedly does our city’s annual budget!! God knows what we’ll find when the books are finally opened … just so long as AEC aren’t contracted to do the audit.
But Mayor Mullet Has Other Secrets To Worry About
To paraphrase that randy old gossip Samuel Pepys ‘Our mayor looks like she has soiled her small clothes, and walks like she knows it.’
And the person giving our madam mayor this fit of moral incontinence? This bloke …
Jay Ellul
… one Jay Ulell (not a typo, that is his name). In his spare time, Mr Ulell is a bit of a boutique brewer, which came in handy because it would seem he really needed a drink after he finished a turbulent stint at the Townsville City Council as Jenny Hill’s Executive Coordinator.
From a trusted source comes Mr Ulell’s interesting tale with a twist in the end worthy of Roald Dahl. The ‘Pie’s source was prompted to spill a few beans because of the sanctimonious blame shifting for chaotic council inactivity and councillors’ jelly-backed twitching on the new Belcarra laws banning developer political donations. The Magpie is reliably told that Mr Ulell was originally bought into the TCC fold by sometimes Mullet-whisperer Dolan Hayes before Adele The Impaler Young was hired as CEO. Mr Ulell’s job was to try and keep Jenny under some semblance of control and her office in order, but he subsequently had a major falling out with Jenny, was screwed over big time by Adele, and was on the receiving end of a major backstab from Stephen The Screaming Midget Beckett as well. Thus Mr Ulell left the TCC on bad terms with all three of them, and, to quote the source, with a significant case of shit on the liver about his treatment. The reliable word is that he knows a lot of their dirt, including the background to Adele being hired as CEO, the callous Nous Report being commissioned and implemented, everything behind the dodgy Adani and Pure Projects deals, and lots of other juicy morsels that make The Magpie just drool.
But here’s the real kicker to this story.
Jay Ellul, this mayor’s former Executive Coordinator, is now the guy in charge of implementing Belcarra in this part of the State.
Guess what, you just gotta love karma, doncha?
Apparently, Mr Ulell is methodical and very smart. Even though he is a Labor man he may well be in the mood for some revenge. As the Nest’s deep throat so inelegantly puts it, ‘Jenny might be cacking her daks just a little’.
This now makes sense of Jenny Hill’s serial whinges about the Belcarra laws be a red tape nightmare, which conveniently allows her to off-load straightforward development decisions to her new CEO, Mike Chiodo.
But What Doesn’t Makes Sense Is Les Walker’s Latest Pronouncement – Do They Ever?
Of course, as they say there’s no show without Punch, so up pops deputy doodah Les Messagebank Walker on the Belcarra excuse. In Saturday’s Astonisher, The Man Who Would Be King parroted some tread-thin phrases:
“Deputy Mayor Les Walker said it was a “whole new era” in how councillors did their jobs, having to be mindful of so many factors.
“Don’t get me wrong, there should be transparency and accountability, that’s what we should be doing,” he said.”
“Should’? Is that an admission of that you and this council are NOT transparent and accountable? (Like we needed to be told?).Sure as hell sounds like a typical Walker tell tale. Yes, Messagebank, old mate, that is what you SHOULD be doing, but at least you weren’t quite goofy enough to add ‘…but we won’t until we’re dragged kicking and screaming into the light by these new laws.’
A Good Metaphor Is Like A Kick In The Goolies
Laughed at this.
Child doing homework: ‘Mum, what’s a metaphor?’
Mum: ‘Well … my life is a train wreck.’
Child: (silent for a moment) ‘I know, Mum, but what’s a metaphor.’
And here’s a visual metaphor for our council and its cuckoo captain.
Hey, Your 5-year-olds Having Trouble Deciding If Arthur Or Martha … or ‘It’?
The ‘Pie thought it idiotic enough when the PC Police struck during the week in England. It was a highlight of the week in Nest comments.
But no, that foaming lunacy wasn’t enough for some … the Mattel Company, makers of Barbie and Ken dolls. In their cupidity, Mattel has decided that they need to help those little tots just off the potty make that oh-so-important ‘lifestyle decision’. The company has just introduced a range of ‘gender fluid’ dolls, to confuse little tykes about the apparent multiple choices they can enjoy when they’re old enough to understand what their various apertures and appendages are for apart number one and number twos.
The ‘Pie particularly liked the exhausted resignation of columnist Lucy Carne in the Courier Mail when she began her take on all this Barbie move.
Lucy Carne
“Blinded by the blissful ignorance of pregnancy, I assumed my child would only play with artisanal wooden toys made in Tasmania by vegan monks. Now – neck-deep with three kids under six – I cynically laugh at my innocence . Our toy arsenal seems to have single-handedly kept a plastics factory in Guangdong province operating.
Clever writing about an idiotic subject.
Certainly Nicer Than This ‘Language Fluid’ Uppercut
Boris Johnson has been a godsend to a jaded social media which has been fed a breakfast of Brexit every single day. But what can you do, when you are expected to raise the level of outrage an extra notch every single day? Well, Pommy TV and radio comedian Sue Perkins seems to have done the trick with this thoughtful, measured analysis of PM BoJo and the conservative government.
Which Put The Magpie In Mind Of Our Own Homegrown Bloke Who Fits That Description.
We all are familiar with The Streisand Effect, that handy phrase that means if you unreasonably try to ban something, it gets massive unintended exposure on social media, amplifying your original objection a hundred times. It was coined when up-herself diva Barbra Streisand tried to stop the publication and circulation of photographs of her cliff top mega mansion in California – as a result, it is probably now one of the most recognizable houses in the world.
Watch Astonisher, he’ll sue!
It appear that Clive Palmer wasn’t aware of the phenomenon, but you can bet he is now. Because he is suing satirical vBlogger Jordan ‘Friendly Jordies’ Shanks (or says he is, just blowhard stuff, you’d think) for referring to him a Fatty McFuckhead, a ‘dense Humpty Dumpty’ and ‘the love child of Donald Trump and Big Kev.’
A bullshitting Palmer says he is suing for $500,000, and wants a permanent injunction that Shanks not mention him again.
In typical style, Shanks is having nothing of it, pointing out that ‘for a defamation allegation to be successful, it has to be proven that I lowered your standing in the eyes of the public.’ Ouch!
Shanks also says anyway he has no money, uses his mother’s laptop to post his hugely popular Youtube clips and (borrowed from The ‘Pie’s defensive arsenal) bankruptcy would make no difference to him. Telling Palmer and the world ‘It’s now up to FattyMcFuckhead if he wants to take it further’. And posted this pic to underline his position.
He’s doing a brisk business flogging them for $40, but it’s doubtful he’ll make $500,000..
If he ever was, it is now likely Fatty McFuckhead is no longer a fan of Ms Streisand.
And The ‘Pie wonders if he is on Clive’s list, for once suggesting he was the ideal person to hunt the proposed new TV quiz show, Fact Hunt.
And Here’s a Bit Of Karma Worth A Chortle
This is not the Streisand Effect, it’s The Boomerang Effect, you get back what you send out. But hey Alan, thoughts and prayers, mate, thoughts and prayers.
In The US, The Strain Of The Ukraine Is Very Plain…
And there could be a different take on that Pygmalion classic about Spain, replacing ‘I think she’s got it’ to ‘I think he’s going to get it.’
Impeachment is all the talk of the town, and the optimists are partying already … but hold on there, not so fast, realists aren’t cracking open the bubbly just yet. Our weekly round-up isn’t too sure about the outcome of Donald Trump’s impersonation of The Godfather.
……..
Another week gone to that great week ‘end’ in the sky, much to the surprise of children around the world, including that Swedish kid with the furrowed brow and cat’s bum mouth so gravely misused by people who should know better. Have your say on all that or anything that takes your fancy in comments, they run 24/7. And FYI, the donation button never sleeps either, feel free to avail yourself of both.
I can’t believe that the bulletin has not even asked the simple question of any of these councillors regarding the new laws. ” have you disclosed your interest?” When you have and registered that interest then any decisions can be made without fear of prosecution. Am I just simple or don’t I understand this concept? All these developers would have paid money to both parties, as you do, in any election as a backdrop or each way bet. If TCC is to be believed about these laws then nothing can be approved by any councillor now or in the future without it being referred to CEO. Once you declare something on the register then you can make any decision. Am I wrong ? Is this another way the labor party thinking when reading laws they don’t understand? Removal of the shark drum lines on the strand last week comes to mind!!! Now this
You may have a good point there, if there is no ‘sunset clause in having received developer donations – and why would there be? But the answer is even easier than having a whole council repeatedly remove themselves from decision making … elect an entire new group who have never received political donations from a developer.
On a re-reading, it appears you are either dead wrong or poorly phrased your comment, Election. If a councillors declares a conflict of interest, they can’t make ‘any’ decision but one … to leave the relevant meeting and not vote on a matter that clashes with those rules. You seem to be suggesting that councillors could take the stance that ‘Sure I got campaign money from Bob the Builder, and now I’m voting in favour of Bob the Builder’s approval application.’
But of course, the real question is why do developers here and elsewhere pay (often large) sums to any political party? They ain’t philanthropists, human nature tells us such an action implicitly demands a quid pro quo … and that in itself is plain, garden variety corruption.
I see where your coming from. My question is from a point of view where if 2 or more developers or even just one does make donations in the past and they then apply to the council I would have thought that as long as whoever they donated too acknowledged before voting then it’s ok to go with that particular developer. If they are the best for the job and are world’s apart that means because they gave money they really can never be given the job because of it. Just sounds so stupid. I understand the logic behind this law to prevent corruption but it makes no sence that a simple declaration can’t be made in order to approve something. Otherwise nothing will ever be built and the risk of having to bring in out of town bussiness to build what could be done locally if not for a donation. Sounds catch 22. I do know BMD gave money to both parties last election and they seem to be ok with approvals so why now is there a problem in TCC. If I’m muddled up sorry but it’s just painful to watch.
Unfortunately, you are VERY muddled, Election.There is a very long overall answer to points you raise, but The ‘Pie will restrict himself to just two … someone who receives campaign money from a developer and then votes for that developers approval application could be seen as the very essence of corruption, a decision not made necessarily in the community interest. In other words, clearly open to coercion. And point two, simply refer to The ‘Pie’s previous reply to you … justice must not only be done, it must be SEEN to be done.
Whilst I agree with your assertion that justice must also be seen to be done, another old chestnut is that in our system of law, a person, in most cases, is innocent until found guilty by an appropriate court ,’Pie. As the dissenting Judges in Spence v Queensland stated, there were already legal provisions in the Criminal Code and elsewhere that provide for prosecutions for such transgressions as you envisage; in addition to which the Belcarra Amendments singled but one form of commerce, viz developers as its target – there are many other types of commerce that would benefit from extra-Councillor assistance, as was pointed out be the dissenting Judges to the decision
Indeed, one wonders what the case might be if, say, consultants and survey operators AEC had contributed to the Team Hill campaign. Not in the least suggesting anything illegal, but what’s good for the goose etc … if we’re going to get on our moral high-horse of justified distrust of this council, the AEC deal smacks of jiggery pokery, but they skate through because they’re not developers.
Look, we need to face the fact, NO ONE gives money to a political campaign without expecting vat the very least a ‘seat at the table’ or much, much more. And that is EVERYBODY, including legal firms, consultants, cafe owners who want special permits, people who want to build stadiums (but with public money), etc … and developers.
Democracy? WTF, any decisions, undertakings etc by any council should be on the table for ratepayers to see. All this shifty shit just shows what McFuckheads, sleazebags, and schemers TCC continues to be infested with.
It seems every week we learn a bit more about the Mullet and the band of trough dwelling pigs she imported to ruin Townsville, no wonder the place has a stench and odour about it, let’s face it the place stinks, March cant come quick enough.
Pie, I really wish you’d stop including that bloody awful image of Mayor Mullet in your blog ! Completely put me off my Weetbix and scared the hell out of the next door neighbours cat when it strolled past my IPad ! On a serious note, has anyone heard of our Jen’s retirement plans/new business venture/political ambitions, once she gets over her farewell party in 182 days time ?
Mayor of Valletta is looking good. Especially since they have a tendency to assassinate dissident journalists in Malta.
Are our Councillors that naive that during Team Hills electioneering they didn’t know about large developer donations and possible repercussions . Were they so caught up with the hype they trusted the Mullet and the labor mantra “ what ever it takes “ to win their seats . Gotta love Message banks comments that there should be transparency and accountability . Try telling that to the residents at Metro Quays on how he handled the bus hub and if he really supports transparency does he support T.CC. spending ratepayers $ not to release the adani airport information . The Impailer , Stephen Beckitt and all these other issues that are coming out whilst they are Councillors so how are they not complicit in inaction .
Mike, there is an element of truth in that some councillors enjoyed ‘blissful ignorance’ about donations. It is often forgotten that Jenny Hill had difficulty in filling all the slots on her team, and was rebuffed by a number of people she approached. As The ‘Pie remembers, Murray Soars had to be asked more than once by an increasingly desperate Hill before he finally agreed to run. Under those circumstances, yes, there would’ve been a certain amount of naive trust in Jenny Hill’s moral integrity, and since many of the councillors were newbies to public life, the possibility of being tarred with the same broad brush because of Mayor Mullet’s arm twisting for donations most likely did not occur to them.
Spot On
How is the Mullet allowed to stay on as deputy chair of TEL and will these new laws call into question any decision she ever votes on, not just her but any Mayor to follow, if that person is also a financial member of TEL, surely this makes that position untenable.
Very good point
Two questions spring to mind on donations and conflict of interest:
1. If a developer or other entity made a donation to a political entity/individual in the 2016 elections and that entity/individual get reelected in March 2020, should that 2016 donation be still recognized after March 2020 as theoretically that donor could still bring to bear some influence in the decision making process on that councillor particularly in the case of development applications which may take years to complete and require various development applications to be made over the duration of the development.
2 It would seem to be a sensible approach by the QLD government has to hold a number of open community workshops to educate and take questions on the Belcara reforms. Surely this would enable to community to demand a higher level of transparency from councils statewide and reduce the amount of false information and rumours about council decision making. Maybe our three local members should arrange these open community workshops and be supported in the cause by the Astonisher.
Regarding #1: that is precisely the point The ‘Pie was making when he discussed whether there was a ‘sunset clause’ for such donations in a previous reply.
And regarding #2, such workshops would be an unnecessary waste of considerable money, when the same aim could and should be canvassed widely in expert, plain language professional journalism, with overviews and interviews, in responsible community newspapers and websites, that’s what they’re are there for in part. Oh, wait a moment …. hmm, yup, might be a problem in Townsville, Cairns, Mackay et al.
We are also all missing a salient point here. The whole tenor of these discussions, here and elsewhere, appears to pre-suppose that all development is dodgy and all developers are self-interested crooks. This is just plain stupid, developers build things approved by council under legal guidelines, they employ thousands of people to do so, all communities need developers who are willing to risk money in an industry that is full of trapdoors, and it is down to councils to ensure that those guide lines are adhered to. A short-sighted murkiness enters the scene when developers are somehow allowed to build vast developments of low set houses on known or possible flood plains. But that is surely down to state laws and councils, not developers who simply seek approvals. Making developers the baddies in so many scenarios is partly a deflection from those who also share a greater responsibility, and sheer bloody minded class envy from what is elsewhere, a by-gone era.
We should be grateful for the services to the community delivered by the risk-takers, for without them we are a backwoods. But the fly in the ointment appears to be strange decision making at Local Government level. Over the years we have seen development approved which to my jaundiced eye appear completely inappropriate, ugly in the extreme, and causing congestion etc., whilst projects with spectacular visual appeal and amenity have been rejected. In particular, for those who were around during the Mooney era, was a proposal for the Short/Seaview block. Two small residential towers over commercial tenancies amongst extensive landscaped public areas. Brilliant, but knocked back on the blanket assertion that nothing over 4 levels was appropriate for the Strand. (Lets face it the Strand will never be the Gold Coast, so why can TCC not use some nous and treat applications on their merit?) I’m sure there are some really interesting stories behind some of these decisions. Anyone?
“PIe, you took some of the wind out of my comments on this before I posted my reply to one of your earlier comments. It appears we are not far off the same page on this.
Like father like son, Tobey-jug Greene`s dad head buts a female police officer
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/father-of-gws-footballer-toby-greene-charged-with-headbutting-a-female-police-officer-at-mcg-20190929-p52vxt.html
But must say, that’s pretty unfair, and it gives us a clue to the no doubt considerable off-field battles Greene has had to face, a better saying would be don’t visit the sins of the father on the son.
That said, Greene is an on-field thug with typical strutting arrogance.
While we are giving it to the council I would like to inform you about the recent thefts on TCC property in the last couple of weeks. Firstly a trailer with equipment stolen from bohle workshop, given nobody likes the purchasing officer at fleet I’m happy it’s happened there, and second robbery at stuart landfill where a work ure was stolen because the keys were left in a biscuit tin in the smoko room. Seems a bit to coincidence for it to be just a crime by opportunity, inside job maybe. Either way didn’t hear anything in the media. I’ve been told of the absolute fortune being spent on the landfill site, a training room just before the recycling shop for “one” staff member while everyone else is jammed into the smaller building next to it no bigger then a small bedroom. But hey as long as the management gets top priority why would the workers who bring in the revenue be looked after. We can’t wait for February to boot this mob out. Still haven’t seen anything anywhere that involves Jamie durie with this advertising campaign, anyone else??? He’s been paid.
Unfortunately Jamie Drearie is in some wanky little movies TCC made for the Water Smart package
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/townsvillecitycouncil_well-done-townsville-with-over-18500-households-activity-6580684099562930176-j4Od
We paid for this wanker to do THAT?
Apparently so…
Now don’t forget what a good deal we all got and how successful the water smart package is.
Radiohead, That sort of theft has been going on for years within council. A ute with tipper body and a Southern Cross pump stolen on the same night many years ago. Never ever found and on another occasion, 2 brand new quad bikes being set up for poison spraying stolen from the Garbutt Workshops. Never found, not reported to police.
Management has a lot to answer for over the years.
Also a couple of weeks ago same Cox wrote a letter to the paper about a truck not being suitable. I’m unsure which truck I think it was a water truck being 400k in value. He’s half right but it sat idel for 2 weeks while they sourced a compliance plate that should have been fitted on production line. A driver was pulled over and ordered off the road. This story was going around before sam opened his mouth. Its been passed on to me via maintenance staff but they were looking for someone who worked in the department for telling sam the story. The only problem there is that about 50 people knew about this and it got around pretty quickly in TCC. A couple of councillors were trying to water down his comments internally because he got the figures wrong. I think there getting worried, but we know they will never say anything publicly. I also think TCC are trying to catch people out for being on here but so far I havnt heard of anyone being sacked or disciplined for being “transparent ” to the public. I should have some info on EBA next week too, something about 300k of back pay owed to every TCC employee because the unions fucked around with the agreement. I don’t know if that includes office staff like me or just outdoors, but 300k is 300k we don’t have.
The Greenies, and the Aboriginals again stuffing up an inter-generational local lifestyle. Thank-you Puddleduck government for again failing the private individual and pandering to the ‘New Cool.’
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-29/qld-government-orders-removal-of-halifax-bay-fishing-huts/11558110
In the 1970s I was invited to spend a long weekend in a beach shack at Ollera Creek. These ‘shacks’ were the pride and joy of many extended families, a life style. Their design and build reflected the personality of each family over the generations. And yes, many had, to varying degrees, resisted the odd cyclone. A slum they were not! A Pox on the Puddleduck!
Drove past the new stadium this afternoon and the breeze was rippling the folds in the vinyl roofing. Does anyone know what strength wind gusts the vinyl roofing on the new stadium. Reckon that if winds from a cyclone in January or February rip this vinyl roof off, then spectators will probably spend the rest of the season in an open air stadium. Just downright poor planning not erecting a proper solid roof to feed the egotistical needs of a few.
Was watching tv today and another climate emergency program was showing and I ended up just walking away from the stupidity of the arguments being put to people. The coverage it’s getting astounds me, this is why our kids are brainwashed into thinking the world’s doomed. A couple of questions came to mind while watching this, 1. Everyone knows China India and Russia to a certain extent polute the most but never get a mention in media. 2. Why didn’t Greta thunberg or Steve of Belgium gardens have a go at these counties before us, or better yet organised a protest in these countries. 3. Did it not surprise anyone that the millions who so called marched in climate strike were not in these countries above mentioned. No protesting in India or China. Wonder why??? The silence from these climate warriors is defining. We all know they don’t want to fuck with China or these countries because they can never win so they try on the weak arse ones.
With the exception of a few straight talkers like Dick Smith, nobody tells it like it is. We have a ‘people plague’.
Any highly motivated greenies will able to assist by having themselves converted to fertalizer?
Stw,
You can include the gutless opportunistic attack on Australia by Pacific Island leaders who are mostly cuddling up to China.
They claim the rising oceans are flooding their islands. Yep! Australia’s 1.3% gets the blame while ignoring the outputs of the Northern Hemisphere mega-economies.
And while we are here, Steve of Belgian Gardens, will you obtain and publish the mean sea levels for the Port of Townsville since 1900.
Your first point is a totally valid one which has not been canvassed elsewhere that The ‘Pie knows of. And the question of Port sea levels would be interesting to know.
Kelso Dave, if you want to infer that if there is no sea level rise in Townsville (or Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour) there can’t be sea level rise anywhere, you are on a journey to failure. It is very simple to pinpoint innumerable individual sites around the world where no sea level rise has been measured just as countless sites show significant sea level rise. And there is ample scientific reasoning to explain how that can happen. Rather than having someone find out what is happening in Townsville to pursue some juvenile point-scoring exercise why not discover for yourself how sea level rise works and why the overwhelming evidence of EVERY scientific institution in the world shows that global warming brought about by the greenhouse effect is causing expansion of the oceans and melting of ice and is consequently raising sea levels.
You protest too much. Water rising here but not there?? Sounds like erosion to me. Let’s see the MSL records for the Port of Townsville since 1900. I dare you!
Here’s sixty years’ worth:
https://www.psmsl.org/data/obtaining/stations/637.php
Dave I think that NMD and Steve the Belgian are one in the same, do not try to contradict their Green ideological views that have no figures to substantiate their claims. I saw the sea rise today under the influence of the pending new moon.
Kelso Dave and Old Tradesman, Steve has supplied some data (thank you, Sir). Would you fellas like to interpret the data and tell us what it means in terms of the change/s in sea level at Townsville – if any. On the face of it there appears to be some rise in sea level, do you think? What does this mean?
I just posted sixty years of data for you, O.T.
Dave. Your comment is a timely one. Less than four hours ago I landed in Honiara after an absence of 50 years when I left as an 18 year old to take the Queens Shilling. I was appalled. The place is a shanty town. But the huge, seemingly useless modern buildings financed by the Chinese, are everywhere. Many unoccupied. Every shop is owned by Chinese. My taxi driver assured me that the people were outraged by the obvious bribes being paid to the politicians by the PRC and disagreed with abandoning Taiwan. He also said that there shall be a reversal of the policy after the next election. Oh, and their “light” beer is 4.3% ABV. Cheers.
I guess the data from NASA is part of the global conspiracy of fake news which was summarised in this research piece from, you guessed it, those rampant greenie-commo’s at NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/new-study-finds-sea-level-rise-accelerating Of course, NASA is a con job in itself – never flew to the moon, did they?
If you say so, and as much as The ‘Pie would liker to think so, you’re not really a new commenter here are you?
I don’t speak Mandarin but I can have a go at texting the People’s Daily and see if it gets a run.
As previously mentioned, China is on track to meet its emissions targets and Australia is using dodgy accounting to meet its own weak goal.
We should be doing more anyway, but if we decide to sit on our hands, China will use our inaction as an excuse to do nothing too. That’s why the whole world signed up to the Paris Agreement because it needs everyone to do their part.
Of course, China uses Australia as an indicator of their own direction … like democracy.
Bullshit Steve.
As Mark Twain said “Never argue with a stupid person. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience”
Chinas emitions are still increasing and are allowed to as China is a developing country. Yep! a developing country with a global manufacturing and trade reach, necular weapons, lunar space programme, high seas necular capable navy, an operational cyber warfare capability targeting 5 eyes countries, etc etc etc.
Chinas emitions going down? Lies, damn lies, and statistics.
Polite inquiry, Dave … do have spell check? Or are you having a series of mini-strokes? Or have you been a victim of a necular weapon?
The latter it seems. Not sure about the settings, but this electric tablet wants to frequently change words and spelling from my little Oxford dictionary 1966 edition. That said I am a poor prooof reader.
Kelso Dave, Steve never said that China’s emissions “are going down”. He didn’t write that – check yourself. He said China is on track to meet its emissions targets – which is nothing more or less than Australia is claiming. You could at least admit that Australia’s emissions are also rising despite the government’s lacklustre attempts to lower them.
I never said that China’s emissions were going down, but that it was on track to meet its Paris Agreement commitment, peaking in the early to mid 2020s and declining thereafter. On a per capita basis, China will never match Australia’s emissions.
Oh … ah, well that’s all right then.
Right-oh Steve,
Australia, in a selfless act to save mankind, (oh fuck, personkind) returns it’s society to medieval times in every way. What then? In 6 days China’s increasing outputs will have replaced our foregone emissions and their increased emitions continue to grow. And do you really believe the Chinese Communist Party will forego growth to reduce emitions when the time comes. Nothing will stop China from challenging the US in trade and military power projection. You are farting in the thunder!
You bunch lack credibility and proportionality. Man-up,….er Person-up and take on the Northern Hemisphere mega economies. Or is it more comfortable to virtuoulys shout at Australians.
And while we are at it, have the courage to take your ‘Extinction Rebellion’ to the streets of Bombay, Beijing, Brussels, or Washington DC.
Brisbane is a soft and gutless target.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-30/extinction-rebellion-protesters-block-victoria-bridge-brisbane/11559194
OK folks, time to move on or over to your FB page.
Signed
God.
OK.
If China is doing the right thing with paris then i want to see protesting in that country NOW!!! WHY can’t you answer that question. If your all serious why arnt you in the streets there.
Bacon now banned from Qantas lounges? Thank you Mr Joyce. That changes my entire perspective on the Middle East and SW Sydney’s social ills.
It’s understandable ‘Times’, that QANTAS doesn’t want pigs in its club………
QANTAS flights that are on time as as rare as those pigs of the pink flying variety … if QANTAS was bringing home the bacon,, you’d starve to death, according to knockers.
Jenny might lift the blockade on Qantas so she can save her mayoral bacon.
Chicken Little Syndrome can be described as “inferring catastrophic conclusions possibly resulting in paralysis”. It has also been defined as “a sense of despair or passivity which blocks the audience from actions”.
Henny Penny would have been an excellent ambassador for the current climate change scare campaign.
When I see and hear the views of teenagers who are convinced that Earth won’t exist after 2030, I drop my head in shame. Not because I am a climate denier, or that I use coal to power my electrical appliances, or that I drive an SUV. No, I drop my head in shame because I have sat back while the latest round of fear- mongering successfully managed to scare our kids.
We have had these types of prophesies before. Remember; Nuclear War Between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R, The Y2K Bug, the Impending Ice Age, SARS, Swine Flu, Ebola, world famine, peak oil etc etc. Apart from being the plot for a few B grade movies, nothing much eventuated.
Headline News: Life on Earth has constantly evolved and conformed to changing weather patterns since life began. Oceans have risen and fallen, what was under water once is now an inland ocean bed, continents have moved, and the Earth has gone through several ice ages. To think that humans can control nature by solar panels and wind farms is just a reach too far.
Takeaway: The Earth’s climate has constantly changed since it was formed, it will continue to do so. Humankind does not control the weather and never will.
Oh, dear Monday, …and everything was going so well until you get to remembering prophesies.
Allow the ageing ‘Pie to assure you of a few things. The threat of nuclear war was NOT a scare campaign, it was a genuine and dangerously possible stand-off between diametrically opposed super powers with huge arsenals of humanity-destroying weapons. Such an event (there would only be one) was only staved off in the end by the doctrine of MAD … Mutually Assured Destruction.Ebola was contained through human reaction to a devastating health challenge, and it’s spread was a very real and demonstrable possibility, and stopped only by decisive human intervention.
And in order to debunk an ideology with which you disagree, it seems it is you who is over-reaching by suggesting that human activity has no effect the environment in which we live …. deliberate Brazilian or Asian forest fires anyone? Dead fish killed by mammoth plastic pollution of the oceans, perhaps? Your line of argument undermines that of those who oppose the ‘reach too far’ philosophy of the child-manipulating zealots with hidden agendas to exploit the VERY REAL phenomenon of a changing climate and the reasons behind it. Vested interests on both sides hold us in thrall.
Hello Pie,
Your comments are gratefully received.
In reply though, I would point out that I said “Humankind does not control the WEATHER and never will” I never said that humankind doesn’t pollute or destroy ecosystems or destroy landscapes. I simply state that humankind does not control the weather, never has, never will.
Your point about the cold war is well made. I simply raise it as a prophesy that didn’t happen just like world’s end in 2030 won’t happen.
Nice little exercise in semantics, there, mate … your clear inference was that humankind doesn’t affect the weather and therefore doesn’t control it. Sort of self-defeating circular argument, isn’t it?
Monday, thousands of us teenagers marched in the streets (and chucked things at the American embassy building) in the 1960s because we thought the involvement of Australia in the Vietnam War would be and/or was a disaster. Our elders (and betters apparently) scolded us, told us to go back to work or class or home or forced us to join their war on pain of two years jail. As it turned out, Vietnam was a disaster – our elders were wrong.
Thirty or so years later, more experienced and better informed, I repeated the exercise about the Iraq war. It was another disaster. I wonder what you think about that? Were you on the side of the government, against them or were you silent, not wanting to expose yourself? I know the feeling. It’s not much fun being in the minority.
Fifteen years later still, I am marching in the streets again. The government says I, and so many others much younger than me, are wrong or that we are deluded or being sucked in by the “latest round of fear mongering”. These things are being shouted at me by experts like the PM, Pauline Hanson, Malcolm Roberts, Andrew Bolt, Lord Monckton and yourself, people who either don’t seem to have a scientific clue or who talk in strange tongues that make no sense. Strangely, it is them that seem to be in the minority this time and I have to give pause to ponder that reality. Unfortunately, in this case, nature is just taking its course. The CO2 is rising, it’s getting hotter and the sea level is rising, even faster now apparently. I think they, that minority, are wrong but I don’t know how to tactfully point it out to them.
A couple of observations, if you will permit The ‘Pie.
Comparing actual conventional wars with an identifiable provable enemy – right or wrong though it may be – with climate change (war) is a classic case of both false equivalence and ‘lookoverthereism’, and is just virtue signalling by you for your side of a debatable argument. And having the amusing self regard to, (referring to yourself), ‘I’ and ‘tactfully’ in the same sentence is a welcome comic element.
And best be a bit careful when selectively naming some of the drop-kicks on one side of the fence … might tempt others to reciprocate, starting with Tim Flannery (who not so long ago repeatedly predicted we’d all be fried eggs by now).
Yes, I thought carefully about the use of ‘I’. Because I wished to make it clear that I had worked out my own reasons to march. I hadn’t been “brainwashed”, I wasn’t a naive, deluded waif and I am quite happy to debate the issues in my own words rather than repeat the lines invented by someone else and published in the newspaper the day before – as seems to have been happening for the past week in comments about Greta Thunberg. If we’re going to whinge about deluded teenagers it’s a good idea to demonstrate that we are at least half educated adults who can string an argument together.
Did you come to your personal resolutions before bor after drinking the Kool Aid.
Actually, ‘Pie, I’ve been following the fortunes of one of the “500”, the Adelaide geologist Ian Plimer.
Plimer was once a rational bloke in search of an explanation for the crazy New-Age fad called creation science. Plimer wanted to demonstrate that the claim that the remains of Noah’s ark were still visible on Mt Ararat was nonsense and the creationists should not try to foist their sciency nonsense on the world. He lost. Plimer then tried to take them on in a court case about fair trading or copyright or some such and lost again. But he seemed to learn something from the exercise – cherry pick evidence and make up your science story to suit. He then published a book about climate change called heaven + earth (ConnorCourt 2009) which read very plausibly but with an eerie similarity of style to the creation science bullshit he had fought so vigorously against for so many years. His credibility was shredded. He’s joined the nutty creationistas.
Dredge, I am an “at least half educated adult” and I think I can “string an argument together”. Unforunately the argument here is whether my scientist is better than yours, which is bullshit. For what it’s worth, I bought a copy of the original IPCC paper with my own money and read it from cover to cover. On the basis of that reading I concluded for myself that there is no causal link demonstrated between CO2 level and “Climate Change”. This is still my belief and all the ranting and demonstrating from you and your ilk will not change that.
Rusty Nail, what the fuck has your “belief” got to do with the science of climate change? Do you accept the concept of the greenhouse effect or not? It’s that simple. If you don’t believe it then you are out of the discussion.
NMD, were you the bastard that hit me fair in the chest with a frozen orange when I was marching with 6 RAR in Brisbane in the 70’s? It was during Joh’s street march ban.
If so, be warned that I still have a grapefruit in my freezer waiting to be used on the guilty prick.
Lest you forget, eh?
So what about the 500 scientists that produced evidence to the UN last week claiming all this climate science isn’t what is being reported. I guess they don’t count. Keep marching because the world won’t end. Actually you need to stop marching because the more you breath out the more CO2 your producing. Especially when your yelling at us normal people. Wars you speak of in the past are far different than weather. You can stop a war, I would like you to march on that volcano in Iceland next time it errupts and tell it it’s destroying our world see if it listens. Guess what all that carbon dioxide and other deadly gases emitted from the eruption were controlled by nature not humans. Case closed.
Save the whales, you have closed the case, you say. Therefore, stop wasting our time with your waffle about scientists.
Humans emit a hundred times more CO2 than all the volcanoes in the world combined.
And a lot of it is coloured brown Steve!
Then we need to reduce the number of humans.
CALLING ALL COMMITTED GREENIES!
Step this way, reduce yourselves to compost and save the planet. Yea
The ‘Pie is starting to think that we could make a good example with a few of the commenters here. And not just the Greenies.
We’ll keep that in mind in case there is another Krakatoa scale eruption, followed by a volcanic winter in our lifetime.
Ummm, don’t think Krakatoa, big bang that it was, resulted in a ‘volcanic’ winter. FFS stop soiling yer underwear … no matter how much you worry, there is NOTHING humans can do about volcanos. What next? A War on Death?
Nope, screwing for virginity.
Humans are already demonstrably “controlling the weather”, i.e. changing the climate for the worse. Therefore our future actions can change it for the better.
Your argument further falls down because, while human civilisation and life on Earth more generally have adapted to past changes, the current changes that we’re causing are occurring at a much faster rate than previously, and in conjunction with myriad other environmental stressors that exacerbate the problem.
Human kind can’t control mother nature. Your talking about the movie “the day after tomorrow” if that’s the case then the next cyclone to hit nth qld please tell the human climate controllers to divert it.
Yawn & yawn again. If its hotter, have more beer. Colder, whisky or wine. Then you’re dead for a long time. Over the neurotic climate cult.
Very Unpunny!
There is some solace for those of us who miss the heyday of Mad Magazine and Alfred E Newman and his famous motto ‘What – me worry?’. Because we have the Townsville Bulletin, our own Daily Astonisher, which is surely peopled by Alfred E Newman clones in the subbing department, all of whom appear to have expanded Alfred’s motto to “What, me worry … about accuracy, details and English?’ They certainly don’t worry about English.
Pffft, Magpie, you cry, they’re just taking a little liberty with language for the sake of an indecipherable front page pun? Nope, they tediously persist inside the paper too.
Just so you know, Alfreds one and all, something from the dickshunary … that is the dictionary for dicks.
brewing | ˈbro͞oiNG |
noun
1. the activity or business of producing beer: brewing was a lucrative business because beer was a popular drink.
2.make (tea or coffee) by mixing it with hot water: I’ve just brewed some coffee | [no object] : he did a crossword while the tea brewed.
• (brew up) British informal make tea.
3. [no object] (of an unwelcome event or situation) begin to develop: there was more trouble brewing as the airline pilots went on strike | a storm was brewing.
So wrong on two counts.
You can look up the meaning of ‘distil’ for yourselves, tossers, can’t do everything for you.
But Alfred’s failure to worry about reality flows into the Alfreda Cairney’s iditorial, with this piece of credibility killer.
Plain common sense tells you that this is total fairy floss. Why would this in itself encourage anyone to specifically come into the city? Do people actually travel into the city because of, say, the local brew at the Brewery (nb where they make BEER)?
The Magpie has nothing but respect for the likeable Emmanuel Bogiatzis, perhaps the cleverest and most innovative operator on the Via Vomitorium strip, and his distillery idea is a beaut little addition to the mix, but is not any great CBD magnet … so surely it deserves a more credible report than this pom-pom waving idiocy from the paper in which he spends so much money advertising his other wares.
Pie, did you see the byline last week about the snack bar changing hand. “Takeaway With a Happy Ending”
Have they recruited some journo’ from NT.
Hard to tell if that’s a step up or down.
It’s actually just pathetic, not the distillery itself which should be supported and encouraged but the fact this very small investment should make the paper and then the editorial just highlights the sad sad state of business in Townsville currently. I am actually thinking of replacing my clothes line, I will alert the Astonisher and I am sure channel 7 will turn up as well.
Are you open to suggestions of what … or who … you should hang on it?
Malcolm,
I’m in Melbourne for a few weeks. I watched some of the AFL grand final for a while on Saturday. I know you follow the AFL but I just can’t work out what people get so excited about. People are still carrying on down here. 114 to 25 hardly makes it a good match. Am I missing something?
Go the Roosters!
As a former sports reporter, The ‘Pie maintains varying degrees of interest in all sports, and certainly all codes of football … Lord knows, I have even seen entertaining games of soccer (twice to be exact, but that hardly made up for the worst one he attended, at London’s old Wembley stadium, the FA Cup final between West Ham and Fulham in the 70s, it was the dreariest afternoon The ‘Pie has ever spent). Lop sided scores are no overall help to any code, and it was a pretty gawd awful game on Saturday, but that’s the luck of the finals system. Two top AFL sides in full flight is an exciting flowing spectacle full of its own eye-popping skills, and there is no arguing with the umpire, no sin bins or red cards or interminable video reviews … it is non-stop action. The NRL is a totally different game (you may have noticed this) with completely different tempos and tactics, which, with two top teams, can be as entertaining as any sport. (And please, you jocks out there, don’t flop out your dicks and start playground tough talk about which is the hardest physical ‘man’s’ game, the actual players of both codes don’t do it, they have too much respect for each other, and so should you).
And you have to have lived in Melbourne, as has The ‘Pie for several years, to understand the ingrained hysteria of AFL (born of the old VFL, SAFL and WAFL). It affects marriages, kids names, school yard scuffles and office piss taking. Well, perhaps one will never understand it, not even Melburnians and Victorians themselves, no more than we will ever understand the voting preferences of the Townsville electorate. It just is.
Great summation Pie, the AFL allegiance and at times hysteria you refer too is indeed alive and well in Melbourne, as well as Adelaide and Perth. It’s religious-like, although I’m not aware of anyone being nailed to a cross as a result of who they support!
Pop out to Collingwood and have a look around, might be a few occupied crosses planted in Victoria Park of those who let the GWS rabble get to the GF.
Throughout the season if by half time the score or crap performance, I bugger off to the garden and tend my orchids.
But watching the absolute class of Richmond deflate a number of the thugs in GWS was worth hanging around for.
It was an absolute massacre Achilles, not unlike what you did to Hector and the Greeks!
I agree Plucker, the second half was like an exhibition ‘match’ – as if the ‘A’ team was playing their coaching staff. Amazing how the ball always bounced beautifully for the fully extended Tigers player and the wayward GWS kick seemed as though it was aimed at the other mob. Gotta say though, Dustin Martin can kick a goal and he knows the media political value of passing on a favour.
His pass to the tyro was the ultimate in virtue signalling. A highlight of the game.
I appreciate the complement Achilles was Greek, but Hector was a Trojan and his bloody brother (French capital) shot an arrow into my goal kicking leg, so it was exit stage left, one way ticket to Hades.
Knew this was a classy blog, really.
“Pie, this lack of a “Reply ” button is giving me the shits. Would you please let NMD know that it is not my “belief” with which she has a problem, rather my reasoned and informed decision. On that basis she is talking shit and is totally devoid of a reasoned response. Thanks. What a complete waste of time she is proving to be.
What lack of a reply button? And although wanting to curtail this particular subject and get back to local stuff, The ‘Pie published your furious wail for its comic genius of ‘she is talking shit and is totally devoid of a reasoned response’. Pots and kettles, no?
The religiously fervent “do you believe in greenhouse effect or not” tries to conflate greenhouse emissions with human impacts.
The entire animal biomass of the planet has been farting its arse off since they crawled out of the sea, volcanoes have been spewing greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere for longer; but suddenly it’s humans which are the tipping point.
Our human records go back (in scientific detail) for a couple of hundred years at best, and perhaps in anecdote for a few hundred more. But we carefully airbrush out the “little ice age” which saw the Thames River freeze over, the decades long droughts, the lifetime long warms and cold periods – all because we think we have found a new boogeyman in human activity.
Sadly, the people making the most noise about it seem to be doing f*ck all to fix the problem they believe in, in a practical sense, beyond yelling at others to do something.
Hear, Hear.
You’ve nailed it
It’s no surprise that humans are the tipping point. All the animal farts and volcanic emissions were mostly absorbed by natural processes, e.g. trees sucking carbon out of the atmosphere and turning it into coal and oil.
Now we’re cutting down all the trees to provide grazing land for more farting animals and digging up and burning all the coal and oil and that has upset the balance.
So the debate has come down to this has it?
It’s a mass-debate Pie!
It was also the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs. When you consider the mega farts those beasties were emitting. Then along comes a caveman who says to his mate, “I wonder what will happen when I bang these two pieces of flint together”
What happened to the meteor shower theory?
Fake news Pie, the cavemen were striking flint on the Yucatan peninsula, the crater remains as proof.
Mostly Civil, if you are an engineer you would appreciate that governments, especially local governments, have to make provision, in development regulations for example, for likely changes in the physical environment with the passage of time. So, housing on a flood plain has to be above the “1 in a 100 year” flood level or canal estate revetment walls have to be 300mm or 500mm above current highest tide levels or housing density has to be be matched with population trends or whatever and each of these parameters is subject to change as new information becomes available. Often, the current regulations lag behind the actual changes that have already been measured – so floods in the river are higher than ever before and swamp the newly approved subdivision or this year’s king tide or storm surge overtops the ten year old revetment walls and damages property and one way or another ratepayers have to cough up because the local council was too conservative in its predictions or succumbed too easily to the demands of lobbyists. We all have to make predictions but when governments do it we all want them to be transparent about it – in part so that we can learn from their mistakes. Of course some people can’t see for looking. You reckon:
“Sadly, the people making the most noise about it seem to be doing f*ck all to fix the problem they believe in, in a practical sense, beyond yelling at others to do something.”
Tell that to the home owners at Fairfield Waters or at Raby Bay and their respective local councils. Whether you agree or not our councils (and other governments) are forced by lived experience to take account of climate change because it is happening in front of us and we ratepayers are having to pay for the consequences. Rising sea levels are causing beach erosion all over the place and we are paying for it (at Rowes Bay and Nelly Bay) and potentially at the next place where a breakwater or revetment wall is built to protect a shoreline commercial strip – perhaps at Bushland Beach. Do you think we should just suck it up or do you think we should make calculated choices based on the best available information?
Sorry, were you still talking? I drifted off.
Apart from bleating here, what concrete action are YOU taking? Paying your NQCC membership on time does not count.
Like many others, I’m out there taking the best available science into account to keep people safe; despite the hysterics of one side and the legal manouvering of the other.
This is the type of project that Mullet and Little Patsy should be attracting to the CBD, not some small brewery that probably won’t be around in 18 months time. Note that this project is across the street fro the Cairns Central Shopping Centre where a 60 million refurbishment has started.
https://www.tropicnow.com.au/2019/september/30/tropic-now-exclusive-nova-city-will-go-ahead.html
Critical, we did have one remember, it was called The Hive, but the Mullet fucked the developers around so much that the whole thing came to a grinding Holt, all so her little mate wouldn’t be left with worthless real estate at the other end of town. I actually use this project when talking to people as a prime example of why you would have rocks in your head to be investing a cent in Townsville at the moment, the place is toxic to its core. .
Maybe The Hive fell into the Strand Lagoon?
Cantankerous , anyone who invests in Townsville at the moment has “rocks in their head ” really ?. There are a few billion $ companies strategically buying commercial /retail property under replacement in the Ville with better yield and potential growth than many areas in Australia . Kirin (Japanese ) brewer are behind the microbrewery and the new Dairy Farmers milk distribution at Shaw and just run your eye over $80 mil worth of purchases and upgrades around the cbd . Ray White housing auction at the Ville in august with 9 properties listed from $500k -$1.7 mil one sold before auction and the other 8 sold at reserve or higher . Julie Mahoney flies under the radar and many others are making a motza . They may not be long term players but they can sniff $ , get in, and out when fully leased and the market shifts .
Your last line should make all who read it very sad and despondent, Mike … you attribute any current market movement mainly to outside chancers coming in to make a fast buck on the gamble things are cyclical (maybe, maybe not this time), build nothing, employ no one and write off their investment to the empty eye socket market of ‘forleaseland’. That cynical sort of opportunistic investment will in the long run, or even medium run, damage Townsville even more by making it appear more and more to be a terminal basket case. But good luck to the pleasant Ms Mahoney, at least lives and works in Townsville and simply doing her job, and doing it well.
Pie, most of the properties the investors have bought they have spent $ millions upgrading, using local trades and raising the bar in regards to standards which is far more than many of the cbd landlords have been able to do . Rates are still paid and tenants still employ locals . The alternative is a slow build . The Kirin micro brewery is new as well as the new diary farmers depot as well as many other projects . Suncorp building , the Ville , Sugar Shaker and major shopping centres , car dealers are all owned by companies/ owners outside of Townsville but continue to spend locally . Chinese Meatworks in Hughenden creating 100 jobs .
You were clearly suggesting that the bulk of the sales were residential (Ms Mahoney’s main area), but even so, with the rapacious ‘get in, get out, go home’ middleman effect on any property, temporary job uplift of local trades is a dead end street leading nowhere, and we do not have any great surge in commercial owner(buyer)/occupiers. Have absolutely no idea where you get the line that the newcomers using local tradies have lifted the bar on the quality of refurbishment which, for reasons not stated but suggested by you, appears to be beyond established CBD property owners. And you highlight an old plaint of The ‘Pie’s: distributing a product (in this case milk) or making a product (beer) is in no way the progressive manufacturing into a regional/state/national -or dare we dream – export markets we need, it is simply serving the needs and strategies to grab a bigger share of a static market. We need stuff like Jenny’s Field of Dreams at Woodstock (fantastic if all the hoopla in the Bulletin actually eventuates), and we therefore must fervently put our faith in the ‘build it and they will come’ mantra. TEL truly is a criminal waste of space in our community.
Pie, most of the properties the investors have bought they have spent $ millions upgrading, using local trades and raising the bar in regards to standards which is far more than many of the cbd landlords have been able to do . Rates are still paid and tenants still employ locals . The alternative is a slow build . The Kirin micro brewery is new as well as the new diary farmers depot as well as many other projects . Suncorp building , the Ville , Sugar Shaker and major shopping centres , car dealers are all owned by companies/ owners outside of Townsville but continue to spend locally . Chinese Meatworks in Hughenden creating 100 jobs .
Mike, you have been sucked into the two bit mindset of Townsville mate, time for a bit of perspective, if an existing building is sold it is a financial transaction, not an investment, the new owner is not investing in Townsville, they are simply purchasing an existing building, if they are constructing a new building, that is investing, big difference, so don’t go getting too excited about a couple of buildings being sold because the owners want to get out, you should be asking why the current people are wanting to leave, that will tell the true picture.
Except for a couple of small projects we have virtually no private investment currently for a very good reason, it’s a shit place to invest at the moment but if you see something different to me and see investment that I don’t and you are throwing your cash at Townsville then good on you, I hope you make plenty, but a new milk warehouse and a few houses being sold is fairly irrelevant and not much to get excited about.
What a f#cking disaster the Bruce Highway is. Drove from Cairns to Gympie last weekend. Dumbf#cks doing 30 km/h below the speed limit but then speeding up to 140 km/h when the lane split into two, for an overtaking lane, then slowing back down below the speed limit once the lands merged back into one. Shit road with patches, bumps, potholes and other assorted poor design elements SUCH AS ONE FUC#ING LANE EACH WAY. This lifeline to the North should be two to three lanes each way at a minimum. The whole thing turns into a bottleneck at Gympie. That’s right! A highway full of trucks mixes with country hicks in cowboy hats and shitbox utes turning slowly into their driveways, in the heart of the town!!!! The Bruce is a god damn dangerous pile of shot and each Government that ignores fixing it should have their assholes kicked through their mouths…..
Well, you seem to covered everything. Deep breathes, now.
Hmmmm,
Seems you have not driven the Bruce for a while. I do it regularly, with caravan at 90 ks. Call on ch 18. And yep, it is the worst in the country, excluding the Tanami.
Having said that, 2 to 3 hours on the road, time to make camp, have a pensioner nap, and then it’s Wine Time.
Pothole, ya gotta relax!
Got that one right Dave, the Bruce Highway is nicely divided into leisurely 4-5 hour trips cairns to Townsville to Mackay to Rockhampton to Maryborough to Brisbane and you can call into numerous spots along the way. It’s not so much the drivers these days but the bloody nuts behind the steering wheel.
Just done TSV —> BRS twice in a month. Some bad spots where there are mega $s being spent on improvements. I made good time both trips. Can’t agree with your assessment unless you tried to sit 10k above the speed limit.
You’re being a bit OTT. The Bruce Pothole has the occasional piece of flat bitumen every 100k’s or so.
Beware the Dragon.
Today is the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It will be marked by a military parade 15,000 personnel and a pageant of 100,000 performers in Beijing.
Because we hear so much about it, I think we tend to lose our perspective when it comes to China. There are lots of metrics that can be used to compare our two countries.
A comparison of the strength of the armed forces of Australia and China is one metric and a good way of regaining some perspective of our two nations.
China has a 2.2 million full time military personnel (Army, Navy and Air Force) and a further 510, 000 reserves.
Australia has 60,000 full time military personnel (Army, Navy and Air Force) and a further 19,700 reserves.
It’s worth noting that last Saturday 100,014 people attended the AFL Grand Final in Melbourne.
The entire armed forces of Australia (including reserves) would not fill the MCG. We would have to build a further 26 MCG’s to accommodate the Chinese Armed Forces.
When does the cricket start, Tuesday? Yawnnnnnnnnnn
No argument with the figures. The question is can China deploy over any distance a balanced force (troops on the ground supported by air and maritime assetts) sustain them, and withdraw them when the objective has been achieved, what ever that might be. At the moment, I don’t think so. Certainly they are working to dominate the Chinese air – sea gap, and the South China Sea, and they can deliver nuclear ballistic missiles (bad enough), but beyond their own land borders, at the moment, they would have trouble with sustained, projected, land operations. This will not always be the case. In our favour, and working against the Chinese Communist Party, is the demographic distortion caused by the one child policy and the resultant reduction in manpower, albeit only for a couple of generations.
How the hell did we get on to this? C’mon, this is chin stroking hypothetical Facebook stuff of no consequence.
Dave,
You raise very good points which I think China has recognised.
This would be part of the rationale for the billions of dollars they are pouring into the Pacific Island nations.
Solomon Islands is a perfect example.
PNG would be the ideal port of call for China.
For a good sound analysis I suggest you might like to read:
2020
World of War
By: Paul Cornish, Kingsley Donaldson
Thanks.
I see an article in yesterdays Bullshit about Jenny and her Councillors standing for re-election.Didn’t seem to raise much interest. Only saw two comments last time I looked. If that’s a sign of the level of indifference, Jenny and her mob are sure to get in.
Of course Jenny and her band of numnuts are going to run again. Thats not news to anyone.
I have a greater concern that you may have a subscription to this inept piece of scrawling masquerading as a newspaper.
Monday/Tuesday left one out. In the 70s Endean kept telling us the reef would be gone in 10 years unless something was done about the Crown of Thorns. Checked yesterday – the reef here seems alive and well. From this grouch’s chair the early doomsayers made the mistake of putting a end date on their claims, hard to maintain the soapbox rage after it didn’t happen. I believe the world is always changing – learn to cope.
To quote MIB, and paraphrase a lot of logical thinkers – a person is smart, people are dumb. People get a buzz out of being part of a cause, rationality goes out the window. I’d add another certainty to life – a call to arms to defeat an impending disaster. When I hear “because its important” or “we HAVE to” I just think manipulative BS is on its way and duck back into my garbage can.
Always amused me when religious nuts (not the organised profit-motivated big ‘religious’ companies) would have the occasional rush of blood and declare the second coming ot some such. Back in the 20s last century, one mob even built a little amphitheatre on Sydney’s middle head and sold seats to watch Jesus walk through the heads at a given day and even time. Not sure how they got out of that one.
This is just like the other examples ‘Pie debunked. Something *was* done and the control program is ongoing.
I’m hearing from people in numerous locations that they are sick of their current useless Councils and want a change of Councillors and Council CEO’s. And that includes places like Townsville, Rocky (people are divided), Bundy, Gladstone, Noosa, Brisbane, Emerald (Central Highlands), Banana, Moreton, Gold Coast and of course Ipswich and Logan. Business people keep telling me the same thing – sick of the community and local businesses being stifled by red tape and managed by inept farkwits, some of them corrupt. Let’s hope ‘Belcarra’ has some life left in it……
I will no longer interact with Steve the Belgian and NMD in climate matters as they have been converted to the climate religion and you cannot argue with zealots who don’t plant trees, so I will divert my energies to ask, why have people who have been arrested with $5m of street value ice and $900,000 been granted bail?
Cos the lockup is full to the brim, Tradie???
Perfectly understandable. That sea level data incident must have been terribly embarrassing for you. Best to suppress the memory and pretend it never happened or you might have to examine your beliefs.
Old Tradesman, who said I don’t plant trees? You just make stuff up. Here’s link to learn something about zealots:
http://theconversation.com/curious-kids-how-do-scientists-know-evolution-is-real-122039
OT. At least NMD can comment on more than one subject, even if we disagree with him/her.
As for Steve BG. Please refer back to a previous post of mine regarding Mark Twain.
7 local news tonight: Police Minister telling us that the Qld Govt is implementing a new system to manage drivers who leave the fuel bowser deliberately, without paying. Apparently the driver, according to the Minister, will get a text message ‘encouraging’ them to return and pay for the fuel, before Police get involved. This govt has lost the plot completely – drive off without paying and a crime has been committed- it’s called robbery AND what if they don’t have a mobile phone??? Pluck me! This is lunacy!!!
The Police Minister hired a non-Cop as Commissioner because of the Labor obsessed girl power team. It was bad enough watching the last few idiot Police Ministers and the last few Minister footstool Commissioners, but the current Police Minister and the actual Commissioner are an embarrassment.
‘The world has gone mad’
Non cop as Commissioner. Do some research.
and if the vehicle is illegally obtained???
Steve, I may regret not re-entering my garbage can, but even the program states the outbreaks are periodic ie naturally die out; and also states that currently only 57 of the 3000+ reefs are a part of the program. These reefs are all between Port Douglas and Townsville. If you can treat less than 2% of a population, and all of that within a segment, and claim success then how big was the problem? Earlier actions were not more widespread, from my failing memory much less so. Something was done, but I suggest it was to keep certain touristy reefs from becoming less attractive and probably so that some people can feel good because “something” is being done.
The notes linked to the program do claim “This remarkable success” in summary, but the body only provides that CoT were responsible for half the 50% decline in coral cover in the last 30 years. They claim a high body count, but don’t link it to any improvement, they insinuate. Funnily enough they do not claim a reduction in the duration of the outbreaks – I’d expect that if the program was working. More scarce is mention of costs – but they have needed to expand the program (more middle management anyone?).
I took my hat off to the Y2K scaremongers. If the world stopped – we hadn’t done enough, if it didn’t – we had listened to them. Win-win, reputations intact after the event. We must have listened very closely, I don’t recall one failure making the news. What were the odds?
I’m saying I don’t read much where when a vested interest is involved the “something” that was done links to the eventual outcome. History is littered with failures.
I’m a cynic. When people are profiting (money or power) and debate is stifled I think religion, not science. And when combined with “rally to the flag” calls, I leave the asylum and return to my can.
“CoT were responsible for half the 50% decline in coral cover in the last 30 years”
That still proves the point that, like the other examples, it’s not a non-problem?
Do you have the numbers for coral destruction 500 years ago? Your numbers are flawed because as “scientists” say the universe is estimated to be billions of years old but your left wing nut heads continue to use numbers only 100 years old with no true conclusion to your arguments. Science is right that you lot are completely wrong. It pleases me that every morning yourself and others wake up wasting your time trying to convince us normal people that the world’s doomed while I just go to work knowing that everything is ok. How come you arnt protesting in Brisbane this week. I didn’t see any climate protesting in Beijing yesterday at the anniversary of there government. Lots of carbon dioxide emissions from all those tanks and planes and especially troops breathing. I wait for your explanation on why nothing has been said by Greta thunberg on China yesterday.
Please don’t offer any explanation here, this is starting to get tedious and a circular ‘he said/he said’ waste of this blog’s time.And The Magpie isn’t fooled by those using multiple aliases. Cut off time is coming, because there is not and cannot be any progress in the debate, both sides entrenched. Local matters are this blog’s primary focus.
Thank God I’m an atheist.
I see in yesterdays media that a church in Sweden has proclaimed Greta Thunberg as a successor for Jesus Christ.
Limhamn’s church tweeted;
“Announcement! Jesus of Nazareth has now appointed one of his successors, Greta Thunberg.”
Does that mean that so called Climate Change is now officially a religion?
Christ on a bike, will this stuff ever end?
Wednesday, if you really are an “atheist”, why do you use a capital ‘G’ in the word god? And how did this god-thing help you such that you might “thank” it?
As a mark of respect and gratitude for a possibly higher being …. like The Magpie. And for the same reason when addressing either, a each-way safety bet.
Hello NMD
In answer to your questions:
1. I use a capital “G” because that is the correct way to spell God,
2. I didn’t say “I thank God”, that’s for the truly religious of whatever faith to do. Surely they would thank their God (whatever He/She is called) that I’m not one of them. NB: note the capitalisation of he and she when referring to a God.
Thanks Wednesday, small inquiry. What do you mean when you write, ” . . . I’m an atheist”?
Oh for fuck’s sake, WE ARE NOT GOING DOWN THIS PATH, not on this blog. The ‘Pie refuses to publish any burping, crotch scratching, wind-breaking musings on the meaning of life etc. You all get plenty of scope for comments but how about some practical, real-life, immediate and practical problems, Really, FFS.
Is this not the time to declare that I’m an dyslexic agnostic suffering from insomnia.
I lie awake at night contemplating the existence of Dog.
The meaning of life is 42.
Oh god
Watched some of Communist China’s 70th.
This wasnt a celebration, it was a carefully scripted warning of what’s to come. Raised hand in salute from the leader, scripted shouted responses from the masses, goosestepping goons and nukes with multiple warheads. If it wasnt for the modern weapons, if youd filmed it in b&w there were definite paralells to ‘Triumph of the Will’.
With all this ‘power’ on display (loved the marching’ladies’, straight out of Skyhooks ‘women in uniform’) there was a definite comedic element.
What’s with the stretched limmo Morris Major lookalike? Bizarre-o
Watching ABC News and Dear Leader in his parade vehicle equipped with multiple microphones, had a fit of the girly giggles because couldn’t stop thinking of ‘yakkety-yak, don’t talk back’ from Mad As Hell.
FFS people get a grip, God, China, climate change, what a dillusional pack of tossers, out of all the actual things to give a fuck about you pick these, how about you focus on the big issues that actually effect everyone’s life, everyday, like getting rid of Jenny Hill and immediately improving the life of 180,000 poor suffering people who reside in Townsville, a bit of perspective please.
Cantankerous, when the next application for a residential subdivision on a beach front (say, near Bluewater) or in the floodplain of the Ross or Bohle or Alligator is received by Council, what parameters around flooding or storm surge should be considered? Should the negotiations with developers be entirely ‘commercial in confidence’ as seems to be the current arrangement (although how would we know since no one will talk about it on the record) or should the decisions be taken out of local government hands and made at a higher level with some new prescriptions? Call it climate change or whatever you like but surely we need to avoid some of the mistakes which have been made in Townsville in the very recent past where developers were given just a little too much free rein? And when neither government or the media seems to be able to constructively consult let alone manage the likes of Mr Palmer, how can local residents get action and progress on lingering issues like access to the groundwater in the Black River catchment?
I can tell you I have my finger on all the local issues Canks.
This morning when I walked my dog I picked up his poo & other dogs droppings too (to clarify, with a bag). This town has enough funny smells atm.
I also picked up 3 bottles, bugger the environment, I live near a hotel and this goes towards my daughter’s pocket money for the 10c refund.
A clearly inebriated hoon in a red commo ute did some artistic designs on several intersections in my lovely suburb, using the mediums of rubber, unleaded and their own yobbish talent. The aroma of its passing wafted through my house making me sneeze and the budgie cough. I dutifly reported it to Police and would love to have provided a rego but it had none.
I called TCC twice in 2 weeks to fix my leaking water meter. Not because I fear the loss of a few drops are contributing to drought in Africa, but because I dont want an excess water bill.
Once again I called the Astonisher’s automated line to report a missing newspaper. With each new dawn in childlike Easter egg hunt excitement I search for my paper; where will it fuc*king be today? Up a tree, on the trellis, the gutter, or helpfully in next doors yard where the man eating dogs have treated it as a chew toy? Imagine my genuine astonishment when it actually lands in the fuc*ing yard, over the 4ft fence and beyond the 1 metre footpath. The greatest achievement of all as its often delivered at 1am by a vehicle driving on the wrong side of the road 20k over the speed limit, now that’s talent.
And China is a big concern to me, because my favorite Chinese takeaway closed down the street three months ago.
As you can see, I have my finger on all the local issues.
To quote some ponytailed chick ‘ How dare you’
You have just dobbed yourself in Holden man, so you are the person that gets the Astonisher home delivered, suppose it comes in handy when cleaning up after your dogs.
Yes, I’m the one…because if it
ain’t in print, it ain’t real news. Besides here, of course.
Good save … maybe.
Rumour has it that more staff members are deserting Townsville City Council to get away from the toxic culture enforced by management
Told that both members of the Community Grants Team have left in past 6 months and the $6m Community Grants program is in chaos and this is severely impacting on community organisations who either have or are wanting to apply for a grant Apparently the Coordinator of this area can be very superficially and speak the right words but in reality hasn’t got a clue. Another area of council that the wheel has fallen off.
Disgraceful!!! We CANNOT have a coordinator who ‘can be very superficially and speak the right words’ if not having a clue. What is the world coming to?
A council elections in 178 days and thus far, no declared mayoral candidate.
So sayeth a Bulletin oh so desperate for a readership boost from a real contest … and they’d get it, for sure.
Kelso, overheard a conversation in the Dally last night, bar pretty full. Several mentions of a ‘Cappacino’ running for Mayor, but not declaring intention until late…,,..,.
It’s all over Facebook. That candidacy falls right into the dangerous ‘ABH’ category … Anyone But Hill. ABH also means Actual Bodily Harm. Not unrelated to the body politic of this town.
Sounds like a case of Pericombobulation
Oh I’m sorry sir, I’m anaspeptic, frasmotic, even conpunctuos for causing you such pericombobulation.
Rumour has it that the same manager responsible for the exodus in the grants team also has a senior role in recovery and was meant to make sure grants and social support are provided to the struggling community. Unfortunately that has not not happened. More people to leave within weeks.
Apparantly there is a need to be careful here as two people may be getting confused. The Team Manager is a very experienced, competent and likeable person and worked in the Cassowary Coast Council during Larry and Yassi and who should not be confused with Coordinator Community Programs or what now might be called Community Development who is seen by many as being incapable of doing her job and makes promises to people in meetings etc but doesn’t follow through. Source within council tells me that more people are looking to escape from this area because of the coordinators management style and subliminal bullying but other jobs are hard to find and the saying is to watch your back if you work in this area. Also told that a number of community organisations have lost confidence in this area and are saying that if this area had been working with and known what was happening in the community then the Mayors comments about the situation with homeless people in Aitkenvale probably would not have happened.
I did not have sexual relations with that woman. And I am not running for mayor against her. She will win because no one has the balls big enough to take her on. And I have NEVER told a lie. Cappuccinos RULE!
It doesn’t take long, does it, when two news items collide in spoofdom. Luv it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuKQf-bIOf4
The laughs on us, Fatty McFuckhead is still a Billionaire.
Well by this mornings itortorial in today’s Astonisher she doesn’t read her own ‘morning egg timer’
“The three Labor state MP’s and Townsville’s Labor-aligned mayor all resonate with the public because they seem like ordinary people to us”
FFS!
Whoops, credibility overboard!!!
Yes. They seem like very ordinary people.
Last year sometime a woman who lives in the urban quarter apartments in the city complained about the noise of the service vehicles waking her up. She works for the council in the future city department. Well apparently she’s complained to the mayor enough that mullet has enforced a curfew on any work being done by council trucks until 7am so she can get her sleep. This isn’t a joke. I believe it’s the garbage trucks so now they have to park in the middle of henron st in the middle of peak bus time tables to empty bins. No consultants with workers safety or watching what needs to be done. I guess all the noise while the bus hub and surrounds didn’t effect her I wondering. This is a fucken joke and a clear vote chasing exercise and the mayor overstepping her authority. Across QLD it’s 6am for anything to start by the council bylaws. So now every time I complain about the noise of a private lawn mower starting this early will she enforce her power to stop it just so I can sleep. How are they going to build the new building that was demolished behind the bus shelter? Are the only allowed to bring in cement trucks during certain times.
“So now every time I complain about the noise of a private lawn mower starting this early will she enforce her power to stop it just so I can sleep.”
Love to see your Dear Mullet letter signed by “Radiohead”. Would probably score another Double Twenty on the Magpie-themed mayoral dart board.
For the past couple of months I’ve been told lots of things that will never see the light of day because of its repercussions of those who are saying it. The problem she had with the dart board is that I’m not worried if she finds me I’ve got a nest egg, she would need to sack another 50+ people that would disable a great deal of services to find the people. Carpet boning them. We’ve all had a gutful of this council and there drocoinan ways. I’ll be pleased to hand you a copy of any of my letters so you can pass them to the mayor at the next council meeting perhaps.
Those have seen the famous mayoral video will know that The Magpie is justified in describing her as a pain in the neck.
But you have neatly summed up the dilemma facing this city and its leadership of this region. No one is willing to front this woman and her aerobics arm lifting councillors, identifying themselves publicly and making their case in a respectful manner. And if you’re not willing to fight for transparency, respect, responsibility and community versus self interest, don’t whinge if you cop four more years taking it up the jacksy. Fear is worse than apathy, because someone who is fearful at least knows there’s something to be frightened off, and quake before their fear.
Here’s a bit of fridge magnet philosophy to keep in mind during the run-up to March … ‘losers let it happen, winners make it happen.’
‘Pie, just because a potential mayoral candidate might quake in their boots at the apparent siege mentality of the incumbent is no reason for an independent divisional councillor candidate to shit their pants. Any ratepayer can attend council meetings to see how councillors work in that rather innocuous ‘public’ part of the decision making process and there are always opportunities to meet your local ‘member’ at the various gatherings where they make themselves seen – so you can see what they actually do in their job. If locals from your division are not putting up their hand to run for a $100,000+ seat in the council chambers it might be because they are satisfied – or satisfied enough that they don’t think they could do better. Ratepayers can be so uncritically and outlandishly critical of their political representatives (who they have actually voted into office) that they come to believe their own diatribes and don’t want to be seen near the ‘trough’ which apparently exists inside the chamber. If only they knew.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH … GASP – WHEEZE – SNURFFLE …. LOOK WHO’S BLOODY TALKING!!!
Oh you are a one, Dredger.
How true Pie, and if we extend that further the gutless pissweek cowards in business in this town deserve the misery and misfortune they get if they can’t get together and find a candidate to run against the Mullet and send her packing, no sympathy for them at all.
AT LAST, someone willing to come into the light and run against Mayor Mullet. Now, Cantankerous, what’s your real name and your platform?
Now that would be interesting, but I think even the amateur journos at the Astonisher would take about 60 seconds to uncover the graveyard of skeletons in my closet.
I hear you loud and clear Mr Head. There is so much warm effluent floating around Walker St and the depots that you have to be careful where you tread.
Unfortunately, anything but North Korean style adulation and weeping (when appropriate) from TCC staff starts the rumblings of disloyalty from above.
Hopefully someone with less to lose – I’m still paying off my home and educating my kids – will gather a huge bucket and deliver it to Belcarra before the election.
On a more personal note, I wish Chiodo would f*ck off, he’s a useless turd now operating at a level where there isn’t enough oxygen to power his brain.
Now I’ve made myself angry, so I’m going to flex off and go to the pub. Sadly, no one will notice to care.
Funny you say that about handing things over before the election. If ove heard correctly, possible legal shitfight that is going on with the old rugby ground on hugh st. To do with a decision/vote made by this council to stop tapiolas building a shop there and a donation was made by another party to Influence the decision. I have a feeling I’m only getting a small portion of the story but that might be because they are in court. Might be one to watch. The paper won’t print after reading absolute nothing in regurds to adani /abc/TCC case.
What else do you expect from a newspaper that publishes a travel yarn (today) talking up the charms of Hong Kong. About the only tourists going there at the moment are the Chinese government thugs from the mainland desguised as local police.
WORLD EXCLUSIVE FOR THE TOWNSVILLE BULLETIN (ALLEGEDLY):
Paper suggests woman with 41 stab wounds could have taken her own life. Because the paper points out, it was only an ‘alleged murder’, which means the police could be jumping to conclusions.
Running with scissors, maybe?
EXCLUSIVE:
AUSTRALIAN PM THREATENED WITH EXTORTION.
New journalist for the bullshit with the mayors blessing?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-02/why-dont-tasmanian-magpies-swoop/11561036
What?
The Astonisher just keeps proving their incompetence. Nice to see a Golden Couple celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Golden ? Should be diamond you fuckwits.
You probably wont read this in the Astonisher. It is serious and should be circulated.
Deadly fungus found in Far North Qld
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/deadly-fungus-found-in-far-north-qld/news-story/44f1830988c9972c90a058fe4b3c27c7
Happy to announce that it has just been posted in the Astonisher`s website, but of course you can`t actually read this very important alert as its behind the paywall.
Seems that TCC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to gain White Ribbon accreditation. The decision was an attempt at virtue signalling from senior management but with the organisation wound up and no accreditation it is another example of ratepayers money down the drain.
The TEL agm is on today – highlighting another blatant waste of ratepayers money.
Wonder if the Dill will be there, or actually doing something to fix the faulty security screening at the airport. Have been out there 4 times in the past week and only one of the two lines was working. On one day more than 60 people in the security queue. The response from airport staff was to walk around handing out lollies, much to the amusement of the crowd in the queue.
Says it all really.
Cheapskates!! At leasy mayor mullet offers us beads and blankets in exchange for our votes.
Free blankets?
Let me out myself as a person born after 1970.
https://southpark.cc.com/clips/154073/blankets-covered-in-sars#source=08f60a6f-24a8-4d88-88a3-eb5588494cbc:25eebc76-ed8e-11e0-aca6-0026b9414f30&position=61&sort=views
Well we’ve got plenty of bats nesting a belfries to help out around here.
Free blankets. Is measles and small-pox included for non-supporters?
This is a test.
Ummm … of what?
‘Pie, I came across a tumbleweed copy of the TBully today and couldn’t believe my eyes at the Clive Palmer suck editorial – do you think he paid for it? Now they have him possibly, maybe, not sure, could be spending “$400 million” at Yabulu and re-opening the refinery. I expect Cantankerous will be kneeling outside the Queensland Building in the morning throwing flowers and genuflecting because this really would be an INVESTMENT. But I don’t believe it. Could this be a positioning for the 2020 state election?
Clive Palmer; 2020 State election; Townsville based.
What hideous sin did Townsville commit to deserve such a blight as Clive Palmer in out midst, and potentially attempting to be our State Govt rep?
This cannot be true.
And we don’t think it is.
I think Clive has been given approval to proceed with reopening Qld Nickel. As a billionaire there is no way he would normally be interested in crappy Townsville property. I reckon a media release is imminent.
Well, clearly that’s what he wants us to think … but the few odd million for a very nice property could well be just a blackmailing bargaining chip to use the jobs carrot to dodge legitimate debts, particularly at Townsville Port.
I think he only paid $740,000 or something like that. I honestly think he’s got the go ahead and the State Government want to use it as a lead in to the next Election. Just a theory, but plausible?
Fishframe, it’s more likely that the State might be spending $400 million upgrading Clive’s refinery.
Finally someone has shon the light on the most incompetent run RSL in Australia, the Townsville RSL. After many dealings over many years with this lazy orginisation I am glad someone is asking some questions about the values and priorities of the senior management of Townsville RSL, they should be exposed for the failures that they are.
I would have to whole-heartedly agree with our Happy Cantanker. I have tried numerous time to discuss matters which mostly require lobbying (but which I considered worthwhile even though one was the shockingly poor performance(s) of the DVA) and I’ve just been blatantly ignored. No discussion, no written replies, no nothing. Maybe they’re related to the Townsville City Council?
What about the tailing dams full to capacity??
Kicking the can among the road again.
What about all the money the refinery owes?? No good promising all this money, wouldn’t they just run out of town without paying their debt again ??