The Advisors’ Rort: Party Politics Has Poisoned The Well, And Now We All Have To Drink From It.

Sympathy seeking, hypocrisy and further backing down on campaign promises – the heady mix in a crowded news week for our accidental mayor,  including yet another stinging rejection of his amateurish power grab, this time on the appointment of advisors.

And on that point of advisors,  we’ve all heard the old philosophical  question ‘Who guards the guards?‘ but that should now be updated for Australian politics at all levels to ‘who advises the advisors? Who are they, what drives them, and ultimately, what use are these unelected people with a say in our lives?  That is a situation long overdue for some closer attention.The Magpie obliges.

Panic personified … Aaron Harper’s  astoundingly crass spray in reply to a civil and polite question.

Don’t think the collapse of Bonza Airline is funny? The Bulletin does.

AND the  Gotcha! Swinging Door Award goes to …. The ‘Pie recognises one of the best gotchas of the week … plus our regular US cartoonists’ gallery.

And The ‘Pie goes close tearing up as he bids Mayor Mullet adieu with a suitable tribute.

A special shout out to all those new subscribers who have signed up for the weekly Nest and the running comments throughout the week. Welcome to our often not so humble abode.  The Nest is forever free, and its doesn’t carry advertising, and therefore handling associated blog costs depends on the support of readers who think it worth the while. If you’re of a generous nature, the donation button is at the end of the blog. Thanks.

The Thompson Two Step: A Dance For Two Left Feet

For Walker Street watchers this week  i.e just about everybody – it felt akin to driving slowly past a bad car accident,  daring to look but apprehensive what you might see.

It started when Thompson put it to council that he should be able to have up to three advisors. Many observers found this a bizarre idea, because Thompson had so stridently attacked Hill during his election campaign for having just that, three advisors. This from the Bulletin:

In a now deleted post on social media highlighting his campaign pledges, Mr Thompson spoke out against former mayor Jenny Hill employing three political advisers.

“The mayor doesn’t need three consultants and advisers to tell her how to do her job,” he says in the video.

“If she does, she’s never been good at her job.”

Mr Thompson made the comments during a video in which he claimed that as part of his seventh pledge that he would reduce council debt.

“How do you do that?” he asked rhetorically, “You need to trim the fat, it’s pretty simple.”

But now, the only thing that seems to be pretty simple is this con man himself.  However, with the flim flam man’s hallmark of no shame, he unblinkingly put it to council that he should get three of such advisors.   But the councillors were having none of it,  giving him three clouts around the ear in quick succession. It was high farce.

Again from the Bulletin (no harm quoting them when they get it right).

The appointment of advisers was discussed during a special council meeting on Wednesday

Deputy Mayor Paul Jacob removed himself from the room because of a perceived conflict interest as his daughter and political adviser Bella had considered the role.

There were no councillors to move the mayor’s proposal for three advisers.

In an alternate motion Kristian Price supported two advisers, but there was no seconder.

When that was defeated, Andrew Robinson supported one mayoral adviser but he had no councillor to back him.

After the council meeting Mr Price said he did not second the motion for one adviser because it was not enough.

“Well, I think he needs two advisers,” Mr Price said during a break.

Thus Clr Price outed himself as a either a fractured thinker like the mayor,  or was being a suck up after unrevealed talks and had been given to understand that he might have a say in the choice of advisors.  But one thing’s for sure, if Thompson had got his thee playmates, one, possibly two of them, would be MyPlace nutters, who are no doubt seeking the favour be returned for their campaign support.

Then, fresh from that debacle, there was the matter of an interim CEO,  said to be necessary because Prins Ralston will be flouncing off early. The expensive plan was said to be needed until a new permanent CEO  was appointed. Thompson, with zero experience in this public service area,  demanded that he be allowed to make the choice himself.  CLOUT number four for this hapless boofhead. The council totally rejected that demand, and decided that they would have a say in the matter at a special meeting behind closed doors. This they did, and afterwards confirmed they had made their choice, whose name would not be announced immediately. The one dissenter was Clr Vera Dirou, who sensibly told the Bulletin:

“… (I) voted against the candidate on principle not because of the person’s suitability, but because the acting position was being recruited externally rather than from within the Townsville City Council’s workforce.  Appointing someone with experience and knowledge about council for a short period of time while we recruited for a permanent CEO would have minimised impact to council operations and saved ratepayers money,” Ms Dirou said.”  Quite so.

But then, in a statement worthy of the Hypocrite’s Hall of Fame, Thompson made one of his most galling statements to date when he loftily told reporters “the candidate would first have reference and criminal history checks before formally being approved as acting CEO.”  So mate, you mean all that pesky  stuff that you have fought to block, dodge and avoid  from public knowledge about yourself?  You feel the citizens should be protected from any fraudster on a three to six month temporary gig more than they should be from a mayor appointed for four years.  The words goose and gander come to mind. While you are again shown to be a two faced lying buffoon, mate, you are far from a joke. Unless it’s a sick one.

And Speaking Of Your Health, Anyone Notice This During The Campaign?

This was The Magpie’s reaction during the week when reminded of this nasty irrelevant over-reach.

Then hot on the heels of appearing in The Nest, an alert reader sent this in from his FB blather.

Once again, in a typical con man ploy, this twisting weasel seeks to use medical conditions as some sort of hero badge ‘soldiering on despite all this’ type of tearjerker. Just as he described himself as a ‘cancer survivor’ in a campaign post. Both possibly true – the epilepsy is, he even posted a video of having one such attack in a local shopping centre – but both matters are irrelevant to his position, and are very private matters that did not require public revelation.

So Thompson has a wide discretion in his ideas about privacy, not willing to openly share those things we are entitled to know, and seeking sympathy for matters we don’t or need to know about. But already do anyway from his campaign.

But if this condition presents some problems, here’s one solution: hire Aaron Harpic Harper MP as an ‘advisor’ to be around to assist if he has a seizure … but the ex-ambo won’t be available until late October.

And if someone believes The ‘Pie is off-base mentioning this, Thompson himself agreed to have that video posted of apparently him suffering an episode in a shopping centre some time previously.

FYI,  from Wiki:
Epilepsy happens as a result of abnormal electrical brain activity, also known as a seizure, kind of like an electrical storm inside your head. And because your brain controls so much, a lot of different things can go wrong. You may have periods of unusual behaviors, feelings and sometimes loss of awareness. Most people with epilepsy live a full life. However, the risk of early death is higher for some. We know that the best possible seizure control and living safely can reduce the risk of epilepsy-related death.

So epilepsy is a condition which can be controlled and managed, but does not appear to be a condition conducive to the stressful role of a civic leader.  Perhaps it is poor humour to suggest that this whole situation gives new meaning to ‘carpe diem.’

Aaron Harper Is Panic Personified

It’s generally accepted that he’s not too bright, but Aaron Harper’s astonishing spray in reply to a polite, well mannered question this week shows he knows his days are numbered as a feather-bedded MP. The dullard completely lost the plot in this strange exchange.

Why would they be desperate, Harpic, when you’re the sort of opposition they’ve got?

Some True Advice About Advisers

Writer and former editor David Fagan came up with a very pertinent question highlighted by the Higgins/Lehrmann proceedings. It’s well worth a quick read.

Fagan gets to the crux of the matter that extends well beyond Canberra when he writes:

It is this: What possible advice could these 20-something, still undergraduates (both found on testing to be unreliable witnesses) be giving a Federal Government minister? And they’re probably not alone.

What did they know that was of any value to their boss, the Defence Industry Minister Senator Linda Reynolds? What superpowers did they possess that would make their insight more valuable than the entire defence establishment available to Senator Reynolds and the government she was part of?  Who hired them? What qualifications did they possess? Would either of them have scored a job anywhere else with similar qualifications and judgement?

While this story is cast on a national level, the whole idea of advisers without any quality or actual skill checks – they are pure and simple political stepping stones for political acolytes – has devolved all the way down to local government. And the questions Fagan raises are just as pertinent to local councils as they are in federal parliament. Because the positions that have been argued by our council in the past week are positions that should never be paid out the public purse, certainly not ratepayers. Jenny Hill abused this LG loophole for her entire time in office, because in fact, all the ‘advisors’ in her office her political appointments. More often than not, a favour pay back one way or another.

As a prime , but by no means exclusive example,   take this vaguely happy young chubster.

This is Jonty Verwey, a thrusting young Labor foot soldier from Brisbane, who joined Jenny’s office some years ago as an ‘advisor’, and remained until her political demise.  Jonty was foisted onto the mayor by Brisbane Labor backroom operators. It is said young Jonty was proving a pain in the bum around the place, and it was decided a stint with Mayor Mullet might sort him out.  He is said to have had little choice in the matter, it seems the only alternative for him was to quietly open vein after half a bottle of Jack.  After wrestling with the choice, – The ‘Pie hears it took him some days –  Jonty agreed to shelve the razor blade and head north – it was a second best choice , but less messy.  So the question can also be asked at council level – what possible ‘advice’  could this rosy cheeked offspring of the workers struggle against oppression offer someone like Mayor Mullet.  Jenny is said to have disliked him and had little to do with him, which is not exactly a newsflash, and it is simply absurd that she would take ‘advice’ from such a tyro. But he may have proved marginally useful with southern contacts as she tried to groom herself for higher office.

And there we have the dark heart of the ‘adviser’ rort, and how political parties … yes, mainly Labor but not exclusively… have poisoned the local government well in Townsville.  These positions were created, sanctioned and expanded through legislation to have regional powe rbases with direct links to Brisbane, , not entirely just Labor but they’re the ones who made a right old meal of it.  The positions became political payback for political favours, locally or elsewhere. The point here is that the reputed $150k per he  and other advisors  filched off the taxpayer surely cannot be justified in terms of benefit to Townsville. He was purely a political appointment paid for by the punters. He knew nothing of Townsville, believing the only good thing to come out of the city was the Bruce Highway which led to  greater political glory.

Troy Thompson seems to have an inkling of this handy rort,  and, despite foam flecked campaign blarney against the whole idea,  that’s why he inanely sought three advisers. And wanted to be the sole selector of them. But the council was awake to the dangers in this regard, and it seems they will now have  a say in the appointments (something Jenny always had the clout to ram through as she pleased.)

The bitter truth is that a mayor’s real advisors in a community are surely his fellow councillors, permanent TCC professional staff and local business and community leaders, all of whom have a genuine and vested interest in the welfare of their city.

Wait a sec, I’ve heard something similar to that sentiment somewhere, where was it now  … oh, yes, it was part of Troy Thompson’s election platform,  a platform for his ‘trimming the fat’ agenda. But it seems that platform has suffered a lighting white ant attack, and is tumbling down by the minute.

Big Words For The Astonisher

It’s doubtful many if any of the Townsville Bulletin’s staff have a clue about what cognitive dissonance is, despite the fact that is a big part of the paper., Cognitive dissonance are two $10 words meaning you know something is the wrong. thing to do, but you do it anyway.  Bit like Clive Palmer and doughnuts.

Latest example was the Weekend Bulletin.

“So, editor Gas Carvey,  the imminent collapse of Bonza Airline is a funny story? 

“Good heavens, no, it will have some dire consequences if it fails …  and I’ve said so.’

“And we ran a double page spread on the story, including the local angle about the blow it will be to Mt iIsa.’

“….so why do you ask?’

“Because we are apparently meant to snigger like naughty school kids at the intentional misspelling pun on the front page.” 

“Of course, the danger with your paper,  dearnneditor, is that we never know if things like this are deliberate or just yet another cock-up”

No judgement. Really. None at all.

But then, The ‘Pie is sometimes prone to a pun,like ….

Turds Of A Feather

Spotted this ad in The Australian today.

No comment.

A Licence To Lie

Well,it’s always been the case, but now it’s official.

‘Marking its own homework’ is a nasty euphemism which also means ‘charge what you like’ sothat advertisers will just have to trust what circulation and subscription figures they are told by the media company.  That applies across the board, so you’ll never again know exactly how the Bulletin is doing … although its recently been suggested th circulation is down by two thirds in the last decade to 17,000 print, and online subscriptions have nowhere near made up for the shrinkage. Tick, tick,tick ….

Comedy On The Titanic

Watching various events unfold – and not just THE trial – in America feels like listening to a stand-up comic riffing on jokes about icebergs on the sloping deck as the ship slides under. And while some of the cartoons are biting, photoshoppers have got into the act. Here’s two of the best found on twitter.

And this is the cleverest.

Then there was a great ‘gotcha’ on television, when a snivelling Trump bum kissed named J.D. Vance took the poisoned bait.

If ever a silent look said ‘You fucking bitch’, this is it.

But it was THE trial that dominated the week’s gallery, although there were plenty of secondary matters for the lethalpens.

Finally …The Magpie Is Suffering A Version Of Stockholm Syndrome

Regulars to the Nest, Th ‘Pie asks should we  spare a thought for the vanquished Mayor Mullet.? The ‘Pie is getting almost nostalgic. He frette terribly when the election result came in, wondering what the hell he’d have to whinge and witter on about every Sunday … he’s got the answer to that all right, in spades, but y’know,  the old bird reckon he’s going to miss slipping one between Jenny’s ribs each week.

So a small tribute, because, `let’s face it, without Mayor Mullet, this blog probably would’ve died years ago. So a musical tribute seems in order, but you will have to use your imagination, and hear The ‘Pie crooning out this farewell, which is warbled here so prettily by a Miss L Gaga.

So when I’m all choked up and can’t find the words,

Every time we say goodbye baby it hurts,

When the sun goes down and the band won’t play

I’ll always remember us  this way.

 Yup,I’ll always remember you this way.

……….

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