A known scammer constantly gets prominent advertising space on the paper’s digital sites … for a price, no doubt. Have any Bulletin readers fallen for the rip-off?
But News Ltd needs to get its dough from anywhere it can, so they have decided to try bamboozle an impoverished pensioner out of a couple of grand or so … they demand The ‘Pie pay up for what they mistakenly think is copyright naughtiness. The Magpie explains to them the error of their ways and why they may GFT.
Has Annandale gone out of control? The Townsville Council warns of unprecedented wild times in this usually staid suburban oasis.
And what a load of bollocks … a new policy of “man jabs’ for droopy US defence personnel aims for peak performance … on both the battlefield or the bedroom, it would seem.
The Nest remains forever free, but a helping hand with finances is always welcome and always needed. You can lend a hand using the donate button at the bottom of the blog. Thanks. Now onward.
What A Dishonest Load Of Old Cobblers …
… in this case, literally.
The ‘Pie was quite taken with an online shoe offer he spotted while cruising the Bulletin digital sites … the old bird probably succumbed to curiosity having seen the ad multiple times over the week and as late as this weekend, it was/is all over the paper’s digital sites.
But as is his habit of checking out any online offer, imagine his surprise when he found this.
FFS, there’s even an exhaustive YouTube report on it. Click here to view.
Those two blokes in the photo sure aren’y Chinese and they sure aren’t cobblers, although they are fronting a site that is nothing if not a whole load of it.
Yup, ‘Turner and Lawson’ turn out to be a Chinese knock-off shop that has attracted a barrage of complaints ranging from shoddy goods and financial shenanigans to simply taking the money and running, providing nothing. That ‘Legacy Sale’ nonsense was a particularly nasty touch, given the meaning of the word Legacy in Australia and hinting at a beneficial connection.
The Bulletin, or more likely the News Ltd Holt Street counting house gnomes, cannot plead ignorance of this disgraceful oversight … if it took a techno klutz like The Magpie less than a single minute to learn this, even the office copyboy could have found it faster. And even if they didn’t know, they should have, as a duty to protect their readers from scams. Yes, yes, we know, it is a bit of a stretch considering much of the paper itself is a fraudulent scam, but still … wonder how many of their readers got caught and did their dough. Be sure to let the Bulletin know if you got caught.
One supposes an apology might be in the offering … why not, iditor Jill Poulson is getting to be a dab hand at grovelling acknowledgment of a string of cock-ups. (That said, full points to her for actually doing so, rather than the usual News Ltd silent arrogance.)
Copy Rights And Wrongs
As The ‘Pie gets older, natural attrition thins out his circle of friends, and social interaction shrinks accordingly. Making new friends isn’t easy for us old folk as we totter through the closing chapters of our own personal novels. . For many, it’s a time of shame, blame and regret, not much to remember, too much to forget. Even the sweet natured ‘Pie has been reduced to highlighting his day with long deliberation of which filling for the lunch sandwich, or trying to remember every week the Woolies aisle for the Iced VoVos and trying to recall why he still looks at pretty girls. (That last one he just can’t put his finger on, which is maybe just as well, if he did there might be trouble with our modern laws.)
So it was with delight that he received the following diversion from his daily routine as he experienced an unfamiliar glow of being appreciated. Well, not ignored, anyway.
Company: Townsville Magpie
Attn: Malcolm Weatherup
Contact details: email hidden; JavaScript is required
Date: 15/07/2026
Dear Malcolm,
We are writing to you regarding Townsville Magpie’s unauthorised use of uploading several
print articles from our publication, namely from the Townsville Bulletin to your website. The
work is copyright material for which Nationwide News Pty Ltd controls the rights. We have
captured the content below in Schedule 1.
Our records show we have not granted Townsville Magpie permission to use our work in this
instance, which under the Copyright Act 1968 constitutes a copyright infringement. News
publishers commission and publish content at great expense, and it’s important that we
protect the value of this content by addressing infringements.
If you believe you hold a valid licence for use of this content, please send us evidence of this
as soon as possible.
In the event that you do not hold a valid licence, we have calculated the cost of your
retroactive licence to be $2500 +GST for the use of our work in the manner displayed in
schedule 1.
This licence fee legalises your past usage, but requires you to remove the work from your
website immediately. This takedown requirement also applies to all other instances where
our content has been uploaded to your website.
Please contact us soon as possible by acknowledging receipt of this email to make a
payment. If we do not hear from you by 29/07/2026 , 2 weeks from now – we do reserve the
right to take legal action without further notice.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Katherine Hong
Licensing Account Executive
Nationwide News Pty Limited | ABN: 47 007 871 178 | 2 Holt Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia 1
The ‘Pie cannot tell you how chuffed he was to attract the interest of a young lady in faraway Sydneytown. So although there were some deficiencies of fact, logic and law in the missive from Ms Hong (I now think of her only as my friend Kath), The ‘Pie decided to offer her both advice and encouragement during this learning curve so early in her blossoming career.
My Dear Ms Hong,
First, allow me to say what a delight it is to have the opportunity to interact with you, since I have always been a great supporter of success stories of Australia’s multi-cultural policy. After all, few can boast your meteoric rise, as your Linkedin profile tells us, from barista and chief napkin folder at a small Redfern cafe nine short years ago, through the demanding labours of office receptionist to the executive floor of the most powerful media company in the land and your own cubicle boasting the title of Licensing Account Executive. Adding to this satisfying picture of Australia’s wide social meld in the fact that your new organisation is owned by an American. As we say, only in Australia, eh?
So well done, congratulations.
But as always with newish positions ,there are occasions for further learning on the job. And it seems this is one such occasion from which you can benefit. I’m here to help.
You see, Kath (you don’t mind if I call you Kath, do you?) you will probably have to flick-pass this straight back to whatever naughty gnome in the legal department put you up to these erroneous and baseless demands.
I say this for two reasons: first, your demands for the withdrawal of published material are not supported by Australian copyright law. Now, I know a gal on the corporate fast track can’t be across everything all at once, so it is in the spirit of encouragement, rather than disparagement, that I point out the following regarding copyright ‘exceptions’.
So, in summary, Kath, Australian copyright law contains over 90 exceptions. The most common allow you to use copyrighted material without permission if it falls under “fair dealing” (e.g., research, study, criticism, review, parody, satire, news reporting).
You appear not have made yourself familiar with the general gist of this weekly effort and have therefore misinterpreted the copyright rules regarding creative writing and intellectual property, concepts rarely if ever associated with The Daily Astonisher as we fondly call the Bulletin. It will come as a great surprise to a great many people in this neck of the woods if you wish to argue that I have purloined these articles in order to praise them, gain some financial benefit and perhaps some reflected glory for myself. Difficult to imagine what gain there would be for a blog that is both free, and free of advertising.
I know News Ltd likes to consider itself beyond criticism, but the law begs to differ.
Three of the named articles are clearly – for separate reasons – for the purposes of highlighting the piss poor journalism of the Townsville Bulletin, particularly in terms of the one dimensional bias, the phobia about steadfastly refusing to ask questions for context, adopting a role in the community of ‘player’ instead of ‘balanced observer’, sloppy grammar and claiming exclusivity over regurgitated rather than rewritten media releases from various outside sources. The fourth is an informal obituary of a personal friend, and again you run into trouble with the vagaries of Australian copyright law. Historical facts, times and dates constitute a large part of the article and cannot by law be copyrighted. Anyway, it is difficult to imagine that the Bulletin can object to the further dissemination of the paper’s fine tribute to a much loved businessman and community stalwart. After all, the Bulletin keeps honking on about how it is ‘all for us’.
The second reason for our disparity of views, Kath, is my deep disappointment and personal hurt with your clearly restrained request for $2500. I’m sure this amount was dictated by other than yourself (I detect that you’re a kindly soul despite your immediate surroundings) and was intended by them as a spiteful personal insult, such is the devaluation of all the hard, selfless hours of hard work I and many others contribute to the Townsville community. I would’ve thought the attention that Holt Street is paying to a humble little regional blog in far away North Queensland would merit a far sterner approach, say, perhaps $25,000 or even (why not?) $250,000.
Oh, wait a minute … oh, dear, Kath, this wasn’t an error on your behalf, was it? Did you misprint or mishear the requested amount over the cubicle wall and leave out a nought or two? I ask this because you are after all making representations on behalf of a publication which is famous around here for this endearing foible of misprints and cock-ups. If it was your error, don’t get anxious, it will be our own little secret and I will await a second emailed demand with an amended amount.
But that said, unfortunately, any demand greater than my current bank balance, ($17.86 until the Canberra eagle does its next fortnightly flypast ) or a refusal to accept in lieu my Coles Fly Buy points (currently, 3,250 but I will be doing the weekly shop this afternoon and should bump it to 3,255). I know this will only amount to a hill of beans for your Holt Street counting house, but I feel I should show willing, just to help Rupert out.
With that in mind, and as a gesture of goodwill, I will save your legal gnomes some billable research hours, and declare I haven’t got a brass razoo to my name, living solely on the age pension, with no assets, no property, no credit cards and no offshore account in a foreign tax haven. I now don’t even have a vehicle, my beloved 1997 Corolla finally turned up its tappets after an interstate road trip.
Even with the PBS scheme, the cost of pharmaceuticals for a cancer patient currently in remission takes some clever budgeting which I’m sure even the curious values of the average magistrates court would put ahead of any demands from your gnomes. But it’s their call, so good luck to them.
Hope this has been of assistance to you, Kath.
Remember, my dear, I’m all for you.
Kind Regards,
Malcolm The Magpie
No Teeth, No Teeth!!! Cried The Corn Dog.
Just when we thought the depths of weird shit had been fully plumbed by America’s Weirdocracy,, along comes the US Whacko of War Department Pete Hegseth ….
Yes, that’s really him.
with a truly demented policy announcement: testing US military personnel – well, the blokes, anyway – for their testosterone. Those falling below a Big T level of what might suggest an unwillingness to kill total strangers in an overseas country will be offered a free booster shot to get in the mood. The will be at least one exception, Pete H. wouldn’t dare suggest the .Commander in Chief, submit to such a test
Currently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any specific testosterone formulations or therapies for use in women, but Hegseth knows if he needs one, all he needs is a quick call to RFK junior Secretary of Health and Voodoo. He’ll immediately come up with a treatment for the gals, no doubt involving the publc hair of raccoons, unicorn droppings and Fanta mixed with Old Infuriator Kentucky Sucking Bourbon. This therapy, in cream form, will be administered by finger. However, a smarter move regarding the gals would be to ensure female defence members are encouraged to stay on during menopause. The necessary aggression against friend and foe alike could be harnessed for the national good atno increased cost.
It may be that this Hegseth’s ‘big swinging dick’ policy subconsciously spooked his mate the VP J.D. Vance into a scrambled attempt of masculine affirmation, (a constant challenge for a bloke who habitually wears mascara and eyeliner)..
Speaking on Seth Rogan’s Trump-fluffing podcast, Vance decided that his manhood was confirmed by his disgust with the way Joe Biden ate ice cream.
“It’s like they would get him eating ice-cream in the most ridiculous, suggestive way imaginable,” JD ejaculated.
This brought a withering response and further disturbing revelations from the Guardian’s Marina Hyde .
“Is it? Mate, I’m not sure it is. I’m looking at various clips of (Biden eating ice cream) it and he seems to always use his teeth. I mean, I don’t mean to kink-shame, but … Biden’s a biter, JD. Do you … find that suggestive?
Just as succinctly, another commentator headlined declared ‘Joe Biden eating ice cream makes J D Vance horny.’ But wait, says Ms Hyde, there’s more ….
Vance also revealed he would never eat a corn dog*** in public. Rogan showily didn’t care about doing that for all to see; in fact, he thought it was sad people were “so afraid of anything that looks like a dick”. Over to you, Mr Vice -President. “I try, I try to eat my corn dogs …” floundered Vance. “That’s – that’s between me and my kitchen.” Oh, OK. JD Vance sucks off corn dogs in his kitchen. Tell your friends.”
***corn dog is better known in Australia as a Pluto Pup, which adds a nice hint of bestiality to the Vance response.
It seems in JD’s homophobic world, being the suckee rather than the …ummm … sucked isn’t a manly thing to do. well, not beyond the boundaries of your own kitchen. But it is easy to understand the politician’s universal conflict between publicity and eating sausage shaped food in public. At least one US politician, former New York mayor Bill De Blasio wasn’t worried about snickering public perception. … and he lost a senate bid shortly after this publicity snap a few years ago.
I
But there were other happening that also , in the modern terminology, sucked during the week.
t’s hard to know what is the America’s greatest loss … the Iranian War or American dignity and presidential credibility. But one thing is certain … any contest about who has the biggest swinging dick in the global stage is ‘no contest’
It’s Trump, of course, because there’s no end to the prick.
For The Record
Vale Oliphant
Adelaide-born Australian, Patrick Bruce Oliphant strode the world stage for more than six decades as one of the world’s most influential, perceptive and bitingly funny political cartoonists. His early professional years in Australia (his first job as a copy boy was with the Adelaide News, which had recently been inherited by a young Rupert Murdoch) eventually gave way to a move to America, where he established himself as the benchmark of his profession.
The much admired man known to the general public only by his surname (a true mark of fame), Oliphant died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, during the week.
He was 90.
Many fellow ‘toonists paid elegant tribute to him with farewell messages imitating his unique style..
Annandale … Peyton Place or Jurassic Park?
This mysterious council sign has suddenly appeared on Yolanda Drive, Annandale , near University Drive,.
But there doesn’t seem to be any reason apparent for such a vague advisory, and no one seems to have asked the council. The ‘Pie cannot recall ever seeing such a non-specific sign anywhere in Australia.
One baffled local, who has lived in the suburb for nearly 50 years said he had never seen a wild animal on Yolanda Drive. He told The ‘Pie, ” Decades ago I did see a dingo over my back fence and my son got chased by a wild pig where the Annandale Christian School now is. But pigs and dingos disappeared forty years ago as the suburb developed. I can only think the wild animals may be wallabies but they live in the water courses not ever on Yolanda Drive, Indeed I have never seen any road kill at all on Yolanda Drive.”I
Maybe it’s a managerial mistake by the council, and the sign was meant for Walker Street.
In fact it’s so vague, it leaves itself open to much speculation, most of which inevitably is ribald. Having once had a mild dalliance in the area many (many many) years ago, The ‘Pie wonders if things have progressed to Annandale becoming Swingers Central where bored married couples get together to throw off their inhibitions and indulge in licentious activities. Given the age demographic of the old suburb, these parties probably involve a lot of toothless leering while eating ice cream and suggestively nibbling corn dogs.
…………………
That’s it for another week, but there’s been plenty more to talk about … somehow, there always is. That all important donation button is below if you’re of a mind to help keep The Magpie aloft. ‘Til next time.
Magpie you raise a fair point. Australian copyright law includes exceptions for criticism, review, reporting and parody. If material is being used within those recognised exceptions, then threatening legal action over legitimate commentary risks having a chilling effect on public debate. Robust criticism of the media is just as important as scrutiny of governments and public institutions.
Still chuckling about your response! Lightening would be seething, a good day!
Pie, the attempt by the pickled walnut to extract $2,500 out of you was an amusing read. In response, you could have simply replied with ‘get fucked’. However I see your point in trying to educate the young lass and that was a great response. On another note, I was saddened to hear about the demise of your Corolla. R.I.P
“Wong” was wong. It was actually “Hong”… but a bloody good laugh, regardless.
And Ms Hong was just as wong as Ms Wong if “Wong” had been…. correct.
Sometimes, maybe The’Pie’s humour is a bit obscure. Hong – Wong, both look alike, don’t they? And Wong suited the tone of the piece. But just to appear on top of his job and in case some folks don’t get it, have amended.
Loved your reply to Ms Wong. How Wong was she?
As for the wild animals in Annandale, I know we have ‘Prince Peter of Lyndsey’. but you could hardly call him wild.
News Corp has got their knickers in knot. Keep up the good work Malcolm.
The Astonisher should look introspectively, have lost count of the number of photographs and articles they have used without any acknowledgement, here on Maggie.
They are treated like a protected species by Walker and George Streets. Why bother turning up to media calls, when footage and media releases are just sent to them. Other media being told to hold off for 12 hours because the TB has ‘exclusive rights’?
Light On was bleating a few weeks ago ‘Copyright’ regarding an article he penned on the new 222 bus route from the city to airport. The fact the bus stops at the Breakwater terminal where both islanders and tourists either arrive or depart from Magnetic Island seemed completely lost on poor Light On.
You didn’t say it, but Newscorp can fuck right off!
So good to have the Pie back on deck over the past 2 weeks. Calling out TEL, Gill the dill, Newscorpse etc. Solid work old mate. I too was sad to hear that your beloved Corolla had clapped out, that’s a real shame.
Pie, I’m pretty sure that the WILD ANIMALS signage in Annandale relates to the local real estate agents who I hear make it their main goal in life to door knock every residence in the suburb seeking out those old ex meat workers getting ready to fall of their perch !
The Townsville Bulletin is shit z I’m shocked that people still pay to read the news service. An amateur newspaper staffed by kiddies and has-beens. It was actually a good news service many years ago but then it got severely commercialised and run by interstate interests who wouldn’t know how to find Townsville on Google earth.
A comment that sadly ignores some attempts recently by the paper to regain credibility, but it seems to be one step forward, two steps back.
The ‘Pie will discuss the pros and cons of this shortly, hopefully before Holt Street moves to shut down the blog, such is their unrest with the Nest.
Well done, citizen journalists, feel justly flattered.
Have to admit I was shocked when TEL and the V8 Supercars didn’t come up with their usual spin about record crowds.
Channel 7 did, claiming 120,000 people paid to watch souped-up cars follow each other around the narrow Reid Park circuit.
The problem was that at the same time Seven was making the crowd claim, they were showing vision of almost empty spectator mounds.
The only record crowd was in the VIP area above the pits, where the usual suspects had their snouts well and truly in the trough.
Hope the ratepayers, who have been told they have to stump up $6 million to resurface the track, didn’t pay for the hospitality.
They sure did, one way or the other, Stumpy Astaire. And maybe whoever does the counting (good question, who actually does?) must’ve started to realise they’ve pushed the bounds of gullibility over the edge in recent years. The annoying thing is the use of massaged attendance figures to justify an event and make it seem worth well beyond the undoubted welcome boost to the hospitality and accomodation sectors – but principally to justify the secret annual ratepayer subsidy. For a start, as the ‘Pie’s annual analyse has always gone, 120,000 is a mathematical conjurement, because the same spectators attend over the three days … but let’s say only a smattering attend day 1, maybe say, 10,000, that leaves 55,000 to be found for each of the two remaining days – enough to fill Total Tools Stadium twice over. Even the Bulletin’s sales-boosting ‘fans gallery’ pages struggle to hide the wide open spaces behind the subjects. To try and water down these perennial criticisms from more quarters than just the Magpie, a few years ago, a bull riding event started to run in tandem, further muddying the attendance waters.
The ratepayers of Townsville and the taxpayers of Queensland, willingly or otherwise, have by now paid for the permanent V8 infrastructure, and should be asked for no more than the (openly availabe) cost of it’s annual maintenance and traffic control issues.
So as in any normal business transaction, the highly sus V8 franchise should pay US for the use of the facility. If they bugger off, only a small section of the city’s economy would be affected, and the council and ratepayers would be better off overall keeping the secret amount of money they slip the promoters.
The V8s are just one of the many promotions, pop shows, sporting one-offs and even sorely misjudged and laughable cultural side shows (anyone for tiffin in a Wedgewood cup?) that are propped up by unjustified public money, allowing shonks like TEL, the Bulletin and the mayor of the day to claim their promotional smarts are responsible for making Townsville is a natural magnet of big ticket events.
That is about as ‘natural’ and true as a Troy Thompson cv.
.
Ha. Troy Thompson. I still see this stain around town from time to time at coffee shops and Bunnings. And he is still commenting publicly on all sorts of media avenues such as the newspapers and blogs. Like an untreated case of herpes, he just won’t disappear.
Proof reading of photos may be required if page 5 of Monday 20/7/26 bulletin is anything to go by.
The ‘Pie has checked out and can’t find what you’re referring to on his digital Bulletin which they say is the paper as it is published.
Councillor Robinson has finally decided he might engage with his division with residents of Div 8 receiving a mailbox flyer with a list of dates and places where you can find him. Mostly in parks around the play equipment.
Very handily the list started on 6 June but landed in letterboxes on 20 July. I can only assume the first 8 meetings have been a roaring success.
He has also kindly provided a QR Code to his Facebook page which hasn’t been updated since 2 April 2024, (a few weeks after the election).
As much as I think Michael SPugh is terrible choice for a councillor, he’s been out there in the community for some time.
It has taken more than two years for Cr Robinson to get to this point. He can’t keep blaming the past forever. Division 8 elected him to be visible and engaged from day one, not halfway through the term. Better late than never, but residents are entitled to ask why it’s taken so long.
As for Michael Pugh, I have reservations for different reasons. People can make up their own minds, but a conviction for a serious offence is something voters are entitled to consider alongside everything else, particularly when said offence is the major issue in NQ still. I hope more candidates put their hand up, so the community has a genuine choice.
Pugh is so far up Dametto’s arse you can only see his toes. Last thing we need is another council full of yes men.
Pete Hegseth is a violent war loving scumbag. Trump knew who to pick as his chief murderer. Both of these grubs deserve long prison sentences. The big question is which one of these two narcissists spends more time preening themself in front of the mirror?
Its good to see Sister Hong getting out in the community again
Malcolm, what’s the story with Newscorpse? Judging by your previous comment they are making a concerted effort to shut down your blog. Can you share more details? It sounds serious.
Nothing new really, if they wanted to go to the futility of shutting down the blog, they would’ve done so long ago. For the sole reason that the arrogance of News Ltd has never been able to cop even the slightest criticism let alone be laughed at, and only settle if they are in expensive legal jeopardy.
The middle management that make decision like this latest attempt at lawfarelegal bullying – a silly bluff at best – have not come to terms that they are no longer the exclusive gatekeepers of news, information and influence to be automatically respected and feared. The ‘Pie is genuinely amazed at any attention he has received from their HQ. Because the old bird isn’t up himself enough to believe he is a David up against a media Goliath, but sometimes, Newscorpse makes it seem so. Rather than just a cranky but informed old codger sticking up for a community that is so poorly served by one of the furthest tentacles of the News Ltd Kraken.
A classic case of the Streisand Effect.
Commissar Trump sends his troops to war in a foreign country and now he blames the military of those lands for doing their job of defending their land against the foreign invaders.
New strikes as Trump warns Iran will pay for US troop deaths
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/iran-says-fighting-fullscale-war-with-us/news-story/d8fa6c5bc65d6ae9475aaf2ff0125846
The world finds itself in the helpless position of watching two of the world’s greatest terrorists slug it out. Three if you count Israel.
Comment of the week from the Pie- short, succinct and factual. Nothing but terrorist thugs disguised as ‘world leaders’. When you drain the bottom of a sewerage tank you are left with those 3 so-called leaders.
Pretty funny how the Beetrooter popped a foofer valve and started yelling at a mystery dog while he was being interviews on ABC television. Joyce really is a fruitcake.
He simply couldn’t answer simple question … which makes him a simpleton.
Disgraceful, buffoonish performance, at which Pistol shake his head and says to Boo, ‘He should be put down.’
Regarding the V8 Superpest attendance figures, we’re constantly told that Townsville hotels and motels are sold out during race weekend.
Curious to see if this was true, I checked on booking.com on the Saturday morning and there were 19 places you could get a room, including some of the city’s big-name hotels.
Ardo and The Ville were sold out, but they host all the V8 drivers and their support crews.
The prices were very reasonable too considering the demand generated by the invisible 120,000 V8 fans – plenty of rooms for less than $250 a night.
Methinks the ratepayers are being taken for a ride.
While The ‘Pie was having a chat with a veteran hotelier awhile back about the pedestal issue, the possibility of a hospitality lobby being created to give the local industry a single voice was discussed. The chap was quite scathing about TEL and certain policies of the council, and agreed that the industry speaking with as one entity would be a tremendous advantage. Nothing has come of the initial enthusiasm that The ‘Pie knows of, and isn’t surprised, a lot of the big players would be reluctant to reveal occupation figures in a regional city. Besides, business custom in the main makes life pretty comfortable for the big boys and enough crumbs for the lesser players, so if it ain’t broke, let sleeping dogs etc and any other fob off cliches you can think of.
As best as can be discovered with a web search, the absurdity of the alleged visitors figures for ANY event let alone the SuperPests is made even more laughable.
This is the AI overview:
The exact total number of hotel and motel beds in Townsville isn’t tracked or published as a single consolidated figure by local tourism boards. However, as of 2026, the region features an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 hotel and motel rooms across more than 50 properties, which equates to roughly 3,500 to 5,000+ individual bed spaces (accounting for standard double/queen and twin configurations).
Major properties account for a large chunk of this capacity:
The Ville Resort-Casino: Offers 194 rooms.
Ardo Hotel: Added 132 luxury rooms.
Oaks Townsville Metropole Hotel: Offers approximately 105 studios and dual-key apartments.
Hotel Grand Chancellor: 204 rooms, well-known as the city’s iconic “Sugar Shaker”.
Motels & Boutique stays: Around 33 specialised motels like the Townsville City Motel provide varying capacities for short stays.
That leaves helluva a lot of family/visitor stays to reach that stats that are regularly trotted out.
Look, The Magpie’s take on this is:
1: we’re well past whingeing about the V8s per se, but the cost to the ratepayers still is and always will be valid public information which is anything but straightforward at the moment … if it’s such a great boon to the city, what the hell can be wrong with just putting it all out there, so we can judge the bang for our buck (and the first one to utter the words Commercial in Confidence or ‘intellectual property’ goes straight to the dunce’s stool)
2: The Bulletin, now clearly beholden to TEL and other business interests, appears to be fudging figures to massage them into some sort of favourable narrative. Doing this is not in the interests of the ratepayers or the community generally, which has for years now been sorely missing a intelligent media champion for the city.
I still reckon just have a one day kart race/ s in the city ; that would pull in people with go karts from around the country. Forget the V8 track , turn the CBD into a vast go cart track. It would be a fraction of the price.
Uh oh.
Only a brain impaired sociopath and narcissist would try again, so yes in some ways it doesn’t surprise me. He mustn’t be earning enough money from his hire studio?
There’s a story for you Lighton, go interview your mate and make a story about his potential comeback to the political arena.
Troy has some wind in his sails. He has become very active again on social media. Obviously rates himself as a chance for being elected again into local government. What can I say other than he is a delusional fucktard. Any resurgence is doomed to fail.
I think that position is already in the bag, Dametto is doing all he can for fellow KAP man Michael Pugh, sponsors, helpers, he is not my first choice, but I’ll wait to the final nominations.
Pugh, Hobson, Kuhne, and a few others yet to say so, maybe Kippin.
Interesting times.
It would be hard to pull Kippers away from the local buffet. How would he fit councillor duties in and around his hourly feeding needs?
His recent Nobel Peace Prize will be an asset to any re-election campaign.
Sorry Moggie no go, that looks like it is lifted directly word for word from The Astonisher, without any comment or criticism from you. Not that there’s any to make on the way the story was reported.
AND that is exactly what News Ltd was having a bunched panty episode about with The ‘Pie, saying was quite correctly was not allowed under copyright … direct pinching without even attribution. Couldn’t agree more, but copyright does not apply if matters are reprinted for the purpose of criticism, parody or satire.
Malcolm,
It is a press release from Walker St. So much for exclusive scoops from the Astonisher!
Exactly.
Pie, what if you preface each “lifting” with the words: “Dear Uncle Rupert, thank you for this awesome article. Lots of love, Magpie”. Would that appease the walking corpse? Maybe things will lighten up at the paper once he carks it? Surely he can’t be too far away from crossing the river Styx?
He may not get to cross the Styx, as the ferryman wants a coin or two, the measly bastard may be left sitting on the river bank for eternity!
Are we sure this is the real Troy? It could just be a troll account.
It’s from FB via Everything Townsville. The tone (victimisation, done nothing wrong, just what to work for the community, poor misunderstood me, no admission or apologising for outright lying etc) is vintage TwoNames so yeah, reckon its him.
Kenny K, way too long mate.How about sending it in as a link? This is not because the Thompson Manifesto is full of nonsense and selective self-grooming with fine disregard for the truth opr remorse for blatant lying, it’s more that links won’t clog up the comments section
Any such campaigning material is best shared as a link, but standard length comments on candidates/policies etc are still acceptable.
Radical Bay Road update
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=122237065304282265&set=pcb.122237065340282265
Good info, as far as it goes. But the important thing is what happens at the beach vis a vis public access, parking etc.
Malcolm,
more updates to come.
Personally I would like to a new area for car parking created down there – plenty of National Park to put one, bins and a drop toilet wouldn’t be that difficult too.
As for the free hold property there is public walking access to beach, not sure what plans the owner has. But be assured the anti’s will be against it.
As for TCC there isn’t even bins and public toilets at West Point.
One for The Magpie’s ‘I Wish I’d Said That’ file.
So Albo is venally sniffing around our super, now. He wants to get his greedy hands on it and dole it out through Centrelink as some sort of pension. He has the time to do it because he’s assured of re-election with his huge majority.
Goodbye to paying off mortgages or buying that big SUV and caravan to take the dreamed of touring holiday around Australia.
I warned about this a couple of years ago.
Can’t agree, Jeff, you ignore too many lof the moving parts of the Aussie political machine at the moment. Expect some dramatic further changes if One Notion’s populist wave keeps breaking over the heads of the established parties.
The democratically removed Mayor, Troy Thompson, has posted on social media that he has just paid $250 to complete councillor training legal requirements. Does that mean he will throw his hat in the ring at the by-election? We shall wait and see. The deluded fuckwit.
Seriously, what on earth is the deal with Harvey Norman and the Astonisher?? This morning I’m counting 18 full page ads (including 2 from Joyce Mayne, which I understand is Harvey Norman-owned), which (including 8 pages of racing form) is well over half of the pre-editorial-page paper. Seriously, when Gerry Harvey wakes up (as one day he will) and decides he’s wasting his money on this form of marketing, the Bully will be completely screwed…and disappear from print editions a day later. No wonder nobody reads the damn thing anymore.
Gerry Harvey ios no mug in all this. As reported here before, when asked in a Perth radio interview why he didn’t just start his own papers with his ad money, or buy ones like the Bulletin, he asked why he would, he indirectly hinted he can call any editorial tune he wants, such is the dependencey on his moola. But now The Good Guys and JB Hi-Fi are also in on the saturation act. One can only conclude it mnst be working for them, after all, if it wasn’t, it be long gone … after all, leaflets through the letter box have always been effective, and the Bulletin is now the electronic version of that standard form of advertising.
The Bulletin has just broken a story regarding Thompson ‘teasing’ about his political future. Wakey wakey Bulletin, old news from days ago. The Thompson story has been ‘teased’ in the Magpies Nest well before Townsville’s worst newspaper published its out of date article. Idiots.
And in truth, The Magpie was third in with Thompson own post which Everything Townsville was first to pick up his post first.
Any news corp news?
The pile on for Thompson is loud, what I don’t understand is his supporters are still there. Just saw about 20 of them around him at the Rockpool tables on the strand, new campaign meeting site perhaps.
Still think it’s Pugh, I can’t stand him, the guys a grub and Hobson is a TEL supporter, and developers daughter, let’s hope a good candidate appears soon. Both have broken the ECQ AND Roadtek signage rules, with the advertising corflutes that they’ve put up, due to the by election not being called.
The Rockpool meeting may well be the latest coven get together of Sovereign Citizens, let’s not allow TwoNames top put that association into the background.