Troy Thompson Goes Full Frontal Trump: ‘I Will Have My Revenge When Back In office’.

That was the message on FB before the blokes in white coats could retrieve the keyboard they had confiscated from the sacked mayor.  This followed close on the heels of last Wednesday’s historic vote of no confidence by all 10 TCC councillors, asking Thomson to resign. He has indicated he will do anything but, ensuring more hillbilly publicity for Townsville, while he plays the ultimate grifter’s game … compensation for his own sins.

Jenny Hill nixes her run for a senate spot, s shuadders through the city.  So is she back in the mayoral market? A Bulletin reporter was on the spot and could’ve asked her. But didn’t.  So SNAFU at the paper, as usual.

Veteran Bulletin columnist John Anderson pays The Magpie a veiled compliment or two … perhaps.

And a princely property goes on the market,  set to make the vendor an honest dollar or two, for a change …

And The Magpie goes in for a bit of rage farming, offering you a video graph of statistics which will make you lose both heart and your temper.

A tempestuous and historic week for Townsville,  but the fun and games are far from over. However, The Magpie will not lose sight that other matters of community import will continue apace, and will welcome input from citizen/journalists – as we call many of the Nest’s readers – who have spotted something of which the public should be informed. And The ‘Pie will be less distracted in his beaverings if you could lend a helping hand to meet the on-going costs of keeping the Nest trundling along.The donate button is at the bottom of the blog. Appreciated.

Disgraced Troy Thompson Promises A Schwarzenegger: ‘I’ll Be Back’.

This moment spelt the end to one of the greatest political misadventures in the annals of Townsville – last Wednesday morning,  June 5. 2024 councillors unanimously voted for a no confidence motion against Mayor Troy Thompson, and demanded his  resignation.

Thompson himself was not there , which raised howls of anger from those awaiting the arrival of the tumbril. and cries of cowardice, but that wasn’t quite the case … in fact, his absence might have been the one sensible decision he has made recently.

Thompson may well have gone into his office at, as he has consistently claimed, about 5.30am. But … and this is The Magpie’s completely reliable information … he left after meeting with the TCC legal team and the CEO.  This group realised the seriousness and the complicated repercussions that the impending council vote would entail, and on Tuesday, had pulled an ‘all nighter’, discussing possible courses of actions and talking on the phone to various witnesses and experts. The ‘Pie knows for sure that those discussions took place until at least 3am, so it is likely the the CEO and his chief legal advisor stayed on to meet with Thompson. This they either did, or contacted him by phone before he left home, advising him about the reality of his position, which they could not support. With that,  and possibly on their advice, Thompson chose not to attend the council meeting.

But despite the subsequent no confidence motion,  he refused point blank to resign, ignoring calls from among others  Premier Miles, and the opposition leader David Crisafulli, to voluntarily step down. Instead, he insisted ‘I am still the mayor’ (technically but not operationally correct) and expanded his views and ‘victimhood’ on rambling Facebook posts,  refusing to acknowledge his exposed lies and history of fraud, domestic violence and false educational claims. In several posts, he made non-specific threats against  that he is believed had wrongly accused him, and as  a wronged party, vaguely suggested he would seek – again unspecified – retribution when he was ‘reinstated’. 

The path ahead for him, the council and this city on this issue is unclear at the time of writing, but last Wednesday’s decisive and uncompromising unanimous vote means, no matter what machinations follow, Troy Thompson will never again occupy this city’s mayoral office.

So What Is This Moral Bankrupt Up To Now?

Well, we know several things for certain about Troy Thompson.

He is a serial and career con man and grifter, with a background of fraud, bankruptcy, business incompetence and a massive capacity to lie – even in the face of overwhelming evidence that proves his dishonesty. He would have us believe he also has ‘mental health’ issues, and his behaviour would seem to confirm that, but has he? He may in fact be a lot saner than his social media weirdness suggests, and in fact may well have successfully used the ‘mental health issues’ ploy before, as when faced with serious DV matters on the Gold Coast.

Backed and no doubt egged on by the dribblers of avowed social disruptors MyPlace, Thompson now appears to be laying the groundwork for a big compensation pay day.  This goes beyond his transparent mewlings about innocent until proven guilty and so on, insisting no judgement should be made until the CCC investigation is completed.  Which could take anything up to a year … a year when he would received his taxpayer funded $200,000+ salary, for sitting on his bronzer and doing nothing more than nibbling grapes, slipping Michelle the occasional length, and further shredding  Townsville’s reputation by his continuing legal presence.  If the CCC outcome gives him the slightest legal opening, he will be in for a big claim, probably the full four years mayoral pay … about a million bucks … balm with which to soothe his self-inflicted injuries.

But The Magpie takes heart that Thompson’s planned year of leisure at our expense may be cut short by one miscalculation he has probably made … his belief that his grift investigation will be dragged out because it is an election year. The very opposite is likely, and the government, stalked carefully by the opposition, will more probably find a way for a faster end to this rort. Miles will then claim sorely needed voter gratitude in return for hurrying things along.

But given this government’s record on curtailing crime in Townsville ,  would you put your money on it?

Great Minds And All That

The ‘Pie is always glad when he is tipped a complimentary nod by fellow professionals,  but he was more than usually chuffed when he got a veiled pat on the back from former colleague and old war horse John Ando Andersen in the Weekend Astonisher.

Maybe Ando was recalling what he read in last week’s Nest, and decided he couldn’t do better.

Ando also gave The ‘Pie a wink and nod when he wrote:

See that, see that!! … ‘mostly by this masthead’.   ‘Mostly’. The Magpie knows code when he sees it, and that is John’s generous way of acknowledging that The Magpie was way ahead of the field on the Thompson story,  including ahead of what he so primly calls ‘this masthead’ … he means The Bulletin. No mention there of ACA’s devastating interview , the straw that broke the councillors’ back regarding any generous latitude they’d given their accidental mayor.

So thanks, oldtimer, very good of … oh, wait a sec. … The ‘Pie might have this wrong. Ando was never a scold or have a judgemental word for his colleagues, but perhaps, just perhaps, he was actually giving The Magpie some of his own critical medicine for the sloppy Magpie’s misquoting the Black Knight, incorrectly saying ‘flesh wound’ instead of ‘scratch’.

Well, OK, Ando, The ‘Pie is humbled … although it sounds a bit gross to say he is eating humble pie. Eating himself?  That’s impossible, as every bloke who’s tried to,  knows.

Oh, No Surely Not …

There are those among us who believe that there is no such thing as coincidence.  And those who believe this, noting that the mayor’s job is again vacant, saw this announcement made 24 hours after the council kicked out the incumbent.

”Opted out”, my cloaca … but more on that in a sec.

The ‘Pie takes little solace from the fact that he made this call when she gushed the news of being a senate hopeful a couple of weeks ago … venturing that Jenny Hill was a non-starter for a spot on the Senate ticket, her personal canvassing of the Prime Minister during  Albanese’s  Townsville visit not helped by her embarrassing honking about media getting off it’s arse. You’ll note in this weekend’s announcement of (wisely) withdrawing her application, she said this:

This prompted stenographer Caitlin Charles to venture that ‘the statement suggests Mrs Hill will not be recontesting if a by-election is called for the role of Townsville mayor’. 

Caitlin, m’dear,  it seems you’ve caught the dread disease that afflicts Bulletin staff known as Leighton Smith Questionphobia. You say it ‘suggests’ but isn’t The Mullet  right there being interviewed by you, so why didn’t you actually ask her, yes or no?  Pretty obvious question, wouldn’t you say, so why didn’t you ask it?

Let The Magpie tell the folks why you didn’t  – because it wasn’t an interview, it was a send-in statement from Hill, trying to make the best out being told to fuck off by Labor’s backroom mob, who wouldn’t touch her or her baggage with a cattle prod. And it didn’t occur to you to pick up the phone and alarm or alay community anxiety.

And take it from one of The ‘Pie’s deep throats in Labor …  this was no voluntary withdrawal,  despite frantically ringing around trying to drum up factional and union support, she was rebuffed at every turn, apparently.  But she might’ve been offered a softener …probably a spot on a board for a few bob, when a vacancy turns up. It’s the sort of rebuff a woman like Hill sees as a challenge to be met. By regaining some office as a base for retaliation.

But the last thing the city would need is a phoenix of a mayor with even more reason to vindictive and secretive as ever she was. Fortunately, highly unlikely to happen.

How The Thompson Affair Tripped Up The Katter Party

Sympathy is rarely an emotion The Magpie experiences for political candidates, but he asks you to spare a thought for dumped Katter Party toiler Clynton Hawks. After many months of hard work as candidate for the up-coming state poll,  trudging endless kilometres in his own time off from his regular job, Clynton was rewarded with a kick in the guts from Robbie Katter, who unceremoniously dumped him for the worst of reasons … the old mates act.  Katter Junior, displaying all the charm of his dad, gave the meaningless reason that ‘it just wasn’t Clynton’s time, he wasn’t the right fit at the moment ‘ . And then promptly slide in failed council candidate and (for god’s sake!) Team Hill member Margie Ryder for Townsville, who has proved an ineffective and largely silent bystander on the crime issue. Just because the council has little power in this area doesn’t mean you can’t talk loudly on behalf of your constituents to those who can dosomething. But back then, they would be Labor, and that was have been a no-no. And we still await to see who the KAP fits to take on Harpic in Thuringowa.

It was bad enough,  especially since the Thuringowa seat will be a strong chance for KAP, but even while he’s still smarting from such an arseole act,  imagine how Hawks feels with the news that the Katter Party prefers a convicted violent criminal to his law-abiding self.

Robbie Katter lost a huge amount of local good will over Hawks shitcanning,  but now has a much bigger headache  to overcome,  with the late revelation that his Mundingburra candidate is a convicted, violent criminal.

First some clarification. The Magpie has never met Mr Pugh and knows little of him beyond what he wrote as the Bulletin court reporter way back in 2005, and The Magpie is a great believer in seeing people turn their lives around, which apparently Mr Pugh has managed to do. This is not about you directly, Mr Pugh, it is about Robbie Katter’s credibility … and sorry, Mr Pugh, if you come out of it a bit negatively, but as someone else has recently discovered, when you run for public office, your past becomes legitimately relevant.

So it was red faced and scrambling Robbie Katter,  gabbling excuses worthy of his father’s fabled squeaking and giggling,  who faced a dilemma of hiso wn making – appear a sloppy administrative leader by not checking background properly, or knowing about Pugh’s past but saying nothing.

There was no a single mention of anything criminal background in this lengthy story last November

Back then, as usual, straight stenography, not a real question in sight.

In the end, Katter had no choice and admitted the party knew of Mr Pugh’s criminal history when they selected him several months ago.  He did not explain why he hadn’t been front and centre about it from the outset, further damaging his credibility and trustworthiness.

So here’s the question for you, Robbie: when did you plan to tell us the background story? Or did you not plan to mention is at all, hoping it would remain hidden until after the election, but the you saw what has happened to Thompson and decided you had to brazen and bluster through it when busted by the paper?  Because dug up it would have been, and well before October, The ‘Pie had the information but had been so focussed on Thompson that the Bulletin scooped him.  Well, after all the shit he’s copped in The Nest, Leighton Smith deserves one win, I guess.

Goodonyer, keepit up.

Recently Fumigated Castle Hill House For Sale

This property just arrived on the market comes with the unusual guarantee that it is now vermin free.  The agents, under instruction from the vendor, say the sale comes with a guarantee that all traces of the vermin odour  – mostly snake oil and Lynx anti-perspirant roll-on – have been eliminated. Check it out at 47 Yarrawonga Drive.

A commodious abode which has recently undergone extensive renovations costing in the vicinity of $2/300K despite the infestation, is expected to fetch between $1.5m to $2m. Which ain’t a bad return even with the further investment in renos … it was bought for $1.055M in 2021.

The property came on the market on Friday,  and while it it is not a forced sale in the usual sense of the phrase, the owner  Prins Ralston has had to hurriedly make arrangements to return south after a major business reversal of an investment in Walker Street.

Mr Ralston will be hoping to make a modest profit on the sale,  to defray the costs of the $2million Brisbane property in Petrie Terrace he and his wife bought in March last year – a very modern 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car home on just under 300m2 and 250 metres to Roma Street Parkland.

Local market observers are puzzled that it took so long for the Castle Hill home to come on the market, since it has been clear a year and half that Mr Ralston’s commitment to Townsville was always going to be temporary.

Auction on July 2b at Keys and Co.

This Week’s Gallery USA

A mixed bag as everyone is hover mode, waiting for the Big Sentencing … which one suspects will be a damp squib.  (Why didn’t think of that great line for a front page in the second ‘toon … The Lady and The Trump? Meanwhile, despite a rolling wave of disinformation, it is slowly dawning on more and more Americans who look at their economy and the latest reforms that they have keeper in Old Joe.

Two Final Items For Your Quiet Contemplation..

First, take the time to watch this moving graph (soundup) … it is about America, but there could be a similar one made here in the near future.

Figures don’t lie, but they can make you cry.  This shows the danger of unelected power through the acquisition of undeserved wealth.

The second matter is closer to home. The ABC has always been a continuing present in the life of all Australians. Even those who don’t ‘consume ‘ABC news or programs are still affected by some outcomes (Four Corners and 7.30 exposes for instance).  But in an overall sense has Auntie lost her way?

This is a brilliant and engaging analysis and the best of lively writing (The’Pie is soooo jealous)   –  suggests how the ABC has veered off its traditional and until now, jealously guarded independent policy.

And Finally, A Goodnight Message to Townsville From A Beloved Son

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The ‘Pie won’t lie when he says he’s glad that’s all over for the week, keeping up hasn’t been easy. But comments have provided prime entertainment, which you can be part of, just pick a name and let it flow. the donation button to offer some much needed help with donations is below.