The utter futility of Troy Thompson pathetic ‘dismiss council’ petition could well be, in the words of one Nester, ‘hammering the final nail into his own political coffin … this isn’t dissent, it is self-sabotage.” It is difficult what this self-aggrandisement aims to achieve, but The ‘Pie has a beak around in this social media litter box.
Is it dangerous irresponsibility to open Ross River Dam to recreational use? There is clear evidence that this issue needs to be more closely examined in the face of irrefutable evidence of risk. What the hell have the council been thinking?
The wheels have fallen off the Liberal limo. What they need now is one of those time travelling De Loreans. It isn’t so much a matter of back to basics, it really is a back to the future exercise for this shattered party. And perhaps the way forward will become clear with a trip back exactly one decade, when a bold experiment was tragically cut short
There is two ideal opportunities for the ABC to have a much needed ratings boost ratings. One by seizing the moment to revive a former hit, the other by axing one of the biggest embarrassments of recent years.
We make our weekly visit to US politics, which spectacularly shifted to the Middle East during the week.
EOFY registrations are coming into the Nest, and assistance meeting their costs and other on-going hits would be greatly appreciated. The link to help out is at the end of the blog.
The Absurdity Of Troy Thompson.
What is surely the end game in this unhappy chapter in our city’s civic history has descended into low farce, with this wholly pointless, last-gasp effort from someone who is now rapidly unravelling before our eyes. (Please note that there is no link to this petition published, The ‘Pie does not want to encourage the developmentally delayed from making bigger fools of themselves.)
Getting a lecture on principles from Troy Thompson is like getting boxing lessons from Les Walker. Or healthy cooking tips from Erin Patterson.
But what cannot be fathomed is just what this bozo could possibly think he will achieve with this base fuckwittery … apart from further damage the false image of the city as an administrative basket case. We of course have our problems lingering from the past, and nothing could ever be perfect, but this latest attack is based on what? There may well be some suggestion of past maladministration, but Thompson offers not a single shred of evidence offered to support his vague attacks on current councillors and senior TCC staff.
And an important note if any cares, keep a close eye on the location of those who sign up to Thompson’s piffle. we already have one bloke from Tenerife in Brisbane bemoaning the rates he has to pay in Townsville (huh?) and you’ll recall the other bullshit petition to the TCC from Thompson fanboys at MyPlace about fluoride. A couple of councillors noted that many of the names were from people not in Townsville, many from interstate. including the Mornington Peninsula area of Melbourne, founding home of the MyPlace sovereign citizen tinfoilers.
But again, this whole thing is all about you, Troy, isn’t it, with no thought for the ordinary business people you are kicking in the head.
Your move shows you have completely abandoned the idea of acting in TCC’s best interests — and under the LGA 2009, that’s critical. By actively campaigning to get the whole council sacked (including yourself, the only upside in many an opinion) ), you’ve basically repudiated his duties as Mayor.
The ‘Pie thinks he has posted this on Change.org, but there be a glitch or two with some confusing instructions (old codger here!!). Anyway, if it works, spread it far and wide for signatures, if not, feel free to take the material and post it yourselves.
Something’s A Bit Fishy About This … And The Bulletin Should Be Reeled In Over It
Nothing like a weak pun to get the paper’s attention/envy about this story. But all this fist pumping about a win for the fishos is again just as much as our incurious paper wants to tell us … but seems it really amounts to a very expensive exercise in ‘kiss and tell’ … all fishermen can do is catch and release, and never eat their haul.
Someone should check who polluted the waters with that plastic monstrosity.
But in amongst all the high flying and political preening, something is amiss – dangerously so – which could mean this token sop to the fishing lobby is about all that will happen. on Ross River Dam.
And maybe rightly so, depending if you are willing to follow the science … Indeed, the question can be asked on solid evidence, what the hell are the vote-hungry councillors thinking? This from a Nest reader with some apparent knowledge of the issue.
| AFR |
Submitted on 2025/05/17 at 10:37 am | In reply to Ducks Nuts.
Ducks Nuts is correct – but it is not just Travis saying it. The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, which TCC claims to conform to, says you should protect your catchment as much as possible so that you have multiple barriers. Trading off catchment protection in favour of more treatment goes against the core principles of the ADWG. This is where Frothy got it wrong – just because you can (courtesy of the Mullet and her lapdog CEO) does not mean you should. The staff who were fighting against recreation were doing exactly what they should do and do not deserve to be put down by an ex-Councillor (or by Guy) who know nothing about water treatment. As for comparisons to other dams, a WA Parliamentary Enquiry into recreation on drinking water dams did a visit to Qld and in regard to polluted catchments concluded “Qld is the extreme and is by no means the model that the rest of Australia, or indeed the rest of the world, would want to follow.” The politicians on the enquiry concluded that WA should continue to totally protect drinking water dams and not give in to the pressure of allowing recreation on them. Magpie made a comment about water systems should not be operated by foreign owned companies – it is even more important that water systems are not under the control of self serving Mayors and Councillors! |
And this is unequivocally backed and agreed by none other than the the Townsville City Council itself. They clearly know the dangers not just of swimming, but of eating fish caught there.
So all this money is being spend on a kiss and tell for fishos … catch your fish, get a selfie kissing it … then release it before heading off to the pub to tell your mates about it … and of course the one that got away.
But Revenue Chances Remain
| The Magpie |
Submitted on 2025/05/13 at 6:38 pm | In reply to Mad Jack.
On water activities are said to be next, under the recreational usages that under consideration. The ‘Pie understands that the Great Northern Brewing Company is seeking a licensed vessel for sex cruises on the dam, as a subliminal reminder that their product is fucking close to water. |
In The National Arena, It’s Not Only The Liberals Who Need A Reset – So Does Australia.
Momentus events have seen us as a society veering way off course from our traditional self-image. The Liberals failed to adjust to these. changes, and gifted Labor a dangerous (as it would be for any party) whopping majority.
But can the Libs claw their way back to relevance?
Well. the blue print is there, sitting dormant since 2015, waiting finalisation to suit a rapidly transformed modern Australia. it was a work left unfinished by the death of a former Liberal leader and and much revered or reviled (depending on your ribbon), the former prime minister, Malcolm Fraser. When he died in March of that year, he was just a 12 months short of launching a new party that would return Liberal values back to where they could honestly represent the changing demands of an exploding population.
It is fair speculation that Fraser knew that the infighting after Howard would result in policies and instability that ultimately led to the result of the recent election. He had seen what happened after he was rolled by Bob Hawke, and how Hawke and Keating consolidated their power by moving to the centre of the political spectrum (superannuation, anyone? Maybe a wages accord to stop rampant industrial action crippling the economy?) Troubled by the shallow leadership and extreme policy positions on offer from a Liberal party in internal turmoil, in 2009, Fraser decided that a reset back from the edges of the right was the only way to be a viable force in the modern Australia. He resigned from the party he had led for decades, and for the following four years, he worked on a manifesto for a new party be called Renew Australia. In this article written in the week of his death, the sometimes readable Van Badham outlines what we have lost It is summed up in the headline.
The current Liberals, and the Nationals, could well do to revisit Fraser’s vision … it wasn’t utopian, it wasn’t for the most part divisive, and the policies were debatable without attracting hysteria (cf nuclear power). Patrician that he was was, Fraser in his later years was a humanitarian in action as well as words, but he was above all a passionate Australian.
But it is hard to see where a leader will come from in these times to lead the party back from the cliff edge. And that is something even Labor voters should see as a good thing – enduring large majorities that exist because of no viable, debatable alternatives always end up in bitter tears and factional self-destruction.
But Let’s Face It The Sniping At The Moment Is Good Fun
And of course, as The ‘Pie predicted, we are awash with puns involving the name of the new leader.
The kiddies at the Bulletin had better be careful, this is dangerous territory for punning. 
But The Current State Of Play Offers A Playful Opportunity for the ABC
A ratings windfall is in the offering for Auntie, given the changing political leadership and faces, both in Canberra and elsewhere in Oz. This is a prime example of opportunity …
… to bring a new cast to the unforgettable Rubbery Figures
This was inspired stuff and a must-see back then, and it would be even more so now. Think what they could so with Barnaby Joyce, Pauleen, and Fatty Palmer, Albo et al . C’mon Auntie, how about it?
And since we’re here, Auntie, do yourself a favour an immediately yank that 6.30pm embarrassment Clair Hooper’s House of Games. involving the hapless and otherwise funny comedian. She has somehow got herself trapped in this humourless toe curling mistake, which suffers from its replacement comparision for Hard Quiz, a live audience format that even Tom Gleeson’s lame dad joke schtick hasn’t managed to kill.
And another thing. The ‘Pie has always been an mild admirer of the tenacity and no bullshit agenda of 7.30’s Sarah Ferguson, but lately, she is displaying some unfortunate hubris, possibly brought about by her tough bossgirl reputation. Her poorly worded, unprofessional attempt at a ‘gotcha’ question to Senator Price on election night was a painful surprise to viewers as well as Price, but the most annoying development is her increased over-talk and interruption of interviewees. She was adroitly put in her place by an unflinching new deputy dawg of the Libs, Ted O’Brien, when she kept butting in unfairly. Keeping interviewees ‘on track’ is a fair practice, but this was just rude and arrogant.
Being a Pom, Ferguson possibly yearns for some sort of title, like her namesake. The ‘Pie obliges.
Amerika
The man who boasted he would ‘drain the swamp’ has just proved – again – that he himself is the alpha swamp monster. Trump’s planned triumphal swing through the middle east was alarming enough in the childlike statements he made at various stop-overs, and one the trade deal, helping bankroll the biggest AI campus outside America in the UAE was alarming enough.
But any positive spin was tarnished by the man who can’t help himself when it comes to helping himself.
Trump’s insistence on accepting the Qatari’s gift of a $400m palatial aircraft has once and for all cemented his place in history as the most corrupt US president to hold the office. Of course, this child/mannikin doesn’t see it that way, telling reporters only a stupid person would down that kind of offer. Which the world, including an increasingly jumpy Israel, sees for what it actually is … a compromising bribe.
This fact has not been lost on the world’s illustrators, and the subject dominated comment ever since the announcement.
……….
That’s enough flapdoodle for the week … there never seems to be a shortage.
Speaking of shortages, EOFY bills coming in – the donate button is below.
It’s amazing what happens when you read of TwoNames latest antics and mention it in public. Half way around the world I did that, and the people at the next table piped up wholeheartedly agreed. Funny where you meet other Townsville residents and can bond over the disgraceful suspended mayor.
Pie,
I went to change.org. I searched Troy Thompson. Two TT petitions came up dated 30 May 2024 (150 signatures ) and 31 May 2024 (9 signatures). I could not find your recent petition. Am l looking in the right place?
Upon further digging the petition dated 30 May 2024 was started by you. Is this it or have you started another?
Probably if The ‘Pie if it called for Bozo’s dismissal.
Dunno. Went through a process that seemed to end abruptly … as it was blog day, didn’t have time to muck around with it. Will poke around today.
Its official, The Australian Bureau of Statistics doesn’t trust Aust Post. I recently received 2 letters demanding that I take part in a survey that I wanted nothing to do with.
I had seen a previous news stories on their powers and the penalties for not answering questions that not even the cops could ask if you are going about your lawful business. Stuff they already have across many different departments. And its digitized. Stuff a well informed person knows they already have.
The law says they can ask a question on ANY MATTER. The penalty for refusing to answer is 1 CTH Penalty unit of $330 and $330 for every day you keep refusing. There is no way out, the only exceptionnios you do not have to divulge your religious belief. Strict liability.
Even the manner in which they send the letters addressed to your household address, unnamed, is bureaucratically threatening and Pythonesque. The first letter from Sean Crick Head of Survey Operations was dated 1 May, post marked 2 May . The 2 nd euphemistically entitled a reminder that your action is REQUIRED dated 8 May post marked 9 May. Each letter said answer by 18 May. Their faith in oz post is that bad they threaten you 9 days in advance now ! If you ignore it they say they can call you. Really? That would be by using the info you already have wouldn’t it? Online you then ask for name and number too which is on MY FUCKING GOV!
The previous and current CTH minister overseeing this is supposedly non factionally aligned Andrew Leigh .
Politicians lie all the time. There are billions in public funds that get squandered yet there is nothing we can do. We can ask awkward questions and be a pain at election time. This can sting. This can cause them anxiety. But guess what , they can keep sending you this shit increasing the personal nature of it till you refuse and they have you. This is a weapon. I smell a fucking rat !
A well worn conspiracy theory, of no consequence. But the trust in Australia Post is certainly a worry.
BTW ios there a census on at the moment, seems pretty quick after the last one in 2020/21. Not asked, feel unloved.
Pretty simple really. Throw the letters in the bin and don’t acknowledge receiving same. Unless they were sent registered post there’s no indication that they were delivered to you. Works for me !
Usually anything addressed to the Resident/Householder is returned to sender with me and a polite note about unwanted/unsolicited junk mail tarted up as a letter.
Usually never hear from again
Our local pustule Twonames has posted 3 or 4 seperate Facebook posts in the past few days regarding the petition to put TCC into administration. A definite desperate last throw of the dice from this obtuse muppet. He is recruiting helpers to do letterbox drops. I think that I might volunteer myself, gram a 1000 of the petitions and instead of popping them into mailboxes I might drop them down by a creek or at the rubbish dump. An absolute sociopath desperate to take revenge on those who did nothing wrong other than highlight how he lied and deceived good people with Is endless lies, spin and bullshit stories. He is as humble and modest as a two-bit thief.
Just got one of the leaflets in my letterbox. There were 3 people in dismiss Townsville city council shirts and caps delivering them. I stopped and asked the woman why she’d support the idiot, she said if it means getting rid of council, why not. She did say they were being paid $100 for 2 hours in west end.
They had a few thousand leaflets to deliver and said there was 4 groups of people in different locations.
They had clipboards too, asking for signatures, interesting to see what happens.
The interesting thing about that attitude – get rid of the council in any possible way no matter what the damage – ignores the odds-on likelihood is that at least half if not three quarters of the current councillors are likely to be returned in fresh elections.
Anyway, its not going to happen – well, certainly not as a result this idiotic exercise.
It’s nice to know I’m not alone thinking Sarah Ferguson has lost her a way (with respect to remaining unbiased, balanced, objective, open-minded & avoiding favouring one side over another). I think it true of ABC & SBS more broadly.
It reminds me of the arguments (since the late 1970s) over the paradigm of impartiality-as-balance – impartiality tending to be understood and practised with reference to creating ‘balance’ by giving equal time to opposing political views – which can have the consequence of reinforcing an institutionalised preference for ‘Knowns’ (official/political, social & economic elites) over ‘Unknowns’ (ordinary folks, including victims & protesters).
I can’t see it changing, noting the BBC did attempt & fail to change this paradigm (eg. the Bridcut Review of 2007); we too have a 2-sided model of impartiality (a ‘seesaw’ more than a ‘wagon wheel’ ), rather than seeking greater subtlety in covering & counterpointing the varied shades of opinion.
Noting the relationship between the dominance of elite sources & the narrowing range of views and information on contentious issues, without a societal catalyst the difficulties of moving beyond impartiality-as-balance in the context of politically exposed public service broadcasters seem insurmountable (despite what their Charters may state).
Would you care to put that last sentence into non-ChatGP language? Actually, maybe in your own words, sum up the whole comment more succinctly and clearly.
Anyway, no such worries in the Nest, The ‘Pie cheerfully does his bit for humanity by trashing any comment praising or just supporting Donald Trump.
Hehe, sure (don’t know how to use or even find ChatGPT…) – just meant we have no-one on the horizon who is likely to be able to be able to shift how things are done. I’ll have to have a look at myself too, since I wasn’t thinking about Trumpism (etc) in any way here, it was entirely about perceived objectivity of Aussie media! Well, to me at least….
The Magpie knew there was a valid point lurking in that jargon jungle. I think by and large the ABC News does a good job on this front, but when it gets into an area where deeper inquiry is required, we strike the problem you mention. All thinking journalists know that there is no such thing as total objectivity, and there has to be some sort of filtering process – as the old joke punchline has it ‘that’s when the trouble starts.’
Sarah’s hubby Tony Jones was sometimes a worse offender than his missus.
I suspect the real issue here is that the news and current affairs shows that feed you right wing views are so very terribly biased that the ABC and SBS appear to be extreme left in comparison. When in fact they are really just centrist.
The ‘Pie has often had similar thoughts, especially when Murdoch leads the war against Auntie. If it came to a choice of Sky of the ABC, intelligent folks would happily keep paying their eight cents a day.
Eight cents a day is a bargain. Particularly when you do the maths on a a daily Townsville Bulletin subscription and the astounding value Gerry Harvey gets.
I think it was down to four cents a day last I saw. Albo should restore the funding to that old level.
From my watching of the ABC they seem to be countering what they see as right wing rhetoric from the commercial with the “Balance” of being equally left leaning. I do not watch SKY or those as my brother in law does enough of that ranting and foaming bullshit for us both, so I have watched the ABC gradually drift left to embrace and reflect the ALP view of the world. Once upon a time they were down the middle with fact and an open forum for both sides to debate, now they see themselves as a counterweight to the right wing without the realization that taking that line makes them as biased as the other side. At least the Sun King has to dip into his profits to pay for SKY, we all pay for ABC.
EXCLUSIVE.
THE BIG CRASH!! How could it happen? The Magpie has the inside information.
THE ‘Pie exclusively reveals the identity of the driver.
https://www.google.com/search?q=%27boat%2C+what+boat%27+ad&oq=%27boat%2C+what+boat%27+ad&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIICAEQABgWGB4yCAgCEAAYFhgeMg0IAxAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IBBAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IBRAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMgoIBhAAGIAEGKIEMgoIBxAAGIAEGKIEMgcICBAAGO8FMgoICRAAGIAEGKIE0gEJNzQ2M2owajE1qAIIsAIB8QUGJcVoNgcbig&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:07b985fd,vid:UadHCpSjyew,st:0
At least we now know he is a truck driver.
Probably one of Australia’s best advertising gems. Always pissed myself laughing at it. Thanks for putting it up, Pie ! (note the position of a comma)
Phew, but for comma there goes the colon.
if it wasn’t it may end up a semi….
Ferguson’s questioning of Price was perfectly in order. Price couldn’t handle tough questioning and her weak response showed her character. Well done to Ferguson for eliciting it.
This was the question.
“Peter Dutton tonight has lost his seat. With your embrace of Donald Trump “Make Australia Great Again” are you part of that loss?”
That is a loaded, speculative and contrived question at the opening of an interview. which purposely and unfairly wrong footed Price in an unanswerable position on a very minor matter. It was a biased and gloating error from the normally tough but fair Ferguson, and if you consider it fairly, it was a bullshit question anyway on a trivial matter that had little or no bearing on the election outcome at all. Or the outcome in Dickson.
That’s a journalist’s point of view, your’s is a partisan political take on the issue.
A bit like that famous yes/no loaded question, “Well Ben, is it true that you have stopped beating your wife?”
Nothing at all like that if you speak English!
“Бобид баярлалаа”
Didn’t know commies were that polite, comrade.
Its like the loaded question the coppers use ‘Do you have a reason for speeding? Answer yes or no and you are imediatley confessing to speeding. The correct answer is of courrse “I was not speeding, that usualy stops the smart arsed bastards. I respect the police but cannot stand coppers!
Trump, Peter Dutton and Jacinta Price’s embrace of Trumpism, followed by it becoming an electoral liability, and Price’s comments about making Australia great again, wearing a MAGA hat, and being tapped to lead a DOGE department were all prominent issues during the election.
Any journalist speaking to Price on election night would be professionally obliged to ask her about it and whether she felt that her unpopular positions had led to the party’s historic defeat.
How would you have phrased the question differently?
“ARE you PART of that loss?”
There’s nothing wrong with that. Jacinta Price’s response was disgraceful.
That’s not a minor matter – it was her saying what was supposed to be the quiet part out loud. G. Christensen has a revealing piece on his page which seems well informed about the Libs having a campaign plan which they backed away from at the last minute. Good odds that plan involved MAGA Oz style until they saw how that was working out for our American cousins
It WAS a minor matter in the overall context of the campaign, or do you think that trumped (pun intended) no firm housing crisis policy, poor messaging on immigration, nuclear power, and Dutton stony, insincere self – he couldn’t sell water in the Simpson desert. Not to mention an economy and jobs data getting better for Labor and therefore worse for the Libs. Price’s idiocy didn’t help, but no mater what you analyse into the election, it was sideshow.
Jacinta Price’s only contribution to the campaign was MAGA stuff, so even if it was minor in the campaign, when you speak to her you ask about it.
Perhaps Mayor Thompson is the smartest man in the room. Cranking up action against Council and pestering the state government could be a deliberate move. The more of a thorn he becomes, the greater the incentive for the state government to pay him a nice fat severance cheque and be done with him.
If Thompson is the smartest man in the room, who makes the rest of the menagerie? Can they manage unassisted dressing in the mornings?
The only times TwoNames is the smartest man in the room, is when he is the only one in the room.
No wonder he spends so much time locked alone in the bathroom. I’m absolutely sure he’s spending time being smart, not wan&!@£……
My take on rec activities with power boats or powered water craft on Ross Dam.
Don’t do it, water quality will be degraded. Lake Ross is shallow and wide too, making worse.
Lake Eppalock near Bendigo is the perfect example of the difference in quality that Melbourne’s water locked up in the MMWB restricted zones and the country towns with open lakes. I have lost all my notes unfortunately but Bendigo at one stage had quality almost breaching WHO guidelines.
Can’t believe this is still kicking around. Plenty of big lakes within 200km that allow these activities.
Don’t think that’s the real issue, Dave, And not sure that recreational boating would degrade water quality. The central argument is that with no way to control the cycle of blue green algae, the water is already degraded and that is why millions have been spent on water treatment technology. So being on the water, let alone in it, is not safe already.
However, perhaps there should be exceptions made for an invitation only snorkelling club for the likes of Troy Thompson and Jenny Hill.
About 25 years ago, happy to be corrected, a water ski club had access to the dam. I well remember one environmentally sensitive water ski boof head boasting how they would charge their boats into flocks of birds. As the birds attempted to take off they would adjust boat speed to that of the birds and grab the birds out of the air.
Catch and release I suppose, then birds, now toxic fish. Townsville has it all.
The impact of the algae on recreation and the impact of recreation on drinking water quality are 2 different issues. The algae levels appear to be so high that for the majority of the time it would be unsafe for any contact with the water – including wading in to launch a boat. Hearing Councillors excitedly talking about proceeding with the future stages of recreation makes you wonder if they actually comprehend the situation. Spending money to let people fish for poisonous barra when apparently the Council is broke was bad enough already.
Indeed. Precisely the thrust of The ‘Pie’s questioning
As i outlined in the comment of mine you refused to publish – herbicide is already sprayed into the water at Ross River dam. Some boats and fishing are inconsequential
Not of someone falls overboard.
Please let us not see the Mullet in a wetsuit again.
Agree … the pink doona was trial enough for us.
Thompson is deluded by thinking that all of Townsville love him. He has a small posse of dumbfucks and cookers who latch on to every word he speaks. That is a minority, not a majority. He is continually besmirching Townsville to a degree that it is off-putting for investors, businesses, and people wanting to relocate to the region. In plain English, it is a cunt of an act. He is selfish, self centred and self absorbed. The sooner this grub is despatched to another planet the better. He is a loose cannon that is lighting bushfires daily. Just fuck off Troy.
Agreed on every level. It has gone too far now, he is a liability to the entire city, investment, momentum. The QLD government should have settled up with him long ago. Even if he is ousted now, he will have more reason to go harder, so what is the solution? Like many others in the city, I do think we need to get the broom out, it’ll give us a new start, stop and his whining once and for all.
Why do all those folks now flooding public comment arenas like The Nest and Text The Editor make it seem inevitable that Thompson will get some sort of payout,
based on a highly unlikely assumption he actually has a case against the authorities? The ‘Pie is highly suspicious of such a view, and many of those spreading it are certainly directed by TwoNames and probably his legal people (not necessarily you Brett, but like it or not, you’re in that cohort of thinking).
It’s hard to imagine this puerile attempt at trying to, or at least appearing to, gain popular public support for his claimed plight has been directed or even sanctioned by any competent and ethical legal advice. This is a pure grifter’s tactic, and can only appeal to the dull and ignorant shallow thinkers in the unfortunately large Townsville Whine Society.
He is using one of the few devices available for community consultation and direct communication to try to drive the residents into a place where we will have absolutely no say or agency at all. It is quite twisted. Can they not see this? Do these morons understand what administration entails? They squawk about rate rises and revenue-raising measures now, but boy, they will be in for a rude shock if they get what they ask for. Who will they blame then? What channels will be available to “have their say”? These Two-Names sycophants are not long-term thinkers, to say the least. Do they think administrators are going to be sympathetic to the demands of their hokey little ratepayer’s association meetings and town-hall meetings?
Costs to the community and individuals will increase, restructuring and council job losses will be likely (the worker bees probably first), and as for those new fancy parking meters sitting in a shed somewhere, they will be quickly dusted off and put to work. Do they believe the community’s so-called victory over the parking meter proposal (which was actually just a pause), will be honoured by outside administrators? Thompson knows all of this well but gives no fucks because he plans to cut and run with a sack of cash. Old Teflon Troy, just like he has done in the past. No wonder he has such a cavalier attitude to insolvency. I believe he does not want or care for council funds to be rehabilitated or improved, he would hate to see this happen under the current council, he does not want them to work through this challenge which many organisations are currently facing, his sphincter convulses at the mere possibility of council making measured cuts or improvements (as is their job) because God forbid, they may begin to appear functional.
Simply the most intelligent and well argued comment published here on this issue.
Thank you.
Where is Landsdown? I cannot see it on Google maps. I am inclined to drive out there and see how my ratepayer dollars are being spent.
Wonder if we could make it a tourist attraction for bus tours by renaming it ‘Jurassic Park, the north Queensland Pompeii’, and touting it as ‘the graveyard of an ancient corrupt kingdom dating back to the Mulletenillium.’
Yes, but where is it?
Perhaps Landsdown is inhabited by a mythical rainbow serpent that enables the location to remain invisible to inquisitive people wanting to take a look?
Turn left at Hanging Rock and keep driving – if you reach Woop Woop, you’ve gone too far!
Search for Drive It NQ or Ghost Gum Road, Calcium. They’re in the middle of the so-called precinct.
B.M.,
Thank you.
The aggressive Sarah Ferguson reminds me of the stern, no nonsense school teachers in the 1950s. When she appears at the start of every show, staring grimly into the camera, I keep expecting her to snap, “This is the 7:30 Report. Sit up straight and no talking. ”
I don’t doubt her journalistic qualifications and have even seen her give Labor politicians a hard time once or twice, however, there is no mistaking her dislike of any other political party. In this, she was ably backed up by the sour Laura Tingle.
Even the soft sorties are seriously presented. Then, on the far side we have Sky News.
Screeching derisive females and males who look badly constipated when they spit their outrage at the latest criticism of the orange man’s latest antics.
Isn’t there an evenly balanced current affairs program out there that can present both sides fairly? There will always be some bias, however, at this time, we only get extreme left or right presentations.
In the words of the late, great Eric Baume, “This, I believe. “
Accurate summary except for one thing … the irony of the last liner …. if you were wishing to choose someone closer to your ideal of balance, you could do a lot better than the opinionated master of calculated outrage, Eric Baume.
Sky News proper is ok, SAD (Sky After Dark) is a loony bin.
(I’m surprised that Jeff isn’t a fan!)
Agree. Up until the padded cell door swings open. at 6pm, Sky actually has a solid news service. Well, what The ‘Pie has seen of it…. he confesses he gets most of his news online nowadays.
Ah Jeff, you could always watch ACA. There’s some hard hitting journalism there
Thompson has posted again on Facebook today. He is really escalating his desire to see Council put into administration. He is totally obsessed. One has to question his mental wellbeing. He is really ill.
What about turning negatives into a positive by offering tours of Townsville’s many white elephants.
Landsdown, of course, closely followed by Flinders Lane, the Boardwalk from Nowhere to Nowhere, the sheds on Castle Hill, and the Palmer Street alfresco dining precinct.
I’m sure other nesters can add to the itinerary.
And who better to host the tour than temporary mayor Greaney, who has had played a part in creating all of them.
But you missed the main one if you’re after magical mystery tour spots.
Brumme-Smith and that very unfoxy Woolfe person could give guided tours of their offices, highlighting the new coffee machine in the kitchenette and the three framed letters of appreciation from cruise passengers (they loved the frisbee activity on the Strand.) But how they manage to still exist is not revealed, it remains magical and a mystery.
The stadium, HMAS Townsville …
Interesting post by an apparently Townsville-based historian Benjamin Jones on the Liberal Party’s woes “The Coalition is Killing the Liberal Party: Especially in Queensland, the L needs to free itself from the NP”
https://aristotlesaustralia.substack.com/p/the-coalition-is-killing-the-liberal
Well Benny mate, seems the Nats took the advise you gave to the Libs and have cut the umbilical.
Interesting days ahead, man overboard not sure from which ship.
Albo must still be in Rome and the Almighty has accepted his “sacrifice”.
Dave Sharma missed the boat yesterday!!
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/could-have-handled-that-better-exvictorian-liberal-leader-pesutto-reflects-on-costly-deeming-fallout/news-story/0d3df347a06c5e5d7949a4a3b6aaa50f
Now for Queensland. KAP will be browning their underlinen big time.
If Phillip Thompson doesn’t get a full shadow ministry out of this then he should defect to the Nationals!
Will definitely be a better match.
The premier has issued a new directive to all departments that every department including the police, must provide the a daily list of media enquiries from journalists to the premiers department.
Is the premiers department short of work? Do they think that the departments are short of work? What are they going to do with this information? Collate a list of journalists that ask questions?
Journalists asking questions? The people from the Astonisher won’t be taking up much Departmental time.
Maybe Crisafulli is getting ready to resurrect the Joh Bjelke Petersen style media conference to feed the chocks as he called them.
It looks like the Community Cabinet isn’t exactly welcoming—most people are getting ‘no ticket to see the Minister’ emails. It’s starting to feel like that familiar ‘we’re too good for you’ attitude has crept back into the Liberal Party. I genuinely hoped things would be different this time—and for a moment, it actually seemed like they might be.
Can’t say I’m shocked.
On what planet is it acceptable that state MPs are doing food shop promos in the guise of “Queensland Tourism”
Crime, Health, Infrastructure, is all they should be concentrating on, talk about amateur hour, these MPs are a disgrace. And the little show pony from Ingham breaks the law and gets off, goes to show the difference better regular Queenslanders and the muppets in politics
Who needs photoshop, reality wins every time?!? Nest reader saw this on a USA trip. What a slogan!!
Chris Pyne and Murray Watt like all day suckers.
Haven’t a clue what you’re on about.
The Prayer Room in Parliament House where Liberals go to kneel but not pray.
Been in there on a privileged tour some years ago. Things are arranged in banquettes all facing the same way and shielded from each other. Preying on each other would be a better description. And many cries of ‘God, oh, yes, God …’.
Parliament House has been the center of numerous sex acts for people of all sorts of perversions over the years. Some infamous and some not so well known. Not a bad life for our most honourable ones.
The ‘Pie has always thought a great title for a steamy political drama would be ‘Cheryl and Gareth’.
But just as a matter philosophical inquiry, name the building of all the structures on this planet, where sex has not taken place?
Be careful this place doesn’t become an echo chamber
That’s a bit fuckin’ rich, coming from you.
Your head is an echo chamber, Guy.
Guy, are you serious?? Your repetitive dribble is an endless echo..
Hahaha! This is the funniest thing you’ve ever said Guy. Also the shortest.
In regards to the Councils current financial position, I agree wholeheartedly that many of today’s issues were caused by a decade of authoritarian rulership of the incompetent team Hill. Poor decisions have led to poor financial outcomes. However, I also believe that the current system of how local government is funded, a system that has been place now for 50 years, needs a refresh. Also, all Councillors should have a financial or business background and experience in those areas. Sliding up a greasy pole and ‘mates rates’ doesn’t give you the best qualified people for the job.
Thompson’s calls for an administrator to be brought in appears to be over the top as it’s being born out of a lust for revenge, not what’s best for the community. However the community deserves better and some big decisions need to be made on how to get TCC financially viable again. Administration is a painful process and I doubt that Twonames has any understanding of that.
Safe work SA has charged AGL for exposing workers to lead. The WHS Acts around the country have provisions about exposing the public to risks through unsafe workplaces. This case will have implications for places like Mt Isa where successive governments have allowed the public to be contaminated by lead. And it’s not just lead. It can be fumes and carbon monoxide from using combustion engines indoors. The symptoms are the same. ABC story here https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-20/criminal-charges-laid-against-agl-over-lead-exposure/105312796
Crikey, everyone using a lead pencil will be exposed. All art classes will be cancelled in schools and elsewhere, accountancy work will be frozen and landlords won’t be able to fill in leases with pencil , which can be erased and changed after signing. Chaos reigns, while we now await the Chris Bowen Air Writer, which has a little windmill on top to gather harmful elements carried by air and converts them into a harmless liquid that transform in to pencil-like writing and drawing. The current test model is working perfectly, but will not be available until approx. 2040, by when they will have figured out how to reduce its size down from the current 12 metres to something you can hold in your hand to sign your tax declarations.
2B or not 2B
Good one!
Chris Bowen, has the appearance of a Bowen mango…..probably that’s what’s inside his head. Looks like there’s space for a couple more.
On the afternoon toot again, mate?
Do you think that lead pencils contain lead?
Trust your recoverying well from the successful humour bypass.
Lead poisoning comes in many forms. Ben Hall suffered an extreme case.
As Trump will soon. But not soon enough.
The ‘Pie actually thinks one of his security detail will quietly put down this sick racoon at an appropriate moment.
Meanwhile, here’s one just for ypou Johnny Putrid.
Get your joke, ‘Pie, (good as always) but that’s a bit of poetic licence.
As you obviously know, pencils do not contain lead, the metal. The “lead” in a pencil is actually a mixture of graphite and clay. The more graphite, the softer and darker the pencil’s point will be. The term “lead” has been used for centuries, but the true “lead” in a pencil is graphite, a form of carbon.
Inevitable. Just fucking inevitable.
We could all see this one coming.
It looks like Mr Magoo is handing the chief Catholic a set of 1970’s curtain samples.
“See” would have been sufficient, but I guess too subtle so they wrote a headline that makes zero sense.
Ahh the new leader of the biggest business in the world that pays no tax. Amen.
https://youtu.be/X2GqKsDHJS4?si=lrWQGZg3wpOC0Tz-
Just because something is possible does not necessarily make it a good idea, for example, country a western music, T Thompson as Mayor and in this case escooters.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
You have to be a very ‘special’ person to enjoy??? this. But posted anyway, because it highlights why these bloody things must be better regulated.
In the 1960s and 70s, having to deal first hand with the human tradgity of unrestrained occupants in motor vehicle crashes, it was the medical profession who spearheaded the push for the compusary use of seatbelts in Australia.
When there is enough dead and maimed escooter riders and innocent pedestrians again the medical profession may act. Sure as hell the politicians will not affect change off their own initiative.
There is only one way that scooters can remain an transport option anywhere … restrict them to separate cycle pathways, and ban them from footpaths and roads. There is no inherent ‘right’ that unregistered vehicles in the charge of unlicensed operators should be allowed to endanger the well being emotional or physical – of legal road users. And this decision for expensive infrastructure can only be made when there is documented evidence of scooters popularity as a legitimate part of urban transport.
Councils and private companies making use of road networks for gain is not acceptable.
The nose dive is getting steeper … this is simply nuts.
Using the council forecourt to set up a table with a petition to sack the council. And manned by some galah someone doing a Harpic – and we all knew how that went. You can bet this was set up, snap and run … The ‘Pie can’t see that this was legal on TCC property anyway, without specific permission. Which wasn’t given. So the deterioration of Troy Thompson has reached the point where Thompson seeks support to sack a council he says is breaking the law, by breaking the law himself (or sanctions same).
The man is clearly ill. Can no one intervene?
Could be one of Twonames my cooker mates. Or maybe Harpic has returned. And this ‘Batman’ looks like he is dressed up for neighbourhood watch duties, namely peeking through windows in the early hours of the morning. What an absolute freak show this has turned in to. Thompson is a desperate fool who has lost his marbles.
Thompson is a sick fuck. He is thoroughly demented and is a complete embarrassment. What a childish and futile stunt. Talk about biting the hand that feeds him. And seeing that he is ramping up his attack on Council, I hope the state government is going to ramp up its actions against the childish mayor.
The photo was published online by the Bulletin but the article was about the MCU approval to develop an over-50s style estate with transportable homes on Bohle Plains. Normally a green- light like this would be a front-page splash. Interesting down-play.
Two Names is being ignored by local media, business and council, as is prudent, but, a deep dive feature in the paper about administration, what it actually means and it’s impact would inform residents. Attention should be drawn to this very serious process. It’s all very well wanting to dissolve the council, but Thompson wilfully skirts over the real-life consequences of his final remaining alternative to exact revenge.
You’re correct in every aspect.
This is gross irresponsibility by the Townsville Bulletin – call it timidity or incompetence or some hidden agenda or lack of capable reporters – but it is a glaring condemnation that the paper has not once even remotely broached the subject that everyone has been talking about … the real financial situation of the TCC and possible factors that brought us to this point in time. This is an issue totally divorced from Troy Thompson, it is a stand-alone issue far more important than this side show clown. Perhaps one reason for the Bulletin’s abject silence is that any forensic analysis (done by a truly independent qualified entity – which would cost money) is that the paper and its previous editors would have to carry responsibility for allowing Hill to get away with her hubristic gross negligence and instead have their corporate lips firmly attached to the Mullet’s backside.
So c’mon, Jill Poulson, you played little or no role in this gross oversight, how can you ignore this elephant in the Townsville room? (And printing a rosy media felease from the TCC (probably with a photo of co-culprit Greaney) and an anodyne bunch of unexamined figures and claims by the state government IS NOT journalism.Do your job, and do it properly.)
That said, whatever is turned up doesn’t mean this council should be put into administration … not if the current executives and councillors are seen to be addressing the reality of situation. And we will only know if they are doing that if the reality of the situation is transparent for all to see.
Its a worry. Whether it be laziness, incompetence or worse (censorship) , it all just creates a dangerous information vacuum.
I like how pustule Twonames has placed all his eggs in the one basket. He has gone for TCC’s jugular and is pushing for them to go into administration. But here’s the thing, generally speaking, it was the previous Council who created the majority of the debt, technically speaking, not the current council (bar a couple of Councillors). Overall, the current crew need to be given a chance to address their finances.
And if Twonames fails in his bid to have TCC put into administration, what has he got? I will you what – he has nothing. He has burned the TCC bridge and he has caused damage to Townsville, and by default, local businesses and businesses from afar who are looking to invest here. He has also pissed of the state government. He has hurt the entire region on his quest for revenge. He isn’t worth touching with a 10 foot pole. All he will have is either a payout to live off, or a huge debt if he loses his legal action. Foolish man.
There won’t be any legal action. He’ll pony up for a couple of preliminary scare ‘em letters and such, but The ‘Pie is will to bet there will be no court case about anything … except maybe a criminal one against him, if he’s not careful.
My quick reading of the Act is that, in the case of an administration, all councillors shall continue to be paid. As Thompson is now. So what does the clown expect to achieve? Vindication? Forgiveness? He lied. There’s no getting around that. There will never be any justification for that. How is he pulling so many people into his vortex of narcissistic insanity is beyond me.
Generally agree, but disagree on one specific point Grumps … there is no evidence beyond hyperventilating claims on social media that his is a cause celebre, a wrong David up against the Goliath of authority, that is pulling people in. The relatively small cohort of disappointed losers has been consistent, with no discernible increase in numbers. cf his petition has slowed to a walk and at the time of writing, stood at just over 700 after five days …. a long way off the boast of 10,000.
BTW who is going to check the paper signers?
That is all time wasting bullshit, and his petition is the latest and maybe the last desperate lunge for the jackpot.
But The Magpie again asks: why does everybody appear to assume that he will be getting some sort of payout in some shape or form? He wants everyone to think that is inevitable, which certainly isn’t, but the more people say things like ‘pay him out and get rid of him’ suits him … in his deluded frenzy, Thompson seems to think that such an assumption by enough people and it will come true.
It won’t.
He’s now getting desperate, because he knows he’ll never be in the mayoral chair ever again … neither here nor anywhere else.
Unfortunately we are all viewers of the Thompson sideshow. The positive thing is that a decision about his fate will be made within the next 6 months, we are getting there slowly. If that decision is to sack him, and if he fails in his bid to have council put into administration, his candle will have burned out. We will see less of him. Sure, he will stick around for a while, sniping from the sidelines, but he will fade away. And when he does fade away, he will be just a distant memory and Townsville will start to bounce back without Thompsons contribution.
and the rates got higher, the managers and their shills made more money, things got worse and everyone lived happily ever after.
The End
And Guy remained trapped in that bleak, soul-crushing limbo — forever straining toward the spotlight of elected office, yet always falling just short, like a ghost condemned only ever to gaze longingly into the halls of power through opaque windows without ever being invited inside.
So poetic.
Ah, God bless AI.
Has it’s uses
I agree with your view about Thompson. He is a liar, but he is not the only one out there! I believe there are a number of senior people within the council who are both liars and incompetent.
These are the people controlling the council. Just watch the meetings. How many times have you seen the councillors reject their recommendations. Fucking never.
Nothing is going to change. These councillors turn up at meetings totally unprepared. They ask stupid questions after they have voted for something. This council has to continually rely on the state government for assistance to fix a fucking park bench. They give money or grants to businesses who profit from it. Re the stupid fucking Afrekete exhibition on the island.
The council could have replaced 6 Street lights in the picnic bay mall for that amount of money. At least there would be some light part of the way. I am positive that would have provided more benefit to the rate payers than some fucking person dancing around a set of bongo drums.
There is a major difference between Thompson and those ‘senior people’ you accuse of lying and incompetency.
Thompson a known, proven liar. You present no proof that the ‘senior people’ have lied, no instances, examples or documented proof … all of which are out there in Thompson’s case. And much of your suspicions are no doubt based on the sulking weeping of Thompson himself, who also offers no proof of wrongdoing.
Barfly, your big issue is park benches and street lights in…. checks notes… Picnic Bay?
Are you fucking serious? That’s your issue?
No Just one of thousands of issues.
Townsville didn’t get voted SHITTIEST TOWN IN AUSTRALIA TWO YEARS IN A ROW FOR NO REASON.
If you think someone dancing around bongo drums is more important than street lights, I think you need help.
After all, it is supposed to be a pedestrian mall. Don’t know if you have ever ventured out of Townsville, if you ever get the chance, have a look how Townsville’s beloved Picnic Bay Mall compares to other malls around the world.
Ha ha ha ha
I REST MY CASE
Bar Fly, the thousands of issues don’t get solved by constant complaining and cheap shots. Townsville has problems, like most places, but mocking community events because you dont understand them, and acting like the place is beyond hope helps no one. If the only benchmark you have is how Picnic Bay Mall compares to the world’s best malls, maybe the issue isn’t Townsville. Maybe it’s your expectations. Constructive criticism is helpful, being bitter isn’t.
I’m with Ducky on this one, I’m tired of hearing people harp on about practical things like street lighting , potholes smashing car tyres, stuff that doesn’t work and could never work, like pipelines and innovation hubs. We need to get serious about rate payer money being funnelled into managers bank accounts, stuff we don’t need – the more outrageous and downright ridiculous the merrier I say. Ducky is the voice of reason we need here to keep things real.