Why Is Australian Jazz So 'Rapey'? Asking For A Friend

Hi dear availees...as promised, a short, sharp reprise of the who/what/where/why/when of Graeme Lyall and why I find it so problematic just hearing that name...(and given his appalling conduct and quite earned/deserved reputation, I'm sure it's a name that traumatises plenty of people-Ed)...yeah, fair call...so today we're gunna' try to be as focussed and succinct and yet done with good humour, all as the subject matter allows...again...

This topic is covered elsewhere on this 'ere blog, and also in that Facebook post, and how it impacts/triggers my Agoraphobia stuff, etc etc...try not to dwell on it, good days/bad days, all that stuff, but it all bluntly bludgeoned its' way back into my everyday just a few months ago, and then again last week via the ABC SE Radio...(yeah, it's been a tough row to hoe thus far this Year of the Fire Horse thingy-Ed)...indeed, and technically we're only half way through it, February 2026 - February 2027...(strewth-Ed)...but we digress...   

If y'all ain't yet read the relevant New Matilda articles, here's the links, and please peruse these before continuing 'cos I'm gunna' make reference to them that you otherwise may not understand...

https://newmatilda.com/tag/graeme-lyall/  

And having said all that and with this all yet to come, it is not lost on me that there are many people in/around jazz/GIJ/etc, who are just decent people lookin' to participate/contribute, and whom likely have no idea what's going on around them...

Here's the short version; 

1) Alleged jazz doyen Graeme Lyall used access to children via the highly-regarded Generations In Jazz event to groom a teenage girl, stating that he had given prizes to girls he found attractive.

2) Lyall continued to groom, and then Sexually Assaulted the teenage girl at the Jazz Academy, in its' first iteration at Tennyson Woods College (Catholic school).

3) Most if not all of those Sexual Assaults occurred on the Tennyson Woods campus.

4) The Catholic Church/Tennyson Woods investigated and paid the student compensation.

5) In that New Matilda interview Lyall accidentally acknowledges the Sexual Assault whilst complaining that the student had revived/pursued this issue after receiving a pay-out.

6) Knowing all this because he was intimately involved, James Morrison continued to support and even employ Lyall.

7) When this was briefly covered in the Mt Gambier media, the Tennyson Woods principal and a senior local cop were on the ABC SE Radio hosing it all down as 'nothing to see here'. 

8) As covered in this blog, Lyall has since been repeatedly 'employed' by Morrison and/or various jazz events, that have knowingly exposed teenagers/children to him.  

So that, all of that, is stone-cold fact...not a version, not an opinion, nothing to do with me other than I'm the chump stupid enough to point at it and say "What The Actual?"...and I'll add this as further fact...

9) Within 2 days of that radio denial, a rumour-tsunami swept Mt Gambier about what a slut the girl was and/or how she started it and/or she'd done it before and/or she was just after the money and/or a combination of all the above...

And that was the clincher, that's why I knew it was true before I even met the young woman, because that's exactly what the Lutherans did to us at St Martins, ie, protected the "text-book grooming paedophile" teacher and openly attacked us few parents as the only genuine problem, particularly the stuff about "just doing it for the money"...  

And it would be tres remiss of one to discuss Graeme and exclude his mate/enabler James Morrison...in fact, it's outright impossible...but today I simply cannot deal with/do all the stuff about Morrison, eg, his extraordinary public and legal support of his Morrison Jazz Academy student Matthew Harkin...Harkin was charged with 2(two) counts of Raping a fellow student, plead guilty to 1(one) count of Indecent Assault, $500(?) fine, no conviction, bolted outta' the country back to USofA, etc...Morrison gave him a glowing reference (possibly more than one), including petitioning the Court to give Harkin special bail provisions to travel to Melbourne and be recorded for an album...  

People like Lyall do not operate in a vacuum, they require people around them who are either outright supportive of their conduct, weakly ambivalent, or just so extremely self-interested to the point of indifference...enablers and sycophants and sociopaths...and all those who know but are just too piss-weak...and I get that last one, really I do, 'cos the punishment for speaking-out is abuse and ostracisation...(mate, I can almost hear the 'Comments' already; 'boo, Nick Fletcher, boooo, he's havin' a go at GIJ and Saint James of the Golden Trumpet now, boooo'-Ed)...well quite, and again, it's exactly what was done to us parents by the Lutherans at St Martins...(ignore/deny and attack the person/people saying it-Ed)...

Absolutely, but in my shell-like is the booming chorus of "Where Are The Good Men Speaking-Out?"...and I ain't even a good man, fair-to-middling at best...so if I'm so driven by the realities to call this out and knowingly suffer the resultant slings and arrows...(and burning torches and pitchforks-Ed)...yeah, them too, all of that, if I can do this, where's everyone else?...so to tomorrows' post...

Tomorrow: If It Takes A Village To Raise A Child, What Sort Of Village Does It Take To Cover-up The Abuse Of Dozens Of 7 Year Old Kids?

To steal/paraphrase a joke from Derek & Clive, it's a rather long question but it's a very short answer; Mt Gambier...(oh I see what you've done there-Ed)...indeed, and in case y'all hadn't noticed, I ain't exactly feelin' the love for Mt Gambier at the moment, but consider this...if you're reading this and take wild offense, that's likely 'cos you identify, and that's on you, not me...and don't abuse me for dragging this shizzle out into the light, 'cos if this shizzle didn't exist there'd be nought to drag... 

Regular availees will have no doubt noticed that June 2026 is the 24th anniversary of the St Martins Child Abuse Cover-up...or, if you prefer, count-back to when Glyn Dorling was first moved to Mt Gambier by the Lutherans after "an incident in Adelaide" back in the late 1990s, and it's 27th? 28? 29?...  

And I have the great good fortune that every day I leave the house, always a traumatic burden in and of itself, that same Herculean effort rewards me with the presence of just ordinary decent people just trying to live their lives...as am I...(and of course you don't loathe Mt Gambier per se, it's the woefully complicit/corrupt politicians/police/senior Lutherans/etc etc et al that you've encountered/endured since moving here-Ed)...well precisely, and as others frequently remind me, that Clown Posse ain't restricted to just Mt Gambier, they are literally everywhere...(my point exactly, this exact same stuff could've happened in Adelaide-Ed)...indeed, would have likely happened exactly the same, so it's redundant to 'blame Mt Gambier'... 

And to bring it full-circle with this joyous observation; it's obviously not just Australian Jazz that's so 'Rapey', it's just Australia full-stop...and again, if you take offense, to someone stating that undeniable fact, then you are exactly the problem...

I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters... 

 

  

The Good News Is Also The Bad News

Hi to y'all whom have been hittin'-up this 'ere blog recently...obviously, I haven't posted anything since about March 2025, but as you've likely read about some of The Issues involved already, given what doing it has cost me, physically/mentally/legally, it's pretty much a case of self-preservation...I, that is 'we'...(cheers-Ed)...just had to walk away from it for a wee while...and even then, just doing that was problematic in and of itself 'cos I felt driven to address/resolve all this and hugely guilty for 'dropping it'... 

As others have put it to me, just reading the content can be fairly heavy going at the best of times, so it must be extraordinarily traumatising to actually be living this shizzle...and indeed it is, and indeed that's why I started the blog in the first instance...it had/has the dual benefits of 1) allowing me to address those issues in a context where I was otherwise powerless/voiceless 'cos our local mainstream media was/is a big part of the problem...and 2) giving me a massively cathartic conduit to release the anger/trauma and achieve a sense of achievement/resolution where neither actually really existed...

But even after I'd given it away, that compulsion to fight-back, to resolve everything/anything, it relentlessly pushed me to step sortta' sideways into TMGI Facebook...that is to say, I've continued to try and engage with important and even relatively minor issues in a short-form, far-more-polite way by doing a The Mount Gambier Independent Facebook page...by way of example, please be availin' y'allselves of the paste-'n'-copy piece just there below, my most recent post on TMGI Facebook...

Again thank y'all, your support/patronage has inspired me to re-engage with this 'ere blog, and I will embrace what is clearly my strengths if not actual destiny, and continue to butt my rather generous noggin' against the colossal coalface that is fundamental human nature...to the Facebook... 

Hi,

Yet another rather brutal week in my li'l corner of the universe.

As I've oft said; "If you're a halfway decent person, who gives half a plucked pheasant about other persons/humanity and the environment/planet, etc etc et al; and you're halfway informed as to the status/condition of all the aforementioned, then you're in for a very tough go of it.

By way of example.

I've talked briefly about my PTSD/trauma/Agoraphobia stuff, ie, what triggers it and how it manifests, etc.

Because this is such serious/unpleasant/traumatic fare, I'm gunna' try to keep it as jovial as the subject matter allows.

Agoraphobia: has many different triggers/guises/responses, and it can be a bituvva' catchphrase, but we're in the ballpark, yeah?

Mine is essentially/literally every time I leave the house, I encounter some trauma-triggering event.

By way of example and to put it in context for you, let's say it's some sort of issue at your childs' former school.

And lets say that everyone involved who should've acted to resolve that issue, chose instead, to do the exact opposite.

And let's call doing thattttt, I dunno', let's call it 'complicit'.

Then imagine that every time you leave your house, in that very small town, literally every time ya' gunna' have to drive past some related building/place and/or see that person/s complicit, etc etc.

And then imagine, stick with me, imagine that 'cos a' all a' that ya' get unwittingly edumicated about all sortsa' other great stuff about, let's say, Council Corruption, and also, I dunno', 'Grooming Predators' maybe.

Andrew Tate's on the tv/radio/news a lot at the moment, so it's often difficult to even get outta' the house before getting bludgeoned with that dainty trigger-stick.

Which leads us to this; last Saturday morning on ABC SE Radio and an interview about a jazz show in the Main Corner.

The Main Corner Corruption is a story unto itself, and I was just laughing at that when taken by a sense of impending dread.

And I didn't have to wait long; mutual gushing praise for Graeme Lyall.

And if you don't understand why the mere mention of that name is such offense unto mine delicate shell-like, then I envy you, I'd rather not know too.

If ya wanna' know then Interweb-search him; search-term him and 'New Matilda' and/or read TMGI The Blog.

Reckon the young interviewee had no idea, fair enough, but the interviewer knows who Graeme is.

Thanks for reading this through, hope it wasn't too confronting/traumatising, but I can't carry all this stuff all the time, sometimes I just gotta' say it out loud.

Also, it puts into context why I talk about enjoying the pleasant distraction of the minutiae of dog park shelters or dodgy bores, etc, 'cos compared to this stuff, that's a doddle.

Cheers, Nick

Like I said, relatively calm, relatively polite...in fact, given the vast array of cascading traumas that this sent stampeding to thunderous rampage across the battered steppe that is my lived reality, I reckon I've done quite well there...(and not a bad sentence if we do say so ourself-Ed)...ah, yes, for those new to this 'ere blog, that's Eds' way of reminding you that he's a confected literary device used to construct discussion rather than lecturing, set-up jokes, etc etc, ie, it's me, just me...(it's like SAPol Anti-Corruption Branch 'Operation Baritone', that's just you too isn't it?-Ed)...wow, you just will not let that go will you?..(let it go? me, let it go? I might remind you that you write me, soooo-Ed)...ah yeah...(and besides, it's also a remarkable story, an entire SAPol 'Operation' targeting one single person and their blog-Ed)...yes, well, when you put it like that...(we do put it like that 'cos that is exactly what it is like!-Ed)...fa' shizzle...

(And also besides, it doesn't hurt to remember that SAPol and the Court repeatedly refused to address any of the litany of well-documented crimes/issues rampant in this 'ere blog, insisting instead that your 'ICAC trial' was only about us, ie, this 'ere blog-Ed)...fair point...(and do you remember that one hilarious time that Magistrate Ian White did specifically address one issue, ie, the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up, albeit to dismiss it as a fiction, stating "I see no evidence of a cover-up...etc etc"? remember that?-Ed)...I wouldn't call it hilarious, but yes, I recall...(yeah, and as he said it you just stood-up and berated him, "Who do you think you are? You don't get to say whether or not there's been any abuse at that school!"...etc etc-Ed)...sure, and your point?...(the looks on the faces of the various Court staff present, no disrespect intended, but the slack-jawed bewilderment that someone would do/say that-Ed)...yeah okay, that was kinda' funny...

And equally funny, that for all the times/shizzle I've been in that Courthouse, it was/is one of the very few places I could/can go in this town and know I'll be treated respectfully...(it's almost like they've seen so many dickheads through there that they can see 'hey, this one isn't quite as much dickhead as most we've had to deal with', and that dealing with you is going to be a calm and mutually respectful experience-Ed)...     

If you've read enough of the blog to be pre-acquainted with Graeme, you'll fully appreciate 1) really actually how well I've done there (above) to keep it that focussed/respectable for Facebook ...and 2) why I might feel obligated to spell it all out, again, for those whom may not yet have had the pleasure...which ironically but with a definite air of serendipity is how we'll re-launch this 'ere blog, with a thorough post about ol' mate Graeme and all his groovy jazz buddies/supporters/sycophants...

Tomorrow: Grooming, Sexual Assault, And All That Jazz

And I know well in advance that ain't almost nobody gunna' thank me for slingin' mud, albeit factually correct mud, at their precious shreckin' jazz...(well I wouldn't call it mud, I'd call it excrement, and it's excrement of their own creation, so no-one should complain when we return it whence it came-Ed)...another great point Ed, you're runnin' hot today...

I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters... 

 

An Important Update Regarding MLC Frank Pangallo And ICAC

Howdy and welcome to a super-short and entirely self-explanatory post..getting very 'meta' here by re-posting my own Facebook post about my letter replying to Frank's threat text...have at it...***

Hi,
An important update re a recent post.
Mid-afternoon, Sunday 16th March 2025 I received this text (below) from MLC (Member Legislative Council -South Australian Parliament) Frank Pangallo.
I have contacted Mr Pangallo today via email for clarification;

Dear Frank,
I refer to your text message received at 1535hrs on Sunday afternoon 16th March 2025, as copied here for reference;

Hi Nick.
How did you go with digging out those documents for me?
I have just read your blog Nick.
It is seriously defamatory.
I advise you withdraw those comments and apologise.
Frank Pangallo.

What other “documents” are you referring to?
Or are you referring to the dossier of documents re my prosecution by ICAC/SAPol (and attached 7-page index) I provided you a year ago by registered post, at your request, after you first phoned me on 8th March 2024?
I have not heard from you since April 2024, and you returned those documents to me several weeks ago via standard post, without any note/text/explanation why, or as to why you’ve failed to act, etc.
Again, what other “documents” are you referring to?
Your general statement about my blog, The Mount Gambier Independent, is very vague and does not identify what content you consider to be “seriously defamatory”.
What are the specific comments you advise me to withdraw and apologise for?
Yours, Nick Fletcher.

It is an extraordinarily serious matter that a MLC would threaten a private citizen like this, let alone do it on a Sunday arvo.
If and when I get a response from Mr Pangallo I'll post.
Cheers, Nick.

***And that's all...if you need any/more info then just have a wee tool-about on this 'ere blog, most if not all the info you might need is lurking furtively here-in...  

Tomorrow: But More Likely Next Month

Obviously haven't stopped TMGI altogether, but very much enjoying being able to spend extended time away from it without feeling 'guilty' that I should somehow be doing more..

I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...

 

Open Letter To The Residents & Ratepayers Of Mt Gambier & Districts

 Hi, hope you're all well and stayin' cool if that's your thing, etc etc...short post, not least of all 'cos I just can't be bothered right this moment to do more...(also, everything here-in is effectively a reference to multiple other posts on said issue/topic-Ed)...well exactly, and in that vein, let us open with this cut-'n'-pasted 'Reply/Comment' I left this morning on the Most Excellent Mt Gambier & Districts Residents and Ratepayers Association Facebook page...(I've included the MEMGDRRA 'Comment' for context-Ed)...cheers, good idea...***

MEMGDRRA 'Comment'

Unfortunately this is the case. The ability to investigate, remove them and place the Council under administration is purely up to the Minister. Comments on here about community "vote of no-confidence", "petitions" etc. are not readily applicable. People need to write directly to the Councillors to express their displeasure and then vote them out if they don't get adequate responses. Sad but true!

My 'Reply/Comment' 

Mount Gambier & District Residents and Ratepayers Association Inc. Apologies for repeating myself, but in late 2013 I submitted official, document-supported reports/complaints to Don Pegler (then Member for Mt Gambier) and the Ombudsman re some of the litany of 'Corrupt' actions by Mt Gambier City Council, eg, Insider Trading, Nepotism, Theft, that I'd witnessed while attending MGCC meetings, etc. By law those reports had to be sent to ICAC, who then did almost nothing before completely exonerating MGCC. ICAC and SAPOl then came after me via SAPol 'Operation Baritone', raiding my home, changing the ICAC Act to prosecute me in a 4 year trial, etc etc, before 'Convicting' me in my absence. 'The Minister' knows exactly what diabolical financial trouble MGCC/Ratepayers are in, and exactly how they/We got here, and that's exactly why 'The Minister' will never act. The last thing the State Government wants to do is bail-out Mt Gambier. Cheers, Nick. 

***And that right there pretty-much sums it all up, albeit it in a very polite 'Facebooky' sort of way...regular availees will understand why for me, it's a very short, very thick, very dark line between any 'Corruption' issue and the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up...(oh, did I mention? they've put out a book, last year I reckon, celebrating 40 years of St Martins-Ed)...have they..(yes indeed they have-Ed)...well bully for them...anything for 2002?...(well certainly nothing about sacking teacher Glyn Dorling for grooming and physically abusing the 7 year olds in that class, and then acting to cover-up that abuse, etc-Ed)...well I'm sure it's just an unfortunate oversight and they'll acknowledge the truth in the 80 years edition...regular availees will also understand from the tone and content, that we here at TMGI The Blog are not in a particularly good mood today...(mood schmood, it changes nothing of the factual accuracy of the content, merely steers the phrasing somewhat toward the ribaldly direct-Ed)..."ribaldly direct", nice, but Language Warning, I'm not sure that saying "they've fucked everything beyond repair" is strictly 'ribald'...(well cooeee Capt Pedantic-Ed)...let's move on...oh, and End Language Warning...

1) It's Too Late Baby Now It's Too Late:...the damage is done long, long ago...going back across at least 2 decades, I have personally witnessed the relentless, Institutionalised Corruption of Mt Gambier City Council, so there's a vast history of Corruption in MGCC, in the Elected Members, in MGCC's senior paid staff, and a resultant litany of Insider Trading, Nepotism, Fraud, Maladministration, etc, before you even get to Wulanda...

2) That Shizzle Has Sailed:...Mt Gambier's new 'Outdoor 50m Pool' reminds me of an Aussie beach...(how so?-Ed)...well from above it looks it's sunbathing topless in a thong...(aha, is that a witty reference to the fact that there's only a tiny strip of shade-sail awning over the shallow end and the rest is entirely exposed to wind/rain/cancer-causing UV, that sortta' stuff?-Ed)...yep, all anybody really wanted was an 'Indoor 50m Pool', and $100+million later, there's no cover and it's still closed half the year due to heating/running costs...(and that money is long gone but the debt will remain for the foreseeable forever, and all the MGCC lies/deceits/gaslighting and gross Maladministration, all of that, it's all done-Ed)...indeed it is, now all that remains is the continuing MGCC deceits/lies/maladministration, the upward-spiralling debt, and all the associated secrecy, etc etc...

3) No-one Is Coming To Save You:...certainly not the pathetic 'Minister', who-evs that is this week...besides, these stooges are all the same animal, and they all know, Labor/Liberal/Alleged Independent/whatevs, you don't get allowed into the barrel of monkeys that is the South Australian Parliament unless you're already rotten, unless you play the game their way, unless you are complicit...

And if y'all think I'm being a bit heavy-handed with the 'complicit' stuff, bear with me, we'll get there...I routinely go back and read old posts, get a few paragraphs in and go 'strewth, angry old man much'...(but then get a few paragraphs further and quickly re-evaluate to, 'strewth, no wonder you're angry'?-Ed)...precisely, as cathartic as it can be to get some of this stuff out there, re-reading can be re-traumatising...but we digress... 

4) Run For Council:...off ya' trot, best of luck to ya's...it's a carefully 'fixed' Liberal-dominated structure and once on there you will toe-the-line/remain silent/be rendered complicit, or be subjected to bullying/harassment/actual legal threats from MGCC...three potential candidates have asked my advice on running, and I pointed them to MGCC's very chequered history of Corruption, but more importantly, the MGCC 'Secrecy Provisions'...(as I understand it that includes Councillors being required to officially 'Log' any random convo they have with some random down the street or at the supermarket, etc-Ed)...terrific, but I was referring to the much more concerning and very specific 'Gaol Time For Talking About Council Business' provisions...(oh it's all fabulous stuff, and all done in the best possible taste-Ed)...sure, and each of those 3 came back to me and said 'thanks, I had no idea, I ain't stickin' my beautiful neck in that noose'...(that's a very specific sentence for 3 unrelated randoms to say-Ed)...paraphrasing mate...

5) Wouldn't Touch It With A Ten Foot Pole:...MGCC has such an appalling reputation that no-one who truly understands wants to be dragged into it...there wasn't a single candidate for Mayor last election, only the incumbent, so no-one got to vote for or against anyone at all...and this 'No Candidates', it wasn't a glowing acknowledgement marking years of high achievement, stunning success, it was straight-out 'I ain't touchin' that'...(the year you ran for Mayor, was it 2014?-Ed)...yep, 2014...(10 years ago now, wow...anyway, in 2014 how many candidates?-Ed)...8...(8?-Ed)...yeah 8, me included, and 2 serving Councillors, 5 others...and point there is, some people have said that I should've run for Councillor instead and I'd have likely got in...(but then as a Councillor you'd have been effectively silenced, upto and including having to stop this 'ere blog, by MGCC's extraordinary, self-imposed 'Capital' sanctions re even discussing MGCC business-Ed)...as I explained, and each person has conceded that as validating my unlikely tilt at Mayordom-ness rather than Councillor...  

6) Did We Mention 'Complicit'?-...'cos that's arguably the biggest hurdle that anyone faces when trying to address MGCC's Institutionalised Corruption, how complicit everyone else is...take for example, the South Australian Independent Commission Against Corruption...(I got this, as described above, and in multiple posts on TMGI The Blog and TMGI Facebook, the ICAC, under the specific direction of Commissioner Bruce Lander, did a 1-hour/2-chats 'investigation' of MGCC, nothing recorded, no hearings, no Elected Members even spoken to, etc, then completely exonerated MGCC of any and all 'Corruption'-Ed)...and then...(and then, under the specific control/direction of Comm Lander, ICAC investigated you/us/this 'ere blog, and then Comm Lander directly personally referred you/us/this 'ere blog to SAPol's Anti-Corruption Branch-Ed)...and then?...(and then SAPol 'Operation Baritone' specifically about you/us/this 'ere blog, 4 years in Court being prosecuted by SAPol, etc etc etc-Ed)...yeah fair enough, it's all here in other posts if y'all wanna' read more detail...

So when 'sorting-out' the problems with the FARC, you not only have to sort-out all of MGCC's Corruption, but you also have to sort-out the levels of corruption demonstrated by, for example, ICAC and it's unequivocal protection of and support for MGCC's Corruption...

And I'll go a step further and state that my 'Conviction', as it happened in February 2018, was the ICAC giving MGCC a big fat green-light to indulge in even more rampant Corruption, and that it is no coincidence that literally that week in February 2018 Liberal MP Tony Pasin, former MGCC Councillor and himself directly complicit in MGCC's Corrupt Conduct, that's when Tony started his now notorious 'Mt Gambier Must Have An Indoor Pool' campaign...(big call, but fair-Ed)...yes it is...

I genuinely believe that all involved were simultaneously celebrating and congratulating themselves, etc, thinking that with my 'Conviction' TMGI was effectively over, would be shutdown by the Court, etc...(and/or that you'd give up, but yeah, the trial farce was definably about shutting-up you/us/this 'ere blog-Ed)...and that this 'Conviction' and forced silence meant open slather on even more intense, voluminous MGCC Corruption..(and here comes Tony's $39.1m Indoor Pool that realises as a $100+m debasco (debacle/fiasco)-Ed)...yep...(yeah, it is an extraordinary coincidence of timing-Ed)...well, as I'm stating here, I don't believe there is any coincidence at all... 

So I lay-down this specific but very simple challenge to any Mt Gambier City Council Elected Member, past or present...and I don't wanna' hear "oh gee whiz I would, really I would, but MGCC has reams of really strict 'Secrecy/Confidentiality' rules"...(but they do have reams of rules-Ed)...sure, but what I do want to see/hear is one single person publicly state that it's not appropriate for MGCC to utilise 'Secrecy Clauses' and alleged 'Commercial Confidentiality' to effectively hide the truth about the cost of the FARC (Farcical Aquatic Recreation Centre)...(sometimes called Wulanda-Ed)...fine, Wulanda...(or 'The White Elephant'-Ed)...okay...(or the 'Oh My God What Have We Done!'-Ed)...you done? yeah? and I know I'm wasting both our's time dear availee even raising this challenge, 'cos it just ain't gunna' happen...

Language Warning:...I'll give a singular fuck if and when one of these fine upstanding members of our beloved City, all of whom supposedly love our beloved City the mostest, like totes love it, when one says enough is enough, and quits...when a current Mt Gambier City Council Elected Member quits, then I'll stop using catch-all terms like 'Complicit'...End Language Warning... 

And to the Residents & Ratepayers and associated other Citizens, I'm not advocating giving-up, quite the contrary, have at it good Madams and/or Sirs, MGCC deserve everything they cop, but I want everyone to be intimately awares of what and or whom you all are up against when trying to get a straight answer...(indeed any answer-Ed)...from Mt Gambier City Council, let alone that they be held accountable for their conduct...please do carry forward, be concerned/frustrated/incensed, but never resigned, never ever give-in...in the immortal words of that great woman and/or man, "don't give the bastards the satisfaction"...(I believe it was Ghandi-Ed)...no it wasn't you idiot...

Tomorrow: Gourd Knows

Nah seriously, only certainty is that it's not likely 'tomorrow' at all, rather, see you in April sort of thing...TMGI The Blog still is, obviously, but TMGI Facebook is more regular...

I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters... 

MLC Frank Pangallo - Just Another Pro-Paedophile Corrupt South Australian Politician

 Hi dear availees, the title somewhat gives it away, but here's a copy of the statement I just posted on TMGI Facebook page...it's all rather self-explanatory...

Hi,
Regular availees of TMGI will recall that in March 2024 South Australian politician MLC Frank Pangallo contacted me desperate for any info/documents I could provide him that might support/prove statements he'd made in the Parliament (and hence on the Hansard) in February 2024.
Those statements related to my "bizarre trial" (The Border Watch) 2015-18 re my alleged breaches of the SA ICAC Act 2012 sec56 (a&b).
In response the (then) ICAC Commissioner Ann Vanstone then did an official ICAC 'Right of Reply' to the Parliament (again on Hansard 7Mar24) in which she named me 11 times and used the terms "patently false" and "wholly unfounded".
As you know I spent a solid week compiling a thorough but not exhaustive dossier with attached detailed index for Mr Pangallo.
This dossier conclusively proves that the ICAC denials/denigration are wrong, eg, 1) I was investigated by ICAC who 2) directly referred me to SAPol Anti-Corruption, and 3) ICAC was directly involved in my prosecution (by SAPol Prosecutions Branch).
This dossier/index was an expansion/continuation/recount of the testimony and tabled documents I provided Mr Pangallo's 'Parliamentary Inquiry into ICAC Investigation Harms and Adverse Outcomes' two years earlier.
Despite his original contacts and statements about the urgency of the matter (Mar24) I've heard nothing from ol' mate Frank.
Then Friday evening (31Jan25) there in my letterbox is a large orange envelope with my dossier.
Not even a secure registered satchel or anything, just $6 worth of stamps on a grotty old envelope.
And not one word; not a note, not a text, not an email of explanation and/or thanks, not nuthin'.
Mr Pangallo got what he needed to protect himself and that's all he needed/ wanted.
Mr Pangallo has had irrefutable proof in his hands that his arch-nemesis 'The ICAC' has repeatedly, provably lied to the SA Parliament, and he's chosen to sit on that info for nearly a year, then just dumped it back to me, without a single word.
Mr Pangallo is exactly what he appears to be, but I won't publish here what I think, you'll have to go to TMGI The Blog for that.
Cheers, Nick. 

Frank Pangallo is arguably the most complicit of all SA politicians in the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up, because he has one of if not the most thorough understandings of any politician of exactly what's happened at St Martins.

For example, when he was the producer of Adelaide's Channel7 'Today Tonight', I contacted then provided him with various documents, etc, re the St Martins Cover-up, on at least 3 different occasions across several years...each time he was gunna' look at it but then never responded, etc...

And then his 'ICAC Inquiry', and now this...

Frank has supposedly been unwell, but that hasn't stopped him mouthing-off in the Parliament regularly, eg, in vehement support of the murderous Zionist Israel as it commits Genocide in Gaza...got time/energy for that sortta' bollocks, but can't find the same for exposing how corrupt SA ICAC is, which is odd 'cos he's also constantly mouthing-off about how corrupt ICAC is, etc... 

Tomorrow: That FARC Debasco Kicks Into High Gear

I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters... 

 

 

  

Just To Kick Things Off For TMGI 2025

Hi dear availees, welcome to what I...(we-Ed)...to what we believe is the post that indicates that TMGI is an on-going venture...despite my...(our-Ed)...despite our attempts to drop and/or get over it, as a paradigm of simply functioning, it has become self-perpetuating...(that is, the fact that it exists, and for over a decade now, and for what exists on it, it becomes something that a) needs to be done, and b) we don't know how to not do-Ed)...indeed, and it's partly driven by a sense of guilt that to identify all of these things/issues as we have on TMGI, but to then/ever just walk away from it, is to be 'complicit'...complicit in the way we've seen so many conduct themselves...(yes, complicit by way of knowing but then turning away 'cos it's all a bit too difficult, all a bit too inconvenient-Ed)...exactly, so it's not about being better and/or worse than anyone else, it's just the way of things...

So TMGI The Blog will continue in some form, but, having said that, today's post is just several posts copied across from TMGI Facebook, but I/we'll get straight onto that first proper post, a review of Mt Gambier City Council's appalling misconduct re the Wulanda (Farcical Aquatic Recreation Centre-FARC) and the diabolical situation Mt Gambier Ratepayers find themselves in thusly...

Facebook 22 Dec 24  SALGA Election Changes

Hi,
Love to get on here some time with jolly news, but today ain't gunna' be that day.
Stunned but not surprised but deeply, deeply concerned to read on the most excellent Mt Gambier & Districts Residents & Ratepayers Association Facebook page that the SA Local Government Assoc has endorsed a Motion petitioning the SA government to change the date of the next Local Government Elections due in November 2026, thus likely extending the term of incumbent Councils, to a date as yet unidentified.
Here is the only mention I could find of this extraordinary move by the SALGA, as cut-'n'-pasted directly from their webpage news feed;
"endorsing the sector's position that council elections should be held in a different year to the state election."
And that's quietly, neatly tucked in at Dot Point 4, just a casual afterthought really.
(Dot Point 1 is "changes to single garage and carport sizes".)
Such massive and fundamental changes that affect the very structure of the actual Election Process, threaten to undermine what tattered remnants of an actual Democracy we still have.
And I get to say that 'cos 1) we're all victims of the entrenched 'Two-Party System', and 2) I'm a private citizen who has been attacked and prosecuted by the collective efforts of ICAC/SAPol/Parliament and the Courts.
I've lived/been subjected to the reality of what a thin veneer the word 'Democracy' is in it's real-world application in SA.
And what lies immediately beneath that veneer is very, very ugly.
And why hasn't this massive Election Shifting news been reported in the SA media, least ways not that I could find?
Why hasn't The Ambulance Chaser 'altruistically' informed their loyal subscribers?
The most excellent MGDRRA found it! And so can yous, here's the link to the SALGA;
https://www.lga.sa.gov.au/news-and-events/news/latest-news/2024/local-leaders-vote-on-key-policies-at-lga-annual-general-meeting
I also then found this on Premier Malinauskis' page, re 'Public Consultation' earlier this year, link also below;
"Timing of council elections is another hot topic – suggestions include a two-year gap from state elections to follow the same alternating pattern as the Summer and Winter Olympics to combat voter fatigue, while one-in-four of those surveyed want both elections to be held on the same day to maximise turnout."
https://www.premier.sa.gov.au/media-releases/news-archive/final-week-to-shape-council-elections-reform
Same day as State Elections makes perfect sense, and only shortens the current term by 8 months, tick and tick.
But the SALGA, the "sector", they endorsed a motion for "a different year", potentially a two year gap from state elections, which places the next proposed LG Election at March 2028, a 15 month extension.
And yes, it is the casual passing mention and lack of subsequent reporting that's really got me spooked.
Where this is headed specifically I don't know, but there's something really, really wrong with this.
I note that this 'Motion' occurs at a time when Mt Gambier City Council is besieged by the fall-out of their own incompetence, hubris, and open contempt for Ratepayers/Citizens, and the formation and success of the MEMGDRRA is the undeniable proof.
Cheers, Nick.

Defamation Morello Ambush   28 Dec 24

Hi,
Much mirth was had the other day recalling/re-telling my fav 'Defamation Threat' story.
Sure I've got reams of threats from lawyers, government depts and the Crown Solicitor, etc, but this is a li'l story I like to call, 'The Jellyfish That Grew A Spine and Roared Like A Mouse From It's Ivory Tower'. Enjoy.
Last item of the evening, Mt Gambier City Council meeting (August? 2017) and MGCC Cr Frank Pangallo declares a 'Conflict' and leaves the Chamber.
Next comes the 'Eject Public for Secret Business' stage of proceedings so I leave, and as I'm crossing the foyer, old mate Frank walks straight at me.
He starts goin' at me that 'my lawyer says you've defamed me' (re statements on TMGI The Blog) and demanding I 'remove it', etc.
I laughed at him, saying, 'mate, if you had anything I'd be hearing from your lawyer, perhaps don't be complicit in covering-up Child Abuse.'
Knowing he'd failed with his vacuous threat, Frank went with "You're not well Nick, you're not well."
So thus far, we have a MGCC Councillor ambush/harass/threaten, and then denigrate/abuse a private citizen, during/at a MGCC official meeting.
As ol' mate Frank slunk back into the Ivory Tower (the Chamber) out the door came Nick Serle, Cr Mark Lovett and CEO Mark McShane.
I had a last parting shot at Frank about 'covering-up the abuse of my child and dozens of others', and because I didn't back-off, the 3 stooges a) walked right into that spray, and 2) were stuck in the entrance alcove/doorway.
Lovett kept telling me to "just leave" whilst doing a hilarious impersonation of being intimidating, and Serle, who had started-out glaring at me, immediately realised what he'd walked into and was staring sheepishly at the floor.
McShane twice made thinly-veiled threats re the gym we both attended, where he had also attempted several provocations, eg, walking at me, etc..
My official complaints re this ambush/abuse were returned by the Minister to/for CEO McShane to resolve, even though he was named as a perpetrator.
I'm still waiting for a response.
This is just one of multiple instances where MGCC personnel, upto and including 'the Mayor' have harassed/attacked/threatened me at MGCC meetings, but sure, it's their precious Councillors who need body guards at meetings; pathetic, cowardly, laughable.
Cheers, Nick.

Facebook 21 Jan 25 re MGDRRA & Wulanda

 Hi,
In reference to the latest (today 20 Jan 25) post on the Most Excellent Mt Gambier & Districts Residents & Ratepayers Assoc Facebook page, and their story re Mt Gambier City Council debt/borrowings, especially as it relates to Wulanda.
And when I say MGCC Debt/Borrowings, I mean of course 'Our Debt/Borrowings, and 'Our' as in 'Us', and 'Us' being the Residents & Ratepayers of Mt Gambier.
Here's the link to the MEMGDRRA site, perhaps peruse that first and then come back to this;
https://www.facebook.com/MGDRRA
Now I'm doing that 'cos 1) there's specific points in that post I wanna' address, and 2) more importantly, I want to address it here rather than contaminate the MEMGDRRA page with the "notorious" and "controversial" (both The Border Watch) views of Nick Fletcher.
If one ignores MGCC's cynically deceitful 'Public Consultation' with the stooge-riddled 'Public Committee', CEO Mark McShane's various lies/justifications, eg, must accept the funding or never again/MG is dying/interest rates low, borrow now/obesity crisis, etc, etc, and the $40m 'Without Fixtures & Fittings' Planning Application figure, etc, even then MGCC's ultimate and only "mandate" was for a $39.1m facility.
MGCC has since officially moved that to $64m, but their own Budgets across the last 5 years have the cost at $80m+.
I've gone through the Budgets, done the math, $80m+.
(I haven't included amounts secreted in and/or syphoned from other Budget areas, eg Gardens/Parks Maintenance 'cos although I know it's happened, eg, associated roadworks, I don't know specific amounts, etc, so I'll stick to what I do know.)
However, everyone I've spoken to who has been involved through their business/family/friends, every single one scoffs at my $80m+ and says it's North of $100m.
And we don't know the figures 'cos MGCC are determined to keep them secret, but we do know that MGCC has borrowed several large sums re Wulanda, and apparently continue to borrow.
We know that the FARC (Farcical Aquatic Recreation Centre) is running at $3m-$5m loss per annum and that has to come from somewhere.
So much goin' on here that I'll expand on this post over at TMGI The Blog, which I guess means that that is continuing in 2025.
Bottomline, I believe that MGCC is already effectively/actually 'bankrupt' but that the State Labor government will continue to fling Taxpayers' hard-earned down that vacuous hole rather than admit reality and 'sack the Council', bring in Auditors, etc.
And if you think it's just Wulanda that's the problem, then please to be having several more thinks.
No-one in SA wants the realities of this disastrous Council known.
Cheers, Nick.

Facebook 21 Jan 25 New Tennis Stadium

Hi,
Pardon moi for hogging The Internet today, but ABC Sth East Radio played a 10min story this morning re 'a new 16-court tennis facility' for Mt Gambier, with one proponent saying they want it at Corriedale Pk.
I remind Mt Gambier's ever-suffering Ratepayers that back when Mt Gambier City Council were copping criticism for approving 'Wulanda' and the cost, etc, MGCC promised/announced over $1m for an upgrade of the 50m pool, and same for the Olympic Park tennis courts.
And that when Mt Gambier lost the prestigious and profitable 'International Tennis Tournament' over a decade ago 'cos the courts weren't "safe", MGCC publicly stated "it's no big loss, it doesn't generate much income for the town".
Apparently this new tennis facility has been "discussed" and possibly reported earlier, so apologies if this is old news to yous, I just heard this morning.
MGCC is reportedly not committing to anything until 'they finalise their Olympic Pk Master Plan later this financial year (25/26)'.
Which is MGCC code for 'we desperately need to bulldoze some buildings/courts to create parking for Wulanda'.
More plans to have plans but we can't plan until we plan the other plans, at least that's the plan.
It could be said that MGCC speak in Plan English.
Cheers, Nick.

Tomorrow: The White Elephant Has Come Home To Roost

I am Nick Fletcher, that's Ed...(cheers-Ed)...and Ed is a confected literary device used to create conversational discourse rather than lecturous litanies of vapid facts and obtuse opinionisationings, and to help set-up jokes etc...