The First Time I Met - MP Don Pegler

Welcome to this first post in the exciting new series 'The First Time I Met' .

In 2004 the state parliamentary Legislative Review Committee were holding an Inquiry into Low Sexual Assault Conviction Rates, and came to Mount Gambier in September 2004 specifically to discuss the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse* issue, and parent claims, my claims, that the abuse was being 'covered up'.

After giving written submissions and personal testimony to the full Committee, another father and I were invited to attend the Liberal Party function that night at a Commercial St East motel.

Funny story to kick off: at the time I was bald from chemo* (I'd had 3 or 4 cycles) and spent most of the night standing behind the other father feeling quite unwell and obviously looking quite unhappy, and because I was big, bald, leather jacketed and very sullen, there were apparently some who thought I was the other father's 'minder', 'muscle', whatever; absolutely hilarious.

That evening I met Dean Brown, Vicki Chapman, Rob Kerin, Rob Lucas, David Ridgway (I think was on the LRC) and numerous others, including Don Pegler.

It was still quite early, perhaps 9pm, and myself, the other father, Rob Kerin and Don Pegler were discussing the St Martins Abuse issue; a lady I assumed was Mrs Pegler, we were not introduced, was standing just behind Don to his left.

True, Mr Pegler was not the only person there who was fairly drunk (it was more of an 'after-conference party' than actual conference; perhaps that was all over by the time we got there) but his attitude and conduct in front of me was un-acceptable; let's just say he offended my finer sensibilities.

As he finished a beer, he just handed the empty back to his wife without acknowledging her; it was piggish, arrogant behaviour and showed a fundamental disrespect for her, and no matter how hammered or bent out of shape I've been in my life, I would not treat some-one like that even if I was paying them to fetch and carry my beers and cart off my empties.

I took an instant dislike to Don Pegler, and quite frankly, if as a reader you do not have a problem with that behaviour toward a spouse, then I don't like you either and I'd thank you to not avail yourself of this blog furthermore...I said good day sir...

Seriously, for all my fractured failings and fundamental inability to function in a relationship*, even I understand respect and equality, and I know when I'm not looking at it, and I wasn't looking at it that night.

Literally swaying on the spot, Mr Pegler ploughed into the St Martins' Child Abuse discussion with the observation that;
          "When I was at school we knew who the suss teachers were, but they didn't mess with
           me because they only picked on the weak kids."
Obviously I cannot prove it, but this is a literal quote...I will never forget it.

Rob Kerin shot me an alarmed glance and took a step into the circle, deliberately putting himself between us fathers and Don, and said to him; "These were only 7 year olds, Don."

Mr Pegler did not apologise or relent, mumbling something under his breath about "I was just saying...I was stronger...they didn't pick on me..." and Mr Kerin deliberately engaged us with repeated questions to distract from the fact that Don was standing there bascially talking to himself.

I'll just say it again: Don Pegler, in the middle of a discussion about the abuse of a class-full of 7 year old children by their class teacher, said to 2 fathers of those children that our children were "weak".

Just to say that at all is unacceptable - it is blaming the children - but to say it to me, a father of one of those children...I'm lost for words...there is no adjective and no expletive I can muster.   

Again, Don Pegler has every right to conduct himself as he sees fit and I am certainly in no position to criticise someone for indulgence bordering on addiction, but as far as I'm concerned he crossed the line apparently unaware that the line even existed, and then even when he was alerted to the fact, he failed to withdraw behind the line with the appropriate apology, instead choosing to stomp about in the muck heap of his own verbal excretions.

I did say an instant dislike.

(PS-08/03/2013 - in the interests of accuracy - I just spoke to the other father who said he thought that Don did briefly apologise, but I did not hear it)

Mr Pegler was on stage with me as a candidate for the March 2010 Election forum at the Sir Helpmann Theatre, and like all the other candidates when the St Martin's Abuse issue was raised, he spent the whole time I was responding from the lecturn looking down at the table and did not get up to make any comment.

At that forum, none of the other candidates spoke on the issue of Child Abuse at all; it was like a sickening Fawlty Towers episode acknowledging the reality of how South Australia operates; "I mentioned the Child Abuse once, but I think I got away with it." In other words, avoid gettting involved in Child Abuse issues if you can help it.

And it was writ large on that stage.

Now our local member, MP Don Pegler, knows exactly what has happened at St Martins and the subsequent failure of authorities to address the abuse, but he has failed to do anything, and is therefore in my mind as complicit in the Child Abuse Cover-up as Rory McEwen, Mike Rann, Jay Weatherill, the Lutherans themselves, etc.

He's been a member of parliament for 3 years; he knows about the abuse; he's done nothing about it; what would you call it?

Mr Pegler also has many questions to answer about his conduct as Mayor of the Grant District Council, and most particularly the re-zoning/development issues at the Millicent Rd Bunnings site where a serving Councillors land was re-zoned.

As per previous posts, there must be an external review of the conduct of Mt Gambier City and Grant District Councils relative to the multiple conflicts of interests and in-appropriate re-zoning issues at Millicent Rd and the Penola Rd site where Bunnings was meant to go.

At the 2004 Liberal function I also met Rob Lucas; I met him for a second time when giving evidence to the Statutory Authorities Review Committee Inquiry into the Teachers Registration Board, of which he was a Committee member, and a signatory to the grossly erroneous final SARC Report (no. 54), so to...

Tomorrow: The Second Time I Met - MLC Rob Lucas
(yes, I know the series is meant to be called 'The First Time'...it's just that...there was...well I...it...IT'S MY BLOG, I'LL CALL IT WHAT I LIKE waaaaahhhhhhh)        

*see previous posts

Regional Development Australia

If you want specific information about RDA then trawl through their website like I had to, it's up to you whether it is spin or inspired leadership; obviously I have my concerns.

In my humble opinion, RDA is exactly like the Hospital (Health) Advisory Councils; they are another layer of un-necessary public service put there specifically as an insulator, to give the government total control from above and provide a barrier against accountability behind which ministers and departments can hide.

1) Whenever I see something that needs to describe itself as 'Regional something', 'Country something', or 'Independent something', etc, it is my experience that the nomenclature (title) inevitably addresses the fundamental flaw of the organisation/authority.

Putting the word 'country' in Country Labor addresses by contradicting in it's name, the reality that Labor is wholly focussed on Adelaide and the regions are commodities to be sold off to foreign timber companies, Wind Turbine developers, foreign governments, etc; the word in the title is there to deny the reality.

Even worse, it is a clear admission that the Labor party does not govern for all South Australia, and it would not surprise me if Country Labor are somehow a completely separate party that does not have any legal connection to the Labor Party.

Why have 2 names? Why 'the Labor Party' in Adelaide and 'Country Labor' elsewhere?

The Teachers Registration Board is described as an Independent Statutory Authority but all of its members are directly linked to the Education Department and/or Education Union; it is under the absolute and un-challengeable control of the state government.

2) When RDA was established there were many concerns expressed that there was a lack of accountability and transparency, and that this made it vulnerable to both genuine mis-management through lack of review, and, more concerningly, deliberate malfeasance, eg, fraud.

The Rann Labor government repeatedly used the appointment of former Liberal leader Rob Kerin to dismiss these concerns, based on the argument that he was from the other side, therefore it's not about 'jobs for mates', and Mr Kerin's alleged personal credibility and that of other members meant that malfeasance simply wouldn't happen.

RDA is responsible for many millions of dollars of grants and it is ludicously un-realistic to deny that, even if all of the original members are squeaky clean initially and are not tempted by the knowledge that they are effectively un-accountable, there are those less honest individuals who will deliberately target any organisation that has access to that sort of money with that virtual lack of accountability.

3) Appointments to RDA would seem to defy good business logic, and the processes involved are somewhat obscure; maybe it's all on their website somewhere. For example, Councillor Biddie Tietz is suddenly announced as "tourism person' for RDA but her career in Tourism would not seem to support elevation to such an important position.

I do not understand how Grant King, with such a long record of involvement in failed business ventures, eg, the Green Phone collapse, gets appointed (somehow) to the incredibly important positions of local head of the RDA and HAC at the same time.

I attended a HAC meeting in November 2009, and it was the most deliberately deceitful display of mis-information that I have ever attended;  a long disjointed power point of over 60 dot points, not in any order, most of which were skipped past. We were told outright that we could not discuss any personal grievances or experiences, but that it was our responsibility to contribute to improve the system.

Time and again when Grant King has been on ABC Local Radio in his official capacities, offered by the ABC and himself as an 'independent opinion', he has simply run the official government line because that was what he was employed to do.

In his 2012 farewell interview (ABC Radio) Mr King quipped that he was going to spend more time on his boat; which generated a rather vitriolic response.

It has been put to me in no un-certain terms that a number of people are furious with Grant King, making essentially the same allegation, namely, 'I payed for that bloody boat' by way of their money somehow ending up in Mr Grant's pocket and then his boat.

As per previous blogs, I will not expose those whom have provided me information, but the specific, repeated allegation is that Grant King was either solely responsible for (or at least a major player in) the de-frauding of Green Phone, which led to its' collapse.

I note that the collapse of Green Phone has never been investigated, despite continuing calls for an Inquiry by those who lost their investments, and many others in the community.

I call for an immediate Inquiry into the collapse of Green Phone.

Tomorrow: The first time I met...MP Don Pegler

The first in an exciting new series of insightful and amusingly abusive pieces about various politicians, etc, who have had the pleasure of my company.   

Exciting Announcement:
Given the axing of WIN TV News (all together now....YOU BASTARDS....there...doesn't that feel better?)
efforts are being made to put The Mt G Independent to air 6.30 pm SA time starting Monday March 4th...might call it 'Crazy as a Fox News'.   (god, I'm hilarious)

Probaly via Youtube...not sure...stay tuned.

IGAP III: Tourism

These 3 posts are not a close-ended plan covering all of the issues with all of the answers, but a template or outline not least of all for those who apparently criticise me as an irresponsible 'wrecker'; well here's my plan, and it's a darn sight better than the nonsense Council comes up with; in fact I don't know that they have an actual plan.    (further development issues in future posts-any ideas, please comment),

Rather than re-iterate many of my previous blogs, please read the posts re the Old Rail Lands, Bus Shelter, etc, that outline the broader agenda of Councillors on Mt Gambier City Council (past and present) to sell the Old Rail Lands for Retail Development, and the damage that has done to Mt Gambier.

Unfortunately, Tourism issues in Mt Gambier are as compromised by nepotism and self-focussed corruption of appropriate process as any planning or development issue, and this can drastically affect the effectiveness of funding programs, etc, as money gets directed not on merit but association.

Also, because of the relentless nepotism associated with other 'successful' businesses that have the distinct advantage of supporters on Council, those who work hard to establish themselves get tarnished with the same brush, eg, people repeatedly make comments to me about Engelbrecht and Umpherston Caves, the Old Goal, etc, unfortunately lumping them in with issues like the extraordinarily in-appropriate processes whereby Councillor Des Mutton's son Lachlan Mutton (Sorrento's) was given exclusive (still free?) control of the Main Corner Function facilities.

I am not about criticising individuals or businesses over their decisions and/or business practices other than if it involves Council malfeasance, but there are some basic things that can be done to increase the customer base for all Mt Gambier businesses.

Council's empty rhetoric on the importance of 'Tourism' is defined by their actions, eg, flatly refusing to place the Bus Terminal in town, instead committing to a pointless $250,000 tent in a windswept carpark so that tourists get dumped in the middle of no-where in the dark and the rain; and then lying about the costs and the tender, etc....disgraceful.

All of that infrastructure, including the boat and the Bus shelter, should be on/at the Old Rail land.

The Blue Lake is supposedly the iconic tourism focus for Mt Gambier, the Blue Lake city, yet there is no way to see it other than from a lookout or on a foot tour; there is no accomodation or even a cafe/restaurant whatever where people can sit in all weathers, and observe the lake.

Maintenance of lookouts and surrounds is woeful; there is rubbish and broken glass strewn about carparks and lookouts, eg, the same nappy on the ground for over 2 months until it disintegrated and blew away in pieces; Council waited until the middle of the 2012/13 holidays to fell dozens of trees blocking the view from the 'Water Tower' lookout, and then just left them lying on the ground; it looks absolutely terrible.

Why is there not some sort of small cafe thingy on the lake side of the current 'kiosk'? What's there now looks like a European BusStop, not the premier Tourism facility for one of the premier Tourism attractions of the Lower South East.

Council has attempted to shift the blame onto the tour operators, intimating that they blocked Council attempts to build just such a 'cafe' so as to force people to take the Pumping Station Tour, but in their defence the Tour Operators quite rightly point out that Council does what it wants when and if it feels like it, and nobody tells them what to do.

Also, I believe that the original Council plans for the site are for something markedly smaller that what currently exists, and doesn't include any sort of 'cafe' at all, and that this is therefore yet another example of Councillors attacking people they don't like and/or trying to shift blame and responsibility for something that is Council's responsibility; good, bad, or indifferent.

It is an acknowledged fact that many tourists pass through Mt Gambier via a petrol station and a quick look at the Blue Lake (from a lookout) on their way to somewhere else, often a coastal 'resort town' like Robe or Beachport, or the Coonawarra, or maybe Pt Fairy or the Great Ocean Rd, etc, or simply Adelaide-Melbourne.

In winter this is greatly exascerbated as tourists run to the lookout, go "oh, it's grey" (I've heard them), run back to their cars, and keep on trucking; they spend little if any time/money in Mt Gambier.

If there was a cafe there, even a small one, with a protected view of the Blue Lake, a roaring log fire, etc, people could stop for a hot drink and a scone (pronounced Scone) and luxuriate over the view meaning they are more likely to spend a night, particularly in winter with it's shorter days, and in summer the same facility would offer some respite from the heat for the elderly, etc; at the moment it is often hotter in the kiosk than outside. 

When Tourists spend a night in Mt Gambier they need accomodation (eg, in a caravan park), often eat out, do a spot of shopping, walk past and maybe even through the Main Corner, etc; it is fundamental to effective Tourism that people spend time (and therefore their money) in Mt Gambier.

City Council does not seem to have a definable plan for Tourism to achieve this goal, eg, my 'IGAP' post for tourist parking and parklands on the Old Rail Lands that provides a reason to stop, and somewhere to park when you do.

And a level playing field would be nice, eg, no money for the Blue Lake 'cafe' and proper maintenance of the lookout, no central bus shelter, no covered pool, etc, yet a local business can access a small fortune via Regional Development Australia.

One of the first decisions by City Councillor Biddie Tietz in her role as 'Tourism person' (sorry, I don't know the actual title) for the RDA  was to give $140,000 to the owners of a well-established function and accomodation business, whom I then saw on the now defuncted WIN TV News quipping about how they were going "to buy some shiny new taps" for their nearly completed, extensive and expensive renovations.

I'm sure other local function, tourism, catering, restaurant, etc, businesses are looking forward to receiving their massive grants....check your letterboxes....it's on the way.....honest......the cheque is in the mail!

Which leads nicely onto....

Tomorrow: Regional Development Australia 
Why is it so 'secretive', and how do people like Grant King and Biddie Tietz, with definably poor business histories, get appointed to important positions on Regional Development Australia?

IGAP II: Too Little, Too Late?

A short blog about other issues beyond the Old Rail Lands and All-Weather Pool, etc.

Oh...and a big shout out and thankyou again to those certain fine, upstanding citizens of Mt Gambier and surrounds whom continue to mouth off about how I conduct myself and denigrate me as "crazy"; you know I'm a pacifist and I'm certainly not going to thump anyone (no matter how much they deserve it-haha) so why not tell me to my face?

Because then I'd have a chance to defend myself.

Commercial St and The Main 

Commercial St is a vital link from literally one end of Mt Gambier to the other (West to East), and for that sole reason there cannot be a 'mall' style development that blocks that egress, thus forcing traffic onto side streets and Jubilee Highway.

This would cause greatly increased travel times, traffic and parking chaos, delivery issues, etc, and have a detrimental effect over-all for those businesses that customers find difficult to access; I note Council plans on the Interweb show all parking removed along Commercial St between Penola Rd and Ferris St for 'footpath cafes' or something similar.

Council simply doesn't have the money, and should be looking to do the long overdue maintenance of other areas of Mt Gambier; work on something more than 10ft from the Main Corner for a change...please.  

The speed limit through 'The Main' section (effectively the retail area) of Commercial St should be only 30kphs, not 50kph, for the safety of pedestrians and people getting out of cars, etc, and those ludicrous and potentially deadly 'carpark cafes' must go.

There are enough cafes in Mt Gambier and Councillor Richardson raised the issue in Council that she had witnessed and/or was aware of several accidents where cars turning right off Commercial St into Gray St had ended up colliding with vehicles parked in what are now a 'carpark cafe'; Council is on notice about the inevitability of another accident.

Unfortunately, a decade of inappropriate and selfish decisions by both Mt Gambier City and Grant District Councillors, where re-zoning and development issues have been repeatedly, relentlessly focussed on the benefits for Councillors with a complete disregard for the communities affected, have done damage that cannot be reversed, eg, you cannot put Bunnings back on Penola Rd where BIG W/Masters is now.

However, I don't have any problem with the 'Main Corner Annex' thingy being pulled down so that the Kings Theatre can be appropriately renovated (outside); and those clowns who were paid millions for the shoddy 'C' grade disaster, can pay to pull it down; might even have to sell one of their shiny new cars.  

The Old Hospital

This issue remains mired in conflicting reports about the state of the building, etc, but I believe that renovating the site as a palliative care, nursing care, and training facility, with on site accomodation for patients and trainees, would provide terrific employment opportunities for local tradespersons whom would require numerous apprentices, etc, in the construction stage, and then generate further income and employment catering to our increasingly ageing population.

I believe that this would qualify the project for Federal and state (good luck) funding, but that is unlikely to happen given the apparent agenda to dismantle and 'de-populate' South Eastern South Australia.*

Demolishing the hospital is an engineering nonsense that Mt Gambier City Council cannot afford, and has no commercial outcome to justify the huge expense...oh wait....that makes it the perfect City Council project; bazinga!

The harder I look at how to negotiate around the disasterous, selfish development decisions that both Councils have made, the more pessimistic I become that the damage is done; but there are still some ways forward like immediate plantings on the Old Rail Lands, sealing the bike track, etc.

These selfish decisions have directed Council boundary re-alignments and placed residential development where it should have been Industrial (eg, Millicent Rd) and therefore 'forced' Industrial re-zoning near established residents (eg, near the Airport).

As I say, it is hard to see a way around the damage that has been done to the entire area by the corruption of a few people, when those decisions have completely compromised co-ordinated development into the future.

If I come up with any bright ideas, you'll be the first to know, and there remains those few things that could be done to try and move forward; please feel free to comment or offer suggestions.

One reality is undeniable; Mt Gambier City Council must not be allowed to spend any more ratepayers and/or grants money before they are held to account for the current raft of disasters...AUDIT.

Tomorrow: IGAP III - Tourism   

I've Got A Plan (cue War Of The Worlds music) for Mount Gambier

This is probaly one of the more irresponsible posts that I will ever do, and it won't be the usual scathing dissection of City Council's incompetence and/or selfishness that is the 'irresponsibility' of it, rather the false hope I might give by describing that which should already be but is unlikely to ever happen; My Plan For Mt Gambier.

Unfortunately, I genuinely believe that the malfeasance and incompetence of successive Councils, particularly those constants like CEO Greg Muller, Mayor Steve Perryman, Cr Tony Pasin, Cr Merv White, Cr Kyrimis, et al, have irretrievably broken Mt Gambier financially and development wise with their outrageous and self-focused conduct relative to the Main Corner* and Rail Lands*.

However, I do believe that there is still much to gain by starting toward my 'vision' with the cheapest and most immediately achievable goals, eg,  planting major trees and shrubs, etc, according to a blueprint that will allow future expansion/improvements toward the overall plan.

Careful and considered re-use of current facilities is not just fiscally prudent but time efficient, eg, renovate the Old Rail station, just cover the current pool, etc; there is no need for costly replications or replacements like a brand new library; the Main Corner Project should never have happened; at all; its a disaster.

Rail Lands  -  Gifted to the City in 2005, and currently a barren wasteland.

Should already be an 8 year old well established Parkland, studded with mature trees and garden beds, large art works, benches, ponds, etc, with a bike track right the length of the Easement (leave the sleepers down) which also acts to protect the Easement for the possible but unlikely return of rail.

This Easement issue is a massive furphy, red herring, whatever, that City Council has repeatedly used to excuse their grossly self-involved behaviour and abject failure with the Rail Lands.*

The money lost into the black holes of the Library and Main Corner Project should have been spent on creating a large public space with a covered plaza, and a semi covered amphitheatre which is backed onto the Margaret St properties, and opening to the North so that the curved roof would protect from Southerlies but allow for winter light, and in summer would offer good shade.

By building these structures at approx 15-20 feet high, the whole space would be open but relatively sheltered, from the back of Centro through to Margaret St where 3(?) walkways lead through to the Covered Pool and Tennis/Netball facility.

It is easy to align these relatively minor structures so that they do not encroach at all on the precious bloody Easement, and yet offer maximum protection from the elements (which Council has completely ignored at the Lady Nelson bus shelter site, until suddenly saying it is a problem).

It is so simple; every project in Mt Gambier should be designed and built to minimise summer sun entering buildings and/or provide shade, but still maximise winter light, whilst providing a strong shelter against raging southerly storms; these are very basic and well understood principles.

The Old Rail Station should already be renovated and operating as a bus terminal accessed via Railway Tce and Eleanor St, with a tourism kiosk (a cafe?), etc; that immediately provides all the services and all weather protection of the adjacent shopping centre.

Angled parking for campers, caravans, etc, along Railway Tce from where the easement crosses Bay Rd, utilising that wide space to provide tourists with a place to stop and access the plaza, shopping centre, etc.(there is currently no official 'long' parking anywhere in Mt Gambier, although Council does encourage people to park on the Rail Lands, somewhere.)

Margaret St businesses would open onto this plaza/parkland and blank walls would be used as multiple screens for art, projections, light shows, etc.

The Pool and Tennis Courts

As I understand it, the pool is structurally sound, so there is no need to replace it; what it does need is all-weather protection and winter heating.

A mildly modified 'aircraft hangar' style shed would adequately accommodate the main pool, and a smaller annex would cover the smaller pools. Much of the walling would incorporate roller doors and/or glass sliding doors to allow immediate climate control across all seasons; lock it down in a gale, open it up on a summer evening.

The pool roof area would be used to provide hot water in summer that gets cycled off the roof into a single pipe underground along the side of the pool to heat the ground during summer (and cool it in winter) using the same principles as houses with earth roofs, namely, the cold winter water cools the ground and therefore the pool during summer, slowly heating up across summer to be warm in winter and therefore warm the pool, etc. There is then no need for a costly, polluting biomass boiler.

The tennis courts could also be partly covered using a combination of the above strategies, ie, a large shed structure, fully roofed and closed at the Southern end but completely open to the North to allow all weather public access, and the courts fully renovated with an allowance for multiple use, eg, basketball, netball, volleyball, etc. This would provide all weather protection at the Southern end for important games, but still allow full public free access.

I remind readers that Mt Gambier recently lost its only International event, the Tennis, because Council failed to do even basic maintenance; they were too busy spending ratepayers money at the Main Corner and on their free lunches in said venue. 

To close; there should already be a vibrant, covered public plaza focussed on a renovated Old Rail Station transport hub (with 5kph limit) and bike track, continuing out into the Rail Lands parklands and flowing across on through Margaret St to the All Weather Recreation precinct and associated renovated park areas; in short, a world class, all weather public precinct that will fulfill all of Mt Gambier's social, civic, and tourism requirements; chuck in a small skate park for good measure...maybe a bocce/petanque sandpit , etc.

Imagination is the limit...

Ah, well...it's a pity... this is unlikely to happen given Council's obsession with Retail Development for the Old Rail Lands site and the massive debt that they have deliberately accrued over the Library and Main Corner Projects to force the sale of that land....oh, and watch your rates continue to skyrocket whilst Council refuses to Audit the malfeasance that has caused it.

Other development issues next blog.

*please see previous posts

Tomorrow: IGAP II - It Is Not Too Late...Probaly...

Mount Gambier Bus Shelter: Graeme Greenwoods The Border Watch Article

The closure/axing of WIN TV News is a tragedy for the employees and remaining viewers, and whilst ratings might have suffered when the combining of Riverland and Mt Gambier services left many viewers at either end feeling like their local news was being overlooked, the manner in which WIN TV suddenly ended the service is inexcusable and shows the WIN TV 'executive' to be beneath contempt. * 

Personally, I already despised the WIN TV 'executive' for their behaviour in March 2006 when they put MP Rory McEwen on air to attack us parents over the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up, including statements that he had reported us to the Police Commissioner. *

It was bad enough that they did this without making any attempt to contact any of the parents before running that story, but when I and another parent took a written statement to the station, we were briefly interviewed off camera but WIN TV flatly refused to run anything; nor have they ever, despite my requests.

Please read my previous blogs* re the bias of the Mt Gambier media; there is no denying that there are certain issues that just will not get coverage, or if they do there is a very specific and definable bias; you don't own a media outlet and then let it criticise you, or compromise your business interests, mates, etc.

No-one is more surprised than me at some of the letters that I have had printed in The Border Watch, but that doesn't excuse printing texts on 3 occasions by semi-anonymous 'Jenni' ( who self-identified as a councillors' wife) that were just abusive and derogatory of me personally; and the paper acknowledged they printed the texts without checking where they actually originated.

It doesn't excuse repeatedly doing stories about me without contacting me, and then grossly distorting and even outright lying in those stories, eg, the March 2010 Editorial that blamed me when Sandra Morello was caught printing dodgy fake articles during the State Election campaign. *

Even more surprising are some of the comments that Graham Greenwood (usually an un-wavering supporter of Mt Gambier City Council and in that context a regular sufferer of 'Passionately Subjective Non-realisation' or PSN) has recently made criticising Council over the Main Corner in his regular column in The Border Watch; in one piece I think he used the magic word - Audit - four times?

PSN- The inability to see the reality of anything that contradicts ones personal belief.

Mr Greenwood caught the bookies napping though, with a stunning recent return to form in his (pardon me but I literally don't know how else to describe it) bizarre column on Friday Feb 22 2013 - Bus companies must share cost and blame over shelter; I refer you to my post re the Bus Shelter.

No-one is to blame for the Bus Shelter fiasco, other than the 20 years of self-focused City Council incompetents.

Rather than re-print virtually his whole article in quotes I will just address the broader tone; that it is a farcical piece of propaganda on behalf of Council, and if Mr Greenwood truly believes anything in that article then he needs to take a powder and have a good lie down....there you go old fella.

Straight off he mentions only some of the long list of cock-ups that define the gross incompetence and/or self-involved corruption of proper process that defines successive Councils; the Bunnings/Penola Rd fiasco; what about the pool issue; losing the tennis tournament; the Rail Lands wasteland; the old Hospital; repeatedly promising to renovate the Main; etc.

He completely misrepresents the 'consultation process', because there was no genuine consultation on the Bus Shelter location, and there were also many submissions to Council for their fake Rail Lands Concept Plan* (November 2011) that did request a centralised bus terminal.

The bus terminal issue was also raised with Council when it was first gifted the land in 2005, again at the meetings February 2006 as reported in The Border Watch, eg, Where is bus terminal?: Residents ask at forum (The Border Watch, Feb 2006); my and many other peoples subsequent submissions; and repeatedly ever since; there have been multiple consultations and at every one of them people said 'we want a bus terminal on the Rail lands.'

Moreover, Council has known since the bus service was moved in the 90's to the Shell service station from The Lady Nelson because it wasn't suitable, and then because the Shell didn't work out, it was back to The LN Carpark. 

I refer Mr Greenwood to the many articles recently in his own paper that had the Chamber of Commerce, Bus Operators, some Councillors, bus users and many non-users, and my own letters in TBW all calling for a centralised bus service, when he states there was "little community opposition".

It is absolutely not true to say that "...a final decision...ultimately passed with a majority vote."
I was present when 5 Councillors tried to stop the LNC option, the other 5 voted for it, and Mayor Steve Perryman used his deciding vote to push it through.

Mr Greenwood would know that if he was actually at that meeting.

Mr Greenwood conveniently forgets when he denigrates local tenders for being "vastly more expensive" than the Queensland company Council chose, that the original project cost $500,000 ( repeatedly in TBW) and included the now contentious rear wall, and that the price suddenly halved to $250,000.

Council have been deliberately, repeatedly deceitful about cost and design, and now seek to force through the other $250,000 (and I confidently predict that it will go higher) for the 'must have wall' they took off the original plan to halve the price; it is outrageous for Mr Greenwood to blame local businesses who have clearly been screwed over by a deceitful City Council that appears to have run one tender for locals and a different one for the Queensland company.

Is this actually legal? There must be an investigation of exactly what tenders Council provided to whom. 

Clearly the project that the Queensland business won the tender for did not include the wall as appears in all of Council's concept drawings, because otherwise Council would be on their case about it to complete the project to spec...including Le Wall.

You should immediately withdraw those comments Mr Greenwood, and place a written apology at the head of your next vacuous diatribe of pro-Council propaganda (ahhh, that feels better).

Why should the bus companies (some of them owner/drivers) pay for what Council should provide for all residents? Namely, a city, local, and interstate terminal at a fully renovated Old Rail Station that can easily be accessed via Railway Tce/Eleanor St, and offers immediate access to services in the shopping centre, eg, food, drink, money, air conditioning, etc, all of which is not now nor will ever be available at the LNC.

Rather than re-hash old news, please refer to my other blogs re Council's Old Rail Land Retail Agenda and why Council makes decisions like putting the bus terminal at the LNC, and how that has crippled development in Mt Gambier.

Mr Greenwood's article 22nd Feb 2013 is a clumsy attempt to misrepresent the facts on behalf of Council, and nobody who is even vaguely familiar with the subject matter will be fooled by any of it.

The facts remain that yet again Council has done what it wants with Councillor's own personal goals being their sole motivation, and to argue that it is anybody elses fault is not just unsustainable, but in the context of derogatory remarks about local contractors, absolutely un-acceptable.

Read Graeme Greenwoods article in its entirety, and say to yourself, "I'll have what he's having."

Mr Greenwood, you need to pull your head in champ rather than go mouthing of about local businesses, particularly whilst trying to defend Council over the in-defenceable, and most particularly when you try and blame Council's malfeasance on those locals.

* see previous blogs

Tomorrow: I Have A Plan (cue War of the Worlds music) for Mt Gambier

Dear SA Water: What the Heck is Coming Out of My Tap?

The following is not a scientific study, do your own research on websites like the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Medical Health Research Council (NMHRC), etc, and read what these people say despite the fact that they support flouridation.

This blog is merely anecdotal evidence of what is happening in one residence in Mount Gambier, and I refer to my previous blog in acknowledging that I am opposed to Flouridation of water for the following reasons;
1)  water should be as un-contaminated as possible, but I accept that chlorination is necessary to prevent
     bacteria that cause illness and/or disease;
2)  Flouridation is not about water quality, it is allegedly added to address a health issue and/or medical
     condition; it is medicating the populace via the water supply.
3)  even if it is true that Flouridation of water has any effect on dental health, there are many who argue
     that those effects are negative, eg, a 'brittling' or hardening of outer tooth and softening of the inner;
4)  drinking flouride means that it only touchs the targetted area very briefly before entering the boby;
5)  I have genuine concerns about what effects flouride (and particularly the specific chemical used in Mt
     Gambier) have on those internal systems that act to remove pollutants, eg, kidneys, lymph system, etc;
6)  concerns that bone density and/or structure and/or function are negatively affected, eg, does flouride
     artificially harden bone, possibly causing problems with marrow function and blood production, etc, 
     (these are very broad descriptions of possible issues, not a medical statement of fact);
7)  vast amounts of flouride gets dumped into the environment via showers, toilets, gardens, etc, without
     going anywhere near a tooth.

There are concerns about where the flouride comes from, eg, is it literally an industrial waste product being disposed of via the water system? Is it a plot to 'stupify' the populace and make them more compliant via the effects that flouride has (allegedly) on reducing brain growth and/or activity?

I do not believe that flouride via softdrink made with, for example Adelaide water, in any way compensates for the sugar, caffeine, colours, preservatives, etc, in that softdrink; it is not a supportable position.

There are many theories, accusations, and statements of fact circulating about 'water flouridation'; again, check it out for yourself, but I would ask you check this out.....I'm looking through the fence at the Blue Lake pumping station at the warning sign...right....now! It looks roughly like this; picture a sign set out literally as below with actual skull and crossbones with TOXIC 2.3 written beneath, all in a diamond, where I've written it (yes, I know you get it....I'm just saying)

               CHLORINE                               picture of skull and crossbones   
               (???)     1017                                             TOXIC
             HAZCHEM    2XE                                        2.3                     
                                                             (beneath this 2 small diamonds I couldn't read     
                                                              that I think refer to gas and ignition issues???)
and beneath that;                                 
         SODIUM FLOURIDE                       large skull and crossbone
            FLOURODOSE                                            TOXIC
              (???)      1690                                                  6.1
            HAZCHEM   1690

Warning Will Robinson
Big skull and Crossbones - Sodium Flouride Flourodose - Class 6.1 TOXIC; again, just look it up for yourself and I'll try to get a closer look to suss out what the other badges say.

It is impossible to prove or disprove what I believe is happening, and there are issues of chlorine and the 'hard' nature of the Calcium Carbonate (dissolved Limestone) saturated groundwater, but when I watered my garden from the tap (2010/11) shortly after flouride was added to Mt Gambier's water supply, virtually all my small native grasses and kangaroo paws, etc, (effectively anything under about one foot high) died.

All of my stone fruit (nectarines, peaches, etc) and my apples, pears, etc, all immediately stopped growing and ripening, and the same with the grapes; my entire garden went into a 'suspended animation' clearly in shock from the watering; I had a bumper crop of greenish golf balls and many bunches of 'peas'.

I also lost my 4 year old banana palm, several small grape vines, and several luxurious beds of 'Baby's Tears' that just curled up and died literally within days.

Weeks later everything was exactly the same, and when some fruit eventually did ripen it was all stone with very little flesh around it, and the grapes eventually just got picked off by the birds.

There was no such reaction prior to the flouride being added; I had watered without issue.

Last year (2011/12) I had virtually no fruit anywhere in my garden, but there was record rains and I did not water from the tap once; this year my garden was booming and then I had to water it.

Due to the lack of rain (maybe 10mm in the last 3 months, even longer) I exhausted my rain water supply some time ago and have taken specific measures to try and avoid what I experienced in Summer 2010/11, namely re-filling my small (500 litres) tank from the tap and leaving it for several days and therefore introducing the tap water gradually so as to avoid the 'shock response' of 2010/11; didn't work.

My garden has done exactly the same thing as described above; and everything smaller than a tree appears to be dying, and my very expensive Raspberry vines just dropped all their leaves and appear to be dead, but I wont really know what damage has been done until next season.

Strangely, the citrus trees and strawberries appear to be reasonably good.

However, out the front where I never water, the same things that have died out the back, eg, the native grasses, succulents, etc, are struggling but are doing just fine given there's been almost no rain.

And the dog will not drink it when I fill his bowl from the tap, and he'll drink out of the front drain, off the footpath, out of my ponds, etc.

I appreciate the feed-back that I was a little bit vague about my position on this issue, I perhaps have over-compensated with the role of 'devil's advocate' in the previous blog, and I hope this clarifies my personal position; I think I might have to go to SA Water with a bill for everything that their tap water has killed in my garden and the many kilos of fresh fruit I've lost, and a bill for the inferior product that I've had to buy to replace it.

I can't water my garden out of the tap, and there's just no way I'm drinking it....and to think I mocked Adelaide for drinking the Eastern states refuse water...(previous post)

Tomorrow: Mount Gambier Bus Shelter - Graeme Greenwood's The Border Watch article.
Graeme needs to get out of the sun and under that shade sail.

Mount Gambier Jail Expansion; Importing Adelaide's Paedophiles

Apologies again, our office underwent minor technical difficulties earlier regarding internet connection and total lack thereof (by office, I of course mean me).

In my inaugrual post I fully justified my verbose posturing on this here blog 'o mine; I felt I had no choice because I was effectively if unofficially not welcome in any of the local media.

The Mount Gambier jail (which is actually in the Grant District Council area) is a low-medium security facility designed to house non-violent, short-term inmates.

In the past I have had very limited success in raising the issue of associated services for prisoners and their families given that many of these prisoners are transferred from elsewhere (predominantly Adelaide) so their families follow them down here; this requires housing, social support and services, health and transport etc.

DC of Grant have made applications for funding around this issue but Mount Gambier City Council, the area where these people would be most likely living has failed or refused to recognise this as an issue; this is basically the one thing that I have been able to address through the media.

Namely, that services are required for visiting families who may need to move here, and ex-prisoners who are likely to move into the local community upon release. Recently though, it has been put to me that issues of visitors and families moving to the area are not relevant because 'nobody at the jail gets visitors' (paraphrasing) and 'none of their families move down here', the reason being that 'all the prisoners are paedophiles and their families don't want to know and nobody visits them'.

This has been put to me by employees within the Correctional Services Industry, but obviously I'm not about to divulge what people have said to me, not motivated by a desire to get in my face and tell me I'm wrong, but by a genuine concern for the community they live in and what they know is happening within that community.

Officially, it is denied that prisoners are simply released into the local community and that therefore their criminality is an issue for Mount Gambier, but I have also spoken directly with ex-detainees from the Mount Gambier prison who make roughly the same claim; that they were returned to Adelaide and literally escorted to the Adelaide bus station where they immediately got on the bus back to Mount Gambier.

Admittedly, this is a very small sample and hardly a conclusive statistic, but it's clearly a pattern of behaviour that does exist and it has specific, severe and even sinister implications for Mount Gambier.

Next time you're in a Mount Gambier shopping centre or park or street or shop or wherever, just have a look around and check out the problematic individuals in your local, family community.

With the jail expansion this situation will worsen; Minsiter Jennifer Rankine said in The Border Watch last year that inmates receive counselling that has a fifty per cent success rate. There is no such thing, particularly when it comes to non-repentent paedophile offenders, some of whom do not think they are doing anything wrong.

In South Australia there is virtually no such thing as a first-offence 'paedophile' conviction leading to a jail sentence; it is almost inevitably suspended sentences, good behaviour bonds etc.

By the time an offender ends up in Mount Gambier jail they are likely to be repeat offenders (recidivists) and these are the most difficult to convince that they need to change their behaviours. Ms Rankines' comments completely misrepresent the likelihood of rehabilitation (more like ten per cent success) but do clearly demonstrate that this is the profile of offenders in the Mount Gambier jail.

These offenders are in jail, most likely for multiple offences of the most grievous nature, and yet they still need to be educated as to the fact that they are doing something wrong. This is not just me being paranoid or upset, this is the reality of the Mount Gambier jail.

Ms Rankines' comments that locals are happy because of the work are just offensive given what the Labor Government has done to the South East economy eg, Shared Services, Forestry Sale, etc.

The Rann Labor Government has ripped the guts out of the South East and by way of compensation dumps Adelaide's sexual offenders, particularly paedophiles, into Mount Gambier.

And the expansion guarantees that this pattern of Adelaide's offenders being effectively dumped in Mount Gambier will grow from a trickle to a torrent.


Tomorrow: Dear SA Water - What the Heck is Coming Out of My Tap?
The dog won't drink it and it's killing my garden, etc.

Acciona Drops Allendale Wind Turbine Development: But Why?

Grant District Council Mayor Richard Sage continues to grossly misrepresent the Acciona Turbine issue; you call it what you like, I call it lying, and as per previous blog, I'm sick and tired of it.

Mr Sage was repeatedly on ABC Radio yesterday (19 Feb 2013) stating that "changes to the legislation" had made it "un-economical" for Acciona, and that this will save the valuable "visual amenity" of the area.

He carefully avoided the reality of Council's role in trying to force Turbines on Allendale residents after the original development was rejected under "visual amenity" by the Environment, Resource, Development Court (ERDC); Council were immediately 'co-appellant' with Acciona in appealing that decision in the Supreme Court.

"Visual Amenity" meant squat when Grant Council were using rate-payers money to attack a local resident by appealing the residents ERDC Court win on that very issue.

It was the Allendale EDRC win that brought about the 'Fascist' legislation of the Development Plan Amendments October 2011, which DC of Grant officially supported with tbeir written submission, thus completely contradicting Mr Sages animated opposition at the forum December 2011.*
 
I find it fundamentally impossible to take either Mr Sage, DC of Grant, or Acciona at face value on the Allendale turbine issue.

The argument that Acciona have come to this decision over years directly conflicts with the timetable of applications and approvals, court cases and Acciona/DC Grants' appeal and the withdrawal of that appeal immediately after the DPA (Oct 2011), and declaration that they would proceed with Allendale.

Acciona have been fully committed at every stage and it is inconceivable that they have invested this amount of time, money and effort without careful consideration of whatever it is that has genuinely brought this project undone.

It is my personal experience that there are a number of questions that both Acciona and DC of Grant need to answer about all aspects of the project, and I believe that this is the genuine reason for the cancellation of the project.

I think similar issues of potential malfeasance and/or gross mismanagement ended the Green Point Project. There is an excellent article on turbines in todays' The Border Watch by Anelia Blackie that is worth looking at (credit where credit's due).

Wind Turbine opponents such as myself will continue to pursue the Allendale/Acciona issue; as I say, I don't trust any of the people involved. It would not surprise me in the least if this was a way of avoiding scrutiny of past discretions and/or failures, and I am deeply concerned that a new project by a different company will be immediately rammed into the same vicinity.

Any such new application would immediately help the DC of Grant and Acciona diffuse activism about their actions as opponents would be forced to concentrate their efforts on dealing with the new proposal.

In the appropriate context, I often say things hoping to be wrong, that is I apply my understanding of the motivations and behaviours of our elected public officials (and employees eg. CEOs) to predict their selfish machinations.

On the Wind Turbine issue, the behaviour of DC of Grant, Rann/Weatherill State Government, turbine host landholders, and the turbine developers themselves is self-evidently self-serving. From the subsidies/bribes that hosts receive, through the massive taxpayer 'renewable subsidies' that Turbine companies receive per erect Turbine*.

Everybody involved has their snout in the trough, and everybody else is irrelevant to them.

Congratulations to Mr Richard Paltridge, his family, and supporters for the extraordinary effort and they thoroughly deserve their every success.

Yet again, a handful of private citizens have had to take on their elected officials to not only protect themselves and their neighbours, but all South Australians'. We've just seen the exact same thing in New South Wales, where a couple of determined local protesters have forced the gross corruption of Labor ministers and their mates into the ICAC, the media and the public eye.

These issues (NSW ICAC) of corruption and nepotism plague South East politics.

The Allendale/Acciona/DC of Grant Wind Turbine issue is one of a number of such issues eg. Piccaninnie Ponds* that requires thorough scrutiny, but I can't imagine it's going to happen so it'll just have to appear here on this blog repeatedly. Cheers.


Tomorrow - Mount Gambier Jail Expansion - Importing Adelaide's Paedophiles.


* - See previous blogs

WIN TV News Axed: The Dismantling of Regional South Australia

For years I have maintained the position that governments state and federal were doing everything they could to make life as unpleasant and unsustainable as possible in Regional South Australia, to force people off their farms and make them vulnerable to takeovers by Turbine companies, mining companies, foreign governments eager to purchase land to sure up their own food and resource requirements, their own Labor mates, etc.

There are plenty of Labor chronies and associates involved with these companies and/or countries.

The South Australian and Federal Labor governments are effectively one and the same Adelaide borne animal (eg, Julia Gillard, Penny Wong, Jay Weatherill, Mike Rann, etc), and as that one animal, the left hand knows very much what the right hand is doing.

Across the Adelaide media, the animal has it's hands firmly around the throat of every producer, every journalist, etc; the refusal to even acknowledge the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up is irrefutable proof that the Adelaide media does what it is told; it is willingly submissive.

That submission is not just about the institutionalised State cover-up of the systemic daily abuse of our children (every month there's a new school based cover-up exposed), but also the systemic and total dismantling of Regional South Australia.

Whilst lying through their teeth about virtually every aspect of the Forestry Sale, including repeatedly on the floor of parliament, Mike Rann's Labor has sold off one leg of the tripod of the South East economy (also transport, agriculture/fisheries), and it has already had and will continue to have a devastating effect; what happens when you remove a tripod's leg? - it all falls over.

And what did the Adelaide media do about the Forestry Sale? Virtually ignored it; the vast majority of coverage in the Adelaide media was callers on talkback radio and Letters to the Editor.

Even when Mt Gambier put 1000s of Anti-sale protesters on North Terrace (twice) in some of the biggest, most organised protests ever held in Adelaide and certainly the largest 'regional based' protest, it received limited attention on the TV news services and literally one paragraph on page 15 of the Advertiser; absolutely disgraceful.

I come from Adelaide and I fully appreciate just how hard Adelaide's politicians work to convince Adelaide that it is the centre of the known universe; there are many highly intelligent people in Adelaide who have no idea what is happening in their own state, not least of all because they just don't care.

Even as I type this (very, very slowly) Adelaide is using money reefed out of Regional service cuts, regional health budget cuts (see blog re Privatisation of SA Health), the Forestry Sale, etc, to throw itself a party and tell itself what a great time it's having; at this point in time the Fringe and the Festival leave me feeling cold and empty, and the Clipsal event is a joke.

It is 'Fall of Rome' stuff; governing by 'rule of the mob' (being Adelaide) with a "bread and circuses" mentality; that is, so long as people aren't actually starving and you give them plenty of shiny distractions, you can basically do what you like, eg, 'Emperor' Mike Rann and his Wind Turbine legislation; doesn't affect Adelaide - Adelaide don't care.

The state transport system is in complete disarray and virtually non-existent in Regional areas; we have the second most expensive electricity on the planet because of the Wind Turbine obsession/Fascism (see previous blog); gas and water costs continue to spiral upward (despite what the government says); everything has been sold (privatised) whilst massive borrowing has continued; the state's budget deficit is forcast to pass $12billion within the next parliament (4-5 years); SA is set to pay literally billions to rent it's own hospital, etc.

The ship is going down and the band plays on; which brings us to new Speaker and former Rann Attorney General Michael Atkinson; why would a rat get back on a sinking ship? All the others, John Hill, Patrick Conlon, Mike Rann, (and Mr Atkinson himself originally) have "shot through like a rat out of an aquaduct"; so why would he come back to the spotlight?

I digress; the Labor party agenda is clearly to isolate Adelaide from the rest of the world, and most particularly from its' own state, to allow for the privatisation of South Australia; the Wind Turbine Development Plan Amendments (2011 and 2012) are effectively 'Compulsory Aquisition' of every inch of the state on behalf of Turbine developers.

Beyond that, the DPAs are Fascism (see previous blog).

Special 'Tourism' exclusions from DPA legislation (based on concerns about compromising 'Visual Amenity' and 'Tourist Safety') for certain areas near to Adelaide, do not apply to the rest of the state; Adelaide doesn't want it's views spoiled when it pops up the Barossa for a spot of self-delusional, self-important, self-ingulgence. (ooo I'm angry)

The safety of regional residents in their own homes and their visual amenity right in their backyards and their health, etc, is absolutely irrelevent.

Mount Gambier is SAs largest regional centre and we are regularly left out of state tourism publications and advertising; it's not a bloody accident.

Mount Gambier will not be getting the National Broadband Network for at least 5, probaly 7, quite possibly 10 years; Labor has no interest, indeed it would be counter productive to their agenda to invest any money in any service in the South-East.

Premier Jay Weatherill states that Adelaide will soon be drawing its' water from the Murray again, directly conflicting with his own statements about the health of the river, the importance of irrigators, etc; as soon as Adelaide needs that water, it's gone.   (see previous blog)

Mount Gambier has been officially written off by state and federal Labor; as the government of the day, they have renigged on their responsibility, and therefore by their own actions justify the only thing that the region can do to save itself; Secede from South Australia.

My sympathies to all those caught up in this Labor betrayal, and that includes those whom have just lost their jobs at WIN TV MT Gambier.

I do not belief for a moment that this decision to close Regional SA news services is a purely financial one; it is about the separation and privatisation of Regional South Australia.

Over the years, more than one person has suggested to me that this is part of an agenda to de-populate southern Australia, something that has surfaced again recently in federal politics.

Regardless of the motivation, it's happening/has happened and, given that we mean nothing to these people beyond how we may serve their best interests, its time we got well selfish ourselves.

Is succession the answer?

Tomorrow: Acciona Drops Allendale Wind Turbine Development - But Why? 

Old Hospital Demolition in Mount Gambier: Council vs Reality

I know, same joke as yesterday, but there are some fundamental realities that must be considered before even starting on what should happen with the Old Hospital.

1) Mount Gambier City Council have done 2 major projects in the Cave Garden 'precinct', the Library and Main Corner, that were meant to cost a combined $10million, but instead officially cost $11.5m and $10m respectively, more than twice what they should; and that is the cost Council is admitting to, and does not include interest on borrowings.

By informed 'guesstimate' I believe that the final total will be nearly $30m for these two un-neccesary projects that were meant to cost $10m; Mt Gambier already had a Library and the Main Corner is an elitist extravagence that serves no purpose, other than to create massive debt for ratepayers and equally massive profits for a few choice friends and family of City Councillors; Councillors are all tarred with the same brush; you are all corrupted by your selfishness.

Council has replaced the Library and built the Main Corner Project without any definable business plans, guaranteeing that their potential profit won't even cover running costs, and will never go close to recovering the huge sums committed; eg, the Library costs approx $2m per annum just to operate.

Council's only definable plan for cost recovery is to go into business directly against ratepayers by directing Council events, etc, to their function venue, the Main Corner, to be catered by Councillor Des Mutton's son, Lachlan; it's a bloody, corrupt disgrace.

What about the money Council continues to commit to events in the 'Cave Gardens Precinct' to try and justify the huge sums spent there already, including going into business against private market operators with the 'Farmers Market'; using ratepayers money to compete with ratepayers; outrageous and unacceptable.

In his last weeks as CEO (late 2011) Greg Muller mis-appropriated at least $340,000 re the Main Corner, as covered in Council and the media (and previous blogs), and it is alleged that there are other large sums simply missing, and/or hidden in the budgets of other Council departments, eg, 'Green wall' maintenance and other gardening not included in 'Main Corner budget'.

Given their record, the proposed $5m demolition will easily pass $10m.

Point 1): Council cannot be allowed to commit to any further projects until a full audit of the Library and Main Corner projects establishes where the costly mistakes and/or mismanagement have occurred, so that those mistakes are not repeated.

Unfortunately, the evidence defines that what Council has done with the Main Corner Project is quite deliberate, and has achieved exactly what they set out to do; these are objectives not mistakes, and therefore Council will never willingly submit to an audit because they know exactly where that money has disappeared to, because that is exactly what was meant to happen.

 2) Why did Council pay $1.4million for the Old Hospital, well above market value (approx $1m), to a company that was effectively in receivership, for an un-sellable derelict property that Council must have known they could only ever afford to demolish, regardless of the condition?

It looks like Council has simply used ratepayers money to help Mr Boots (previous owner) pay off his debts, whilst loading up Mt Gambier with more, massive debt; this debt load is currently (depending on who you believe) at approx 75% of Council's income, and by their own figures, set to hit 90% within a few years.

Council has now lumbered ratepayers with both the debt of the purchase (who the hell was stupid enough to lend them that money) and the impending cost of demolition.

This debt will be used to force the sale of the Rail Lands as per Council's Retail Agenda, backed up by the argument that Council has just returned the Old Hospital site to parklands, their current plans.

Council will argue both ways; we need to sell the Rail Lands to afford the demolition of the Old Hospital, and Mt Gambier doesn't need another parkland if that's what we do to the hospital.

Point 2): City Council is fully committed to building a huge Retail Development on the Old Rail Lands (previous blogs), and will do anything to realise that agenda; the site must be kept clear.

This agenda has driven Councillors to make selfish decisions regardless of the outcome for ratepayers, eg, the Penola Rd zoning debacle, bus depot fiasco, failure to move on the all-weather pool issue, etc; there is nothing in Mt Gambier that has not been affected by this obsession with the Rail Lands Retail Agenda (RLRA).

Councillors have deceived en masse, completely ignoring the Rail Lands issue until forced to act (to distract from the Main Corner disaster) with a false declaration of 'Parklands Development' (Nov 2011), followed by a structured program of deliberately deceiful press releases as to why none of that will happen, eg, 'we've got to check the deed now'; 'the rail easement is a problem'; 'ohhh, the contamination'; etc.

None of these 'problems' stopped Council re-zoning the site to Retail in 2009, and they will continue to make decisions based fundamentally on the Rail Lands Retail Agenda.

3): The Old Hospital may be derelict now, but it was built to last; when the volcano goes again (no time soon I hope) the building will probaly end up in the Main Street, largely still intact, the only thing left standing for miles around.

This is of course a slight exaggeration, but the building is set on massive foundations that are designed to address these particular issues of subsoil strata and potential slippage; short of a huge eruption, that hospital is going nowwhere.

Point 3): Does Council fully appreciate the task ahead in demolishing the Old Hospital?

Even more concerning, do they know exactly what is required but are not being forthright with that knowledge? Is there a massive cost blow-out written un-officially into Council's plans?

Given their abject failures and selfish corruption of process with the Library, Main Corner, Rail Lands, Bus Terminal, All-weather Pool, etc, and the RLRA, City Council have proven themselves to be fundamentally corrupted and irretrievably dysfunctional.

Council business is done for the benefit of a handful of Councillors and their mates; it's a...wait for it...bloody...wait for it...disgrace; there you go.

Council cannot be trusted with milk money let alone millions; they must resign en masse and then be held to account for the Main Corner (and Library), and charged when appropriate, eg, charging Greg Muller with a $340,000 fraud.

To this end, I will take new CEO Mark McShane's advice, and take these issues to the Ombudsperson and SAPol's Anti-Corruption Branch; but I ain't holdin' my breath...this is South Australia after all.

Tomorrow: WIN TV News Axed - The Dismantling of Regional South Australia

My Own TV Show: Man vs Reality

Yes, the chuckles never stop at Channel Me.com.au (that is not a website, it's another joke).

After being mis-diagnosed as effectively 'delusional' in 2003 by Centrelink psychologist Luciana (as per previous blog), her 'report' has caused many problems for me throughout the 'Social Security System', (SSS) and I would suspect, beyond as well.

Again; whilst I appreciate that my 'tale' of the cover-up of abuse of a class of 7 year olds (by St Martins' Lutheran School, SAPol, the Attorney General Michael Atkinson, Premier Mike Rann, etc) was quite incredible, what I do not understand is why I was then cut loose back into the SSS without the support that I had been identified as requiring?

It was the truly overwhelming completeness of the cover-up that caused the most distress, and it was inevitable that I (and possibly others) would question the very reality of what it was that had consumed our lives, even whilst wholly immersed in the situation; like a drowning man dying of thirst.

The reality of what was done (is still being done) to protect the man whom abused our children, is so confronting, so consuming, that many times over I have truly wanted to be delusional rather than accept the reality of what South Australia is; a wholly corrupted system mired in paedophilia.

Many people have suggested to me that that's just what the world is like and that I should therefore give up and get over it, but I refuse to accept living in a 'society' that continues to fail our most fundamental biological, moral, and social obligation; to reproduce the species as effectively as possible.

Dare I say it, at a 'moral' level, I refuse to accept that children should be subjected to any abuse, at any time, let alone in the classroom; letting this man abuse my child and then covering it up only drives me to resolve the necrotic ache of failure twice over; once that I failed to protect my child and twice that I have failed to resolve it.

Given the devastating mental and physical damage that abused children experience, and the effects that can haunt them into adulthood, eg, drug addiction, suicidal behaviour, etc, and the cost this has for society, it is not in-appropriate to identify Child Abuse as a financial impost as well as social concern.

What genuine chance do I stand against a corrupted system where, to my experience, people do not advance unless they learn to at the very least look away, but better still, support and promote paedophilia?

I can say this because everybody in Mount Gambier who is in a position to do something about the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up, knows but looks away, or outright denies (not least of all by attacking me/us) to protect their own self interest.

You should hang your collective heads in shame because you are shameful; and where is Mount Gambier City Council? They just have so many conflicts of interest; eg, relatives in parliament or at the school.

I have watched numerous people get generous promotions after helping cover-up the abuse of my child, eg, MP Rory McEwen, now 'Head of Schools' SA Gary Costello; both these men know exactly what has happened at St Martins and have chosen to cover it up; just ask them.

Rory McEwen has been a key player in the orchestrated effort by the Lutherans and the Rann Labor state government to denigrate parents and protect the teacher; and he's done very nicely out of it, thank you very much.

Of course the teacher is really only the symptom; South Australia is the actual sickness.

What sort of state is it that directs public officials to be afraid for their employment if they pursue an issue that is their responsibility, eg, Child Protection workers being threatened and intimidated into doing nothing about the St Martins issue.

My commitment to the Opposition to Wind Turbine Fascism (OWTF) candidacy is borne of the commitment that I learned by being a father (see blog), a commitment that was completely parasited by the St Martins issue as I was drawn into resolving that which could not be resolved; institutionalised paedophilia in South Australia.

This ties in with the whole 'Don Quixote' metaphor and the massively biased pro-Turbine situation, but I believe not only that just speaking out can change things, but that genuine democracy demands it.

I will continue to address my personal demons via this blog as part of explaining myself, where I'm coming from, and why I feel obligated to take my experience and beliefs to their ultimate conclusion via the ultimate delusion; that I can somehow dilute the pollution that is politics by becoming a politician.
(that's almost a poem right there.)

Like I said; Man vs Reality.

Tomorrow: Old Hospital Demolition in Mt Gambier - Council vs Reality
(such a great joke I just had to use it twice)

Wind Turbines: Has the Spin Run Out of Puff?

Apologies for no blog yesterday; 'technical difficulties' and my teenage child un-available to help.

To answer the question above, I doubt it very much; I doubt that the Wind Turbine companies, lobby groups, state and federal Labor governments, selfish local officials, etc, will suddenly give up the gravy train of tax-payer funded rorts they have worked so hard to establish; and if you can't bribe the people who live there, well to hell with them, we'll just bribe the neighbours.

And not just act to influence the neighbours, but specifically "lobby" governments for changes to legislation, eg, the Clean Energy Council states outright on their website that this is a major reason for their existence, to lobby. 

As per previous blog, the Pro-Wind Turbine development lobby has been waging a campaign of coherent collusion and deliberate deceit; ie, there is a definable, organised strategy between these various groups to deceive the 'general public', whom predominantly live in suburbs/cities.

The self-titled Clean Energy Council are an industry lobby group who are very much at the forefront of this campaign of deceit, with spokesperson Russell Marsh regularly in the media telling what are definable non-truths; regular ABC Radio listeners will be very familiar with his work, eg, 'wind is cheap electricity which means downward pressure on prices'.

I'm just not sure whether he's fully, genuinely committed to Wind Turbines and therefore passionately subjective and unable to realise the numerous truths opposed to what he describes; or whether he's just another soul-less executive who doesn't care what they say or whom gets trodden on, so long as they get what they want.

Unfortunately, this pattern of 'passionately subjective non-realisation' (or PSN) is rife, pervading government departments, developers, Councils, etc,etc; unfortunately leading to the frequent impression that these people are lying through their collective teeth to establish Turbines literally across the state, as soon as possible, regardless of the impacts.

The Country Fire Service (CFS) suffers terribly from this malady, senior officials un-able to see the reality of the importance of aircraft as front line weapons against any fire.  (see previous blog)

Stuart Donnington(?) of the Lake Bonney Wind Turbine development was on ABC Radio August 2012 saying 'the wind is always blowing in South Australia so it (Turbine energy) can be considered base load'; he knows that is not true, it is a desperate attempt to deny the reality that Wind based generation cannot be 'baseload' because the wind does stop, and then so does the power.

In October 2011 the South Australian Rann Labor government legislated to remove citizens rights to access the Courts (to oppose Wind Turbines), the dictionary defintion of Fascism, (see previous blog) and yet developers are in the media saying that there are too many restrictions.

Just recently, the (Stony Gap?) Wind Turbine development application was refused by the Development Assessment panel of (Goyder Council?- have to check); had it been approved the opponents, including neighbours, would not have had any way to appeal.

The company however does get an appeal, which it did, but then suddenly 'settled out of court' directly with the Council, and suddenly the Turbines are approved.

I don't care what these people think of their own behaviour, you are all a disgrace; you're nearly as embarassing as Mount Gambier City Council; nearly.   (see previous blog)

I digress, back to the spin: the recent backflip by the Environmental Protection Agency over the reality that Infrasound does actually exist and can affect peoples health, did not stop Mr Marsh (CEC) from going on the ABC Radio and saying that the EPA's one week of partial testing proved there were no problems with Infrasound.  (now the EPA is doing more 'testing')

Initially, the EPA contradicted Mr Marsh via a written statement to the ABC, 'that is not what our report says' but would not go on air, and then the pair did their little dance around the media together carefully avoiding the ABC Radio Late Afternoon program where they know they're going to get asked all sorts of unpleasant questions, and literally within 24 hours were back on script fully supporting each other over the EPA 'report' by avoiding the truth; chronic, contagious PSN.

Mr Marsh and the EPA have studiously avoided the fact that literally only months ago they were denigrating Infrasound as a creation of Anti-Turbine lobbyists; the EPA 'guidelines' approve Wind Turbine developments with no testing on Infrasound.

I know this was in other blogs, but the set up is important because it highlights the effect that opposition to Wind Turbines is having; across the state (and indeed the country) individuals and/or small groups are making big problems for turbine companies, the CEC, etc, and their relentless avalanche of government supported self-interest and propaganda.

And these problems have been created simply by telling the truth; Wind Turbines are an un-economic, environmental disaster, that guarantee a 100% reliance on some other generation as soon as the wind stops; and the SA legislation is Fascism.

As proponents become more intense and frustrated by this truthful resistance, they have started to trip over their own lies, openly contradicting each other in the media (as above).

The cracks are showing, and the truth is leaking, seeping, dare I say it, pouring out; clearly there are more and more people, particularly in the media, whom are starting to understand the reality of Turbines.

I congratulate all concerned and re-iterate my commitment to oppose Wind Turbines as the Opposition to Wind Turbine Fascism (OWTF) candidate for the Senate (Upper House) at the September 14th 2013 Federal election; I'm just not entirely sure whether I'm so much Don Quixote as the fat donkey he rode in on.   (hahaha- again, please don't confuse my sense of humor for a lack of commitment)

Tomorrow: My Own Lifestyle Show - Man vs Reality

Bus Shelter Fiasco: Mount Gambier City Council and 'Consultation'

But first, a topical joke in very poor taste re. beef/horse/donkey meat contamination; Why are French cannibals the toughest? Because they'll eat you and the horse you rode in on.

A less humourous joke; when City Council votes on anything to do with the Main Corner Project, there is a mass exodus (cue Bob Marley), a (sing it) 'movement of the people', with all the Councillors whom have a conflict of interest, including Mayor Steve Perryman, running for the door, if not quite leaving the building...uh, thankyou, thankyou very much.                 (yes, that's The Eagles and Elvis)

On numerous occasions these exodi (plural?) are accompanied by Councillors cracking jokes across the chamber about 'so many of them are leaving because they have a conflict of interest that they might not have enough left for a quorum'; Mayor + 10 Councillors = quorum of minimum 6 Cr + Mayor needed for a legal vote, and anyone with a conflict of interest is not allowed to participate in that issue and/or vote.

Council has completely trashed this process in a series of meetings/votes that I would suspect are largely not legal, eg, after repeatedly ramming through massive, costly commercial expansions of the MCP, two of the final 'tenderers' were Mayor Steve Perryman and Cr Des Mutton's son, Lachlan Mutton, co-owner of Sorrentos, the successful 'bidder'; please read other blogs re Main Corner Project.

Councillors weren't laughing so hard when their December 2012 meeting descended into high farce over a Main Corner hiring issue; Crs Richardson and Maher were absent, and Steve Perryman and Biddie Tietz left the room to the usual chorus of hilarious quips about 'conflicts and quorums'; Byron Harfield took the Mayor's position, but Des Mutton remained seated.

Byron looked straight at Cr Mutton, then at me, but discussion began so I pointed at Cr Mutton from the Public gallery; still nothing happened, so I also quietly said , "What about him?" to which Cr Mutton who was sitting with his back to me, got up, said "Yes, I suppose I should leave", and walked out, as Byron chastised me for "pointing and calling out from the gallery."

All this brought giggles and muffled comments from the packed Visitors gallery, which intensified as Council made the realisation that they now only had 5 Councillors + the Mayor left, not enough for a quorum; not so bloody funny now: after several minutes the matter had to be passed on to the January meeting; it was an embarassing display in front of a packed Visitors gallery whom clearly knew what was going wrong in front of them.

At the January meeting Cr Maher gave a long explanation of as to why nobody needed to excuse themselves, they all sat there, they all voted, it was passed; how bizarre, how bizarre; one meeting the issue brings Council business grinding to a halt, and next month it's all fine; me thinks it stinks.

More concerning is the second December 2012 MCP issue heard 'In Confidence', where Steve Perryman and Des Mutton did leave the chamber, but Biddie Tietz somehow no longer had a conflict of interest and remained in the Chamber meaning that there was a quorum; is this actually a legal vote?

This extraordinary conduct and fanatical obsession with the Main Corner Project are for other blogs, but the MCP is inextricably linked to every planning, development, and/or funding decision that Council makes, all of which are fundamentally compromised by the greed of a few people and their agenda to turn the Old Rail Lands site into a huge Retail/plaza extension of the current adjacent centre, also in other blogs.

This has driven Councillors to do everything they can to stop any development of the ORL site that in any way might compromise their personal agenda; and that brings us to Consultation.

In 2005/06, multiple submissions, media reports, and personal statements at meetings, proved beyond doubt that Mt Gambier wanted a 'Parkland' style public space on the ORL, with an all-weather bus terminal, but Council commissioned expensive plans for full Retail development and re-zoned the site to Retail; there was no plan for a parkland, and no permanent bus terminal on any plan.

During recent debate on the Bus Shelter issue, the public, the Chamber of Commerce, bus driver/owners, etc, all told Council they wanted a proper, centralised, all-weather terminal that offered all the services not available at the Lady Nelson; but Council responded with plans for a $500,000 'shade sail' at the Lady Nelson carpark.

Council flatly refused to consider the logic of spending that money on renovating the Old Rail Station and utilising all of the facilities and services immediately available in the shopping centre that are still not available with the 'shade sail', via roads that already exist; but they did suddenly drop the cost to $250,000 without explanation.

Council flatly refused to compromise their collective personal agenda for Retail on the ORL; they clearly have demolition in mind for the Old Station as part of the Retail expansion - it is right in the way - and are concerned that if it is renovated and the bus runs established through there, then it will prove impossible to shift.

Anyway, why renovate something you know you're trying to demolish?

There has been extensive alleged consultation over the Old Rail Lands and bus terminals over many years, and Council has demonstrated that it will continue to talk about 'public consultation' but actually do what ever is most beneficial for individual Councillors.

The current discussion from Council, trying to justify an expensive wall under the shade sail, is rife with hypocrisy as they trot out all the reasons that people told them initially were a problem, eg, weather direction and strong wind means no real cover, problems Council completely ignored when forcing through the Lady Nelson option: and there's the other missing $250,000 - for that wall.

Nepotism, corruption of process, mismanagement, incompetence, are all bad enough, but when Cr Mutton goes on the front page of The Border Watch Feb 12 2013, about the Old Hospital demolition, demands people get involved, and then criticises those who"...wait after it is set in concrete to complain" well that's just, pardon me, bollocks.

Councillors do what they want, when they want, for each other, with a definable disregard for what ratepayers think or how Council decisions affect the public; they don't give a stuff what the public go through to catch a bus, so long as it doesn't interfere with their own selfishness over the Old Rail Lands.       

Tomorrow: Wind Turbines - Has The Spin Run Out Of Puff?



   

Surviving SA Health: My Cancer Treatment 2004/05

I know this blog seems quite long but there are many gaps, please persist.

I used this attached statement (written 2008) as my submission to the recent (2012) Coronial Inquiry into "Swine Flu Deaths" in the South East, and I received an acknowledgement but was not called to give evidence.

Submission 2008:
        "This is a brief chronology of my experience with the country health system re Cancer. It is effectively a letter of complaint that highlights faults and failings, that is what I have been asked to prepare, but I never lose sight of the fact that I received $10,000’s of free treatment for the 16cm x 12cm tumour I should never have survived, and the vast majority of staff/specialists/nurses etc that I have met are hard working, dedicated professionals.

I also recognise that having family in Adelaide spared me from many of the issues that country patients endure eg, accommodation, meals, laundry, transport between appointments, isolation/lack of support, etc. Nor was I trying to juggle a career/work, provide primary child care, run a farm, etc.

                                        

11/05/04: I attended Dr M Morgan at Hawkins Clinic, Mt Gambier, complaining of severe chest pains and difficulty breathing. He stated ‘not a stroke as pain stops/starts in different positions, probably pulled muscle in chest’.

June 2004: attend Mt Gambier Hosp- symptoms same- diagnosed ‘asthma’- No X-ray

21/07/04: attend MGH (Dr Afilaka)- symptoms worse- diagnose “RTI”- No X-ray

23/07/04: flying back from Teachers Registration Board/Crown Solicitor hearing in Adelaide- abort 3 goes at landing and return to Adel- miss doctor appt. for 26/07/04

29/07/04: attend Mt G Hosp- symptoms so bad unable to sleep, walk etc- finally do X-ray and diagnose “large anterior mediastinal mass...15.5 x 11cm” and “pericardial and pleural effusion”. Dr Irannezhad was clearly shocked at the size of the tumour, and when I said I lived alone, he stated ‘send you home in ambulance to grab some clothes etc, then to Adelaide tonight via Royal Flying Doctor’. He returned 1/2 hr later and discharged me, urging me to get a referral immediately the next day.

          I was so ill I took this to mean that the ‘mass’ was considered benign and of no immediate threat. I was pleased and happily went home. With hindsight there is no doubt that when Dr Irannezhad went to organise my transfer to Adelaide he was ordered by his superior/s (unknown) to discharge me.

30/07/04: attend Dr Broughton (Hawkins)- furious about my discharge- ‘I’m going to write to the hospital’ (outcome unknown)- refers to Dr Jack Russell (Adelaide)

01/08/04: fly to Adelaide

03/08/04– 09/08/04: appt Dr Jack Russell- daily scans- chest biopsy, PET scan, CAT scan, gated blood pool scan, sperm storage, bone marrow biopsy. Diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

10/08/04: first chemotherapy at RAH- protocol CHOP- cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisolone. Follow-up steroid injection next day.

16/08/04: legs badly swollen, laboured breathing, attend Domain Clinic (Marion) advised go to RAH- 4 hrs in Emergency- admitted ward C6- in curtained annex

17/08/04: ultrasound- so much fluid in pericardial sac could not see heart- left lung 1/3 full of fluid- nearly discharged but booked for ‘heart drain’- ward C6

18/08/04: drain inserted, 1/2 litre fluid removed- left in overnight- total 1 litre- ward A6- removed next day- discharged 20/08/04

Chemotherapy on 5 more occasions. Radiotherapy ask for 2 more cycles due to size of tumour- 7 week gap- 2 more cycles making total of 8 cycles

09/03/05: commence Radiotherapy RAH- flew home for Easter (PATS refused to pay ‘because doctor didn’t tick the right box and I wasn’t sick enough’)

06/04/05: Last radiotherapy

Whilst I suffered various side effects, eg, hair loss, brittle nails and teeth, etc. I never vomited or suffered mouth ulcers as so many people do, immediately stabilised my weight loss, and actually started gaining weight. This was attributed to my youngish age and reasonable physical condition, the readily treatable form of cancer that I had, and in part to being a marijuana smoker.

I repeatedly identified as a non-drinking, non-smoking, long term marijuana smoker. Never once was smoking grass identified as a contributing factor to my lymphoma, nor was it even suggested that I should stop (although I had due to my illness). At one point I was actually advised to start smoking again because of the widely if not officially recognised benefits of marijuana when dealing with the side effects of chemo, eg, suppresses nausea, increases appetite, soothes aches and pains, etc.

I have spoken to numerous medical specialists and genuinely believe that medicinal marijuana should be available to chemo/radiotherapy patients if they choose to use it.

I have had numerous follow up scans and appointments and the issues remain the same, eg, travel to Adelaide for a 10 min oncologist appointment

From my first appointment 03/08/04 I was repeatedly involved in the same conversation. The first thing I was asked- “what are your stress issues”; when I related my diagnosis/discharge on 29/07/04- “were they trying to kill you”. Everyone was extremely critical about the actions of Mt Gambier Hospital.

I cannot begin to imagine the nightmare that it must be for Aboriginal people, any people, in remote communities when faced with cancer or any other major illness, eg, diabetes. I am simply not qualified to comment. I did not go to the inquest into the ‘asthma’ death of a young woman at Mt Gambier Hospital out of respect for her family, but have since regretted not putting forward my experiences.

I was recently informed (days after it was revealed in the media) that I am one of hundreds of people who did not receive appropriate radiotherapy treatment. I rang the hotline and was told by a laughing woman that everything was fine. When I asked that I might get some appropriate scans she said that was “a good idea”, laughed, and hung up on me. I had to organise my own scan, blood tests, and RAH appointment.

I have not heard a single thing since. No information, no “counselling” as promised. At the same time the number of patients affected has risen- ‘we found some more’-,   and “a few concerns” has become several people died prematurely because of the under-dosing.

I was absolutely stunned to hear Health minister John Hill on radio dismissing these premature deaths as being inevitable deaths brought forward “only a few weeks”. The failure to immediately notify patients, particularly as there was allegedly no problem, is totally un-professional and highly suspicious. The actions of senior RAH officials and the state government indicate a clear desire for this to remain un-discovered, and now that it has been exposed, for it to remain unresolved.

It is my understanding that there can not be effective change to the health experiences and outcomes for Mt Gambier patients until the federal government takes control of hospitals. Only then will Mt Gambier hospital become a regional health focus able to offer high level care and treatment which in turn attracts the specialists we need. I do not know how this would affect Pt Augusta, Pt Lincoln, etc.

Until then the above issues- lack of specialists, limited treatments available, transport, accommodation, and particularly the stress of accessing services heaped on the stress of being diagnosed, will continue to compromise the health of country people simply because they live away from Adelaide.

I have not yet read the ‘New Country Health Plan’ but I’m not holding my breath."

Make of this what you will; I'm still here to complain about it, after all.

Tomorrow: Bus Shelter Fiasco - Mount Gambier City Council and 'Consultation'