Hello Malaysia, Brazil, and Ukraine and welcome to TMGI...and particularly to the many new 'availees' of this here blog in the USofA...the more people who read it, the more pressure I feel to produce something worth reading...no pressure...
And Labor Minister Tom Koutsontonis is doing what he can to help me by providing great lines such as the recent "Food security arguments are hysterical", and then yesterday re the granting of massive offshore oil mining exploration licences for the Great Australian Bight, "This will be as big as the Gulf of Mexico"...(no...he didn't?-Ed)...oh yes he did...(but the Gulf of Mexico oil spill was one of the worst ever man-made environmental disasters-Ed)...bit like the Rann/Weatherill Labor government in South Australia...(nice-Ed)...
A massive Copper/Gold mine going in the middle of prime cropping land at the top of Yorke Peninsula, oil exploration and mining in the pristine Southern Ocean, gas exploration at Penola literally right in the middle of one of the world's premium wine production areas...(with that Gas exploration stuff, is that 'Fracking'?-Ed)...apparently...but according to the spokesperson (Beach Exploration I think) who was on the recent ABC Radio interview/infomercial, everything's just fine and there's nothing to worry your pretty little head about.
(But 'Fracking' involves pumping multiple chemicals into the coal seam to 'fracture' it and release the gas, and everywhere this is done it leads to atrocious contamination of ground water, methane pollution around wellheads, etc-Ed)...yep...(right in the middle of premium wine country?-Ed)...yep...(well that's just lunacy...no wonder the good folk of the area are rioting in the streets-Ed)...yeah, about that...(what? no protest?-Ed)...not a peep, not that I've heard...
Getting Serious: I seriously do not understand how the good folk of Penola and surrounds can have this happening right in amongst them and there is virtually no protest...again, not that I'm aware of...and these are relatively intelligent people who must surely understand the broader implications of having this sort of 'development' and it's potential to poison their water and air and thoroughly root their industry...(it's got me beat-Ed)...
And bonny British Prince George has had a Jedi Christening...watch the footage on the news/Interweb and as Queen Elizabeth and other guests are entering/leaving the chapel, check out the dude in the background with what looks like a giant light saber...(oh yeah...hilarious-Ed)...yeah, that or someone's got a hell of a lot of lint to be brushed off their suit...
Some Quick Feedback: and thankyou for the support and encouragement, particularly about the recent letters to Premier Weatherill and the ABCs Graeme Blewitt...and with the Thing that remains an issue of non-discussion...or not...I'm not sure...(thanks for clearing that up yet again-Ed)...it is what it is, allegedly...but I digress...
In The Border Watch Friday 18th October 2013 there is the usual pro-Council propaganda, this time about the Hospital Demolition...and call me a vain, arrogant prick...(you're a vain, arrogant, prick-Ed)...yes, thankyou...but it reads almost like they've got my blog in front of them and are trying to pick off my observations/criticisms point by point, particularly the comments of Council's Operational Services Director Daryl Sexton...please review my previous posts re this issue...
First it's all about how thoroughly McMahons "highly trained workers" are "scouring the site" for asbestos, "particularly the upper floors of the building"...but my understanding is that there are asbestos issues with all window frames and/or the adjoining masonry, and not just restricted to the windows in the 5 story building but also in the other smaller buildings, some of which have already been demolished...I am not an asbestos expert, but this is what has been explained to me...
I was up there Tuesday and Wednesday last week watching a small building at the back get demolished and broken up with a large backhoe, but I don't know if the window frames, etc, were removed first or under the rubble...and this 'crushing' created a cloud of dust blowing across the site toward the adjacent Apartments...there wasn't even someone with a hose at least attempting to keep the dust down...that site has been slowly disintegrating for over 15years, god knows what contamination is present in any dust...
"An independent consultant is also conducting daily air monitoring on the site to ensure public safety."...bollocks...and what does this even mean?...as per previous paragraph, I watched a large cloud of dust blow across the site and there was no-one within cooee, certainly nobody 'monitoring' anything...I understand any 'monitoring' is heavily subjective relative to wind direction and strength, weather, eg, damp dust dries out over days only to blow away later, activity on the site stirring up dust, etc.
The fundamental problem I have with this "independent" label is that when it comes to Council, my extensive personal experience of their lack of honesty and accountability and capacity to say pretty much whatever suits them in the moment, renders any report about anything virtually redundant...does anyone honestly believe that if Council are presented with a report that says a large cloud of pollutant has blown over the city that they will fall on their swords and admit it?
If this "independent" monitoring is within a contractor's control and Council are third in the process, it becomes even more problematic...(and you can avoid any potential complication by employing someone who you know will not present you with a problematic report-Ed)...indeed...unfortunately "independent" is a very malleable term.
Then the article states "a number of regional businesses have been engaged for the preliminary works" but does not name one....it really emphasises this point, and according to Mr Sexton, "There is no surprise in that, there was always going to be a combination of local and away personnel..."
Followed by paragraphs of gushing praise about what great folk McMahons are, "all works are performed with the highest standards"...(well that sounds pretty good-Ed)...that's actually a quote from McMahons themselves...(oh-Ed)...quite...and that brings us to Darryl Sexton's comments.
"Conceding some of the money would flow out of the region, he said a large "chunk" would stay in the city, particularly from the spin-offs to the region's industry...", and when it comes to McMahons workers, "They need accommodation, fuel, and they need to eat..."...basically, an unknown number of unnamed local businesses and the expenses of external contractors somehow insulates Mt Gambier ratepayers from the fact that this is borrowed money, to be repayed with interest, and the majority of it is leaving the region...
The whole article ends with a quiet admission that, "asbestos had been found around the windows in the upper floors..."...charming...and right alongside is another article (page 6) that explains how great this demolition is for the people in the luxury apartments...and several people have put it to me that some of those tenants are the ones that pushed Council into this ridiculous purchase, the Budget blowout, and the demolition, ie, it is all driven by certain people's concerns for their 'land values'.
And as always, please consider that this piece is the work of an angry, cynical man who genuinely hopes that he's wrong, and that what is being spruiked in this article above, is a financial reality and not just vacuous damage control in response to some twit's blog...(um, this is-Ed)...yes, I know, this is some twit's blog right here...
Tomorrow: Bits, Pieces and Stuff
Which is code for 'I don't know yet'...give me this evening to get really pissed off about something, and I'll rail against that on the morrow...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
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