It's the one thing that genuinely makes me laugh these days, watching people who don't know what they're watching, watching Monty Python...that, and Sean Lock...oh, and Joe Wilkinsons' "I Just Named Your Penis" poem...never thought I'd get into 'Reaction' videos, but rediscovering Holy Grail, Life Of Brian, and The Meaning Of Life through the eyes of someone who doesn't know what they're in for, reminds me of the perfection of genius masked in farce that Monty Python achieved...(deadset, when we saw these movies as kids we thought it was okay, we knew what 'Python' was, and so suddenly cutting to/from cartoon segments, random 'cartoon-level' violence, etc, wasn't as impactful-Ed)...my point exactly...I can only urge all availees of this 'ere blog, if y'all ain't seen 'em yet, give it a burl, heck, ya' may even learn somethin'...I still do...(and watch each several times 'cos there's so much goin' on in literally every shot that ya' gunna' miss heaps of stuff the first coupla' times-Ed)...indeed, literally every shot is a visual gag/historical reference/witty repartee/etc, all done with amazing cinematography and soundtrack...Holy Grail is a master class in how to make an Artistic Mountain out of a Fiscal Molehill...
But, alas, we digress, this is not why we're here today, so to this...lotta' chatter locally about the appalling conduct of Mt Gambier City Council, and so-and-so is gunna' run for Council/Mayor, etc, etc...and all due respect and more power to ya's, all a' that, sincerely, but I'm gunna' wade right on in with my two-bobs worth...(sooo, not lecturing anyone?-Ed)...no...(or doin' the whole 'I know better' stuff?-Ed)...nah...(again-Ed)...hey! fair go...(nah nah, gourd bless, just jokin'...so, a genuinely respectful attempt to point-out some of the more perilous potholes on/in the road to Local Government glory-Ed)...precisely...(and we'd thank y'all to please not take pot shots at the messenger-Ed)...absolutely, I ain't The Message, not even the messenger, just pointin' at stuff and sayin' "WTAF?"...(and ironically, in The Holy Grail, Concorde only becomes the messenger after the message-bearing arrow sticks the message in him-Ed)...good point, I can relate...and first pothole off the rank please...
Non-Compulsory Voting:
The Solution: Make it compulsory, and then hold Local Government Elections on the same day as State Elections, ie March every 4 years...there's an alleged necessity to move the November 2026 LGE to April 2027...I don't know why...(ummm, yeah, I think it was something about the screaming incompetence of the South Australian Electoral Commission thingy-Ed)...oh yeah, that's right...(has anyone done an 'Electoral Dysfunction' joke yet?-Ed)...anyhoos, that now aligns perfectly with running the 2030 LGE with the SE due in March 2030...heaps of time to get everything organised...concurrent compulsoryelections = excellent participation...
This would also address another problem...(oo! oo! me! me!-Ed)...go on then...(candidates double-dipping?-Ed)...damn you're good, yes, candidates taking a 'bet-each-way sabbatical' from their Local Government position to run as State candidates, then if they don't win, just shufflin' back to their still-warm Council pedestal...(hey, that's happened here in the South East-Ed)...yep, holding both elections on the same day forces these clowns to make a choice...
The Problem: Non-Compulsory voting for LGEs guarantees poor engagement/returns/turn-out, so only the motivated and organised really participate...(and motivated/organised does not imply positive intent-Ed)...most certainly not, and as it relates to Mt Gambier City, and my extensive personal interaction with them, it's the opposite...(soooo, the fewer votes returned, the lower the numbers required to get elected?-Ed)...exactly...(and those most motivated/organised enough to get those albeit small numbers, aren't doing it for the good of Mt Gambier?-Ed)...exactly again, they're there for self-aggrandisement and to re-pay their supporters who got them there...(I want to use the phrase "vested interests" for some reason-Ed)...an excellent point well made...
And sure, it could be argued that all a' that's just 'Politics', doesn't mean I gotta' like it...it is no exaggeration to state that if the next LGE was compulsory, then the current chronically compromised contingent wouldn't have a hope...(so here's to hoping for a frothing frenzy of frustrated voters seekin' to be wreakin' some electoral vengeance come April 2027-Ed)...and that's the issue right there...if too many people just vent on social media but don't actually vote, then the same clowns are just gunna' keep gettin' re-elected time-after-time...
I don't know how independent candidates can motivate/stimulate enough people to actually vote such-as to usurp the status-quo...(well, if I had to offer advice, I'd be suggestin' to be leanin' super-hard into that community anger, and pointing-out as often as possible the desperate need for them to vote-Ed)...so, lead-in with the button-punching realities, then offer the perfect salve; vengeance via the ballot box...clever...(well, like most things we produce/predict, it's just the glaring reality pointed-at, rather than some sublimely brilliant insight-Ed)...fair dues...
A History Of MGCC: The ICAC Years
Another massive hurdle is the vast array of near-daily pre-existing improprieties committed by MGCC that any newbies will inherit...(and not least of all, as compounded by the extraordinarily farcical 2013 ICAC (Independent Commissioner Against Corruption) alleged investigation of MGCC-Ed)...well, you've jumped ahead a bit, but sure, the definable protection MGCC enjoys from both the State Government and the supposedly 'independent' ICAC...I mean, I know how bad it is what it is that I know, yeah? but I'm quietly confident that it's way worse than that even...
I cannot go through all this ICAC stuff again, again, so if y'all ain't read this 'ere blog's various 'ICAC Posts' and ya' got no idea what I'm on about, then please go read that stuff...in brief review, in late 2013 I made document-supported reports (to the Ombudsman and local Member Don Pegler) of multiple Corruption issues I'd personally witnessed whilst attending dozens of MGCC meetings...ICAC swept-up those reports, pretended to 'investigate' them, eg, a cafe-chat with me and no actual hearings, etc, and then in January 2014, completely exonerated MGCC...then ICAC/SAPol/Courts/Parliament used the ICAC Act 2012 sec56 to come after me and this 'ere blog...30+ 'hearings' and 11 full days of actual 'trial', across 4 years (2014-18) and spent $$$???, etc etc, including 1) having my house raided (May 2014) as part of 2) my very own SAPol 'Operation Baritone'...etc etc etc ad infinitum...
And I'm gunna' call it what I've always called it, namely, that which it is, Institutionalised Corruption, and it's 'protecting MGCC', and that's what any prospective genuine Councillor/Mayor is gunna' have to negotiate...not tryin' to put anyone off, not sayin' it can't be done, quite the opposite, but it needs more than just a coupla' motivated peeps tryin' to drag everyone else along...(the electorate needs to get out in front of the status quo, or, like we said before, ya' just gunna' get the same clowns once more again ad infinitum-Ed)...absolutely, it needs a strong suite of viable Candidates to usurp the well-supported incumbents, and all Candidates gotta' go into this with ya' eyes wide-open, ya' chins kept close to ya' chest, ya' guard well-up, and best fighting trousers on...and speaking of Institutionalised Corruption, this...
I've Seen Dead Whales Less Bloated: The Blessedly Un-Elected
The bloated bureaucracy that is the un-elected portion of the MGCC pie, eg, the CEO...not met the latest CEO, but by gourd I've met plenty of his predecessors, I've met what it takes to be MGCC CEO, and again, it ain't perrrty!...(you mean the sort of people who routinely give their mates lucrative jobs/contracts up to and including creating faux positions with ludicrous word-verbage titles, etc etc, and buy themselves luxury cars whilst forcing Ratepayers to wait for part-time buses in the pissing rain, etc etc, those sort of people?-Ed)...yep, those sort of people...these are the sort of people that any genuine newbie Councillor/Mayor is gunna' have to contend with...(and of course, Ratepayers/voters get no say in that Non-Elected Bureaucracy, it's an entirely internal mechanism that in effect employs to protect/perpetuate itself-Ed)...well yay, doesn't that sound just terrific...(well it terrifies me-Ed)...again, yay...
How Much Is The FARC In Debt?
See what I did there...(oh yeah, genius, you did a FARC joke-Ed)...well if you liked that, ya' gunna' love this, What Is The FARC In Reality?...(well I'd guess, a Liberal Party promotional vehicle-Ed)...well okay, sure, good answer, I believe the FARC was gunna' be a 'beacon-on-the-hill' accomplishment project to glorify Tony Pasin...(yeah, and the Federal and State Liberals, whom provided funding, $15m/$10m respectively-Ed)...correct, but even that was for a "$39.1m project"...given that the FARC has run-to twice that and then some, who is responsible for that massive debt load?...(wellll, Ratepayers are, Ratepayers are on the hook for every red cent-Ed)...okay, again true, but I'll rephrase that; who is responsible for 1) that ginormous cost blow-out, and 2) incurring the resultant massive debt?...(oh well that's 1) MGCC, and 2) MGCC-Ed)...yep, and that li'l ship my friend, in every respect, in every potentiality, in every eventuality, in each and every reality, in every parallel universe, that little ship has sailed...
I went through the 4 MGCC Budgets from prior to it's opening, and the total for construction was at nearly $75m...(and that doesn't include whatevs amounts are listed as Line Items in other parts of the Budgets, eg, landscaping/road works/etc-Ed)...precisely...with what I've read, I'm absolutely confident claiming that the FARC cost just over $80m, I just don't know how far "just over" is...I've only spoken with 1 person who claimed to have worked on the FARC, and they were scathing, describing multiple cock-ups/re-does/wastage, and a cost blow-out to around $100m...(didn't that senior Liberal supporters' son get multiple paycheques 'cos MGCC kept changing plans?-Ed)...as one fine example...I have however spoken to numerous people who had family/friends on site/involved, and they have without exception backed-in everything that first person said, and on occasion, worse...it has been directly alleged to me, repeatedly, that the "$100m" claim is both correct, and optimistic...
And there is only ever one way to specifically define what that cost is, and that's for MGCC to release all the relevant documents...and MGCC is so compromised/confronted/exposed by that data, there's a snowballs' chance they'll do that, so, anyone could make literally any claim about the FARC and MGCC won't/can't challenge it...(ooo, ooo, challenge accepted, it was ummm, $120m-Ed)...jest ye may, but that figure came-up a coupla' times...(deadset?!-Ed)...not so bloody funny now is it?...with the totality of what I've read/seen/heard, and given the deceitful and secretive conduct of MGCC across the entirety of this gold-plated debasco*, I genuinely believe the Genuine Construction Cost to be at, if not above, the $100m mark... (*debacle tail-ending a fiasco, at speed)But even if we go back to the $75m, the Libs shunted $25m at it, so where did the other $50m materialise from?...(and even if ya' believe MGCCs' figure, $63m, it's still $38m needed-Ed)...yep, but get MGCC to fully explain that "$38m", let-alone the higher figures, and how exactly it is MGCC/Ratepayers are gunna' go about repaying it all, etc etc, it ain't gunna' happen...(so there's what the FARC cost to construct, and then there's obviously the resultant massive interest repayments-Ed)...and chuck onto that Running Costs and Depreciation...it is widely reported that the FARC is costing/losing $5m per annum, but I don't believe that any of those monies addresses the capital of the loans, it's just interest repayments...
In conclusion; whilst I'm being as accurate as possible, across all these issues, I am as always, happy and indeed hoping to be proven wrong on any and all points...I absolutely believe these FARC numbers to be right about the mark if not absolutely correct...I'm not an accountant, and I know there's stuff/costs in other areas of the Budget but not exactly what/where, etc...(and as identified, this is in good part what others have said to you, albeit proffered and received in good faith-Ed)...poetically put sir...(more than happy for anyone, MGCC especially, to wade right-in here and edumicate us all real good 'bout all them confusing numbers-Ed)...amen...
I believe that those in our community whom have chosen to publicly challenge MGCC do so knowing full-well what it is goin' on, but it needs everyone to understand and for genuine numbers to challenge/usurp the status quo...it's also likely there's some thing/s I haven't thought of, but whatevs, this li'l lot's enough until...
Tomorrow: Or Probably Later In The Week
So I have gone pretty hard in this post, but in review, there's nothing I would recant...I don't know what else one could say about MGCC who preside over such malicious bastardry as the dysfunctional disgrace that is part-time Public Transport, lack of shelters, etc, and how that affects Ratepayers who also happen to be people, etc etc, yet have literally $$$millions to buy themselves luxury cars...(and before anyone starts hollerin' about "6 Top of the Line Ford Rangers don't cost $$$m, no, it'd be maybe half a mill, tops" we're talking about across decades that Mt Gambier Public Transport has been grossly underfunded, and MGCC have failed to meet their most basic legal responsibilities to provide infrastructure access/shelters/signage/lighting/etc-Ed)...yeah, what he said...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...(and for new availees, I'm Ed and I'm a confected literary device, not an actual person, so don't blame me-Ed)...and from us both, cheers and laters...
