Hello Macao, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Ukraine...welcome to the blog...and if you joined us today for a thorough lambasting of local Liberal candidate Troy Bell I'm afraid you'll have to come back tomorrow to then only be somewhat disappointed...
But first...great news in South Oz as Health Minister Jack Snelling announces that the review the government payed Deloittes a small fortune for, has said exactly what the government wants it to say, namely, that closing 30 beds and axing 80+ jobs at the Adelaide Women and Children's Hospital is a positive thing for the delivery of improved health services...bollocks...
Mr Snelling justifies these cuts saying that the Health Budget is too much of the state budget and we don't need to spend money pointlessly at WCH...and other services are to be 'consolidated' at the Lyell McEwin Hospital...this is the inevitable fall-out of the Privatisation of SA Health that I covered in a previous post...and a deeply concerning development for South East health services.
There is still no finalisation of the Mt Gambier Hospital expansion as promised years ago and repeatedly announced since...and 'ramping' (patients stuck in ambulances due to lack of beds) is getting worse at Flinders Medical Centre and elsewhere; services are being cut, eg, Modbury Obstetrics; hospitals shut, eg, Blackwood...if this is what's happening in Adelaide due to Labor's chronic mismanagement, then what hope for improved services in the South East?
And a lovely little segue into today's The Border Watch section 'from our archives' that shows their front page from this day ten years ago, and there's Rory McEwen as a Rann Labor government Cabinet Minister stating that he will resign from the Cabinet if Labor doesn't immediately increase funding to the Mt Gambier Hospital...what a joke...but I digress...
A quick cultural explanation of the extraordinarily witty title to this post...here in Straya the word 'date' has numerous meanings ranging from a fruit, to a specific day, to an amorous rendezvous, to the 'date' of the title, namely...(go on, there's no polite way to say it-Ed)...an anus...a 'date' is an anus...
Now take Prime Minister Elect Tony Abbott's repeated reference to his mandate and listen to it in the above context, and join me on the floor having laughed so hard you fell off your chair...twice...once for the fact that he has said 'mandate' at all, and again because every time he says it...(indeed if anyone says it-Ed)...from now on, he is...(they are-Ed)...now talking about his anus...
"I support Mr Abbott's mandate"..."This win doesn't give him a mandate"...he just said it on ABC Radio...'respect our mandate'...hilarious...
(Oo, oo, I've got one...moving forward, Tony Abbott's mandate is the date behind the tool behind the tool behind the budgie smugglers-Ed)...nice...a self-referenced running gag based on the premise of this post...
My turn...when Tony Abbott starts babbling about his mandate, he is talking out of his arse, about his arse...(oh, witty Wilde...turning 'arse' jokes into high art and insightful political commentary-Ed)...yes, well, maybe not quite high art...
This election does not mean that the Liberal Party has a mandate on anything, particularly when a great deal of Labor's failure can be directly attributed to their own appalling internal squabbling...note that voters largely went to the minor parties and not specifically the Liberals...which leads directly to the bizarre Senate results..
Forget Clive Palmer and his candidates, Wayne Dropulich of the Australian Sports Party (Western Australia) keeps saying that his party will look at the issues and formulate some policies 'when and if' they get in...they could have a candidate in the Senate if not quite the balance of power and they don't have any policies...yet...at least Clive has policies...sort of...
Even I've got some bloody policies as spelled out in some of my posts...it's not that difficult...believe in something and/or make a decision, make a statement of intent, and be prepared to evolve that decision because you might possibly not know everything.
And better still, the Motoring Enthusiasts Party candidate is quoted as saying 'I'm not really interested in politics'...deadset...then why run for parliament you shrekin' idiot?...get the hell outta the way and let someone who is interested have a go...wonder how long this clown will last, indeed any of these 'micro parties...how soon before we have how many By-elections as these faux politicians fold...or perhaps they'll step up and perform admirably, but the early indications are not good.
And speaking of mandates, SA Premier Jay Weatherill is also speaking out of his arse about his arse, but in a very different context...Mr Weatherill's arse is in a sling, on the line, as he tries to save it...
Family First's Robert Brokenshire is tomorrow going to introduce a motion calling for an Upper House Inquiry following on from where the DeBelle Inquiry petered out...and one of the issues that this Inquiry will look at is the infamous email sent by Mr Weatherill's senior staffer Mr Blewett to person allegedly unknown but allegedly definitely not the Premier whilst he was still Education Minister...
(A thought...if Mr Blewett allegedly cannot remember who he sent that email to, how can he say that it definitely wasn't Jay Weatherill?-Ed)...well spotted sir...
Mr Weatherill has demonstrated a Rann-like contempt for parliament by calling this proposed Inquiry a "circus", and stating that he flatly refuses to appear before it...'I'm not handing politicians a bunch of stuff to play politics with' (paraphrase but close to a quote)...(if he hasn't done anything wrong, what can he possibly 'hand' to anybody?-Ed)...another good question...
And then he went straight to the self created justification that 'the DeBelle Inquiry completely exonerated me'...(so a Commissioner appointed by him, running an Inquiry set up by him, has exonerated him-Ed)...exactly...(oh well then, everything must be fine-Ed)...and Labor is trying to circumvent this new proposed Inquiry by trying to introduce an Inquiry/legislation of their own into the Ministerial 'data wiping' practices also exposed by DeBelle...
I personally have no faith that any Inquiry established in SA Parliament is genuinely going to even genuinely attempt to change the culture of pro-paedophile cover-up and corruption that defines SA politics...I've just been through too many Inquiries re the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up...but I live to be wrong...(good thing it's your hobby then-Ed)...thank you...
So here's to Jay Weatherill getting a much deserved metaphoric arse-kicking...may it be his destiny...(a date with destiny, perhaps-Ed)...that is the worst pun ever...
Tomorrow: TFTIM Troy Bell
Apology for mistake yesterday...Are You OK Day is actually this Thursday, not Saturday as I said...and also in a previous post I said 'the Mitsubishi plant at Clovelly Pk/Lonsdale', and it should be Tonsley not Lonsdale...Lonsdale is near Hallett Cove where the De-sal Plant is located...
And also, it appears that there has been far less of a swing against Labor in SA than was initially reported, only losing one seat...but still only getting one Senator.
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
Heywood Interconnecter and Wind Turbines
Hello Canada, Israel, Sri Lanka, and Poland...welcome to the day after the day after Election day 2013 and the sun came (is coming) up, the birds are tweeting...(the birds have smart phones?-Ed)...no, old school tweeting...and nothing much has changed...although there are set to be some 'bizarre' Senate wins, eg, the Australian Sports Party in Western Australia and the Motoring Enthusiasts Party in Victoria...
These Senate Independents could prove critical in that the Liberals will have to negotiate with several of them to pass anything through the Upper House, and therefore they could even be the catalyst for a 'Double Dissolution' Election in early 2014...yay...
Personally I found Saturday to be hugely cathartic...as unpleasant and serious as the issue is, the 'Out of the Shadows and Into the Light' Suicide Awareness breakfast and walk organised by Lifeline and held early on Saturday was attended by approx 50 people, and I support the idea that open and frank discussion of the issues around suicide is a positive and productive approach...(and 'Are You OK Day' is just ahead, September 14th-Ed)...
Then spending the rest of the day handing out the 'How to Vote' flyers, left me feeling like I had actually participated in the Human race...for a pleasant change...oh, and kudos to my child for the most excellent Father's Day present of solar garden lights that constantly change colour...it's like a freakin' Rave out there and I just want to get my hands up in the air yo-ohhh...but I digress...
I know that I've been over these various Wind Turbine issues many times before, so I'll keep it short, but there has been much celebration around the announcement that the allegedly independent Australian Energy Regulator has approved the $110million Interconnecter expansion to be built at Heywood...yay...and this approval asks as many questions as it makes statements...(wahhh?-Ed)...
Well, for example, this approval confirms the realities of the many failures of a power generation system based on wholly unreliable Wind Turbines and the obsession with them, whilst framing some very pertinent questions about the professionalism and independence of the AER...(do go on-Ed)...yes I do...
And it shows this planned Planning Plan (previous post) for the empty farce I claim, because these two issues confirm one another...(wahhh?-Ed)...the Interconnecter expansion is going ahead to cater for the increased output of Turbines that are yet to be built...(yes-Ed)...which shows that yet more Turbines are going to be approved/built...(ah yes-Ed)...which takes us directly through the Fascism and gross, deliberate planning omissions of the unchallengeable Turbine legislation...(still with you-Ed)...to the pointlessness of reviewing planning that cannot be changed or doesn't even exist...(kapow-Ed)...
Raine Korte of Electranet was on the ABC Local Radio Friday 6th September 2013 happily spruiking the benefits of the Interconnecter, and he did so by carefully and quite deliberately misrepresenting the facts...(well no wonder he's happy...$110m of taxpayers money to build his companies infrastructure for them-Ed)...well, yes that's one issue...but first, the facts...
As specifically identified by Mr Korte, the Interconnecter is to facilitate the transfer of electricity between SA and Victoria/the Eastern states...the transfer of Wind Turbine power generated in SA going east when it's windy, and Victorian Coal generated power going West...(young man-Ed)...when the wind stops...
This 'promoting the negatives' is an interesting strategy reminiscent of my own 'Yeah I'm Crazy, But It's A Good Thing Because...' Strategy...namely, let's attack the problematic failings of what we are doing by openly acknowledging those issues but then calling them positives.
(Is that therefore lying or simply expressing a biased opinion?-Ed)...good question, and one that I cannot definitively answer...is Mr Korte merely expressing a genuinely held if incorrect belief, or deliberately seeking to deceive?...personally I find it hard to believe that he is strictly an ideologue and therefore his misinformings stray into deliberate deceit...
He has (above) identified one of the greatest failings of the current generation export/import structure, and that is the unreliable nature of Wind Turbine power generation...their intermittent and unpredictable generation patterns create an unavoidable demand for an immediately available back-up supply which in SA's case is Victorian Coal power.
Mr Korte is being deliberately deceitful though, when he says this will bring down electricity prices "over time"...he stated that 'we (SA) will export our cheap electricity, and then when the wind isn't blowing, we can import cheap coal electricity from Victoria'...(go on-Ed)...bollocks...
This market structure and Interconnector is a huge win for the coal industry and related generation companies in Victoria...and Victorian consumers...sort of...they get our electricity cheaply, and then we pay top dollar for their peak demand energy, which then also blows back on them as our demand drives up their prices...(and this greater output from their power stations means more pollution-Ed)...exactly...actually, it's not looking so good for Victoria...
It is a parallel to gas prices, where we as local consumers are paying an inflated global rate for our own natural resource...the Selling of Australia...so will Victoria bear the financial and environmental brunt of SA's failure to provide for ourselves by our legislative obsessing with Turbines...it is a self-perpetuating nightmare...and who makes all the money?...
And so it looks like Turbines all over Regional SA...only weeks ago the Conservation Council was calling for turbines all over the Eyre Peninsula...with the resultant economic, environmental, health and social, loss via transmission, development and land value, fire fighting/hazard, etc, issues.
For example, this export/import immediately doubles the loss by transmission, which then creates upward pressure on prices as companies seek to recover these losses...and every Turbine means tax-payer funding as well...again I've been through this in previous posts.
And clearly the Australian Energy Regulator has not even looked at these realities, chosen to ignore them, is entirely complicit in the Turbine rort agenda, or are just screamingly incompetent and looked but had no idea what it was they were doing...
Regardless, South Australian taxpayers are now going to fork out $65m (our share of the $110m) for a piece of infrastructure to be built in Victoria, that guarantees increasing electricity prices in SA...(and Victoria-Ed)...indeed...
(So let me see if I've got this right...SA will be covered in Turbines, with all their inherent problems, that therefore guarantees heaps more pollution in Victoria, and guarantees spiralling price increases for consumers in both states-Ed)...beautifully put sir...
The Interconnecter is nothing to be celebrated...and when it comes to local Turbine issues one is immediately reminded of the explicit involvement of alleged Independents former Grant District Council Mayor Don Pegler and current Mayor Richard Sage...and the abject silence from now local member Mr Pegler on the devastating effects of the Rann/Weatherill Labor party Turbine legislation...
Which segues nicely into...
Tomorrow: TFTIM State Liberal Candidate Troy Bell
Which in all honesty is more of a vehicle for holding Don Pegler to account, than the more traditional TFTIM: This Person's A Bastard...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers...
These Senate Independents could prove critical in that the Liberals will have to negotiate with several of them to pass anything through the Upper House, and therefore they could even be the catalyst for a 'Double Dissolution' Election in early 2014...yay...
Personally I found Saturday to be hugely cathartic...as unpleasant and serious as the issue is, the 'Out of the Shadows and Into the Light' Suicide Awareness breakfast and walk organised by Lifeline and held early on Saturday was attended by approx 50 people, and I support the idea that open and frank discussion of the issues around suicide is a positive and productive approach...(and 'Are You OK Day' is just ahead, September 14th-Ed)...
Then spending the rest of the day handing out the 'How to Vote' flyers, left me feeling like I had actually participated in the Human race...for a pleasant change...oh, and kudos to my child for the most excellent Father's Day present of solar garden lights that constantly change colour...it's like a freakin' Rave out there and I just want to get my hands up in the air yo-ohhh...but I digress...
I know that I've been over these various Wind Turbine issues many times before, so I'll keep it short, but there has been much celebration around the announcement that the allegedly independent Australian Energy Regulator has approved the $110million Interconnecter expansion to be built at Heywood...yay...and this approval asks as many questions as it makes statements...(wahhh?-Ed)...
Well, for example, this approval confirms the realities of the many failures of a power generation system based on wholly unreliable Wind Turbines and the obsession with them, whilst framing some very pertinent questions about the professionalism and independence of the AER...(do go on-Ed)...yes I do...
And it shows this planned Planning Plan (previous post) for the empty farce I claim, because these two issues confirm one another...(wahhh?-Ed)...the Interconnecter expansion is going ahead to cater for the increased output of Turbines that are yet to be built...(yes-Ed)...which shows that yet more Turbines are going to be approved/built...(ah yes-Ed)...which takes us directly through the Fascism and gross, deliberate planning omissions of the unchallengeable Turbine legislation...(still with you-Ed)...to the pointlessness of reviewing planning that cannot be changed or doesn't even exist...(kapow-Ed)...
Raine Korte of Electranet was on the ABC Local Radio Friday 6th September 2013 happily spruiking the benefits of the Interconnecter, and he did so by carefully and quite deliberately misrepresenting the facts...(well no wonder he's happy...$110m of taxpayers money to build his companies infrastructure for them-Ed)...well, yes that's one issue...but first, the facts...
As specifically identified by Mr Korte, the Interconnecter is to facilitate the transfer of electricity between SA and Victoria/the Eastern states...the transfer of Wind Turbine power generated in SA going east when it's windy, and Victorian Coal generated power going West...(young man-Ed)...when the wind stops...
This 'promoting the negatives' is an interesting strategy reminiscent of my own 'Yeah I'm Crazy, But It's A Good Thing Because...' Strategy...namely, let's attack the problematic failings of what we are doing by openly acknowledging those issues but then calling them positives.
(Is that therefore lying or simply expressing a biased opinion?-Ed)...good question, and one that I cannot definitively answer...is Mr Korte merely expressing a genuinely held if incorrect belief, or deliberately seeking to deceive?...personally I find it hard to believe that he is strictly an ideologue and therefore his misinformings stray into deliberate deceit...
He has (above) identified one of the greatest failings of the current generation export/import structure, and that is the unreliable nature of Wind Turbine power generation...their intermittent and unpredictable generation patterns create an unavoidable demand for an immediately available back-up supply which in SA's case is Victorian Coal power.
Mr Korte is being deliberately deceitful though, when he says this will bring down electricity prices "over time"...he stated that 'we (SA) will export our cheap electricity, and then when the wind isn't blowing, we can import cheap coal electricity from Victoria'...(go on-Ed)...bollocks...
This market structure and Interconnector is a huge win for the coal industry and related generation companies in Victoria...and Victorian consumers...sort of...they get our electricity cheaply, and then we pay top dollar for their peak demand energy, which then also blows back on them as our demand drives up their prices...(and this greater output from their power stations means more pollution-Ed)...exactly...actually, it's not looking so good for Victoria...
It is a parallel to gas prices, where we as local consumers are paying an inflated global rate for our own natural resource...the Selling of Australia...so will Victoria bear the financial and environmental brunt of SA's failure to provide for ourselves by our legislative obsessing with Turbines...it is a self-perpetuating nightmare...and who makes all the money?...
And so it looks like Turbines all over Regional SA...only weeks ago the Conservation Council was calling for turbines all over the Eyre Peninsula...with the resultant economic, environmental, health and social, loss via transmission, development and land value, fire fighting/hazard, etc, issues.
For example, this export/import immediately doubles the loss by transmission, which then creates upward pressure on prices as companies seek to recover these losses...and every Turbine means tax-payer funding as well...again I've been through this in previous posts.
And clearly the Australian Energy Regulator has not even looked at these realities, chosen to ignore them, is entirely complicit in the Turbine rort agenda, or are just screamingly incompetent and looked but had no idea what it was they were doing...
Regardless, South Australian taxpayers are now going to fork out $65m (our share of the $110m) for a piece of infrastructure to be built in Victoria, that guarantees increasing electricity prices in SA...(and Victoria-Ed)...indeed...
(So let me see if I've got this right...SA will be covered in Turbines, with all their inherent problems, that therefore guarantees heaps more pollution in Victoria, and guarantees spiralling price increases for consumers in both states-Ed)...beautifully put sir...
The Interconnecter is nothing to be celebrated...and when it comes to local Turbine issues one is immediately reminded of the explicit involvement of alleged Independents former Grant District Council Mayor Don Pegler and current Mayor Richard Sage...and the abject silence from now local member Mr Pegler on the devastating effects of the Rann/Weatherill Labor party Turbine legislation...
Which segues nicely into...
Tomorrow: TFTIM State Liberal Candidate Troy Bell
Which in all honesty is more of a vehicle for holding Don Pegler to account, than the more traditional TFTIM: This Person's A Bastard...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers...
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Brief Post Election De-Briefing: Liberals Win Pants Down
I mean hands down...although Labor did get somewhat 'pantsed' if not spanked quite as badly as some predicted...(and there's just got to be a 'budgie smugglers' joke in there somewhere-Ed)...indeed...how about: Tony Abbott - The tool behind the tool behind the budgie smugglers...
Good morning world and welcome to post-Election Australia...(which locally is pronounced 'Straya'...say it with me, Straya-Ed)...I live in Sow Straya...and where the Labor Party is celebrating not losing as many seats as predicted...yay...(was listening earlier to Channel 9's weather lady say 'twenny' over and over and over again-Ed)...so annoying...it's got 2 ts, not 2ns...
And the difference for South East SA is..........(don't look at me, I got nuthin'-Ed)...neither have I...one can only hope that the new Liberal Member for Barker Tony Pasin can affect some national concessions that will flow through to the region...(with the support of the Nationals and maybe Nick Xenophon-Ed)...indeed...
It is being 'officially' denied, but I feel that the actions of the Rann/Weatherill Labor government have contributed markedly to the result in SA where I believe the swing against Labor is bigger than in other states, eg, despite predictions, in Queensland Labor look set to hold all of their seats and a good part of that is being credited to 'the Rudd Factor'...
But in SA, Penny Wong looks to be the only SA Labor Senator to be returned...(thus far along with Liberal Cory Bernardi and Nick Xenophon-Ed)...and just watching Labor Senator Don Farrell conceeding that "it would take a miracle" for him to be returned...and Mr Xenophon stating that he believes Green Sarah Hanson-Young can win another term.
Despite the bizarre preference structures that, for example, saw the Greens preferencing the Climate Sceptics Party ahead of Nick Xenophon...(politics breeds such strange bed-fellows-Ed)...it appears that the CS Party may not win a Senate seat...but it could still happen...
Credit Where Credit's Due: I spent nearly 7 hours at a polling booth yesterday politely accosting soon-to-be voters on behalf of Nick Xenophon, along with a number of other people on behalf of their candidates, and not one cross word to be heard and only the occasional dirty look from voters not appreciating our collective accostationings...(whaaa?-Ed)...we were stationed the requisite 6 metres outside the booth to accost them with our 'How to Vote' flyers...
One person even thanked me for being there for Mr Xenophon; others took the time to return the flyers to us to use again; and I spent an hour with Mr Pasin discussing all manner of issues, and all day with Family First candidate Kristin Lambert's mum...and there was no Labor person there so if a voter asked, we directed them to the box of Labor flyers on the table...that's a true democratic process to be celebrated...that's the Straya I want to be part of...
And all credit and due congratulations to Mr Pasin both for winning the seat of Barker, and for engaging with me even though I have been so critical and even abusive of him on this blog.
More CWCD: The Border Watch newspaper received praise from my accostationing compadres for it's extensive and "balanced" coverage of all Barker candidates...but I managed to rain on that particular parade by explaining my last conversation with Editor Jason Wallace from several months ago when he stated to me that TBW would not be running anything on my behalf, even if I was a candidate...
And just watching SA Labor's Mark Butler (Meet The Press-Channel 10) stating that, yes his parties position on the Carbon Tax is so conflicted with the plans the Liberals took to this election that there will be further resistance...(but he hasn't actually used the magic word 'Double Dissolution'-Ed)...ah, that's actually 2 words...(pedantic, much?-Ed)...
It is a genuine possibility that we could all be doing it all again...yay...in the very near future if not this side of Christmas 2013...yay...and that would give Mr Abbott the opportunity to try and break the deadlock in the Senate by forcing all Senators to face re-election...yay...
My child...(rabid bloody Socialist-Ed)...was not happy with the result, but took some solace from my observation that with the 'centralising' of both parties, is it not better to have a right wing Liberal government than a right wing Labor government that attempts to straddle and encompass right wing ideologies?...and clearly fails to deliver Left or Right with any clarity...
And that's enough of that for a short while, and so enjoy what's left of your weekend...and Tomorrow back into it with the repeatedly promised Heywood Interconnecter post...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog and I have a bad case of Accostaineers Shoulder and associated face-ache from 7 hours of smiling broadly whilst holding out 'flyers'...cheers and laters...
Good morning world and welcome to post-Election Australia...(which locally is pronounced 'Straya'...say it with me, Straya-Ed)...I live in Sow Straya...and where the Labor Party is celebrating not losing as many seats as predicted...yay...(was listening earlier to Channel 9's weather lady say 'twenny' over and over and over again-Ed)...so annoying...it's got 2 ts, not 2ns...
And the difference for South East SA is..........(don't look at me, I got nuthin'-Ed)...neither have I...one can only hope that the new Liberal Member for Barker Tony Pasin can affect some national concessions that will flow through to the region...(with the support of the Nationals and maybe Nick Xenophon-Ed)...indeed...
It is being 'officially' denied, but I feel that the actions of the Rann/Weatherill Labor government have contributed markedly to the result in SA where I believe the swing against Labor is bigger than in other states, eg, despite predictions, in Queensland Labor look set to hold all of their seats and a good part of that is being credited to 'the Rudd Factor'...
But in SA, Penny Wong looks to be the only SA Labor Senator to be returned...(thus far along with Liberal Cory Bernardi and Nick Xenophon-Ed)...and just watching Labor Senator Don Farrell conceeding that "it would take a miracle" for him to be returned...and Mr Xenophon stating that he believes Green Sarah Hanson-Young can win another term.
Despite the bizarre preference structures that, for example, saw the Greens preferencing the Climate Sceptics Party ahead of Nick Xenophon...(politics breeds such strange bed-fellows-Ed)...it appears that the CS Party may not win a Senate seat...but it could still happen...
Credit Where Credit's Due: I spent nearly 7 hours at a polling booth yesterday politely accosting soon-to-be voters on behalf of Nick Xenophon, along with a number of other people on behalf of their candidates, and not one cross word to be heard and only the occasional dirty look from voters not appreciating our collective accostationings...(whaaa?-Ed)...we were stationed the requisite 6 metres outside the booth to accost them with our 'How to Vote' flyers...
One person even thanked me for being there for Mr Xenophon; others took the time to return the flyers to us to use again; and I spent an hour with Mr Pasin discussing all manner of issues, and all day with Family First candidate Kristin Lambert's mum...and there was no Labor person there so if a voter asked, we directed them to the box of Labor flyers on the table...that's a true democratic process to be celebrated...that's the Straya I want to be part of...
And all credit and due congratulations to Mr Pasin both for winning the seat of Barker, and for engaging with me even though I have been so critical and even abusive of him on this blog.
More CWCD: The Border Watch newspaper received praise from my accostationing compadres for it's extensive and "balanced" coverage of all Barker candidates...but I managed to rain on that particular parade by explaining my last conversation with Editor Jason Wallace from several months ago when he stated to me that TBW would not be running anything on my behalf, even if I was a candidate...
And just watching SA Labor's Mark Butler (Meet The Press-Channel 10) stating that, yes his parties position on the Carbon Tax is so conflicted with the plans the Liberals took to this election that there will be further resistance...(but he hasn't actually used the magic word 'Double Dissolution'-Ed)...ah, that's actually 2 words...(pedantic, much?-Ed)...
It is a genuine possibility that we could all be doing it all again...yay...in the very near future if not this side of Christmas 2013...yay...and that would give Mr Abbott the opportunity to try and break the deadlock in the Senate by forcing all Senators to face re-election...yay...
My child...(rabid bloody Socialist-Ed)...was not happy with the result, but took some solace from my observation that with the 'centralising' of both parties, is it not better to have a right wing Liberal government than a right wing Labor government that attempts to straddle and encompass right wing ideologies?...and clearly fails to deliver Left or Right with any clarity...
And that's enough of that for a short while, and so enjoy what's left of your weekend...and Tomorrow back into it with the repeatedly promised Heywood Interconnecter post...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog and I have a bad case of Accostaineers Shoulder and associated face-ache from 7 hours of smiling broadly whilst holding out 'flyers'...cheers and laters...
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Ombudsman's Reply
Hello and welcome...very short post because it's Election Day...yay...and I'll do the 'Interconnecter and Wind Turbine' post this evening.
This is the response from the Ombudsman re my complaint about the behaviours of City Councillors.
I note the paragraph under Our process, starting 'At any stage...we may be obliged to report to the Office of Public Integrity...The ICAC Act prevents us disclosing any information about this to any person, including a complainant, without the authorisation of the ICAC.'
And also the time frame mentioned shows that a complaint may be with the Ombudsman for a year minimum and could then go to the ICAC for an undisclosed period of time.
Misuse of this sort of legislation can lead to the 'buried for years in the ICAC' as I have claimed in previous posts.
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This is the response from the Ombudsman re my complaint about the behaviours of City Councillors.
I note the paragraph under Our process, starting 'At any stage...we may be obliged to report to the Office of Public Integrity...The ICAC Act prevents us disclosing any information about this to any person, including a complainant, without the authorisation of the ICAC.'
And also the time frame mentioned shows that a complaint may be with the Ombudsman for a year minimum and could then go to the ICAC for an undisclosed period of time.
Misuse of this sort of legislation can lead to the 'buried for years in the ICAC' as I have claimed in previous posts.
Laters: Interconnecter and Turbine
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers....jpg)
Friday, September 6, 2013
ICAC PATS Said The Cash Cow
Hello Israel, Canada, the UK, and everyone right here in the Seat of Barker, South Australia, Australia...only one sleep to go to vote in the Federal election...(unless you aren't registered-Ed)...indeed...(or not old enough-Ed)...well obviously...(or you did a 'pre-vote'-Ed)...sure...(or a postal vote-Ed)...right, that's enough...
I'll do the Heywood Interconnecter/Wind Turbine Tomorrow...sorry...this one got away from me...
But first: Another thank you to Mr Jim Leane, the Australian Electoral Commission's Returning Officer for the Seat of Barker, who not only rang me yesterday to confirm that my complaint letter re Nomination bias had been forwarded, but also sent me an email to confirm his confirmation...to me, this tangible, written response is a positive indicator of appropriate action having been taken by Mr Leane...thank you.
And a quick quote from Premier Jay Weatherill (today's The Border Watch Friday 6th September 2013) about the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)...
"I firmly believe we will have the best model in Australia for investigating corruption and, if
and when corruption is identified, it will be referred to the courts for criminal prosecution
in full public view."
(Go on-Ed)...bollocks...the SA model has already been lambasted and dismissed by a range of commentators and/or law professionals who identify the 'Secret Squirrel' nature of closed hearings and other secrecy provisions as being unacceptable in a context where disclosure and openness guarantee appropriate scrutiny of all involved, including scrutiny of the ICAC itself...('let the light shine in' is I believe the subtext being expressed-Ed)...very nicely put Ed...let the light shine in...
Further to that I completely reject any alleged structure of accountability established by the Rann/Weatherill Labor state government, particularly when they had vehemently opposed an ICAC or similar structure for so long, and then introduce a 'Star Chamber' style 'secret Inquisition' that has sweeping powers to shut down public debate about issues.
Consequently I reserve the right to discuss what I want when I want, and that particularly refers to any of the issues I have covered in this here my blog...(go big fella-Ed)...and most specifically the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up...and I will not accept further attempts to censor my blog, eg, via orders from the ICAC...a secret ICAC is a broken vessel awash in a sea of corruption...(nice use of mixed metaphors-Ed)...ta...
I note that I am still waiting to receive a specific response from Mr Weatherill re his lie on ABC Radio on July 1st 2013 and other issues arising from the St Martins Cover-up...the last I heard was the email from his office in mid July.
If you are not familiar with the role that Premier Weatherill has played in the St Martins Cover-up, please review my previous posts.
Earlier this week I saw part of a report on SBS/ABC (?sorry) about Cancer treatment in India that really hit home given my experience as covered in previous posts...and as always made me feel like a bit of a whinger...but then again my experience is relative to the Health system we have available to us...
I didn't catch the name of the major public hospital or in which city, but it offers free treatment to Cancer patients but not accommodation, which leaves patients literally camping on the footpath outside the hospital...(ah, I know where you're headed...this is about PATS, right?-Ed)...well it is in the title...(oh yeah-Ed)...and these 'path dwellers' are under pressure to move because of the health/sanitation issues created by their presence.
The extraordinary contrast if not irony of patients receiving free treatment and then living in the streets...and there's no Patient Assistance Transport Scheme in India...(there you go-Ed)...
I know it is a clumsy even ugly comparison but I'm trying to embrace the positives of a PATS set-up that ultimately defines the massive discrepancies and discrimination faced by Regional patients...and this current review will only make that worse.
As discussed previously, PATS reimburses patients who need to travel over 100kms for treatment, usually to Adelaide, but does not cover any taxi costs, only pays at a petrol rate of 16c/km, an accommodation rate of $30/night, and charges $30 to process an application...(it's an outrage-Ed)...
Damn straight...a bloody outrage...and it is not irresponsible to suggest that PATS is a minimal and requisite recompense for an abject failure to provide appropriate services around Regional SA...(a situation that has worsened under the supposedly Socialist Rann/Weatherill Labor government with the closure and/or withdrawal of services and gross underfunding of that which remains-Ed)...well said...
Rather than increase funding from the pitiful $7million per annum currently available to thus allow full reimbursement for all regional patients, this 'Review' is set to deny more patients even accessing the scheme by increasing the distance to 150km and/or only allowing concession card holders, and other potential changes to application criteria...
And why MP Don Pegler would want to try and take credit for a 'Review' that is going to increase the burden on many country patients, is absolutely beyond me...and then to tell people to get involved and tell their government that it isn't good enough, is...well...(not good enough?-Ed)...exactly...
If you know all the current problems, Mr Pegler, and you know how bad the 'Review' is, and you are genuinely trying to actually do something to improve the PATS, why tell us that we need to go to a government that clearly isn't interested?...the outline of the 'Review' clearly shows that they just not interested in doing the right thing by Regional patients...
At the very least, you 1) claim to know what needs to be done, and 2) are the elected member...it's your job to stand up in parliament and scream blue bloody murder about this outrageous discrimination against Regional patients...and get in the media and scream some bloody more...
It is not your job to tell us to chase the Labor state government who have definably written off the entire South East...(and pretty much anything and/or anywhere outside metropolitan Adelaide other than the Barossa perhaps-Ed)...indeed...
And I make no apology for this repetitious venting about both the ICAC and the PATS, but...(oh, I get it-Ed)...get what?...(the title...the joke in the title...the Cash Cow, which is us, is saying that it poohs out pats...'I cack' meaning I pooh and/or I laugh and/or I laughed so hard I poohed...because both the ICAC and the PATS Review are laughable...brilliant-Ed)...even if you do say so myself...
Anyway, that is enough for one day...so...
Tomorrow: The Heywood Interconnecter and Wind Turbines
Because the 2 are inextricably linked...it's all about moving relatively cheap electricity to the East when windy in SA, and then us importing expensive electricity from Victoria..
And tomorrow the Election...yay...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...laters...
I'll do the Heywood Interconnecter/Wind Turbine Tomorrow...sorry...this one got away from me...
But first: Another thank you to Mr Jim Leane, the Australian Electoral Commission's Returning Officer for the Seat of Barker, who not only rang me yesterday to confirm that my complaint letter re Nomination bias had been forwarded, but also sent me an email to confirm his confirmation...to me, this tangible, written response is a positive indicator of appropriate action having been taken by Mr Leane...thank you.
And a quick quote from Premier Jay Weatherill (today's The Border Watch Friday 6th September 2013) about the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)...
"I firmly believe we will have the best model in Australia for investigating corruption and, if
and when corruption is identified, it will be referred to the courts for criminal prosecution
in full public view."
(Go on-Ed)...bollocks...the SA model has already been lambasted and dismissed by a range of commentators and/or law professionals who identify the 'Secret Squirrel' nature of closed hearings and other secrecy provisions as being unacceptable in a context where disclosure and openness guarantee appropriate scrutiny of all involved, including scrutiny of the ICAC itself...('let the light shine in' is I believe the subtext being expressed-Ed)...very nicely put Ed...let the light shine in...
Further to that I completely reject any alleged structure of accountability established by the Rann/Weatherill Labor state government, particularly when they had vehemently opposed an ICAC or similar structure for so long, and then introduce a 'Star Chamber' style 'secret Inquisition' that has sweeping powers to shut down public debate about issues.
Consequently I reserve the right to discuss what I want when I want, and that particularly refers to any of the issues I have covered in this here my blog...(go big fella-Ed)...and most specifically the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up...and I will not accept further attempts to censor my blog, eg, via orders from the ICAC...a secret ICAC is a broken vessel awash in a sea of corruption...(nice use of mixed metaphors-Ed)...ta...
I note that I am still waiting to receive a specific response from Mr Weatherill re his lie on ABC Radio on July 1st 2013 and other issues arising from the St Martins Cover-up...the last I heard was the email from his office in mid July.
If you are not familiar with the role that Premier Weatherill has played in the St Martins Cover-up, please review my previous posts.
Earlier this week I saw part of a report on SBS/ABC (?sorry) about Cancer treatment in India that really hit home given my experience as covered in previous posts...and as always made me feel like a bit of a whinger...but then again my experience is relative to the Health system we have available to us...
I didn't catch the name of the major public hospital or in which city, but it offers free treatment to Cancer patients but not accommodation, which leaves patients literally camping on the footpath outside the hospital...(ah, I know where you're headed...this is about PATS, right?-Ed)...well it is in the title...(oh yeah-Ed)...and these 'path dwellers' are under pressure to move because of the health/sanitation issues created by their presence.
The extraordinary contrast if not irony of patients receiving free treatment and then living in the streets...and there's no Patient Assistance Transport Scheme in India...(there you go-Ed)...
I know it is a clumsy even ugly comparison but I'm trying to embrace the positives of a PATS set-up that ultimately defines the massive discrepancies and discrimination faced by Regional patients...and this current review will only make that worse.
As discussed previously, PATS reimburses patients who need to travel over 100kms for treatment, usually to Adelaide, but does not cover any taxi costs, only pays at a petrol rate of 16c/km, an accommodation rate of $30/night, and charges $30 to process an application...(it's an outrage-Ed)...
Damn straight...a bloody outrage...and it is not irresponsible to suggest that PATS is a minimal and requisite recompense for an abject failure to provide appropriate services around Regional SA...(a situation that has worsened under the supposedly Socialist Rann/Weatherill Labor government with the closure and/or withdrawal of services and gross underfunding of that which remains-Ed)...well said...
Rather than increase funding from the pitiful $7million per annum currently available to thus allow full reimbursement for all regional patients, this 'Review' is set to deny more patients even accessing the scheme by increasing the distance to 150km and/or only allowing concession card holders, and other potential changes to application criteria...
And why MP Don Pegler would want to try and take credit for a 'Review' that is going to increase the burden on many country patients, is absolutely beyond me...and then to tell people to get involved and tell their government that it isn't good enough, is...well...(not good enough?-Ed)...exactly...
If you know all the current problems, Mr Pegler, and you know how bad the 'Review' is, and you are genuinely trying to actually do something to improve the PATS, why tell us that we need to go to a government that clearly isn't interested?...the outline of the 'Review' clearly shows that they just not interested in doing the right thing by Regional patients...
At the very least, you 1) claim to know what needs to be done, and 2) are the elected member...it's your job to stand up in parliament and scream blue bloody murder about this outrageous discrimination against Regional patients...and get in the media and scream some bloody more...
It is not your job to tell us to chase the Labor state government who have definably written off the entire South East...(and pretty much anything and/or anywhere outside metropolitan Adelaide other than the Barossa perhaps-Ed)...indeed...
And I make no apology for this repetitious venting about both the ICAC and the PATS, but...(oh, I get it-Ed)...get what?...(the title...the joke in the title...the Cash Cow, which is us, is saying that it poohs out pats...'I cack' meaning I pooh and/or I laugh and/or I laughed so hard I poohed...because both the ICAC and the PATS Review are laughable...brilliant-Ed)...even if you do say so myself...
Anyway, that is enough for one day...so...
Tomorrow: The Heywood Interconnecter and Wind Turbines
Because the 2 are inextricably linked...it's all about moving relatively cheap electricity to the East when windy in SA, and then us importing expensive electricity from Victoria..
And tomorrow the Election...yay...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...laters...
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Panning the Planned Planning Plan Panel
Hello world...greetings and salutations and welcome to the blog...apologies for late, disjointed post but I had to go out sort of...today I'm going to offer a critical review of the proposed changes to South Australia's planning system...which by definition infers that such a system already currently exists...(and it does, but not in the way you'd think-Ed)...indeed, so come with me as we Pan the Plan...
But first: Electranet's Raine Korma is in the media talking about the report outcome that approves the approx $110million Interconnector refurbishment/expansion at Heywood, that has apparently passed the "economic test" that makes it more suitable than "a range of alternatives", and, according to Mr Korma will 'eventually' reduce electricity prices, etc. It's also apparently in today's The Advertiser and I'll cover it Tomorrow.
Also: The Ombudsman has responded to my letter re Mt Gambier City Council (previous post) with the indications being that the matter may be hand-balled across to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, but the 'review' of that decision will take some weeks...keep you posted...
Also: Two days out from the election, I have still not received any response from the Australian Electoral Commission re my two letters (previous posts) about the gross bias of Nominations Criteria and the election-focused 'Comments' left anonymously on this blog.
Either the AEC's Mt Gambier Returning Officer Jim Leane did not forward my complaints/letters, or the AEC accepts as fact and accepts as appropriate the bias I have identified, and supports the libellous slandering of potential candidates in the way that I have been anonymously attacked.
Excuse my cynicism and paranoia, but my experience of the institutionalised corruption of South Australia, that compromises literally everything that takes place in this state, then inevitably leaches into my every interaction, and I cannot believe that the Electoral processes in SA are somehow magically immune from this corruption.
I offer as justification of my cynicism the appointments of Labor hack Mia Handshin to the head of the Environment Protection Authority; of Grant King to both the Hospital Advisory Council and Regional Development Australia; and of course my favourite...(Tony-TH)...Tony...(nnnHarrison-TH)...Tony Harrison, former senior SAPol 'Child Protection' officer and recent appointee to the Head of the Education Department.
Ms Handshin and Mr...(nnnHarrison-TH)...Mr Harrison have no qualifications or experience in these fields that they now have absolute responsibility for, and clearly have been appointed on association not qualification...indeed Ms Handshin was appointed specifically to avoid 'Consultation Conventions' with experts in the field...'Conventions' that could be thus circumvented...(ignored-Ed)...by appointing someone with absolutely no experience...bizarre but true...
And it is important that I 'own' my cynicism, etc, because I know nothing about Mr Leane and he has been described to me as a decent person, but it immediately concerns me when I see a former SA Police Officer in such a critical position...so I will contact Mr Leane and ask him to provide me copies of the emails or other proof that my letters were forwarded as he promised; "I'll pass them up the line"...
And I am immediately very pleased that even as I type (earlier today), Mr Leane has returned my phone call of this morning and confirmed that he has forwarded my letters...thank you to Mr Leane on both counts...but I digress...
For some reason this critical 'Planning' article...(critical meaning important not denouncing-Ed)...which has been reported in The Advertiser, was buried on page 25 of The Border Watch Tuesday 3rd September 2013, and on the same page was the article referred to in previous post about Bushfire Risks to Mt Gambier.
Just an observation, but I do wonder why 2 such important articles would be placed so far back in the paper, after the Car section and amongst the classifieds.
The article is largely self-explanatory but there are 2 issues that I challenge.
Firstly: The specific observation that..."...the review would not assess individual policies or specific decisions..." is a fundamental mistake...(how so?-Ed)...I'm glad you asked...(well you asked me to-Ed)...shoosh...
If you don't review the faults and failings (and there have been plenty of both) of current criteria and/or laws, how can you appropriately modify current legislation, eg, the farcical Mt Barker land grab where the supposedly independent Rann/Weatherill Labor government advisor was/is the main developer of the project...seriously...
And when this was exposed, absolutely nothing happened...not from the government, the Mt Barker Council, not no-one...and the deal stands and hundreds of hectares of prime farmland are going under suburbs without appropriate infrastructure and/or transport plans, employment, etc...
And then when Labor 'Titaniced' their Ministers and John Rau became Planning Minister, one of the first sentences out of his mouth, literally, was 'Oh gee whiz, we got it wrong, how terrible but never mind, we won't make that mistake again.' (paraphrase but bloody close to a quote)...('Titaniced'?-Ed)...yes, shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic...(whaaa?-Ed)...constantly moving Ministers around portfolios to avoid responsibility, but the wreck is going down anyway...(ohhh, like the deckchairs on the Titanic-Ed)...exactly...
And of course there's the Cheltenham Race Course dodginess, the St Clair land swap issue, the Royal Adelaide Hospital relocation, the Adelaide Oval Development...and the biggest, bestest Planning issue that won't be reviewed...Wind Turbine placement...and not to forget the extraordinary bias and definable corruption of appropriate process re the Planning decisions made by the Labor government with the Penola Rd/Bunnings/Calula development issue that has so thoroughly rooted effective planning and development around Mt Gambier.
(And not forgetting the series of actions/decisions made by the Mt Gambier City Council in pursuit of their Rail Lands Retail Agenda, eg, the ghastly, expensive Main Corner project, the disastrous Bus Shelter, etc, decisions that are directly connected to the Penola Rd/Bunnings fiasco-Ed)...very well not forgotten...I also remind readers that the Labor government gazetted the re-zoning of the Rail Lands to Retail/Commercial in 2009 at the behest of City Council.
And that of course throws the spotlight onto the extraordinary conduct of the Grant District Council re the Penola Rd/Bunnings re-zoning issues.
Point Two: This entire Planning Review Plan therefore reeks of the same sort of reverse justification that defines the Mt Gambier Master Plan that was retrospectively introduced following the Penola Rd/Bunnings and Boundary Redistribution issues to attempt to make it all look a little less dodgy...and in that context is just another DeBelle Inquiry...(that's a bit of a leap isn't it?-Ed)...
Not at all...this 'Review' consigns to history all of the dodginess that it claims to be addressing and can and will be utilised in exactly the same way to deflect criticism and investigation with justifications along the lines of John Rau's statement...'oh yes there have been mistakes but don't look at resolving and repairing those mistakes, look at how we are dealing with it now and into the future with this wonderful review'...(go on then-Ed)...ta'...bollocks...
Cynic I may be, but this review is an absolute con and will achieve virtually nothing because all of the Planning decisions that can be made in SA have pretty much been made, and at every stage these decisions have favoured mates, colleagues, and supporters of the Labor government and/or local Councillors.
Tomorrow: The Heywood Interconnector
Guaranteeing massively expensive electricity for SA and relatively cheap power for the Eastern states, all payed for largely by SA consumers...and all the issues of transmission loss, Wind Turbine Development, etc...what an unfunny joke...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...if some of the issues discussed above seem a bit vague or confusing please review previous posts re those issues, eg, the Rail Lands Retail Agenda, the DeBelle Inquiry, etc...cheers y'all and laters...
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But first: Electranet's Raine Korma is in the media talking about the report outcome that approves the approx $110million Interconnector refurbishment/expansion at Heywood, that has apparently passed the "economic test" that makes it more suitable than "a range of alternatives", and, according to Mr Korma will 'eventually' reduce electricity prices, etc. It's also apparently in today's The Advertiser and I'll cover it Tomorrow.
Also: The Ombudsman has responded to my letter re Mt Gambier City Council (previous post) with the indications being that the matter may be hand-balled across to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, but the 'review' of that decision will take some weeks...keep you posted...
Also: Two days out from the election, I have still not received any response from the Australian Electoral Commission re my two letters (previous posts) about the gross bias of Nominations Criteria and the election-focused 'Comments' left anonymously on this blog.
Either the AEC's Mt Gambier Returning Officer Jim Leane did not forward my complaints/letters, or the AEC accepts as fact and accepts as appropriate the bias I have identified, and supports the libellous slandering of potential candidates in the way that I have been anonymously attacked.
Excuse my cynicism and paranoia, but my experience of the institutionalised corruption of South Australia, that compromises literally everything that takes place in this state, then inevitably leaches into my every interaction, and I cannot believe that the Electoral processes in SA are somehow magically immune from this corruption.
I offer as justification of my cynicism the appointments of Labor hack Mia Handshin to the head of the Environment Protection Authority; of Grant King to both the Hospital Advisory Council and Regional Development Australia; and of course my favourite...(Tony-TH)...Tony...(nnnHarrison-TH)...Tony Harrison, former senior SAPol 'Child Protection' officer and recent appointee to the Head of the Education Department.
Ms Handshin and Mr...(nnnHarrison-TH)...Mr Harrison have no qualifications or experience in these fields that they now have absolute responsibility for, and clearly have been appointed on association not qualification...indeed Ms Handshin was appointed specifically to avoid 'Consultation Conventions' with experts in the field...'Conventions' that could be thus circumvented...(ignored-Ed)...by appointing someone with absolutely no experience...bizarre but true...
And it is important that I 'own' my cynicism, etc, because I know nothing about Mr Leane and he has been described to me as a decent person, but it immediately concerns me when I see a former SA Police Officer in such a critical position...so I will contact Mr Leane and ask him to provide me copies of the emails or other proof that my letters were forwarded as he promised; "I'll pass them up the line"...
And I am immediately very pleased that even as I type (earlier today), Mr Leane has returned my phone call of this morning and confirmed that he has forwarded my letters...thank you to Mr Leane on both counts...but I digress...
For some reason this critical 'Planning' article...(critical meaning important not denouncing-Ed)...which has been reported in The Advertiser, was buried on page 25 of The Border Watch Tuesday 3rd September 2013, and on the same page was the article referred to in previous post about Bushfire Risks to Mt Gambier.
Just an observation, but I do wonder why 2 such important articles would be placed so far back in the paper, after the Car section and amongst the classifieds.
The article is largely self-explanatory but there are 2 issues that I challenge.
Firstly: The specific observation that..."...the review would not assess individual policies or specific decisions..." is a fundamental mistake...(how so?-Ed)...I'm glad you asked...(well you asked me to-Ed)...shoosh...
If you don't review the faults and failings (and there have been plenty of both) of current criteria and/or laws, how can you appropriately modify current legislation, eg, the farcical Mt Barker land grab where the supposedly independent Rann/Weatherill Labor government advisor was/is the main developer of the project...seriously...
And when this was exposed, absolutely nothing happened...not from the government, the Mt Barker Council, not no-one...and the deal stands and hundreds of hectares of prime farmland are going under suburbs without appropriate infrastructure and/or transport plans, employment, etc...
And then when Labor 'Titaniced' their Ministers and John Rau became Planning Minister, one of the first sentences out of his mouth, literally, was 'Oh gee whiz, we got it wrong, how terrible but never mind, we won't make that mistake again.' (paraphrase but bloody close to a quote)...('Titaniced'?-Ed)...yes, shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic...(whaaa?-Ed)...constantly moving Ministers around portfolios to avoid responsibility, but the wreck is going down anyway...(ohhh, like the deckchairs on the Titanic-Ed)...exactly...
And of course there's the Cheltenham Race Course dodginess, the St Clair land swap issue, the Royal Adelaide Hospital relocation, the Adelaide Oval Development...and the biggest, bestest Planning issue that won't be reviewed...Wind Turbine placement...and not to forget the extraordinary bias and definable corruption of appropriate process re the Planning decisions made by the Labor government with the Penola Rd/Bunnings/Calula development issue that has so thoroughly rooted effective planning and development around Mt Gambier.
(And not forgetting the series of actions/decisions made by the Mt Gambier City Council in pursuit of their Rail Lands Retail Agenda, eg, the ghastly, expensive Main Corner project, the disastrous Bus Shelter, etc, decisions that are directly connected to the Penola Rd/Bunnings fiasco-Ed)...very well not forgotten...I also remind readers that the Labor government gazetted the re-zoning of the Rail Lands to Retail/Commercial in 2009 at the behest of City Council.
And that of course throws the spotlight onto the extraordinary conduct of the Grant District Council re the Penola Rd/Bunnings re-zoning issues.
Point Two: This entire Planning Review Plan therefore reeks of the same sort of reverse justification that defines the Mt Gambier Master Plan that was retrospectively introduced following the Penola Rd/Bunnings and Boundary Redistribution issues to attempt to make it all look a little less dodgy...and in that context is just another DeBelle Inquiry...(that's a bit of a leap isn't it?-Ed)...
Not at all...this 'Review' consigns to history all of the dodginess that it claims to be addressing and can and will be utilised in exactly the same way to deflect criticism and investigation with justifications along the lines of John Rau's statement...'oh yes there have been mistakes but don't look at resolving and repairing those mistakes, look at how we are dealing with it now and into the future with this wonderful review'...(go on then-Ed)...ta'...bollocks...
Cynic I may be, but this review is an absolute con and will achieve virtually nothing because all of the Planning decisions that can be made in SA have pretty much been made, and at every stage these decisions have favoured mates, colleagues, and supporters of the Labor government and/or local Councillors.
Tomorrow: The Heywood Interconnector
Guaranteeing massively expensive electricity for SA and relatively cheap power for the Eastern states, all payed for largely by SA consumers...and all the issues of transmission loss, Wind Turbine Development, etc...what an unfunny joke...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...if some of the issues discussed above seem a bit vague or confusing please review previous posts re those issues, eg, the Rail Lands Retail Agenda, the DeBelle Inquiry, etc...cheers y'all and laters...
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
250th Post - Yay
Hello Indonesia, South Korea, USofA, and Aotearoa (New Zealand)...welcome to what is, give or take, the 250th post in this here my blog...(give or take?-Ed)...well there are a couple of 'No posts' and 'Comments on Comments', etc, but a total of 250 all up...so please enjoy as I magnificently indulgify this here celebratory post...(wahhh?-Ed)...please excuse the indulgence that follows...
Whatta Rush
I knew something was comin'...you know?...the way you always do...but I hadn't expected such a spectacular assault on the senses as bellowed before me...every sense challenged, every thought buffeted...such a totally consuming experience.
Synchronised Belgian House...I think...surges behind the pulsing lights...with just a hint of siren...
Distinct but anonymous voices rumble and flow, coming and going, entwined with one another, twisting away and upward into the darkened sky...sparks of conversation swirling into indifferent oblivion...
A yell, a curse, a surge of activity, the lights flare but momentarily, and more conversations swirl heavenly.
So glad I made copies of everything...well, almost everything...the ones that really counted...and as for the rest?...que cera, cera...
Little more drum and base now. You know...faster but sparser...less ethereal, more primordial...I can see now why everyone's sweating, glowing strangely in the red, orange, and blue...dancing lights reflected in pupils fused wide by the adrenalin, the rush...
I probably look the same, just lacking the groovy outfits...but that's me heh, never really driven by conventions of fashion.
The subtle, omnipresent roar behind all the glitz seems determined to be noticed, slowly rising to it's much loved crescendo...
She comes up to me and says, "Hey, you ok?...you look a little pale...here, drink this."
Her sparkling eyes reflecting the million points of light, blurring my vision into a hazy golden singularity...so much light...Blue, orange, red, orange, blue, red, blue, red, blue...orange...
And why is everything wet? Why is absolutely everything wet? She's wet...I'm wet...the ground 's wet...the walls...everyone else...How can it be so hot and yet so wet?
Hey, I mean, I'm sweating, sure...and so's she...and them...but everyone and everything is soaked...absolutely through to the skin soaked...And the reflections...
I'm floating in a Universe of golden stars...and all the light's focused on meeeee...oh, and her of course...
The conflagration leaps before me with an exalted howl, and collapses upon itself...in the pale faces and the lurid glare I saw Dresden and I knew that dreadful howl a thousand times louder...and with such a hunger...and how lucky I was...
"Still" she says, "If you gotta watch your own house burn down, this is the one place to do it."
I looked at her blankly.
"Outside"she said.
I clutched the satchel to my side...at least I had copies...waterproof, water-tight copies...
You know what they say..."Just 'cos ya' ain't paranoid, don't mean they ain't talkin' 'bout ya'."
The Beginning
We now return you to our normal scheduled programming...and boy, what a doozy...today's The Border Watch has another long, ludicrous Sandra Morello pro-Council propaganda piece about a Ms Alex Hammett from KESAB Sustainable Communities and her allegedly gushing comments about Council and the Main Corner and the Lady Nelson Bus Shelter and how fantastic it all is according to, well, her...
On the Bus Shelter, "I have never seen anything like it..."...sums it all up really...and I wonder how she would have felt standing there waiting for a bus at 7am on a winter's morning in the pissing rain and howling wind, or if she had got off the bus and had to wonder in to town in the baking heat...and Sandra says 'conceding the structure had triggered some controversy...'
And then Ms Hammett makes the extraordinary observation that it's great to see Council re-using the pavers that are being ripped up from the Main St..."...why spend money that doesn't need to be spent?"...the whole repaving fiasco is spending money that didn't need to be spent!
I note that Ms Hammett was taken to the handful of places that Council wanted her to see, and Sandra Morello's article makes no mention of the Rail Lands, the closed pool and deteriorating tennis courts, lack of public transport, etc, etc...please review my previous posts on these issues.
It is grossly manipulative and inappropriate for Council, Sandra Morello, and The Border Watch to use Ms Hammett to pursue their own pro-Council propaganda agenda...she was taken to see the things Council wanted to promote and kept away from everything else...
And on top of that, Ms Hammett is hardly going to rock up to Mt Gambier and say 'what a retrograde, small town, 1950's mentality, shit-hole'...of course she's going to say 'nice' things...
No offence to you Ms Hammett, honestly, but your opinion is effectively worthless because you have no idea of the actual politics and the malfeasance and the nepotism and the damage and the cost to the entire community at the hands of a selfish, incompetent Council...but Sandra Morello and TBW do..
And this is exactly the sort of manipulation and deceit that TBW continues to promote...one can only assume that there is something in it for them.
Tomorrow: That Planning Panning as promised.
Deserves a whole post all it's own and so until tomorrow...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...250 posts young...
Whatta Rush
I knew something was comin'...you know?...the way you always do...but I hadn't expected such a spectacular assault on the senses as bellowed before me...every sense challenged, every thought buffeted...such a totally consuming experience.
Synchronised Belgian House...I think...surges behind the pulsing lights...with just a hint of siren...
Distinct but anonymous voices rumble and flow, coming and going, entwined with one another, twisting away and upward into the darkened sky...sparks of conversation swirling into indifferent oblivion...
A yell, a curse, a surge of activity, the lights flare but momentarily, and more conversations swirl heavenly.
So glad I made copies of everything...well, almost everything...the ones that really counted...and as for the rest?...que cera, cera...
Little more drum and base now. You know...faster but sparser...less ethereal, more primordial...I can see now why everyone's sweating, glowing strangely in the red, orange, and blue...dancing lights reflected in pupils fused wide by the adrenalin, the rush...
I probably look the same, just lacking the groovy outfits...but that's me heh, never really driven by conventions of fashion.
The subtle, omnipresent roar behind all the glitz seems determined to be noticed, slowly rising to it's much loved crescendo...
She comes up to me and says, "Hey, you ok?...you look a little pale...here, drink this."
Her sparkling eyes reflecting the million points of light, blurring my vision into a hazy golden singularity...so much light...Blue, orange, red, orange, blue, red, blue, red, blue...orange...
And why is everything wet? Why is absolutely everything wet? She's wet...I'm wet...the ground 's wet...the walls...everyone else...How can it be so hot and yet so wet?
Hey, I mean, I'm sweating, sure...and so's she...and them...but everyone and everything is soaked...absolutely through to the skin soaked...And the reflections...
I'm floating in a Universe of golden stars...and all the light's focused on meeeee...oh, and her of course...
The conflagration leaps before me with an exalted howl, and collapses upon itself...in the pale faces and the lurid glare I saw Dresden and I knew that dreadful howl a thousand times louder...and with such a hunger...and how lucky I was...
"Still" she says, "If you gotta watch your own house burn down, this is the one place to do it."
I looked at her blankly.
"Outside"she said.
I clutched the satchel to my side...at least I had copies...waterproof, water-tight copies...
You know what they say..."Just 'cos ya' ain't paranoid, don't mean they ain't talkin' 'bout ya'."
The Beginning
We now return you to our normal scheduled programming...and boy, what a doozy...today's The Border Watch has another long, ludicrous Sandra Morello pro-Council propaganda piece about a Ms Alex Hammett from KESAB Sustainable Communities and her allegedly gushing comments about Council and the Main Corner and the Lady Nelson Bus Shelter and how fantastic it all is according to, well, her...
On the Bus Shelter, "I have never seen anything like it..."...sums it all up really...and I wonder how she would have felt standing there waiting for a bus at 7am on a winter's morning in the pissing rain and howling wind, or if she had got off the bus and had to wonder in to town in the baking heat...and Sandra says 'conceding the structure had triggered some controversy...'
And then Ms Hammett makes the extraordinary observation that it's great to see Council re-using the pavers that are being ripped up from the Main St..."...why spend money that doesn't need to be spent?"...the whole repaving fiasco is spending money that didn't need to be spent!
I note that Ms Hammett was taken to the handful of places that Council wanted her to see, and Sandra Morello's article makes no mention of the Rail Lands, the closed pool and deteriorating tennis courts, lack of public transport, etc, etc...please review my previous posts on these issues.
It is grossly manipulative and inappropriate for Council, Sandra Morello, and The Border Watch to use Ms Hammett to pursue their own pro-Council propaganda agenda...she was taken to see the things Council wanted to promote and kept away from everything else...
And on top of that, Ms Hammett is hardly going to rock up to Mt Gambier and say 'what a retrograde, small town, 1950's mentality, shit-hole'...of course she's going to say 'nice' things...
No offence to you Ms Hammett, honestly, but your opinion is effectively worthless because you have no idea of the actual politics and the malfeasance and the nepotism and the damage and the cost to the entire community at the hands of a selfish, incompetent Council...but Sandra Morello and TBW do..
And this is exactly the sort of manipulation and deceit that TBW continues to promote...one can only assume that there is something in it for them.
Tomorrow: That Planning Panning as promised.
Deserves a whole post all it's own and so until tomorrow...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...250 posts young...
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