Tuesday 8 December 2009

From the I'm not surprised department

Former member of the Liberal National Party and anti-climate change debater, Lance Royce, writing on Northern Truth, reports that former Post chief of staff and Sunday Mail columnist Gavin King, was bending over backwards the other day, introducing his friends to former Mayor, Kevin Byrne.

"Last Saturday morning my wife and and were having breakfast at Cafe Lumiere on the waterfront in Cairns when low and behold a jovial and very loud Kevin Byrne and his small entourage of two arrived at the cafe," writes Lance Royce.

"An even louder Kevin Byrne introduced to the female cafe owner to his close very close friend Gavin King."

Royce correctly states that is was King who, after last year's Council election, wrote article after article against the newly-elected Cairns Mayor Val Schier.

"At the time I didn't really understand were his motivation was coming from for his vile personal attacks on the new Mayor and why he didn't cut the new Mayor some slack. Now I know," Lance Royce says.

"So his motivation on attacking Val, was his warm, dear and corrupted friendship with Kevin Bryne. As most people in Cairns know, Byrne has corrupted most of the local media including the station manager of radio station 4CA Steve Hirst and local personality Johnny Mackenzie and now the News Ltd and The Cairns Post," Royce says.

"I guess we have a 'Boss Tweed' style of politics in Cairns now."

Royce says that Gavin King has no journalist ethics whatsoever.

"Your employer I know would love to know about your on-going conflict of interest and lack of personal ethics," Lance Royce says.

The gloves are off it seems for Mr Royce. Gavin is hungry for a lawsuit when someone speaks out about him, as he just loves people talking about him. More to the point, Gavin loves talking about himself.

17 comments:

JKR said...

The real story here is that Royce called somebody else to task for a "vile personal attack" ...!!!

He is sure well qualified to spot one I suppose.

nocturnal congress said...

The vilification and hatefest undertaken by both King and rugnut on the election of Val Schier is unprecedented in the Far North. That they were both in cohorts with Byrne was never doubted, however Royce has just confirmed it. Had Byrne himself had to endure such a public bullyboys campaign, he would have collapsed into a puddle of snot, snivel and pissed pants. Val, on the other hand, still stands tall, is charming, calm and dignified and slowly winning over the people of Cairns.

Fiona Tulip said...

KB coffees and dines with all sorts around town.

Not so long ago, he was coffeeing with the head honcho from Conics and they were looking and discussing plans. No doubt being kept in the loop of the latest and greatest developments.

Still haven't answered my 5 questions KB. We are all awaiting your answers, especially the one about.....
Do you still believe that communtiy meetings at Clifton Beach are "setups"?

Pullit said...

Can't you just see it, two complete wankers, pulling each other's chain, over croissants and coffee!

wow said...

ha ha typical drivel from Val support group... you would do the same if it was Val at the Cafe.

The previous Mayor and a Journo - what a scandle!!

Miss Chief said...

Does KB still consider himself to be a mover and a shaker? If so, he should read his own press. What a team KB & WE. I shudder when I consider that we supposedly support the same political party.
The sooner party members wake up and realize that they are doing us more harm than good, the better. We want thinkers not stinkers!

Gavin King said...

Thanks for the write-up Mike. The world of journalism is so much better with you in it. Given your extensive training and experience over all of those years you've spent in the industry, journalism is all about the facts so why don't we let them get in the way of a good story, just this once.
Kevin, Dennis "Brazaka" Wallace and I had coffee together after volunteering our time to help out with the all female Ribbons fishing tournament. Kevin and I were asked by the Ribbons committee to be guest judges of the sailpast and Brazaka donated his time, helicopter and fuel to film it all. Considering we were volunteering our time to help a community organisation at 6.30am on a Saturday morning a shot of caffeine was necessary. FYI, Kevin and I were also in the same room at the same time last month during a fundraising lunch to help raise money for the Movember charity and even though we weren’t in the same room at the same time for this year’s event we have both donated our time at The Great Debate, which raises money for local charities. You’ll be happy to know I have also had a few chats and email exchanges with Mayor Val Schier about her efforts to reinvigorate the CBD, a cause we are both passionate about.
Best of luck with your future attempts at journalism.
Who is Lance Royce by the way? I've never heard of him, but he sure comes across as a rational and credible community leader.

Quentin Chou said...

I don't know on what basis king is writing about journalism.

As far as I can see there is no connection between him and journalism.

You have to have ethics, honesty and objectivity to be a journalist, and they are few and far between at in the Murdoch stable.

One of the great things about cairns blog is the fact that everyone is entitled to their say.

It's a pity that those many people in the community who have been the victims of Compost dishonesty, inaccuracy or just plain old-fashioned malice of the type spewed out by King are not afforded the same rights.

Lance Royce said...

Gavin yout excellent reply to Mike's post is far short of the facts and truth regarding your conflict of interest with KB and my eyes get misty hearing about all the good work you and KB are doing for the poor and disadvantaged of the world, like yacht owners? Anything you two clones do is for your own gain and self-gratifciation.

Quentin Chou said...

I'm such a duffer. my last sentence should have read:

It's a pity that those many people in the community who have been the victims of Compost dishonesty, inaccuracy or just plain old-fashioned POLITICAL SPIN AND malice of the type spewed out by King are not afforded the same rights.

The Headless Horseman said...

Gavin King's biased, ignorant, unpleasant and puerile column in The Cairns Post is not missed. His fixation with Mayor Val, or more specifically her hair, was a kind of journalistic stalking.
Thankfully, Daniel Bateman has come to town with a more witty and amusing column to get us in a good mood for the weekend.
Gavin's return to public life as a "close friend" of Kevin Byrne, reminds us how much we don't miss him. But do us a favour anway, Gav, go away.

Jack Cade said...

Kevin Byrne's threat to run for Mayor again is a worry. When he was in the pocket of developers, Byrne and his lackeys on council approved many ill-advised developments that exacerbated flooding throughout the city - from Gordonvale to Manunda to the CBD to the northern beaches.
Hundreds of homes were flooded or hemmed in by floods. We must never return to such an anti-ratepayer council ever again.
Mayor Schier, despite the cash-for-comment gangsters on council, has endeavoured to strike the right balance in managing development.

KitchenSlut said...

The ribbons sailpast was 6.30am on the Saturday morning Gav? Well, yes, I was somewhat confused when SeaFM advertised the Ribbons sailpast at 6.30 the next morning .... and advertised it all day as that on the Sunday, the day after the event?

Given that it was publicly supported including by Council who paid for this useless advertising? Does someone deserve a refund or are things really so bad that SeaFM needs to just run useless filler ads to make up space?

Jan from Kewarra said...

To Factman,

I am concerned for your health.

If you keep "snarling" like this, you could have rabies so go get yourself checked out!

Miss Chief. said...

Don't worry about KB running for mayor again...scuttlebut has it that he's more interested in running for State.
I suggest that those interested in that position start getting out there and getting themselves a decent profile. Mind you it wouldn't have to be spectacular to top KB's. It never fails to amaze me how many people in Cairns suffer from short term memory loss. Could it be something they've swallowed hook line and stinker?

Factman said...

Hi Jan from Kewarra ... many thanks for your concerns and kind thoughts.

Yes I do snarl a lot.

It's a reaction to reading crap.

You see I don't suffer fools and that's the dilemma I'm in.
This blog is 95% commented on by fools.

My job on this planet to state the facts to counteract all the bullshit on this blog.

Those I don't consider fools are -
Brian Outlaw, Margaret Outlaw, Kitchen Slut and Thornton On Spence.
And of course, Quickie ...

cheers big ears

Jan from Kewarra said...

To Factman,

The snarling is a most unattractive trait in any person, let alone someone as wise as you!

Truely, I wonder why you bother to correct crap on this blog and make it your life's mission Factman. Have't you got other people in your life to ridicule, other than the fools who keep blogging on this site.

There are just some things beyond your control, and those who profess not to tolerate fools are generally arrogant sods, like KB was, who thought everyone was beneath his wisdom and position and who resorted to name calling & belittling the very people that voted for him (whingers, neanderthals and the like!). You know the types, everyone puts up with them to some degree, but underneath, no one really likes!!! Not a benchmark to aspire to I would not think Factman, but each to their own, I say. You are well on your way then, if you truely think most of us are fools that write on the blog. A very interesting insight into your true character and worth as a human being.

Good luck in your chosen stance. The snarling is likely to get much worse unfortuantely.....

Merry christmas if you can stop snarling long enough to enjoy it.