Where is all this money coming from?

Local Political strategist, John Robinson writes about the current serious financial woes facing the Queensland economy, after a decade of Labor rule.


I don't pretend to be an expert; just a layman with a healthy dose of concern.

Recently we saw revealed the payment of $1 million in commission over the placement of $100 million of Queenslander superannuation. Mr. Ross Daley, a former Labor staffer, accepted a secret $1 million success fee for shifting $100 million worth of superannuation funds from Sunsuper to the Trinity funds management group. Which beggars one obvious question. What other success fees / secret commissions have been paid in the past that Queenslanders know nothing about?

Labor in Queensland will have incurred an $85 billion debt by 2012. It’s in the budget papers. The question I think we also need to ask is whether anyone has benefited materially from the financial deals made. Based on a 1% success fee, it is possible by extension to suggest that someone, somewhere may have received an $850 million success fee. This will of course have been factored into the loan interest charged by the lenders. So again we Queenslanders need to fork out to pay for Labor fiscal management or lack thereof during the halcyon days.

One of Queensland’s major income areas has been from the mining industry. In June 2009 BHP Billiton announced settlements reached for most of its 2009 metallurgical coal contracts are for prices about 58% lower than last year. Blind Freddie would see that even a global turnaround tomorrow would get coal prices up to previous levels in one fell swoop. Those countries that need coal for industry, in particular China, are great negotiators. BHP Billiton will need to claw their way back up, dollar by dollar, year by year. Which is pretty pessimistic for Queensland government income over the next few years.

Has anyone wondered where is all this money coming from? The US has been loaned $trillions, Rudd has borrowed $300 odd billion and Queensland’s Anna and her fiscal wiz kid have placed us in hock for $85 billion. The Bank for International Settlements Working paper 286 released in July 2009 said in its precis:-

• “China’s emergence as a major player in world trade is well known, but its rising role in global finance is perhaps under appreciated. China is the second largest creditor in the world today, with a net creditor position of exceeding 30% of GDP in 2007.
  
  In this paper, we test the importance of growth differential, demographics, government debt, financial depth and the exchange rate in shaping China’s net foreign asset position. Our findings highlight the sharp fall in youth dependency as one key driver behind China’s puzzlingly large net lender position and also confirm the neoclassical prediction that faster growth attracts more capital inflows.
  
  Looking ahead, our findings also suggest that China is unlikely to turn into a meaningful net debtor nation over the next two decades. Moreover, we project that, as China engages in increased cross-border asset trade, its gross foreign assets and liabilities could triple in 10 years.
  
  While adjustments in China’s net foreign asset position are expected to be gradual and may thus facilitate its capital account opening, increasing exposure to external shocks and growing interactions with the rest of the world may present challenges both to China and to the global financial system.”

I think we are witnessing a major epoch unfolding; the fall of the United States of America as the world’s superpower. China with its huge population is not just taking its place; China will emerge as a mega-superpower.

Countries such as Australia will become beholden for their economic existence to what is decided in Beijing.

For me the question is also how far our political leaders at a State and Federal level will turn a blind eye to reports of human rights abuses, or the squashing of nationalist aspirations, or the imprisonment of Australian nationals, so as not to upset the ageing Politburo leadership who will in the future appear to have so much sway over our lives.

Has anyone seen our $446 million?

John Robinson from Kuranda tries to track down a few million million dollars, from the sale of our Cairns Airport.


In April 2008 the proposal to sell the Cairns Airport to a private consortium was announced with much fanfare by Premier Anna Bligh. We were told that the sale of Cairns airport would fund a $450 million expansion of the city's existing hospital.

Then on Christmas Eve last year, it was reported that our airport had been sold for $530 million.

The ABC reported at the time...

• “The $530 million sale will provide the Government with funds to proceed with the $446 million redevelopment of Cairns Base Hospital next year."

A press release from Cairns Airport trumpets...

• "Premier Anna Bligh said today the $446 million redeveloped hospital for Cairns is full steam ahead following the successful sale of Cairns Airport.
  
  The proceeds of the sale will go directly into the redevelopment of the Cairns Hospital,'' Ms Bligh said.
  
  "The comprehensive redevelopment will include additional cardiac care facilities, full day surgery unit, specialist clinics and pathology services, and integrated mental health and cancer care units. "By 2014, the redevelopment will mean 168 extra beds.

Not unnaturally enough, we the users of the hospital, expected that the $446 million would come out of the $530 million sale. Or so we thought.

The efforts of the ALP in Brisbane to placate the party faithful in Cairns was today reported by the Cairns Post. Apparently ALP members were told that...

“$446 million redevelopment of Cairns Base Hospital could be “shelved” if the Bligh Government’s sale of state owned assets does not go ahead.”

So the question needs to be asked, and asked loudly, where the hell has the money from the sale of the Cairns Airport gone?

Obviously not to fund the upgrade to the Cairns Base Hospital.

I would suspect that rather than being earmarked for the redevelopment, the $446 million went straight into the black hole of consolidated revenue and thus straight off the bottom line debt.
So now it appears that we have a privately owned airport and no funds for the redevelopment of Cairns Base Hospital.

What guarantee do we have that any of the $15 billion hoped to be generated from the fire sale will be allocated to replace the now apparently missing $446 million?

I wonder if the Member for Cairns still stands by her comments of last year. "This is a great outcome for the people of Cairns and for the tourism industry."

Former Cairns 1st Council candidate, Richie Bates, echoes the opinion of many in the Cairns community. “So what’s happened with that money?” he asked last week.

Has anyone seen it?

Greens not up to it

The Courier Mail reports that that three days after securing a Greens preference deal, Anna Bligh said that they are unworthy of being considered an "alternate" government.

Bligh was responding to a question about the Greens on social networking site Twitter:

• "they're certainly not an alternate govt (sic)".

However Premier Bligh immediately tried to erase her comment, deleting the post less than three minutes after it went public.

On Friday afternoon, Bligh's campaign team said that, "unless Twitter messages or 'tweets' from the account were specifically tagged otherwise, they had been personally written by Ms Bligh."

"No secret - Premier's personal tweets are unmarked, tweets uploaded by the team marked Anna4QldTeam," the Twitter message said.

The Courier Mail reported...

• If you visit Anna Bligh's official Twitter page the comment sledging the Greens will not be seen, but the offending post can easily be found in a search. Posted Twitter messages can be deleted, but they will only be erased from the user's page; messages posted on Twitter live forever in Twitter Search.
  
  This is not the first time Anna Bligh has been caught out deleting messages on Twitter.
  The premier was in Mt Isa on March 5 and tweeted: "I'm in Mt Isa. It's looking very green and the river is flowing".
  
  Bemused Twitter user Joshua Withers replied: "which Mount Isa are you at?"
  Without acknowledging Mr Withers or referencing her previous tweet, Ms Bligh deleted the first message and posted a second , identical except for the words "and the river is flowing".
  
  While Ms Bligh's campaign team have been active on Twitter since their first update at noon on February 18 , they have routinely ignored questions from the public, and news organisations, on the social networking site.

The preference deal for 14 electorates was announced by the Greens on Thursday last week. It's an odd endorsement following a scathing environmental report criticising Labor's last 10 years in Queensland.

Meanwhile, Traveston should be named the 'Ronan Lee Dam' if Labor wins LNP's Shadow Environment Minister David Gibson says.

Damming the Mary River at Traveston was a priority of Labor - so they should name the dam after Ronan Lee should they win government on the back of Greens' preferences, Gibson says.

Gibson says many were rightly disgusted by the hypocrisy shown by Ronan Lee and the Queensland Greens.

"They are angry they have been used as a bargaining chip by Labor and the Greens," Mr Gibson said. "Last Wednesday, as south east Queensland's worst environmental disaster was unfolding Ronan Lee was locked away with his old Labor Party mates doing a deal to save himself rather than the environment."

"Like a watermelon, Mr Lee has a green skin but maintains his red Labor core. If Ronan Lee is prepared to bargain away the Mary River, what other important environment issues is he prepared to sacrifice for his own benefit?"

Woman like Bligh pollute their face with botox

‘Woman Like Bligh Pollute Their Face With Botox, Their Water With Fluoride And Their Minds With Fear And Loathing - And Usually Die Young Of Cancer’

So goes the claim from the anti-Fluoride campaign circulating around Cairns from former City Councillor Annette Shephard and others.

"If you want to die young then do what Anna Bligh does - become a spokesperson for the chemical industry, build up your self esteem by plastering chemicals onto your face and drink
fluoride straight-up in the quest for whiter teeth," says the latest propaganda.

Infamous Cairns Post letter writer Werner Schmidlin agrees.

"To all those bird brains who suggest that I should drink rain tank water... Are you mad?" he says. "Then I get bat and bird shit which would be worse than ingesting fluoride."

The Anti-Flouride press release goes on to say that only "very desperate people stoop to such extremes in their efforts to ‘look good’. The chemical companies have succeeded in brainwashing an entire generation of woman, who inject botox to build their self esteem because they have no care for chemical wastes they add to the environment."

Botox pollutes the waterways, they claim. And I thought the sediment run-off was enough to deal with?!

But wait, there's more. They say that Anna probably loves to eat fruit and veggies from China, loaded with DDT - because "the veggies ‘look nice.’

• Our society is so consumed with ‘looks’ that we’ll pollute our homes with the most toxic chemical substances to have our kitchens and bathrooms looking clean and fresh. And women pollute themselves with synthetic perfumes to make themselves smell ‘nice.’
  What a sad, sick, artificial society we have become.
  
  Yes, go ahead Anna, just keep telling yourself botox will keep you happy. And drink more
  fluoride, and eat more DDT. Don’t stop there. There are hundreds more chemicals you can force on the community in your mad quest to force chemicals into every corner your world. But guess what? Not everyone is as neurotic and suicidal as you are
  madam. Some of us, get by without our chemical life support systems.
  Anna, you’ll never make it to 60 my dear. Not a hope in the world. Not
  a chance. Skin cancer is your destiny.
  
  FYI - Skin Cancer rates to soar with fluoride skin contamination!
  Fluoride at levels as low as 1 part per million in the drinking water give rise to an irregular formation of collagen in the body. Collagen, which makes up about a third of our bodies, is a major component of skin, ligaments, tendons, muscles, cartilage, bones and teeth.

You all owe $35,000 each

Astonishing as it may seem, the Labor Government took over a State with little debt.

The State Treasurer, Andrew Fraser, who doesn't even appear on Anna Bligh's electoral website, said, announced last week the downgraded Queensland's Credit Rating to AA+.

That means that we will have to find an extra $200 million a year interest.

This now takes our annual Interest bill to $3.16 billion for 2009-10 – about $800 for every man, woman and child – and another $300 million the following year. Said the Treasurer.

"Don't forget the real mathematics of [Treasurer] Andrew Fraser, Opposition leader Lawrence Springborg says.

"Queensland's debt has skyrocketed from $30.3 billion since his appointment last year to over $74 billion projected in 2011-12."

"Queensland's interest bill will be $5 billion which is about half the taxes collected last year. Does that mean that Mr Fraser plans to double taxes to pay that off?"

"This is not a time for scare tactics. The LNP plan is to cut waste, introduce efficiencies, and to make government jobs more secure - everything that Labor has failed to do."

Queenslanders are facing a 'financial cyclone' to quote Kevin Rudd.

The slick politician double-talk makes it sound palatable by saying that's $800 for every man woman and child in the State.

What he doesn't tell you is that there are only a third of us with the ability to pay the taxes and registrations etc. So it's more like $1,500 each every year. Then there is the debt itself. $74 Billion divided by those who will pay equals $35,000 each.

Add that to what you voluntarily owe and you can see that Anna Bligh and her entire Government must be given the heave ho before we all go as bankrupt as their ability to manage the economy.

A letter from Kevin

I, along with a billion others, got this personal email from Kevin Rudd MP PM ...

• "Queenslanders have an important choice on March 21...
  
  Dear Queenslander,
  
  I'm writing to ask for your support for Anna Bligh - because I think she's right for Queensland. Anna and I have worked closely together over many years and she shares my passion for Queensland.
  
  I know she has the determination and experience required to steer Queensland through difficult economic times and support Queensland jobs.
  In this time of crisis, Queenslanders need a government that is prepared to commit to building jobs for the future.
  
  Anna Bligh has demonstrated that commitment.
  
  Like Anna says, we Queenslanders aren't afraid of hard work.
  
  We need a government to match - one that is prepared to work hard, take tough decisions and build our economy for the future - and for our kids' future.
  
  With Anna Bligh's $17 billion building program, Queensland will build a strong future.
  
  If you have not already, take a look at her website to learn more about Anna Bligh's plans to keep Queensland strong.
  
  I'm proud to support Anna Bligh as a great Premier of a great state.
  (signed)
  Kevin Rudd
  
  

Timing is everything

Mining multi-millionaire Clive Palmer is suing Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Treasurer Andrew Fraser for defamation

He is seeking $1m along with an apology from the Premier after she questioned his motives and involvement with the opposition LNP on ABC three weeks ago.

He's also seeking damages against Fraser to the tune of $200,000 over comments he made to The Australian. Palmer has donated substantial financial support to the Liberal National Party.

Meanwhile, the Queensland Police Union has blitzed it's website with LNP information, but says it's not taking sides in the election.

The Queensland Council of Unions has announced it will spend $400,000 on an advertising campaign to re-elect a Labor Government.

Suddenly Val

Cairns Regional Mayor Val Schier, today endorsed the direct action protest when Councillor Diane Forsyth climbed the historic Cairns Yacht Club building in protest at its demolition by the Labor State Government.

The action resulted in a trespass charge before the Cairns Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

"The feedback [about] Di's actions in protesting the demise of the Yacht Club [building] has been interesting," Mayor Schier said today.

The Mayor's endorsement should be an embrassesment to Premier Anna Bligh and her local Labor MPs who refused to discuss or move on the issue.

"Whilst a few people believe that she has damaged her own reputation and also that of Council, the majority of people who have spoken to me believe that Di has been brave and courageous in her stance against an issue about which she is passionate: the preservation of the heritage of Cairns."

It is a late but welcome entry into the heritage debate for the Mayor that decided to make no public comment during the large-scale community campaign, that culminated in an 11,000-strong petition to the State Government. The issue galvanised many in the Cairns community for over 5 years. The Mayor supported two motions before her Council to get the Cairns Port Authority and the State Government to halt the iconic building's demolition last October. However, it was to no avail, and were repeatedly told, it was a 'commercial decision'.

On the morning of the protest action last October, Mayor Schier and Council CEO Noel Briggs called a press conference to talk about a possible breach of the Councillor's Code of Conduct, however, the Mayor never fronted the media. Briggs announced that "no complaint had been received" at that point, about the Councillor's protest action. "However, if a complaint was received, it would be investigated," he said. This was merely an invitation for a dissenter to complain," Yacht Club protest organiser Bryan Law said.

Local artist Robyn Johnston and his partner Niki Johnston, a Holloways real estate manager, were supporters of Deputy Mayor Margaret Cochrane's election campaign. They lodged a complaint about the Councillor's action the following day.

"I was affronted by the CEO's interference in this peaceful protest for an elected official to make her political point," Bryan Law said. "Why is the CEO calling a media conference to talk about a compliant that doesn't exist? It is repugnant to hear a senior manager comment about an elected Councillor."

Bryan Law says it's the Mayor's role to talk on behalf or about her Councillors, not the CEO. "The CEO looks after the Council staff. Likewise, it would be inappropriate for a Councillor or the Mayor to reprimand or instruct Council staff," Law said.

But Val Schier said she now supports Councillor Diane Forsyth's right to choose the method she thought would be most effective in showing her opposition to the and in trying to change the mind of the decision-makers, she says.

The Mayor's Cairns 1st brand, strongly advocated heritage protection and preservation in it's pre-election campaign.

"The law will decide on the allegations of trespass; the voters will decide in 2012 whether they commend or condemn her; I suspect the former will be the case," the Mayor said today.

Real change needed in Legislative Assembly

CairnsBlog columnist, Syd Walker, shares his observations on Premier Bligh's snap election.


The Queensland State election has been called. Election day is March 21st.

This is not a comprehensive round-up… just a few personal thoughts.

I’ll start at the ‘top’. I rather like the current Premier, Anna Bligh. I’ve met her only once, for a very brief one-to-one discussion at one of the former Premier’s moving cabinet meetings. I was impressed. She struck me as a politician capable of actually listening, even to an unpopular message. She didn’t just give a rote response. She gave a thoughtful response. That’s worth a lot in my book.

I’ve never met Opposition Leader, Lawrence Springborg of the Liberal National Party, but he’s been around a while. Actually, it’s his third Queensland election contest as Opposition leader.

I have heard Springborg on the radio and watched him on TV many times. He does not impress me. If he’s more than a reactionary opportunist, he does a good job covering it up. But I’ll keep an open mind and hope he can contribute to raising the level of debate in this State. Surely it’s his last chance to do that as Opposition leader?

Those are the two main party leaders. What of the political parties in general?

I shall likely vote for The Greens and give a preference vote to progressive independents (if any). Beyond that, with an optional preferential voting system which allows voters to number as many boxes as they wish (from 1 to n), I’ll keep my own council for now. Let’s see how the debate pans out and wait for the policy rollout.

The Labor Party, while less reactionary than its LNP opponents, is a rather gruesome machine. A lot of Labor’s MPs are rank opportunists and few seem to have much vision. Typically, they’re ‘business as usual’ managers, with grey suits and green, pink, blue and brown ties, depending on the occasion. This has not been a party of bold and imaginative new initiatives towards sustainable development.

But would the Liberal-Nationals be any better? I haven’t seen any evidence of that so far. Would they be worse? I have my fears.

It’s best to keep an open mind early in the election campaign, allowing plenty of blue screen for pleasant surprises. But if Mr Spingborg and his crew have serious proposals that might appeal to voters with my interests, they’d better share them and fast.

Incidentally, outflanking Labor on environmental policy and other issues of concern to progressives is not an impossible task for a right-wing coalition in Australia. Under Malcolm Turnbull’s able leadership, the Federal Opposition is coming close to doing precisely that.
Queensland needs a credible State Opposition. Above all, the State needs some radically new policies. In Far North Queensland, an isolated geographical enclave some 2,000 kilometers from the State capital, we need a visionary regional approach to develop a resilient, sustainable economy and way of life.

The previous Beattie-Labor Government set up a new planning process for FNQ, which produced its final report a fortnight ago. The plan is a statutory document and represents a major change in the regional planning regime.

When the new regional plan came out, it was barely noticed by most of the community. That’s probably just what the government hoped. No noise means no political damage. Most of the squeakiest wheels had been assuaged in the plan. It was a fix that normalized business as usual, c. early 2009.

The problem is, we need a lot more than that now. We don’t just have a State in ecological crisis; we have economic recession as well. The former could be – and was – repeatedly brushed under the carpet; the public won’t stand for that on the economy.

A State Government with real vision would provide coherent, integrated solutions to both major crises. We’d have a major roll-out of new, low-emissions technology and infrastructure. We’d be taking the first real steps towards a sustainable way of life.

I may be wrong, but I suspect Anna Bligh would not be averse to such policies. Unfortunately, most of her rank and file MPs seem to be a mundane and rather visionless lot. Without energetic, progressive politicians supporting innovative policies at a local and regional level, they don’t get on the Government’s agenda.

Labor is broadly competent to manage business as usual. But in 2009 - more so than before - doing better is an urgent priority.

To do better, we need real change in the Legislative Assembly. From my perspective, the best conceivable outcome at this election would be Greens and progressive independents holding the balance of power. A minority Labor Government forced to negotiate with more enlightened politicians would not be plain sailing. But it would be a sea-change.

It would revitalize politics in Queensland – and might also bring out the best in Anna Bligh. She’s needs more talent in her team.

Queensland’s economic summer wasn’t so difficult to manage. Winter will be more challenging.

PS: I just got a ping-back from Qldelection09.com, which is maintaining a daily list of blog postings on the Queensland election. A great service!

A fair share for Cairns

The election's been called. The media releases are starting to fly.

I've asked for Desley's and Steve's, but they haven't added me to their list yet. They should simply email me here. Let's hope they do.

Joel Harrop, who's standing for Cairns on the LNP ticket, says the early State election should focus on a fair share for Cairns.

“Despite having the Tourism Minister as a local member, Cairns has not been receiving its fair share for the last eleven years of the Labor Government,” Harrop says.
“Funding to Tourism has been cut back and Labor plans to dramatically increase licence fees for venues that want to open after midnight.”

He says Desley Boyle has served the people of Brisbane and let down locals in our community.

Harrop, and LNP's king hit in Cairns is to build a new hospital. “Health services have been long neglected in Cairns. This will ensure the residents of Cairns receive the health they need and deserve. It will also create many construction jobs while it is being built.”

I have to agree with anyone who says to move and build a purpose-built facility. The current location and add-ons that is currently being undertaken, is a mess.

Joel Harrop was also shocked at the way the election was called. "It highlights the disregard Labor has for proper process and democracy in this State," he said after the Premier first announced the election on YouTube before going to seek the State Governor’s approval.

"This is extremely arrogant, and sidelines the Governor’s proper role in our democracy,” Harrop says.

Undoubtedly the other major focus of this campaign needs to be the state of the finances in Queensland. You would run your own home like this. Just after the Treasurer announced the poor state of the balance sheet, Anna Bligh said that she will "not let up from borrowing to continue the infrastructure programme."

Queensland's debt is now over $60 billion.

“Queensland now has the worst credit rating in Australia – worse than New South Wales, which is an acknowledged basket case," Joel Harrop says. "The Labor Government’s mismanagement of the Queensland economy, and failure to put money away during the good times means that Cairns is going to miss out on essential expenditure.”

We have an interest bill alone of $200 million dollars a year on Labor’s $1.5 billion deficit.

The LNP say that Labor has put the State from boom to bust in less than a year. They accuse the Government of not putting anything away when times were good and mining royalties were flooding in. Now the State is broke.

Let the porkies begin!

It was only 13 minutes past 11 this morning and Labor's Steve Wettenhall was out with his four year old election posters.

He obviously had the tip off that Premier Anna Bligh was on her way to see the Governor General to dissolve State Parliament, six months earlier that the planned date.

Snap elections catch everyone by surprise, but this was the worst-kept secret in the State. After eight 'retirements' in as many days it seems, and the instant replacement for Mulgrave with Warren Pitt's son, who's still lives in Brisbane, the porkies will now be loud and clear.

The only good thing about this election is that we'll only have to put up with a zillion promises from all sides for less than a month.

It will be a tough fight in the South East, but regional Queensland is fed up with this government. Community issues and open honest accountable representation is blatantly absent from the incumbents.

The galvanising community issue to preserve the historic Yacht Club building, is a shameful indictment of almost every Labor MP in the Far North of Queensland. It's damaged weathering remnants in a paddock at JCU's Smithfield campus, are yet another reason why a passionate community deserves much better presentation that it got over this issue.

I hope that the voter will be savvy enough to critique the contribution their current MP has made and look at the alternatives. Greens, LNP, independents, will all be showing you the reason why Labor are due for early retirement.

Snap election called

Premier Anna Bligh has called a snap election for Saturday 21st March.

ALP hold 58 of the 89 seat Queensland State Parliament. An 8.3% swing will be needed for a change of Government.

Premier’s poll waffle prompts pregnant parody

It's nice to see South East Queenslanders have a sense of humour. They must do, look where they live.

Following my stunning portrayal and uncanny likeness, if I may say so myself, of the outgoing Premier of Queensland, Anna Bye a couple of days ago, Craig Johnstones' Courier Mail political Blog couldn't help but reprint my Annaity Fair 'magazine' cover.

An extra 2,160 'Southerners' clicked on CairnsBlog this afternoon and finally discovered there is life north of their rat race. I wonder when Anna comes to town campaigning with Desley next month, if she'll invite me along for a photo opp?


Here's some of the comments posted so far...

• Hmmm, I trust Ms Bligh sees the funny side of this blatant feminist attack on her. Where is a similar photo shop image of Lawrie “The Borg in a mini skirt showing stockings and suspenders (ala Alexander Downer)and a little bit of cheek to boo?
  I might ask the creators and I don’t hold my breath expecting to see a similar treatment for Lawrie only the sheela. Shame on some in this community!
  Spiro Serafini (Reply)Wed 18 Feb 09 (04:32pm)
• 
  quixotic replied to Spiro Serafini Wed 18 Feb 09 (05:36pm)
  Nix I tried to link it but it wouldnt work but its a tshirt from Tshirthell.com. If you are really interested go to the top tab drop down menu and find the tshirt “I wanna put my..”
  Take it easy Spiro, it is just a bit of harmless fun from a bloke in Cairns who, although left leaning, is still able to criticise the current government objectively.
  Michael Moore’s blog is a good read, and the Circusmouse cartoons that appear on the site are often both controversial and witty.
  Well worth a visit!
  Jake (Reply)Wed 18 Feb 09 (04:50pm)
  
  Poor little diddums Spiro Serafini - where’s your sense of humour? As for Lawrence- you would be looking an an immaculate conception, which is unlikely either in birth or political terms.
  socrates (Reply)Wed 18 Feb 09 (04:52pm)
  
  Very tastefull I think, although considering Annas age the skin may not be as tight as it was. Bit of harmless fun, she is an attractive lady, just don’t agree with her.
  rp of Sunshine Coast (Reply)Wed 18 Feb 09 (04:55pm)
  
  Classic and all true.
  Snoopy of Brisbane (Reply)Wed 18 Feb 09 (05:47pm)
  
  Finally a use for Anna.
  Robo of Bris Vegas (Reply)Wed 18 Feb 09 (05:56pm)
  
  Yes very funny. I note the QLD Labor fanatics find it hard to take their own medicine. They love to refer to hicks, banjo playing Lawrence but the sad reality is they come across as the no sense of humour rednecks!
  Well done Michael Moore.
  Al of Stretton (Reply)Wed 18 Feb 09 (06:51pm)
  
  While its only a mockup, at least Anna looks a darn site more attractive than Springborg did when he threw off his shirt all those years ago to stand in front of an ironing board (and looking mighty uncomfortable) and make like a man/woman!!
  Palmer of Brisbane (Reply)Thu 19 Feb 09 (06:29am)
  
  Isn’t it funny how no one is allowed to lampoon the left or the Labor Party in Australia. Totally unconstituional. Where are ‘The Chasers War on Everything”. They achieved their purpose after a blaze of publicity before the last Federal election and now are seen no more.
  shaun of deeragun (Reply)Thu 19 Feb 09 (08:18am)
  
  While I’m all for Labour winning the next election and I have deep respect for Anna Bligh (yes and I’m not ashamed of what I believe in)I find this pic absolutely hillerious.
  Ive noticed a few people saying that the labour supporters are finding it hard to swallow their own medicine - well I’m sorry but this pic has just made my day and I dont see this as insult to the govt, its just way tooooo funny to take seriously
  Astounded of Goodna (Reply)Thu 19 Feb 09 (09:06am)
  
  Dam what a thing to see before I had my first cup of coffee in the morning
  Dam (Reply)Thu 19 Feb 09 (09:39am)
  
  Craig, earlier this morning I was in the car and had the radio on (4BC) and heard Greg Carey mention that the Bligh Government was going to now refer to the Opposition as the Nationals, and not by their proper name the LNP (Liberal National Party).
  I agree with Greg Carey when he said that it is pretty underhanded and stinks of a Government trying everything possible to stay in power - ‘whatever it takes’ I guess; and trying to con ignorant voters who don’t take an interest in politics inbetween elections.
  Anyway hasn’t been a whisper of it in the online news so wondering if you have picked up on it and what your thoughts are on the matter.
  Realist of Brisbane (Reply)Thu 19 Feb 09 (01:34pm)
  
  I see that Annaity is spending thousands of taxpayer dollars on poltical propaganda to cover up her Health Minister’s poor decisions. Time for them to go.
  Al of Stretton (Reply)Thu 19 Feb 09 (02:17pm)
  
  I don’t care what side of politics a person is on , this type of political sarcasm is not funny, rather it is grossly in bad taste, and highly offensive. There are other ways to get the polyical message over which are more effective.
  Tom Aquinas of Brisbane (Reply)Thu 19 Feb 09 (03:34pm)

Premature ejaculation

The marriage of Bligh and her questioning Queensland public, have hardly been consummated, yet there's talk everywhere this weekend that she will come, I mean go. early.

As those getting ready for the onslaught of a Labor massacre from Coolangatta to Cairns, and Kurumba to Kuranda, the speculation has increased that Premier Anna Bligh is likely to call an early state election. According to the trusty source of right-wing propaganda NewsLTD, it would also leave "a September window for Kevin Rudd to go to the polls nationally."

Just this afternoon, Bligh announced Queensland's Speaker Mike Reynolds' retirement, paving the way for a likely election of Saturday March 28th - just six weeks away. The Courier Mail reports that Bligh might delay calling it until March 1 or 2, to "give her another sitting week in Parliament," meaning the minimum 26-day campaign.

The Courier-Mail poll of over 2,000, strongly weights against Labor.

There's been questions about the lack of visibility of local LNP candidates. However Joel Harrop, running for the seat of Cairns against the grandma of local politics Desley Boyle, has been door-knocked hundreds of houses since early January.

"People are pleased to see someone, ask questions and find out about their local MP. So many tell me they've never heard from the current MP," Joel Harrop says.

A local LNP (Liberal National Party) party insider, says it's an issue of getting noticed by the 'Big Mac Media'.

"Wendy Richardson, running for Barron River against Labor's Steve Wettenhall, has taken a well-researched look at the question of the Arnold Street lights at Aeroglen," the insider told CairnsBlog.

"She spoke to the residents and business owners, went down at peak hour with her camera, searched Government papers, looked at what Wettenhall and Pitt had said on the issue, and then went into bat for the speeding up of the already recommended installation of traffic lights as the safest solution to a dangerous situation," the LNP source said. "Wendy sent the call to the Cairns Post who promptly advised Wettenhall and Pitt in the interest of 'journalistic fairness'.

It was obvious that the Cairns Post did nothing with the information for several days, but then reported the announcement that Wettenhall and Pitt had got the 'green light' for the traffic lights.

Last Tuesday in Parliament, Steve Wettenhall spoke about the Cattana Wetlands at Smithfield. He implied that LNP was supporting placing residential developments on this unique wetland site, that will be connected to the proposed Smithfield Beaches Town Centre. I don't know where he gets these ideas from, but I know he's aware his 5.1% margin isn't much to hold onto.

Following the big wet we've all endured over the last month, Wendy Richardson, who has her own farm and an eco-tourism venture on the Tablelands, has been out to inspect creeks and washouts, many alongside poorly managed and policed developments. I've highlighted these on CairnsBlog over the last two years, that have sustained appalling damage under Labor's mis-management of the environment. Look no further than the major report last year stating that Queensland's environment is in decline under the last 10 years of Labor at the helm.

Richardson also visited the Clifton Beach high-density development, thirsty for first-hand information.

"All of us want a roof over our heads; our own space, to do that we do need to build accommodation for a growing population," the LNP source said. "So the issue is the need for a balance, lifestyle verses environment."

With a $59 billion debt in Queensland, how can you vote that lot back in?

Rolling Royce

Liberal defector, ABC Far North's grumpy, and Edgehill coffee connoisseur, Lance Royce, who thinks the earth is flat, puts a number of questions, many aimed squarely at Premier Anna Bligh...

1. When will be getting food shipments up here?
2. Do you know that we exist?
3. Do you care?
4. When will you fix the hospital here?
5. When are you going to free us from the ambulance levy (Tax)?
6. When will ambulance ramping stop at the Cairns Base Hospital?
7. When will the MP's for Cook, Baron River and Cairns be back in the North? Hate to drag them form their comfortable surroundings in Brisbane. It's nice to have the MP's from the North representing Brisbane up here!
8. When will we be getting are proportionate share of our tax dollars?
9. When are you going to listen and solve the problems you ignore?
10. When is John Mackenzie going stop campaigning for KB on his radio show?
11. When will the Cairns Post hire some genuine journalist?

Happy 2009

Just weeks after open heart surgery, veteran community campaigner and activist Bryan Law, is ready to continue to battle and raise issues for our community.

Here, he looks back at the tumultuous year that was 2008.

2008 was pretty trippy for me.

It started real well with a legal victory in the Court of Criminal Appeal at Darwin. A nice and very capable lawyer, retired Federal Court Judge the Hon Ron Merkel QC, made some compelling arguments for us in relation to the Defence (Special undertakings) Act 1952 – and the miscarriages of justice that had occurred during our trial of June 2007. You can read one lawyer’s account here.

Before the legal argument in Court, the four of us served out some time in Darwin’s Berrimah prison, a barbarous and decrepit hole some 15 kilometres north of the city. 83% indigenous. I spent 10 days on a package stay. It’s been ten years or more since I was last in prison, but like riding a bike, it doesn’t take long to get used to it again. Anyone who thinks prison is a doddle has never been there.

So on Wednesday 20 Feb I’m being escorted to cells under the court-house and guarded by three or four security officers all day. On Thursday 21 I’m in the court-house coffee shop getting a toasted sandwich and cappuccino. On Friday 22 I’m acquitted, the Act has been interpreted to our satisfaction, the government is unable to use its heavy legislation against us, and we are free to enjoy a few days rest and recreation in Darwin - which can be a fairly pleasant spot, even in February.

The legal victory, and the jail time, came out of nonviolent direct action I’d taken at the Pine Gap spy base with Christians Against ALL Terrorism (CAAT) in December 2005. It was a citizens inspection, based on work I’ve done around US warships in Cairns with Margaret Pestorius and Peace by Peace. It was a terrific action, and CAAT made some real achievements for peace and nonviolence. It’s a good group. Here’s a photo of us all together in Brisbane in November 2008 where we had a yarn about the Talisman Sabre war-games in Shoalwater Bay, Queensland in July 2009. Left to right: Adele Goldie (Mt Nebo), Sean O’Reilly (Brisbane), Jim Dowling (Mt Mee), Jessica Morrison (Melbourne), Donna Mulhearn (Sydney), Bryan Law (Cairns)

By February 2008 I was on a promise from Australian Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, to meet and discuss Pine Gap. (“I respect your position and I will be happy to discuss with you after the Federal election” Joel had written to me in October 2007, when the ALP wanted support from the peace movement). In January 2008 the newly elected Labor member for Leichhardt, Jim Turnour (for whom I’d campaigned) promised me he’d follow up my letter to Minister Fitzgibbon, and ensure we got a meeting.

Being a political realist, I maintain pretty low expectations of the Labor Party. But I started 2008 fairly optimistic, firstly that nonviolent activism is enjoying something of a resurgence in Australia, and secondly that we might get some useful discussion with government around defence and security policy. The resurgence is real. The ALP is not.

In April I experienced some difficulty breathing, and went to Cairns Base Hospital for a couple of weeks with a condition called heart failure - which put a temporary hold on my activist agenda for Pine Gap. Apparently I’d had a heart attack without noticing. I spent a quiet winter coming to terms with life’s little changes, and preparing for surgery through Queensland Health.

While I was waiting for surgery I got involved with PADYC (People Against Demolishing the Yacht Club) when Wendy Richardson from the Liberal National Party declared she would chain herself to a bulldozer with union organiser Stuart Trail if she needed to, to save the Cairns Yacht Club building. CairnsBlog's Michael Moore, facilitated the introductions, and my old china plate Warren Entsch attended the first meeting. In the event, Wendy chickened out of NVDA (non-violent direct action), but Labor Councillor Di Forsyth climbed up on the roof in a safety harness.

In September 2008 half a dozen citizens stepped forward to have a go at civil disobedience. Terry Spackman had a good go at staying on the roof for days, but was foxed by Police. Sharon, Wendy and John all pushed it past the point of arrest as well as Di. I spent six or seven hours in the Cairns watch-house. Around the campaign were maybe 50 real nice folks who wanted to preserve a little bit of their heritage and values in modern Cairns. Bloody Cairns Ports. Bloody Labor Party. Good on ya Di Forsyth. Good on ya Wendy.

For me it’s always a privilege to know people who are willing to act on their beliefs. The bunch around PADYC came mostly from circles I don’t usually move in. Older, whiter, and more conservative (and of course a scattering of crazies). It was good to show them how a direct action campaign works. We’ll complete the program when Anna Bligh calls the election in 2009. That will be the time to target Desley Boyle and Steve 'Wet ‘n No Balls' for their seats in Parliament. Bloody Labor Party.

In February 2009 Di Forsyth will need a display of support as she confronts the real Court, as well as the kangaroo Court of her fellow Councillors. More about that later.

In November 2008 I did the surgery thing, with a triple coronary by-pass which is a traumatic thing to do to the body but generally provides an extension of life. They cut the chest open, stop the heart, deflate the lungs and keep you alive on the heart lung machine while they graft leg veins to augment the coronary arteries. If you’re at all lucky you survive the operation. Sort of ouch but good on ‘em. I’ve spent the past seven weeks basically hanging at home and healing the wounds of surgery. It’s a trip.

So my time and attention for politics was limited in 2008, but not entirely absent. I now have little projects around local, state, and commonwealth issues. All the actions are planned out of my experience and vision of strategic Nonviolence - latterly Christian Nonviolence. (I’m busy joining the biggest Christian church on planet earth) Here’s my little plan for local, state, and federal NVDA.

LOCAL

I’ve enjoyed nine months of Val Schier as Mayor. My experience has been limited, but I have my concerns, and I’m aware of a general feeling that folks would like a stronger performance from Val and her administration. She’ll be Mayor for around another four years.

My plan on a local level is twofold. First and most important is to organise and show support for Councillor Di Forsyth’s act of civil disobedience re the Yacht Club. Di showed personal courage and political commitment to get up on that roof and represent the thousands of her constituents, and the thousands of other Cairns and Queensland signatures collected on the PADYC petition.

I think Di deserves support for her actions. The best way we can show support is by creating substantial public rallies whenever Di fronts Court or the Regional Council as they consider her civil disobedience action.

But it’s not just a matter of support for Di Forsyth. It’s also about preserving civil disobedience as a vital ingredient of our Parliamentary democracy. The Suffragettes, the Civil Rights movement, the ATSI movement, the trade union movement and all the social movements have relied on civil disobedience to achieve their democratic aims. In Cairns the Police and the Courts have recognised the Yacht Club actions as nonviolent civil disobedience.

Within the Cairns Regional Council there are moves afoot to conduct star chamber hearings against Councillor Forsyth, and equate nonviolent civil disobedience with terrorism. CEO Noel Briggs is one player threatening our democracy. Councillors Cochrane, Gregory and Blake share his desire. In defending and supporting Councillor Di Forsyth we proclaim a standard of democratic representation that we wish to see in our Cairns Regional Council.

My second action will be to try and facilitate a small process of community engagement through which those passionate about Cairns development/environment can play a significant role in improving it. We’d be looking for ways to communicate with, and coordinate with, Mayor Val Schier and key Councillors about significant environmental and development projects over the next few years.

I believe that community input and support can be orchestrated in such a way that Council policies and operations work to provide a much better and more cost-effective amenity for all city residents. I see the invitation being open to all Councillors – at the same time recognising that some Councillors are hostile to community participation in Council business. I’m hoping that CAFNEC will play a sponsoring role.

I haven’t given up on Val Schier yet, and I don’t plan to anytime in the next three years. Anyone who’d like to propose electoral action against Val, if they want to convince me, will have to come out and say who their alternative mayor is, and demonstrate the reality and value of that alternative. I’m happy to listen.

STATE

Unless something truly remarkable happens I’ll be using the Queensland election to hammer ALL the local ALP MLAs because they’ve been so pathetic. I don’t want a “better class of manager” as my political representative – a spin doctor, or a representative of Cabinet.

Call me bitter, call me twisted, but the yacht Club issue convinced me that the ALP has once again forgotten that its job is to represent the community and engage with its values and desires. Imposing “solutions” on an unwilling population just doesn’t do it for me – especially when the “solutions” involve such an incompetent, unimaginative and expensive failure such Cairns Ports Inc.

COMMONWEALTH

Minister Joel Fitzgibbon went from a position of “respect” to one of simply not acknowledging or answering my correspondence. MP for Leichhardt Jim Turnour turned out to be no use whatsoever. Instead of a dialogue about Pine Gap and Security, the Rudd government introduced into Parliament amendments to the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act which plugged the holes we went to so much trouble to disclose. Pine Gap noe receives more support and protection from the Rudd government than it did from John Howard and Philip Ruddock.

According to Minister Fitzgibbon’s first reading speech I and my friends are either “mischief makers” or someone altogether “more sinister”. This according to a government that effectively supports the commission of war crimes by Israel in the Middle East and USA around the world.

In July 2009 the Rudd government is conducting exercise Talisman sabre ’09. Some 8,000 Australian troops, and 15,000 US troops will practice the sea-borne invasion of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area near Rockhampton – where they will conduct urban warfare against a city built around a walled market square. There’ll be a nuclear Aircraft Carrier Battle Group, plus Marines and amphibious Landing Craft, Live Firing, and all the fun of modern warfare.

As a humble citizen I’m compelled to accept that my betters (Jim Turnour, Joel Fitzgibbon and Jan McLucas) have better things to do than talk with rabble like me.

However as a proud member of the rabble element I see no reason to stand idly by and let these fuckers practice mass murder and invasion unchallenged. With my family, and with Christian nonviolence activists from around Australia, I’ll be going to Shoalwater Bay in July and trying my level best to interfere with the war-games. At this point I’m planning to enter the live-firing zone of the exercise area and compel the defence forces to search me out before they can proceed with their stupid and barbarous wankery.

I’m planning on a happy 2009 because I’ve learned through practical experience that life is sweet, and government/policy merely transitory. If any one of us truly stands for what we believe, we make a difference. If enough of us stand for what we believe, we change the world. To echo a black man from the other side of the world who takes office next week as president of the USA “Yes, we can”.

I hope you all have a happy 2009 as well.

Behind the cheap airport sale

Just like CEC, the Queensland Government's fire sale is well under way.

On Friday one of our community's largest assets and income earners, the Cairns airport, tender sale closed. Three tenders were rumoured to be in the final running for the sell out price of a mere $650m. This will hardly pay for a few hip operations at the over-crowed and inadequate Cairns Base Hospital that Premier Bligh is going to donate any remaining airport profit to.

Under the creative, but aptly named Airport Assets (Restructuring and Disposal) Bill, the Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser, who is also flogging off MacKay's airport, and a 12.4% stake in Brisbane's airport, is hoping to prop up the bankrupt Queensland State Government's coffers. Their debt now stands at around $59 billion, that's about $10m a day in interest alone. When we finally kick this spending crazy mob out of office in a year's time, the incoming coalition will have a right mess to clean up. And who says they'll be any better?

Cairns Mayor Val Schier who avoids talking about her Labor connections publicly, is however clearly under the thumb of the Labor hierarchy. She's been acting like a lapdog on heat around Desley and Anna since coming to office on her so-called 'green' and 'environmental' ticket. By all accounts, she has lost a large number of those that supported her second run to take over the 3rd floor of 119 Spence Street. We that supported a change in Council's right wing and go hard development policy, are feeling somewhat pissed off. And rightly so.

This is a great shame, as the mood was rife for a dramatic change of direction and the people handled Val and the new Council a mandate. Not one of the old Byrne guard survived the March take over the only KB loyalists remaining being Councillors Gregory and Bonneau. Like Obama, Schier has only the first term to shine and make a grand impression. Her first 100 days have been littered with confusing signals and lost media opportunities. Most of those that strategically supported her in the Cairns 1st campaign have either deserted her or been shunned. They certainly have not been consulted, and Val is replying on internal paid Council hacks to advise and counsel her.

Val said prior to being elected to Council, she has "strongly supported diverse groups as being the foundation of a healthy society", however this rhetoric has not been realised in her first eight months in office. The mainstream four estate media are still against our new mayor, yet the were ready for a change and would have supported her if they'd been taken along and been respected. Too many times have they turned up to media ops and the mayor has not appeared yet sent her CEO along to spill the beans and hide in her office, or at least that is what it seems like. Perception breeds reality in politics.

As Labor will be roundly defeated at the next election on a State level, Val has been blinding aligning herself with Bligh's sinking ship. For a first-term politician, she's allowing herself to get so quickly consumed by a government that have shown they're out of touch with the people, and all we wanted was a change in this region! I think if the Council election were held today, Councillor Pyne, Leu or Forsyth would romp in as our new Mayor. They've all shown how they can stand up (besides Robert of course) for the community, and truly represent what their constituents are telling them. That is the minimum we ask of our elected representatives.

Minister Fraser has said he didn't release the shortlist of potential airport buyers, because he was hoping to enhance 'competitive tension'. Well, the entire rationale to sell off our airport was a flawed reason. Cairns Airport, one of the busiest in the country, is a cash cow for our region and the community was not even consulted. Everyone from the chief of our tourism group TTNQ to the despised Cairns Port Authority, were is shock at the April 15th announcement.

When Joel Harrop, the local Cairns LNP candidate kicks the proven incompetent Desley Boyle off her Cairns perch, he'll have a lot of bridge-building to undertake. It will be a huge embarrassment for Boyle, as Labor has held this seat for 104 years. She started off as a true representative of the community when she took office 10 years ago, to now not engaging the people or responding to their wishes. Why is she there if she can't represent?

Like the invisible Councillor Sno Bonneau, both Labor and Liberal insiders wonder why Boyle has so decisively lost the plot. It's strongly believed she will not run again. Labor's only chance at retaining any credibility or hope of holding Cairns will be to run someone of the likes of Yacht Club roof protester and card-carrying Labour union supporter, Councillor Dianne Forsyth. Dianne has the connection with the people and the likability factor.

Listen to Joel's sermon in his latest Vblog. He's sounding fresh and invigorated and untouched by party corruption. I hope they don't get to him:

An Open Letter to Paul Matthews

Hello Paul,

Till now you and I have enjoyed a casual kind of political relationship.

We’re kind of on the same side. We both like to think of ourselves as being progressive, caring kind of men who put effort into building a better and more sustainable society. We run into each other at political events, or we participate in the same campaigns. We sometimes say hello to each other and have a yarn.

Alongside 15 others, we sat around the People Against Demolishing the Yacht Club (PADYC) table at Wendy Richardson’s place over some three months trying to produce a decent result around issues of Cairns heritage and development. Towards the end of that cause you came to witness, and play a supporting role, in some of the nonviolent direct action (NVDA) that I helped organise in September and October this year.

In early October you agreed with the PADYC consensus that Cairns mayor Val Schier was less forthcoming, and less effective on the Yacht Club issue, than we would like. You told me that the Cairns 1st team had plans to help Val become more effective as Mayor.

When the successfully elected Councillor Di Forsyth climbed up onto the Yacht Club roof, you, Janine Aitken and Mark Buttrose (all unelected candidates for Cairns 1st in March 2008) were there to support her. You all rejoiced in her success, and you all celebrated the ongoing commitment of Cairns 1st to sustainable development and democracy in Cairns. We got a glimpse of what people power in Cairns could look like.

Then you wrote on this blog on Friday 31 October.. “don't you mob think Val's job is hard enough without your constant badgering. The Cairns Post, "little" John and this blog seems to derive great satisfaction from pillorying the mayor.”

I was a bit shocked, and I wondered why you were going for Michael Moore so bitterly. Along with related events that week your comments made me want to ask “What’s going on with Cairns 1st?” “Why do Cairns 1st seem to find it so hard delivering on their promises?” “Where’s the community alliance we need?”

The related events were:

• the Wednesday (29/10) meeting I went to with Michael Moore, to talk with Val Schier, where Val dismissed our concerns out of hand, treated us like wayward children, and lied to us;
  
• Thursday morning (30/10) when Di Forsyth snubbed 25 Yacht Club activists (on legal advice) and didn’t even say hello to us on her way into court, even though she’d been party to organising our attendance;
  
• Thursday evening (30/10) when Cairns 1st held a meeting at which Val labelled me as aggressive and threatening because I challenged her at our Wednesday meeting.

This letter is to ask you, “please don’t circle the wagons and treat us like enemies”. We’re not your enemy. Like us or lump us, we’re your friends.

History

I’ve always had concerns about just how good a Mayor Val Schier could be, and my concerns run in two directions. First is the matter of executive experience, and how well equipped is Val to use the Mayor’s executive powers in service to the people of Cairns. Second is the process of responsibility and accountability to the community, via organised community groups, in whose interests the Mayor’s executive powers ought be used.

Events in 2003, when Val was putting together Team ’04 Cairns, made me think that Val wasn’t paying much attention to community accountability. Val was then, and is now, far too dependent on senior ALP politicians like Desley Boyle and Jan McLucas. My concerns led me to run as an independent candidate for Mayor in 2004 so I could put up accountability as an issue, as well as Aboriginal and environmental issues which were being neglected by Team ’04 Cairns (of which you were a member). I gave my preferences to Val, but Kevin Byrne won 51.5% of the Primary vote and was re-elected.

In 2008 I decided to swallow my reservations about Val and her Labor links - and stick to campaigning against Kevin. I reasoned that we could get rid of KB first, and then figure out how to assist Val in becoming a strong and effective Mayor for the various Cairns communities. That task is proving more difficult than I imagined, but I haven’t given up on it.

Wednesday 29 October

That’s why I organised the meeting with Val last Wednesday. So I could discuss with our Mayor a range of opportunities she has to work in effective partnership with the community. So that all together we might bring needed change to the administration of Cairns Regional Council. Administration, not just policy.

I wanted to ask Val why she had so badly failed the Yacht Club campaign.

Anyone who wants to check Val’s election promises around the Yacht Club only has to check out the video put up by Michael Moore on this blog.

Val’s best ally, Councillor for Division 7 Di Forsyth, worked hard to keep this promise. Resolutions were passed TWICE by Cairns Regional Council (so much for not having the numbers) authorising CRC to take action in relation to the Yacht Club. Val had a perfect opportunity to shine, and to make friends and allies out of some 9,000 Cairns residents.

If we count in the time required for Val to be fully briefed and prepared, along with the phone calls she’d need to make to Anna Bligh and Desley Boyle, we were asking Val for a commitment of 40 minutes. 40 minutes.

Now it’s bad enough that Val chose NOT to make the effort. It’s bad enough that in office she characterises the issue as one carried out “in the sand-pit” (I think that’s a reference to childishness). It’s bad enough that she is clearly not listening to either her team members, or to the people who elected her.

But what’s ten times worse is that when Di Forsyth stepped up to the plate for civil disobedience, and took a significant personal and professional risk, Val chose to invest those 40 minutes undermining her friend and colleague, and the Yacht Club campaign, through media spin. On Monday 13 October Val Schier used her million dollar media management team to raise allegations that Di Forsyth was in breach of the Cairns Regional Council “Code of Conduct”.

At our Wednesday 29 October meeting Val claimed the whole thing had been a mistake, and she blamed her staff.

Aftermath

On Thursday 30 October, after Di had appeared for a mention in court, Val repeated the allegations on channel 7 local news. That’s quite some mistake.

It’s clear to me that Val Schier is floundering in her job as Mayor. She appears to have a “John Wayne” vision of leadership where the noble hero calls the shots, and lesser creatures toe the line. If the leader doesn’t know, or can’t do it – then nobody can. Instead of calling upon community leaders and resources to join in the task of government, Val has circled the wagons – relying exclusively on the advice of paid flunkies like Noel Briggs and Peter Tabulo (who didn’t get her elected) instead of on her colleagues like yourself, Mark Buttrose, and Di Forsyth (who did get her elected).

Who knows how these issues could have played out if Val had supported her colleagues instead of undermining them?

“Hi Anna, it’s Val Schier here. I’m ringing to tell you what a huge mistake you’re making about the Cairns Yacht Club. There’s a huge feeling here that we need to come up with a better solution. I’m feeling the pressure all the time and, as a friend, I’m telling you that something has to be done. Tell you what! Can you find a couple of hours to spend at a public meeting in Cairns where you can gauge for yourself the level of community demand. I think we can turn this into a positive, if we can just get Cairns Ports to pay some attention. My mate Mark Buttrose can brief you on the design issues”.

Di Forsyth doesn’t have to climb the roof. Desley and Steve don’t have to fight for their seats. Anna has a better chance of staying Premier. Val makes 9,000 plus friends and supporters. The people of Cairns get a waterfront precinct they like. Win, win, win.

That’s the picture I want to see. That’s the kind of Mayor I want.

That’s the kind of vision I hoped you, Mark, Janine, Di, Kirsten and colleagues would put to Val last Thursday evening. Instead I’m told you avoided all the hard issues and let Val attack and criticise a number of people she ought be forging alliances with. I’m told that Cairns 1st won’t be getting together for six months - while Val continues alone down the blind alleys of executive failure.

Cairns 1st held out the promise of vision and integrity. So far it’s produced spin and mediocrity. C,mon mate, we can do better than that. We’ve got four years.

I’m conducting this conversation in public because my vision of politics is one where community members are able to have free and frank disagreements – that coalesce into better policy and shared commitment. If I didn’t respect you, if I didn’t respect Val, I wouldn’t bother inviting public discussion. As it is I look forward to your considered response.

Yours sincerely,
Bryan Law

Where the bloodly hell were you Val?

A lot has been made of my so-called attack of our new Mayor's lack of action over protecting the historic Cairns Yacht Club building.

Val's running mate, Balaclava vet Dr Paul Matthews, whom I actually like, but at times acts like he's been de-sexed, but not micro-chipped. Paul came to the rescue to the online slander. He says what has been happening on this Blog, and other forums, that people are pillorying the new mayor. "It's public derision, ridicule or abuse... me thinx that pretty well sums up what's happening," said Paul Matthews, who ran against now Deputy Mayor Margaret Cochrane.

For a start, let me put a couple of things on the record. I supported a change in our local Council prior to March this year. I stand by that. Like Cairns 1st supporter and Yacht Club campaigner, Wendy Davie, I still think we are better off than with the guy who was running this place prior to Val taking over.

However, that doesn't mean when you elect a new mayor, and a bunch of Councillors, you sit idylly back and let them do what they want for four years (or four and a half years actually.. and another half a million in salary). It's the job of those that voted for a change, to keep them honest, and see that they strive to deliver change. I bet a majority of those attacking the State Government at present probably voted for them last time.

I don't buy the old argument that Mayor Val doesn't have the numbers. That's a cop out. Sure it's harder to move a motion around the Council table, but that's only a portion of how Council does business. The Mayor should be a primary proponent of ideas and set direction, and thinking. Promote visions, and instill grand thinking for a community. The Mayor should be bold and innovative. She shouldn't travel all the way to a public meeting in Mossman and say "I'm only here to listen."

I met with Val last Wednesday because I was genuinely disappointed that she decided to not make one public statement after being elected about heritage. When the campaign to save the old Yacht Club building got more and more attention, as the deceitful State Government hurried it's removal prior to it's State sitting of Parliament just two blocks away, Val became more and more confused and nervous about going near the subject. Deep within her heart, I have no doubt she wanted to speak out, but all the time was considering "what would Desley and Anna think?"

It was an embarrassing and appalling situation. Here we had a new 'green' and 'environmentally concerned' mayor at the helm, the first in eight years, and she failed to even put out one press statement or front one interview in support of heritage preservation. And when she did, it was to condemn her fellow Cairns 1st Councillor Di Forsyth for her actions to save the old building. Now there's something very wrong about that, don't you think?

Imagine if Val had gone to battle and carried out the Council minuted mandate to get the Premier before the Community, as was requested. That is all we asked. This wasn't something that would have got her off-side with her Labor hacks. It would have gained her great respect as a negotiator and loyal and strong advocate for the Cairns community.

I've been told that Val did a lot behind the scenes to get a meeting with the Premier, in an attempt to save the old waterfront icon, which now sits in pieces of ruin on an empty University field north of town, and in a wrecker's yard on the northern beaches. Well, that may be well and good, but the Mayor needs to learn to become a better communicator with her residents. A master communicator is the requirement of Mayor. I didn't see one media statement about her efforts to get Bligh before the people. Not one. Zip. Zilch. If her media team are there to make her look good and promote good policies of this Council, then they're failing rather miserable.

Chatting with a senior business leader today, who voted for to get rid of Kevin Byrne, questioned that we haven't got what we voted for. "We may have made a mistake, do you think Michael?" he said.

I guess we simply wanted a louder advocate for the people, for issues that we felt were being ignored or neglected. Heritage and environment were two biggies that Val was strong and loud on before her $158,000 salary kicked in.

I want Val to succeed. I want her to excel. I want her to achieve for this community. It's why we all put in so much effort. Sure, I'll give her a go, but this job is in partnership with the people, not in separation of them. I help fund her and her fellow Councilor's salary and I, like many thousands, contributed to the debate for a change in our community.

Let me take you back a few months. Tell me who said this...

• "I want to ensure that our heritage is looked after.
  
  We need to have waterfront that will attract people .. to see how distinctively different this place is... both for the people that live here and the tourists to come here."

It was Val Schier, just a few days before the March election at the Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce mayoral debate luncheon. I even travelled up in the car with Val. Funny that.

Here's the video...



Where the bloodly hell were you Val?

Councillor Forsyth in Court Thursday

The recent public campaign to highlight the demolition of the Yacht Club building culminated when Cairns Councillor Forsyth scaled the roof, attracting national coverage.

Her actions were remarkable in a modern politician for two reasons. Firstly Councillor Forsyth was actually doing to the best of her ability what her constituents were asking for. In July and August 11,000 citizens (more than 9,000 residents of Cairns and districts) signed a petition to save the historic building. Thousands of these are resident in, and vote in Di’s division.

In September, Councillor Forsyth used her Council-bestowed powers to create a resolution that Cairns Regional Council would seek urgent talks with Premier Anna Bligh to achieve the preservation and adaption of the building for a sustainable Cityport development. Premier Bligh never even had the decency to reply to our Cairns Regional Council.

Councillor Di Forsyth could have, like all the other Councillors, given up in the face of the Premier’s contempt. But Di didn’t give up. Instead Di stuck up for the people who elected her. You don’t see that often enough.

Secondly Di Forsyth showed remarkable personal courage. The roof onto which she climbed was six metres above a concrete laneway. It was wet and dirty and uncomfortable. Di had a safety team, harness, safety rope and hard hat. Her biggest risk was the way security staff employed by the Cairns Port authority attempted to push the ladders and a safety team member off the roof. It took physical courage for Di to climb onto the roof and stick up for her constituents.

More than that, it took intellectual courage and moral integrity for Di to get on the roof. Di knew that she would be attacked for breaking the law. Di also knew that Cairns Ports and the Queensland government were lying to the people of Cairns and treating us with contempt. Di knew that sometimes democracy can only be defended with civil disobedience – like the suffragettes, the civil rights movement, and the union movement. Nonviolence. People Power.

An online CairnsBlog poll showed that the overwhelming majority supported Councillor Di's actions. An equal number asked why wasn't Mayor Val making public comment on the issue. 10 said that it was a stupid thing to do, whilst two wished she had done the protest naked.

Di Forsyth has been savagely attacked for her actions. Mayor Val Schier and Council CEO Noel Briggs have allowed themselves to be railroaded into an “investigation” as to whether Councillor Forsyth has breached the “Code of Conduct”. The nature of this “investigation” is so secret that the media, the public, and Councillor Forsyth aren’t even allowed to know how it’ll be conducted.
The reality is that Noel Briggs, Val Schier and the Cairns Regional Council have no business conducting any kind of “investigation” until the current Court proceedings are completed.

The reality is that Councillor Forsyth will plead guilty to a misdemeanour that is much more trivial than a traffic ticket – although it is marginally more serious than a parking fine.

If Councillor Forsyth is sentenced in the same way that Terry Spackman and Wendy Davie have been, there will be no conviction recorded against her, and not even any fine for her conduct. Wendy and Terry were given good behaviour bonds of between $150 and $300, for between 3 months and six months. This isn’t even a slap on the wrist. It’s certainly no trigger for an “investigation”!

And you know why? Because the behaviour of Terry, Wendy and Di aren’t against any code of conduct. They don’t bring the Council into disrepute. They bring the Cairns Regional Council into credit. They exemplify a code of excellent conduct – a code in which people create justice and democracy by putting their own interests on the line, and by standing up for the interests and rights of those around them.

As citizens of Cairns we now have a choice. Do we accept the infantile politics, and the slick PR lies of Desley Boyle, Steve Wettenhall and Anna Bligh? Or do we get behind Councillor Di Forsyth – and insist that all politicians begin to act forthrightly in meeting the will of their constituents? I bet you can tell what I think.

Councillors Julia Leu (Division 10) and Robert Pyne (Division 3) will be attending the Rally in support of Councillor Forsyth, and will say a few words about the condition of our democracy.

Let’s get two hundred more citizens to the Cairns Courthouse to show our support for Di Forsyth on Thursday 30 October, 8.30 am.