Tag: ipswich city council

Upholding Journalistic Standards

Maybe I’m one who should be honoured to get a run occasionally in this forum but I actually think public debate is good for democracy. To be honest I was one of the first to burr up about taking Courier Mail copy and pasting Bolt and Murray in my QT.

Over time I have realised it’s important to have them there as it allows the masses to judge where the benchmarks of journalism are set in Australia and it’s becoming quite clear those columns make people aware of the lower end of the debate.

When people aspire to take this country back to the Menzies era of white Australia, coal burning, climate ignorant, society and try and spin that as the good times do not have Australia and our grandkids future at heart.

The light has finally fallen on the conservative ranks that climate change is not a political football and the right wing nutters like Bolt And Murray are so far out of step with real Australians views their opinions will only add the present to governments struggle for credibility, so keep it up.

In regards to our ABC every government regardless of ideology has bellowed bias from its inception and that’s great for our democracy and the cries from the crackpots from the right who want to silence it highlights its importance of a broader perspective, on political and social issues which is not on the media barons agenda who desire to claim the entire debate on their networks and engineer it accordingly.

Merry Christmas and let’s get to the polls.

Time for our Youth To Shine.

Oh dear, the older we get the more wiser we are supposed to become.

We will always get those who think the old days were the best, the lifestyles were simple, so that’s good enough for us today, why change, and Now that group has become a political movement.

I’m a 50’s kid and we lived a dream compared to our parents, but ask our parents now if they lived a dream you will get a completely opposite response.

I’m yet to see those pushing the Trumpian ideology of protectionism, anti climate, anti migration, anti equal women’s opportunities, racial and religious divide, provide one forward thinking policy. They see our countries future is to go backwards to the way it was.

The hate youth involvement because it shakes the foundations of what is your place in society , your too young to understand, the cry, forgetting that youth today has 1000 times the access to information that was only available when a newspaper was finished being read or when the radio TV was turned on.

At 21 I could not have a beer in a pub but I could go to war at 19. Only the well off could go to university regardless if you had the talent, as long as you had the money, while the state school kids had to fight for a single grant, and the trades were regarded as the lower end of the class divide., and the shop assistants and labourers were servants.

They will have you believe they were the good times, and they were for the privalaged.

I see a case in today’s world for the voting age to be dropped to 16 as those young people today know and are aware and mature as much as some of the so called adult punters that go to the polls and vote informal deliberately, or turn up just to avoid fines.

We’ve run our race, started wars, split nations, invented weapons, diseases to destroy the the planet, yet say to our youth your too young.

What utter rot.

Ratepayers Pay for Strategic Genius’s Failures.

I can only applaud the administrator to cut the losses ipswich ratepayers on the city’s mall but unfortunately it will not repair the damage council caused to the the businesses and long standing trading family’s of our great city when it made the the diabolical decision to build Riverlink.. The total incompetence of that decision thinking stripping patronage from a facility that was already ratepayer funded to appease developers then sell it off to overseas owners who used it as a tax dodge, then proceeded use our funds again repair and renew several time since, all of which failed and costed us possibly billions over time. 

The city’s strategy may have looked good on the drawing board but councillors failed when it come to realising that the although Ipswich population  may have be growing the wages weren’t and by introducing extra competitors the slices get smaller. 

I see Springfield residents are demanding extra attention and funding, may I suggest those residents take a drive around ipswich and long standing neglected ratepayers do not have curbs, channeling, parks, footpaths but are blessed with garbage pickups and maybe sewage full stop. Another council strategic masterpiece. 

The real lesson is we cannot let developers set the agenda as it has in the past administration, as ratepayers are sick of seeing photo shoots of suits in hi vis bibs and silver shovels and I fear with the opening of this Costco thought bubble will be counter active to bringing customers back to support our city centre let alone existing retailers in shopping centres 

Good luck Greg, in sorting out this scramble egg.

Brisbane Tunnels Overpriced and under Utilised.

No one doubts the importance of infrastructure in our nation building agendas by both state and federal governments. My issue is once that infrastructure is in place our leaders seem to think its job done and hand it over to the private sector to manage.

The building of the Brisbane tunnels was intended to relieve the congestion on state and federal roads by passing the inner city it in true capitalistic Privatisation trend the the cost of using the facilities has out priced itself.

It was my choice to use the tunnels to get to the Bruce Highway and it made the drive so much easier however the $21.14 charge return made me realise why I felt I was in the no vehicle twilight zone once I crossed the purple lights.

Whether you agree with its construction, or detest or can’t afford paying, those who use the facility are lightening the load on the public roads, exactly what was the initial intentions.

Using retail logic may I suggest rewarding those who choose to use the tunnel with some incentives via registration refund depending on usage and the owners dropping the prices would achieve the original goal of taking congestion away from city bottlenecks and increasing tunnel patronage. A Win ,win and making new work less intrusive for users and constructors for upgrades on older routes.

We need to do better than $21.14 or this infrastructure will be as extinct as Pahlke’s dinosaurs.

Blubbering Councillors Be Gone.

I think most ipswich people’s tissue boxes are empty from all the tears we have shed for the dismissed council public servants. Strange I did not hear the same blubbering when the 100’s of Dinmore, Churchill and Wullkaraka workers were dismissed, none of their fault other than not being profitable for their employers.

The fact that none of the councillors complied with Corporate Governance obligations on knowing what exactly was going on within has been forgotten leaving us to assume each and every one worked within their own bubble in their divisions oblivious of what each other were or were not complying.

The pleas of innocence has built the case that all of the divisions must be dissolved and councillors must be centralised so ignorance will no longer be a excuse and accountability and move,ents to ratepayers monitored. This would be cost effective as car pooling, individual office overheads and staffing would be centralised.

Ratepayers should be reminded Council and Councillors are instruments of the state government not governments in their own right so councillors are employees as is any person working for the ratepayers, their are not special cases as some think, and they know exactly what they are in for when they decide to seek election., so when the next election comes around I hope the Shiltz’s Helmets are issued to those who pleaded ignorance, as we the ratepayers want people that know exactly what is happening and will speak up publicly when any doubtful actions, decisions occur including election funding..

Councillors Dynasty’s Dissolved.

Finally Hinchliffe and the CCC has delivered the facts on why this council is being dismissed it could be no longer disputed that culture within is the root cause and cannot be changed.

Unfortunately when long standing appointments to public office occurs those cultures are created and at times used to retain office.. Many writers in this column have been called by sitting members if their opinions clash, and all hell breaks if you are seen to support a challenger at the polls. It will be remembered and reminded when dynasties are challenged.

Ken Aldertons point on the dissolution of divisions must be a priority of the Administrators if culture change is to be rebuilt, encouraging lobbying groups to deal with the council as a whole and not individual one on one entities.

Yes, prepare yourself for the cry’s that will be loud and long as long time power bases loose their insider statuses but that’s exactly what the CCC has highlighted as part of endemic problem within Council.

I’m sure other Councils have structures that do not cost ratepayers for permanent individual office sites ,staffing where ratepayers can have direct local contact for community organisations and needs, with Councillors with delegated roles for the entire council areas delivering full accountable transparency for each and every portfolio.

We as ratepayers demand clean air and again my thoughts are with the new appointees as they did not know or believed the toxic culture that still is regarded as normal for those who still cry foul.

The Wise Monkey Culture in Ipswich C.C.

Published 12/07/2018

In the past weeks of the ipswich people have agonised over this council issue through this outlet and the scribes have called on just about everything including their gods to justify their points, so my point is why does the Corporate Governance principals not apply to Councillors?

All corporate entities from Council right down to your local sports club have a strict set of guidelines laid out under the act that each and every board member, committee member has to comply with by law to ensure transparency’, accountability, ethics and stewardship and due diligence of the that organisation..

It states clearly Board Directors and Management personal must have Financial Literacy or acquire it as part of their appointment and ignorance is not a defence..

Attending meetings does not mean you. Have fulfilled your obligations as board member or committee member, and legislative compliance is not transferable to employees, it remains the responsibility of the Board and its members to monitor and enforce.

All of the above are what our volunteers of our community organisations are accountable, and yet have been used as a defence for paid professional councillors who have been in service for decades.

If compliance and appropriate Corporate Health Checks were as claimed and the above principals were followed we would not be where we are now.

They weren’t and I am of the firm belief that the culture of the 3 wise monkeys has reigned.

The Power of the Editor

Opinions are abundant when it comes to the fate of the ICC depending on who you choose to give a ear but one thing is absolutely clear, ipswich needs and deserves better but I’m finding it difficult to accept the selective memory of some in regards to past history.

Up front I was one who felt the wrath of the punter when he people of ipswich rejected politics in council however one would be totally naive to believe politics stopped and has ever stopped since.

Looking at the track record of new blood in council it’s pretty clear the inner network worked well under the popularity of the former mayor right down to having the partnering electoral signage sites, advertising, of sitting members each feeding off the his popularity, so it was convenient to forget at times for the alleged independents until elected , then the old chestnuts reappear after. Look at me .. I’m independent!!

Choosing Public Life and service is a choice and a accountability not only to your electorate but to your entire Council and the real question is why things went unchallenged until the Red Pyjamas then it was shock, horror? Why were the uncomfortable questions not asked in council or complaints investigated?

The standard you choose to ignore is the standard you accept.

For the new inductees of the council my heart goes out as they walked in on a existing landmine of not of their making but and if the ccc investigation is still ongoing the state government cannot act if sub judiciary concerns apply.

In the eyes of many, dismiss or not, the old principle applies, you fly with the crows you will be shot as a crow.

Media Watch Highlights Ipswich Culture

This Article was Censored out of The Queensland Times

We all have our biases or perceived biases but in a world where truth is hard to find it important for people can go to a place where one can trust news for at least 90% of copy.

Mine is the ABC as was my parents and theirs possibly theirs as they were the only ones we could get outside cities.

Today the ABC is under attack and the debate is framed to so it must conform with government spin which the commercials outlets gladly produce as part of their owners wishes or be defined as left leaning, then blackmailed by funding cuts.

Locally ipswich people can’t thank 4 corners for exposing issues like or waste dumping debacle, and many others uncomfortable to all governments and councils.

Now with a issue close to my heart Media Watch has thrown a broader light on a subject closer to home our very own QT and past editorial standards.

I will not dwell or regurgitate past infringements of standards, but mud does stick to those who tried to expose truth and were dennergrated, professionally and privately in this city, and many rode on the coat tails of those actions for advantage and I now believe with this revelation and the future council decision pending its time for that new start whatever decision

Is handed down.

I have complete confidence with our present QT team from top down, and me like the ABC sometimes say things that are not conducive to my peers ears, or the critics, but this cities reputation is the pillar for its future and needs some urgent maintenance and I hope my funding is not cut.

Please see link Below.

http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s4849335.htm

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