Tag: letters to editor

Democracy at Local Level in Ipswich Hurts.

I have the upmost respect for the article presented by Brian Bennion and John Nugent referring to the new council format and what they regard as flaws in the system.

Change is always hard to accept especially as we age and it’s easy to live in the past but the past of the Ipswich City Council is nothing to be proud of.

We had some good councillors and some not so good but that’s local government but we had a culture that was toxic and that firmly on the record.

The case put was because present councillors were all not on the same page is expected and view issues from different lights should not be seen as a flaw. That is is what a democracy is all about, and different views matter or you have what we had in the past that allegedly know one knew what was going on from the top down.

Ignorance reigned supreme and was bliss to our many of our former councillors. That too is firmly on the record.

The electoral boundaries were judged on population not navigation so equal representation per head was attempted, not exactly but marginally correct.

I expect and encourage vigorous debate and it’s up to the top table to keep it within the corporate governance accountabilities and ensure we all are properly represented with infantile politics put aside.

No one ever said democracy was easy, in fact it is bloody hard and the thing that is most important is accessibility to our representatives, which I might add does not mean taking them out of the kitchen and giving them a comfy chair in the suburbs surrounded by mates, but making the come to you to earn their wages on a phone call or letter.

We are the employers people, never forget it, and we should never be condescending, as remember in the past those who boasted were playing with our money not theirs.

Our Queensland Times Masthead Disgraced and Disrespected under Murdock

Since 1982 I have supported the QT well before I moved in in 83. I have seen some truly great journalism, and watched many rise through the ranks to apply their trade here and in other outlets.

And yes we’ve seen some imposters blow in, one in particular but overall we were blessed with professionals delivering our copy to a outstanding standard.

Me, I put my 2bobs worth in via Letters and provided some banter to keep some in fits and others in anger management, but it kept the local political players thinking that someone was watching outside the media.

Sadly once APN was annexed by Murdock it was inevitable the toxicity would eventually eat the once strong respected masthead and try to Trojan horse on its history.

Well it’s failed, failed in Trumps in fact and that’s no reflection on who has been spared to cover what remains of so called “local News” They have to survive and my heart feels for them genuinely as they knew what we had and now defending the indefensible must be exhausting.

I won’t give oxygen to the product they produce now but it’s not local journalism, it’s a moving mush of mediocrity to be kind, and having it appear and presented under the Queensland Times Masthead is a total disservice to the history and journalistic forefathers of such a great entity.

Murdock has mongrelised journalism with toxic bias and is no longer a newspaper but a bias blue tie newsletter and it’s classification as a “News” outlet must be challenged in a court along with it monopolies that have been allowed to develop in the name of democracy, or we will be no better that a state under propaganda as was Germany.

Yes I’ve signed Rudd’s petition but and so should you if you care, but things will not change unless Morrison and his thugs are gone as Murdock is being paid by us taxpayers to keep him in office and to me that’s no better than any fascist state trick used by dictatorships who have crushed unfavourable media across the world.

He Who Pays the Piper, Selects the Tune.

News is in the headlights of late and as the organisation’s bid for our gold coin per day we the public must also look at the quality we are being served up.

I’m on the record for being in favour of balanced and investigative journalism across the board and fortunate enough to have the time to be able to source different outlets world wide and my concerns about what is truth are growing.

Our news sources are diminishing and centralising, our national broadcaster is being defunded buy a thousand cuts, and extreme groups are infiltrating the talking heads who impersonate professional journalists, no wonder it becomes just too hard for joe citizen to find the illusive truth and turns off.

It’s red alert when media groups hold fund raising events for political party’s, when journalists are arrested for doing their job, when investigative journalism is regarded as a enemy of the state, and politicians run to politically friendly news services to avoid scrutinisation, we have to ask is this the way a democracy works or are we on the soft fascism road and no ones game to ask?

Loss of democracy moves slowly, feeding on apathy, as once we could regard media as the watchdog, but today that dog has too many masters, and we the punters are left making the decision who really is telling truth and who has a agenda to gain power in a government of their choice?

Wayne Offer

Keep the Electric Fence on our Boarders.

In these different times to some and others indifferent my observations of my fellow humans is becoming frustrating to say the least.

A visit to my local bakery and on arrival all customers were observing the distance markers and progressing in a respectful fashion and in walks a lady with a kid past people waiting outside and both totally ignorant of others protocols.

Before full lockdown was declared we had the grey nomads in their vans rat running at night to avoid the government requests to stay put in their parks and police, so age is not a benchmark for stupidity levels.

New Zealand has recognised Queensland’s effort as a world standard and prepared to enter a travel bubble, irking those states with lower performance rates to try and drag us down by opening the borders and us to their failed government decisions like the Ruby Princess.

It’s quite obvious the federal government like Trump see business first and lives second and is playing classic wedge politics, supported by its slanted media outlets to spin its dollar driven agenda.

We Queenslanders have done the hard yards well before the Federal Government and the other states penny dropped and yes the capitalistic system has failed and we have fallen into the socialistic safety net, truly irking those who think their world of everything has a price, and lives are part of that price.

Wayne Offer

Ipswich’s Village Idiot Embarrasses.

Well every village has one (Idiot) but ours is National

In not sure if it’s flipping or flopping day or both but for a politician who states she stands up for the little man and women chooses go against a State Premier who is standing up for the health and well-being of Queenslanders is advocating the States right protect it sovereignty and its borders be overrun to appease southerners who have failed to reach our standards.

It’s well known Hanson talks the talk but fails to walk the walk and when it comes to workers, disabled, unemployed, disadvantaged now health she follows her true form for of voting with the government over 90% of the time abandoning them.

Her China bash appeals to those Trump like tribe forgetting that our farmers, cattlemen, food exporters will cease to exist but it sounds patriotic playing to her deranged base of flag wavers or old men living in the past.

One can be certain, she is never short of stunts to try and justify her political survival and gather her electoral refund, but entering into this COVID-19 debate is well out of her depth as this is not politics it’s lives at stake, and as a former businessman I empathise with that sector but like the exporters who put billions of dollars into our economy know no customers dead or alive means no business anyway. No flipping or flopping there.

Wayne Offer

Self Monuments are Inappropriate

It’s refreshing to see our Mayor and new councillors reviewing the policy and habit of past councillors erecting monuments to themselves.

To be clear and contrary to many beliefs they are public servants and they work for is ratepayers, we are the boss, an pay them to perform, and before the tribal followers of past servants erupt I would encourage them to look up Ipswich City Council Conduct Register and they may discover some furphies they’ve swallowed we’re not fact.

The commission chose not to peruse complaints if the councillor indicated or swore they would not seek re-election as I imagine a cost saving decision for the ratepayers legality and labour, certainly not a get out of jail free card as portrayed by some.

As I have stated it’s sad to that all past councillors were swept up in the sterilising process of the CCC as some were new and naive to the “Culture” but that ignorance should never happen again as long as full Corporate Governance is applied and monitored independently.

Wayne Offer

Lazy Journalism, Lazy Thinkers.

It’s easy when your confined to spaces to adopt the easy convenient way to get your daily dose of whatever and has the potential to make you a lazy thinker.

It times such as this it’s the media, the information hub, should be out their delivering broad expansive reporting on issues that are impacting on our new way of life but it’s just not happening.

Our news is becoming narrower and repetitive especially within our nation and like in America where the trend is playing one state against another to make news, to make controversy, create sides, to manipulate conversations and interviews to look for the sound bite to start the next cycle of cynicism.

Like many at my age TV ,radio, are the prominent deliverers of doom nowadays and we are turning off I believe. Once balanced reporting was a ethical requirement, now it’s a treasure as some of us wish to make up our own minds instead of being told what to think.

I frequent news outlets worldwide without political bias to get perspective on important stories and when returning to home the political spin is easily identifiable, something you miss by remaining in the news bubble.

It’s important for us to explore information or we will end up dumbed down as a population, fertile ground for the peddling of conspiracies and falsehoods and that can start with good honest hard hitting journalists that hold their ground in the scrum and persist without fear of reprisal in any form.

Bit of a Sub Edit Below.

Sub edit fail.

Our Youths Health is Not a Political Tool

There is lot of political noise about who when and where our educational system will resume to what is seen as normal again but let’s see who is driving this debate and If our kids are really the cherished concern of politicians.

The higher education faction are split into the high profit making sector and the general day to day public sector both with differing needs highlighting the fact that education should never be outsourced with reliance on outside clientele to support our national mainstream system.

Out tiered primary and secondary system geared to the your wallet is always a tool used as a vote catcher appeasing the ideology’s of each and every constituency hence we are having this national debate on when is it safe to return to schools.

Our National Cabinet of State Premiers is proving it worth and each premier has the responsibility for their populations some vastly different in demographic, density, and cultural diversity so no comparison can be drawn, however that does not stop politicians and the media making hay out of this complicated situation made worse by a PM spreading crumbs to keep his keepers on side.

Until we put our youth’s health and well-being first and unleash the media on who is stands to make a buck by getting their puppets to squark, we will be no better than Trump’s America.

Wayne Offer

Goughs Quote Hits home In Covid-19 Times

We are all updated daily if not hourly on how the Covid -19 battle is going at home and with our trading partners little media is being give to the poorest and less higher profile nations fight against the virus.

This is a vital mistake and oversight not only will it keep the virus alive worldwide but it time will effect every manufacturing process and eventually our national supply

All manufacturing process start with the basic minute product at the start of the chain and many of those poor nations supply and manufacture those basic products at sweat shop rates.

If the virus become rampant in those nations that link ceases to exit and the chain slows or dies effecting basically every item we use.

We have all become aware that our workers, the truck-loaders, drivers , shop assistants, cleaners are vital to our survival and these poorer nations products and services are critical to the manufacturing process so it’s in our own interested, particularly the more affluent nations to support these struggling ones for our own benefit.

Unfortunately in the past the narrow views of foreign aid has been apolitical football for the ignorant, now that self interest will come back and bite us.

Gough’s Quote rings so true in these times

“The punters know that the horse named Morality rarely gets past the post, whereas the nag named Self-interest always runs a good race.

Gough Whitlam, writing in the London Daily Telegraph on October 19, 1989.”

Wayne Offer

Raelene Castle’s Professionalisms To High for the White Ants.

Well the old boys club of rugby will be back slapping over their glass of port and a cigar in the men’s club around the country.

They got their scalp. Who in their right mind would put a women in a position, a New Zealand women in charge even though the game was In free fall before she come to the desk.

Not only that the club did a Gillard on her, lambasting her personal appearance disregarding he medical condition, the lowest one can go but it didn’t deter the commentators all with their own agendas of keeping power in the halls of power in NSW and keeping their jobs on Fox.

So what did she do wrong? She stood up against discrimination, she stood up for a competitive broadcasting terms, and with limited funds attempted to get the second tier competitive, but not good enough.

This is not about Australian Rugby progressing it’s about power and be assured the Fox Commentators, the ones that white anted her continually will just happen to get the leather seats and head in the trough.

No wonder Australian sport fails internationally, we think we have all the answers, but we read our own press and believe it, and if anyone points that out their regarded some sort of traitor.

We are the laughing stock of the professionals overseas, because we don’t behave like professionals because it’s too hard for us to accept that because you won once does not make you a authority on all knowledge, that knowledge on the field and off.

Mrs Castle is a professional and standing down and her exit demonstrated that to us who appreciate the heat in the kitchen will leave with a credible history, one that none of the misogynistic contenders has and never will.

Wayne Offer

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