Ouch!

Reports this week from the Sunshine Coast suggest that the Sunshine Coast Regional Council is about to embark on the search for a new CEO.  Nothing unusual in itself but how about the cost?  Information received suggests the process will cost that council in the vicinity of one hundred thousand dollars and that is not to mention the potential cost of paying out the 3 former CEOs.

It is a scary thought and one has to wonder what other councils are paying to recruit CEOs.  Not a bad lurk if you are in the business of corporate recruitment but not so good for the ratepayers who foot the bill! 

– 0 –

Here’s some thoughts on today’s council meeting courtesy of John Neve:

Fraser Coast Council’s Ordinary Meeting No. 2, was just that, ordinary.
 
Public Participation:
Three members of the public spoke in support of REST, seeking an extension on time for their operation. It will be interesting to see if councillors heed their cry.
 
I put a number of Questions on Notice, relating to the HBCC’s “flawed town plan”. The $150,000 ratepayers apparently will have to cough up in legal costs. I also questioned whether it was true that ongoing developer challenges could cost ratepayers millions of dollars.
 
There are a number of questions still outstanding, regarding the ex mayor and councillors actions in relation to the confrontation with the ex CEO. These related to legal costs, council’s actions and authority to engage lawyers.
 
Items of interest:
 
Ord 10.1  Councillors Superannuation, councillors can receive twice their own contribution up to 12% of salary.
 
Ord 10.2  Corporate Governance Portfolio Terms of Reference.  This I believe will replace the current Code of Conduct, but suggest you read it for yourself.
 
Ord 14     General Business:
 
This was interesting as Councillor MucKan asked if the Water Park cost $12 million, where would the extra $7 million come from? Mayor Kruger suggested this would be better answered in confidential!!
 
Ord 15     Confidential:
 
Ord 15.1  Chapel Rd Rehabilitation and Widening.
Ord 15.2   WBW Quarterly Report for March 2008; and
Ord 15.3   Water Park - Hervey Bay.
 
Unfortunately I cannot comment as result is unknown.

Strewthisbackwrites: It is very disappointing that council chose to discuss the Water Park issue behind closed doors.  The question Cr Muckan asked is a valid one and many of us would love to see council publicly debate this issue. 

 

Damage Control

Oh dear.. who would have thought a little fence would have caused such a fuss?  The dingo fence on Fraser Island has suddenly hit the radar again.. this morning we read a report of a local who hurt herself trying to cross the line and now they’ve bulldozed sacred sites!

Now we’re a bit sceptical too but how is it that none of the government blokes thought to check the proposed alignment of the fence with the traditional owners?  Eh?   In the rush to bang it up before anyone had time to properly assess the idea, the state government might have really stepped in it.

Is Federal intervention really on the horizon?  Andy Pandy is in denial on that one and we can’t wait to see what smoke and mirrors the Bligh Government pulls out this time.  The fence is not only an eye sore but it will only ensure the dingoes remain hungry.  Either remove the animals from the island or provide a sustainable food source to ensure they are fed. 

That goodness its Friday!

Well things have been quiet on the home front.  A tiny snippet in the daily today points out that there will be no Tourism Levy from Fraser Coast Regional Council.  It is also great to see Cr O’Connell standing up and telling the nosy minister to keep out of local affairs.

We’ve removed a post today at the request of a certain King & Company Solicitors of Brisbane.  It was old news anyway.  Here at Bringbackstrewth we’re aiming at keeping the public informed and give you a space to share your thoughts on current issues.  We will continue to do that but as always, we’ll try to stick to the facts and steer clear from gossip.. we’ll leave that to someone else.

And back on deck is this latest comment from John Neve..

Nancy Says (18th Edition)

 
“Why aren’t they at school?” Nancy Says and it’s a good question.
She is of course talking about truancy and it’s causes, one of the
causes given is bullying!  Little changes in our world, there was both
bullying and truancy when I went to school. Although I believe the
reasons were different. Based on memory, in my day (quill pens
were still in use), boredom and scrumping were the main reasons.
Today it appears rebellion and fear are the reason given.
 
While an interesting topic, that is not why I’m writing. It’s Nancy
change of heart that has me intrigued. Her paper is quoting from
an “anonymous blog”!! Based on the wording, the quotes appear
to have been written by adults and are obviously selective
(violence is highlighted). Little if anything, seems to come from the
students! I would have thought a constructive article would have
started with the school children, but what would they know?
 
At least it’s a step in the right direction, our Daily drawing it’s
information from an “anonymous blog”.
 

The Future of Motorsports

Well the Chronicle completely stuffed up yesterday’s article on the Motorpark because of a certain Councilor’s uncanny ability to put his foot in it.  As stated yesterday, the actual position of the project in relation to what was reported is completely different.  John Neve has written his response to the article and another was received but due to its length we will request it is shortened so we can fit it in.  Following John Neve, regular contributor Ben Collingwood who also co-founded Fraser Coast Motorpark Inc. has given his personal response to the situation.

Bowser Blues -V- Motor Park.
 
Where are we going? With petrol at an all time high and little
chance of the price ever dropping in a significant way. There
are some amongst us who want to promote fuel usage!! They
want to build a Motor Park!!!
 
We have people like Brian Canute, a concerned contributor
to this site. Drawing our attention to societies ongoing waste
of the worlds resources, and we have those trying to hasten
the process?
 
Oil is a finite resource, it will never get cheaper. Availability
will continue to decline and cost will continue to climb.
 
While a Motor Park may have had some reason for being 20
years ago, although the writting was on the wall even then.
There is no rational or sustainable reason to build one today.
Motor sport as we know it, is going the way of the DoDo.
Until we find a cheap and viable alternative to oil/petrol to
promote motor sport borders on the criminal.
 
If private enterprize wishes to waste it’s money on such a
project so be it. But please don’t waste public money on a
dying industry.
 
John A Neve

Strewthisback writes: John you raise some valid points but as Ben Collingwood points out later, the motorsports industry is leading the way in embracing green practices.  In fact, many companies use motorsports to develop the technologies that end up in the family sedan.  The truth is motorsports has never been stronger and will continue to grow in popularity.

Ben Collingwood adds the following:

In response to comments made by John Neve and others I highlight the following facts about the motorsports industry in Australia: 

 

• NASR the governing body for Speedway in Australia has already identified the need to embrace alternate fuels and have adjusted their rules to allow fuels such as ethanol.
• High level competitive drag cars run on methanol which is a renewable synthetically produced fuel.
• V8 Supercars currently run on a 5% Ethanol Blend with the organisation changing to E85 – 85% Ethanol 15% Petrol from 2009.  Further to this the V8 Racing Green program plants 15,000 trees each year to offset carbon emissions from the sport’s 15 events.
• In addition to this, Tony D’Alberto and Road Nash Racing run their transporter on Biomax B20 Biodiesel.  Many of the other teams are expected to follow.
• Finally, the Australian Supertruck Nationals is the first racing series in the world to be entirely powered by biodiesel fuels. 

 

These are fine examples of how the Motorsports industry in Australia is leading the way to a greener future.  Even the promoters of  major international competitions such as Formula 1 and the American Le Mans series, are looking at promoting green fuels as well as endeavouring to establish carbon neutral events.  Very exciting indeed and I will be encouraging the group to consider making the project the first “green” Driver Education, Training and Motorsports facility in Australia.

 6 May, 2008 John Neve adds the following thoughts:

Like the Dinosaur, the motorcar as we know it, will be a long
time dying. Sad though it will be for those like Ben, nothing
can save it. To endeavour to prolong it’s existence as NASR
is trying to do, is to throw good money after bad. Let’s look
at the facts.
 
Ethanol will never replace oil, that is unless you are happy to
starve to death. The world can only produce so much grain,
whether we eat it or distil it is up to you.
 
The only renewable gas I am aware of is Methane, while it is a
good fuel for stationary engines as a mobile fuel it has many
problems. All other combustible gases are as finite as oil.
 
We can extend the life of the car by; reducing motor size,
improving economy, banning motor sport in it’s current form,
switching from plans to airships, replacing petrol engines with
diesel, but we cannot stop the inevitable.

Blind Bias

Inside Trader added his thoughts on the issue of apparent bias by certain print media in this region towards WBW.  We’ll just add that it would be interesting to know how many tens of thousands of dollars WBW spends advertising with APN and how this stacks up compared to similar advertising from the Fraser Coast Council or its former components. 

 

Blind Bias 2

The WBW story in the ChronicllyIll on the 8th made for interesting reading. I wonder why this was the first story I have seen on the Chronic’s website that gave more than a few brief words? In fact I believe the whole story got posted on their website. WOW! Another first for the Chronicle. Surely the editor of the Chronicle would not be playing favourites? Again?

No, there must be another reason…….  

Perhaps Nancy Bates could elaborate with a short note on this site? 

 

An interesting misprint in that article, surely not intentional, was the quote “Ms Dickinson, executive director of the Californian Urban Water Conservation Council before setting up the federal body seven months ago, said she had been impressed by WBW’s annual report, showing a $4 million profit in selling its expertise.” $4MILLION PROFIT selling its expertise? Actually if we quote the annual report it says on page 7 “the Corporation’s proactive Business Development Division contributed $4 million of revenue”.  That’s right, REVENUE! 

 

School grade 9 students can tell you that revenue DOES NOT equal profit. In fact, WBW could have had $5million expenses associated with that revenue giving a net loss to the ratepayers of Hervey Bay. Of course, creative accounting could always be used to show a profit for that section of WBW, and there are many ways of loading costs to other sections of a business, but however it is done, $4million revenue can NEVER equal $4million profit.

 

This whole article reeked of the usual creative PR of WBW and the editor of the Chronicle. One wonders how many of the glowing words were really Ms Dickinson’s, how many were the Chronicle’s, and how many were courtesy of the WBW PR machine?

 

To be fair, one suggestion has it that prior to amalgamation WBW did a summary that did show a profit for that section of WBW, possibly as much as $500,000. How much of that was creative accounting is unknown but at least it is more believable than Net Profit = 100% Gross Revenue!

Blind Bias 1

An article from the Maryborough Herald (27/2/08), has belatedly
been brought to my attention. While some weeks old now, the
article by a Mr Alan Betteridge deserves, I believe, a response.
 
Titled “Election fever brings out the distorted truth”, having read
Alan’s comments, I feel he is right, he has distorted the truth.
His comments relate to an AECgroup report into Wide Bay
Water commissioned by the Hervey Bay City council. Their
charter was to review the financial implications of WBW for the
HBCC. The article suggests on more than one occasion that
the report has been discredited! I would have to ask when and
by whom? He goes on to question the report “the accuracy of
which has now been brought into doubt by the respected
financial analysts Pricewaterhouse-Coopers”! I am surprised,
as any one reading the financial reviews would know
Pricewaterhouse-Coopers have themselves of recent times,
been the subject of critical comments.
 
Mr Betteridge finishes his comments by quoting the following
“Beware of the person who will do anything to become a
councillor just because they want to be someone in the city
rather than do something for the city” and he is so right. That
is why someone obviously thought the report, after being
hidden from the public gaze for so long, it needed to see the
light of day.
 
I wonder if, prior to making his comments, Mr Betteridge had
read both reports? Because having done so, I believe they
were looking at two different sets of criteria. I suggest everyone
interested read them for themselves.
 
John A Neve

To catch and store.

I don’t know why Brian Canute questions the obvious. We all
know how “to catch and store energy”, we just won’t do it.
 
You catch and store energy by building quality, not crap. The
biggest and most well known example is the Great Pyramid in
Egypt. I have no idea what it cost in time and money, but three
thousand years later it’s still standing and making money for it’s
owners. To a lesser extent the same applies to quality cars, an
old Mercedes-Benz, Roll-Royce or Bentley not only still run,
but fetch more at sale than they cost!! In contrast todays
clothes,houses, cars etc are worn out before they are paid for!
 
If we reduced the speed of our production lines, took longer
and made a better quality product. We would have pride in
what we produced, would use less energy and less raw
materials. This in turn would reduce the impact on the worlds
environment. It is sad to think what we make or build today is
landfill tomorrow. In fact we are running out of holes to fill!!
 
Just think, a table, chair, building in fact any thing that lasts, is
in fact, storing energy.
 
John A Neve
 
Ps. I would love to know how many pairs of cheap runners are
      now landfill? Just think of the energy that went into making
      them.

Weekend Edition

The water park discussion has heated up in recent days.. it is great that we are finally starting to get some solid debate happening here.  We will hold off on new topics for the moment.  We kick in with the latest edition of Nancy Says from John Neve:

“We need the water park and more” Nancy Says. While having
an open mind on the matter, I do have some concerns regarding
the money involved. Nancy Says (12/4/08), $3 million has been
earmarked by the state government, her paper (9/4/08), tells us
the state government has “pledged $5 million”, what’s two million
you may ask. A lot of money to people in Tiaro or Woocoo who
now, via their rates will be asked to contribute.
 
Nancy Says the government has made it clear the money is
dependant on “one site only” being used! Surely if it’s built at all
it should go on the best site to obtain maximum benefit for the
community?
 
Whatever sum the state provides, should the park cost more,
where does the money come from? Ratepayers or, yes there is
an “or”. A meeting of tourist operators at Defino’s Resort who
“didn’t care where it goes, just get it going”, could always
contribute to an attraction they feel will benefit their businesses.
I am sure all future tourists, plus local users would appreciate
such a gesture from our local business community.
 
Enough of building things, why don’t we promote what we have.
The Bay, a playground for fishing, boating, windsurfing,
snorkelling, swimming etc. Do we promote these interests
enough? I’d say not, even our local fishermen are hard pressed
to find a launching place. Where do visitors park their boats
safely? Are there any venues that hire out surfboards, skis,
kites or snorkelling equipment? Do we have planned snorkelling
trips for beginners? How about a windsurfing championship?
 
Why go on? We have Chamber of Commerce and a Tourism
Board that discuss these issues over lunch.
 
John A Neve

 

Strewthisback writes: John, I feel there might have been a typo (surprised?) in the Chronicle if they used $3 million as a figure.  To my knowledge the figure being tipped in by State Government has always been $5 million with the expectation of it being matched by council.  $10 million would buy a pretty flash Water Park!  However, community support is definitely there for the project and like libraries, sporting fields, parklands etc it will require public funding to maintain but the community benefit will inevitably be greater. 

Positivity is desperately needed within the community to help us move forwards.  Negative attitudes, narrow mindedness and lack of vision has held this region back for much to long and the sooner the community embraces the need for change the better.  Change does come with a short term monetary cost however the long term financial gain to the community can be significantly more.

Comment

Elsewhere on the site Pancho had this to say..

Until such time as a means of totally controlling interactive internet technology is found this tool will not be used by government because of the greater exposure to public scrutiny they would come under.

This extra exposure, without a suitable filter would invariably mean that they would get burnt more often!

The ‘proponents of amalgamation’ are not interested in economic development, at least that of benefit to the wider community, but rather in increasing their power by moving access to our policitcal representatives further away from us and more under the control of their respective Party Whips and vested interests.

Remember the days of Local Government wards where your councillor would drop in for a cuppa and discuss any problem? This system is too democratic for the power brokers, and so has to go.

Also remember the saying power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Corrupt governments will NOT want an informed public monitoring their dealings. It would tend to cramp their corporate style too much, I feel.”

 

Food for thought isn’t it?  We’ll leave you today with a letter from John Neve and his “Nancy Says” column:

Dundowran Public Meeting.
 
This afternoon I attended the public meeting to discuss the
application to change the terms of Hervey Bays town plan. This
would allow development in Ansons Road, Dundowran. About
150 people were in attendance, amongst these were councillors
Hovard, Arthur,Hawes and Brooks. (Strewthisback notes others indicated Gerrard O’Connell was in attendance also)

 
The meeting was well run by Tanya Sanders a new Dundowranite
from Sydney. The feeling of the meeting was totally opposed to
the development, although there was little specific information on
what was proposed! This after all was not an application to build,
rather one to change town plan zoning for this land.
 
I can only hope those who submit written opposition to such
changes, point out the proposal is out of sequence, lacks any
viable sewerage plan, lacks good vehicular access and will
increase traffic on the Hervey Bay - Burrum Road.
 
Having only been in Hervey Bay for eight weeks, this city need
more like Tanya Sanders.
 
John A Neve

Nancy Says Volume 11

Nancy Says “Indigenous heritage can belong to all” and she is right,
it can and it should. I applaud and support anything that can draw
our two cultures closer together. But we need to ask, why has it
taken so long? Why have other cultures and nationalities blended
together, when we, by and large have failed?
 
But have we failed? Compared to other similar situations, I would
suggest not. European encroachment into both North and South
America has had a far more devastating impact on the indigenous
peoples, than ours, here in Australia. In North America the third,
forth and fifth generation European migrants are still at loggerheads
with their Afro/American brothers! The Red Indians are all but
extinct. Like wise the Mayans and Aztecs are virtually know more.
 
In my view history indicates where governments, the church and
other do-good organisations have endeavoured to speedup
integration, it has only made the situation worse. I truly believe
given time Australia’s inhabitants will blend together. Splashing
our differences across all forms of the media, will only highlight
our joint failings and yes, there have been failings on both sides.

Look out here we come!

Ok so we copped some flak over yesterday’s post.. sorry people.. if John Neve is the only one with time to contribute then John Neve you will get.  Love him or hate him it is almost a blessing he was not elected to council.. who else would so fervently watch their every move and report back to us?

We’re not here to be negative constantly and yes.. we’ve given the Ed over at APN Advertising a hammering but hey.. someone has to.  Frank over at the Herald was an interesting chap, some thought he was just there to serve the needs of the local chamber of commerce but in his later columns he exhibited some very interesting traits.. that of a true journalist not afraid to rock the boat and go against the common flow (think his views on the Traveston Dam issue).  It was sad to see him go but new blood is emerging online it seems.  Once again Bec over at Free Clarion has done a great job.. and seems someone else is taking notice of her too!  Be sure to have read sometime soon!

– o –

Here’s an interesting find.. check out http://www.frasercoast.qld.gov.au/council/executive_structure.shtml It is rather interesting to note there is no mention of a certain corporatised water supplier.  We can’t be that lucky but it is a nice thought that our water would be back under council control where it firmly belongs.

– o –

Interesting reading letters elsewhere.. we at Bringbackstrewth are not the only ones a little bemused by the fact Belinda McNeven was chosen as Deputy Mayor over the incredibly popular Barb Hovard.  While not huge fans of hers either, she did top the poll and that fact alone should have seen her slot in under Mayor Mick.  Again, Free Clarion might shed some light on the situation.

And finally.. we did have to print it..

 Nancy Says. Volume 10 (we think)
 
Nancy Says “vote cast with eye for future”, she is of course
referring to our mayor supporting councillor McNeven for the
position of Deputy Mayor. On the surface I agree with both Nancy
and our mayor, Belinda has youth, a touch of mongrel and is
far from dumb, all three qualities in her favour.
 
However, from a regional point of view, there is a down side. This
region is still racked with parochialism, reading comments in the
papers or listening to people in the street will confirm this. So back
to Belinda, born here, raised here, baptised in the ways of our
councils. Her allegiances are made, her debts factual, or perceived
will need to be repaid, her horizon might just make Gympie.
Worse still, it appears Nancy has anointed her as Micks successor.
 
John A Neve

Nancy Says #9

Ahh the sands of time.. through the hourglass they fall.. we at Bringbackstrewth are finding too few of them in the day..  thank goodness we have our good friend John Neve with his daily response to the intrepid Ed.

Nancy Says Volume 9
 
Nancy Says of our new council “One of their first official acts was
to vote themselves the maximum amount of salary under the
state guidelines”. She goes on to say that it’s “entirely proper” as
our councillors “swore they would fulfil their duties fairly and
impartially”! Is she suggesting that if they took less, their oath
does not count? Or that other councillors who chose to take a
lesser sum, won’t be fair or impartial?
 
In another part of our Daily we are given the reasons for taking
the maximum salary “other category five councils,had fewer
electors per councillor,less staff and lower operating revenues”!
I thought the number of staff was the CEO’s problem? As for
the number of electors, a third of ours chose not to vote, an
indication of their interest. Even so what do the numbers have to
do with a councillors salary? Regarding “operating revenues”,
the work involved has more to do with the state of a council’s
finances than the size. I would suggest a council in a worse
financial position than ours (if there is one), would involve more
work than one in a sound financial position, but what would I know?
 
John A Neve