With the news today that Downer EDI is not going to tender for the large Queensland Rail train contract, we have to wonder what does the future hold for Maryborough.
It does not take a rocket scientist to determine that the failure of EDI to secure more work for it’s Maryborough employees will leave a huge hole in the local economy.
This situation however is not new, it has been played out time and again for decades and it is past due that the local council, state government and others came together to provide a viable alternative to the city’s dependance on a poorly performing manufacturing sector.
Where are our leaders? Where is the future for our region if they will not step up and find the answers? Fighting the government for the work to go to EDI was commendable but now that has failed, it is time a viable alternative is found AND secured. If not, expect to see a mass exodus of trained tradespeople as they depart for areas like Gladstone or Mackay in search of a future for their families.
Bring back Strewth! 
It has been coming for a while now. Of course EDI still have other contracts so they will probably not close completely.
But don’t be surprised if the trend continues. I, for one, will not be very surprised if we do not have a sugar mill in 10 years and all the cane is trucked to Isis Central.
For an answer to your question ‘where are our leaders?’ vist JimMacKellar.com.au
We live in a society that decrys government intervention. Competition is the buzz word, free enterprise does it better.
Business is about making money, in case you all have forgotten?
The market will sort itself out, it always does.Sadly
some towns die, but new towns and new industries spring up. This country is littered with ghost towns.
I don’t believe Maryborough is any where near this situation, but under the system we support, it is always on the cards.
John,
Your views are somewhat naive, as government does have a major impact on competition and free enterprise, through a raft of taxation issues, incentives (or the lack of them), regulations (overegulation?), control of resources, media manipulation, compliance with demands from non Australian sources such as UN, IMF, World Bank, environmental bodies, etc, etc, that govern every aspect of Australian industry.
Not to mention the corruption in most levels of government that surface from time to time, such as ‘jobs for mates’, bribery, incompetence, etc, that is currently blighting our country.
There is no wonder that the only major industry springing up in Australia is the flogging off of our resources, both natural and manufactured, to offshore interests.
What hope has any Australian business when trying to compete on a ‘level playing field’ against a government that is shafting real competition instead of encouraging, protecting and nurturing Australian business enterprise?
John, open your eyes and have a look at what most other countries are doing to protect their industries and interests, and then compare it to our bunch of traitors!
Pancho,
I suggest you read my post once again, as at no time have I suggested that governments don’t influence the market place.
As to the loss of industries and utility sell offs, again I have spoken out on this site many times on the issue.
As to “a level playing field”, in a free enterprise culture there is no such thing. The strong gobbly up the weak, competition ceases to exist and manopolies are born.
I don’t care what other countries do Pancho, I live here. You cannot comment on other countries unless you review their whole system eg incomes, tax, social security (if they have such),health etc.
One thing I know for sure and that is nothing is free in a free enterprise system. One only has to look around to know Australians are paying a high price for evry thing.
Having visted(sic) Jims reccommended website to find an answer to the question “where are our leaders? I am none the wiser. There is no answer there so take that off your list. Any further sugestions ?
There are none so blind …….
Could we get a copy of this in English please?
Ecoli’s comments were totally overshadowed by Ecoli’s written communication ability. If even some of his/her claims were justified, it is hard for readers to give credence to such poor submissions.
Surely it isn’t that difficult for posters to at least spell check their posts if they have great difficulties with written communications?
So far Jim is well ahead on points!
(Now that is a humble respons from a person who would be mayor.) Firstly, let me say that the original post was made at least partly with tongue firmly in cheek. By your answer I thought you might have been replying in kind but now I see it was purely malicious.
(A person gos to his selfpromoting websight after his invitation) Of course it is self promoting. It is an election campaign site. It would hardly be promoting someone else would it?
(looks at the figurs he drags out of somewher which are used completly out of contect,) All the figures are taken directly from FCRC financial documents that are publically available. Documents that I am qualified to read, but more on that later. Please explain exactly which figures you think are taken out of context and how they should be contextually corrected?
(reads about someone else saying realy over the top thnings about him (most peopl would be embarased to write that about someone they obviously don’t know, or did someone else actualy write it – seems to have to much intimat personal stuff in their) and then saying he is secretry of Maryborough Chamber of Comerce. Chambers of comerce do not endorse or write about ANY candidat ever and the person is sertainly not secretry. SO that lot is total rubbish and false pretences on both counts – how much else in all those self writtern ramblings?) How the moderator allowed this is beyond me. This is pure defamation and libel, not of me but of the Pastor who actually wrote it. Lucky you had the sense to hide behind an alias. For the record the passage you refer to was written by the Pastor of my church who is also a close personal friend and thus does know me very well. Look closely at the document and you will see that it clearly states that he is a past member of the chamber. Back when it actually achieved something.
(Chambers of comerce do not endorse or write about ANY candidat) So what was the list of candidates that had their approval that appeared in the Chronicle before the last Council election. If that was not endorsement then I don’t know what is. Interesting to note that they endorsed most of the people who have made such a glorious mess over the last 3 years. Also note that because a person is a member of an organization everything they say is not taken as coming from the entire organization.
(He says he has more than 12 diplomas of something – so what. Internet diplomas are freelly available and cheap and diplomas dont mean that anyone actualy knows anything, just means that someone can repeat info if necessary – so can parots. But then parots are not very practicle, nor are somee diploma holders. Not much leadership their.) I am sure that the Australian National University would be overjoyed to hear that you think that the qualifications they award are not worth the paper they are written on. For that is where most of them came from via the Defence Department. Most of my qualifications are based on passing practical tests and having actual experience in performing the skills required so most parrots would have difficulty. If you desire to actually see these qualifications then I would be more than happy to show them to you. Just get in touch and I will make you an appointment.
(He says he lernt alot a Tiaro and would do different things now. Why do you not give details about the things you would do different Jim, and let the peopl makes up their own minds. Unfortunatly he should of thought of the outcomes before he did those things at Tiaro as a true leader would) It is difficult to know outcomes before you learn the lessons. Performing the role of Councillor is neither simple nor easy. Experienced people estimate that it takes between 2 and 4 years for any person to fully learn the job. Which is consistent with a lot of other professions. As the saying says, show me someone who has never made a mistake and I will show you someone who has never done anything. Making mistakes is the process by which we learn. The mark of a true leader is not that they don’t make mistakes, it is that when they do err they admit it and then they learn the lessons from the experience. That is how leaders learn to lead.
( I seem to remember something in the paper about he resined from all his duties on Council bceause he did not like the way the council was running or something). No. I resigned from representing Council on external bodies like the Show Society. Why? Because an allegation of criminal activity had been made against me and Council was in possession of a confidential report that exonerated me. But certain people refused to allow the document to be released to clear my name, even though they continued to publically refer to the allegations. Given the circumstances I felt that I was unable to act as a positive representative of Council and stood aside from external bodies until the report was released. I continued with all other Councillor duties. Once the report was released and my name cleared I represented the people of Tiaro Shire on the Local Transition Committee at the time of amalgamation.
(The paper also said there was also more than one report about him to the CMC) Yes, during my term on Council I was, in fact, reported to the CMC 7 or 8 times. However, in every case I was found to not have done anything wrong and cleared. The worst finding of all was that they thought I might have unfairly upset a constituent and that I should consider apologizing to him. Unfortunately this is an aspect of modern public life that causes much angst. All people in the arena who are working for reform and progress find themselves in this situation a lot more often then they should.
(and I think he tried to sack the CEO). Wrong again. A majority of Councillors sent the CEO on an enforced break so that we could conduct an audit of the way Council was being operated. And very glad we were that we did. Even though some terrible lies were told to try and vilify those involved, the people of the shire were well served in this situation.
(All that is now on his public record and no lepard ever known has changed his spots. Is that how you represent your constituants. You had your chance jim. Not much leadership there) Now we have had a little honest look at what is on the public record why do you think I should change my spots? During my term in Council I fearlessly and honestly represented the best interests of my constituents and thus we achieved more for our shire than any Tiaro Council in living memory. And it is the urgings of those exact same constituents and some Councillor colleagues that caused me to consider a return to public life. Why one would want to when you have to subject yourself to this type of defamation all to often, one would really have to wonder. The standard of leadership I have displayed in both public and business life is the reason these people cite in urging me to return. Maybe they actually know me a little better than you do.
(right,and false claims of glowing tributes from unknown peopl) Once again this is pure and simple defamation of a person who is well known in the community. Ask any young person who has attended West State School and they will probably know him. As a pastor of a local church he does have a reputation to protect and you have deliberately defamed him. If you are a man of honour then you will contact him and apologize for your actions. If not then we will know what to think.
So I will await your call so that we can set up a time to meet and discuss my qualifications and any other issues you may wish.
Before I go just a little tip. I understand that not all of us are fortunate enough to have English as our first language, so when you feel like writing one of your baseless diatribes go first to a program like Word, write it out, run the spell checker than cut and paste it into BBS. That way it may not look quite so much like the work of a primary student.
Just another smart answer from someone who would be mayor. Do all wanna be mayors make smart and arrogent answers to their voters or is it just you Jim? I heard you were like that at Tiaro too. As I said before, leopards (right spelling ??) do not change spots deep down. My english may not be good enough for you Jim but Strewth could obviously understand it otherwise it would not of been printed. Ibet every one else out there can also understand it. Please write in and say so if you cant. I have shown it to 6 people who said they understand it perfect. However i am getting some one else to check this one just for Jims benifit and I will get anything else i write in future checked also just in case there are more people out there like Jim.
You obviously dont want to get votes from people without a diploma in english. How many more people don’t you want votes from?
So where does that put you Jim? Doesnt one of your many diplomas cover understanding written langauge? Do you need me to write it again with some help so you can understand? Please say so if you need that. Or are you not able to answer or just dont want to answer? Not much leadership there.
I see that a proffessional economist wrote in the paper that your economic development solution was rubbish also. Do you have a proffessional diploma in economic development as well? I agree with him, councils should not develop and proffesional economic development people should be with developers, not council. However, council should certainly make it easier for sustainible development.
Among alot of other things you need to answer I would realy like you to explain to everyone how you got Maryborough Chamber of commerce to tell everyone how wonderful you are like ‘I am thrilled that Jim is sharing with us the benefit of his studies”.
I dont think many of the rest of us are so thrilled with his studies. Certainly not much leadership there.
BBS: Our apologies.. lately a lot has been completely skipping the moderation phase.. given how little time I actually get to look at this site let alone moderate it, I will not bother to correct spelling and your above comment is not much better.
You will also please kindly remember in the future to be careful not to make comments that may be deemed to be defamatory.
(Ecoli said -I see that a proffessional economist wrote in the paper that your economic development solution was rubbish also. Do you have a proffessional diploma in economic development as well? I agree with him, councils should not develop and proffesional economic development people should be with developers, not council. However, council should certainly make it easier for sustainible development.)
And I agree with you in part. Yes I saw the letter and it is a pity that the editor chose not to print my reply in explanation. But I will help you out here. Economic development professionals are not developers and never work for them. You have obviously also made the same mistake so many commentators here on the Fraser Coast make and confused economic development and real estate development. They are not the same thing.
In fact, real estate development should be the natural and congruent outcome of the increase in demand caused by the economic growth that results from economic development. One of our major problems here is that we have been doing it the wrong way around for many years. We bring people here and then try to find something for them to do for a living.
So what do economic developers do? They work both internal and external to Council to create a better environment for businesses. Not real estate developers but all businesses.
Internally they work with the departments of Council to ensure that applications are consider in a timely and efficient manner and that Councils fees and charges do not put an onerous burden on the regions business community. For example, an economic development department would have argued strongly against the present conditions of the Council’s solid waste charges to commercial premises.
Externally, they work with the business community to create the support networks that are necessary for a vibrant business community. They do this by such means as the establishment of Business Retention Centres. These centres assist to ensure that the present businesses are able to connect with all the various government resources and programs that are in place to assist regional business. They also assist in the creation and maintenance of business associations and networks to permit the continued development of the intra-regional economy. The aim, in simple terms, is to increase the number of times money is spent within the region before it is used to bring in products produced externally.
Another major activity is the creation of Small Business Incubators. SBC’s are used in many places in the world as a means of reducing the number of small business start-ups that fail in the first 12 months. At present this happens to over 60% of all small business start-ups and by providing an incubation environment which ensures that the new businesses are aware of and have access to all the necessary resources this can be greatly reduced. As an example, a study in Germany revealed that of all the businesses that had graduated from their SBI’s only 17% felt that they would have succeeded without the incubator. (Developing Australia’s Regions – UNSW Press 2003)
Other activities of economic development professionals include working with industry to develop industry clusters and the identification of potential niche industries for a region for which private investment can be found to take advantage.
Just to reiterate, I do not, and never have, advocated that Council should become involved in development. There are very few instances where this is warranted and the Fraser Coast has moved beyond that point. I also do not believe in the use of ratepayers money to provide incentives to industry or commerce to relocate to our region. All economic development experts consider this bad and often counter-productive activity.
No, I do not have qualifications in economic development, but I have studied the subject and I have worked with some very good practitioners of the art. For those who wish to know more I would highly recommend the Australian book mentioned earlier. Developing Australia’s Regions by Beer, Maude and Pritchard printed in 2003 by the UNSW Press. It provides a wide ranging review of regional economic development both here in Australia and in the other OECD countries in a language easily understood by we amateurs. It also has some very good suggestions as to how to go about effecting regional development.
Are the above ramblings from Jim/James the type of leadership the Fraser Coast needs – I do not think so.
The facetious and condescending reply to Ecoli demonstrates my previous comments “aggressive and arrogant” this attitude prevails.
Jim/James we need a leader not a commentator.
Could I suggest you hire a PR Company to assist you in your very difficult road ahead.
Mr MacKellar seems to have a different memory of his unfortunate term as a Tiaro Councillor to what i do. he was very much on the nose then and nothing seems to have changed, He was always a bully and prone to rambling on, the last thing FCRC would need as a Mayor. His treatment of the E Coli writer shows me only to well that he is still the same as he was when he ran his shop in Bauple. just ask the locals how much we miss having him as our councillor. After reading some of his entries he appears to be quoting straight from text books but without any citing any references, dear dear Mr MacKellar that is called plagiarism a far worse crime than a few spelling or grammatical errors.