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| ONE OF THESE IS A WORLD-CLASS PERFORMER. BOTH USE THE SAME HAIR COLOURING. CAN YOU NAME THEM? |
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| ROBYN HOLMES AT THE PONIES |
The employment of Calderwood marks a return to Cairns for this spotty performer. Formerly employed by Cam Charlton's Kleinhardt Business Consultants, he famously was appointed as CEO to Skyrail's management of the Hong Kong Ngong Ping cable car project. Shortly after capturing the 30 year contract, an operational failure that caused a car to fall 50 metres resulting in criminal negligence charges saw the entire Australian Skyrail management team sacked, including general manager Bill Calderwood. This came after a series of glitches that eroded Chinese confidence in the operation of the line. It would seem that this event, in the eyes of the Chinese, would make Calderwood ineffectual as a competent representative of Cairns business. To the Chinese, the Hong Kong episode makes him, and by extension Cairns, poison. Good move, Manning!
These are all retrograde moves for the new council and state government, confirming Cairns' new status as "regional backwater". The changes at Advance Cairns in particular look to decapitate this organisation from their work to expand the Cairns economy, with the focus now unified on unchecked development and tourism. And with the organisation chaired by the affable but undynamic Cam Charlton, the ejection of progressives and moderates across the city looks to be mostly complete with the right-wing radicals in charge, leading the hillbillies back to the bad old days.
Boganville has well and truly returned.
40 comments:
You forgot the woman who was in charge of the Entertainment Precinct project too HBW. Yes, there has been a purge of women which is in line with extreme right wing philosophy. Robyn Holmes will be a well paid female lackey saying what she is told to say and keeping out of the way of the boys except to bring them tea and bikkies.
You're right Bob R. an editing error. I've corrected it.
Is it fair, HBW, calling Cairns Boganville? If you look at the evidence, Cairns is actually a trendsetter for the rest of Queensland.
Alan Blake set the trend for the 'sue the whistleblowers' caper and our South East Corner mates like Bruce Flegg are only now catching up, (see http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/former-housing-minister-bruce-flegg-suing-ex-staffer-graeme-hallett-for-loss-of-income/story-e6freoof-1226531927136)
Our local politicians set the standard for vilification, watch it being copied in the South East.
We set the standard, too for promoting dodgy contracts with dodgy companies. I'm sure it will be copied on a State-wide scale, but just remember, we do it first and we do it better in Cairns!
It is a tragedy to see the loss of so many bright and intelligent women in places of authority in Cairns. It should be noted that women were the bigger proportion of the victims of Newman's mass sacking and continue to be more affected as nurses are now being sacked in their hundreds. The LNP are tearing down all the gains made by women since the 1860s. I note the predominance of white middle aged men in all areas of civic activity now in Cairns, a fact which is repeatedly driven home in the daily news coverage of The Cairns Post or on local television news, apart from the rare appearance of Julia Leu, and Senator Jan McLucas. I have also noted with increasing alarm the sexual stereotyping of young women in The Cairns Post. We are being beseiged with stories of young women wanting to be "models" or "actresses" or given endless photos of bikini clad backpackers sunbaking on the Esplanade. In fact the biggest media event for women in Cairns is "the fashionista of the Amateurs" which essentially is about women dressing to make themselves sexually attractive. For those of us women old enough to remember the bad old days of the 1960s when women were kept "barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen" Cairns is fast regressing. Growing up in that era, I remember with horror, the double standards which many of our male civic leaders displayed before women's "liberation". How well I recall a certain area in Sydney known to house the mistresses of our male "leaders". Women kept for sex only, a bit like common urinals, often with the full approval of the wife. I would like to take you up on one point Hillbilly - these are not right wing "radicals". They are right wing extremists, but they are neo-conservatives.
Which is the pony
Some good people were not elected for council, clearly much better than what we got, so why? Are the people of Cairns so backward and extreme or is it a lack of support by TV and the Cairns Post to expose all candidates equally?
Need to understand because we are going downhill at a fast rate.
Bill Calderwood! Robyn Holmes!
The return of the undead.
We could make a zombie movie up Spence Street and not require any actors.
Anonymous, you asked the question "Why were some good people not elected to Council" in this years Council elections? At the booth where I was handing out how to votes for Locco all day, I heard LNP booth workers (who were there for the Unity Team) say to voters that if they wanted Val Schier out of office and to vote Manning in, then they had to follow the How to Vote Unity card exactly, ie voting for all the Unity Councillors. It was deceitful and cunning, and traded on people's ignorance of the voting process. Talking to people afterwards, we felt there was nothing we could do but perhaps educate people in advance of the next Council Election to the fact that they can vote for the Mayor of their choice plus a Councillor of their choice and that the two do not have to be in the same team.
I guess that is one of the reasons, the others are that no independent apart from those who had worked hard to develop a local reputation like Rob Pyne and Julia Leu stood a chance against the heavily financed election campaign for the Unity Team. Money, as it always does, talks and talks big in an election.
Well said there ruby. We had some excellent independents put their hands up in the Council Election, people well known and with a long history of involvement in the city, like Locco. The city is much poorer for the loss of these outstanding people. Instead Unity have given us some unknown blow-ins to Cairns, self-serving opportunists blown in from places unknown, from unknown backgrounds, whom no-one seems to know, riding on the tsunami of hate generated by Mackenzie and Gavin King against the previous Mayor, the Ukulele Festival, the Entertainment Precinct, the bicycle paths and duck egg blue. Frankly, I believe that with all the money Unity received for campaigning, as well as the hatefest generated by Mackenzie, that a wheelie bin full of dead dogs and blowflies could have been elected as the Cairns Regional Council.
Never thought I'd say this, but I'm beginning to think that voting in Australia should not be compulsory. Then, citizens who take the trouble to vote would (one would assume) be better informed and, conversely, less likely to be swayed by mega-dollar campaigns and less likely to succumb to the mistruths peddled by unscrupulous candidate lackeys and myopic party hacks. Come to that, I think there's a case to outlaw candidate booth workers and 'how-to-vote' cards per se at elections.
Liz, I have just read your post. I agree that women are the biggest victims of Newman's mass sackings. Women traditionally have been over represented in the public service, health and education which is where Newman has taken the axe. Just a point though, I don't believe we women are on our own anymore, like we were battling it out for rights in the 1960s and early 1970s. Our men are right up there alongside us these days. A very large proportion of men are comfortable and long reconciled with the idea of equality. I don't see many men being pleased at the thought of their wife or daughter being sacked from the public service or losing her nursing job. Any economic assault on women's capacity to earn and have a career affects men as well.
Liz, Alison, thanks for your heartfelt posts which highlight the vigorous assault by conservatives against women's involvement in society. It is a paradox that Australia was a leader in women's suffrage (after New Zealand) but has fallen badly behind.
This is one of several fronts in the conservative war. Conservation is again under attack and protected areas are being prepared for mining again, though this isn't being reported very much. Employment laws are under attack in the name of productivity while deaths and injuries due to unsafe working practices are ignored. How soon will it be before the electoral laws are fiddled, US-style, and a 'Newmander' is introduced.
It might sound trite to remind people that 'The price of liberty is eternal vigilance' but it's still true and applies across the Board. The so-called free press won't do it, so we have to be vigilant ourselves.
It's turning up and getting your name crossed off which is compulsory. Casting a valid vote is not compulsory.
Liz, Alison, in case anyone thought you were exaggerating, they should see the latest Newman outrage , as reported in the Courier Mail (http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/queensland-holds-out-on-royal-succession-legislation-at-coag-meeting-in-canberra/story-fncyva0b-1226532343542)
The trick here is to pretend that you agree with change but find a technical way to block it.
I am anon above asking how we got the poorer candidates. We need to think through how we can encourage good people to keep trying as I doubt they have much incentive anymore.
On sexism.
Men that are capable are not threatened by " others" because they are confident in their own ability.
Gavin King is a very good example of the pitfalls of misogyny. Name one female with equally poor intelligence and education that has the salary he earns? So we are stuck with a very poor representative, not simply due to misogyny, but because we do not hold white males up to the same standards.
This also discriminates against many good men as we turn our back on merit based appointments and seek populist/cronyism options instead which commonly, or perhaps normally, return bad outcomes.
Changing this culture will be almost impossible I am afraid. Can it be done?
Holy shit, Ive just read the Courier Mail's piece. Newman is the only Premier in Australia blocking changes aimed at ensuring that if a daughter of William and Kate is born first, then she can become Queen ahead of her brother. What is this shit?? Jesus H Christ was Newman born in the 18th century? Frankly I dont give a shit who is the British monarch but this old crap about it being the first born boy is just bullshit. I mean, Christ, look at Charles will you? Hey? Say no more.
I fear Newman's objection to changing the rules to the accession to the throne is overshadowed by something more important to Queensland families and that is that he hasn't agreed to providing more child care places in Queensland. This will have much more impact on families, and sole parents than who becomes the next monarch. The man is a monster.
While thousands lose their jobs thanks to the policies of a draconian out of touch disfunctional government, all Newman is interested in this archaic monarchist crap which is obviously far more important to him, because it certainly isn't about anything important like disability schemes or employment. Qld is still on track to Yesterdayland with the LNP at the helm - once again the laughing stock of the rest of the country like we were in the Joh days.
Jethro, you old curmudgeon, your dark humour gave me the best laugh I have had in days.
Yes I liked " duck egg blue" lol
ha ha abbott is shitting himself julia reckons can do is the best player she has and all of australia is watching
MMMM Shanghi, what the fuck are ya you on, and can i have some as yours is obviously better than mine because i can still make sence from my comments i think.
The resemblance between Calderwood and Colbert is uncanny, Hillbilly. You've outdone yourself again. I'll be laughing everytime I watch that program.
Know any more details of the CMC investigations, Hillbilly?
Newman's go-it-alone policy on the monarchical succession has echoes of Bjelke-Petersen's 'Queen of Queensland' push in 1973, sensibly rejected by the High Court in 1974.
There is nothing legally improper in Newman's stance; there are at least two legal ways of achieving the objective. The problem is that Newman's solution is more complex and unnecessary. More intelligent conservatives in other States have accepted the Commonwealth's position, making Queensland a laughing stock yet again.
And as others have pointed out, this is yet another distraction and a waste of time when more important issues are at stake.
I would like to award Mr Jethro Clambutt of Earlville, Cairns, the Hillybilly Watch "Statler and Waldorf Award" for the most astute and memorable comment in 2012. Well done, old fella! You had me in stitches.
Anon 10.11, I think you are referring to Joh's dispute with the PM of the day, Gough Whitlam who wanted to change the current Commonwealth law where the Queen was known as "Queen of Britain etc and her other realms and territories" for her to be known as the "Queen of Australia" when she was on Australian soil. Sounds fair enough, but Joh bless his heart wanted the Queen to be also known as the"Queen of Queensland" this madness seems to echo the current Premier's refusal to sign up to the latest Succession Law. Cando is quite unbelievable in this embarrassing stance! It smacks of political opportunism and "up yours" to the Feds.
Whatever reason, Newman has only succeeded in drawing attention to himself and Queensland. People in other States are saying, "What a dickhead!"
There's an interesting and intelligent article by Tony Fitzgerald in the current edition of the Weekend Australian (16 / Inquirer section) that cuts across all three tiers of government. The heading and sub-heading sum it up perfectly: 'The body politic is rotten' and 'The people must speak by selecting candidates on merit, not party lines'.
One thing Fitzgerald suggests is a free non-partisan website "to provide voters with clear, accurate, impartial information to assist them to compare candidates for election, make better informed choices and avoid voting for unsuitable candidates merely because they have party preselection".
What Fitzgerald seems to be advocating is the end of party politics in Australia. Hmmm, so we could end up with a parliament full of independents, unable to agree on anything. OR we could end up with a parliament of fraudsters who used a bit of creative plagiarism to make their contribtion to the website look really good. Most likely we would end up with a group of self-serving sociopaths who banded together, hired some PR people and economists etc to write their blurbs on the free site and suck in the people. It's all too easy to deceive people and take them for a ride. Our current system may be flawed, but I believe it is the best we have. I believe the answer in this country is for more people to get off their whinging arses and get involved in the governing process by joining a political party of their choice.
I don't get " duck egg blue"
Someone explain in dumb down terms
Wasn't that the colour the new Mayor Manning painted his office as soon as he moved in? or am I confused too?
Pugwash Hillier should tell us if it was an informed choice when he played a Liberal Party Fundraiser at the Casino....you are the bravest buccaneer Tony!
"Duck egg blue", Confused, refers to the colour scheme used by the former Mayor, Val Schier, on the walls of her office in the Cairns Regional Council building. (Well I think it was referred to as "duck egg blue".)
All very well Tony Hillier, but with the declining numbers of people joining political parties, the numbers of people putting their hands up as candidates is also diminishing - big time. With such a restricted pool, you're not going to get the best possible person. As the experts keep on warning us, our democracy is waning.
Gosh 16.17 you are an idiot. Tony H is a professional musician in Cairns and these guys plus all our local musicians need all the gigs they can get. He is entitled to an opinion and whether playing at a Lib fundraiser makes him Captain Pugwash (where did that come from?)or not makes your comment pretty ordinary.(and he probably doesn't need me to defend him!)The only thing I would take him to task for is for reading The Australian!!
I'm outraged!
16:17. Liberal fundraiser at the Casino? What kind of invention is this??
What Fitzgerald is advocating is that voters should stop voting like zombies along party lines and simply judge candidates on their merits, irrespective of what party they represent (and yes, even if they are independent, god forbid).
We need more Tony-people. Tony Hillier, Tony Fitzgerald, Tony Windsor; I'd vote for them all. I would draw the line at Tony Abbott though.
Tony Windsor is worth listening to. He seems to me to be a man with lots of sound commonsense. I like hearing his views on things.
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