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"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
(Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; Roman Emperor 161 to 180 AD)


Tuesday, 25 September 2012

John Hathaway MP LNP Responds to Closing Picnic Bay Recreation Centre

The Magnetic Times somehow manged to do what a lot of others could not. The inimitable and persistent Editor George obtained a response from John Hathaway MP LNP on the impending closure of the Picnic Bay Recreation Centre. Check out the article... http://www.magnetictimes.com.au/article-4076.html

In the response to the Magnetic Times Mr Hathaway states
"Whilst the decision to permanently close the recreation centre has not been made, our government must look at all options. We are open to expressions of interest from operators who may be able to invest in the recreation centre in order to reduce the government's overall expenditure."

Sounds clear and above board but... it's somewhat ambiguous.
  • the camp may or may not be closed
  • the government is considering options
  • the government is open to expressions of interest for investment in the site 
Does this mean that there is a hidden agenda? Does Campbell Newman and his cohorts have some preferred LNP supporting developers lurking in the background?





Time will tell. Meanwhile let John know your thoughts. 

Townsville LNP MP John Hathaway
PO Box 1101
Townsville QLD 4810
Phone: (07) 4772 4711
Fax: (07) 4721 2097
townsville@parliament.qld.gov.au
www.johnhathaway.com.au

and go to http://farcebook-team.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/magnetic-island-recreation-camp-closed.html for other contacts who might help us.


Thursday, 13 September 2012

Magnetic Island Recreation Camp Closed Permanently to be Sold Off by Fuhrer Campbell Newman

Magnetic Island Recreation Camp at Picnic bay is now officially closed. LNP Queensland Fuhrer Campbell Newman has decreed that our newly renovated camp is to be sold off to the highest bidder.


Over 30 school and other groups already booked will now be denied economically viable access to Magnetic island.

Our camp is an integral component of our tourism infrastructure. The island depends on tourism for it's viability. Times are hard, visitor numbers are down. The Camp must be reopened. It must not be sold off like the rest of Queensland.

We must not allow some jackbooted unscrupulous despot and his stormtroopers use his and his party's so called 'mandate' to turn our camp into a developers dream.

What can you do?

Contact the following asap

Townsville LNP MP John Hathaway
PO Box 1101
Townsville QLD 4810
Phone: (07) 4772 4711
Fax: (07) 4721 2097
townsville@parliament.qld.gov.au


David Crisafulli, MP     Minister for Local Government    
Shop 3, 198 Nathan Street
Aitkenvale QLD 4814
Phone: (07) 4725 4166
Fax: (07) 4725 4194
mundingburra@parliament.qld.gov.au


Ewen Jones MP Member for Herbert
Phone: 07 4725 2066   |   Toll Free: 1300 661 567 (Qld only)
Fax: 07 4725 2088
Electorate Office:
Ground Floor, Nathan Business Centre
340 Ross River Road, Cranbrook
Qld 4814- View Map
    Correspondence:
PO Box 226
Aitkenvale Qld 4814


Email: ewen.jones.mp@aph.gov.au

Office hours: 9:00am-5.00pm - Monday - Friday
If you would like to meet with Ewen, please contact his office. Ewen is available for after-hours appointments on Thursdays.

And also, Contact Townsville Enterprise, our local tourism and development body and make your thoughts known and ask them to assist...

Click here for TEL's Contact page



The farcebook-team understands the mess the previous government left but farcebook believes that our elected LNP MPs must represent us and not address the ill advised whimsies of the LNP and their rabidly inept, incompetent bureaucracies and financial adviser, Cost Cutter Costello
 

Wednesday, 12 September 2012

Magnetic Island Paperbark Trees under attack! Aliens? Terrorists? Vandals?

Breaking News! Magnetic Island's Paperbark trees are under attack! 
Aliens? Terrorists? Vandals?
No one knows by what! Or Why?
Do you?


Across Magnetic Island mysterious holes are appearing in the trunks of selected Melaleucas, paperbarks or Tea Trees. These holes are all found around 3-5metres above ground.

If you have any idea as to what is making these holes and why let us know. It's driving us nuts!!! 

Best of Magnetic Car Hire has joined C:Drive Car Rentals illegally storing vehicles in the Nelly Bay Terminal Car Park

Best of Magnetic Car Hire has joined C:Drive Car Rentals illegally storing hire vehicles in Magnetic Island's  Nelly Bay Ferry Terminal Car Park.





According to a Mr Trevor Brownrigg, an annual visitor to Magnetic Island, C:Drive Are back! Up to 6+ rental cars are again being stored daily by C:Drive in the Nelly Bay Terminal Car Park.

To further exacerbate the parking problems 'Best of Magnetic' are storing their rental cars in the parking spaces allocated to the IGA for 2 hour parking and in some spaces shared by the Department of Transport and the IGA

What sort of immunity from regulatory retribution has been granted to these companies by the Qld Department of Transport? Fair enough, Best of Magnetic now has a shopfront on the carpark. If they want allocated vehicle storage (parking) let them do what PRD had to do, pay for the spaces and have DOT signage erected!

The van with the signage for the Arcadia based $30 car rental mob, along with 5 private cars and utes are now abandoned, unregistered vehicles. What a great welcome to the island. Again I ask,

when will the transport department pull it's head out of the sand and their fingers out of their fundamental orifices and do something about our parking woes? Probably Never!!!

Post & images by Trevor Brownrigg

Monday, 20 August 2012

~ Pondering the Queensland State Elections 2012 ~ In Retrospect

 
 Pondering the Queensland Election 2012 in retrospect.



Or should that read;

'Idealistically 
one would be more realistic 
being pragmatically cynical'


Used with permission

Thursday, 16 August 2012

Wednesday, 15 August 2012

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman touts Magnetic Island to host Australia's next Olympic Games!

Oops! That should read, "Queensland Premier Campbell Newman touts Brisbane as Australia's next Olympic Games host city, but not yet" Not Magnetic Island. Forgive us here at farcebook.

So the truth is out! the News Limited site (14 Aug 2012) exposes the focus of LNP Premier Campbell Newman push to rob us blind. He wants our gold to get Olympic gold - for Brisbane.

Premier Campbell Newman wants Olympic Gold

It seems that Premier Campbell Newman, Queensland's version of the wicked evil Sheriff of Nottingham, is intent on frittering away, in 2012 dollars, A$3 billion of public consumption resources, your money, that  have to be redirected from elsewhere. Just to give the south east corner of Queensland a bit of PR with a momentary cash flow for Brisbane & the Gold Coast. Goodness knows how much inflation, CPI and the continuing mismanagement of  Queensland's economic basis will add to the costs between now and then.

The income from the Sydney games was US$1.765 Billion around A$2 billion.

Well what's in it for us, the true Queenslanders? Let's look at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the impact on the NSW economy.

In 2002, the Auditor-General of New South Wales reported that the Sydney Games cost A$6.6 billion, with a net cost to the public between A$1.7 and A$2.4 billion.
It has been estimated that the economic impact of the 2000 Olympics was that A$2.1 billion has been shaved from public consumption. Economic growth was not stimulated to a net benefit and in the years after 2000, foreign tourism to NSW grew by less than tourism to Australia as a whole. A "multiplier" effect on broader economic development is not realised as a simple "multiplier" analysis fails to capture is that resources have to be redirected from elsewhere: the building of a stadium is at the expense of other public works such as extensions to hospitals. Building sporting venues does not add to the aggregate stock of productive capital in the years following the Games: "Equestrian centres, softball compounds and man-made rapids are not particularly useful beyond their immediate function."In the years after the games, infrastructure issues have been of growing concern to citizens, especially those in the western suburbs of Sydney. Proposed rail links to Sydney's west have been estimated to cost in the same order of magnitude as the public expenditure on the games. Sources Auditor-General’s Report to Parliament 2002 Volume Two , Wikipedia
"Ok", you say, we really didn't need all those thousands of public servants and others. Fine, perhaps we didn't need them. (consider this; Are the majority of the sacked people workers or management?) But as far as the evil sheriff Campbell Newman is concerned the federal government will have to bear the brunt of the cost of supporting 10s thousands of unemployed. Not Queensland. Hullo!

Whose taxes, fees charges pay for Social Security? One could bet it won't be a 'sheriff' politician or some incompetent bureaucracies management.

And why should your natural resources, government owned corporations and  infrastructure be sold off? To fix the blackhole from the previous government! you say. Rubbish.

Using cost of the Sydney games as basis allowing for inflation and CPI projections the estimated bill just for hosting the games may well be in excess of A$9 billion.

Of this estimated A$9 billion the allocation of funds from the public purse, your money, with inflation and CPI could well be A$4 - $6 billion. for the future South East Queensland Olympics.


How much will the SE corner of Queensland expect to make from the games? It had better be better than the  income from the Sydney games of US$1.765 Billion around A$2 billion for Sydney's investment of A$6.6billion.

So we ask the evil Sheriff of Nottingham (really Brisbane) 

Why fill one financial black hole to create another?

Why should we pay for you and your LNP whimsies?

Go for gold Premier but don't use ours to get it!

You and your LNP government are no better that those who went before.

When you finish the 'have nots', the battler will be worse off.