ACT planners review their own rules – not joking!
Canberra residents care for their homes, their streets, their suburbs and wish that the urban environments and facilities were maintained and enhanced for future generations.
Category Archives: distraction
National Capital Authority failures
NCA continues to be tricky
There’s a new level of frustration within Canberra’s community groups with how the ACT government conducts itself on planning and development.
ACT Government stacked boards
Board members irrelevant to Canberra
The boards of the City Renewal Authority, the National Capital Authority and the Suburban Land Agency have little connection to the everyday life of residents.
ACT Government score card
They are not doing well!
With the ACT Labor/Greens coalition in place until October 2024, it’s a good time to start reporting on how it’s performing.
ACT Government ignores Commonwealth Park
Commonwealth Park neglected by government
Attention to a significant piece of national land is being overlooked among the misinformation used to justify the demolition of West Basin.
ACT Government and spin (fibs)
planning spin (fibs) dominate
It could be said that residents and community groups have been a little foolish.
Elizabeth Lee takes over the ACT Liberals
New Leader for a lost party
Hands up anyone who was surprised by the ACT Liberals’ election results.
ACT Election boring
Excitement – Coe goes without his tie!
With one week to go to the ACT elections, my interest has definitely reduced.
ACT Elections 2020
Making that choice!
Given that I will be voting as an early voter next week, the time has come to decide on the candidates to be given the tick – or the flick.
West Basin and ACT Government spin
There’s a brochure in circulation about the debate on the future of the green spaces and foreshore along Lake Burley Griffin’s West Basin.
ACT Government land deals
Reminder of the Dickson Land Swap
With the ACT election now just over two months away, Chief Minister Andrew Barr would be urging his colleagues not to remind the electorate of the infamous Dickson land swap.
Stephen Bartos tries to respond
why do people make a fool of themselves?
A couple of week ago I posted on Common Ground and mentioned the chair Stephen Bartos.
ACT Government spin about the hospital
The Minister tries again to fool the residents
It’s always good to give credit where credit is due. When people call out political nonsense and ingenuous behaviour, those doing the calling out should be valued and praised.
fence-sitting Greens let Labor run amok
ACT community betrayed by ACT Greens
Before the 2016 ACT elections the Labor Party indicated that it was to make changes to how planning and development happened.
ACT Government makes a mess of the hospital
Time to call out this government on health
On January 29, “CityNews” published a well-researched article about how the Woden Valley Hospital’s future had been mishandled and is now seriously hindered in its capacity to deliver to the people of Canberra.
Continue reading ACT Government makes a mess of the hospital
ACT Government burns tax dollars
City Renewal Authority waste money – again
In centuries past when a colonial power arrived somewhere foreign (to them), they presumed that they knew how to improve the local culture and commenced with handing around beads and trinkets.
City Renewal Authority fails
Silly signs indicate the failure of this agency
Full marks to someone in Dickson last week who spotted the opportunity to place a discarded City Renewal Authority silly sign up against the wall of a major Dickson shop.
There was a message in this action.
Mystery of the ACT Government’s finances
Where does the money go?
A topic that dominates “CityNews” columns and other media, is how the ACT’s Labor-Greens coalition government collects and spends your money.
ACT Minister links a tender to philanthropy
More questionable behaviour from an ACT Minister
Previously I reported that there remains a looooong list of dubious matters involved with the proposed building of a Common Ground apartment complex on Section 72 Dickson. These date back to the infamous Dickson land swap.
Continue reading ACT Minister links a tender to philanthropy
Bridget McKenzie and alternate facts
Australian political dishonesty
This piece is based on the extraordinary goings-on of an Australian federal minister – and her use of alternate facts to pretend that there is nothing wrong when the Auditor General has reported otherwise.
Parrots and ACT politicians
Using the media to mislead the residents
Taking the time to observe the many birds in our garden provides a complete distraction from the more serious matters of life.
Well, at least this is what it should be.
ACT Government and drones
Residents’ protest about noisy drones
One of the pleasurable experiences of where I live is to sit around the garden, usually in the morning or evening is best, and to take in the cacophony of suburban bird sounds.
ACT Greens and spin
Into the inner-north letterboxes has appeared a pamphlet from one of our local members, the ACT Greens’ Shane Rattenbury. There will be more from others given the October 2020 ACT elections.
The problem with the Greens’ pamphlet was the spin. The heading read “Putting our climate first”.
Disingenuous proposals for Dickson
As happens regularly across Canberra, developers have a set style in their presentation to community groups.
Canberra and the fictional Utopia
On the same evening, the North Canberra Community Council (NCCC) hosted a presentation by Malcolm Snow, the real CEO of the City Renewal Authority, on the authority’s program for urban developments and infrastructure around Civic and north to Dickson.
ACT planning lacks good governance
This opinion piece only scratches the surface of the enormous problems we have here in Canberra with planning and development. The whole of the planning system has been corrupted by decades of bad management and the development of a culture that has residents as the enemy to be tricked and out manoeuvred. Click here for my piece in City News.
2020 ACT Election draw near
Already the positive spin has commenced in the media portraying how wonderful this dreadful government is. Click here for my piece on this election campaign for 2020
more CRAPP planning in Canberra
How sad! Yet another glossy ACT Government planning document that is a waste of time and effort – click here for my piece on this CRAPP in City News
Wading through the fog of ‘busy words’
For residential representatives in Canberra, the last few months have been very onerous due to the simultaneous release of a load of government consultation documents as well as the usual tricky development applications (DA) that need to be consumed and feedback provided. Click here for my piece on this.
Downer residents rally against development push
You can tell when residents are hitting the government where it hurts – when the press coverage from the government turns to spin – and more spin. There is no doubt that this is a response to the successes the pesky residents of Downer have had in getting attention through their brilliant “Don’t Dump on Downer” grassroots campaign. Click here.
Party first, government second… voters a distant third
WHAT happens within the ACT government’s planning and development portfolios points to how the ACT Greens/Labor coalition is travelling. Click here for my piece in City News
Why the City Renewal Authority
Canberra has a reasonably new City Renewal Authority. It does not come cheap. Problem being people just do not know why it exists. Here’s my take on this – in City News.
Lack of trust in ACT Government
End of year thoughts
Congratulations to all the residents who care and work hard on planning matters – endlessly. The shocking thing is that those in government, on all sides, now take it as normal that they are not trusted and respected. It is not something anyone should simply live with.
I wrote for City News on this topic – click here.
Remember they are people
The ACT Government and public housing
This is a slightly revised version of a previous post of mine previously written as the government moved to close the public housing along Northbourne Avenue in Canberra as part of its Urban Clearances programs
Katherine Murphy
and the ship of dangerous fools
Federal COALition
we are being Turnbulled – over and over again.
George Monbiot
despots galore
iGen and depression
being Trumped & being Turnbulled
post truth & politics & energy
A good article summing up the state of politics, where truth is an option to be discarded.
George Monbiot
George Monbiot on Brexit – where to now?
click on the image for this very interesting view on Brexit
Pauline Hanson on excluding the artistics
Setting the record straight!
Yet again the media has misunderstood what Pauline Hanson said!
Rebecca Solnit on Trump
It’s Time (again)
It is definitely time for all forms of peaceful and concerted actions to adjust our democratic structures to deal with the damage being done by forces that have resulted in Trump and his cronies being where they are.
Noam Chomsky
Neoliberalism Is Destroying Our Democracy
the democracy experiment continues – but will it get beyond the influence of neoliberalism
inflammable clading
Nothing wrong here!
oh how we wish we could believe the Minister and the building industry spokespersons – of course here in Canberra we have the laws in place! But – we all know better than that.
Remember they are people
A lot has been written about the ACT Government’s announcement to establish small government housing estates on community-zoned land in Weston Creek suburbs.
Hillary Clinton
The Destruction of Hillary Clinton
I have already reviewed this book – click here.
However I cannot stop pondering the challenge this story throws up for anyone interested in equity, fairness, and the role of the media in so many aspects of our daily lives.
If we had a real media, this story would have been totally different. Instead what happened here was the total manipulation of the media and through them members of the public, by all forms of malicious groups of people and individuals.
Hillary Clinton
The Destruction of Hillary Clinton
It was on hearing certain phrases used over and over again on Australian TV programs talking about the 2016 US election campaign that I became suspicious that we were witnessing a lazy press.
Almost daily the media was taking the same phrases and words and using them over and over again – with no evidence that they could be accurate except that they were the words and phrases being used by most journalists and commentators at the time.
On the basis we were supposed to accept their words as fact.
Being Turnbulled
Australian Values – The Master of Spin
Australians are again being subject to being Turnbulled. Yet Again.
Inappropriate letterboxes to be replaced
Following the resignation of their highly paid CEO, it seems that our postal services need to recover some of the revenue it has been paying out in the last few years.
Being Turnbulled
Turnbull on alternative facts and energy
Two stories that point to the big problem we have here in Australia.
Being Turnbulled
How we are being turnbulled on economics – and everything else
Click on the image for a piece about a load of garbage- or what Turnbull is now saying.
Lies, lies and the NeoCons
There’s so much wrong with the democracy experiment at the moment. But is good that a few journalists are seeing the issues that must be dealt with.
Being Turnbulled
The Boris legacy
Click on the image to read about the worst of Boris
The Census – Turnbulled again
The government cuts the funding and now complains! Click here for the reality check – fact check – on why it happened – and who is really to blame. Yep – we have been Turnbulled again!
Turnbull – Fizza- Medicare
JOHN MENADUE. Privatisation and the hollowing out of Medicare
Here’s an article that deals with the lies being told by the present Prime minister on Medicare. Click here.
Being Turnbulled
click on the photo above to learn more about Turnbull – FIZZA.
“You light him up, there’s a bit of a fizz, but then nothing… nothing.”
there’s more…
Being Turnbulled
Australia is being Turnbulled over and over again. When will the country get rid of this pretend government – that is really a committee of the IPA?
The whole truckies pay debate has been yet another example of the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) running the agenda.
Being Turnbulled
Here’s a wonderful example of how the media and the public are being fooled and used by Top Hat Turnbull in his government’s dubious efforts to destroy the union movement. As blogged by Vince O’Grady, here is a post titled: ” More Egregious words used by the liberals. Disgraceful falsification of the facts.” Click here
Being Turnbulled
Australia is being Turnbulled, again
click on the image above for the story from The Huffington Post
Australian politician and the arts
One of these images is of an ass. One of these images is of a painting.
Worlds dominated by committees
Comment on time-wasting
There is something that makes certain people believe that if they attend loads of committee meetings that they are actually doing something useful. Whereas the truth is that all they are doing is attending loads of committee meetings.
Apple Watch
Comment: Apple Watch
Do we really need this?
The other day Sydney Airport was evacuated because someone had been busy reading his iPad and had accidentally walked through the exit door and thus set off all forms of alarms. As I drive around town I notice that cars are often either slow to take off from traffic lights or at times commence wavering all over the place as the driver is trying to manage their iPhone at the same time.
When news gets weird
Commentary: when the news gets weird
Most days the news is too predictable in that most sources simply churn out whatever the others are churning out.
MCA and Twitter
A Gallery Story
The security at the Museum of Contemporary of Art (MCA) in Sydney is usually very attentive and they are very helpful if you ask them anything. Today while visiting we noticed a fault.
Distraction
Opinion: from Guardian Australia
Tourist walks off pier while browsing on Facebook
no need for further comment – click on the image.
Distraction
Opinion: Damon Young: Distraction
blame the mind, not the machines
An interesting few words from Damon Young on the machines that distract some people. Damon likes to observe – here’s one of his people observations. I think that too often I have observed his subject.
An ordinary suburban cafe, with an ordinary sullen teenage waitress and faux-friendly barista. The tables are unvarnished barrels. The cups are marmalade jars. And the coffee is bitter, weak and overpriced.
The Fiction Gallery: Patrick Henderson
Fiction Gallery: Patrick Henderson: On being not here
Do you now a Patrick Henderson?
Patrick Henderson attends meetings called to carry out the business of the gallery for which he is a company director.
When Patrick sits at the table he remains very alert to the presence of his mobile and aware that there may be emails, text messages and tweets that require his attention.
Patrick’s commitment to these distractions is such that he cannot ignore them. Because of his lack of control of the technology, poor Patrick has become one of the many who are physically present somewhere but are rarely mentally completely there.