Read this..
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/9
and then commence to wonder how a gaggle of Government departments can take it upon themselves to activate the elements of a study which has not been ratified by the minister, not been endorsed by the government, has not been put out for public consultation, and will have a catastrophic impact on the towns along the length of the highway in question.
Can this even be legal? Is there not some orderly sequence of due process that even government departments and ministers must adhere to??
In case anyone wonders why this fuss about a bit of highway in Claremont, then stop and think. Yes, the proposed widening will be destructive and is a very bad idea, but the way in which it is being sneaked through is a matter of huge concern for everyone at the mercy of this government. We all have roads and highways going through, or planned for, the areas we live in. You could be the next cab off the rank in this arrogant assumption of omnipotence. I am sure that we did not bestow godhood at the time of the last election, but it seems that the ministers in the Barnett government are ambitious enough to take this elevation in rank on to themselves.
I do not know about the legality of this arse-about way of proceeding, but I am pretty certain that it is neither normal nor desirable. It certainly is not an open and transparent way of doing things!
Mr. Barnett has confirmed that the study has not been endorsed by the State Government.
Why, then, has Town of Claremont been forced to reconsider a decision on the basis of this study (which the WAPC refuses to release to the public, or provide a copy so that elected members are fully informed on a matter before them)?
Why are properties already being bought up on Stirling Highway (Richards Electric for one). What is the fate of the many heritage buildings that will fall in the path of reserve widening? Will there be any meaningful consultation with residents along Stirling Highway, or who could find themselves overshadowed by six storeys?
To my mind this is a problem far bigger than just one development. How on earth can any government department, or an assorted rabble of departments, decree conditions which have yet to be put out for public comment or be properly endorsed. As far as I know this plan is still not finished, has not been before Parliament or Gazetted.
It seems to me that due process has been tossed out of the window in the interests of expediency. Decisions are being made in the absence of any sight of the very plan which makes those decisions necessary in the first place.
In short, the public is getting the mushroom treatment, and I need not elaborate on that!
I can find no sign of this plan on the internet, no matter how hard and how often I look, or what Government Department web site I search.
Try looking it up for yourselves, and if anyone has managed to sight it, I would be very happy to know where.
Can one demand a copy using Freedom of Information??
The study is referred to in the document “Clearly Claremont” which is dated December 2009.
Yet there is still no sign of it on the internet, no consultation with affected parties and the public, no publicity
It seems even Council Administration has not been given a copy – I asked to sight one and was told we don’t have one, and yet elected members are being called on to make important decisions based on a document to which we have not had access, know very little about and the effects of which could be catastrophic for some of the oldest heritage buildings in our Town.
If these buildings are included in the highway road reserve we will have no say in whether or not they are demolished. This includes the War Memorial, the Council Chambers Art Deco frontage we had hoped we could restore, and the fine old Congregational Hall further East on the Highway, where Claremont’s first council meetings were held.
WILL there be any meaningful consultation held in relation to SHACS?? Or will this plan be unceremoniously and in its entirety dumped on residents living along Stirling Highway as a fait accompli?? This plan could be devastating for the Town of Claremont if it is ever implemented.
- Mood:
infuriated
What a bunch of retreads and rejects! I could swear I heard a "Sieg Heil" or two riding over the noise of this ignorant rabble of right wing nutters.
I haven't heard that sort of ranting since that Hitler series on TV finished. This lot only lacked the brown shirts and torches!
I'm not arguing either for or against a carbon tax, but I'm not stupid enough to think that we can keep on going the way we have, either. I am, however, arguing against this sort of spiteful, hateful, ugly rally where people are worked in to a frenzy by someone who should damn well know better! Tony Abbot is showing very clearly that he lacks the necessary judgement and moral fibre to be in government. I am far more worried about the right wing crazies he is attracting than the prospect of a carbon tax. If this is the sort of behaviour to be expected from him, then he is too much of a risk to ever be placed in a position of power.
Gather ingredients. Sanitize work bench. Lift cat down and repeat sanitization. Get large bowl and start adding ingredients. Taste the rum to make sure of its quality. Answer door. Return, get cat’s head out of ingredients and discard contents of bowl. Have a good slug of the rum. Sanitize bench, wash bowl and start again, this time shutting cat in the laundry. Mix ingredients well, have oven warming, prepare baking tin. Add rum to cake mix and have a stiff shot yourself. Answer the phone. Someone lets cat out of laundry. Cat now elbow deep in cake mix and investigating flavor. Take dripping cat into laundry, leaving trail of cake mix behind. Give unwilling and resentful cat a bath. Return to kitchen and start process again, having a really good slug of rum to steady your nerves and kill the pain of the arms shredded when the cat retaliated. Dress wounds carefully before starting cake – again. Repeat all steps to the point where cake mix goes in to the tin. Open oven and pick up tin. Put the cat out – literally! The cat has returned and investigated the open oven. End of cat’s tail smouldering which necessitates another dunking. Retaliation from the cat is swift, brutal and noisy. Dress new war wounds and get cake in oven. Sit down with a really, really good belt of the rum. Cat is now relegated to the backyard in disgrace. Cake safely in oven You can now relax for a couple of hours. Thanks to the rum, slumber ensues and a couple of hours extends to four. Mad dash to see what has happened to cake. Cinders!
Sigh--- Gather ingredients. Sanitize work bench…………….
Imagine - proportional representation in all of government! Everyone whose chosen candidate achieves a quota is represented. All those elected form the government - no need for a noisy, useless, wasteful duplication of bums on the opposition benches. Great opportunity to save on costs, since a "shadow" set of ministers will not be required. All the Government's time can be devoted to sensible debate and serious matters, instead of the numbingly boring, childish, ill-mannered Carry on Minister show that Parliament is today. Create a new Constitution for the 21st century and beyond - it is on the cards that sooner or later Australia will become a republic, and we will need a new, up to date and strong constitution which protects Australian citizens and reflects the aspirations of this great country. We need to be thinking towards the future, not remain bogged down in systems created in the 19th century or earlier. If we had proportional representation at all levels, we would likely already have a government formed. Instead, the counting and maneouvering may continue for weeks, and in the end a new election may have to be called, if no one can form government.
What an staggeringly stupid and pointless waste of time, money and resources. I refuse to believe that a government elected by proportional representation cannot operate perfectly efficiently. If the incumbents are not adult enough to operate within such a system intelligently, politely and effectively, then they do not deserve the trust of the voting public. Plainly, they have not been given that trust on this occasion. I would interpret the result as a sort of "One lot is as bad as the other" reaction, with a goodly bleed off to alternative parties. One wonders what would have happened if showing up at the polling booth was not compulsory. There was an abnormally large informal vote, and I don't think it was because there are a lot of stupid voters. Our pollies need to have a long hard look at themselves. They may not be too inspired if, as Robert Burns predicates, they had the power to "see ourselves as others see us".
Meanwhile the outraged relatives of those countless millions of people who have died, or are dying, from lung carcinoma listen to the complaints from the tobacco companies and wish them a quick trip straight to the hottest part of Hell!
These companies are selling a product that kills, and they know it! Moreover they are prepared to lie about the deadly nature of their product and lull their addicted customers into a false sense of security.
The victims of tobacco, over the years, are a Holocaust of sorts all on their own. Will there ever be a Nuremburg trial, or its like, to bring to account those who have profited from wholesale murder by selling a known poison?
http://www.smh.com.au/national/abbott-ta
Having seen this, I solemnly declare that sooner than voting Liberal in the next election, I will stick red hot knitting needles in my sizzling and by then sightless eyeballs!! In fact, if the Mad Monk is still in the driver's seat come the next election, one can only conclude that the Libs are on their way out, have no depth of talent in their party, and are scraping the bottom of their barrel - but then it looks like they have been doing that for a while, going by the succession of electoral rejects who have already filled the driver's seat.
We have the tallest trees on the whole block, I think. Maybe that's why we get so many birds. Too many trees cut down and replaced by brick and tile, leaving very few resting and feeding areas for birds.
- Mood:
pensive
What was your last random act of kindness? Do you believe in karma?
Submitted By ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=88.8){kind=small}
painkiller21
Don't count or itemise! Someone needs a hand, you give it. Next time you may need a hand and if you are lucky, you will get it.
Karma - generally do as you would be done by. I believe in that. Put yourself in the other fellow's shoes.If you wouldn't like it, neither would he.
I do believe that what goes round comes round - maybe not in exactly the same form, but in a way that will make your eyes water if you have been in the habit of causing needless pain or harm to anyone or anything else.
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