Can Mike Rann survive? This morning, he looked as though he would, like Custer, make a stand, writes Hendrik Gout.
NSW spin doctors find another frog to save
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How many times can the NSW Labor Government, the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA), other government agencies or the big-time developers save the State’s frog population? Whenever there is a controversial development, the spin doctors reach into their top drawer and produce a frog yarn and how it will be saved from extinction by caring, sensitive and environmentally-friendly development. Because there has been a major community backlash against the plan to stage a car rally in the Tweed Shire on the Queensland-NSW border, the slippery croaker has emerged from the swamp to be rescued once again. The pro-rally Tweed Daily News broke the frog scoop:
This is the kind of tosh being served up by the promoters of the Repco Australia Rally to seduce the local residents into supporting the event which is going to turn roads in the sleepy shire into a screeching racetrack with thousands of out-of-town petrol heads descending from Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The NSW Government has won the backing of the local Daily News and the weekly Sun by promising buckets of advertising and it has wooed the desperate business community with lucrative spin-offs if the taxpayer-subsidised event succeeds. Incredibly, Tweed Shire Council general manager Mike Rayner has been given permission by Local Government Department director-general Garry Payne to join the rally’s board of directors in a non-remunerated role. Rayner has dismissed concerns about a conflict of interest between his chief executive role on the council, his place on the Repco Rally board, the council staff he manages and the council processes he supervises. The development application for the overall route will not be lodged later this month but residents have been told the race will be over 350km of roads in the Tweed and Kyogle shires. The 60 super-charged cars expected to take part will be travelling at speeds of more than 120kph through the pristine national parks of Wollumbin, Mooball and he Richmond Ranges. Some local roads will be closed for up to five days each year for the event causing major disruption to residents, farmers and children going to and from school. Local resident Dr Fiona McCormick complained in the local paper:
Like the proposed car rally at the 2000 Olympics venue at Homebush, the financial arrangements between the government and the private promoters remain a closely-held secret. Commercial confidentiality, old boy. Melbourne’s rally squillionaire and Fairfax chairman Ron Walker knows all about that. |
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9 Comments
Dear Mr Green
part 3 …
Who else did Tweed Shire Councillors consider for a position with World Rally Australia ?
What, how long, and how hard did Tweed Shire Councillors consider the offered directorship ?
Why was there any need for a Tweed Shire Council Director to be in a Director’s role with a Pty Ltd business that has a development proposal subject to development approval by Tweed Shire Council ?
Is there a conflict when one directorship is with the authority which regulates the other ?
I suggest, even if the General Manager’s director’s role with World Rally Australia is a non-remunerative position, there is still the perception, and possibility, of benefits and rewards (now or in the future) and the potential for a conflict of interest. There certainly is a conflict of influence, and where a conflict of influence exists there is also a conflict of interest, especially within a public authority.
I suggest there are numerous residents of Tweed Shire who would advocate that the General Manager step down from his Director’s role with World Rally Australia Pty Ltd, and restore some credibility.
Alternatively, the General Manager could consider resigning from Tweed Shire Council.
It can be noted, the motion “that Council authorises the General Manager to accept the offer” came from the very experienced Cr Polglase who, as Tweed Shire’s dismissed mayor of 2005, has an established background in controversy.
It is also noted that some of the other councillors who voted for Cr Polglase’s motion were very inexperienced on 18 November 2008.
I suggest the Mayor and Councillors need to ensure that the General Manager’s inherent conflict of interest is resolved.
If there is no imperative for the General Manager be a Director of World Rally Australia Pty Ltd - the precautionary applies, the separation of influence.
Regards
Richard Hann
Murwillumbah
9 March 2009
So what is so fabulous about being a director of World Rally Australia Pty Ltd - why does Mike Rayner hang on - what spoils can there be for limpets?
Interestingly Mr Rayner seems to have the full support of DLG director-general Garry Payne to pursue his non-conflict of interest.
Is this the same Garry Payne who as administrator of Tweed Shire worked closely with, and even appointed, Mr Rayner (formally of the engineering department) as General Manager of Tweed Shire?
This Tweed Shire resident, and I suspect many others, are beginning to think we will witness the full circle of corrupt processes in under … years - and another place for Tweed Shire in the record book.
A few days ago I wrote to Troy Green the, sometimes, Acting General Manager of Tweed Shire - you may read it below.
Dear Mr Green
Thank you for your correspondence of 3 March 2009 (1998688.doc.pdf attached).
While I appreciate your need to support the charade of process surrounding World Rally Australia’s entry into the Tweed, there are many in the Tweed who are less convinced.
In response to your correspondence I ask a few questions, there is no expectation that you answer the questions.
I do request that you bring this letter to the attention of the Mayor and Councillors, because I know the Mayor does not always read her email.
With Events NSW announcing the proposed Rally on 10 September 2008 and the Tweed Link reporting the General Manager as waving the welcome flag on 16 September 2008 - who had the General Manager consulted with between these dates ?
Who did the General Manager consulted with before 10 September 2008 ?
Why was the 16 September 08 Tweed Link reporting of the proposed motor rally so committed to support the proposed Rally ?
Why did the General Manager not do the obvious (be impartial), and advertise for public comment on 16 September 2008 ?
Aren’t local authority general managers expected to steer an impartial course ?
Without this attention the frogs would croak.
I can’t wait.
I live in Brisbane & I’m more than happy that the drop kicks that run the rust belt state to the south are stumping up god knows how many $$$ to attract this event.
It might have half a chance of being financially successful - I figure there’s a lot of people like me never went over to the west for Rally Aust becuase of the cost & distance. And its probably not as expensive to run as an F1 (or a V8 supercar race in Townsville or Darwin).
Pity the Queensland government didn’t think the event was worth the trouble.
Here in the Northern Rivers we don’t want it either.
It’s hard to imagine how daft you’d have to be to even consider putting a motorsport event onto residential roads in a biodiversity hotspot.
In the meantime the taxpayers’ money (millions) the NSW govt has given to this event should have gone to the NSW health service which is absolutely crippled for lack of funds.
And as if that weren’t enough, this rally looks like being far from fully carbon offset so it’ll add to NSW greenhouse gas emissions … at a time when we’re hovering on the brink of a global climate catastrophe.
It just goes to show that the message really hasn’t got through to the average Joe … business as usual just isn’t an option when climate change is already causing havoc.
Not only is this event, like all motorsport, merely pointless, wasteful and polluting ‘entertainment’ (come on guys … it’s not a sport … I was there when Connelly himself called it ‘entertainment’!). It’s also a dinosaur.
For goodness sake … haven’t we got over getting our rocks off over a 19th century invention - the internal combustion engine?
And lets face it, these cars are just penis extensions and most of us are thoroughly underwhelmed by it all.
What a great invention the pinkie wiggle is … well done RTA!
Generations to come … if there are many … will wonder what madness possessed us that we could still think that humans could willingly waste so much time, effort and non-renewable resources trying to get one bloke (and his mate) in a lump of metal to travel a bit of dirt road a second or two faster than another bloke (and his mate) in a lump of metal.
It’s a monumental waste and a joke.
And given the circumstances it’s a very sick one!
This article tells just some of the story! Amazing how the State Government can find $millions (how much is a secret apparently) via Events NSW to help get this rally off the ground, when local hospitals are crying out for funds. In this dodgy economic climate we wonder just how many “thousands” will descend upon our quiet neck of the woods. Those with cash to spend will be staying over on the Coast and probably spending their time and money on the Gold Coast. I cant see them choosing to spend their time in the tent city proposed in the township of Kyogle, when Jupiters etc. etc. awaits them.
We live on one of the roads in the east of Kyogle Shire that is proposed to be used for the rally and are saddened about the noise, dust, aerial traffic and loss of privacy this will bring to our lives and not forgetting the native animals, including koalas, who share our road. The Repco Rally Australia’s tour disclaimer states the sport is dangerous and people can die. We dont want someone getting killed at our mailbox!
We are retired from the workforce and came here from the city to enjoy peace and quiet. This area is beautiful, our local Council, which is Kyogle Council, promotes our area for its connection with the World Heritage Rainforests and “eco tourism”. Lets not forget this event is not just a one-off but returns every 2nd year for ten years. Little people get treated like mushrooms….. we all know how they are treated.
It is not just the beautiful and endangered barred frogs that are at risk from the Repco’s rally. One of the proposed routes, Sargents Road actually runs the length of a koala corridor. These threatened and iconic symbols of Australia will be terrorised by the event and the pre race activities. Cars, dust, noise, helicopters and people. They will not be able to run away. Koalas are present and visable on the verge of Sargents Road. Glossy Black Cockatoos are commonly seen feeding in the verge of the same road. Another threatened species.
And what about the residents who live along the routes. A growing number of these people are saying loud and clear and with very good reasons that they do not want this race on their roads. Are these people being listened to?
In Repco Rally Australias, own words, they say
“motor sport is dangerous and that accidents causing harm can and do happen and may happen to you.”
This is what spectators attending the events will have to sign. It is not very reassuring for the residents who have no choice.
This event is about, noise, dust, pollution, danger, risk, damage and harm.
RRA’s ineffectual community consultation process is presumably the basis for its inference of overwhelming support (more recently, “substantial”), yet many remain unconvinced that more than a small percentage of affected residents have been approached. “It’s clear from our public and private meetings, the letters we receive and the resident surveys we have conducted so far that there is tremendous support”.
Those meetings I’ve attended witnessed a substantial anti-rally presence; my letters clearly stated my opposition to the rally, as did those penned by other concerned residents. RRA assures us of this event’s popularity; why then the need to “encourage” ‘pro-rally’ attendance at February’s public meeting? Can claims of community support be viewed as a legitimate measure of the appropriateness of this event, when untold people’s views have been neither sought nor considered?
RRA talk-up their “environmental initiatives”, but consider. Their Environment Policy Statement aspires to “Zero net harm to the environment”, and presents as RRA’s Vision “That RepcoRallyAustralia is conducted with minimal adverse effects on the environment”! Gratifying, but where, exactly, does RRA propose that this Rally be run? Through National Parks and along fragile creek-side and other wildlife corridors that are home to many at risk, vulnerable and endangered species… very, very fast!
RRA espouses this rally as environmentally-friendly, despite this rally route! “Minimal” = “least possible”; “Zero net harm to the environment” can only = NO rally at all! RRA’s “Vision” could hardly be further removed from the proposed reality of this event! The proposal to run this rally through National Parks and internationally recognised bio-diversity hotspots is unconscionable. “Minimal adverse effects”? Please! There is nothing ‘environmentally-friendly’ about an event of this type! RRA are derisive of their own Environment Policy. That doesn’t engender my trust. Linnie Lambrechtsen, Cawongla
Dear Mr Green
continuation …
Aren’t local authority general managers expected to steer an impartial course ?
With the General Manager and Chief Executive of Tweed Tourism escorting a new and inexperienced Mayor to Sydney for a stakeholders briefing on 24 October 2008, who was representing the potentially affected communities and the environment ?
Are affected communities and the environment also stakeholders ?
It seems, we do not know who the General Manager consults with, but we do know the Chief Executive of Tweed Tourism consults with the larger end of regional business. Is the newly arrived Mayor supposed to have consulted with affected communities and environment stakeholders ?
Why would Tweed Shire’s General Manager want a Director’s role with World Rally Australia Pty Ltd ?
Why would World Rally Australia want our General Manager ?
Could World Rally Australia obtain an advantage from having Council’s General Manager on board in a Director’s role ?
Could council staff processing World Rally Australia’s development application feel influenced because their boss (the General Manager) is aligned with the applicant ?
As a Director of World Rally Australia Pty Ltd is Council’s General Manager a vendor for a development application ?
Could the General Manager, in his dual role, significantly influence (intentionally or unintentionally) the process of World Rally Australia’s development application ?
Is the General Manager’s involvement with World Rally Australia Pty Ltd only for the duration of the company’s development application, or is it for the next ten or twenty years ?
Is the General Manager as a Director of World Rally Australia Pty Ltd a shareholder of that company ?
Could the General Manager become a shareholding at some time in the future ?
How many years remain of the General Manager’s contract with Tweed Shire ?