Security called at Clayton Street Festival after MP refused request to speak

Posted to Leader Newspaper (26/2/2014) on 26/2/2014 at 3:42 PM
Commenting on "Security called at Clayton Street Festival after MP refused request to speak"
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/east/security-called-at-clayton-street-festival-after-mp-refused-request-to-speak/story-fngnvlxu-1226837450798

Inga Peulich should not have assumed what was practised in the past would remain unchanged. The organiser was not a crystal ball gazer who could read her mind. In my unbiased opinion, Inga Peilich's RSVP did imply her giving a speech, no matter how short it was. If she wanted to address the crowd, she should have done the right way by being explicit in her reply, and no one including Geoff Lake could decline her request since she is "servant" of Victorians.

However, Geoff Lake's remark was appalling. He should not use the occasion to gain brownie points for the Labor Party. The festival was supposedly an apolitical event, and saying that Inga Peulich was not to speak at the festival because her government did not help fund the event was naïve to say the least.

Once a govenment is elected, in this case Victoria, whether you like it not Geoff, it is the government for all Victorians, and not only for you or Inga Peulich.

It's time to grow up, you two. Your behaviour in the public is unacceptable and despicable!

Target 155 down the drain

Posted to Waverley Leader (25/2/11) on 26/2/2011 at 11:07 PM
Commenting on "Target 155 down the drain"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/target-155-down-the-drain/

Liberal Government definitely made the wrong decision in ditching the Target 155 campaign,. In business and in life, we set targets and goals not that we will achieve them definitely, but they are something to aim for, to better ourselves in many aspects of performance.

Whether or not it was introduced by the former Labor government or anyone, Target 155 "was" a fantastic idea. Saving water should not be viewed as a policy; it should be a way of life. The best part of Target 155 was that no additional tax was imposed on people using water above the target. The public made conscious and unconscious decisions to conserve this valuable "resource".

By axing the campaign, or more correctly removing this magical target, many will revert back to bad habit using more water, causing increase in household spending, which can either increase household debt, or cannibalise spending on other services.

Target 155 should be synonymous to Keep Australia Beautiful, Cleanup Australia, Planet Ark, Greening Australia, Earth Hour, etc. The program should be expanded instead of being axed.

Greg Male tipped to be mayor

Posted to Waverley Leader (14/12/2010) on 14/12/2010 at 4:26 PM
Commenting on “Greg Male tipped to be mayor”
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/greg-male-to-be-new-monash-mayor/

I hardly hear about the Councillors - they don't appear in or write to the local papers, talk to the traders, or meet the residents

What do they actually do for the City of Monash, except asking more and more for their pockets? Do they know about the City budgets and the wellbeing of their wards

Councillors do attend Council meetings as a formality, but do they contribute constructively, except rubber stamping proposals or discussions? However, when election draws close, they tell the ratepayers what fantastic jobs they have done, or why a particular one should be chosen as the next Mayor.

Local Council is the lowest of the three tier-government system in Australia. While Council structure is not the same as the State and Federal Governments, Councillors are in a way politicians in the making / waiting. Get your butts off and start working for the ratepayers!

Why are there shortages of beds?

Posted to Your News, Waverley Leader on 1/12/2010 at 2:11 PM
Title: Why are there shortages of beds?
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/your-news/story/why-are-there-shortages-of-bedsr/

Ted Baillieu has a tough job ahead, not only on health reform, but also on hospital culture reform.

There are wards in some hospitals not open, tying up many beds. There are no doctors and nursing staff to service them due to lack of funding. If remains at status quo, these wards will never be opened.

When Brumby opened "additional" new beds in hospitals, old beds were shut down, and the staff were reshuffled. In fact, there were hardly additional beds opened during election time.

New wings or buildings of hospitals were not well thought out and lack accommodation. In addition, some hospitals placed unnecessary emphasis on certain racial needs, wasting valuable funding resource.

Like many public services, unused monies before end of financial years are spent on unnecessary renovation or replacement of furniture.

Gidley elated to take Mount Waverley

Posted to Waverley Leader (27/11/2010) on 27/11/2010 at 9:35pm
Commenting on “Gidley elated to take Mount Waverley”
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/gidley-elated-to-take-mt-waverley/

Congratulations to Michael Gidley for your tireless effort to win Mount Waverley back for the Liberal Party. During the ABC election broadcast Michael said that Victorians were not happy with rises in utility bills, and wanted a change. I would like know how a Liberal Government and Michael Gidley can reverse the rises?

Mulgrave Greens want tax review (Post 2 of 2)

Posted to Waverley Leader (13/11/2010) on 16/11/2010 at 10:13am
Commenting on “Mulgrave Greens want tax review”
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/mulgrave-greens-want-tax-review/

It is always easier said than done. Promises are made by Party leaders and candidates during election time to lure votes, but once elected they seem to suffer from memory loss. They might as well come clean from the start and be honest to say that they are not miracle workers.

As consumers, we can complain or voice our dissatisfaction to statutory authority or customer service departments, and in many cases, actions are taken to rectify the problems. Unfortunately, we can't do likewise to a Government. We can't turn to anyone, including the Governor General, to reprimand or punish them for not keeping or delivering their promises.

We should not let these people get away with their false promises and lies. However, there is no way we can hold them accountable. We have to wait for 4 miserable years to “sack” them, and in many occasions, the alternative is no better.

Please don’t just vote for a Party; instead vote for the person who is going to represent you in the Parliament. This person should be a people person, a good marketer who understands your needs and wants, your circumstances, and earns his money for a good day’s work.

Mulgrave Greens want tax review (Post 1 of 2)

Posted to Waverley Leader (16/11/2010) on 16/11/2010 at 9:45am
Commenting on "Mulgrave Greens want tax review"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/mulgrave-greens-want-tax-review/

John Janetzki, if stamp duty is cut, what will replace the revenue shortfall? I hope you are not another politician who specialises in policy-on-the-run, and knows nothing about costing.

Daniel Andrew, please explain a bit more clearly what "the tax needed to be viewed in context" really is in simple, easy to understand everyday ordinary people language. Not only stamp duty needs to be reviewed, but also land tax - which is another rip-off. Superficially Australia is in tip-top shape; this may be true for the banks and big corporations, but many small businesses will tell a different story.

Courtney Mann, what are you going to do about "a whole generation of families who are being priced out of the area" if you are concerned about this? Do you have any idea what the Liberal party's policy is, or hasn't the party any policy on this?

The battle for Mt Waverley

Posted to Waverley Leader (9/11/2010) pn 9/11/2010 at 10:42pm
Commenting on “The battle for Mt Waverley”
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/the-battle-for-mt-waverley/

The political party leaders and candidates should be canonised for their ability to perform miracles in short space of time - yes, all the promises of buckets of money for schools, road, carparks, hospital, housing, police, etc.

The Government and Opposition have four years each term to debate all these issues. They don't have to come out with all these ridiculous promises during campaign time to lure votes. A Government can do a lot without any prior promises - they just allocate the money for the abovementioned things during budget time and materialise them. That's a Utopian Government!

Why do the Opposition only open their traps during election time about what will do if elected? If any Opposition can demonstrate that they have the ability and ways to fix the problems and mess a Government create, speak out in the Parliament. Who won't change his / her voting preference if the Opposition can prove that they can do a better job?

Round-the-clock transport push for Oakleigh (Post 1 of 2)

Posted to Waverley Leader (1/11/2010) on 3/11/2010 at 5:03pm
Commenting on "Round-the-clock transport push for Oakleigh"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/round-the-clock-transport-push-for-oakleigh/

Greens candidate Eleanor Whyte, are you serious about what you meant that a 24-hour public transport service would decrease residents’ need for cars, reducing traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions? How come with at least 18 hours a day of public transport being in operation, the number of cars on the road has not decreased and traffic congestion still exists?

Are you a public transport user yourself? You just don't make sense at all.

Round-the-clock transport push for Oakleigh (Post 2 of 2)

Posted to Waverley Leader (1/11/2010) on 2/11/2010 at 3:14am
Commenting on “Round-the-clock transport push for Oakleigh”
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/round-the-clock-transport-push-for-oakleigh/

I don't respect people with silly ideas, let alone those with idiotic ones. How many people really use the public transport in the middle of the night, and how can anyone with a grain of grey matter in the brain propose the round-the-clock public transport system for Oakleigh?

The buses or trains from Oakleigh will have to go somewhere, which means the "somewhere" will need 24-hour system, and the destination from that "somewhere" will also need 24-hour operation.

In addition to running of the trains, what about manning of train stations (not that all the stations are manned at the present during opening hours)?

The number of people using public transport at these hours is so small that it is cheaper to have subsidised taxis fares, using Rolls Royce, for them. The proposal is policy on the run, and no cost analysis has ever been done before they open their "gaps".

Have these do-gooders ever observed how many people are using the public transport system during off-peak at present? Please don't let these candidates fool you in the next election. Money has to come from your pocket!

Monash councillor Banerji to contest safe Liberal seat

Posted to Waverley Leader (26/1/2010) on 31/1/2010 at 11:14am
Commenting on "Monash councillor Banerji to contest safe Liberal seat"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/monash-councillor-banerji-to-contest-safe-liberal-seat/

Should Liberal win the next election, will Joy Banerji "assist the government in achieving some success" and "further their cause"?

A good politician should represent the people at large, not just to serve the Party. Will she be a good politician from her statement? You'll be the judge!

Melbourne’s $1.5 million party to bring in New Year

Posted to Melbourne Leader on 17/12/2009 at 12:18 AM

Commenting on “Melbourne’s $1.5 million party to bring in New Year”

http://melbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/melbournes-15m-party-to-bring-in-new-year/

Heartless, inhumane, spendthrift, selfish and stupid are the words I can think of to describe Robert Doyle and his fellow Councillors who will spend $643,000 on the New Year's Eve "street party", out of which $224,000 spent for fireworks alone - more aptly up in smoke!

Only senseless idiots would spend a total of $1.5 million, another $500,000 more than last year’s budget on the New Year’s celebration which probably benefits the fireworks factories in China, imported explosive experts, and underpaid overseas students to clean up the mess. This is no difference from the Rudd’s Government mismanaging the money of the people.

I'm absolutely disgusted that the Councillors do not spare some thought for the homeless and unemployed, who could share the money to buy some decent food or clothing to welcome the New Year.

Robert Doyle and fellow Councillors, do you understand homeless and unemployment rates are not numbers but real human’s suffering? Before you spend that money, check up the words “hunger”, “human dignity”, “self-esteem”, “cardboard boxes” from a dictionary.

(Robert Doyle is the Mayor of City of Melbourne)