Tag Archives: cagerattler

The Say

by Cagerattler

I’ve resisted the temptation until now to mention the Tasmanian Election but…regarding the Regional Forestry Agreement  surely the new government won’t cancel the whole thing after the mountain of work it took to reach an agreement. That would be an insult to everyone involved on both sides. This agreement required some fairly major concessions on both sides  and whilst not perfect by any means (the stated opinion of the various groups involved) it is as good as it can be.

Why do you think that a ‘mandate’ exists to pull apart this.  The election result was probably a result of many things, not just the RFA, and to use the mandate excuse is presumptuous at the very least.

I already know this new mob will struggle to implement many of their promises in the timeframes they suggest but this Forestry deal is extremely complex and difficult, and to say they will throw it out before there’s been any chance of seeing what might happen is pretty short sighted.

It deserves some sort of consideration surely. We’ll wait and see what happens next.

On a local matter… Now that the bottom reservoir is drained for safety reasons (apparently a gushing issue as a good friend was told) would someone from TasWater please put up more safety fencing. There is a very rickety walkway, a pretty steep drop and other matters there;  whilst it’s being repaired it could be a risk to small   children or pets especially. I only ask  because I know that any potential risk needs to be  identified. I hope TasWater can attend to this sooner rather than later as it would probably be considered a workplace and new regulations are pretty  uncompromising in workplaces these days.

What do you think? Rod McGiveron

46.21 March 27th, 2014

Skyline Tier Project launch, Trivia Night at the St Marys Sports and Social Centre, ‘A Red Flag in Front of a Bull’, Break O’Day Jane Austen Festival, Break O’Day Regional Arts Workshops, ‘Faust’,  LINC 26TEN award winners, ABC Northern Tasmania broadcasts from St Marys, Cagerattler, Out Of The Woodwork…

The Say

By Cagerattler

Last night ABC TV showed a story that revolved around the Australian car industry’s demise,  focusing mainly on GMH.

I am in real fear of this current philosophy of the Federal Government’s policy on no longer subsidizing heavy industry. I think not helping these companies out is SO WRONG.

The main issue for me whilst watching this thought-provoking report was concern for the parts manufacturers (which number in the hundreds as it happens) that supply components to Ford, Holden and Toyota. One industry analyst said that  44,000 jobs were directly affected and about 198,000 indirectly. How can this happen?

Our Government has this seeming preoccupation with returning the economy to surplus, to the detriment of manufacturing industries. If I ever get the chance to ask a serving Federal Liberal member how they can sleep at night by supporting such policies I will. And it’s not just the car industry either unfortunately – this stupidly selfish government policy is affecting, or will affect, so many other manufacturing arms and just so the Prime Minister can say “Oh good, we returned the economy to surplus.”

Australia is one of the world’s most resource-rich  economies, yet downstream processing of our own resources jobs is being sent offshore so we can buy it back at cheap prices…Why can’t Australian governments, of all persuasions, take a more holistic approach and     definitely a much longer term look at things instead of all this rubbish? When we lose across-the-board manufacturing industries we lose our skills base too and become a country reliant on imports as time goes on; if we continue to pander to countries buying our  country right from  under our noses what do we finish up as?

It has to stop. We have to say to this crazy government ‘You can’t do this… Stick up for us… Don’t sell us off’.

I have a clear conscience. I didn’t vote for this mob whose lack of support for the car industry hasn’t helped at all.

Time to reflect on ANZAC Day…I was telling my US friend about ANZAC day and how we ‘commemorate’  rather than  ‘celebrate’ this hugely important part of our identity as a nation, and how the sacrifices by the original diggers on April 25th 1915, the weeks and months before that day at the very early part of the Great War and in World War II, and all conflicts right up until now are not and never will be forgotten.

The ultimate sacrifice by so many,  but also those who lived the rest of their lives with terrible handicaps and disabilities, cannot be allowed to be taken for granted – not ever.

What do you  think?

Rod McGiveron.

Letter to Cagerattler

Dear Cagerattler

I do enjoy your column “The Say”, even though I don’t always agree with your opinion.   But that is what’s good about the Valley Voice; there is such a varied  content.

I do however agree whole-heartedly with your last article regarding the Schapelle spectacle. The media frenzy which was stirred up about her case was ludicrous in the extreme, as was the amount of air time foisted on the  public; her appearances in court and the scramble through the waiting press, all leading up to the PAROLE.

Whether or not this lady was guilty is beside the point.   What was noticeable was the amount of attention paid to a very attractive young woman who should have known better than to travel to a country which banned the importation of drugs. I sometimes wondered if the guards enjoyed the opportunity to have such close contact with her to get her to and fro with each appearance!

The  melee to get the first pictures, the first ‘story’, the filming rights, the book (no doubt there will be one), not  to mention the money involved, made a farce out of the whole sorry drama. It became a charade and made my blood boil.

Sometimes I feel our media are pathetic in the way they approach a ‘story’.  Current affair-type programmes on TV go in for sensationalism, and often seem to prefer to show people screaming at each other over some believed insult rather than concentrating on the good that so many others quietly do.  And some of our politicians are no  better, for personal insults and derogative comments are often made in and out of Parliament, and unfortunately our media seem intent on making sure we hear/read all about it.  This encourages the ‘pollies’ who wallow in this type of interview to get more ‘air time’. Thankfully they are not all the same.

I could go on, but have said enough.  So thank you, Rod, for your column which I hope you will continue to write.

Many regards,  Toni Brewster, Chain of Lagoons.

The Say

by Cagerattler

Isn’t it great to see the Recreation Ground Camping area getting used how we hoped it would.  It has to be good for the local businesses too.

The other night I was over there walking my dogs and got talking to one of the campers. He reckoned that he’d been travelling for many years and we were one of the most accommodating, friendly and best places he’d come across. The best part for me though was that most of our secret is word of mouth because campers talk to other campers. Isn’t that fantastic?

That’s the good news.  Now, Council… What about looking at establishing areas designated for backpacking campers too? Some do this anyway but the original idea was to have a sheltered area set aside to let the ‘tenters’ have a nice spot to pitch the ol’ tepee or wigwam… That’d be awesome and continue the good work already done, first by the original steering group and later by Council.  Establishing something that we can be really proud of.  This leads me to an associated issue…

The Streetscape – has it been thrown into the too-hard basket, deferred, cancelled or something in between? What’s the problem? If it’s good enough to find the money for a proposed new hospital site for St Helens (which I do think is needed but could be several years away) why not start work in St Marys, Fingal and other places? Funds were supposed to be set aside when the Council  initially agreed to improve infrastructure, quite a few years ago now. Quite frankly, Mayor and Council, it’s about time that at the very least a bit of good forward  action or plan could be made known to us all.

I wonder if the sticking point is the parking issue? MAKE A DECISION EITHER WAY ON THAT…and the rest of us will get used to the end result and accept it. It’s that simple.

It’s about time for someone to say or do something, otherwise five years down the track we’ll still be talking about it…It can be done. Look at the Recreation Ground utilisation as a great example…IT DOES WORK.

What do you think? Rod McGiveron

The Say

By Cagerattler

This is not Schapelle Corby persecution, this is about the power of the media and this coverage is a good example of  how much power mainstream media has.

A couple of weeks ago, once again, like with so many other “ big news stories” the TV, radio and print media spent huge chunks of time and money inundating us with this story.  If Corby had been convicted in Australia, not a foreign country, we probably wouldn’t have heard too much about it and it may well have been consigned to an indiscriminate little spot on page 7 or something.

However, and ONLY because it would increase sales  and in turn  advertising, the story was made into a big deal, not least during the trial…and the carry-on with the  sentencing… and so on.

Sound familiar?

Remember the Lindy Chamberlain trial by media in the early 1980s,  until she was finally acquitted  many years later? Countless magazines jumped on the sensationalism of the case, as did  several TV shows, film  and mainstream news.

Anyone who thinks ‘the public needs to know’ dictates the nature/veracity of popular media content is quite frankly naïve in the extreme. Time after time this goes on.

At   election time media portrays politicians as they want to or need to (as the case may be)…and sometimes it’s more  important to depict how they say things and not so much what they actually say. Who cares what dress or pantsuit Julia Gillard wore, but the bloody media made her appearance seem important for some reason or other.

Back to the Corby case. Over the past nine years, regular media leaking of her depression and other personal matters has occurred, to keep the case simmering in the back of our minds; fanning the flame would keep it alive for the parole which would undoubtedly happen.

In Australia Schapelle would not have been considered  newsworthy.  The elements of the case (Indonesia, alleged corrupt authorities, an aussie in strife overseas and other contributing factors) enhanced with the power of the media and its need of financial success, made a criminal (convicted  by an international court) some sort of hero or cult figure.

Whether she did or did not commit the crime is almost incidental. Our perceptions can be manipulated by media, and rather than just reporting the actual facts they think they need to embellish…and probably make a mini series, TV special, cover magazine articles etc. It’s reprehensible and readers/viewers are treated to superficial/incorrect content rather than  information, valid opinion and real news.

Personally I’d love to ask a media CEO  ‘if the Corby case had happened here, would you have given a toss?’

What do you think? Rod McGiveron

The Say

by Cagerattler

It doesn’t seem too long since the last Valley Voice of  2013 but suddenly here we go again.  Like I do every year, can I just remind those who read the Voice that Cagerattler is a chance to touch on many and varied subjects. I never claim to ALWAYS do tons of research on a subject but the main object in the past decade or so is to get people talking about mostly local, but occasionally wider range subjects.

If you disagree with what I write  and you see it totally differently  then please write a reply – that’s the whole idea. I make a point of not personally attacking anyone by mentioning actions, decisions or impending decisions that affect us all. Also the opinions of this column are not necessarily those of the Valley Voice.

A few weeks ago a stupid, selfish person or persons  decided to break into the Woodcraft Guild/Men’s Shed and take much of their hard earned, integral tools and equipment and didn’t even leave a tiny amount of petty cash for day to day incidentals behind – as small an amount as it was.

Continue reading

The Say

By Cagerattler.

Last week I was walking around town and was disturbed to see how overgrown the parks and general public areas were, and wondered what any visitors would have thought as they passed through or stopped for a spell. At one time I was a greenkeeper and know that this is the peak growth period of the year, but it’s also leading into the busy season and our Council has to be ready for this.

In contrast it seemed that the coastal areas were not to any great extent as overgrown in the public areas, as evident  earlier in the week.

On a slightly similar theme we talked at work about who is responsible for nature strips. Two or three different opinions came forth, all with valid points, but after issues recently dealing with workplace safety and occupational health and safety matters a whole can of worms appears i.e. legally, if whilst in the process of mowing your (Council owned) nature strip you injure  person/s, property of even yourself. As one of my workmates said, he found it difficult to understand why you wouldn’t want your strip to look its best and this was one of the few places that council maintains these areas…fair point indeed and as a couple of others said that if an indemnity existed to protect the householder, ratepayer or renter they’d have no issues mowing sometimes largish areas adjacent to their house. Is this the case though?…Is there an indemnity for such work and if not can our council seek to address that? For the record I generally run the mower over the small bit outside my property but given recent pedantic rules and regulations (bordering on insanely ridiculousl over the top rules on less serious risks) it made me wonder more about mowing and the real risks involved with that in a public area.

On the main point though, regarding the parks, Town Hall area and roadside verges not associated with properties, I hope the BODC will try to be a lot more vigilant than of late with this very basic and fundamental service that our rates must surely partially finance. Thankfully in the past few days some of this work is being addressed prior to Christmas…that’s good.

Finally, as this is the last Valley Voice for the year, I’d like to thank Wendy Dawson, our hard working editor,  in her first year in the job for being so amazing to deal with. She’s been great.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas/New Year break, not least Wendy and her fabulous crew, and all things being equal, see you in 2014…

What do you think? Rod McGiveron.

The Say

By Cagerattler…

As we approach Christmas,  the warmer weather and holiday makers I  never cease to be amazed by the inconsiderate acts of some people out there. I do a lot of walking in the bush and all too often I come across  evidence of those who choose to dump their trash in the bush, even farm animal carcasses. Why can’t these idiots be caught and prosecuted? What about the native wildlife that can injure themselves, get caught up or eat remains that’ll make them sick? Then there’s others who visit our area and see the trash scattered in the bush or rest areas; that must make them think twice about us. A couple of years ago there were only a few places, mainly on Mt Nicholas that I found such rubbish, but now I’ve come across all sorts of stuff in at least four other places…If you are one of these people too lazy or cheap to use a skip bin or visit the tip, please stop – it’s no good for anyone.

Now the good news. I was fortunate to spend a few minutes last weekend with Heather at the Mad=Mudd, a new business in town in the old clothing store premises. What an interesting and enthusiastic lady she is and the variety of high quality crafts was incredible, all hand made and sometimes using materials that would otherwise not be  considered of great value, such as crushed glass. The other exciting thing is that Heather and Steve will be running classes later on to share some of these skills and will feature a kids’ corner for our talented local kids. Let’s hope the new  business flourishes. Heather also mentioned that it was important to cater for local clientèle as much as tourists so go and have a look – you won’t be disappointed.

Finally to the respondent to my comments two issues back. I hope your questions were answered in the most recent Valley Voice on the Streetscape issue. Whilst I don’t agree with all your response I can see some good points you make and appreciate your time to write in and express your views..That’s great, and thanks.

What do you think?  Rod McGiveron.