24 August 2005

ESA offices "terrorist target", childcare told to move

| Kerces
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A childcare centre that shares the Emergency Services Authority’s building in Curtin is being asked to move because the building is a potential terrorist target (CT story here).

The owner of the centre, Mark Gillett, says that Emergency Services Minister John Hargreaves told him ESA chief Peter Dunn told him the building is a “high priority terrorist target” and for the kiddies’ saftey they should be moved out. Of course, Mr Hargreaves is now denying ever pressuring the childcare centre to move and Mr Dunn is refusing to comment.

There’s also been all kinds of complications with leases not being granted for long enough and stuff like that.

Mr Gillett does make the interesting point that there is also a childcare centre in Russell Offices, which one might suppose to be more of a terrorist target than our ESA bureau.

UPDATE: Vicki Dunne has weighed in to the debate, asking all kinds of tricky questions that never occurred to me, such as, “If that is true [that the ESA is a terrorist target], why has Teddy Bears been granted a six month lease? Why haven’t they been moved out immediately?”

FURTHER UPDATE: SpinStartsHere have taken up cudgels on this to hilarious effect.

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For a terrorist looking to destabilise Canberra the ESA is the last place they’d want to target.

The high-level bureaucrats of that organisation do a better job of harming Canberra during major emergencies than any terrorist could.

Terrorism is the new black, nothing to see here, move along.

Samuel Gordon-Stewart5:23 pm 23 Aug 05

around the hill, down the road, up the ramp…if you can’t work that out then you shouldn’t be allowed to be a terrorist.

Yes get the kiddies away immediately! The last I heard the terrorist target list read:
1. Sydney Water Supply
2. Melbourne Electricity Board
3. Emergency Services Authority’s building in Curtin.
Beware of terrorists asking for directions to Curtin.

True, it’s not like Canberra could be destabilised by bombing a reliable public transport network, but I’d think one of our brothels to consumerism (i.e. shopping malls) might be more effective.

Who better to be able to look after the kiddies AFTER a terrorist incident than ESA ?

They are probably in the best spot to be looked after!

The fact that the location is a target is absolute bullshit. Terrorists would have a better success rate in destabilising Canberra by bombing any given brothel in Fyshwick.

Pardon the pun, but then we’d be fucked.

Maybe they should be more concerned about angry residents from Weston Creek attacking the building, rather than some ‘international’ terrorist group?

Terrorism is gradually being discovered by many organisations, especially government, to be a versatile concept to bring in to bat for you when you want to do something that someone else objects to.

Terrorism is bad enough already. We need our public officials to stop exploiting it in order to get their way. It doesn’t help that our prime minister has always set a prime example of how to get one’s own way through underhanded means.

Samuel Gordon-Stewart1:27 pm 23 Aug 05

The question I ask is this:
“Which one of these two locations and organisations is better equipped to protect the little kiddies?”

I would suggest that the department of defence would win hands down, because ESA aren’t capable of organising a flea market, let alone protecting anything.

That is my impression of the administration anyway, I’m sure the non-administrative people are quite competent, but severley hampered by the loony admins.

sorry, pissed-fingers; that should read;

I think that the real reason behind this is that the poser and wanker contingent of ESA find it difficult to look hardcore and cool with children playing in the vicinity.

There’s also one in the Treasury building if anyone really cares.

I had thought that ESA were to supposed to move out to new offices in Fyshwick (as opposed to Hume). I may have been living under a rock but I thought the deal was signed, sealed and delivered. In fact I know that the new comm’s equipment required to be in a location such as Fyshwick to function at an optimum level…

This boggles the mind, but the real stroy is that we have a small business operator being diddled by the Gov’t. Where is the problem in being up front and telling him one way or the other? The Gov’t don’t have to give any other reason not to renew his lease than to say that ESA requires the space. if that’s the case then so be it.

I think that the real reason behind thid in that the poser and wanker contingent of ESA find it difficult to look hardcore and cool with children playing in the vicinity.

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