2 June 2008

Eviction Rockshow Video

| slaxwarez
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I noticed on the Canberra vote’s website that the eviction did not go all that well for Barr. It looks like it was a bit of a rockshow at that end of the night. The Canbbera Times was wrong when they said the fence went up on Saturday. I wonder how much this all is going to cost us in the end. Did anybody go there for the eviction?

Canberra Votes has the video of the Cottage Open day here.

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I still think a short term tenancy, to be renewed until Molonglo is ready and the govt is actually ready to use the bldg as a community resource would have been better. and wouldn’t have sent people up in arms.

Now this community resource is a drain on the community, as we pay for fencing and guards.

The reason the eviction was on Saturday was because it was the last day of the month. ACTPLA did the official handover of the ownership of the property over to TAMS. It’s like that with every other property handover.

As for why they couldn’t just stay in there, it’s a government owned building, TAMS has to abide by its property guidelines. It was decided by the powers that be that it become a community resource so the site needed to be processed as such. If one group of people got special treatment then everybody else would be up in arms about double standards and it’s an abuse of government power and blah blah blah… damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

They’ve had plenty of time to organise a new place to live so it isn’t like they’ve been pulled out of their beds in the middle of the night and thrown on the streets, which is how the bleeding hearts certainly make it seem.

They had permission dating from before self-govt. They sought a lease but none was forthcoming. This decision to evict is more Stanhope govt arrogance. Can’t wait for Oct to wield my vote and evict THEM!

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy3:36 pm 03 Jun 08

Norvan – keep posting and hang around. Despite the BS, there are some moderately intelligent views expressed here from time to time (just not by me).

Now that Norvan’s visibly reading RiotACT, I’ll give him the same warnings we gave to Margo Kingston before she blew herself out of the water.

DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS.
DO NOT TAKE ANY BAIT LEFT LYING AROUND.
DO NOT DIRECTLY INSULT YOUR POTENTIAL VOTERS.

Although, feel free to have a few screaming rants about things on the site, it helps keep the black bile and yellow biles in balance, and shows some degree of personality (which other candidates seem to be lacking)

As one of the voters in your electorate I will only offer the advice:
Don’t fuck it up*.

Uh… people live in heritage listed houses all over the place don’t they?

Skidbladnir – I pondered the same. I think the answer is in s125 of the Constutiton – no freehold land in the Territory; adverse possession can’t apply to a lease.

In response to Norvan: human rights issues were addressed in that the residents were given notice, a hearing before the court and more notice. If the residents verily believe their human rights have been trampled on, the Human Rights Act gives further avenues.

Norvan – CAP sounded like a possibility – but now it’s pretty clear you are simply another conspiracy theory ranter. Like we need more.

Why do we have to pay? Because the tenants listed the property to be considered for heritage listing.

If they didn’t move into an abandoned house where they had no legal right to be we would not be in this mess.

Norvan: Why do I as a rate payer have to pay for Mr Barr’s incompetence?

No good reason, thats for sure. I think there is a large problem with politics at the moment that a government can’t be seen to change its stance on an issue, or else risk being seen as flip flopping and generally being hopeless. If Barr did turn around and say ‘Yup. Got it wrong, they can stay.’ he may well be vilified even more than what he will for ‘sticking to his guns’. The same goes for federal labour means testing the solar rebate. Governments make mistakes, they should be allowed to realise this, and change policy, without being labelled hopeless, or at least not getting more stick than they would for forcing a bad policy on us.

The thing that got me angry enough to get involved was in the inhumane way in which they where evicted. Wether Peter and Jenny where meant to be living in the cottage or not is by and by, and could have been settled with out the conflict and defiantly without the huge expense. It did not have to come the despicable show of politically motivated shenanigans that happened last Saturday night. What has been achieved and for what ultimate cost? Why evict this family under the cover of darkness on a Saturday night? Was it to avoid the news? Why do I as a rate payer have to pay for Mr Barr’s incompetence? I would have though that leaving the Farrells in situ to act as caretakers on a month to month tenancy arrangement (which the Farrells were prepared to do since January) would have far outweighed the now significant costs of fencing the property and providing a round the clock permanent security presence, especially in light of no declared immediate plans for the property. Georgetee you may think I’m a git, but I am sick of the way this government that wastes our money, I would have thought that you would too?

Norvan Vogt
Candidate for Molonglo
Community Alliance Party

Why not make a claim of adverse possession?
Its been 28 years…

Whinge whinge whinge!

If my landlord told me that I was to move out of a house I’d been living in*, gave buggerloads of notice, then went to court to get an eviction order I’d just move out and find somewhere else.

*whether or not there was a lease, whether or not anyone wanted a lease, whether or not I’d paid anything, whether or not I’d spent a lot making the house pretty…&c.

Hey Sizer they were not paying rent, that was the problem.

bunch of gits! there was nothing wrong with what happened

Mike Crowther9:31 pm 02 Jun 08

It’s not just a Molongolo issue Skid. Barr is the Minister responsible for workplace safety. If he has engineered this event to try and minimise media scrutiny at the expense of safe work practices, that is of interest to everyone. (Even we westies out here in Ginninderra.)

What sort of a planning minister factors in fence-building after sunset on a weekend?

Sizer, shouldn’t the CAP Molongolo candidate be the one harnessing the power of Barr’s wind for electoral gain, instead of the Brindabella candidate?

Yes I was there.

Appalling abuse of power, to achieve what?

Instead of accepting rent from model tenants, Andrew Barr has committed our taxes to around the clock security guards and security fencing. At what price? Assume $60per hour for a guard, that is $1440 per day $10,080 per week, and this could be the situation for some months to come yet. The ACT Gov’t were going to bulldoze the place and still don’t know what to do with it.

Barr must have though he had it so well planned. As soon as WIN and Canberra Times left, in rolls a truck with fencing on it. By now it is well and truly dark (hmm why do the ACT’s first night time weekend eviction?).

The workers follow orders and start tryinmg to erest the security fence under the cover of darkness. Stumbling through the gardens, pitch black, no lights. Then when they go to back their truck up the just miss hitting live unmarked powerlines.

Fortunately for the workers, onlookers, unlike the Workplace Safety Minister (Barr), were concerned for the workers’ safety and contacted both the fencing contractor’s head office and ACT WorkCover, bringing work to a halt.

Then the comedy got worse.

TAMS send out an ACT Govt vehicle (another public servant getting overtime $$$)with some floodlights. Problem solved? Oh no, they forgot the extension leads. Can’t borrow any, they are locked in the house. And the only key (the one the Commonwealth Minister for Territories gave the tenants, or as Barr refers to them “illegal squatters”) has been dutifully handed over during the immensely peaceful (so why send 8 cops?)eviction process.

Extra guards called out for the night, fence went up in daylight.

What action would have been taken against a private landlord who acted in such a way? Or does the Minister responsible believe that he is above the law?

If all evictions are handled this way the govt would go broke very fast.

I hope Canberra Votes got some good video because it was a shameful display of a junior minister flexing his muscle without any moral ground to stand on. What would his defence be if a worker was injured?

Guess WIN TV will have the soft story on it tonight, pity they weren’t there to see the fencing fiasco.

Jonathon Reynolds6:25 pm 02 Jun 08

I actually covered the entire eviction process including the fiasco where they had to stop work on the fencing because TAMS/fencing contractor were in breach of OH&S legislation.

Due to the vagaries of google video, it has been uploaded but not been processed by the google severs yet. I may see if I can chunk the shoot (48mins) for youtube instead.

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