New Business Levy to clean up Civic

brought in industrial manslaughter as a crime/ what a crowning achievement, now that virtually every oz jurisdiction other than us has either refused it or gotten rid of it, where it will go when the current ACT Govt goes. There is ample scope under normal manslaughter legislation (and I’d an ex-solicitor type such as Stanhope to realise that).

What did he rebuild after the fires that insurance companies didnt pay for?

NYE fireworks only re-introduced after public pressure from canning it last year.

And publically stood by someone who has committed a criminal offence who wanted to resign.

He’s a real corker!

And to sign off I still think rubbish collection is core business for local government so the traders shouldn’t have to pay for it.

Its a bit like pay parking. A tax that you have when you can’t call it a tax.

Cheers

Anon,

You were the first to raise the issue of people having short memories, not me. I simply reinforced the comment by suggesting that people have even shorter memories.

What I am saying is that Stanhope stood up and made sure that he was seen as the man in charge, that he took the kudos, that he was ultimately responsible, that the buck stopped with him.

As it transpired, it didn’t, and now nine of his people are being protected by being shielded from the coroner. Of course, it must also be noted that the coroner is only there to find out what happened, not to find out who was responsible.

You will also note that I was not actually very complimentary about Carnell either, although I do think she did more for Canberra at a time when it was needed, than the current government.

bonfire, can you give some examples of how Canberra was vibrant and interesting (in a good way) under Carnell (V8 race not withstanding).

Along with the bill of rights, which I agree is a stupid wank and things like the Canberra plan (in which we obviously disagree on in that think it’s a good thing) the ALP government has:
Legalised abortion
Brought in industrial manslaughter as a crime
Raised the rate of pay for public servants to a competitive level
Started construction on the GDE
Rebuilt from the bushfires
Introduced like the Celebrate Canberra concert, the around town events and the NYE fireworks
Increased the use of ACTION buses

And that’s just off the top of my head, there is a bigger (and more full of political BS) list here:

http://www.act.alp.org.au/election2004/achievements.html

Also guys Section 83 was sold by Carnell, so you can blame her for the parking stuff ups in Civic.

Thumper, again you miss the point. The context is that that statement by Stanhope was actually saying “now is not the time for finger pointing” not “it’s all my fault”, which is what your quote made it look like. Now I don’t like the way the coroner has been treated much, but it is an independent inquiry in which the government feels like it’s being unfairly treated. You may disagree, but that’s why we have a legal system in place to work it out (which has actually stated that the corner has no power to conduct the inquiry in the first place, which the government isn’t happy with either as it wants an inquiry just not under the current coroner). Your issues with the coronial enquiry have nothing to do with your initial Stanhope quote.

Bonfire, you’re right (and apologies for hitting ‘Say It’ twice BTW)I ‘d prefer the ACT to be what it was before self-government -and particularly before Stanhope- but if it has to be a Labor government, then I’d prefer it to be headed by someone like John Button or Barry Cohen, who both at least liked the arts and understood that you don’t buckle to the artzmafia.

i think its amazing that any pro carnell statement is immediately seized upon by the softheaded labor good liberal bad cadres.

i miss teh old girl. canberra was vibrant and interesting. johnny had slashed and housing and job security was spiralling. through careful management carnell and crew did a very good job, despite softheaded independents.

ok she played hard and fast with some of teh details and came a cropper eventually, but i think that the booming cosmopolitan city of today is starkly different to the staid canberra which preceded carnell.

so what has stanhope and co achieved ?

lots of plans and consultations. ideological idiocy aka human rights act. reversed few of teh things it whinged about when in opposition. still sells off public assets etc.

when people (ie you the voter) lose the labor/liberal blinkers which help you ignore achievements by a dedicated leader with drive and the ability to inspire people, maybe you will be a bit more positive.

Context?

And the time came to pass for someone to be found responsibile and our brave CM immediately started legal action to stop an inquiry to find out what went wrong….

What context would that be?

Touche…

This is funny and entertaining.

I like Stanhope. I also liked Kate Carnell. Is that ok?

LG Enjoying everyone’s comments immensely…

That should be: it went something along the lines of it not being the time to blame and if people needed to hold anyone responsible then hold him responsible

Except of course that statement actually had a context, which you seem to be ignoring. From memory (because I can’t find any info on that press conference online) it went something along the lines of it not being to blame and if people needed to hold anyone responsible then hold him responsible. I don’t think people forgotten that statement, nor do they see it in a bad light.

The quotee in Crikey had it right – “StanDOPE” – and add me to the list of people who like Kate.

The quotee in Crikey had it right – “StanDOPE” – and add me to the list of people who like Kate.

hehehe…

I quite liked Kate as well, although she did run off the rails a tad….

Cheers

I think a hike in Civic parking fees is more equitable. This ensures that people who actually use Civic contribute to the cost of its beautification. It also spreads the cost over a larger base.

Thumper I could so high five you right now!

Anon,

Yep, people do have short memories.

‘I am responsible’. Does that ring a bell after two thirds of the ACT burnt to a cinder?

I am yet to find a PM, Premier or Chief Minister that I feel is honest or trustworthy. So I liked Kate Carnell, and I didn’t think she did such a bad job, ok? (And I am a member of the bloody ALP, before you start with the “pro liberal” bullshit.)

At least she had a presence. I didn’t know who Jon Stanhope WAS until the fires.

Easy Anon. Some people vote for people because they like them, some vote for parties because they like the party, some vote purely on one policy or idea. That’s the cool thing about a democracy, you can vote for who you choose.
Carnell overall, did a good job but came a cropper in the end. And that aint bad, every dog has her day, then paints an oval green.

So it doesn’t matter what she did, if you liked her then it’s OK?

I don’t have a short memory at all. I liked her, ok?

Even though she was forced to quit in shame? What short memories we have.

I liked Kate Carnell….. If she came back I’d probably vote for her!

I never said you were party political, just your last comment. I’d say any feeling of “cultural richness” under the Carnell government was entirely coincidental and subjective as I certainly didn’t feel any. Conversely I feel that we currently have a government that is leading the country on areas such as social justice, industrial relations, and reproductive freedom actually representing the views on those issues of the majority of Canberrans. Again YMMV but I’m not sure what “fun” things apart from the V8 Race Stanhope and Co. have scrapped and we now also get the Celebrate Canberra festival and the Australia Day Concert, half decent NYE fireworks, along with things like the Garema Place film screenings over summer and Jazz at Reconciliation Place, none of which we used to get under Carnell. For me at least there is a lot more that I’m interested in going on now than there was then.

oops now sorry

Look on the bright side JB. We know have more revenue from N/bourne Ave with drivers constantly being booked for 70k’s. The water restrictions will allow us to pay more for our water. however we will still be billed under the current system. Why change a system that has everyone in the higher rate. Bunda Street will be a shopping mekka. Don’t know where they will park but still it will be there. We still have the bush fire inquest to come ….now really what more do you need .

I’d have to agree. The late 90s were a kind of vibrant time, even though they may have come at a price.

However, you can hardly call now vibrant and exciting. It appears at the present that our current government is hell bent on making this place as dull and boring as possible, and using our bloody money to do so.

Or is it that they are4 simply to inelpt to actually make a big decision and so instead they simply snipe around the sides, make superficial changes here and there, do lots of studies and planning, but not much else.

Well it’s always good to be breaking new ground.

In ’97 when I came back to Canberra after being away for a few years it was a city transformed. Ihere was energy, There was fun, there was a cultural richness bubbling along.

This is purely a subjective judgment, but I don’t feel you can say that about Canberra these days.

We have a squalid inner city, decaying infrastructure, permanent water restrictions because we’re too gutless to engage in sensible pricing.

we’ve buggered up our arterial roads to make a useless cycle path.

We’ve taken the best economic conditions of our generation and the first blush of the GST revenues, and still the city looks and feels worse than it was.

That’s just my opinion, but if you think i’m “Party Political” then frankly you don’t read much around here. Or perhaps you just don’t read very well?

That has got to be the most one eyed party political, factually untrue statement you’ve ever posted JB, and that’s saying something. I’m not sure where to begin with it…

The Carnell government managed to maintain surpluses though selling off public assets (half of ACTEW for example) and not raising the rates of pay for the public service, loosing a lot of the best people to the Feds and the private sector. It’s like in the end of Ansett where they were making profits by not maintaining the planes, sure it made the balance sheet look good but it just digs you into a deeper the hole.

Conversely this mob have managed to catch up with federal rates of pay, not have to sell off assets and still deliver hefty surpluses.

And if your idea of leaving a city better than you found it involves painting dead grass green then I’m doubly glad I don’t live in a city you run.

Carnell Government got the ACT into surplus budgets through difficult financial times and left the city looking better than they found it.

What can we say of the current lot?

On the original point, this sort of service is supposed to be covered by basic rates.

Maybe the ACT Government should incorporate Civic as a city in its own right and leave the locals to look after themselves?

Can’t see them giving up that kind of power.

Too distracted with looking after their mates and pursuing the chief minister’s social agenda to look after the basic things they were actually elected to do.

It doesn’t matter who outsourced cleaning, it is a core responsibility of government and if this current government stopped wasting funds on things like $500K on the new bus lane plan, etc, then maybe a new levy (tax) wouldn’t have to be introduced.

Frankly I think this government’s financial management is as bad as the Carnell government.

No I am just worried that all businesses in the ACT, wether they are in the city limits or not will be paying for something, through this levy that they no tangible benefit from. What is the point of a hardware store in Tuggeranong paying for bueatification that brings very little economic benfit to it?

Poor bloody pigeons! I hope I don’t come back in my next life as a pigeon in Civic.

That’s what the pidgeons are for.

I wish that places like SouthPac, ICBM, etc had to clean up all the vomit around Civic after a Fri/Sat night!

Fair go, atnas. The money has to come from somewhere.

Would you prefer that the ACT gov’t lifted rates on all residents of Canberra?

It was the libs who outsourced the garbage wasn’t it, and with long term contracts I’d doubt they could change it all that easily even if they wanted to. From my understanding it will be civic business only, which is fair enough as they seem to spend all their time whinging about the mess *COUGH* JOHN HANNA *COUGH*.