16 March 2015

Skywhale for sale?

| duckylucky
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I read over the weekend that the Skywhale, and the company that operates it, are for sale.

Does anyone know what the commercial arrangements where when the ACT Government paid for the balloon to be built in the first place? I’m wondering if there was any arrangement in the contract if the company flopped that the Skywhale would be returned?

If that’s not the case, it sounds to me like a poor business decision.

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Perhaps the Austereo network could buy it, float it above the lake, filled with Hydrogen and harpoon it with a skyrocket next SkyFire.

neanderthalsis2:06 pm 17 Mar 15

I do believe that Katy Gallagher should hire it for her first day as a Senator after the next election. It would make a fitting vehicle for her foray into federal politics after having been such a conscientious and accountable Minister.

The vision of Katy arriving on the hill in Skywhale flinging confetti made from shredded health department documents would be a sight to remember.

It should be equipped with motors and cameras and used to track the Japanese whaling fleets.

The thing should be purchased by the current government and it should be tethered in a prominent place to remind us daily of how lucky we are to have such visionary and vibrant leaders.

Skywhale works out to be better value than the $11k cardboard train. ACT gov has money to burn, while the rest of us eat cake.

vintage123 said :

The ACT government released a tender to five companies to particpate, however only Cameron balloons from the UK responded. The design cost 9k. The manufacturing cost 160k and the remainder 131k consisted of around 20flight hours for testing and 20flight hours for display. The designer owns the artistic IP, Cameron Balloons owns the asset and no further contract exists with the ACT government.

The Skywhale was flown a handful of times in Canberra – but our $300,000 subsidised many, many flights in other parts of the country. We did not get anything like our money’s worth – and there was, negligently on the part of the Gallagher Government, no requirements for Skywhale to acknowledge the Centenary or the fact that Canberra was paying for it. I’d say Canberra’s Centenary bureaucrats expected to get more out of it. They just didn’t have the brights to organise a proper contract. And the Skywhal owners drove through the gaps in that contract in Mack Trucks!

The ACT government released a tender to five companies to particpate, however only Cameron balloons from the UK responded. The design cost 9k. The manufacturing cost 160k and the remainder 131k consisted of around 20flight hours for testing and 20flight hours for display. The designer owns the artistic IP, Cameron Balloons owns the asset and no further contract exists with the ACT government.

As I recall, the ACT Gov’t “leased” it for $300K from a private company who I think built it and maintained it. The lease is now over – as is the expenditure of $300K of ratepaypers money. Hence now for sale – the Whale has been milked of Ratepayers money for all they can get out of it, no doubt.

James-T-Kirk10:31 am 16 Mar 15

Hmmmmm – The ACT Govmit, and good business decisions….

Lets examine a couple of them..

Light rail. Just a couple of billion dollars…..

That will do – Bored now!

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