7 March 2007

Apart from the corruption, Grassby was a nice guy: Hargreaves

| Ari
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[First filed: March 05, 2007 @ 15:59]

Ahh, the ties that bind … John Hargreaves has put together an extraordinarily lame defence of his Government’s decision to honour the supposed greatness of a mafia crook and corrupt politician, using our tax dollars.

No doubt you and I have sides of our particular lives that we would rather not talk about and other people might find disagreeable…

Disagreeable? Yep, colluding with criminals, using ministerial discretion to ensure gangsters enter this country and using political power to quash investigations of his own criminal links is disagreeable.

Apart from that, Grassby may well have been a charming fellow.

But it’s no great surprise the family of murdered anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay have been rather vocal about the Stanhope Govt’s rather ill-conceived project.

The Australian‘s editorial writer has got into the swing today, as well (bottom of the page).

UPDATED: The Canberra Times has come out rather strongly against the planned statue. It’s a shame more statues aren’t erected by public subscription anymore.

ANOTHER UPDATE: John Hargreaves has come out swinging with a list of nice things the Liberals have said about Al Grassby lately, particularly during the condolence motions following his death. Frankly the Liberals are hardly the standard we would like to set the bar at either.

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auntiesocial8:59 pm 18 May 07

Whatever happened to the statue of J.W.Howard in the army uniform that briefly appeared over near the high court a few years ago?

Recently it was on a beach in Bermagui ………

Now unwanted ” April 24, 2007:

Bega Valley Shire Council has declined an offer to accept the sculpture “If The Boots Don’t Fit” to be located in a public place in Bermagui.

Mayor Tony Allen said the sculpture of the Prime Minister John Howard was causing considerable debate in the community.

“There is the issue of public liability and insurance with reports that the sculpture is valued at between $70,000 and $100,000,” Cr Allen said. “

Cont. http://www.southimage.net/sapphire-coast-news/council-declines-sculpture-offer.php

WIN News has just covered the unveiling of the statue of Grasby.
Hargreaves looking and sounding smug, McMullen making smart arse comments about the character of other recipients of statueship. The audience appearing a handpicked pack of groupies.
My disgust is total. This should never have happened. Grasby will always be a Mafia frontman and complicit in the murder of Donald McKay.

Par for the course – after all, there’s a memorial to Gus Petersilka in Civic, and Gus was a deadsh*t.

Vic Bitterman9:26 pm 07 Mar 07

Ah Hardgraves, the only skills he has is being able safely come to a stop at a police RBT after a night on the piss.

Why not tie the statue to John Hargreaves and he can take it for a swim. Concrete is so down market for a Tuggeranong electorate politician more used to dodging dog poo, cigarette butts and the low-life while wandering around his electorate.

BT, I reckon that pussyfooting around when someone’s dead is crap: if the person’s an arsehole alive, then they’re still an arsehole when they die.

But then I’m a hard bastard! 🙂

barking toad1:12 pm 07 Mar 07

People always cut some slack when commenting on the character of the recently deceased. Mainly out of respect for the family. And it shows a bit of decorum in the council meeting for the condolence motion.

Doesn’t mean that privately they don’t consider him a dead set front bottom.

The straw clutching attempts at character building to justify putting up an obscene statue are pathetic.

Whatever happened to the statue of J.W. Howard in the army uniform that briefly appeared over near the high court a few years ago? I would have thought it was much more suitable for the location, and a much clearer statement of our mayor’s views….

I think a Saddam Hussein statue would be better for the ACT Labor Party to erect because – a) he was also anti the Iraq war, b) he also didn’t like it when courts disagreed with him, and c) he was a dictator too!

I can’t wait to slap the fallen statue around the head, with my collection of gaudy ties.

auntiesocial3:46 am 06 Mar 07

We need this and other statues in Canberra, for when the americans come to liberate us and restore democracy from the evil despots running the place.
Tanks pulling statues down, while the crowd roars, makes great footage.

So who’s going to be first to encase the statue’s feet in concrete overshoes?

Why is it that Hopeless and the Arogant Inebriate cannot understand that a statue of a man whose close friends MURDERED an honest man, a pillar of society, and then did his very best to protect these friends, is total anathema to many in the community.

Perhaps this pair of clowns endorse Grasby’s mates as well. They have mis-read the opinion of many, who cannot tolerate any public glorification of this creature.

Just melt the bloody thing down. You are creating a boil on the bum of Canberrans.

And now I have read the articles, imagine comparing a humble, tie-changing resident of Aranda with a nation’s president! What will be the next S-hopeless’ great delusion of grandeur?

I like Kimba’s suggestion. Seems strangely appropriate.

If we have to have a grassby sculpture, why isn’t it just an oversized tie that changes colours and design every day?? The symbolism of this could defuse the furore of the man himself being enshrined as multiculturalism’s godfather, err father…

Where’s the inventiveness of art gone, eh?

Hargreaves has that disagreeable swearing issue – and the very disagreeable drink-driving thing. No wonder he can sympathise.

I like the idea that once the Nero Stanhope government falls the Al Grassby Statue is placed at the entrance to the new ACT prison.

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