Tuggeranong Community Council AGM 2 September 2014

I go to TCC reasonably regularly and I don’t consider it to be ‘captured’ by any of the present political parties. It is true that some local MLAs who attend TCC present as far more competent than others, and TCC does tend to reflect the general view in Tuggeranong that it continues to get a raw deal in terms of infrastructure and maintenance when compared to other ‘politically favoured’ areas in Canberra (for example, the ACT Govt continually dumps industrial/unpleasant things like gaols, tips and solar farms on Tuggers and counts these as ‘money spent in Tuggeranong’, whereas other areas get, for example, sports stadiums, wetlands and bullet bus services.)
That said though, my experience is that everyone gets a fair hearing at TCC meetings and has an opportunity to put their views about the matters at hand. It is also a great way to find out about the various things that are potentially planned.
For example, Roads ACT attended a couple of months ago and TCC was informed that there are going to be quite a few traffic lights on the Johnson Drive end of the duplicated Ashley Drive, which won’t please commuters and will probably just encourage more rat running (despite the new, irritating speed bumps in various suburban streets).
Just come, be informed and have a voice.

John Hargreaves Ex MLA said :

dungfungus said :

John Hargreaves Ex MLA said :

I was thinking of coming back to the TCC after a lengthy spell away.

The reason I left in disgust after a 20 year term as a member, was because it had been captured by a political party and was merely a voice for them to criticise the current government with.

I was a member when you couldn’t be on the Executive if you were an active office bearer of a political party. This was to ensure that the issues were discussed and advocated in a non partisan way.

The contacts I have who have been to recent meetings have told me that it has remained captive. It is nothing more than a voice for Brendan Smyth and Friends. His behaviour when the meeting was addressed by Simon Corbell gives truth to that position.

Whilst it remains a pseudo Liberal Party sub-branch, I won’t be a member and I will advise everyone who asks, not to join.

It does not represent me.

Further, it has no more than 10 people attend who are not either members of the Executive, their families, MLAs and their helpers or Liberal party members who are there to support Brendan. Out of 100,000 residents in Tuggeranong, this is paltry.

It quacks like a duck and I will not be a party to it whilst it is like this.

If it becomes really representative, I’m in, but until then, nuh!

John, you are doing your best to turn The Riot Act into a back-up for the Canberra Times which is accommodating all the Abbott haters in Australia both in Letters to the Editors and opinions.
It was always hard being the lone conservative on The Riot ACT but is has been a lot easier under the new regime. I believe they are trying to have a balanced arena of opinion but your hate of everything conservative is skewing the balance too far to the left.
If people like me stop contributing, this blog will become another wellspring of left thought and everyone will agree with each other which could be Utopian for some but boring for most.
You have had a very colourful life and career John and I would enjoy your contributions so much more without the political bile.

Thanks for that. I respect your position as being opposite to my own and encourage you to express those views. My post about the TCC was a lament for an organisation captured. I don’t condone any political party capturing an community organisation. Parties should engage with them to gauge community opinion and needs not use them as vehicles for political opposition.

If the TCC amends its constitution to deny this capture, I would happily rejoin and use my extensive networks to assist in its work.

Thanks for that response John.
I am probably not as passionate about politics as you are and I know how hard it is to control oneself when there are signs of partisan control where there should be equal influence.
It is difficult to be a conservative in Canberra and I am surprised the Liberals did as well as they did in the last election. Labor have more resources and more passion – that’s the only reason they scraped home.
Contrary to what a lot of people say, I don’t listen to or read Alan Jones or Andrew Bolt but I have been watching the odd Bolt report on Sundays only to get rid of the bad taste left after watching Insiders on ABC TV.
I also get the Canberra Times daily and I watch every current affair and news program on ABC and SBS TV. I used to watch BBC World News until UBS Satellite TV went broke.
To do this and remain a conservative requires a lot of tolerance. I live in hope that one day the Canberra Times will see how many readers they are losing by publishing endless hate letters and puerile political cartoons all directed at Tony Abbott and his ministers.
You Labor people really know how to hate and almost every forum in Australia gives you free rein.
The Riot Act is doing a great job in trying to balance out all extremist comments and I accept the moderator’s have to make difficult decisions.
If I were still in business I would be happy to advertise on this blog (I wouldn’t if it hadn’t changed ownership) and we all must remember that a forum with too much lefty/socialist poison isn’t going to be well regarded by potential sponsors who are largely conservative.

dungfungus said :

John Hargreaves Ex MLA said :

I was thinking of coming back to the TCC after a lengthy spell away.

The reason I left in disgust after a 20 year term as a member, was because it had been captured by a political party and was merely a voice for them to criticise the current government with.

I was a member when you couldn’t be on the Executive if you were an active office bearer of a political party. This was to ensure that the issues were discussed and advocated in a non partisan way.

The contacts I have who have been to recent meetings have told me that it has remained captive. It is nothing more than a voice for Brendan Smyth and Friends. His behaviour when the meeting was addressed by Simon Corbell gives truth to that position.

Whilst it remains a pseudo Liberal Party sub-branch, I won’t be a member and I will advise everyone who asks, not to join.

It does not represent me.

Further, it has no more than 10 people attend who are not either members of the Executive, their families, MLAs and their helpers or Liberal party members who are there to support Brendan. Out of 100,000 residents in Tuggeranong, this is paltry.

It quacks like a duck and I will not be a party to it whilst it is like this.

If it becomes really representative, I’m in, but until then, nuh!

John, you are doing your best to turn The Riot Act into a back-up for the Canberra Times which is accommodating all the Abbott haters in Australia both in Letters to the Editors and opinions.
It was always hard being the lone conservative on The Riot ACT but is has been a lot easier under the new regime. I believe they are trying to have a balanced arena of opinion but your hate of everything conservative is skewing the balance too far to the left.
If people like me stop contributing, this blog will become another wellspring of left thought and everyone will agree with each other which could be Utopian for some but boring for most.
You have had a very colourful life and career John and I would enjoy your contributions so much more without the political bile.

Thanks for that. I respect your position as being opposite to my own and encourage you to express those views. My post about the TCC was a lament for an organisation captured. I don’t condone any political party capturing an community organisation. Parties should engage with them to gauge community opinion and needs not use them as vehicles for political opposition.

If the TCC amends its constitution to deny this capture, I would happily rejoin and use my extensive networks to assist in its work.

John Hargreaves Ex MLA said :

The reason I left in disgust after a 20 year term as a member, was because it had been captured by a political party and was merely a voice for them to criticise the current government with.

….If it becomes really representative, I’m in, but until then, nuh!

Wow. One of the most partisan political posters on this board, who appears to see every issue through the prism of His Party, complaining about a group being too political.

John, I suspect that the only reason that you find it offensive is because the TCC isn’t captured by your party.

Can you honestly say that you would feel the same if it were stacked by ALP members/hangers-on?

John Hargreaves Ex MLA said :

I was thinking of coming back to the TCC after a lengthy spell away.

The reason I left in disgust after a 20 year term as a member, was because it had been captured by a political party and was merely a voice for them to criticise the current government with.

I was a member when you couldn’t be on the Executive if you were an active office bearer of a political party. This was to ensure that the issues were discussed and advocated in a non partisan way.

The contacts I have who have been to recent meetings have told me that it has remained captive. It is nothing more than a voice for Brendan Smyth and Friends. … Whilst it remains a pseudo Liberal Party sub-branch, I won’t be a member and I will advise everyone who asks, not to join….

And I’ve never, ever seen any community group captured by the ALP or Greens to the point that it becomes a virtual sub-branch. /sarcasm.

John Hargreaves Ex MLA said :

I was thinking of coming back to the TCC after a lengthy spell away.

The reason I left in disgust after a 20 year term as a member, was because it had been captured by a political party and was merely a voice for them to criticise the current government with.

I was a member when you couldn’t be on the Executive if you were an active office bearer of a political party. This was to ensure that the issues were discussed and advocated in a non partisan way.

The contacts I have who have been to recent meetings have told me that it has remained captive. It is nothing more than a voice for Brendan Smyth and Friends. His behaviour when the meeting was addressed by Simon Corbell gives truth to that position.

Whilst it remains a pseudo Liberal Party sub-branch, I won’t be a member and I will advise everyone who asks, not to join.

It does not represent me.

Further, it has no more than 10 people attend who are not either members of the Executive, their families, MLAs and their helpers or Liberal party members who are there to support Brendan. Out of 100,000 residents in Tuggeranong, this is paltry.

It quacks like a duck and I will not be a party to it whilst it is like this.

If it becomes really representative, I’m in, but until then, nuh!

John, you are doing your best to turn The Riot Act into a back-up for the Canberra Times which is accommodating all the Abbott haters in Australia both in Letters to the Editors and opinions.
It was always hard being the lone conservative on The Riot ACT but is has been a lot easier under the new regime. I believe they are trying to have a balanced arena of opinion but your hate of everything conservative is skewing the balance too far to the left.
If people like me stop contributing, this blog will become another wellspring of left thought and everyone will agree with each other which could be Utopian for some but boring for most.
You have had a very colourful life and career John and I would enjoy your contributions so much more without the political bile.

John Hargreaves Ex MLA said :

The reason I left in disgust after a 20 year term as a member

I was thinking it was rare that any pollie ever to set foot in Tuggeranong.

A Canberra club with pokies and political affiliations? Nooooooooooo, surely not!

And…to my previous post, I was at the Southern Cross Club on the night of the AGM and spoke to a guy I know who was going, He saw who was there and walked out and played the pokies. He saw the political group sitting together Enough said.

I was thinking of coming back to the TCC after a lengthy spell away.

The reason I left in disgust after a 20 year term as a member, was because it had been captured by a political party and was merely a voice for them to criticise the current government with.

I was a member when you couldn’t be on the Executive if you were an active office bearer of a political party. This was to ensure that the issues were discussed and advocated in a non partisan way.

The contacts I have who have been to recent meetings have told me that it has remained captive. It is nothing more than a voice for Brendan Smyth and Friends. His behaviour when the meeting was addressed by Simon Corbell gives truth to that position.

Whilst it remains a pseudo Liberal Party sub-branch, I won’t be a member and I will advise everyone who asks, not to join.

It does not represent me.

Further, it has no more than 10 people attend who are not either members of the Executive, their families, MLAs and their helpers or Liberal party members who are there to support Brendan. Out of 100,000 residents in Tuggeranong, this is paltry.

It quacks like a duck and I will not be a party to it whilst it is like this.

If it becomes really representative, I’m in, but until then, nuh!