Don’t get too excited…it’s only one issue, they have a very long way to go before they can accurately claim to be in possession of all their senses (I don’t think they ever had all of them) but it’s a start.
After this year, Melbourne Cup day will no longer be a public holiday, ending their bizarre experiment of turning one of the better days for the ACT economy in to a “everyone stay at home while we have a temper tantrum about the Howard government’s industrial reforms” day.
That said, Family and Community day will still be a public holiday, just on a different day. Not being one who likes simplicity, the rules which decide when this public holiday will fall are much more convoluted than necessary.
[..] to be held on the first Monday of the September/October school holidays [except] where the first Monday of the school holidays falls on the currently designated Labour Day public holiday, such as will occur in 2011 and 2012, the Family and Community Day will be moved to the second Monday of the term break
Why he can’t just pick a single date is beyond me, but such is life, and I’ll just be glad for the moment that the return to workday Melbourne Cups, for which I have argued, has finally occurred.
It’s not quite 1am, and already the day is off to an exciting start. A short time ago police chased a car to just outside my place where it was abandoned. A bunch of police cars with sirens blaring descended on my block, and then there was what sounded like a frenzied foot chase. I think they caught the suspect, as most of the police have now left.
The remaining police are currently taking photos of the abandoned car and chatting with their colleagues via their radios.
I can’t wait for the official press release about this.
Update 1:11am: More police in the area now, shining torches at this mystery vehicle, taking photos of it, looking in its boot, playing with its front left window, and knocking on house doors. End Update
Update 1:29am: I have never seen a group of grown men more fascinated with the boot of a car than these police officers. They keep opening the boot as if they’re checking that whatever is in there, is still in there. I guess they are waiting for something to happen, whether that’s forensics arriving or a tow truck, or something else. I just hope the mystery vehicle is moved by morning, as it’s blocking my car’s path of egress, and I have a rego inspection booked for 8:15am. End Update
Update 1:34am: And now they’re taking things out of the mystery vehicle and photographing them…and another police car leaves. Not many officers left now. End Update
Update 2:07am: Just as I’m starting to doze off, they start closing the doors on the remaining police car multiple times…seems that they can’t decide whether to sit in the car, or stand around outside of it. And here comes the tow truck. End Update
Update 2:20am: Mystery vehicle has been towed, and the police have left. Excitement over for the night. End Update
Update 10:02am: The 9:41am press release about the incident (it’s not online yet, I’ll check later and provide a link if one becomes available).
Man arrested after pursuit through northern suburbs
ACT Policing has arrested a 37-year-old Downer man after a short vehicle pursuit in Braddon and Reid today (August 24).
Around 12.30am police became involved in a pursuit with a white Subaru Impreza after the driver failed to stop. The pursuit took place in the area of Ainslie Avenue, Elimatta Street, Batman Street, Doonkuna Street and Allambee Street, as well as the laneway in between Allawah and Currong Flats.
During the pursuit an unidentified passenger managed to exit the vehicle in the area of Allawah Flats. The driver continued attempting to evade police until he came to a dead end and ran from the vehicle. The alleged offender was apprehended a short distance away near the intersection of Elimatta Street and Ainslie Avenue, Reid.
The motor vehicle was confirmed as stolen and during a search of it police located a syringe containing a substance suspected to be an amphetamine (speed).
The alleged offended will appear before the ACT Magistrates Court this morning (August 24) charged with driving a motor vehicle without consent, failing to stop when requested by police, driving in a manner dangerous to the public, driving a vehicle unlicensed, possessing a drug of dependence and property damage.
I See that the AFP website is missing a whole heap of ACT Police press releases from this week. There are a couple press releases from Monday up there, and one from today, but the bunch of press releases in the intervening period have mysteriously not appeared.
It’s a stark contrast to the full list of press releases sent out to media organisations this week:
Morning collision provides reminder for parents — 17 August 2009 13:54
Witnesses sought to newsagency robbery — 17 August 2009 16:32
Police seeking witnesses to weekend assault — 17 August 2009 17:30
Witnesses sought to restaurant burglaries — 18 August 2009 09:05
Police arrest man for May armed robbery, Weston — 19 August 2009 08:07
Police seize $20,000 worth of heroin — 19 August 2009 08:18
Two arrested during Griffith burglary — 19 August 2009 13:02
Mobile RAPID nets 320 traffic offenders in first month — 19 August 2009 15:14
Public help in search for missing young person — 19 August 2009 17:23
Man arrested after burglary — 20 August 2009 09:03
Police and Westfield combine in program to reduce registration plate theft — 21 August 2009 09:19
There were also a couple correction notices, an update notice, and a not for publication media diary note.
Not only were most of these press releases not placed on the AFP website, they didn’t show up on the crimestoppers website either.
So what are people supposed to do if they hear a mention of one of these stories on the news, and want more details in case they are able to help? The full details aren’t online, and I’m sure police communications phone lines have better uses than reading press releases to curious citizens.
C’mon guys and girls…it’s not that hard. If you want the assistance of the public, you need to give them some information. Copying those press releases on to your website is the easiest way to do that.
Update 10:44pm: Oh that’s amusing, all of the missing press releases except for the one about the missing boy (who has since been found) have appeared on the AFP website. I’m glad to see them there, but somewhat amused that it seems to take either a whinge from me or RiotACT for them to appear.
Hopefully they will keep posting them online now, as it’s a valuable community service which they have previously proven that they are capable of providing, and I’d hate to have to setup a third-party website to do their job for them. That said, if I was to do it for them, I could do it for the often-late ACT Government press releases as well. I wonder if there’s a viable business model in this? End Update
If you’re in the parliamentary triangle at 9am and you hear a lot of loud banging noises, don’t be alarmed, it’s just New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key receiving a 19-gun salute.
Call me ignorant if you like, but is this normal? I can’t remember the last time a foreign leader got a 19-gun salute at Parliament House. I would have expected this sort of thing to happen when they step off their plane.
Can anybody enlighten me as to what the normal procedure is?
Meanwhile this afternoon at 1:50pm, Mr. Key will be attending the Australian War Memorial. Expect traffic delays in the area, as the police tend to block off roads so that foreign leaders can have an uninterrupted run from A to B.
Today at your RBT operation (call it what you want, I call it an operation) on Adelaide Avenue I got hassled over a missing rego sticker because you didn’t have the RAPID camera there to quickly identify registered and unregistered vehicles…and your officer walked off in a huff when he realised that he couldn’t book me for anything.
A few hours later in Woden, leaving the carpark area outside Hogs Breath Cafe, a car with no rego plates very slowly drives past one of your marked cars, and the officers don’t even blink at it.
I don’t mind your officers wanting to check that my car was registered (although we could have both saved time if RAPID had been there, as it usually is for these operations), but I do mind being treated like a criminal when somebody else who is much more noticeably missing a crucial bit of identifying stuff on their car, doesn’t even get noticed.
I have to say though, that police presence on the roads today was quite something. I look forward to your next press release in which you will undoubtedly tell us how naughty we all are.
No surprises in the fact that this happened on a “cheap” day. 121.9 cents per litre.
Call me cynical, but if I didn’t have other things to do, I’d set up a stakeout in the carpark opposite, and see if they unlock the unleaded bowsers before a tanker arrives.
As I noted earlier this morning, Countrylink had an open day at the Canberra Railway Station this morning to celebrate their refurbished Travel Centre (which seems to be code for “booking office”) and, albeit not mentioned on their website, refurbished trains and new staff uniforms. As part of the open day, they had free return train trips to Queanbeyan, and 2CC were broadcasting live from the train station.
I went along shortly after 7am, stopping off to pick up a packet of Tim Tams for Mike Frame and the 2CC team. Below you will find photos of the train station, a trip to Queanbeyan and back, some video footage, and a photo of 2CC’s Mike Frame and Garden Gurus. As usual, all photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.
First up, the front of the railway station, where a sausage sizzle was being set up when I arrived.
Inside, 2CC were busy running their gardening show, anchored by Mike Frame and horticulturalised (for lack of a better word) by the Garden Gurus Merylyn Condon and Judy Refshauge (sorry, I’m not sure which one is which in this photo…I have never been able to work it out).
Inside the railway station, staff seemed almost excited about their refurbished Travel Centre, which spent most of the morning (while I was there anyway) dealing with enquiries.
They were also giving away balloons (and exploding many of them accidentally as they filled them with helium, producing a decent bit of atmospheric noise for the 2CC broadcast).
I quite liked the model train.
The train station has a coffee machine which produces a heated beverage which I wouldn’t call coffee, but I had two cups anyway. The first one was a sensible temperature, but the second one was so hot that I needed to use a padded sleeve of my top to hold the cup, in order to avoid being burnt.
The first free return trip to Queanbeyan started at 8am, which is well and truly after the morning Canberra to Sydney train departed at 6:37am, and was followed by other free return services every 45 minutes, except for a window of time around the 11:21am arrival of the Sydney to Canberra service (those passengers would probably have received a surprise when they got off at the busy open day).
To board the train, naturally you had to be given a ticket. They were using different colours of tickets for each trip, although I don’t think they were actually checking them. Amusingly, the tickets they were using were the Countrylink luggage tags.
Countrylink stations have interestingly elaborate identifying signs on the platforms.
The train to Queanbeyan and back had three cars.
Once on the 8am train (the first of the day), I noted the view, and the rather oddly worded sign (from a passenger’s perspective).
As the train took off, I noticed the collection of carriages at the Canberra Railway Station.
The 8am train travelling under the Monaro Highway.
And then under Ipswich Street in Fyshwick.
A video from the train as it passed Fyshwick and travelled under the Newcastle Street overpass. Apologies for the dodgy frame rate of this video.
(The original video can be downloaded by clicking here)
Video of cows in fog which the train passed on the way to Queanbeyan.
(The original video can be downloaded by clicking here)
A picture of the Queanbeyan Train Station. There was no time to get off the train as it only stayed at the station for a few moments.
A video of the train departing Queanbeyan.
(The original video can be downloaded by clicking here)
On the way back, the most spottable sight was the Direct Factory Outlet sign.
The train then arrived back at the Canberra Station, about 25 minutes after departing.
ct width=”425″ height=”344″>(The original video can be downloaded by clicking here)
I also filmed the departure of the 8:45 train.
(The original video can be downloaded by clicking here)
And before I left the platform, I noticed that the door to the luggage room was open, and lockers could be easily seen. Two of the lockers had old radio station stickers on them, one for 2CC.
And one for 2CC’s then supplementary FM station, Kix 106 (now Mix 106.3).
I then stuck around until 9am to see the end of 2CC’s garden show (which managed to get me roped in to doing the prize draw, to select that day’s lucky caller), and say toodles to Mike Frame who, incidentally, once he gets back from holiday in a couple weeks, will be 2CC’s permanent weekend morning host…and it’s fantastic to have him back permanently!
And that was my morning at the Canberra Railway Station open day. There is a similar event at the Goulburn station tomorrow which will be attended by 2CC’s sister station in Goulburn, 2GN. I, however, will not be there.
* Live radio broadcast by 2CC
* Free entertainment
* BBQ
* Free train rides to Queanbeyan and return
* Meet some Raiders players from 9.30am-11.30am
* Chance to win a signed Canberra Raiders jersey
* Discount admission voucher for the Raiders vs Dragons game on Saturday night
* $30.00 return tickets to Sydney, $50.00 return tickets to Melbourne. Must be booked and paid for at the travel centre on the day*.
* Make a booking on the day and enter the draw to win a family trip for 4 to Sydney including return first class rail, 2 nights accommodation, entry to Sydney Aquarium and Sydney Wildlife World plus a cruise on Sydney Harbour.
* For more information contact CountryLink Canberra Travel Centre on (02) 6208 9700
2CC will be there from 7am to midday broadcasting their usual Saturday morning programming, although I think I’ll be out of there by 9:30am to avoid the Raiders players.
Meanwhile it looks like the Capital Radio Network are making the most of Countrylink’s open days. There’s an open day at the Goulburn railway station on Sunday which will be attended by 2GN.
Incidentally, if you, like me, are wondering why railway stations would be having open days…apparently it’s to celebrate some refurbishments of the travel centres at the railway stations, and the stations themselves.
It should be an interesting morning…it’s just a pity that there doesn’t appear to be any mention of a tour of the refurbishments.
This time around though, I think it’s a crying shame. I have almost no time for the comments section of RiotACT, however when it comes to the stories themselves, I think RiotACT has performed an incredibly valuable service to the ACT, especially under John’s guidance over the last year or so.
If there is one thing for which I have to give John credit, it is being the source of pressure which led to the AFP’s media unit getting press releases online more than once per week. Whilst I have access to the press releases through their direct distribution to media outlets, I do appreciate the fact that AFP stuff is now online in a timely manner.
On a less positive note, I’m reminded of what I said to a friend on the phone the day John returned to RiotACT…”it won’t last, there is no way it will be profitable”. I’m sorry that I was correct. As much as I disagree with John on a number of issues, the fact that he built RiotACT in to a respected local news outlet, respected not just by the public, but by the rest of the media as well, is a testament to John’s hard work and dedication. Alas John has succumbed to the financial needs which press on all of us, and is off to fulfil those needs.
It looks like RiotACT’s future is going to be similar to its past. Not for profit, volunteer driven, and leeching off the ABC with the occasional bit of self-inspired brilliance. Sad really. The loss of a decent independent news service.
This does make me wonder one thing though. If RiotACT can’t be profitable, how does Rupert Murdoch expect a pay-for-access lockdown of his online news services to be profitable? Rupert might have more readers, but when more than half the articles on his sites are recycled news agency articles which are freely available elsewhere (heck, Google hosts copies of Associated Press content), a pay-for-access version of his news services would have to be really really special to turn a buck.
The owners of the Tuggeranong Hyperdome have taken the ACT Revenue Office to court over claims its assessment of the unimproved value of the land was excessive.
[..]
[They] objected to the unimproved land value assessment in 2007 of $41.5 million which was used to calculate the rates payable.
The applicant says the unimproved land value more than doubled between January 2005 and January 2007 and a more appropriate assessment was $25 million.
[..]
It is understood similar proceedings have been launched by Westfield, the owner of the Woden and Belconnen shopping centres.
If this is successful, how many more people will get independent valuations of their land? Could this be one of the Stanhope government’s amazing budget-hole-plugging measures…if so, surely it would just be easier to legitimately increase rates the way the Green balance-of-power-holders would do it…by adding a global warming levy of say, 3000%. That would win many brownie points with the Greens, and seriously test how many people really believe that humans are responsible for non-existent warming. It’s not as politically expedient though.
If this case is proven, then I will have to praise the Stanhope government for reaching new levels of sheer clever sneakiness.
Jon Stanhope has formally recognised the Ngunnawal people as the “traditional owners” of the Australian Capital Territory, based on the incredibly impartial advice of the Ngunnawal Elders Council. He says he has done this to quell the “confusion and distress within the community” over a debate between the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people over who “traditionally owns” the land.
Matilda House, from the Ngambri people is annoyed, but has a great quote.
“Mr Stanhope has made his mind up so how would I ever change it?”
Well definitely not through one of his consultations, that’s for sure.
Ms. House is also confused about who she distressed by declaring herself to be a Ngambri person.
“It’s a gutless accusation because what stress have I caused? What stress have I caused? You know I’d like to know who is stressed out in this community over my decision to say who I am.”
It’s the first I’ve heard of anyone being distressed about this supposed confusing debacle. Perhaps it was just an attempt from Chief Turnip Stanhope to get the media to focus on a good news story rather than the fact that he has let his federal Labor colleagues wriggle out of yet another financial commitment. If so, well done Jon, it worked. Top story on ABC Canberra News is the very politically correct Aboriginal story.
Gotta love the state-owned, state-run media. I know Jon does.
Still not content with my suggestion of getting the past and present Chief Ministers to stand on each others shoulders for a day to celebrate 100 years of Canberra, Jon Stanhope has announced that the 2013 women’s Australian Open is coming to Canberra (warning: large photo of Jon Stanhope not-quite-smiling on linked page). For the record, it’s golf, not tennis, although how anybody is supposed to tell from the title alone is beyond me.
Chief Minister Jon Stanhope today announced Royal Canberra Golf Club would host the Women’sAustralian Open as part of the 2013 Centenary of Canberra celebrations.
“I am delighted this hallmark tournament will be played at Royal Canberra during Canberra’s Centenary and have no doubt it will be one of the highlights of the year,” Mr Stanhope said.
“This four day championship, during Canberra’s 100th birthday year, will attract many of the world’s best female golfers and bring strong interstate crowds to Canberra.
“The Women’s Open will also enhance Canberra’s reputation as an international sporting destination while promoting the centenary celebrations to millions of television viewers around Australia, across Asia and the northern hemisphere.
Oh yes, because Slӧrdge, watching the golf on his television in Norway, is really going to ring his travel agent and book a holiday in Canberra when realises that we’re the town of one hundred candles. He might even bring his rugby union team with him to marvel at Canberra Stadium, which doesn’t spent most of the year under snow.
Seriously Jon, that you’ve got a major golf tournament to come to Canberra at a yet-to-be-decided date is great, but don’t expect it to do any more for our international standing than the GMC 400 did.
The ACT Liberals have managed to extract information from the government about the amount we’re feeding in to those parking meters in order to avoid one of the government parking inspectors extracting even more money from our collective wallets, and it is over $1 million per month.
It has been revealed through Questions on Notice that the Stanhope-Gallagher government paid parking cash grab is over $1 million per month for commuters, the Shadow Minister for Urban Services, Alistair Coe MLA said today.
In 2007-08 well over $12 million was collected through paid parking in parking meters and ticket machines. In the city alone there was well over $5 million collected.
“Slugging Canberrans with huge parking costs is an easy cash-grab by the Government and it’s only going to increase with significant parking fee increases introduced this financial year,” Mr Coe said.
Alistair Coe then provides a table of the figures.
There is a slight problem with the table though. My calculations show that the combined total from Civic, Phillip, Belconnen, Tuggeranong and Manuka is $10,546,541.35, which leaves a hole of $2,169,911.20. It’s quite possible that this couple of million dollars comes from Dickson and other unlisted areas, but it’s a pity that these areas aren’t at least listed as “other”.
Regardless, Alistair does make a good point about what the government are doing with this money:
“The Stanhope Government has made little progress on improving the public transport system. Without a reliable public transport service many Canberra families are forced to drive their cars.
“Based on previous years’ data, the government will bring in at least $2m extra from the 20% increase in the cost of parking brought in on 1 July 2009. What extra services and improved parking facilities will Canberrans receive for this money?” Mr Coe said.
Ah, well that’s simple Alistair. More bicycles for public servants, more photos of Simon Corbell sitting on said bicycles with a “I have no idea what this thing is” look on his face, even more eye-popping green paint on buses, and even bigger cars for “the Stanhope-Gallagher government” (please don’t tell me that they intend on marrying).
And none of this even takes in to account the amount we pay to private parking operators.
As some of you may recall, in April last year I visited Googong Dam and took a whole heap of photos as the start of a new series of photos of Canberra’s Dams, but didn’t publish them at the time. I did upload them to the photo gallery but didn’t get around to captioning them…well I have now finally gotten around the captioning them, and as such they are now publicly available.
Some highlights from the 45 photos.
Googong Dam information sign at wallside carpark
The dam, as seen from the dam-side carpark
The top of the dam wall. It’s great that the camera’s lens fits though the wire fence.
A newish sign
An older “no entry” sign. Funny that it’s from the ACT Conservation Service considering that the Dam is in New South Wales, and has only recently come under ACT Government control.
The old eroded spillway
The dam from the other side of the dam wall. It’s a slight hike up some fire trails to get to this side of the dam.
Queanbeyan River flowing through the rocks as seen from the cascades.
The right side of the dam wall as seen from the base of the “dry” side, plus what appears to be a door in the wall, and the pumping system feeding the environmental flow in to the Queanbeyan River. There is a powerline running from the substation near the pumping station to this pump. When I walked back from here, I noticed a sign saying that the path to the wall is not open for public access…oops!
The Googong Dam substation. It’s amusing that the dam is run by ACT water/electricity/gas utility ActewAGL, and yet the substation is run by Country Energy.
