Saturday 5 May 2012

CAIRNS, THE AFTERMATH PART 2

The Editor of the local Murdoch owned newspaper, "The Cairns Post" looked furiously at the young female journalist standing in front of him.  She was showing him images taken on her mobile phone from the riot at the front of the Cairns Regional Council Chamber that morning. 

For the hundredth time, the Editor inwardly cursed mobile phones and all the Generation Yers who never ventured as far as the John without one.  They all appeared to have been born with one permanently attached to their bodies, like tumours or something.  Amber Martingdale, al of 23, was typical.  Trying to suppress his growing anger, he listened to her as she prattled on.  "Councillor Mingin was clearly attacked as soon as he arrived at the Council carpark," she was saying.  "He had barely stepped out of his car, when several men descended upon him and began to physically attack him.  Look, you can see it all here."  She thrust the phone up closer to his face.

"Yeah, yeah," I see it, he snapped back thinking he would now have to change the lead story, which, he, the Editor himself, had painstakingly wrote, insinuating, oh so delicately, that Councillor Mervyn Mingin, the only black Councillor on the Cairns Regional Council, and in fact, the first elected black Councillor on the Cairns Regional Council in over one hundred and forty years, had initiated the first physical violence, thus directly causing the worst public riots in the history of the tourist city of Cairns.  He was furious that now he would have to change the report entirely.  Now people would end up sympathising with the black bastard, instead of demanding his resignation from Council!

Brusquely, he waved the confused Amber Martingdale away.  "Leave me then and close the door!" he rasped curtly.  As he watched her small, neat departing figure he wondered sourly why Universities were still churning out half-baked "journalists" who still believed in the quaint idea that "NEWS" had to be factual and accurate.  They either quickly learned that "news" was a commercial product, readers were consumers and that their top and bottom lines were to ensure that profits to the shareholders continue to rise, or they gave up journalism and went to work as bar-tenders or waitresses somewhere.  Frankly, he thought Amber Martingdale would end up as a dish pig somewhere, washing thousands of dirty dishes.  The thought brought a brief, cruel ghost of a smile to his lips.  So many young female journalists had drifted in and out the doors of his newspaper office.  It was a bit like staffing revolving doors.  He couldn't remember many of them.

He went back to the story on the riots outside the Cairns Regional Council that morning, and cursed again as he deleted his entire script in wich he had subtly suggested several times the riot was the sole cause of undue and unnecessary force by Councillor Mingin.

Oh, it wasn't that he himself was a racist, the Editor always maintained, even to himself.  It was just that local government representatives were public figures and as such had to be well esteemed by the community.  Counillor Mingin might have been a star football player, representing the State of Queensland in many State of Origin matches, and idolised on the football grounds.  But, really, he thought, the man came from a very poor, welfare dominated area of Cairns, known for its high crime rate. Mingin had never been a businessman either, a key essential in local government as far as the Editor was concerned. Mingin's only claim to fame had been playing football.  Besides, the City Fathers had all been of white European descent. The Council itself had always been dominated by men of white European descent, almost entirely British descent and what was good for Cairns in the past was good for Cairns in the present.  Why change the formula, that is what he always argued.  Cairns had already experimented "outside the square" so to speak with the one off election of a female Mayor back in 2008.  Well, it just wasn't on.  After a hundred and thirty years of men running the city, the fools of Cairns had to go and vote for a splitfork!  The local media machine of which he was proudly a part, all made sure her days in office were pure living hell.  They were satisfied with their results.  The first female Mayor had been soundly trounced at the last Council Election and Colonel Ken Cush had effortlessly been elected.  Everyone, not the least of which was himself, had heaved a great sigh of relief.  Cairns was back to conservatism and normality. Well, almost.  The fools of Division 5 had gone and elected a black man to Council as an "Independent" and the half-wits in Division 9 had elected a female Greens Party Councillor.   As if that wasn't bad enough, the bogans and hillbillies out in  Division 2, had subsequently elected another "Independent", the seriously freakish, Doug Dunnysmore. The Editor was determined to get rid of them. They were all a serious blight on the normality of life in Cairns.  Some of them had the sheer audacity to oppose His Worship the Mayor, Colonel Cush himself.  The Editor was outraged.

He thought for a few moments before typing in the headlines:-

WORST RIOTS IN HISTORY OF CAIRNS
THREE PEOPLE DEAD AND SEVERAL SERIOUSLY INJURED

.Yesterday saw the worst rioting ever in the history of Cairns outside the front of the Cairns Regional Council offices in Spence Street.  In what senior Cairns Police described as "wild, frenzied, unrestrained behaviour" three people were killed and several seriously injured.  Police said they had no options but to use clouds of capsicum gas and the liberal use of tasers.  "I have never seen anything like it," said one police officer. "People were crazed, and beyond reasoning. They were out to kill. It was mob behaviour at its most lethal.  It was only because of the quick thinking of the police that there were not more people killed or seriously injured."

The Mayor, Colonel Ken Cush, who was contacted immediately after the riots said.....

Here, the Editor stopped, and thought.  Yes, he had phoned Cush on his direct phone and found him almost incoherent.  He sounded like he was laughing, but then he could have been crying too.  The sheer stress of it all!  The Editor shook his head, thinking about Cush.  Such a good, good man, one of the best Mayors Cairns had ever had!  He was proud to call him a close friend.  He thought briefly of all the wonderful evenings they had spent down at The Red Plum....But, he had better not. He steeled himself to continue writing.  He could attribute some suitable words to the Mayor. He started writing again......

The Mayor, Colonel Ken Cush, who was contacted immediately after the riots, was visibly upset at the events, and gave way to his emotions.  "It's a sad, sad day for Cairns!" he said.  "This whole riot was caused by desperate people, desperatey wanting jobs, desperately wanting income and the means to support their families, desperately wanting  to pay their bills and their mortgages.  Poor, poor people.  That they had to go to these lengths to show the naysayers in our communituy how desperate they are for work really says it all, doesn't it !"

The Editor leaned back and viewed his text thoughtfully.  "Desperate" was a good word, and using it several times he thought added to its emotional impact as well as demonstrating the compassion of Colonel Cush for those down on their luck.  He continued....

Mayor Cush of course was referring to the outcry from the conservationist element of Cairns who decried and protested the planned sale of several hectates of Mt Whitfield Conservation Park to the Chinese Shangai Hangyang Corporation.  Their action effectively halted the giant Shangai Hangyang Executive Training and Retreat Centre, expected to employ over 1,000 construction workers, from proceeding.
Had the project been given the "green light" it would have been the biggest construction project in Cairns in decades.

Councillors Skye Lovelady, Mervyn Mingin, Doug Dunnysmore, Enzo Bombiniere, Dom Piper and Brad Buttonworth however had all opposed the sale of the Mt Whitfield land, despite the efforts of Mayor Colonel Cush and his team at explaining all the benefits to Cairns of such a huge complex.  Councillor Lovelady is a member of the local Greens Party, while Councillors Mingin and Dunnysmore and Independents.

The Editor thought it worthwhile always mentioning that Councillor Lovelady was a member of the Greens Party and that Mingin and Dunnysmore were "Independents".  He knew people were not fooled.  "Independents" only ever meant one thing. They were both pinkos, reds, Labor dogs, whatever you wanted to name them.

Colonel Ken Cush assured The Cairns Post that an Inquiry into the riots would be conducted.  'We can't have this terrible sort of thing happening again, not under my watch," he said. "We will be getting to the bottom of it all, and finding out who the key instigators were and dealing with them harshly. They won't be allowed to get off scott-free on this one, don't you worry about that!"

The Editor thought that the above text was sufficient for the front page.  He had some "eyewitness accounts" written by Amber Martingdale, plus several large photos for a substantial layout.  He leaned back in his chair and thought with a smile that he might nominate himself for a media award again this year.

He leaned across and switched on his small radio transister sitting on the cabinet beside is desk and tuned into the local radio shock jock and his "talk back" program.

"Mate, maaaaaate," Reg of Redlynch was saying, "I agree with you mate, its all them greenies mate, they're the ones causing all the trouble mate. They should all be jailed and the key thrown away.  I reckon give em all life imprisonment for this one."

"Reg," the shock jock replied, "I have always said, I don't know how many times on my program over the years, that these idiots, these simpletons, these crazy know it alls are causing so much damage to our society and our economy.  I mean, they put trees and mountans, moutains for God's sake, above the lives of people."

The Editor smiled.  He was good friends with the radio shock jock, and he whole heartedly supported the mans viewpoints immensely.  With any luck, they might succeed in getting rid of the Greens Party from Cairns permanently after the Inquiry into the riot.  He personally, couldn't wait to see that splitfork Greens Councillor Lovelady booted out of office on her arse.  She was one woman way too many on the Council.


To be continued................


25 comments:

  1. "She was one woman way too many on the Council", sums up the misogynism running rampant in the city I reckon. A pretty good reflection on whats happened here with the recent Council Election too.

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  2. Ive been waiting to post a comment here Terry concerning one of your very first episodes, where you predicted the fate of the Entertainment Precinct. Looks like you were spot on mate, back in about April last year. Now all we got to do is wait and see if the land they all reckon is vital for ports expansion ends up sold to a developer for another high-rise on the waterfront, as you described.

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  3. I believe it will ultimately end up in the hands of a developer, Curly Joe. I wrote that somewhere back in April or May last year in one of the earlier episodes.

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  4. Oh dear, you do create some terrible characters. I find Cush just fascinating in his awfulness, but this Editor is equally as bad. How do you do this Terry? How do you draw such basically evil people out of your head? There could not possible be people around like Cush and this Editor person whose minds are continually full of contempt and scheming.

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  5. It isn't that hard really, Diana. Just watch Australian politics closely for a few years.....

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  6. Very incisive of you there Terry. That bit about news today is a commercial product with readers as consumers. Both the top and bottom lines are to increase profits for the shareholders. That sums it all up doesn't it? They don't give a shit anymore about the truth or giving balanced opinions.

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  7. Chris in Calif. USA7 May 2012 at 17:18

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  8. Chris in Calif.7 May 2012 at 17:24

    Sorry to hear about your lovely Mayor, Val, losing office, Terry. Sherry and I met Val at the Ukulele Festival in Cairns last year. Cairns is a beautiful city, but we were both astonished at discovering how conservative and small minded the people of Cairns are. The public outcry over the Ukulele fun happening was a real experience at how intolerant people are there. It doesn't surprise me that Val has lost her mayoral position. I don't believe the people of Cairns are ready for a woman Mayor. The fact that after 140 years or so there hasn't been a black representative on your city administration says a lot about the people.

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  9. Thanks Chris. You might like to know we haven't only just lost our Mayor, but the entire Entertainment Precinct as well. You will recall the local radio shock jock and his opposition to it when you and Sherry were here.

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  10. Chris, it was the local radio shock jock here who incited the people against the Ukulele Festival. There was also a so called journalist who was then Editor at "The Cairns Post", one of Murdoch's newspapers, who wrote a column under his own by-line, scoffing, sneering and jeering at the idea of a Ukulele Festival in Cairns. This "journalist" also publicly scoffed and ridiculed the idea of the Entertainment Precinct. But hey, wouldn't you know it? He got himself elected to Parliament, and has arranged for Cairns to lose the money given by the Government for the Precinct, to be given to Brsibane. Now we hear that Brisbane, our capital city, is to build a "new performing arts theatre".

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  11. So an oily Murdoch journalist, expert in misinformation and spin used his position to get into politics where he then successfully swindled the city out of what was it, a hundred million bucks? Sounds just like one of the GOP over here.

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  12. That musn't be a GenY Editor, Terry. He would be listening to the talk back radio online, not switching on a transistor. I agree, the corporatised media machine only operates with the profit margin in mind today.

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  13. Mr Vance, a group of us in California have been reading through your earlier series, "The Sky Pilot from Bentley Park", which is excellent reading, but very disturbing. You raised some very powerful contemporary "heresies" in this one particular series and we all agreed that in itself this series would make a good mini-movie. That an Australian minister of the cloth be the central character would make the movie much more appealling, we thought. Well done, Mr Vance.

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    1. Thank you Geraldine. The series "The Sky Pilot from Bentley Park" has received the most number of "hits", especially from the USA. I viewed my stats this morning and I can see people are still viewing the series which was written last year.

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    2. Not only have the people from California been following your story, the people in Victoria, Australia have too.
      We, the "Grey Nomads", visit Cairns on a regular basis...as you no doubt know by the number of Winnebagoes you see on your roads each winter.
      We have gotten to know a little regarding the Cairns political scene... Often wonder how many Victorians are living there now...and how many "natives" are left.
      Yes, I agree with Geraldine. This would make an excellent mini-series, [though no doubt, as usual, it would have to be a Kiwi production].
      Best wishes, am on my way! Too cold to stay here!

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    3. Thank you Hen and the "Grey Nomads". Glad to see "Cush' is being read on the road. Weather in FNQ is beautiful at the moment. I agree, "Cush" would make an interesting mini-series, something different from mainstream television.

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  14. Just finished reading this latest post, Terry. The overt misogynsim and bias of "The Cairns Post" is disturbing, to say the least. They showed no qualms in demeaning two of the leading female community leaders, Val and Margaret, in sexist, ageist terms, yet on the other hand use an affectionate, intimate nickname "Wazza" for the male Federal Member. In other cities, this would cause outrage.
    Just for the record, I came across one of the original proponents of the Ukulele Festival the other day who recapped the role "The Cairns Post" played in trying to derail the festival three years ago. I hadn't long arrived in Cairns at the time, and I was just gobsmacked at the way the local media machine ridiculed the idea so strenuously. It is to the credit of the organisers of the Ukulele Festival that they pressed on, and it has now become a welcome event on our yearly calendar. Lastly, how could we ever forget the role the media played in scuttling the Entertainment Precinct? I note how quiet they are about Premier Newman taking back the State funding and then announcing a new performing arts theatre for Brisbane. I note readers' comments that "Cush" would make a good mini-series. I agree wholeheartedly.

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    1. Thank you Liz. I am unsure of how I would go about presenting the idea to a producer or even if they would seriously take up the idea.

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  15. I see where old rugnut has started his abuse of "the greenies" on his talk-back program recently. Something is up.

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    1. Just a reminder people. While I appreciate your comments here, I would prefer it that all comments relate to my post, and not what is happening around the city. "Hillbilly Watch" is the correct blog to comment on current issues. Thanks.

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  16. It's hard NOT to extrapolate your posts with what is happening here in Cairns, Vance. Have a gander at "The Cairns Post's" fluff piece on the new Mayor in this weekends Cairns Post. Anyone would think we've bloody well got Christ himself as Mayor of the CRC. Then compare that to the way Val was bloody crucified by the media! Hey?

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  17. So Cush was maggotted so The Cairns Post Editor just made up his comments, making the old bastard look pretty good. That'd be right. You wonder how much of that goes on in real life.

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  18. Terry, Mike Willesee now produces documentaries and so forth with religious themes. His company could be perhaps one you might like to approach about doing a mini-series on "The Sky Pilot from Bentley Park." I know you said yourself that you thought that series was so simple as to be almost banal, however you crammed so many contemporary issues into that series, that it doesn't surprise me at all that it has been the most well read of the entire blog. You think about it. You brought in the controversy of civil funeral services versus traditional Christian burial services, changing social values, the growing incidence of litigation in Australia, corruption of public officials, globalism, free market capitalism, and finally the decline in democracy with the rise and rise of the corporatised media machine. Your hero, the good Reverend, demonstrates real democratic leadership, and the media firstly builds him up, so he becomes a household name, then cruelly and swiftly brings him down with vicious innuendo during his election campaign. The man who defeats him does not live in the Division and does not campaign amongst the people. He only wins because of the media support and fanfare. You have a wonderful scene in that series which I cannot forget. As the citys top end of town are celebrating Bud Yarrow's win, and everyone is in tuxes and ball gowns, the radio shock jock appears on the stage as the triumphant Bud Yarrow makes his entrace. The shock jock calls out "Everyone, I love this man, and I don't care who knows it!" Staring in horror are several Federal Police officers who have come to escort the triumphant Bud Yarrow, newly elected Councillor for Division 2, to Vietnam to face the courts and certain execution for being that country's worst ever serial child killer. Terry, there are REAL LIFE extrapolations here. Our local radio shock jock has praised up before on his radio program, paedophiles, ie the Reverend Gordon King. Read the comments on "Hillbilly Watch"!! I feel you must give it a try in attempting to interest producers into doing something with "The Sky Pilot" series. The messages it contains are just too serious to have nothing done with it.

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    1. Thanks Liz. I will have a think about it.

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  19. Unreal! I get more American readers than Australians!

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