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THE TWEED Volume 2 #29 Thursday, April 1, 2010 Advertising and news enquiries: Phone: (02) 6672 2280 Fax: (02) 6672 4933 editor@tweedecho.com.au adcopy@tweedecho.com.au www.tweedecho.com.au
LOCAL & INDEPENDENT (AND HOW!)
Cr Milne lands in hot water again Embattled Greens Cr Katie Milne is facing censure again by the conduct review panel after complaints from a majority of her fellow councillors. ‘It’s just not fair,’ said one councillor, who cannot be named under the code of secrecy that prohibits the public disclosure of anything which has not already been publicly disclosed. ‘Katie makes us look bad,’ the complainant continued, ‘why can’t she sit up straight and concentrate on the proper things a Tweed Shire councillor should be doing – obeying the staff, listening to developers, plotting campaigns against other councillors for the mayoralty, stuff like that.
Repco rally to set up a permanent site The World Rally organisation has been given the go-ahead to establish a permanent rally course and headquarters in the Tweed shire. In the deal with the council, a helicopter pad, yacht moorings and a massive accommodation complex will be built in Murwillumbah, just on the river, next to the bridge. All-year-round bleachers will also be set up along Byrrill Creek Road. ‘This is the best thing to ever happen in my life,’ a visibly teary-eyed general manager Mike Rayner said. ‘We seriously considered asking for a mono rail as well, but the man from the rally said he didn’t want us to look too much like rubes, whatever that means.’ With an estimated one billion dollars needed for construction, the rally organisation has been promised the funds by the NSW government. The money will be administered by Macquarie Bank, with oversight by Ian McDonald, the minister for economic development and restaurant subsidies. The World Rally’s chief executive denied claims that the previous rally was a failure, explaining that the company did quite well out of it from government grants. ‘It was, after all, a real community event,’ he said. Asked about any future exploration of alternative fuels, Repco’s marketing manager told The Echo, ‘Alternatives don’t need to be found; fossil fuel companies get enough government tax breaks to ensure our viability long into the future. And besides, running a car on electricity would mean so few moving parts my line of work would disappear as quickly as the newspaper industry.’ Instead of half of council’s budget of $120,000 for community festivals going to the rally, from next year the entire amount will be allocated to the ongoing costs of keeping up the appearance of a successful event.
Mayor Warren Polglase: a career in local government crowned with the editorship of a tabloid newspaper. See story below.
Warren Polglase takes over at the Snooze
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the restored council and the following year was promoted to mayor by the process of having his name drawn out of a hat. His political sidekick, Cr Phil Youngblutt, was elevated to the position of deputy mayor by the same process. Both men thanked the electorate for entrusting them with these important positions. It is believed that another councillor, Dot Holdom, 103, is also interested in a media career and is considering offers in local radio. ‘Apparently they need people with thick coats to stand around in the studio to improve the acoustics,’ she told The Echo. ‘That’s right up my alley. I’m thick and I own a coat. What’s more, it has two sides.’
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A media analyst told The Echo, ‘This is an attempt to keep faith with the loony demographic, which is very numerous in Tweed Shire. Over the years Cr Polglase’s performance as a councillor has been so farcical that he will appeal to those readers, although the move will get the paper no traction with the wider community.’
Prior to his appointment to the newspaper, Cr Polglase had a distinguished career in local politics. In 2004 as a sitting councillor he secured funding for his re-election campaign from billionaire developer Bob Ell, who has two huge housing estates pending in the Tweed. As a shrewd and capable political operator, Warren succeeded in extracting this campaign assistance without having to promise anything in return. In 2005 the council was sacked and placed in administration after the Daly Report found that some candidates had been elected under false pretences and could be perceived as puppets of developers. In 2008 Cr Polglase was elected to
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Loony demographic
N DE K I NGS
‘All this concentration on sustainability, conservation and proper process may be what the ratepayers want, but it’s not what I was elected for.’ Despite extensive enquiries The Echo was unable to discover what the councillor was elected for. When Cr Milne is found guilty of bringing her fellow councillors into disrepute, the conduct review panel will recommend that she be sent to the NSW Department of Planning for re-education in the principles of developer appeasement.
way,’ continued the journalist, Dimity Dimasall, 16, of Surfers Paradise, ‘so this will enhance our efficiency.’ Other sources at the paper said the story was a huge beat-up to fill some space, and would be quietly dropped as soon as they could think up some more porkies about Cr Katie Milne.
VI ND
Greens Cr Katie Milne pictured as she really is. Photo Joan van Lieshout
The mayor of Tweed Shire Council, Warren Polglase, has been appointed editor of the Tweed Daily News. Making the surprise announcement, the management of the daily paper stressed that the appointment was a serious attempt to revive its flagging fortunes. ‘Nobody knows the politics of the Tweed as well as Warren,’ said a spokesperson from his office in Caloundra, ‘and we do like our employees to have local knowledge.’ A senior journalist at The News, who did not want to be named, said having Cr Polglase as editor ‘would at least save us all a bit of time’. ‘The previous editors always printed what Warren told them to any-