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Just who should appear before the Parliamentary Committee???

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In Canada - also a Westminster system country - it is now commonplace for staffers to appear before parliamentary committees, as this rather racy account illustrates:
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=c168cc4a-ac9c-4791-81f2-536a44550b8b

And then there is something known as:-

THE MCMULLAN PRINCIPLE

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Windsor renovation 'rescue' is more like a demolition job

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The Age
March 26, 2010
TOM ORMONDE

Melbourne has plenty of glass towers, but only one Windsor Hotel.

Here's a grand idea for Melbourne. Why don't we knock down the rear section of the Parliament building at the top of Bourke Street and replace it with a 26-storey, 91-metre-high glass tower?

While we're at it, we could get Planning Minister Justin Madden to put his signature on a terrific little plan to pull down a wing of the Royal Exhibition Building and erect a glass and steel tower there, too. And maybe make this one 40 storeys high, just to be sure that it completely overwhelms what's left of the original building.

Ridiculous? Of course. Impossible? Don't be too sure - just look at what's about to be done to another precious heritage-listed Melbourne landmark, the 127-year-old Windsor Hotel in Spring Street.

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Don't make the Windsor our Dresden, pleads Rush

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March 26, 2010

The Age

David Rood

 

OSCAR winning actor Geoffrey Rush has weighed into the fight over the Windsor Hotel, comparing the proposed redevelopment to the bombing of Dresden during World War II.

Hundreds of protesters who rallied against the $260 million project on the steps of Parliament House yesterday were read a statement from the Australian actor, who was not at the rally.

''Dresden was bombed out during a war, we don't need a war to bomb out our city, we've got a government who is bombing it out for us,'' he wrote.

The redevelopment will result in part of the rear of the 1883 hotel being demolished to make way for a 91-metre tower. The state architect has backed the project as a ''distinctive and memorable design''.

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Planning Alerts

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Info from BRAG

Planning Alerts

You will no doubt be aware that the government is changing the planning act and putting in place fast tracking

processes to keep resident objectors in the dark until it is too late to do much about it.

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Is Australia growing too fast - YES ! The Age

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Even the readers of the fiercely pro-growth pro-immigration newspaper, The Age, agree that Australia is growing too fast.

The ONLY people in favour are those that personally gain from growth through income or power….. Think about it !

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DEBATE ! : Are our migration numbers right or wrong. Kelvin Thomson vs Michael Danby

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Wednesday May 5, 2010
7.30-9.30pm
Cora Graves Centre
38 Blessington Street ST. KILDA
VICTORIA

Saint Kilda and South Melbourne ALP Branches present POPULATE AND/OR PERISH: Are our migration numbers right or wrong.

A debate and discussion with
Michael Danby MP
Federal Member for Melbourne Ports
versus
Kelvin Thomson MP
Federal Member for Wills
Chair of the joint Standing Committee on Treaties

Yes, its the event that had to happen: a debate on population between two senior Labor Figures who have featured heavily in the media in recent years with opposing opinions on this important topic.

Come along and see DANBY and THOMSON slog it out, ask them questions, grapple with this enormous policy question.

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National Trust appeals to VCAT

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National Trust appeals to VCAT to have the Minister's decision on the Windsor Hotel overturned.
The Minister's decision and the approval of Heritage Victoria were against what the heritage control stipulated for this area and against what the owner knew clearly when he purchased the Hotel from Oberoi who also knew the controls.
One has to wonder about the chain of events that brought those approvals?
If the grand old hotels of Europe can survive without putting on towers, no reason why the Windsor can't.
 

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Melbourne IS growing too fast !! The Age

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Even the readers of the fiercely pro-growth pro-immigration newspaper, The Age agree that Melbourne is growing too fast.

The ONLY people in favour are those that personally gain from growth through income or power….. Think about it !
n

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Victorian Upper House enquiry continues to question Peta Duke

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Victorian Upper House enquiry continues to question Peta Duke from Marvellous Melbourne on Vimeo.

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Fake Consultation on Windsor - Why Peta Duke didn't turn up.

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The reason for Peta Duke's failure to appear before parliament re Mr Madden's memo.

 

 Of course the Minister could have given her permission to do so, but must not have:

A few years ago Victorian Public servants received a little booklet of rules, "Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector employees", created under the Public Administration Act 2004, s.63.

"The code is binding upon any person to whom it applies, and contravention of a code is capable of constituting misconduct." (p.iii)

"2.2 Remaining apolitical

Public sector employees conduct themselves in an apolitical manner. They implement and administer the policies and programs of the elected government. They avoid in the course of their work, any participation in activities which support a political party or independent candidates including attendance at fund raising or similar events.

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