Phillips forced to step down over ‘gloom & doom’ article 

Wayne Phillips has ’stepped down’ as President of the Bright & District Chamber of Commerce following an angry backlash from Bright businesses, the Alpine council and the community in general over his controversial comments in the Herald Sun that portrayed Bright as “one step from economic disaster” (see post ‘Wayne’s world of woes’)

The charge against Mr Phillips was led by Alpine council’s CEO Ian Nicholls, who in a strongly worded letter dated Thursday 3 July, addressed to the Chamber Executive, raised his “serious concern with the article”.

Mr Nicholls queried the validity of Mr Phillips’ comments and asked for a meeting to “discuss how we can resolve (these) clearly conflicting views”.

I have seen a copy of the letter and I agree with the position Mr Nicholls has put forward:
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John’s ‘on the money’ over Audax Alpine Classic cycling event

With le Tour de France starting this weekend maybe it’s time we had another look at Bright’s highly successful Alpine Classic cycling event, which is run by Audax. I wrote about this (twice) earlier this year under the posts Change date for Audax event? and Revisit Audax issue please.

And now this week Bright businessman John Robinson has put a strong letter in the Bright Observer further articulating the issue.

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… is a lot different to the real one!

This ‘doom & gloom’ article appeared at the top of page 26 in yesterday’s Melbourne Herald Sun, the largest daily newspaper in the country. It quotes the President of the Bright Chamber of Commerce, Wayne Phillips, extensively. According to Wayne, Bright’s tourist trade, shops & businesses are cactus, but what he’s saying is wrong - in so many ways. Here is the full text with Wayne’s words of woes highlighted:

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… and makes front page news

The Border Mail’s Brad Worrall seems to have made his peace with local bloggers, who he took a few swipes at recently. This is the front page of yesterday’s edition featuring local blogger Greg Naylor from Whitfield in the King Valley. Greg runs the King Valley Watchdog website and was diagnosed with terminal cancer just before Easter this year but is bravely blogging on and in fact chronicling his experiences, thoughts and emotions in the most open & honest style imaginable … on his blog. It certainly warrants Brad’s front page (and page 6) story.

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Well the ABC & Joseph haven’t heard about it

This just shows you how ineffective Tourism Victoria has been in marketing this region. Yesterday morning on ABC local radio presenter Joseph Thomsen’s main talk-back topic was on tourism branding for the north-east Victoria region. “What should we call it”, he asked. “Just calling it the north east is not good enough, it needs a brand to attract more tourists.” Thomsen then invited listeners to call in with their suggestions offering a prize for the best brand name. 

What Joseph and his callers didn’t seem to know was that the region DOES have an official brand. According to the guru geniuses at North East Victoria Tourism (a division of that wonderful bureaucratic organisation known as Tourism Victoria) this area is ‘Victoria’s High Country’ and that’s the way they market it. Obviously not too well, as the brand has clearly not caught on.

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Riewoldt leads Saints revival

It’s only a few weeks (round 11 actually) since I wrote StKilda’s season off as “O.V.E.R.” but there’s just a glimmer of hope that I might have spoken too soon. The Saints are back in the 8 after coming from behind to beat North Melbourne on the Gold Coast last Saturday night in what was their best performance of the year.

St Kilda were clearly inspired (again) by the efforts of captain Nick Riewoldt, who just might lead them back near the top yet.

I’m not getting ahead of myself though, they’ll have to win their next two games (against Carlton & Hawthorn) before I start getting excited and talking about ‘the F word’ …. err, I mean finals. As for the rest of the round (or part thereof) …

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For once, will you please just get behind OUR little battler?

Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt takes on the might of Roger Federer in tonight’s fourth round of Wimbledon and I for one will certainly be staying up to watch it and willing Hewitt on to an unlikely victory. Unfortunately though, it seems most Australians would rather he lose. (UPDATE: … he lost)

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Yeah, let’s burn the whole State

I do NOT aim this at our local CFA volunteer firefighters, who do a great job, but this report from the Wang Chronicle infuriates me. 

My anger though, is directed more at the bureaucrats who head up the DSE (the Department of Scorched Earth Sustainability & Environment) and are turning bushfires into a whole new industry, especially in the north east of Victoria.

Headed “Burn more of the State - Inquiry reveals ways to stop megafires, keep us safer,” the article is about the findings of the All Parliamentary Bushfire Inquiry and recommends that ‘controlled’ burn-offs be tripled in size . It blames insufficient burning for the scale and intensity of the major bushfires we had in early 2003 and over the summer of 2006-07 and calls for “substantially more” funding for DSE and a lot more staff to be hired. 

It also suggests cattle be allowed to return to the Alpine National Parks to combat fuel load !!

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… and now you know why I’m so clever!

I have been memed (or tagged) by LuLi, an aspiring and experimental journalist, and whose blog title “Nothing you confess could make me love you less - I am the LuLi” sounds like it might have been inspired by a past boyfriend, who she’s well & truly over.

Before I go any further I should point out that LuLi’s description of me as “a clever writer who has a unique love for Sophie Mirabella” is only partly correct. Which part, I’m not sure.

Anyway, this meme dictates that I should find the closest book to me, open it to page 123 and write the fifth sentence.

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Have some ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ please

Sam Newman’s return to The Footy Show last night dressed as the Devil made me wonder if Belinda Neal knew something we didn’t. Maybe we should feel sorry for Sam after all?

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We MUST be going to hear something soon!

It’s now well over 3 months since the VCAT hearing of the appeals against the Coles supermarket in Bright, yet still there’s no sign of a decision. Well I guess we won’t get a “sign” of the decision per se, as VCAT are not in the habit of letting the participants or the public know just when they might deign to hand down their verdict. To say that VCAT is a very aloof court of appeal is an understatement; their practices are way out of touch with the real world in my opinion and almost ‘elitist’. Anyway, we must be due to hear something soon.

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Is this the work of the Devil …. or just ’Mad’ Andrew Landeryou?

Well, what’s the difference? According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, a rogue left-wing cyber-activist and possible Belinda Neal supporter has created a video portraying pregnant Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella’s unborn baby as a cigarette-smoking child of the devil.
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Is it ethical to claim your neighbour’s land as your own?

These applications to claim land by adverse possession appeared in this week’s Bright Observer. They were made by the same person and seem to involve properties that abut the applicant’s. I do not personally know any of the parties involved, nor do I know the details of the claims, but it raises the issue of the ethics of adverse possession, which is to formally & legally claim someone else’s land as your own, usually without compensating the owner.

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Letter of the week year revisited

A few weeks ago I highlighted and commented on a rather extraordinary letter appearing in the Bright Observer under THIS POST. At the time I didn’t name the author of the letter (who is Ms Jenny Bouda) but she has since responded. Unfortunately Ms Bouda’s initial response was long on personalised insults and short on rational argument - of any kind - for example: 

… I have now read through quite a lot of your rantings and they only confirm to me that you really are the joke so many people say you are. You are one of those people who come to Bright with one thought only — to make as much money as you can without making any effort to put anything back into the community … I would be prepared to bet that you will leave Bright within five, or perhaps, ten years and have gone somewhere else to enjoy a comfortable retirement …  I don’t begrudge anyone a comfortable retirement but it would be nice if you could view Bright (and you are so Brightcentric that you don’t seem to see beyond the bounds of the town) as your home, even if it is not long term, not just somewhere for you to simply to make money.
…. I am not going to go through your remarks one by one …

And so she didn’t! After some cajouling by other commenters here though, Ms Bouda has finally agreed to address the criticisms of her letter. Here is her (slightly less offensive and rather long-winded) response. My comments appear below each point:  

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… And rule change #2 - the interchange debate debacle

Round ‘13′ was certainly ‘unlucky’ for Collingwood and their whinging coach Mick Malthouse.

Not only did they lose, they now look to be in a serious battle to stay in the 8, especially with serious injuries to big men Anthony (”I’m as dumb as I look”) Rocca and Ben (”I’m just a boy from Bright”) Reid.

No one, apart from their own toothless supporters, would be losing any sleep over Collingwood’s problems but Malthouse’s reaction is hypocrisy in the extreme and cannot go without comment.

The perpetual poor-loser is now calling for the interchange bench to be expanded to six players. These comments in the Herald Sun followed the Magpies’ 10-point defeat to the Bulldogs when Collingwood were reduced to just 20 fit players in the third quarter:
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