http://cynicismcentral.org/node/58
OH – COME ON! TOWNSVILLE DEVELOPERS OPEN WALLETS FOR QLD LABOR PARTY FOR ELECTION YEAR . 50K FROM LAURENCE LANCINI , 56K FROM CONSOLIDATED PROPERTIES AND ANOTHER 15K FROM MIRVAC , FLINDERS PLAZA,CANAL ESTATE HANG IN BALANCE.
Cross reference “TOWNSVILLE V8 TRACK TENDER AWARDED TO LABOR DONORS , PATTERN BETRAYS WIFF OF SCANDAL” www.cynicismcentral.org/node/44
See also “Developer Donations – Time to air the dirty Laundry “
http://www.magnetictimes.com/index.php?p=6&ID=2633
(You can also check newstext for letters published in the Townsville Bulletin on this issue under my name )
So , we have come to this . 2 big developments in Townsville hang in the balance. Laurence Lancini’s Flinders Plaza development , worth hundreds of millions , which seeks to ram a road through the Flinders st Pedestrian Mall , and the “Townsville Pier” Canal Estate component of the previously named “Breakwater Quays” and Townsville Cruise Ship Terminal Project worth billions.
Putting a road through the mall is opposed by most of Townsville, so too the canal estate with the local council and environment groups opposing it (me too) .
No public funding is currently available for public works to help Mr Lancini make his private profits.
However labor governments are in power at the state and federal level . I suppose he could ask around , couldn’t he?
The canal proposal estate verges the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and will , it is said by environment groups and scientists , have a significant impact on the local marine wildlife including the Cleveland Bay Snubfin Dolphin , Turtle and Dugong and their habitat.
The developers have linked the canal estate with the Ocean Terminal Project (which not many people, including myself actually oppose). The Canal Estate is to fund the Terminal . And they are going to come up against significant opposition.
But all of the developers have been donating heavily to labor over the years since the development was proposed.
So, Let us list the relevant donations by the relevant donors to the relevant party linked to the relevant development in the relevant election year .
Laurence Lancini’s last donation was $1500 a few years back . Last year it was 50K
Consolidated Properties donated 56 650 K last year check www.cynicismcentral.org/node/44 for the rest.
Mirvac gave 15K last year , check the same link for previous . (This is most likely for dinner with the Premier or Minsters.
Resort Corp 15K same as Mirvac.
(Source http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Returns/10/P2609.pdf )
There are some other notable property developers from North Qld and interstate in there this year that haven’t been previously, so hold onto your hats and look at what pops up on the radar.
It has been reported that a Qld mining billionaire is suing the Qld Premier for defamation on the grounds that she has said he has bought the Liberal National Party of Qld. Like the premier I don’t reckon based on the law that he has a chance, however , I want him to back off ,
He is just giving her left wing cred she don’t deserve (You know get attacked by a big bad billionaire and all that) . She is the pot calling the kettle black as her party is the worst of the bunch .
So I am wondering if all that is just another smokescreen. You see, the Qld Labor government was in town today and the release of last years donations today , will get buried locally for a couple of days.
The deadline for the submissions to the 1st EIS on the canal estate was a day before a donations release by the AEC .
Todays report of a the decision of the Coordinator general to approve the canal estate subject to conditions , and the community cabinet comes on a disclosures day. (Thats what I would do!)
(source) “Townsville $1 billion ship terminal in sight” Townsville Bulletin 2/2/09
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2009/02/02/36355_hpnews.html
You can find a link the donations search engine on the link above to my other article .
When you look around you will come to the conclusion seeing the donations made by various people in various years to different branches of each party and their executive branches, and seeing donations from those other parties and executives to each other – just how they are hiding more money .
Perhaps the other best way of laundering in plain sight is simply to take the donation, use the money for your party, then use public money to fund the development and take more money later on.
Dont forget to fund the local candidates with that money though, that being what party funds are for.
This being the case, answer this me question , if the English House of Lords overturned one of its own decisions on extraditing Pinochet because one of the lords was previously a member of Amnesty, a party to proceedings , on the grounds of bias , why then cant a court see fit to overturn the decision of any Qld labor minister relating to a development and a developer that has donated to their party on the grounds of apprehended or actual bias ? Hmmmn
OH- COME ON PEOPLE , ARE YOU BLOODY BLIND OR WHAT?
This goes to the heart of the government accountability debate !
Pat Coleman
Comments
No shit sherlock!
MPs thumb noses at ethics, says Gary Crooke, QC
By Steven Wardill
CourierMail
July 04, 2009 12:00am
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25729678-3102,00.html
.QUEENSLAND politicians have been accused of sidestepping scrutiny and becoming "deluded" about ethics by the man charged with keeping them honest.
Outgoing Integrity Commissioner Gary Crooke, QC, warned that MPs were thumbing their noses at conflict-of-interest criticisms.
His comments came on an extraordinary day in the Gordon Nuttall trial, as former premier Peter Beattie contradicted claims from his successor, Anna Bligh, that she did not need to declare a free family holiday last year.
Ms Bligh told Brisbane District Court this week there was no need to declare the stay at the Sydney mansion of Thiess director and friend Ros Kelly.
However, Mr Beattie yesterday told the court any holiday gift given to a minister should be declared.
"We both know what we are talking about and the answer is yes," Mr Beattie said when asked if a declaration was needed.
Mr Crooke said the actions of MPs risked undermining public confidence and compromising gains in ethical standards.
In an interview to mark his retirement, Mr Crooke said he was often aware of politicians and senior public servants who did not seek the Integrity Commissioner's advice because they believed in their own ethical compass.
"There is a danger, a very real danger, that . . . an individual is so confident of their own ethical approach to anything that confronts them that they won't heed whatever is thought to be the conflictual aspect ," he said. "But, in fact, they fall into the trap of engaging in a practice that, objectively, is seen to be inappropriate."
Mr Crooke also criticised the growing practice of "pay-per-view" politics that has emerged on both sides of politics as a key fundraising mechanism.
He said politicians were only "trustees" of elected positions so they were selling something they had no right to.
Ms Bligh, who eventually declared her holiday after it was revealed by The Courier-Mail, yesterday said the job of the integrity commissioner was vital to ensure ethical behaviour.
She defended pay-per-view fundraising, saying the donations were publicly declared.
"In the Australian political context, these arrangements are seen for what they are, they are political donations," she said.
But Mr Crooke, a senior counsel in Queensland's Fitzgerald inquiry, said the practice struck at the heart of public administration and both sides of politics appeared to be keen to take the money but reluctant to debate if they should.
"One of my abiding fears is that if something like this is done and cannot be justified in principle, there a developing tendency in public administration for people to say: 'If we just do it and tough it out people will forget about it'," he said.
"That is the worst type of apathy and if we are talking about trying to improve public standards there has got to be accountability and justifiability for anything that is done at the top level."
Additional reporting Rosemary Odgers and Patrick Lion
lay down with dogs........
Cruise ship terminal sinking fast
TONY RAGGATT
Townsville Bulletin
March 31st, 2009
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2009/03/31/47265_hpnews.html
TOWNSVILLE'S cruise ship project needs a new developer.
The project's embattled proponent City Pacific admitted as much last week when it announced a $74.3 million loss
for the six months to December 31 and its auditor, KPMG, said there was significant doubt the company could continue as a going concern.
"In order to realise this project, City Pacific will actively seek development partners with relevant credentials to assist it," City Pacific said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
City Pacific had entered into a contract to on-sell its development rights for the $1 billion Townsville Ocean Terminal project to marina operator IMDM.
However, those negotiations broke down last week and IMDM terminated the contract.
IMDM has filed a claim in the Supreme Court seeking damages of more than $380 million, $2 million restitution and $59,305.95 in incidental costs from City Pacific.
City Pacific, which is also facing a law suit claiming $450 million in damages from former IMDM director Craig Gore, said it intended to strenuously defend the claims.
The State Government said it would continue to support a private developer.
Conservationists said the terminal was a `sick duck' and should be put out of its misery.
New Infrastructure and Planning Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the Government remained committed to working with the private sector to see the project developed.
"City Pacific retains the development rights to this project and have written to the Co-ordinator General to reiterate they will continue the approvals process," he said.
"Our $16.5 million contribution towards the approximate $50 million cost of a terminal is on the table, ready to go."
North Queensland Conservation Council co-ordinator James McLellan said it was time for Premier Anna Bligh to `pull the pin on this development and put this sick duck out of its misery before it dies an ugly death on its own'.
"While this project may not be totally dead yet, it must be close to it," he said.
"We are very happy that it won't be proceeding, supported by (IMDM financier) Lord Michael Ashcroft's money.
"Lord Ashcroft is a known philanthropist with a history of supporting whale and dolphin conservation, so his involvement in a project which could have caused the local extinction of snubfin dolphins was very hard to understand."
Mr McLellan said the proposal had become a circus.
"City Pacific keeps trying to offload it but every time they seem to have succeeded the sale falls through," he said.
"City Pacific itself is under siege with many of its investors calling for the banks to call in the receivers before all of their money is whittled away.
"In the southern media City Pacific has shared the headlines with other high-risk investment companies like Storm Financial."
In its half-yearly accounts, City Pacific reported a deficiency in net assets of about $9.1 million.
Its auditors, KPMG, in a report to City Pacific members, said material uncertainty existed in the company's financial statements which cast significant doubt about the group's ability to continue as a going concern `and therefore whether the group is able to realise its assets at the amounts recorded in the half-yearly financial statements'.
City Pacific said it recognised its development rights to the terminal as non-current inventories with a carrying value of its cost of $6 million although it added an independent valuation of $30 million had been provided, based on a development scenario.
Pommy Lord doesnt take over
Townsville marina breakdown
Townsville Bulletin
TONY RAGGATT
March 24th, 2009
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2009/03/24/46261_hpnews.html
THE future of the $1 billion Townsville Ocean Terminal project is again under a cloud with corporate players now threatening legal action over failed negotiations.
Australian representatives of the man with the money to build the scheme, British billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft, announced yesterday they had terminated a contract to buy the project's development rights from embattled Gold Coast non-bank lender City Pacific.
Meanwhile City Pacific says it will continue to progress the project through its approvals stage, scheduled for completion by February 2010, but acknowledged they may need to find a partner to develop the scheme.
Marina group International Marina Development and Management, funded by Lord Ashcroft's Mayfair Ltd, bought the Breakwater Marina from City Pacific last year for $18 million.
At the same time it agreed to buy the future development area for the terminal project for $20.3 million.
The project involves reclaiming seabed in front of Jupiters casino for the development of 700 dwellings and a cruiseship terminal for which the State Government has committed to providing $15 million.
IMDM chairman Shane Stone said they terminated the contract to buy the development rights yesterday.
"We went back to them with a range of issues which were not able to be resolved," he said.
"Over the course of the weekend there was no movement."
He said their principals in London had decided to terminate the contract and City Pacific had written back accepting the termination of the contract.
Mr Shane said he believed there was likely to be litigation over the matter and for that reason was reluctant to provide details of issues which caused a breakdown in negotiations.
However he said there was uncertainty in relation to the requirements of the port of Townsville and to plans for a diversion of Ross Creek.
"There were certain matters City Pacific needed to do as seller of the project which had not occurred," he said.
"When you are asking a company to spend close to $260 million you want to have the i's dotted and the t's crossed.
"We are not saying it was the fault of the port.
"There were just too many loose ends and unresolved issues."
However City Pacific managing director John Ellis said it was IMDM that had been unwilling to accept conditions imposed on the project by the State Government.
The Government last month announced conditions including that the project's permanent homes must be at least 1km from the port's mineral loading berths.
"There was conditions imposed by the Government that IMDM found it was not willing to meet . . . various conditions," Mr Ellis said.
"For reasons known best to IMDM, they have elected not to proceed.
"That being the case City Pacific will retain its position as developer of the project."
He said they would meet with State Government representatives today to see how to move the project forward.
"In these times we'd be looking for partners and other people to partner with us on the project," he said.
"We need to examine our options in relation to partnering it moving forward."
Last month, Premier Anna Bligh announced co-ordinator-general Colin Jensen had given the project the green light, subject to conditions and final approvals.
Final approval was to be subject to evaluation by the State of plans to meet those conditions, Federal Government scrutiny and investment decisions.
Ms Bligh committed to $16.5 million for construction of the terminal.
Last night, the office of Deputy Premier Paul Lucas who had carriage of the project as infrastructure minister in the previous government, referred questions to the co-ordinator-general's office.
A spokesman for the co-ordinator-general said City Pacific contacted the office yesterday to reiterate their commitment to continuing the approvals process for the ocean terminal project.
Pommy Lord takes over
The Townsville Bulletin reports another agressive aquisition by the pommy Lord (scanned copy):
http://cynicismcentral.nigelsim.org/townsvillebulletin180309.jpg
Lord muckship , not many people here want your canal estate/marina , I dont thats for sure . I have heard you are very litigious. I am very good at this free speech stuff .
Feel free to have a crack though , I'll put it on my resume .
Citypac + Gore and a pommy lord
http://search.news.com.au/related/id%3Astory%7C23844051/0/Lifeline-for-C...
.....there's got to be an ABC political comedy in this somewhere....
by the way , city pacific has a bit of form , so has a certain "resort corp" "indentity"
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23352028-5006786,00.html
Greg Roberts | March 11, 2008
Article from: The Australian
DEVELOPERS swoop on councillors and the prime real estate they control like hungry seagulls.
Last week their concentration in Wollongong caused the entire council to be sacked following 10-days of explosive revelations about improper deals and relationships with developers in the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.
This week attention switches to the Gold Coast and Australia's second biggest local council where elections will be held on Saturday.
Tom Tate, the Liberal Party's colourful candidate for mayor, insists his campaign is an open book. "My team is more about being transparent than being Liberal," says the candidate with impressive property holdings. Tate is the director of 12 companies; his Surfers Paradise properties include the Islander Resort Hotel and the Commerce Club premises. The Gold Coast has been the subject of intense scrutiny over the relationship between its council and developers. Yet Tate and the Liberals are refusing to disclose the identity of their donors.
History shows that council candidates, elections and developers are a tight, if shadowy, threesome. A 1991 report by Queensland's Criminal Justice Committee concluded that developers tried to keep secret donations to council candidates in the 1988 elections. "One could not imagine that any developer would have contributed tens of thousands of dollars without the expectation of something in return," the report said. Recommendations for reforms to state electoral laws were ignored.
Fast forward to the most recent Gold Coast council elections in 2004. A Crime and Misconduct Commission inquiry found the poll was corrupted by a developer-financed fund that secretly bankrolled the campaigns of "commonsense" candidates. The fund was operated by senior local Liberal Lionel Barden. Nothing had changed. Jim Raptis was among the developers who made secret donations in both 1988 and 2004; the CMC commented on the "uncanny similarity" between the two inquiries.
The state Labor Government rejected the CMC's main recommendation: the forced disclosure of donors before council elections. The ALP has been the recipient of money from commonsense fund donors including Stockland, Sunland and the Roche Group.
A pro-developer majority of councillors known as the Bloc, which consistently sides with developers in council decisions, was elected in 2004.
Yet some Gold Coast councillors wear their relationship with the big end of town as a badge of honour. A function at the Gold Coast Turf Club last August raised $64,000 for council planning chairman Ted Shepherd. It was attended by a who's who from the Gold Coast developer brigade, with companies including Raptis's Rapcivic Contractors and the Ingles Group forking out $1700 each for a table.
Developer John Fish paid $10,000 into the commonsense fund before the 2004 poll, helping to elect councillor Grant Pforr, who was less than frank when he declared publicly before the election that he was independently funding his campaign. More recently, Pforr received $400 worth of tickets to a Gold Coast Titans ball from Fish.
Once again property developers are circling Saturday's elections for what is Australia's sixth biggest city and fastest growing metropolis.
The Laotian-born Tate, 49, a civil engineer and wealthy businessman, denies that his campaign is developer-backed while at the same time insisting there is nothing wrong if it is. "I am underwriting 95 per cent of the cost personally," Tate says. "If there is other support coming in, then I welcome it."
Tate's campaign, backed by a $1 million Liberal Party war chest, suffered a setback when The Australian revealed two of his properties are included in plans to redevelop the council-owned Surfers Paradise Transit Centre. If the transit centre site is developed Tate could make a lot of money, although he denies he was aware that his properties were included in the plans by property financier City Pacific.
Proposals for a second Gold Coast casino on the site are controversial as it would dispense with the tourist strip's biggest public transport hub and 1600 carpark spaces.
Tate's main opponents are incumbent Mayor, Olympics track legend Ron Clarke, and councillor Rob Molhoek, the council's finance committee head. Molhoek expresses doubts about Tate's denial of being involved with the transit centre plans. Revealing he (Molhoek) was present during a council presentation of City Pacific's plans last November, Molhoek says: "These were very detailed drawings and they clearly included Tom's properties. I can't imagine that properties would be included in plans like that without the owners being party to it." Tate declines to respond.
Tate's attempts to distance himself from developer backing suffered a further setback when The Weekend Australian revealed he is embroiled with his former campaign manager over a $10 million property development in NSW. While Tate won't identify his financial supporters, he is being publicly backed by the Surfers Paradise nightclub fraternity. "Tom would make a very good mayor," says Mick Pikos, a close friend of Tate and owner of the Crazy Horse Nightclub, which offers nightly strip shows and private lap dancing. Pikos has twice been prosecuted for admitting underage patrons to his nightclub.
Molhoek is not part of the Bloc, but not through lack of trying, according to the CMC inquiry report on the 2004 poll. The inquiry heard that Molhoek "desperately" tried to obtain $10,000 from the commonsense fund, and that he stopped fundraising on the understanding "there would be something for us". The inquiry heard that developer Brian Ray, who initiated the fund, gave Molhoek a "rating" of 80 per cent. Molhoek, who usually votes with the Bloc, says he distanced himself from the fund when he became aware it was not going to be transparent. Unlike Tate, Molhoek, who is being quietly backed in the mayoral race by senior Labor figures including premier Anna Bligh, is disclosing his donors before Saturday's poll. Prominent among them are the founders of troubled investment giant MFS, Michael King and Phil Adams, who chipped in $150,000. Molhoek says he is turning down offers from property developers.
Tate was also referred to during the CMC inquiry. He was present at the first meeting of developers called to discuss the commonsense fund before the 2004 poll. The inquiry heard that those present determined which councillors should be deemed "dickheads". Like Molhoek, Tate says he opted to have nothing to do with the fund because it was secret.
Now, Tate and Molhoek have stitched together a preferences deal between the Liberals and Molhoek's United GC in a bid to topple Clarke and other independent councillors. With opinion polls putting support for Clarke at twice that of each of his main opponents, the Liberals decided that a deal with Molhoek, an evangelical Christian who has attended the leaders' retreat in recent years at Sydney's Hillsong Conference, was the only way Tate could win.
It is an uneasy alliance. Molhoek's Christianity has been used against him during the campaign by Tate's supporters. Surfers Paradise Chamber of Commerce president Paul Darveniza asked Tate at a public meeting in January if he would have to "consult the Bible" to cope with the pressure of being mayor.
Darveniza succeeded Tate as chamber president last year with Tate's support. Darveniza has a colourful history of his own. He was struck off the state's roll of barristers in 2000 for demonstrating a "disturbing willingness to engage in criminal activity", the Queensland Supreme Court found.
The court found Darveniza's conduct showed "persistence in attempting to sell unlawful money-laundering". Darveniza has two convictions for supplying methamphetamine drugs, which he failed to disclose to the Bar Association of NSW when seeking admittance.
Tate had promised to swap preferences with Clarke. Tate justified opting out of that commitment by falsely accusing Clarke of leaking confidential information to The Australian about the Surfers Paradise Transit Centre redevelopment.
The Queensland Liberals are desperate to win Saturday's council poll to atone for their disastrous performances in the federal election in November, when the swing to Labor in key seats was 50 per cent higher in Queensland than the national average. In the 2006 state poll just eight Liberal MPs were elected to the 89-member parliament.
The state Liberals' two top Queensland strategists, director Geoff Greene and his deputy Peter Epstein, have worked on the campaign for several months. Greene declines to respond to a claim by a Liberal source that 11 of the 15 Gold Coast council candidates were not members of the party until recently.
The contest for the Brisbane City Council elections, also on Saturday, seems a low priority for the party as Liberal mayor Campbell Newman strives to retain office and wrest control of the Labor-dominated council.
Qualitative research conducted by former Queensland Liberal vice-president Graham Young for his On Line Opinion website shows development is regarded as the most important issue. In-depth interviews with 48 Gold Coast residents reveal that Tate and Molhoek are considered "too close to the development community".
Although the sample is small, 54 per cent say they would vote for Clarke, 24 per cent for Tate and 16 per cent for Molhoek.
Clarke is campaigning on an environmental platform, signaling new controls on developers and support for a Noosa-style population cap. His critics say he was less than vigorous in these pursuits during his four years as mayor. They say Clarke reneged on numerous promises he made before the 2004 poll.
Now, his opponents are targeting Clarke's age: he is 71. Molhoek accuses the mayor of regularly falling asleep during council meetings. Clarke responds he is "as fit as anyone can expect to be at this age".
Gold Coast players long associated with the development lobby have resurfaced during the campaign. Graham Staerk is a bankrupt whose company Winning Directions folded with debts of $1 million in 2005. In the same year, the Tweed Shire Council, just south of the Gold Coast, was sacked following a NSW Government inquiry that concluded that evidence from Staerk, a key figure behind the developer-backed takeover of the Tweed council, provided the base for a "litany of lies and deception".
Now Staerk is the marketing director of Resort Corp, which has developments on the Gold Coast, and he has been hired by The Gold Coast Bulletin newspaper as an election commentator. Staerk has a good political radar, having been a former press secretary to premier Peter Beattie and private secretary to former Brisbane lord mayor Jim Soorley.
A former senior Winning Directions employee, who asks not to be identified, says: "I didn't get a cent out of the tens of thousands he owed me in superannuation, yet he drives around in his BMW living the high life. It makes me sick." Staerk says the vehicle belongs to his wife, adding: "I've only got $200 in the bank. I'm flat broke," says Staerk, who claims he has nothing to do with council candidates.
hmmmn....
hmmmn....probably a good idea mirvac start work on this before the election considering they donate more to labor than the other side....
First sod turned in $1bn development
March 03, 2009
Article from: Australian Associated Press
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25131504-5006786,00.html
THE first sod has been turned in a $1 billion development that will create a new "mini suburb" on the banks of the Brisbane River.
The first stage of Waterfront at Newstead, to be built on a former gas works site, will cost $350 million and deliver more than $50 million in public infrastructure.
The project, to be developed over the next 12 to 15 years, will eventually be home to 1350 permanent residents.
Off-the-plan sales include apartments from $2 million up to a $14 million penthouse.
The project, one of the largest underway in southeast Queensland, will create up to 400 construction jobs.
Mirvac chief executive Matthew Wallace said the site, overlooking a dual reach of the Brisbane River less than 2km from the city centre, would ultimately become a suburb in its own right.
"The heart and soul of this development will be the extensive community parklands, lake, publicly accessible riverfront areas and recreational spaces, which will cover more than 50 per cent of the overall site area," he said.
p1 Headline "Another 1 bites the dust"
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2009/03/04/42495_hpnews.html
Prime Townsville waterfront site in forced sale – huge debts sink Santai
TONY RAGGATT
March 4th, 2009
ONE of the city's prime waterfront development sites looks headed for a forced sale as Gold Coast developer Resort Corp sinks under huge debts.
Certainly, Resort Corp will not be developing its ritzy Santai residential project, part of a $500 million Saltwater development proposed by Resort Corp next to Jupiters casino.
Resort Corp Pty Ltd was listed on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's website last night as being under external administration, while group spokesman, Andrew Robinson of Robinson Legal, told the Gold Coast Bulletin yesterday the group owed creditors `in excess of $300 million'.
David Clout, from David Clout & Associates in Brisbane, is understood to be administrator of 12 companies in the group placed in voluntary administration on Monday.
The Burleigh Heads companies, including the flagship Resort Corp Pty Ltd, are owned and run by Paul Brinsmead and Peter Madrers.
Resort Corp splashed into the North Queensland market in a big way in 2007.
They reportedly paid around $52 million for the 4.6ha site adjacent to Jupiters – the biggest real estate deal in the city's history – in 2007.
The company announced the $500 million Saltwater project – a mixed-use project of around 450 units built around an `eat street' restaurant and retail hub. A 15-level tower was proposed as a centrepiece.
The company announced its first stage Santai project of 143 apartments and home sites last year and contracts on about one third of them are said to have been written.
It now seems likely that the land will be sold at auction.
According to Australian Securities and Investments Commission, there was a wind up application against Resort Corp Pty Ltd but was dismissed late January, around the time rumours on the company's financial status began to surface.
The company has been responsible for helping change the face of Tweed Heads having built Soraya, Nor Nor East and the Beach Resort.
Mr Robinson said the group's second residential Noosa project would not be affected.
The company and Mr Clout are working on the details of a deed of company arrangement (DOCA).
Staff would retain their jobs.
"This step has been made necessary by the massive drop in product demand and consequent curtailment of cash flow within the group," Mr Robinson said.
The first stage, Santai Townsville, a $150 million waterfront project was approved by the council last July.
Last year, the company was snowballed by Currumbin residents when it announced plans to build a resort which exceeded the three-storey height limit.
Resort Corp eventually sold the site to company 30 Marine Parade, linked to the Dickenson family, for $3.43 million.
The administration comes following a $15,000 donation by the company to the ALP from 2007 to 2008.
Mr Brinsmead's father, Bob Brinsmead, is a leading developer and former Tweed Shire councillor and former owner of Avocado Land in northern NSW.
Canal estate speculators turn on each other over debt
Canal estate speculators turn on each other over debt
Gore, one of the Townsville Pier"( formerly named "Breakwater Quays") canal estate and marina developers has fallen out with City Pacific over a hundred million or so.
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=gore+%2B+city+pacific+%2B+debt&b...
Seems though, when they donate to labor to get a government nod for something , whatever is proposed, whether it be pie in the sky or not , becomes an idea or "interest" that can be bought and sold . Meaning these speculators and devlopers can walk away at any time with millions even though not a sod has been turned .
Meanwhile , millions of public dollars get wasted providing them with funding for something that should never have been considered , not to mention the time wasted by government departments owned by the people .
Rejected Approval
The Townsville City Council (of which now there is only 1 Labor member) has just rejected a development application by Lancini for the contentious Palleranda subdivisions apposed by a fair chunck of the community.
Previously It was commonwealth land till sold off by Howard. All calls for a buy back under Labor have so far failed , even Federal "Environment" Minister Peter Garret refused.
In light of the revelations about political donations it might not have looked good if the council approved it .
Magpie
Mutiny on Bligh
MALCOLM WEATHERUP
February 7th, 2009
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2009/02/07/37445_magpie.html
BACK in the 1950s, one of those old-fashioned `peasouper' fogs descended on the English Channel, stopping all air and sea traffic.
The ultra-chauvinistic Daily Express newspaper, not noted for any sense of humour or irony (or geography, for that matter), ran a headline along the lines: `Fogbound! Europe isolated'
The Magpie reckons this a lesson in attitude for North Queensland, after a southern-based news broadcast yesterday suggested `floods have cut the Bruce Highway and Townsville is isolated'.
The old bird's point is that we in North Queensland, this state's main wealth generator, should point out that Brisbane is isolated, not us. Take away the revenue siphoned off from this neck of the woods and the southern mob couldn't build an open-air basketball court and latte cafe, let alone a brace or so of multi-million-dollar footy stadiums.
At least this busted bum Government now has undeniable proof that the Great Northern Goat Track (aka the Bruce Highway) is one of the most disgraceful scandals in this state, given it is the lifeline for about half a million tax-paying Queenslanders and countless tourists.
Luck plays a big role in politics, and so it is for our latter-day Captain Bligh, swanning around the Ingham floodwaters in a tinnie, attempting to appear dynamic and compassionate – a sort of cross between Bob the Builder and Mother Teresa – as she surveys the scenes of disaster and misery.
It is undoubtedly good and right that the state leader is on hand for a first-hand gander, and the Premier will loosen the purse strings and fund the heartbreaking clean-up (and, if they're fair dinkum, flood-proof the highway once and for all).
But this Captain Bligh may be facing a mutiny of her own making among her so-far faithful crew in Townsville.
A more realistic view of how we in Townsville are viewed in less damp times came earlier in the week, when Premier Blight delivered to this community a Gucci-clad kick fair and square in Jimmy and the twins by announcing that an `independent' bureaucrat had given `the green light' to the vehemently opposed residential canal development adjacent to the port.
This will entail some piddling alterations to the original plans.
The announcement was a spectacular finger to the vast majority of Townsvilleans, who have made it clear they want no such short-sighted, inappropriate and potentially disastrous development.
The announcement came just days after the premier opened the glass door of her glasshouse to lob a few verbal stones at the Liberal National Party and its supposed Daddy Warbucks, mining magnate Clive Palmer.
The premier suggested Mr Palmer's generosity in slinging the conservative side of politics half a mill in readies amounted to him buying the LNP, with which he could have his wicked way if they fluke it and `Borg' their way into power.
The Magpie can only comment `Look who's bloody talking!!', and suggest by her own logic the premier is casting an unjust slur on some of her own most devoted and generous supporters.
The huge influence of the unions is traditional but there are also private donors to Labor.
These folk part with large chunks of their dough obviously in the fervent hope of seeking and perpetuating good government.
That can be the only plausible reason why people like, say, Laurence Lancini come up with $50K for the Labor cause.
Mr Lancini is the visionary developer who is to build a squillion-dollar complex on the mall, while the Government will consider bankrolling the revamp of the mall's public spaces (which will run right past the doors of said development).
The canal development boss, Craig Gore, is an even more generous Labor supporter, donating (as previously reported here) some $200,000 to Queensland Labor in the past couple of years.
And nothing wrong with that, either, and no inferences are drawn (although if adverse conclusions were to be reached, the fault would be with the politicians, not the donors who take their chances, no promises given). Indeed, it is laudable to see private citizens being so civic-minded.
Couldn't Premier Blight extend that courtesy, which she obviously bestows on the unions and her private donors, to Mr Palmer?
If not, why not?
On another matter, a couple of weeks ago the old bird relayed an email from one JN (Dutchy) Hemerik, who was mightily miffed that Mundingburra MP Lindy Nelson-Carr had briskly knocked back an invite to join the Governor-General and attend a fundraising dinner for the Royal Australian Regiment Association.
Our man sent her a testy email bemoaning the fact that not much more could be expected from ` a part-time resident member'.
Now it is Dutchy's turn to be a bit ingenuous, worrying that folks will think he `leaked' the email to this old bird.
In fact, The Magpie was about the only person he didn't leak it to, and there can be little doubt the intention was to have the broadside end up in print.
As does his little lesson in karma which followed his getting his khaki long-johns in a twist over the knockback.
Dutchy tells The Magpie that on Australia Day, he and his RAR Association committee were invited to the council's hootenanny to mark the day.
Also in attendance was Ms Nelson-Carr. Dutchy assures me she suddenly became greatly pre-occuppied with her program when last year's RAR Association 60th anniversary celebrations were named as the Community Event of the Year. Karma, indeed.
Townsville Bulletin comments
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2009/02/03/36581_news.html
Local Media stories links
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Point of clarification
My support for an ocean cruise terminal in Townsville was conditional upon it being in a redeveloped port, utlising and upgrading existing port infrastructure. This being the less damaging option .
I seem to remember also that this was also the position taken by the Townsville Greens at the time and also the North Queensland Conservation Council.
Link : NSW Greens - Democracy for sale website
NSW Greens - Democracy for sale website
http://www.democracy4sale.org/