Rant 1 - The Election Looms

Rant 2 - The Weekend That Was - 30 August 2012 - 02 September 2012

Rant 3 - Changes

Rant 1

There are four days until election day. Voting is compulsory for Australian citizens 18 years of age or older. The penalty for not voting is $55.

We will be electing a Mayor and ten Councillors for Lismore City Council. We will also be asked to answer a non-compulsory poll question. The result of the poll question is expected to be an overwhelming ‘NO’ response to the question:

Do you support coal seam gas (CSG) exploration and production in the Lismore City Council area? 

The draw on the ballot papers and the tactics of candidates during this election has been very interesting to watch. The most interesting are those of the ‘six pack’ with the addition of Kate Olivieri’s new women only group. I will address each of these in the order they appear on the ballot papers.

The ‘six pack’ is made up of three councillors from the Country Labor Party, one from The Greens, one from Our Sustainable Future and one from Roads & Services. These are Mayor Jenny Dowell and councillors Smith, Houston, Ekins, Clough and Yarnall.

Group A is The Greens. They have been lucky enough to secure the first position on the ballot which usually returns a considerable number of votes from donkey voters. These are voters who have no clue or just don’t care. They usually number their preferences from left to right and don’t care about the draw. The Greens have seemingly turned their back on the Country Labor Party putting them at number 5 in their preferences. However, they are still supporting the ‘six pack’ with Councillor Clough’s Our Sustainable Future group at 2, Kate Olivieri’s group at 3 as a new addition and Councillor Yarnall’s group at 4.

Group B is Councillor Yarnall’s group. He has dropped his Roads & Services group name used to run at the last election possibly as a result of failing to succeed in doing anything with roads or services during his term. He has the Country Labor Party at 2, Kate Olivieri’s group at 3 also as a new addition to the ‘six pack’, Councillor Clough’s Our Sustainable Future group at 4 and The Greens at 5.

Group C is Councillor Clough’s Our Sustainable Future group who have The Greens at 2, Councillor Yarnall’s group at 3, the Country Labor Party at 4 and Kate Olivieri’s group at 5 as the new addition to the ‘six pack’. I think Councillor Clough will be doing it the toughest out of the ‘six pack’ to get re-elected even with a number 2 preference from The Greens.

Group D is Mayor Jenny Dowell’s Country Labor Party group. The tactics of this group are the most interesting of all. There seems to be a noticeable absence of Country Labor Party branding across most material and advertisements but a very prominent display of the ‘No CSG’ message. The absence of the Country Labor Party branding is an unusual, albeit sensible, move by this group considering the disaster at the polls experienced by the Labor Party in so many States. Even though trying to run an environmental campaign, they have dropped The Greens to 4 and Councillor Clough’s Our Sustainable Future group to 5. They seem to be going with females in government at any cost by choosing Kate Olivieri’s group at 2 and they put Yarnall’s former Roads & Services group in at 3. There seems to be trouble in paradise.

Group J is Kate Olivieri’s group. They secured the last position on the ballot which also usually returns a considerable number of votes from donkey voters. Instead of numbering the ballot from left to right, some will number their preferences from right to left. This group has placed Councillor Yarnall’s group at 2, the Country Labor Party at 3, The Greens at 4 and Councillor Clough’s Our Sustainable Future group at 5.

The other groups have prepared similar how to vote guides preferencing each other.

To the average person, all this means very little. However, if preferences, as outlined in how to vote guides, are to be followed by the majority of voters, this all means a great deal.

Ignoring the obvious number of votes from die hard supporters and those blinded by CSG that will go to the Country Labor Party, who may again secure three seats, and The Greens, who may secure two seats this time around, it seems as though Yarnall, and Olivieri will take seats. This could see the ‘six pack’ grow to the ‘lucky seven’.

If preference voting is ignored by most voters and the majority place the number 1 in their selection for Mayor and the numbers 1 to 10 below the line for their preferred Council representatives, we may actually get a Council that we want and not one given to us by clever tactics that very few completely understand.

Either way, it seems as though another four years of a green dominant Council is inevitable.

You are listening to 92.9 River FM. I am Big Rob.

Big Rob’s Rant is interactive while being broadcast. You can find me on Facebook by following the links to Big Rob’s Rant on the Big Rob’s website at bigrobs.com.au.

Rant 2

The Weekend That Was’ seemed to be a fairly quiet one. There were not that many people around and it was a pretty cold weekend.

Do we ignore violence when we see it or do we try and stop it?

It is sometimes very difficult to know what to do when confronted by violence. Many speak of the ‘fight or flight’ response which will see some stand and fight and others run or hide. Some may even freeze not knowing what to do.

Do we ask a person in trouble if they are ok?

The decision to step in to help someone in trouble can be a very difficult one to make for some. Extreme caution is always recommended particularly when the situation involves a domestic relationship. This may even be the case if someone just appears upset. Most people will welcome the concern but some may react adversely.

Thursday night was a quiet one. The only incident of any note was one where a girl seemed upset for reasons unknown. A guy approached her and asked her if she was ok. Her response was to punch the guy in the face. He seemed confused by this response. I don’t blame him.

‘Friday Fight Night’ started unusually with a very heavy domestic incident on the way to work. I will leave that one alone due to the private nature of the situation. The night continued with big crowds at the soccer event at Oakes Oval. Thousands of people attended the game. The crowds had all but dispersed by 9pm without incident. Everyone seemed in great spirits.

Friday night continued and the young people came out again in force. The numbers were not as big as the week before but the street drinking was back and a few people were hassled as they went about their night.

The only serious incident that came to my attention was one where someone grabbed a chair in one of the food businesses and tried to strike someone else with it. Police were on hand in numbers and stormed the premises and took the guy down. They handcuffed the guy and took him away. A girl was knocked over during the incident as police stormed the premises. She seemed ok and now has an exciting story to tell.

Saturday night saw small crowds out and about. There were hardly any people on the streets and no incidents of any real concern were noted. An ambulance did convey someone to hospital but the reason for this is not known. I hope it was nothing too serious.

Although great for helping to reduce the violence, small crowds and cold nights are not good for businesses. Adding considerably more lighting and increasing the police presence when the revelers are around will do a lot for the Lismore CBD. A greater police presence will not only work well to deter a lot of the violence, it will also portray a safer image for the area attracting a lot more people and it will result in improving relationships between police and the community as a whole. 

Find me on Facebook by following the Big Rob’s Rant links on the Big Rob’s website at bigrobs.com.au.

This is 92.9 River FM and I am Big Rob.

Rant 3

I always say it is time for serious change and it is now time for me to implement some change in relation to how I do things online.

Facebook has been a prominent part of my business for some time. It is a great tool for networking. I have also used it extensively for Big Rob’s Rant and as part of my lobbying efforts. It has worked very well for me until recently.

The biggest problem with Facebook is discovered as more people join your pages or friends list. As the number of people involved increases, the chances of offending some of them also increases. Facebook has provided various options to complain about posts that are available to friends, likers or haters. Anyone can target someone they don’t like by complaining about anything and everything.

Since the system is mostly automated, Facebook sends warnings to the person complained about and threatens to shut down their account if the complained about behaviour continues. The unusual thing is that these warnings come through even if the complaints are false or misleading and there is no way to contact Facebook to explain or remedy the situation.

A few months ago I took some images off my Facebook pages and placed them on the Big Rob’s website at bigrobs.com.au. This was as a result of a targeted attack complaining about some images that I have every right to use. They offended one person who then organised a campaign to complain about my posts.

A similar thing happened recently when a nutter targeted me in some of his posts. I posted an image of one of those posts and the nutter didn’t like it so a complaint was lodged. Facebook’s automated system notified me of the complaint so the image was removed. These images will also be moved to the Big Rob’s website where they cannot be complained about or removed unless I choose to do so.

Future posts, images, rants or anything else that may be considered controversial will also be uploaded to the Big Rob’s website in future to avoid the haters. Links will be provided through Facebook from time to time.

To facilitate these changes, a new blog site powered by WordPress has been added to the Big Rob’s website. It will expand over the coming weeks to include considerably more content. Look for the ‘Blog’ links to have a look around.

As already mentioned earlier, tonight’s show is live. The number of rants has dropped from four to three and the main content is still submitted prior to the show for pre-approval. I am hoping the quality of the show improves

This is 92.9 River FM and I am Big Rob.

I am still going on Facebook. Follow the Big Rob’s Rant links on the Big Rob’s website at bigrobs.com.au to post your comments.