What a terrible shame that the City of Launceston Council, apparently the biggest
business in town, doesn’t share this pledge. In fact on the evidence the functionaries at Town Hall are doing everything possible to source materials, services, whatever 'elsewhere'?
Purchasing paving blocks from Western Australia over the apparently equal local
product is just one of the recent notable examples of 'not buying local'.
However, how would we
know when the Tender Committee at Town HJall is operated in strict secrecy? It could be doing all kinds of deals behind closed doors with all kinds of people who live well away fro the Tasmanian 'grape vine'.
We do know that interstate consultants are favoured – Paul Davies Pty
Ltd – over the clearly inferior locals. And there is much more, take
garbage collection, for instance, the previous contractor, Jones & Co
was a local.
They do say that there is "money in muck" and its apparently so when 'interstaters' come banging on your door making deal that are hard to refuse.
Other lauded local big wheel developers also head interstate for
professional expertise – UTas, JAC etc – and the locals go wanting and ratepayers cop it in the neck at budget time.
Ponder why Launceston's rates are apparently on the cusp of going up 4plus% and speculated to go up 45% to 50% in the decade ahead.
This year the General Manager has apparently gifted a whole raft of people all kinds of things with almost $80K per week in the week in his 'Community Development & Marketing Account' aka 'The Slush Fund'.
We should all feel very sorry for those 31 businesses who bought a half page
advertisement for the price of a full page in this 'Special Feature'. People are being ripped off everywhere you turn.
In actual fact the 'Special Feature' is just a piece of advertising junk specially destined for landfill. Also, when it goes to the 'Waste Management Centre' it actually will go the place where stuff, and opportunities, really do get to be waisted!
Once-upon-a-time it might have been just so much wrapping paper, toilet paper even, but now it goes to landfill and the rates go up to manage the waste.
Does the
editorial committee at The Examiner really fight for the local business? Hardly likely from an office is Sydney or somewhere.
Actually, how does it go down locally with 'the local paper' supporting the 'big end of town' who are supporting adverse development
plans that belong somewhere else? In all probability they are being funded somewhere else too.
One day the penny will drop ... perhaps.
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