A LOSS IS A LOSS IS A LOSS ... PERHAPS ... UNLESS YOU ARE A COUNCILLOR

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Council report draws line under 'very busy' year in Launceston. By Joe Colbrook December 9 2023 - 4:00am 

[OPINION EMBEDDED]

 The "three Rs" of roads, rates and rubbish are stand-out features of the City of Launceston council's Annual Report. The document - adopted at this year's annual general meeting - reviews the council's performance for the 2022-23 financial year, recording metrics from attendance at council meetings to its overall financial position. [AKA the documentation of self-serving SPIN] 

This was an operational deficit of $3.44 million, however when other forms of income like grants for capital grants were accounted this became a $4.1 million surplus. [An operational loss is a loss and the money is gone and grants DO NOT make up for it because whatever they are for needs to be delivered and they are not granted to cover a LOSS]

How does a government go into debt, who are they in debt to and is it even a bad thing? [Debts need to be repaid and only justified IF they come about to achieve a needed amenity] 

It also includes a snapshot of what the $79,210,000 residents paid in rates and charges got in terms of service, with the council saying it responded to 25,289 service requests over the 12 months. [TOO much for precious little] 

Waste management made up more than one fifth of these, at 6582 requests. [However, waste management is all managing to waste NOT recover resources] 

 This was followed by parking issues at 5020 requests, and roads and footpaths leading to 3052 requests. [Yes, and now we know that Council collected a lot of money from illegal parking fines] 

Issues with nature strips were the least-commonly reported, with the council responding to 321 requests. [Yes, and looking around nature strips are NOT making much of a contribution to ‘GREENING’ Launceston] .

Deputy mayor Hugh McKenzie said the previous financial year had been a busy one, and the council was aware there were "still a number of things that we still need to do and get right". [NO, Council needs to get a LOT more things right] 

 "The council has been very busy across all of its areas," Cr McKenzie said. [Yes, because it is shedding people who do things and therefore busy means doing less with fewer people] .

"Whilst we don't always meet community expectations on the things that we do, we continue to try to improve what we do." [Yes, Council hardly ever meets citizens expectations and as for trying to improve, well that’s unlikely wedded as ‘THE COUNCIL’ is to the status quo] 

Cr McKenzie said the council's financial position at the end of the financial year demonstrated "good stewardship" of the city's finances, even if there was still work to be done to reach a budget surplus. [THIS IS TRUTH BY ASSERTION and it just does not stack up] 

The deputy mayor noted although the council was prepared to sell the Birchalls building at Brisbane Street for $2 million less than it paid in 2020 it had not actually taken the loss yet. [HMMM, YET but it will and by intention!] 

Cr McKenzie said future plans for the site - expected to be announced in 2024 - would lead to a result that was worth more to ratepayers than the dollar amount. [Yet another bit of SPIN AND TRUTH BY ASSERTION while the LOSSES are not recoverable … they are lost, out the window, not there to deliver much needed services and amenities that the money was provided by ratepayers to delver] 

 "(The loss) is yet to be realised," he said. [Well it has been LOST and by design PLUS there is more loss to come. BOVINEdust is bovineDUST no matter which way it is SPUN] 

 "What people don't understand is we actually bought a building but we're actually moving and selling something which is actually different than the building that we bought." [WELL this will go down in HISTORY as an exemplar of an unaccountable representative attempting to SPIN their way out of their failures]

 "Hopefully, sometime in the new year we'll see that our Birchalls acquisition will actually add significantly to the fabric of Launceston, and its surrounds." [AND legend has it that HOPE stuck a feather in the ground in the ‘hope’ of growing a rooster … ] 

All councillors present at the December 7 annual general meeting voted to received the report. [WE have to think that those who were not there just could not stomach to vote on rubbish] Councillors Tim Walker, Joe Pentridge, Andrew Palmer and Susie Cai were absent from the meeting. 

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FOR CONTEXT

Cr McKenzie in his own words ... As you will see I am an active participant in our community

 • HEALTH-I was a board member of Primary Health Tasmania for 9 years (3 as Chair), Chair of Cornerstone Youth Services, which managed headspace & other youth health activities for 4 years. I am a current board member of the Hobart Clinic 

 • BUSINESS-I was a partner in an international Chartered Accounting practice consulting with small business, major corporates & rural specialising in Estate & succession planning. I am an owner of commercial & residential property 

 • EDUCATION-I was a board member of Scotch Oakburn College for 17 years (6 as Chair) & a board member of the Tasmanian Qualifications Authority (TQA) for 2 years 

• SPORT-I have always been an active sportsman, including football, cricket, golf, basketball & cycling

• THEATRE-My family has been involved in theatre for many years, with a son who is a professional actor & a wife who is actively involved in local theatre groups. I have occasionally trod the boards & worked backstage & am now the COL representative board member of Theatre North (8 years)

• HERITAGE-I have been a member of the COL Heritage Advisory Committee for 8 years & its Chair for the last 4

• EVENTS-I was the President of the Launceston Cycling Classic (Stan Siejka Cycling Classic) for 3 years & a committee member for 9 

 • SUSTAINABILITY-During COVID I completed a course in sustainability to help inform me on what we need to do as a community to improve our city for my children & grandchildren. I was a member of the Tamar NRM Board for 3 years 

 • ACCESS-I prioritised becoming a member of the Council’s Access Committee when I first joined the Council in 2011 to learn what issues were faced by members of our community who had different access abilities to the greater population. I later Chaired this committee & use the knowledge I learnt from this experience to guide many decisions I make at the Council table 

• COMMUNITY-Actively engaged in the Northern Suburbs & current President of the Northern Suburbs Community Centre As I am sure many of my fellow Councillors will attest, I bring an educated & reasoned argument to most discussions. My views are valued

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