Is nothing sacred? Plus postscript

Memo to self. Around 7 June 2018. RE: GO WEST

Location: The Uluru of NSW Labor, Bankstown Sports club, site of Prime Minister Keating’s ‘Sweetest victory of all’ speech. And place of somewhat later lower-brow drama involving certain Messrs Costa, Tripodi and Fitzpatrick according to the Murdoch press’ Senior Political Journalist Simon Benson’s tome Betrayal.i

The event: ‘Project Sydney’ gala dinner.

Host: well-known journal of record, the Daily Telegraph.ii

Who’s who? The ‘most powerful people in Australia’. Headlined by conservative ‘luminaries’ such as the serving Liberal Prime Minister, Commonwealth Treasurer and present and predecessor NSW Premiers.

Confirming the saw: the job of such papers is to convince the working class to vote conservative?

Missing: the immortal comment – ‘they were all there – I seen them’. iii

A little more detail? Celebration of ‘wins’ of the Telegraph’s Project Sydney ‘Go West’ campaign while ‘charting the $23billion future course of the booming region’. Whatever that means.

The Premier enlightened the gala: ‘$23billon in infrastructure spending to be rolled out in the next four years.’ ‘More than twice as much as Victoria will spend will spend on its entire state this year’ the journalist said the Premier said! For an area home to 25 percent of NSW’s population.

The beagle reckons this is about 50% more spending per capita per annum, presuming the rate of Victorian spending doesn’t change.

Not being unduly churlish, it howled: it’s what you get rather than what you pay that matters.

And as Western Sydney is being hit by tsunamis of transport and infrastructure lunacy which nobody would want even if free - proudly spurred by a newspaper apparently ignorant of the beagle’s correction of its previous outré errors – Victoria, or eastern Sydney is the place to be. iv

And of the claim: ‘since 2011 the NSW Government has created 200,000 jobs in Western Sydney’? A single word: bullshit.

Which brings us back to Bankstown: 33.9182° S, 151.0350°E, or around 15km west of Central.

That is in the eastern half of Sydney, a city to be divided. Conveniently depicted in colour in Commonwealth / NSW Government documents.v

Dogs already knew that – luckily as they are colour blind. We all knew that too. Well, most - obviously some people and some newspaper didn’t.

Maybe the lesser informed might care to ask the Minister who should know – State Planning Minister the Hon. Pru Goward MP – who went to the centre of Sydney’s metropolitan area 33.8150° S, 151.0011° E around 25km west of Central. Would Western Sydney be west of that Minister? vi

So, if the middle of Sydney is more than a good walk west from Bankstown – 10km or so - what of the headline ‘Welcome to Westworld’?

1

Dear Editor: what happened to the word ‘almost’.

And what of the ‘Go West’ campaign. A Freudian tribute to a band considered an icon on the other side of the flannelette curtain? Putting the camp into campaign?vii

Maybe the Telegraph can organise another ‘gala’ – this time somewhere in Western Sydney. Even just its edge, say Parramatta. The Hon. Minister could give directions.

After all, as the Premier said ‘the next generation of young people won’t be looking east for the best jobs they’ll be looking west’.

No truer words for people of the west Premier – they won’t be able to work in the east because of your transport plans.

So, credit to the PM for looking a trifle embarrassed.

Credit to the celebrities for adding a certain frisson to what otherwise would have been a boring self-indulgent affair.

And credit to Albo for being a good bloke, a person upholding the best traditions of the Sports club even if he does support the Rabbitohs. A pol and a celebrity!

And credit to attending Western Sydney MPs, community leaders and citizens of goodwill from wherever and whatever political or other faith.

And especially to Mr Shorten who despite the bagging from the Telegraph for not attending the glittering gala in eastern (yes, small ‘e’) Sydney, may well have been in Western Sydney or beyond.

Presumably these classy folks have the right map – not the one with Anzac Parade as the Rubicon.

To some others at the gala: dunce caps are in the corner. You will find they fit rather well. Keep them on until next time. I’m sure there will be one. And your sacrilege of using hallowed ground to concoct idiot schemes? Well, don’t do that again.

Cheers J Austen9 June 2018

Postscript: Beagle’s comment 10 June: grrrr - so called master - ijjjuuut.

The Hon. Anthony Roberts MP is NSW Planning Minister. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/Pages/member-details.aspx?pk=20

The Hon. Pru Goward MP once was. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-14/new-planning-strategy-for-sydney-aims-to-create-strategic-centre/5966282.

As penance he must wear the ‘dope’ beanie – bought at Raymond Terrace Salvos store - for this afternoon’s walk and get me an extra pack of smackos – beef.

grrrrrr.

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ihttps://books.google.com.au/books? id=u_86DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT177&lpg=PT177&dq=simon+benson+betrayal+bankstown+sports&source=bl&ots=fWQfKl33B1&sig=07WVKj9GTopgxGpUJRDXJWR4NSQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjer6C8osXbAhXMXrwKHWJrDXMQ6AEIOjAD#v=onepage&q=simon%20benson%20betrayal%20bankstown%20sports&f=false

ii Daily Telegraph, Friday 8 June 2018

iii Captain Goodvibes: Mutants of modern disco Vol 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmMmSjCACxY

iv Spurred? ‘The Daily Telegraph also secured the firmest commitment yet from the Berejiklian government to extend the Metro further west of Parramatta’.Outre errors by the Telegraph? https://www.thejadebeagle.com/dogs-breakfast-for-two.htmlhttps://www.thejadebeagle.com/dogs-breakfast-for-three.html

v Here are some from the Western Sydney rail ‘Outcomes’ report https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/current-projects/western-sydney-rail-needs-scoping-study:

Hmm. Yellow for the west, purple for the east? That was the draft. What was recommended? See below!

It looks like nothing much changed. Parramatta – not Bankstown - is depicted as the start of the West, which is to be severed from the East. Who could believe that? After all the map is a grossly misrepresentation – it doesn’t say that there is no recommended network for Western Sydney – the recommendation is for (at least) three – yes count them one, two, three; uno, due, tre, etc – passenger rail networks each independent of each other; one through Badgerys Creek, Metro and Sydney Trains.

What does the Greater Sydney Commission say:

Oh dear. Not even Parramatta is in the ‘Western Parklands City’. In fact, it looks like a whole region of Sydney needs to be traversed to get from Bankstown to the West. With at least one change of transport systems. Well done!

vi Aka Parramatta http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-14/new-planning-strategy-for-sydney-aims-to-create-strategic-centre/5966282

vii https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wc-AQJ2MYo&hl=ja