MYER in Darwin? Better be quick before Rudd sends us broke!

Dear Editor,

I note that the material for the campaign by Damian Hale MP and Senator Trish Crossin to “bring MYER to Darwin” “has been produced at Australian Government expense – by Senator Trish Crossin”.

In other words Australian taxpayer’s funds have been wasted on this totally unnecessary campaign to bring a MYER department store to Darwin.

Does anyone seriously believe that the “bean-counters” who work out the market viability of a possible future MYER store are really going to make their decision as a result of receiving a petition from Senator Crossin?

This is so typical of the reckless way Kevin Rudd and members of his big-spending, big taxing government throw taxpayer’s money away on all kinds of nonsense – from “Julia Gillard Memorial School Halls” at twice the market cost, to home insulation that has caused 4 deaths of installers and resulted in 120 houses burning down. The insulation repair bill alone for this nonsensical folly will be an ongoing cost that will burden taxpayers for many years to come.

Of course this is the very same Rudd Labor Government that now plans to levy a “Super-Tax” on Australia’s successful and productive resource sector. The sector that got Australia where it is today and dramatically helped us through the world economic downturn.

Whether MYER comes to Darwin or not, is of little consequence.

However to make Australia’s mining and resource sector the highest taxed in the entire world (which is what this tax will do) will have major consequences for our standard of living in the years ahead.

And most of us, including companies like MYER will suffer as a result.

Crossin and Hale are obviously grandstanding on this silly issue. This is typical “Rudd – Style” fare. It appears their leader; “Ringmaster” Kevin Rudd has trained them well in the art of introducing new stunts to keep the “audience” fooled.

It has worked for pretty well for Rudd to date, although it does seem that people are beginning to “notice” that maybe Emperor Rudd is naked after all.

For the sake of our nation, I hope the voters will finally wise up and “see” the real Kevin Rudd in all his unclothed “glory” well before the election.

Yours truly,

Dave Wane

9th May, 2010

Myer Ulterior Motive

Dear Editor,

Could it be that the enthusiasm of Labor Senator Trish Crossin and Labor MHR for Solomon, Damian Hale to have a MYER store in Darwin is more to do with recruiting more sheep-like union members than any real desire to have the store established here?

After all union membership is far more common in larger businesses (like MYER) where workers often feel intimidated and are afraid to speak up against union membership.

Obviously, in small Darwin businesses which sell the kind of products that MYER stock, there is very little union membership. Things are usually negotiated in house, without the need for heavy-handed union tactics. That is the way it should be.

However, as we know, unions provide vast sums of money to the Australian Labor Party to help them at election time.

Therefore it simply is commonsense for local ALP federal politicians to do their bit for their union mates and help facilitate additional membership.

So, at the end of the day, it may well be that the motivation behind Crossin and Hale’s taxpayer-funded campaign for MYER is not necessarily 100% honourable.

Yours truly,

Dave Wane

12th May, 2010

6 VRD Drive,

Woodleigh Gardens,

NT 0812

Mobile: 0418894133

Greater Sunrise. Woodside decides to go off-shore.

Dear Editor,


The news that Woodside has decided to build a floating platform to process LNG from the Greater Sunrise field is a massive blow to the local economy and for the establishment of a future Petro-Chemical industry in Darwin.

However, who could really blame Woodside for making such a decision?


The option of building a processing plant in East Timor was never very likely, given the instability of the fledgling nation. And of course, let’s not forget the engineering nightmare of constructing a pipeline through the deep and hazardous undersea terrain between the field and East Timor. It was therefore inevitable that Woodside would be never agree to spend up to $5 Billion on an East Timor plant.


The other option was of course to build the $5Billion plant in Darwin. I believe this proposal was always highly likely, given the existing Conoco Phillips plant, plenty of available land for future gas trains, and a mostly pro-gas government and opposition.


So why did Woodside make the decision to build a floating platform?

I suspect there are two main reasons:


Firstly, since the election of the Rudd Labor Government in 2007, Industrial Relations in Australia have once again become an inflexible, union-controlled quagmire, where real workers are penalized, lazy workers are rewarded, and great Australian companies like Woodside are held to ransom by the disruptive tactics of union thugs.


Industrial strife would have been just about guaranteed during the construction period, and no doubt afterwards, once the plant was constructed.


Woodside obviously did not want a bar of this garbage, so chose wisely to stay out of Australia – off shore.

Secondly, and still to do with unions, and the NT Labor Government:

The increased union presence in Darwin since the Martin/Henderson Labor government came to power has quite likely provided a further disincentive for the building of a local plant. Many Henderson Government agencies are now intertwined with the various unions – in order to further entrench union power in the once almost “union-less, happy and free” Northern Territory. This cozy but dangerous alliance does not auger well for a harmonious construction period, let alone after the plant is up and running. Woodside would have been aware of this.


So there you have it. Yet another disaster to add to the 40+ that have been directly or indirectly caused by the Rudd Labor Government. This time with some “help” from the local Labor government and their union mates.


Woodside would of course deny it, but had a fairer system of industrial relations been in place, where individual contracts are the norm, then Darwin may well have a $5 Billion project about to get underway.


And finally, we now hear that Rudd and Swan aided and abetted by life-long Bureaucrat Ken Henry, are about to apply a resource rent tax to Australia’s “Golden Geese” mineral producers. No doubt so Rudd and his mob of drunken sailors can waste even more money on even more nonsense – until of course there are no more geese, golden or otherwise to tax.


Yours truly,


Dave Wane


2nd May, 2010




6 VRD Drive,


Woodleigh Gardens,


NT 0812

Phone: 0418894133