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

Dear Editor,



Regarding the proposal by the Country Liberals to cover the entire roof of Parliament House with solar panels…… to eventually “save” money.


One has to seriously question whether the Country Liberals have gone completely mad. Are they attempting to emulate Ringmaster Rudd with his never-ending circus of dumb, deadly, costly and totally unnecessary stunts?


Or could it be that the Country Liberals are attempting to “out-green” the pathetic, but big-spending (squandering) Henderson government which already wastes over $10 Million per year on “saving-the-planet” from man-caused-climate-change?


Remember: The output of carbon dioxide, per annum, by the Northern Territory amounts to only 2.4% of Australia’s total carbon dioxide emissions. And of course everyone is well aware that Australia’s total carbon dioxide emissions are less than 1.5% of the world’s total. We therefore could shut down the whole of Australia, and make no difference to any affect that carbon dioxide may have on the climate.


Yet this foolish, sheep-like Country Liberal Opposition plans, if they win government, to waste $2.5 Million of taxpayer’s money on the installation of solar panels on the roof of Parliament House. This “grand” scheme, they claim will pay for itself in 20 years.


I have been in business in Darwin for over 30 years, and I would never be even tempted to invest in any proposal that takes 20 years just to “return” your money.


Absolute madness. Something of the kind that only someone who is a follower of the failed theory of “Ruddernomics” would propose.




After all the shadow minister who proposed this utterly and indefensibly stupid idea is apparently an ex-Labor voter.


Based on this proposal and other similarly unnecessary and wasteful ideas coming from the Opposition, I do not believe there is not much hope of sound economic management for the Territory, even if the Country Liberals do win government.


It appears the Country Liberals will be “Henderson-light”, at best; but still a big, wasteful, massively over-manned government controlled by “advisors”, of the same kind that advise Henderson. Advisors, who in most cases have never earned a dollar in the REAL WORLD, in the marketplace.


And finally, have these geniuses considered the many problems that may occur when a fairly old roof has major construction work carried out above it and through it? Leaks and corrosion will almost be guaranteed – and eventually all the solar panels will have to come off to enable the installation of a new roof – only to be re-installed again – presumably. More taxpayer’s money down the drain.


Are you Country Liberals sure this was not another one of Kevin Rudd’s stupid ideas? Because it most definitely looks crazy enough to “qualify”.




Yours truly,




Dave Wane






25th April, 2010

Dear Editor,



David C Sanderson of Humpty Doo, (NT News Letters 22nd March, 2010) writing about the new Police Commissioner’s “ideas” on curbing drunkenness at the NTFL Grand Final concludes his very valid letter by urging the Commissioner and his officers to use the existing laws to deal with drunken idiots. In other words – enforce the law as it stands.


It seems to me that problems, or in many cases perceived problems are rarely tackled head-on by governments - using existing resources and laws. Instead, we see governments making more and more unnecessary laws and hiring more and more people – all mostly to no avail.


The NT Police have more officers per head of population than any other jurisdiction in Australia, yet crime figures in the NT are the Nation’s worst.


Similarly, with just about every other NT Government Department, there has been a huge increase in the number of employees. But can anyone who was here in the early days of Self Government honestly say the efficiency of the “services” offered has improved?


In my view, service delivery across most NT Government Departments has gone backwards. Especially since 2001, when the Martin/Henderson Labor Government came to power. Whether in health, education, child protection, policing or any area of general administrative services, the results are very poor.


And this is despite at least 5,000 extra public servants on the government’s payroll, at cost to taxpayer’s of at least half a billion dollars per year.


More laws and more personnel are always a cop-out (no pun intended) for hard decisions by real managers.


Do we have any REAL managers employed anywhere within the NT Government, including the police? Managers who could be successful in the REAL world – in the marketplace?


If so please speak up. We would love to hear from you.


Of course, in the mean time your political masters in the pathetically incompetent Henderson Labor Government will continue with spin, spin and more spin. And that, as we all know, never solves anything.


Yours truly,


Dave Wane


22nd March, 2010

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Schools comparison

Dear Editor,


Surprise, surprise (well not to me) the school rankings lists published in the NT News clearly shows that in most cases non-government schools have out-performed those run by the NT Government.


It therefore seems obvious that salubrious buildings and facilities, highly paid (and protected) teachers and a massive education department bureaucracy are not required to produce outstanding educational outcomes.


In fact I am reliably informed that the education department bureaucracy is far more of a hindrance than a help to those teachers in the public sector who are truly dedicated to achieving the best results for their students.


It is high time that this NT government, and in fact all state and territory governments began dismantling the vast, unproductive and expensive empires that the under-performing public education system has created and began encouraging the creation of more independent (non-government) schools.


Not only will such a move save the ever-suffering taxpayer millions of dollars, but even more importantly, it will encourage good teachers to strive for excellence in education, as distinct from the government system which, as the rankings tables shows, produces mediocre or poor results.


Yours truly,


Dave Wane


30th January, 2009