The battle of who could care less

One of my recent hobbies has been becoming more interested and involved in the goings on of my local council – The City of Greater Bendigo. I even put my hand up as a candidate at one stage, which was an amazing insight into my own frailties and fears.

There is currently a by-election occurring in the North West Plains ward, which is the largest (in geographically area) ward in the city. There is a representation review due to occur within the next 18 months, so this ward composition will most likely be changed at the next general election anyway so this only a 2 year term.


It may prove to be an overdose of democracy for some with a local, state and federal election occurring within a few months of each other – a battle to engage apathetic voters.

This election is also likely to be swallowed up in the Federal campaign and be deprived of the oxygen it deserves, which is a shame because this ward contains three of the major growth areas targeted by the council in its Bendigo Residential Development Strategy: Marong, Maiden Gully and Huntly.

The ward was capably served by Kevin Gibbins until his untimely death in April. Whoever is elected will have an enormous job to try and emulate the success and energy Kevin displayed in his time on council.

There are three major challenges within the ward that have not been addressed (as far as I can see) by the 7 candidates in their campaign literature and media releases.

1) The proposed Marong industrial park and compulsory acquisition of the Carter farm property.

2) Relocation of the landfill (preferred option in August 2008 was at Clays Road, Bagshot. The previous preferred option was in Millwood Road Huntly).

3) What are their thoughts on the proposed push to make Marong and Huntly preferred residential destinations?

I don’t know any of the candidates and I don’t live in the ward so my commentary is a bit limited on what they are actually campaigning on. For what it is worth, here is my attempt at an analysis.

Bruce Phillips – Number one on the ballot, with good preference deals locked in with Elaine Harrington and Wendy Radford. Has also reportedly called ‘shenanigans’ on an unrequited preference deal with Stuart Symes as well as questioning some dodgy posters. The downside with Phillips is he has previously been a councillor so the ‘new blood’ meme is not possible. In an election that may not register too highly with the residents, he may get a lot of donkey votes.

Karel Zegers – has tried a couple of times to be elected to this position, but has fallen short. Good position on the ballot paper but the lack of a good preference deal may hurt. He has also suggested that his preference deal with Symes was not reciprocated and he has even gone to the expense of showing the changed preferences in his ads.

Elaine Harrington – without a doubt, Elaine is taking this fairly seriously. She has to because she has a lot of baggage to overcome after losing her position as Eaglehawk councillor in November 2008. Her campaign seems a touch more polished than the others – the custom email address is a nice touch. A reasonable position on the ballot paper, with good preference deals with Phillips and Wendy Radford.

Stephen Robinson – poor ballot draw. His preferences are, remarkably, fundamentally the same as Ian Beath and Stuart Symes

Wendy Radford – She has previously run in the November 2008 elections. Poor ballot position with no decent preference deals locked away. She is the only candidate to publically proclaim their membership of a political party.

Stuart Symes – The founder (and some would say the only member) of the Bendigo Action Group has locked in some great preference deals (he is number 2 for three candidates and number 3 for another), despite the calls of ‘shenanigans’. The challenge will be whether those who care at all about this election will take into account the reports of broken deals and punish accordingly.

Ian Beath – Great ballot position to take advantage of the ‘reverse donkey’. Like Robinson, his preference deals are remarkable in their similarity with Symes.


So, what does this mean? (Bearing in mind I don’t have all the candidate information in front of me and I haven’t heard any reports of how they performed at the open forum in Marong on June 25th)

I think I would like either Zegers or Harrington to win, simply because of the previous attempts (Zegers) and efforts (Harrington) being displayed.

Gut feel, I think that Bruce Phillips is in the driving seat of this one. He has the position and the preference flows to win it, with Stuart Symes being the runner up.*

The final results would be something like this:-

1) Bruce Phillips

2) Stuart Symes

3) Karel Zegers

4) Elaine Harrington

5) Ian Beath

6) Wendy Radford

7) Stephen Robinson


* I do reserve the right to change this prediction.

The art of non grasping

As a Buddhist, I need to embrace and practice the concept of ‘non-grasping’. That is, do not become irrationally attached to people and things because every thing is impermanent and subject to change.

As a male, I need to embrace and practice with the new iPhone 4. Actually, more than a need, it is an absolute craving. A hole in my soul that needs to be plugged by iPhone-y awesomeness.

I will be off my current phone contract in 40 days, I have never had an iPhone, not sure why I desperately want one now but gimme gimme gimme!

I not sure how I can reconcile these two differing views, but I promise you I will find a way.

Welcome to my mid life crisis.

Over the last 12 months a lot of extraordinary things have happened to me – I turned 40 (then 41!) with no discernible effort or consequences, welcomed my new son to the world and I ticked off numerous goals that I had no idea how I was going to attempt let alone achieve.

Despite all that, there has been a gnawing sensation that I have somehow failed to make my mark in the world, that with my life at the halfway point I have underachieved.

It gradually dawned on me that I was starting to have my MID LIFE CRISIS! What to do?

Buy a red sportscar!
(With what? I have three kids you know, do you know how much those things cost? Where would you put the car seats? The speed limit is only 110km, no point going faster than that! It will pick up all these little dings from the supermarket and crèche carparks. What about the insurance and petrol?)

Hook up with a hot 20 year blonde!

(Why? I’m more in love with my wife than I have ever been. I’d miss the kids too much. I would need to get in shape first, do you know how much energy it would take to keep up with someone that young? Frankly, sleeping with a woman half my age seems a bit creepy.)

Chuck in my job, refuse to work for ‘the man’ anymore!

(Does anyone really say “the man” anymore? This does sound like a good idea for the first few weeks, but I’m not sure how my parents will react when we are forced to move in with them because the house keys have gone to the bank. I guess I’ll live in the caravan, the kids can visit on the weekends and live in the house during the rest of the week.)

And so on and so on.

And then it afternooned on me. (I was going to say ‘dawned’ again, but I thought it was sounding too clichéd. Afternooned hasn’t really worked as I would’ve liked though).

My burning ambition since I was 8 or 9 was to be a writer (and an astronaut and a Carlton footy player in the winter and an Australian cricket player in the summer). Over the years, these ambitions have been let go – even though I’m still waiting for the call up to fill an unexpected team vacancy, I know that I don’t run as fast as I used to and I can’t throw the ball as far as I could 25 years ago. I (reluctantly) accept that I may not actually be called up at all.

I don’t do well in confined spaces, so the astronauting gig may be out as well in the short term – not ruling it out all together though. Happy to tough it out if needed, but it is a tad unlikely I'll be required.

Which then, inevitably leads me back to writing.

Look, to be honest, I’m not sure how many people will actually read this. I can probably count on one or two to read the blog occasionally, but I’m sure I will be doing this for my own pleasure. And that is ok with me.

It’s said that to get better at writing, you have to write. I have many great 1st chapters of books, but have never progressed past that point. I started a Diploma of Writing course, but had to give that up when I started working full time. I have many starts, but have always scared myself and stopped.

This blog is a way for me to practice writing without thinking, without scaring myself. It’s a way for me to re-capture the joy of writing I had when I was 9,10,11,12,13 and 14 years old. I have no expectations that I will write a book and become financially comfortable: I just want to have some fun with it.

I think it has a bit more dignity that letting my comb-over gently waft in the breeze while I’m driving my shiny red convertible.