tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38082185561308821252023-11-16T03:36:05.680+10:00Cairns matters blogThe views from my window.....Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.comBlogger145125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-90502168772075234532013-03-31T16:28:00.004+10:002013-03-31T23:09:17.915+10:00There is always drama when high school is involved.Having an 11 year old girl going on 12 is hard. No, not because she is going through puberty. That parts the easy stuff. Mood swings including active defiance, sadness, stubbornness and superiority are nothing new to this household. And frankly the five year old is better at it!
No. What makes this age so difficult is a change in circumstances which is still months away but is already Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-90288097052092257822013-03-30T11:57:00.000+10:002013-03-30T13:15:16.821+10:00Popularity or policy? In international news Australians are already a laughing stock. The state of our economy is the number one reason for the giggles they are having at our expense. Apparently we are the envy of the world and we are too stupid to realise it. Some commentators are wondering how we could possibly be considering voting for a man and a Party which will, for the first time in history, Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-79765546764403844352013-03-22T22:37:00.003+10:002013-03-22T23:12:20.086+10:00A study of contrasts.....Taken from websites directly, without editing in any way. This is how the two major parties present themselves.
We Believe
In the inalienable rights and freedoms of all peoples; and we work towards a lean government that minimises interference in our daily lives; and maximises individual and private sector initiative.
In Government that nurtures and encourages its citizens through incentive,Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-4264399776533566942013-03-20T20:38:00.000+10:002013-03-20T20:38:22.946+10:00Who's been paying attention?Let's talk Labor. Have you heard that they have 'gone off track'? Perhaps you are inclined to think they have 'moved away from their core values' or maybe even that they have become a bit of a disorganised circus? Really?
Let's start in 2010. One week of scrambling following the election from both sides and a hung parliament ensures that the PM has told her first (and as far as I can Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-84864720174001659392013-03-03T19:50:00.002+10:002013-03-03T20:14:18.109+10:00How to win over a population - without doing anything useful.The Federal election is still 7 months away and a lot can happen between now and September but perhaps it's a good time to reflect on the past few years and what has gone so terribly wrong for the Government. And it's not even Labor's fault! Or Julia Gillard's for that matter.
Let's focus for a minute on policy. Somehow in the process of juggling a balancing act, Labor, with the help of the Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-70970458672908143802013-02-19T18:50:00.001+10:002013-02-19T18:50:14.224+10:00Park for Sale - but at what cost?Cairns is growing. There is no real argument there. The speed with which it is expanding is fluctuating and is currently quite a bit slower than what was predicted just a few years a go but it is still on the increase. With growth comes development.
The new highway over-passes and extra lanes on the south side attest to that. When they began, we lost part of a mountain and Forest Gardens lost Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-5238148284098449382012-10-21T10:28:00.001+10:002012-10-21T10:37:36.151+10:00Cairns.........the hypocritical city.Just a few months ago, Cairns region was presented with an unprecedented opportunity involving over 100 million dollars of State and Federal funding and a ready made plan to build a large precinct near the waterfront. A facility primarily for locals, this was to provide work for those in the construction industry who have suffered with the loss of several large developer companies and would have Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-10113684328401949562012-10-02T22:47:00.001+10:002012-10-02T22:52:04.918+10:00Alan Jones. Are you listening?Misogynist. Bigot. Racist. Venomous. Inciter. All of these words have been used many times in the past few days to describe Alan Jones. In all forms of media, over and over again.
Let's pretend for a moment that he never said the PM's father died of shame. Lets pretend that the function where he bid on and won a chaff jacket never happened.
What then? What is it about these particular incidentsLeigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-59691868782041445972012-07-17T14:55:00.000+10:002012-07-17T14:55:11.516+10:00LNP State Conference and reality clash as 100 days are up!A State Conference by any political party is an interesting few days. There is always a decision made somewhere along the line which baffles the population and one or two which don't make it through for unexplainable reasons. It's worth noting also, that generally decisions made at these Conferences are the creation of policy. That does not guarantee them any traction in real terms, particularly Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-22293322472563743582012-07-14T13:34:00.000+10:002012-07-14T13:34:15.708+10:00Abbott the Evangelist.Last night I sat and soaked up the speech by Tony Abbott in it's entirety from the opening day of the LNP State Conference in Brisbane. It's riveting stuff.
Words like these: “I believe that
all of us in this room all of us in the Liberal and National parties
around our country stand on the threshold of something great,” “We stand on the threshold of riding to the rescue of our country.Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-29451368478520775132012-06-26T14:46:00.001+10:002012-06-27T15:23:26.518+10:00Politics before community.Today I received a flier in the mail from Warren Entsch MP. It is filled with lots of information regarding the local and Federal issues, including several pats on the back for local organisations. Well done Warren for recognising great work within our community.
It confuses me that he is excited about the new State Government initiative to formulate a 10 year plan for the Bruce Highway with himLeigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-28573626746757805042012-06-23T12:20:00.000+10:002012-06-26T15:02:24.230+10:00LOOK! Good news from the LNP!Something happened this week which I am extremely grateful for. After several weeks of nothing but negative news and backward steps, the new State Government has done something good. (I know, how could one government possibly be making ONLY bad decisions? It's simply not feasible.)
Think federally for example. If Abbott is to be believed, the balancing act that is the Gillard Government has not Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-79349739173538602682012-06-01T10:47:00.000+10:002012-06-01T10:53:35.999+10:00Vroom......... Should Cairns be off and racing?So, the V8's are being considered for the Cairns region. I have read the online comments everywhere on the subject and those in print and it seems to have plenty of support. I'm not sure what happened to the idea of having the large stadium but it seems to have fallen by the wayside in the bid for a once-a-year car race.
That being the case, I thought I'd look up some detail on the current Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-44138514244554966222012-05-31T11:46:00.002+10:002012-05-31T11:50:22.326+10:00Fight for a healthy Cairns Region.During the past few weeks we have seen several programs axed and the re-direction of funds by the CanDo team in an effort to reduce Government spending as per the election promise made.
While I applaud their intention, the methodology is not workable. Removing programs which create healthy populations will simply move the spending requirements to other sectors such as Police, Emergency ServicesLeigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-53553708088677075332012-05-20T12:07:00.001+10:002012-05-20T18:14:54.937+10:00Checks and Balances in a CanDo State.The State Government, headed by Mr Newman, are proving themselves to be a Government of their word. The problem is, it's not making people very happy.
Prior to the recent State election, the LNP promised one thing above all others. To cut costs, drastically. They promised to reduce Government debt within the first 100 days and as far as I can tell, they didn't promise a whole lot else.
Then Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-91987979190782258862012-05-01T14:00:00.000+10:002012-05-01T14:00:43.189+10:00Women in Power in Australia, and why they can't stay at the top.Women have had a rough ride over the past 5 years in politics. One would think that having a female Mayor, CEO, Premier, PM and Governor General was a huge step forward in progress for women in strong roles. Unfortunately, that has not been the case.
There has been a great deal of talk on why women have become unwanted in politics and where our gender is headed. There are probably many reasons Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-91451679518851170182012-04-26T14:47:00.004+10:002012-04-26T14:56:06.129+10:00Campaigning..........in Division 2.I have refrained from writing much on this blog for the past few weeks as being a candidate for election does make it that bit harder. Mostly because there is very little time for it but also because it would be very difficult to self-critique. Nonetheless, with only a few days to go, I'd like to share my experiences with you all on this process and what it has taught me.
The first week was Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-60298904455683785792012-04-02T13:02:00.000+10:002012-04-02T13:02:49.772+10:00What I left unsaid.......for the City Place Forum.On Sunday there was a public Forum in City Place which was designed to enable all Council hopefuls, including Mayoral Candidates, the opportunity to address the public and answer questions from the crowd. This allowed locals to hear from those who may well represent them in Council after April 28th and was very well attended.
I was there, but due to previous commitments (I had already Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-25573454395977724232012-03-09T13:26:00.004+10:002012-03-09T13:33:24.268+10:00Sustainable.......much more than just a buzzword.I have been very fortunate over the past few months as a recognised Candidate for the next Regional Council elections to have had many very interesting and enlightening conversations with people I might otherwise have not met, or not had the opportunity to converse with.
There are many things that people choose to bring to my attention and several of those I have followed up on or noted down inLeigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-89113765560257864692012-02-25T20:10:00.002+10:002012-02-25T20:19:46.887+10:00The True Spirit Of Cyclone Yasi.Last night I went to the launch of a new book, made and collated in our own backyard (well, in Townsville, but I'm claiming it for us too) titled The True Spirit of Cyclone Yasi. This book is a collection of stories from various contributors all the way up and down the Queensland Coast.
The launch was great. The SES the recipients of door takings on the night and a huge presence of political Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-88973971059338746032012-02-24T14:08:00.001+10:002012-02-24T14:11:44.790+10:00The Ruddspillard saga........Well, who would have thought it, KRudd fights back!
Almost two years on and he has finally decided that enough is enough and wants his old job back. Oh, we knew this day would come. We all saw the writing on the wall from the moment that Kevin was given the job as Foreign Minister.
What we didn't see coming was the completely orchestrated manoeuvring happening via our media and the frankly Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-17941781788504777122012-02-15T23:04:00.002+10:002012-02-15T23:13:59.912+10:00The true value of a dollar.After watching the news this week and following it up with an excellent documentary on the rise and rise of the Tea Party in the US I have come to realise that there is more going on worldwide than a simple need for change.
With record debt in most countries (thankfully not ours....yet) and the plight of third world countries still front of mind and very much in need of attention, there is only Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-27458162939206332272012-02-12T09:10:00.000+10:002012-02-12T09:10:18.657+10:00Communication, collaboration, commitment.A great deal of discussion in the community is centred around what is important to each individual in order for them to be happy with their representatives. This includes, Councillors, State MP's, Federal MP's and even our community organisations such as schools and welfare groups.
I would be really interested to know what skills and attributes are important to you but even more importantly, Leigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-77078010158458018032012-01-08T16:58:00.000+10:002012-01-08T17:04:29.265+10:00Independence.....what it means to me.The Council elections are heating up....already! Over the past few weeks there has been much talk on the Independent versus Team debate and further talk regarding what actually makes an Independent. There is also much conversation referring to campaign funds and the specifics on where they come from.
There are obvious pros and cons for both initial options and the reasons for Candidates choosingLeigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3808218556130882125.post-76647367541474405402011-12-31T13:52:00.001+10:002011-12-31T17:33:20.681+10:002011 - It may be over but it will never be forgotten.Well, the time is almost here when we say goodbye to another year. How will 2011 be remembered?
As the year of disaster for Australia? With bushfires, floods and Yasi? Where people lost everything in a catastrophic turn of events that had the world enthralled and the nation on edge. Perfect strangers became friends and helping hands came from the most unlikely places. Where Anna Bligh became theLeigh Dall'Ostohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15611522576779281574noreply@blogger.com1