Was the AMRTimes joking
last Friday?
They published what must
surely be a spoof article about the Gourmet Escape and the difficulties
surrounding it. Difficulty in obtaining
financial information? Surely not?
An event run by the Horgan
family appearing to be drawing the "cloak of commercial
confidentiality" tightly around the financial details? Now why might a
reasonable man shake his head and mutter something along the lines of,
"Not again, don't we ever learn."
Is this the same Denis Horgan
who had so much luck with the bottom-of-the-harbour schemes?
Of course nothing
he did was illegal, but his gains were made at a huge cost to the ordinary,
decent taxpayer of this state. He saw a
legal loophole and immediately took advantage, relieving the honest taxpayers of millions.
But it was all legal. It was just not decent or moral. Not at all in the
Christian tradition. Christians are taught to defend the weak and vulnerable,
not to exploit them.
Maybe his brother John
Horgan had a hand in the design of the Gourmet Escape?
It's possible, because
back in the WA Inc. days John was a close associate of Brian Burke and
receiving a huge salary from the taxpayers for overseeing such national
treasures as the WA Floral Exports, Exim and the WA development Corporation.
Without the WADC there might have been no channel for Alan Bond and Laurie
Connell to syphon off taxpayers money in the vast amounts that they felt they
were entitled to. Everyone was left wondering just how grateful Alan and Laurie
must have been.
The Horgan family have
stable character traits and none of us should be surprised if they continue to
seek to place the greed of their own family above the need of the tax paying
citizens of this state.
Australia has created a
society where the highest awards, and the most fulsome praise, are bestowed on
people who exploit loopholes in legislation for personal gain.
Many of our politicians
continue to bleat on about how such people as Brian Burke, Alan Bond, Denis
Horgan, John Horgan and a long list of others have never been convicted on any
"serious" frauds, or if they have they have then managed an acquittal
on appeal, due to a technicality. This is true, but it does not make either
them or their supporters decent people.
"Does not the
political wheel turn? My Dad was expelled, and now his son is the premier - the
political wheel turns, does it not?" Brian Burke
It's sad that the political
wheel apparently turns always to favour
the few as they gain advantage over the many. Our small businesses are
suffering from increased rates and continue to see the shire spend ever more
money on arts projects, events and marketing, that benefit a handful of people
and are never called to account, never required to deliver a cost/benefit
statement that could justify the spend.
Where will the wheel turn
next?
How easy it is for businessmen and politicians
to rehabilitate, to erase all traces of their murky pasts. Remember what was
said of Bill Shorten? If you have time read the following passage from The Godfather, and then contemplate just how short of decent people this country must be if Bill Shorten is the best the ALP can muster.
Burke moved to extend his authority in the
Labor Party from the state to the national stage. The vehicle was his
unrivalled capacity for fundraising and networking. He took a special interest
in Bill Shorten, head of the right-wing Australian Workers Union and aspiring
federal Labor candidate. Burke had met Shorten many years earlier and liked
him. He organised at least one function for Shorten in which he brought
together senior figures from the media and the Western Australian state and
federal Labor Party. Held at Perugino’s, Burke’s favourite
restaurant, Shorten flew in especially for the occasion ‘to meet, greet and eat with the group of
journos as part of a campaign to lift the union man’s profile’.29 Burke raised $20
000 for Shorten’s
November 2007 election bid, money that was subsequently returned by him. Burke
was also reported to have offered Shorten policy advice and help with speeches,
and was even said to be a key backer in Shorten’s long-term ambition to be a
future Labor prime minister. Once the extent of this support became public,
this was taken as confirmation that Burke’s ‘rehabilitation . . . inside the ALP has
been so successful that he is once again regarded as one of its most
influential figures’.30
moved to extend his authority in the Labor Party from the state to the national
stage. The vehicle was his unrivalled capacity for fundraising and networking.
He took a special interest in Bill Shorten, head of the right-wing Australian
Workers Union and aspiring federal Labor candidate. Burke had met Shorten many
years earlier and liked him. He organised at least one function for Shorten in
which he brought together senior figures from the media and the Western
Australian state and federal Labor Party. Held at Perugino’s, Burke’s favourite
restaurant, Shorten flew in especially for the occasion ‘to meet, greet and eat with the group of
journos as part of a campaign to lift the union man’s profile’.29 Burke raised $20
000 for Shorten’s
November 2007 election bid, money that was subsequently returned by him. Burke
was also reported to have offered Shorten policy advice and help with speeches,
and was even said to be a key backer in Shorten’s long-term ambition to be a
future Labor prime minister. Once the extent of this support became public,
this was taken as confirmation that Burke’s ‘rehabilitation . . . inside the ALP has
been so successful that he is once again regarded as one of its most
influential figures’.30
moved to extend his authority in the Labor Party from the state to the national
stage. The vehicle was his unrivalled capacity for fundraising and networking.
He took a special interest in Bill Shorten, head of the right-wing Australian
Workers Union and aspiring federal Labor candidate. Burke had met Shorten many
years earlier and liked him. He organised at least one function for Shorten in
which he brought together senior figures from the media and the Western
Australian state and federal Labor Party. Held at Perugino’s, Burke’s favourite
restaurant, Shorten flew in especially for the occasion ‘to meet, greet and eat with the group of
journos as part of a campaign to lift the union man’s profile’.29 Burke raised $20
000 for Shorten’s
November 2007 election bid, money that was subsequently returned by him. Burke
was also reported to have offered Shorten policy advice and help with speeches,
and was even said to be a key backer in Shorten’s long-term ambition to be a
future Labor prime minister. Once the extent of this support became public,
this was taken as confirmation that Burke’s ‘rehabilitation . . . inside the ALP has
been so successful that he is once again regarded as one of its most
influential figures’. The Godfather, Quentin Beresford
