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E-MAIL 1
Darren Cameron sends an email to Cr Duncan-Strelec to inform her of a recent precedent that comes from improper behaviour.

On 22/08/2011, at 4:41 PM, "darrencameron65@bigpond.com" <darrencameron65@bigpond.com> wrote:

Dear Councillor,
Please find following a link to a story that is very similar to a matter you will be dealing with tonight.
I respectfully submit that the matter has a clear precedent in terms of how a council should behave when dealing with a councillor who behaves in this manner and I hope you will impose the same punishment on Cr Duncan-Strelec (including the requirement for an apology).
Yours faithfully,
Darren Cameron.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/fat-jibe-was-last-straw-councillor-told-to-apologise-to-exclusive-brethren-20110218-1azm1.html#ixzz1RHkMftCT

E-MAIL 2
Cr Duncan-Strelec attempts to make a deal
and expresses the hope that Mr Cameron is
in good health.

Darren,

I will make a deal with you;
If you apologize to the ratepayers for drinking and gambling at Soden's hotel when you should have been at a Council meeting, if you also apologize for calling Ron Hoenig "Jew boy", if you apologize for costing the ratepayers a couple of hundred thousand dollars for a by-election for being transferred by your union due to your conduct while a Councillor, then I will consider whether I will apologize to you.
In the same vein, if Graham Richardson, your cohort, apologizes to the ratepayers for his costly and unsuccessful code of conduct complaint against me both last time and this time, as well as lying about not knowing who sent the letter to him when he acknowledges in writing that he knew who it was, then I might, just might, consider an apology.
If you and Richardson also publicly admit and apologize for providing that lying, intellectually challenged excuse for a human being, false and fabricated stories for his blog, I will also consider whether I might, just might apologize.
While I am at it, if Sawyer apologizes to Hull for calling him a liar in front of Councillors and staff, if she apologizes to the Carevan people for the disgraceful way she spoke to them, if she apologizes to her clients for spending grant money on taking four people with her on a one week junket to New Zealand at the expense of grant funding, when she was supposed to be at a Council Meeting that week and if she gives their account books to an independent auditor for scrutiny to make sure the board and senior staff were using the money on programs and not inflated salaries, then I might also consider apologizing.
Actually there are quite a number of other issues I could raise while I am at it but I think that it would be wiser of me to do it through formal channels, just as you and Graham keep threatening to do.
Hope this finds you all in good health. I bear no malice toward any of you as I find you all irrelevant in the wider scheme of things, much as you may all think you are important and doing a public service to the community, if you were truly honest with yourselves you would apologize for wasting so much time and money at the expense of the ratepayers on your petty vendettas. As someone in your own party said to me the other day "no wonder the ALP is a basket case in NSW with candidates like him." He could well be right.
Regards,
Cr Duncan-Strelec

Amanda Sent from my iPhone.On 22/08/2011, at 4:41

E-MAIL 3
Mr Cameron refutes a number of accusations Cr Duncan-Strelec makes against him.

On 24/08/2011, at 12:17 PM, "darrencameron65@bigpond.com" <darrencameron65@bigpond.com> wrote:

Amanda,

1. I was not "drinking and gambling at Soden's hotel when you should have been at a Council meeting" I was at a Albury Trades and Labour Council Meeting. I am surprised that you believe what was initially on the front page of the Border mail when you have been so critical of that newspapers veracity yourself.
2. I have never called Ron Hoeing a "Jew Boy". This is a disgusting accusation and is a clear attempt to paint me as an ant-Semite, which I am not and have never been.
3. I was not "transferred by your union due to your conduct while a Councillor". This is another lie. I was offered a permanent position on the retirement of Mick O'Shea in Dubbo, my initial employment being as a fixed term Adult Trainee.
4. I don't know if Graeme Richardson has a blog. I would like to see it. Do you have the address please?
5. I expect you to apologise in line with Council's resolution of Monday night. I see no reason for any tawdry deal with you.
6. That you for inquiring after my health. It is excellent, both physical and mental, I sure don't feel driven to sit up to 1.08 AM in the morning sending people defamatory emails.
7. If you were to send these emails to me only I would be happy to ignore you. However you seem to insist on sending them to others which demonstrates that you intent on defaming me. I would like you to cease telling lies about me; I have never had to resort to telling lies about you.

Darren Cameron

E-MAIL 4
Cr Duncan-Strelec tells Mr Cameron that she intends to appeal Gerry Holmes decision and explains that she is up in the wee small hours because she is writing a book.

Subject:         Re: Re:
Date:         Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:24:51 +1000
From:         Amanda Duncan-Strelec <aduncanstrelec@gmail.com>
To:         darrencameron65@bigpond.com <darrencameron65@bigpond.com>
CC:         PSawyer@alburycity.nsw.gov.au <PSawyer@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>
.

By the way, I intend appealing Gerry Holmes recommendation in the Supreme Court as Alice and the other Councillors handled it so poorly. I was going to take it on the chin and let it go but the comments made by yourself, Graham and most of the Councillors in today's paper have only firmed my resolve to fight this to the bitter end.
As to my nocturnal habits, I always stay up late as I am writing a book and find I do my best work then when it is quiet. I will send you an autographed copy when it is published.

Amanda Sent from my iPhone

E-MAIL 5
Cr Duncan-Strelec implores Mr Cameron to keep combining himself and again expresses concern about Mr Cameron's health.

Subject:         Re: Re:
Date:         Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:13:31 +1000
From:         Amanda Duncan-Strelec <aduncanstrelec@gmail.com>
To:         darrencameron65@bigpond.com <darrencameron65@bigpond.com>
CC:         PSawyer@alburycity.nsw.gov.au <PSawyer@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>

Darren,

You and I both know you have had plenty to say about me, so keep combining yourself. By the way I sent my email "reply all" so anyone you sent yours to also received mine.
I could respond with much more but frankly can't be bothered except to say I was referring to that mindless coward Paul Green, which had you read my email properly you would have realised.
Also, I am in no way scared of Sawyer or anyone else. I am not the one who loses my temper in Council, swears or insults other Councillors. There are a number of people, including a couple of Councillors who should be mindful of the old adage that people living in glass houses should not throw stones. Everything I said in the email is true, as usual and you, Richardson and Sawyer know it.
I am concerned about your health, particularly after the photo in today's border mail as you are in the typical age range for diabetes and heart attack. When I advised you to go on a diet I only had your family's interest at heart.
Try to be kind to yourself and clear your heart of the hatred and malice that is obviously festering in it.
Be at peace with yourself Darren or your hatred will destroy your health.
Regards,
Cr. Duncan-Strelec

Amanda Sent from my iPhone

E-MAIL 6
Borderline aka Paul Greene e-mails Cr Duncan-Strelec and asks her to include a e in Greene. Borderline only entered the email dialogue because he was concerned that if Cr Duncan-Strelec emits such detail - like if she was writing a book and Ron Hoenig (Mayor of Botany Bay) was in it and she left out the e it would be Honig. What would Ron's wife say because she wouldn't know a Ron Honig. Theseare some of the pitfalls when writing a book.

On 24/08/2011, at 2:24 PM, "Paulgreene@exemail.com.au" <Paulgreene@exemail.com.au> wrote:

Dear Councillor Duncan-Strelec

When you are referring to me could you be so good as to include the e as in Greene.

Kindest regards

Paul Greene

Borderline

E-MAIL 7
Cr Duncan-Strelec again fails to include the e as in Greene. Perhaps borderline should write a letter to Mrs Hoenig and tell her that if, in the future she notices a book by Cr Duncan-Strelec and a Ron Honig is in it is actually her husband Ron Hoenig.

From: Amanda Duncan-Strelec <aduncanstrelec@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: BORDERLINE
Date: 24 August 2011 3:23:22 PM AEST
To: "Paulgreene@exemail.com.au" <Paulgreene@exemail.com.au>
Cc: "<aduncan-strelec@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>" <aduncan-strelec@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>, "<hvandeven@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>" <hvandeven@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>, Paul Wareham <paulwareham@optusnet.com.au>, Philomena Sawyer <PSawyer@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>, Graeme Richardson <gdrich@bigpond.net.au>, "<ltomich@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>" <ltomich@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>, "<nhull@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>" <nhull@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>, "<dbetteridge@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>" <dbetteridge@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>, "<rangus@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>" <rangus@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>, "<aglachan@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>" <aglachan@alburycity.nsw.gov.au>, "<darrencameron65@bigpond.com>" <darrencameron65@bigpond.com>

Goodness me Mr Green, I have never known you to be this polite. Are you on the wagon? It was good to see you on Monday night looking so bright, clean standing and sitting upright.
I have always been curious to know if you named your blog after your personality or your I.Q.
I would take you on in the battle of wits but you and your cronies are seriously short of weapons. Most cowards are.
Now go away and pester, stalk or photograph someone who cares you emotional cripple.

Amanda Sent from my iPhone

NSW went to the polls on Saturday 26 March 2011. What is particularly distinctive is the number of Labor politicians who had seen the writing on the wall - about 22. Three words - total electoral annihilation. These politicians didn't have any clairvoyant capabilities, despite their numerous reasons. Number 21,the member for Shellharbour Lylea McMahon, said 'it was time to put her family first'. What Ms McMahon didn't mention was that her bid for reselection was uncertain. Others had their resignations accepted, usually with sadness, like police minister Matt Brown who admitted he behaved in a manner 'not befitting a minister.' What Mr Brown did after dancing around in his underwear was to straddle the breasts of his fellow MP Noreen Hay. Such boorish behaviour was enough in itself to bring his dismissal. But Mr Brown then called out to Noreen's daughter, 'Look at this, I'm titty-f---ing your mother!'   The more conservative media described it as a 'simulated sex act.' Simulated? That's not to say there aren't sound reasons for describing as salacious activities by others who take the moral high ground.

Morals campaigner, Christian Democrat MP Fred Nile, had a good explanation for the Daily Telegraph after the Department of Parliamentary Services revealed Fred's computer had been used on about 200,000 occasions to access 'inappropriate behaviour.' Mr Nile was adamant that on none of the 200,000 times was there any perving of the pornographic sites accessed. Apparently one of his staff members had viewed online porn "for just a few seconds" for research purposes. Now where's the calculator. Right. 200,000 times by a few seconds is about 400,000 seconds. 400,000 seconds divided by 60 will give you - then divide that by 60 which gives you precisely 111.11111111111111 hours which is 4.6296296296333335 days. It's not the first time that one can becomes so preoccupied in one's research that you lose all sense of time. Then again by the time you navigate to the porn site you're researching 2 seconds would appear to be underestimating the time per look. No, he was definitely perving, Fred.

Paul McLeay, resigning as Ports Minister, told the press on September 1, 2010 'I accept I made a mistake and take this opportunity to spend more time with my family and my electorate.' What Mr McLeay had done was 'use the resources of office inappropriately.' If Mr McLeay had been a morals crusader he could have said he was accessing porn and gaming sites for research purposes, but you'd have been hard pressed to explain how pornography and gaming had anything to do with his portfolio as Ports Minister. In the days pornography was smuggled through the docks, he might have had a better opportunity to explain himself.

Mrs McLeay probably thinks her husband has a gambling problem and is a recidivist pervert. In this instance you'd need any number of experts to adjudicate the state of his mind, body and soul. The McLeay kids would be no doubt have been taunted about their father at school - the poor little bastards on the bus home with tears in their eyes. We think a lot of people would understand if Mrs McLeay and the kids wanted to start a new life, a journey in which Mr McLeay was not required to participate. Since 2007 the NSW Government has lost about 22 ministers for a variety of reasons. David Cambell, the NSW Transport Minister visited an intimate gay sex haunt, Ken's (at Kensington). Now before Borderline is accused of homophobia Mr Cambell's visit to Ken's Club is not what brought him undone. It had more to do with using a government car to drive himself to and from Ken's. He had given his driver the night off, which is understandable. Mr Cambell, who portrayed himself as a family man, had in fact been living with a secret about his sexuality over two decades. It might be well and good that in such circumstances you can hold a secret, but it seems someone at Ken's at Kensington was out to make mischief. We hope it wasn't Ken. If we were Mr Cambell we would be tempted to remit the expenses incurred with the Cambell's marriage councillor, the kids therapy sessions and other sundry expenses be remitted to Ken at Ken's at Kensington as a retribution for the indiscretion that emanated from Ken's establishment.

When the last Labor premier of NSW was elected - in NSW it pays to use such words as elected advisedly - outgoing Premier Rees accused Premier Kristina Keneally of being a puppet of Eddie Obeid and Joe Tribodi. It wasn't a case of sour grapes… Well, it probably was sour grapes that motivated Rees, but he was being perfectly accurate. If ever there were two scumbags who could be indicted for corrupting the democratic process in NSW it is Messrs Obeid and Tripodi, the rightwing powerbrokers. Control the branches and you control the party with a little something on the side. After all, power on its own is only half the equation. When you operate in the circles Eddie and Joe move in, it's nice to have a bit of dosh to show that you're equal amongst the very equal. Self made men (women are few and far in the NSW Labor Right) operate on a nod and a wink and it transcends political loyalty. In NSW it pays to use such words as allegiance, which suggests some instance of ethics and honour, advisedly. Like when Eddie bought a property in Clovelly for $875,000 and sold it the day after to the Department of Housing for $1.1 million.

The only thing that perhaps unsettles Eddie is any suggestion that fire has made a substantial input into his bottom line. Who says lightening doesn't strike twice. Eddie's properties seem particularly susceptible to flame with over four of them gone up in smoke over the years. The most spectacular instance was on Christmas Eve in 1993 when Offset Alpine Printing, in which he had a financial interest, burnt down. The investors made a packet when, rather reluctantly, the insurers had to make a $52 million payout divvied up between Eddie and his fellow investors. Shortly before Offset Alpine Printing went up in smoke, the place had been over-insured to the hilt. Nothing came of the seven-year investigation by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission. Graham Richardson, 'the fixer,' perhaps the NSW Right's most infamous powerbroker and head kicker, also had his finger in the pie. When Mr Richardson was hit with a tax assessment of $700,000 of the $1.44 million of his share of the spoils, he denied he ever had shares 'directly or indirectly' in Offset Alpine Printing. After considerable litigation he eventually settled with the ATO.

Tripodi (Number 15 in the sacked/resign list) also has a colourful career and has been hauled before the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) on no less than three occasions. We'll resist the temptation to go into his long and distinguished career in branch stacking, political patronage and sheer bastardry, not to mention his tenures as Minister for Finance, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Ports and Waterways, Minister for Housing, Minister for Roads, Minister for Energy and Minister for Small Business. Joe was on the nose and Ms Keneally, then Labor premier, told him to go. Joe denied he was pushed. No doubt he'll keep himself busy with all the contacts he has stockpiled over the years. When he turns 55 he'll be entitled to a $150,000 a year pension.

To best define the former NSW Labor Government - like the Wonthaggi desalination plant defines Labor in Victoria - is Labor's sale of NSW's electricity assets. It was Premier Carr who apparently got the idea. In those days it was considered NSW electricity privatisation would bolster the coffers of NSW to the tune $30 to $35 billion. However the 1997 party conference would have nothing of it. Obviously it still rankles Bob, as he stated in Thoughtlines with Bob Carr, December 13 2010: "Compared with the $5 billion expected at the end of the current process made necessary by the party policy. But no, the precious folk at the 1997 party conference had to stage their little demonstration for Fabian principle and the cob-webbed Socialist Objective. To repeat the gesture against Morris Iemma a decade later and turn him out of the Premier's job for good measure confirms the collective ill-judgment." Ouch.

Was Bob right to be livid at the lost opportunity - and in today's money? Carr wanted to spend the proceeds on good works that would make the people of NSW happy. Because Carr realises as a former journalist that making people happy by spin has its limitations. Sooner or later they'll want something a bit more substantial. What one may call a tactile experience - something with three dimensions - like a school. Was the then Carr treasurer Michael Egan right when he said, "The real question is not whether the industry is sold, rather it's a question of who sells it, under what conditions and when." Grand visions have a cost. Premier Iemma tried to resurrect the privatization and thought $15 billion was about right. $15 billion might not buy as much public works as $30-$35 billion in public works, but still… In May 2008 the New South Wales ALP's State Conference overwhelmingly rejected Iemma's plan. After that everything went pear shaped and it wasn't long before they turned on him. Obeid and Tripodi's fingerprints were all over the knife.

The midnight deal exposed the government's reliance on total hypocrisy to get an outcome that short-changed the people of NSW by billions of dollars. To lock in the deal they needed a cheap long-term secure energy source and the only cheap long term energy source in NSW is black coal - somewhat at odds with the state's green credentials and dire warnings from the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water that 'fossil fuels such as coal create greenhouse gas pollution and cause global warming and climate change.' Well, everyone knows that. It's just that it somewhat compromises the Labor Government's policy released in 2005 to put NSW on track to meet its targets of limiting 2025 emissions to 2000 levels, and reducing emissions by 60% by 2050. The then NSW treasurer Eric Roozendaal   had his infamous electricity selloff and accepted $5.3 billion from Origin and TRU Energy.Talk about a bloody fire sale . Obviously $5.3doesn't buy as much public works as $15 billion and $15 billion buys less than $30-$35 billion. Still, if you're hard up and desperate to go to the polls with a Triple A credit rating the deal was just right. Origin and TRU must be giggling all the way to the bank.

It is interesting to note that Mr Barry O'Farrell in opposition was against privatisation of NSW electricity. Why did he compromise his laissez-faire credentials? He mostly did this to put the boot into Iemma and score a few cheap political points. That's the good thing about being the Leader of the Opposition in NSW. You can believe in anything or you can believe in nothing - it just doesn't matter. O'Farrell is allowed this kind of ideological dexterity because his shadow cabinet thinks he's a good bloke, a populist who understands you can have major reform without the slightest impost on the taxpayer. When you're in opposition, that is. O'Farrell's 5 Point Plan to make NSW number one again might be a bit short on detail, but as a motherhood statement it hits the spot - as long as you're in opposition. Now that Mr O'Farrell is Premier things are a little different. There might be a bit of loose change in the till, but that's not going to pay for all the Coalition's promises. GST disbursements won't either. The about turn has already begun with Mr O'Farrell introduced retrospective legislation to cut the solar feed-in tariff from 60 cents to 40 cents and cutting the scheme off entirely to new applicants. One would have thought the Coalition would find the mere suggestion of retrospectivity in legislation abhorrent, but apparently political ideology is the first thing that goes out the window when political reality sets in. It didn't matter anyhow. The whole plan was scuppered when Fred Nile and the Shooters Party decided to vote against it. The scheme however is closed to new applicants.

On the local level Greg Aplin the member for Albury and Bill Tilley member for Benambra would tell anyone who is prepared to listen that Albury and Wodonga are forever in the hearts and minds of Barry O'Farrel and Ted Baillieu. They're beaut blokes, Greg and Bill. Barry and Ted are beaut blokes too. Barry and Ted also know Greg and Bill are beaut custodians of their respective seats and that they don't have to worry about Albury and Benambra falling into enemy hands. Both would like to be ministers. Indeed, during the campaign Mr Aplin told everyone he was going to become a minister, which gave even more gravitas to his deliberation. "I'm right - and I know I'm right because I'm going to be a minister" was his mantra. Greg used to be shadow Minister for Mental Health and Aboriginal Affairs spokesman for the Coalition. Minister for Fair Trading might not be as important as mental health and Aboriginal affairs, but as long as he was a minister of anything he would have a seat on the Cabinet table and be able to look after Albury's interests. Alas, it wasn't to be. Mr Aplin, a member of the Right in the Coalition political spectrum, was a victim of Barry's balancing act between the Right and the Left of the NSW Liberal Party - although Mr O'Farrell would have preferred it to be seen as a balancing act between Metropolitan and Regional representation.

K remembers the old Albury Gasworks years ago he's not the nostalgic type when he reminiscences about the gasworks because a gasworks isn't a place you reminisce about. By chance Borderline encountered him a week or so ago in the Australian Taxation Office car park. K wanted to talk. A lot of people thought K wasn't fond of reminiscing or anything else for that matter because even reminiscing was plagued with conspiracy theories that made reminiscing the province of fools and braggarts. What mattered most to K was conspiracy theories with given facts. Alien visitations and recent sightings of Elvis didn't fit into the frame.

'My father worked here when they made gas here before Bass Straight gas was piped to Albury and surrounding areas. In those says the plant produced gas from coal freighted in by rail and then trucked to the Albury plant.'

K couldn't remember when the gasworks closed. Perhaps forty-five years ago. He remembers when his father died, the coughing was stilled by the morning. K told me about it a long time ago when the priest arrived and took us to the hospital. K never heard the ambulance arrive.

'I'll always remember that smell day and night - it seemed to get into your bones. I don't know anyone that worked there who's alive today including my father. In those days you had to put up with it in those days you died of something you couldn't understand. Years ago they even mentioned cancer, they called it a growth a lot of people understood what a growth was. A growth was dark and sinister. My father died of a growth some were calling it cancer by then. How you got it wasn't much discussed. God only knows what a lot of the workers died of but sure as hell it had something to do with making gas. There's still a lot of it down there and it's moving.'

K pondered the bitumen beneath his feet .

I asked K what he was doing at the old gasworks site because he's a bit of a sleuth when it comes to things, as he likes to call them he likes to call them things because you can't put a precise description to a thing. A thing to K was a set of circumstances. Almost an abstraction. It wasn't about filling in the dots because there weren't any dots. You make the dots. To K a lot of things remain dark and mysterious - silently eating away dark and mysterious in unknown confines. It wasn't like a thing in some B-Grade horror movie either. K only let his mind's eye explain a thing as it evolved from human folly.

As we were talking we were watching a huge drilling rig taking samples of the soil beneath the bitumen car park. 'There's a plume of toxic chemicals below,' said K, 'that's when I got interested - my father and all that. All that coughing.' K looked briefly at the sky like he was checking his bearings and his memories. You could get a sense that he might have liked to have drifted into nostalgia but there was nothing to be nostalgic about. K was like that when he once showed me a few photos. They were hard times. The shadows of the grave didn't interest him.

'They did some tests a few years back. A lot of people think that a plume is smoke or some poisonous vapour - it just eventually goes away up, up and away. There's one below us. That's why they're doing more tests to see if it's moving. That's when I got reading about it.' K laughed, but it wasn't like a laugh when you're amused, it was more an unknowing laugh. Laughing at an unknowable thing, out of sight and, to just about to everyone, out of mind. With just a few facts to explain it.

'Because the Albury Council have given Harper, the developer of the ATO site, eight million to build a three-tiered car par here. The EPA (NSW Environment Protection Authority ) want Albury Gas Company Limited to clean up the place and it's going to cost millions because this time they won't be able to do what they did the last time...'

'Last time?'

'Dump it at the Albury tip in the middle of the night.'

'Bullshit in the middle of the night?

'When the Albury Council were building the car park they took a lot of toxic soil and dumped it in the middle of the night about thirty or forty years ago. They would have known it was toxic.' K wouldn't tell me who told him, but he was adamant it came from a reliable source.
'How toxic was it?'
K was glad of the question. Even though K investigated what he called things he still had to try to put a name to them . And he did. All over the world old gasworks that were repurposed were yielding their poisonous past that had lay brooding, stirring silently over a century or more. The Albury Gasworks started about eighteen eighty four. Now an unopened gate in the middle of the night gave K an enthusiasm to try and explain it all.
'A bloody great cocktail of petroleum hydrocarbons - there are hundreds of them, a lot of them carcinogenic - hexane, benzene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene, fluorene, phenols, sulphates, cyanides, ammoniacal liquors, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. ... I can't even spell a lot of them.' K learnt to spell them because when a thing has few names, a few instances of clarification, it provides a few clues.

'Didn't anyone ask any questions? You just can't dump toxic soil in the middle of the night. Was the gate unlocked?' I could sense his notion of intrigue. Could Borderline be accused of slavish devotion to the notion of a speculative conspiracy?

K laughed loudly. That was another clue someone had told him. Since turned into fact.

'Now they're going to have to do it the right way perhaps ,'said K, then lowered his voice.

'Which means they have to have a site developed with the compacted clay layer and a type of plastic membrane to prevent any leakage. They told me they are going to have to remove over ten thousand tonnes of soil at least.'

K started to work on the arithmetic, but his mind became confused by the enormity of it all.

'As part of the deal with the new Volt Lane development, which will be the new ATO building, they'll have to work there and to park here. That's why Albury Council gave Harper eight million for car parking and it has to be finished by the time the new ATO office opens fat chance.' I suppose it'll be two hour parking there and all day parking here.

K scratched his head to try to make sense of it all.

'You mean to say Albury City Council gave eight million dollars to a developer to build a car park, but first ten million tonnes of toxic soil has to be removed, and then they can work there but park here with a two hour time limit for shoppers? I suppose the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) wouldn't want to see the plume get into the river, would they?'

'Well, why aren't they taking water samples? If this plume got near the river it would cost more than a few million to fix. It would cost tens of millions. Then there's the publicity.' K nodded darkly. 'And what about the publicity no one would want that sort of publicity Albury, the Murray Darling System the states Australia. '

I was about to leave when K thought of something else. He'd read Borderline's piece on connectivity a year or two back. Borderline is big on connectivity.
'This mob in North Albury I did a bit of business there for a while and you could hardly swallow the fumes were so bad. When was it? About 2006, I think, they used to collect solvents - and God only knows what else. The fumes would almost choke you… Your tongue would be like a bit of flypaper always sticking to your mouth. Then your eyes would start watering…'
I was getting bit tested for time and - well you know - containers full of this and that. A few leaking drums don't add up to an environmental catastrophe.
K assured me the details were right.

'It was owned by an Iraqi outfit then. Apparently they got a DA (development application) to store and transship the solvents - all types of solvents. Then suddenly they were processing the stuff, just like oil refineries do with a catalytic converter. A few people made enquires if they had a DA to process solvents or whatever they were processing and they couldn't find one. God only knows what they were spewing into the air PCB's (polychlorinated biPhenyls ), organo chlorines, which are highly carcinogenic and have very long half-life in the soil. One part in a billion can give you the big C.'

'The big C?'

'Cancer.'

K chuckled, a sad kind of chuckle.

'Then it became a real comedy as several people complained to the EPA and a bloke came out. He was around there quite often. When someone asked him what they were doing about it, he assured us they couldn't have been doing anything wrong because that would be illegal. It was pretty unconvincing.'

K laughed. The devil you know could be found in most things.

'All these complaints people being sent home from work. Then when they went the EPA to ask them to investigate it wasn't an employee/ employer thing in fact they were in the same building. It wasn't a complaint about nothing. Then the EPA said they wouldn't act without Albury City Council advising them. They all thought it was a bit strange at the time. Especially since the EPA was on the fourth floor of Albury Council's offices. Then The EPA bloke went to my warehouse next to the plant and gave me some sort of material and told me to cover the air intake duct of the air-conditioner. It didn't make much difference because the fumes came in from the ventilation holes and under the doors - you couldn't keep it out. Then they put all this filling next to the factory, about eighteen inches of it- rather unusual because it affected the runoff which drained into the east side of the warehouse.'

'Then they stopped doing it during the day and started processing the stuff at night. Then they stopped altogether. I don't know what they do there now. I don't even know if they did any soil and air tests… I suppose you couldn't look into it, could you? You know all about that connectivity stuff . Someone told me they've moved interstate.'

There goes that word again, connectivity.

The Victorian election seemed to be Premier Brumby's for the taking before everything went pear shaped, when the ALP chose to base the campaign on Brumby's greatness and capacity to make Victoria even greater than he was. It's a conceit that ubiquitously enforces itself in politics on those prone to delusion, and self-interest . Brumby copped a shellacking from Ted Baillieu's Liberals and his agrarian socialist colleagues, the National Party. Brumby was bitter. So much so that despite his promise that he would stay his full term as member for Broadmeadows (Broady boy #6587909) he spat the dummy completely and resigned. He didn't even bother justifying himself.

Why bother the ungrateful bastards.

This allowed Eddie McGuire's brother Frank (Broady boy #6486909) to be parachuted into the seat even though he wasn't a member of the ALP and hadn't resided in or near Broadmeadows for over twenty years. Apparently a childhood in Broadmeadows is a truly affecting experience that endears the heart to a sense of place for the entirety of one's existence even though heart and place might be in distant places. In Frank's case it wasn't so much distant parts but Brighton, a rather more salubrious part of metropolitan Melbourne with water views, where the median price for a modest house is about $1.6 million as against $367,500 in Broadmeadows. Frank has promised he will return to his heartland, but there are a number of logistical problems. Will he sell up in Brighton, or just rent out? Apparently he won't be leaving Brighton just yet, and will be using the old family home in Brighton 'as a base' for the foreseeable future. He will still live in Brighton because he doesn't want to disrupt his daughter's VCE efforts (excuse 2010) nor that of his son's education who has commenced secondary school - which means he won't be moving for a possible 6 years. As this extract from the Age suggests, Frank preference for the company of more sensitive refined types is understandable given it seems Broady boys are at times a high spirited lot. Of the 10 Victorian postcodes contributing most to central city violence, three - Broadmeadows/Dallas, Glenroy and Coolaroo/Meadow Heights - are in the Premier's (now Frank's) Broadmeadows electorate. Having your heart in the right place encourages suburban allegiances that genteel Brighton types know nothing about. They are also a well organized lot as this extract from the Hume Leader, the local rag explains: Broadmeadows Sen-Constable Ben Davies said 40-50 young men in the park scattered when police arrived but he spoke to some of them. He said it was an organized fight. Police confiscated a baseball bat and two pieces of timber that were hidden under a car. Hume City, which Broadmeadows is part of, has no doubt a lot going for it. As the Hume City website profile suggests: Hume City is a place of great contrasts, taking pride in its rich heritage and history, its wonderful natural features, the internationally acclaimed Melbourne Airport, leading manufacturing and technology industries, award winning wineries, cultural diversity and its active community. It is also second only to the Municipality of Brimbank for car thefts in Metropolitan Melbourne, so lock up your car Frank. Better still, get the train.

Nothing highlights the way the Labor government sank into naivety, mediocrity and mendacity than when the desalination plant at Wonthaggi was undertaken. You can understand the then Premier Brumby and his Water Minister Tim Holding's reluctance to disclose the real cost of the plant. They wanted to measure the cost of the plant on its net present value which they determined was $5.7 billion. Brumby's predecessor had said in 2007 it would cost $3.1 billion. Public/Private partnerships in Australia are dubious at the best of times, yet both Labor and the Liberals embrace them with open arms because they think it is being financially responsible - frugal even. It's all smoke and mirrors of course. Calling such arrangements partnerships is a contradiction. The Oxford dictionary defines partnership as an enterprise by which the partners share the profit and losses. However the desalination plant at Wonthaggi when constructed will be like many Public/Private partnerships, a partnership in name only, because the private partner doesn't share any of the risk. Those supplying the capital can rest easy in their beds because they can't lose. This contractually watertight arrangement, even if not a drop of water is required, will cost Victorian taxpayers a minimum $19 billion and a maximum $24 billion (not indexed for inflation) over the next twenty-eight years, even if not a drop is used. Labor governments like to give the impression that they're penny-wise with taxpayer's money. However if you read the small print, which in the case of the desalination plant the Brumby government refused to make public, it's the poor sod of a taxpayer who will have to carry the burden. Ted Baillieu said he had examined the contract closely to see if any savings could be had, but there were none. That didn't surprise many people. Victorian taxpayers will pay $654 million in the 2012-13 financial year and that's without water. It would probably be more cost effective to get bottled spring water. You can buy generic packs at about $5 for ten litres 5 into 654 million = 130,800,000 ten litre packs of spring water. That means you could buy 1,308,000,000 bottles of water. With the population of Melbourne roughly 4 million that would mean that each and every resident could be supplied with close to a litre of bottled water a day. With Melbourne dams at 53.8% and smaller dams other than the Thomson (which is at present storing all the water fed into it) able to supply Melbourne's needs, it seems unlikely that provisioning the entire population of Melbourne in 2012-2013 will be necessary so the following financial year they could have access to 2 litres of water a day so that after 10 years, if bottled water wasn't required, you would be entitled to 10 litres a day. Think of all the opportunities the recycling of plastic water bottles would bring. There are other options, like harvesting stormwater. 400 gigalitres of the stuff falls on Melbourne annually. That is almost equal to the 430 gigalitre yearly requirement of Melbourne. That would be too easy.

Now it's Ted's turn, and what Borderline is wondering about is the $630 million hospital the Coalition promised Bendigo in the frenzy of promises that preceded the election (Labor promised a $523 million hospital for Bendigo in 2010 in their last budget.) Labor still won the seat. David Davis the VIC Health Minister said in April that Bendigo's new hospital, with the added $102 million features, would definitely be built by 2016. Show us the money.