Panyiri promo reads: “We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands on which we gather, the Turrbal and Jagera people of Meeanjin, and offer our respect to elders past, present and emerging as we all work towards a just, equitable and reconciled Australia.“
Homeless people are everywhere in Meanjin … you can see rough sleepers down near Kurilpa Point, South Brisbane. The Brisbane City Council are trying to fence people out but tents are all along the river front up to the Go Between Bridge. But you won’t find rough sleepers in Musgrave Park this weekend.
Rough sleeping in Meanjin
There are homeless all over Meanjin, not just in South Brisbane but also out at Logan City (ain’t it pretty) where, according to the Federal Treasurer’s office manager (Brenton), people are sleeping in other people’s garages.
You’ll find homeless people living on a median strip on the Gold Coast highway.
‘Queensland ends at Gympie’
This is what people ‘up north’ say: government is only interested in the rich south-east (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba). Up north roads are bad, tyres are hacked up on the Bruce Highway, diesel is expensive, coal trucks take climate change to the sea for export … it is like living in another country.
We can only hope that the jellyfish stop the nuclear submarines from coming into Quandamooka (Moreton Bay).
Land scams
Brisbane is a city of real estate miracles, you can even subdivide water. Developers sold parts of Russell Island that were below the high tide level. All hell broke loose when buyers discovered that their house site was under water. Around 14,000 lots could never be built on and turned out to be worthless. You would think that government would realise that this level of profiteering means that people at the bottom of the pile are going to get hurt. But no. It was the Queensland government that rezoned Russell Island as residential even though the island is swampy with poor drainage and some low-lying areas even disappear underwater at high tide. There were no roads or utility services when the re-zoning application was put in by the developers. Greed took care of the rest. Sales were brisk, with interstate buyers attracted by the developer’s glossy project promotions, including a government promise that a bridge would soon be built to the mainland and would link most of the islands as far as Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island). In response, Stefan Zaborowski printed and put up stickers saying: Leave Straddie unabridged! The Stradbroke Island Management Organisation (SIMO) was formed to oppose the proposal. It was felt that excessive urban development and the population explosion which would follow if a bridge were built would destroy Stradbroke’s “unique island character’. They even had marches to the Straddie pub. The bridge was never built. But , in the end, developers did their way on all the islands of Quandamooka except Gheebulum Kunungai (Moreton Island) which was declared a national park. Developers got their hands on Macleay, Russell, and even Coochiemudloo. Worst of all, Straddie became a playground for the rich with rents of $2,000 per week.
So most of the bigger developer and bank scams were made legal: negative gearing, exemptions from capital gains, interest rate rises by the banks … Liberal and Labor governments approved building on the floodplain in Rainworth, Toowong. St Lucia, Chelmer despite massive floods in 1974, 2011, 2013, and 2022. The governor gets to live on the very top of the hill so she can look down on the carnage below.
They then approved developers to run amok at Toondah Harbour, a RAMSAR site*.
Eviction
First Nations People were evicted from Musgrave Park on 16 May 2012 to make way for the Panyiri festival. This is what Sam Watson had to say about it.
This is criminal neglect by government at federal, state and local level. Our premier is more concerned about the Olympics coming to Brisbane than people doing it tough, sleeping rough.
Our Prime Minister wants to buy $368 billion submarines. Now there is a scam.
Ian Curr
21 May 2023
*A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,[1] also known as “The Convention on Wetlands”, an intergovernmental environmental treaty established on 2nd February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran by UNESCO, which came into force from 21st December,1975.
Panyiri Promo