Friday, November 26, 2010

Brian Walters Greens Policy Free Zone

The Age editorial endorsing the return of a Brumby Government highlighted the need for State planners and political parties to adopt policy that can contain the urban sprawl and growth of Melbourne. Both Labor and the Liberal Party have failed to put in place policies and planning for melbourne's future growth.  This is the most pressing issue confronting Melbourne today.

In order to facilitate good governance and planning for Melbourne's future it needs a central enlarged Greater Melbourne City administration.

The Greens candidate for Melbourne, Brian Walters, when ask to outline his policy and vision for a Great City of Melbourne stated he had no policy, no vision and proposal to address this issue. A policy free zoned on what is one of the most important environmental planning decision facing his electorate and the state.

Brian Walters does not deserve your support.  His only issue of concern has been his desire for recognition of Gay Marriage, An issue that falls within the authority of the Federal Marriage act is is not an issue of great concern to the Melbourne City electorate. Much more pressing issues such as the need for a Greater Melbourne City Council have been ignored

It is for this reason and the need to ensure we have a strong stable government that the Green's should not be elected to represent inner city seats.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Designer Job City's $78,000 Tweet job

More waste. Is this not the role of the overpaid media advisers? Now we have an overpaid Twitter at designer job city. Hey we will do it for free. Next year we will go twitter. Tune in.


Marika Dobbin The Age
November 18, 2010

WANT to know what lord mayor Robert Doyle is having for breakfast? Melbourne City Council is recruiting a full-time tweeter on a salary of up to $78,111, plus super, to keep its constituents up-to-date with the council's every machination.

The tweeter, to be known as social media coordinator, will be expected to keep abreast of computing trends and experiment with social media to give exposure to the council's programs and website.

Council chief executive Kathy Alexander said the communications branch had been restructured and the new role would incorporate social networking for the That's Melbourne brand, with more online interaction for the council itself.

The new position of social media coordinator comes as experts debate the impacts on society of smartphones and other social technologies, at a summit being held in Melbourne.

British neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, one of the panelists at this week's Knowledge Cities summit, said those who were over-reliant on smartphones could become addicted to short, shallow interactions and become uncomfortable face-to-face. She said those who used phones to constantly access Twitter and Facebook had a ''dodgy sense of identity'' and were seeking constant reassurance and feedback for everyday experiences.

However, Deloitte Digital's chief executive office Peter Williams said such technologies were better than reading because they were less passive, stimulated wider parts of the brain and allowed quick access to useful information. ''These technologies create a whole new world of knowledge, learning and opportunity,'' he said.

The CSIRO's Dr James Bradfield Moody said smartphones were the ''digital version of you'' and neither good nor bad. ''It is your way of interfacing with the world and it's all about how you use it,'' he said.

Baroness Greenfield and Mr Williams will appear at The Great Brain Debate today at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.


Monday, November 15, 2010

Vision splended: Melbourne needs a large expansive open space

Decking the rail yards is a good idea. Melbourne is in desperate need large expansive open hard edged open space such as St Peters in Rome.

Our agoraphobic fear of open space has left Melbourne without an accessible outdoor temporary exhibition space. No where in Melbourne is there outdoor space suitable for major cultural events exhibitions or public gatherings.

Federation Square is not a square but more of a undulating forecourt. It's design and planning a complete disaster.

Question is does Brumby have a real vision and will he get it right?

Jeff Kennett didn't.

Kennett had a chance to incorporate the Museum into an expanded Federation square but didn't. Instead of taking center stage the Museum is now located in the inner suburb of Carlton and is languishing as a result from poor attendance and recognition.

Brumby when opposition leader in 1996 had a chance to stop the Museum being built in Carlton but backed down in the last minute. Another lost opportunity and lack of vision and proper planning for Melbourne.