Fast Buck$, Coorabell
I was strolling in Mullum last week when I casually asked an older tourist what language he was speaking. ‘Polish’ he replied quite amiably; some tourists are happy to be noticed. Suddenly a young woman intruded upon the scene, scowled at me and accused me of being a racist.
Deary me! Miraculously I didn’t give said intruder a piece of my mind; she might have been the guy’s daughter or granddaughter for all I knew, so I simply retreated.
I was lucky that there weren’t ten of said intruders, passing on their way to an anti-5G protest. If such had been present they would surely have marched off immediately to The Echo to swear that I’d ‘stood over’ this poor defenceless old guy in the street for the purpose of ‘intimidating’ him. That’s the way hysteria works.
Some people are prepared to believe that, in front of 50 witnesses, I went up to Cr Ndiaye with ‘threatening’ intent. Really? Even if it is true that I spoke the phrase attributed to me by The Echo (it’s not), and even if it is true that I have twice recently been kicked out (true) such could only at best indicate a prickly attitude, which is a long way from violent or intimidatory intent.
Sarah herself has never come out and stated that I’m physically aggressive towards her; her recent mantra has been ‘I’m entitled to feel safe in my workplace’, which is a rather cunning way of avoiding the question of whether any objective threat actually exists. Duncan Dey failed to read that fine print, and he now proposes to ‘improve workplace safety.’ Bullet-proof vests maybe? A shark-proof cage around Sarah?
You’ve been had, Duncan, and you’ve badly failed your first test as the Greens mayoral candidate. There are many millions of developer dollars at stake in the future, and the development lobby will stop at nothing to undermine you if you do become mayor. Are you tough enough to fight for the rule of planning law, for due process, for the environment, for a proper accounting of public funds? I can’t see it myself; you’re too nice a guy. One who’ll try to please everybody and end up as a Simon Richardson clone.
Byron needs, as its next mayor, an acknowledged arsehole who is able to remain calm in the face of chaos and calumny and to stick to his/ her guns. Can you think of anyone?
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
