Hotel Arcadia and Magnetic Island Boat Club Aust Day Cricket match
Aust Day cricket match
Above: The little green turtle 'Squirt' was released into Horseshoe Bay waters Sunday afternoon, swam quickly to deeper water, with a wave of a flipper she bid farewell to her island carers. Photo Debbie Denison
Â
21st  February 2012 Vol 22 Issue 44
The Gloves Are Off
Debbie Denison
The battlegrounds are prepared, the lines in the sand have been drawn, yes its election time again.
We lucky Queenslanders, its not just one level of government going to the polls but two, State and Local. Whilst on the Federal front Rudd and Gillard are preparing for another blood letting encounter in the sand pit… again!
Was highly entertaining some two years ago, but we are starting to yawn now. However TAB corp is taking bets on, "Who will cry this time"?
The Candidates, politicians, would be politicians, those vying for Mayor, those jostling to remain a councillor or become one. They will be busy door knocking, walking through shopping centres mingling with their constituents, chomping on the over cooked snags prepared at local sporting club sausage sizzles, kissing babies, working the media pack into a feeding frenzy. They will tell us all how they will fight for their communities to receive more funding, to make their patch a better place to live, they will say they're in for the fight of their lives.
Meanwhile, here on beautiful Magnetic Island many of us have been fighting for years to have better infrastructure, in the past 20 years we have had some wins, The Safe Harbour built, the Marina, the associated boat ramp and Presto Breakwater Park, 2 state of the art sewerage plants, The Solar City Project and the revamped former Sports and Rec which is due to be handed back to the community this year. Also this year sees the Walkway from Nelly Bay to Arcadia built and the restoration of the Picnic Bay Jetty.
Yes, our elected representatives have fought hard and should be congratulated.
In this election battle, both State and Local Governments have to be fought for better transport systems, to fix our appalling roads, better maintenance of and access to our National Park, drainage issues, Nelly Bay Foreshore replenishment and the list goes on.
Funds still have not been released from Cyclone Yasi disaster relief, and monies will not be available until after the election of our new council. Why?
Meanwhile our roads are crumbling, our footpath system barely exists, the situation in Nelly Bay and Picnic Bay is the worst this writer has seen in over 22 years. Just have a look at Mandalay Ave? How long do we as a community have to put up with our unsafe, narrow roads, the treacherous road surfaces and a public transport system not suitable for the island?
Below is a letter to the editor, please read, please pass this on and please let all our candidates know that we, as a community, will not tolerate hollow promises any longer.
Hold the candidates to their word - Make them fight for the real issues in our community.
Baby Today on MI Sunbus Almost Squashed by a Travellers Back Pack
Dear Ed,
Today 15/2/12 by chance I met a beautiful baby boy, 5 months old, and his more than adorable pint size mother at the Breakwater Ferry Terminal. Mum had been shopping in Town and was fully loaded with shopping bags, baby in pram (we were waiting for the 2:15pm Ferry). Mum and bub went top deck for easy access off at Nelly Bay Terminal. I went below.
Mum, bub and I met again in the lineup at the Nelly Bay Sunbus on route to Picnic Bay. The bus driver asked a gentleman to move from the very front seat so Mum, bub and her load could fit comfortably into that space designated for wheelies and people with babies on board. The gentlemen, without fuss or complaint, did as asked and Mum parked her precious cargo snuggly into her nook.
I sat one seat up from Mum and bub and watched a procession of back packers jump on board, piling their backpacks into the designated bag cages. The two luggage cages are located directly in front of both front seats of the bus. All passengers were on; the bus was full with people and luggage. I was genuinely happy for XBase and Sunbus as I know Feb is a trying month for all businesses that rely on interstate/international tourism to pay the bills. All on board. Away we went.
The bus turned right, then left and then right, people bumped up and down over the pot holes strung together by bitumen, the sun was shining and there was not one Irish/American tourist talking 10 decibels louder than necessary. The world at that moment was all good until I saw Mum lunge forward at a speed greater than any international soccer goal keeper. Super mini mum caught a falling back pack that had jiggled it's way loose from the pile. No joke, she caught that potential baby crushing mound of canvas (possibly filled to bursting point with tanning lotion, two minute noodles and bikinis made from less material than your standard hanky) to about a match box thickness away from the pram with bub inside. As the sky is blue, I kid you not; the backpack was as long as Mum and probably weighed 5 kilos or more. Super woman mother with arms as thick as my wrists held that back pack up, maintained her balance over the lumps and bumps then lifted the thing up an over the luggage cage and secured it tightly in place while rearranging all the other bags to ensure it would not happen again. Not on her watch, no way.
We have all heard of the amazing things people do to save others, blood related to or not. What I witnessed was right up there with the best. As a MI resident who reads the MI Community News regularly, sees first hand, feels and understands the pain of other residents who shout over the waters to the powers that be… ‘We are not a leper colony. We beg on our knees for the smallest things in the name of a safer community. Please, please, please, for the sake of a life; be it 5 months old, 5 years old or 150 years old, fix our roads. Make them wider in the right places, build more footpaths, improve our street lighting, improve our bus configuration so we the residents and all those who visit that walk (around this unforgotten jewel in Townsville’s crown) or ride a scooter, a vehicle with 4 or 16 wheels can do so without the fear of killing one self or someone else. Lord Mayor, hear our Prayer!!!
