Speak Up Launceston in Launceston, Tasmania | Community organisation

Speak Up Launceston

Locality: Launceston, Tasmania

Address: PO Box 1179 7250 Launceston, TAS, Australia

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19.05.2022 In 2016, Ben Lohberger wrote some of the very first articles about the UTas scam in Launceston, such as "f we build it they will come" and about the "Emperor's new clothes". People who should have taken note, chose to close their eyes and ears and went along with the UTas lies and scam, without ever asking UTas for actual evidence, research or statistics. Now in 2022, Ben gets to write the same stories about Hobart UTas. When it comes to this University, the Tasmanian public has been cheated of any transparency, accountability, verifiable evidence, public funds that could have been used for genuine areas of need in public policy. SHAME! Thanks to investigative journalists like Ben Lohberger.

15.05.2022 Rallies on Climate Change tomorrow (Saturday ) in Hobart and Launceston. See the Tasmanian Climate Collective for more information https://www.tasclimatecollective.org/In

09.05.2022 The UTas public relations campaign - this is how busy UTas has been in pushing its scam in Hobart. All sounding familiar to people in Launceston and Burnie?

05.05.2022 SCAM! Time for an enquiry? Remember the ridiculous claims put out by UTas to get public land and public funding to move from Newnham to Inveresk flood inundation zone? No surprise, but UTas is using the same silly nonsense to 'justify' the move from the beautiful Sandy Bay campus to the central city area of Hobart with all its traffic probems. (see the share "Of interest" from Jeff Briscoe below) There is very strong opposition in Hobart to the move, while UTas is telling stories that the Launceston move had no oppposition. Check out this link to the group fighting the Hobart move and for documents that UTas and/or Hobart City council have tried to keep hidden from the public. SCAM! https://www.saveutascampus.com/

23.04.2022 What will it take for the Launceston Council to stop gambling against Nature and act responsibly in relation to the river and its flood zones? Another year of severe flooding and damage with big floods in NSW and Qld: 15,000 homes flooded in Brisbane, Northern NSW region from the Qld border, Lismore etc to south of Coff's Habour - worst flooding in history and expected to get worse. Large agriculture districts under water (7 TV News). Meanwhile here in Launceston, the city co...uncil continues to allow, encourage even, development on the Inveresk-Invermay flood plain and private developer's interference with the North Esk river and flood plain. On top of that, and of concern to all thinking Launceston residents and ratepayers, the Council signed up to the Northern Tasmanian Regional Land Use Strategy (NTRLUS), which shows the flood zone areas of Launceston as being up for even more development and in-fill housing. (see map from the NTRLUS with darker areas in tidal zone and flood areas). Are the people responsible for this crazy or just brain-dead climate change deniers? See more

06.04.2022 For the last 2-3 years it has been open slather for developers across Launceston to the detriment of local residents and ordinary ratepayers and what they thought were simple lifestyle requirements such as sunlight and freedom from unsuitable developments right on their boundaries. With the approval of the Gutwein govenment, the latest Launceston Planning Scheme seems to allow development at any cost. For people and neighbourhoods affected or concerned about such developments Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania is an organisation that works on such issues. https://www.planningmatterstas.org.au/

25.01.2022 Tasmania's toothless puppy, the Tasmanian Integrity Commission, is in the spotlight at present. (Paper tigers or toothless watchdogs are tougher than the TIC, so toothless puppy it is) So what does the Tas Integrity Commission do? You might well ask? According to Its 2019-2020 report, 10 November 2020, the TIC 'triaged' (looked at things to see if they should be followed up) 165 complaints, dismissed 122 of them, referreed 16 to other agencies and accepted 27 for assessment. ...Out of the 27 or 28 (depending which page of the report you read) for assessment, 23 were dismissed, two were referred to a different public authority and three were accepted for investigation. So in the end, three out of 165 complaints for the year were investigated by TIC! No wonder there is little public trust in government, councils and pubic bodies such as the University of Tasmania. They seem to assume they can get away with things without accountability, tranparency and formal public scrutiny, and they appear to be correct in that assumption. In 2014, the Hodgman govt wanted to dismantle TIC, or at least cut back its powers and strip $20 million of its funding. No doubt the Gutwein govt would like to do the same. Anyone interested in public accountability and good governance can see the work being done by the Australia Institute and the Centre for Public Integrity to get a strong Integrity Commission Tasmania and a strong federal ICAC. https://www.tai.org.au//P996%20Good%20government%20in%20Ta

25.01.2022 So where does the Mayor stand on the risks to a full university campus sitting below high tide level in thie age of rising sea levels? Two weeks ago Mayor Albert van Zetten, huge supporter of Utas moving to the flood zone below high tide level, finally admitted that flood risk is real. Yesterday (Wed 21 Oct) the Mayor had an article in the Examiner on flood preparedness, to 'be prepared'. As one comment on the Examiner's FaceBook said: "Be prepared...build a university next to the river." High tide for Launceston today, 4.6 metres, very high, touching the bottom of Charles St Bridge, and slowly but surely getting higher all the time. On the same day as his article appeared, tidal floods occurred in parts of Ireland. Too far away to affect the thinking of UTas and the Mayor?http://floodlist.com//ireland-tidal-floods-cork-october-20

25.01.2022 The state govt's Major Projects Bill is a serious concern. A letter in the Examiner on 14 August summed up the public concern on the state govt's plan to stop members of the public and even local councils right across Tasmania being part of the planning process on 'major projects'. As the writer of the letter states: "Democracy is precious. A bill that in any way limits the voice of the people and silences councils and communities from having a proper say on the places they live in and love, as no role in a democratic society." The State Govt is using the cover of the Covid pandemic situation to try and push this Bill through parliament. Planning Matters Tasmania has been putting out urgent calls about this Bill. https://mailchi.mp//pmat-action-pls-contact-your-local-gov

23.01.2022 The Launceston Mayor is quoted in the Examiner as saying,"It is important for L'ton residents to be aware that levees are not a guarantee against flood." and "There is also a risk of levee failure." Really, Mr Mayor? When did you become aware of that? Mr Mayor, L'ton residents have been trying to tell you that for several years! Mr Mayor, it is more important that the Councillors be aware. UTas relocation/proponents also need to be "aware that levees are not a guarantee against flood" And yet you are happy to assist UTas in spending over $300 million from public funds on moving UTas campus to the area of highest risk of failure - just inside the levee on the riskiest stretch of the North Esk River. Well done Mr Mayor.

19.01.2022 In April 2019 award-winning writer Richard Flanagan wrote a piece in the Mercury about the stupridity of UTas moving its campus into a patchwork of buildings around Hobart CBD. Mercury's facbook page had plenty of comments about it. https://www.facebook.com//acclaimed-tas/10157313488238408/ REASONS FOR UNI’S CITY MOVE ‘PALPABLE NONSENSE’ Man Booker Prize winner Richard Flanagan says Hobartians should not allow the University of Tasmania to move from Sandy Bay into the CBD until the institution can prove it will improve the city and their lives. It has been the same story in Launceston - "palpable nonsense" pushed through by a sycophantic council and the UTas real estate juggernaut.

18.01.2022 Creative? Shonky? Do City Council claims and actions meet the pub test? They certainly do not meet the due diligence test. And exactly what does the state Coordinator General and his office do? Apart from getting rid of red tape, the other main task seems to be to win huge pork-barrelling funds for Launceston (like a drought grant for a CBD carpark and UTas funding) despite more important needs (like hospital, housing and aged care). Back in July, Launceston was awarded a $1...0-million drought recovery grant by the Fed government to help build a "creative precinct" based on Birchall's car park area in the city's CBD. The East Coast suffered some of its driest conditions on record, but got knocked back on its application. Launceston city general manager-CEO said the council's application was made in 'collaboration' with the Coordinator General's Office in December 2019, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie says the $10 million drought grant to the City of Launceston is "pork barrelling" and labelled it a "rort". "You'd think they would have been scared off from doing this, for a while at least, by the scandalous embarrassment caused by sports rorts." "Not only did the Government misuse $10 million in one electorate, it also told the mayor in another electorate to not even apply for a grant, which had the effect of not only favouring one electorate but explicitly disadvantaging another," Mr Wilkie said. Lyons Labor MP, Brian Mitchell, whose electorate takes in Tasmania's east coast, said the drought funding given to Launceston was "absolutely scandalous and outrageous." Hobart City Council was told not to apply for the funding as only the Glamorgan Spring Bay and Break O'Day councils on Tasmania's east coast were eligible within the Tasmania. To be eligible for a grant, approved projects had to provide economic benefit to areas that were either drought declared, had suffered a significant decline in rainfall or could demonstrate economic or employment decline because of drought. "Clearly the Government thinks it's OK to unashamedly pork barrel to try and ensure the Bass Liberal member's [Ms Archer] re-election," Mr Wilkie said. So there are the rorts and pork-barrelling. And now there is this due diligence failure by the Council. A private education company partnering with Launceston City Council on a $90 million CBD creative precinct has been kicked out of its premises for failing to pay rent. Earlier this year the ABC revealed Foundry staff had not paid staff, and had not properly paid superannuation for several years. This is where the City Council's $10 million drought recovery grant is going - to help build this creative precinct. What other 'creative' activities are going on in Launceston? See more

15.01.2022 https://twitter.com/i/status/1312068618113474560 Major destructive floods have occurred in numerous countries during 2020 (See earlier posts on Speak Up Launceston for just some of them). Now in the first few days of October, major floods occurred in England, Wales and Southern France. In southern France at least 18 people were missing on Saturday after torrential rain caused devastating flooding along the French Riviera coast and inland areas. Bridges collapsed and roads we...re left submerged as rivers broke their banks. On Friday evening thousands of homes in the coastal département were left without power. People were evacuated all across the area. According to local residents of a village north of Nice, the river there burst its banks , everything was swept away including part of an old iron bridge, the service station was washed away, houses were severely damaged, and the stadium and the cemetery have been flooded. This is the kind of thing the Launceston City Council and UTas continue to ignore as they push on with their foolish university relocation.https://twitter.com/i/status/1312068618113474560 See more

14.01.2022 The eleven complaints are only those received by the Ms Norton in her review. There are a range of others, but some people were unaware that there was a review taking place, and some people prefer to remain quiet. The Launceston City Council was also caught asleep at the wheel - Peter Rathjen had no trouble pulling the wool over their eyes - big due diligence failure on the Council's part.

14.01.2022 BREAKING NEWS. ABC REPORTS A PREVIOUS UTAS VICE CHANCELLOR HAD SEXUALLY HARASSED COLLEAGUES IN AN ICAC INVESTIGATION AND FOR LYING. In his tenure, this man was ...instrumental in instigating the move of UTAS to Inveresk, and in so doing involving the Launceston City Council in lending its support (i.e. multi-millions of dollars of ratepayers money) for activities such as gifting land, renaming of York Park, naming of new streets in the area, traffic management reports, modifications to flood plain use areas and the knock on consequences to keep the train wreck moving forward including land for parking options, moving of an automobile museum and the list grows longer. With members of the public presenting information to the integrity commission, the ombudsman and parliament relating to UTAS property deals at that time, perhaps ICAC should make their way down to Tasmania and review the activities that the university was involved in when this man was at the helm! https://www.abc.net.au//vice-chancellor-peter-rat/12597974

09.01.2022 Sign the Petition to free Julian Assange, an Australian citizen being held as a political prisoner. The 'war on journalism' and Julian Assange film event at the Albert Hall in Launceston on Thursday night 19 November 2020 is fully booked out. However, the international petition against Assange's possible extradition to the U.S. is still circulating for people to sign if they haven't already. https://www.change.org/p/free-julian-assange-be/u/28082071

09.01.2022 This photo was taken on 05/09/2020 showing a gathering of concerned Invermay residents who are appalled at the prospect of a recycling/tip plant setting up busi...ness on Churchill Park Drive, near the entrance of Heritage Forest. Invermay is an inner city suburb, largely consisting of living art-deco houses. Over the years this area has increased in value due to the beautification of it's homes. If this goes ahead, price values will plummet, people will move out - and then what will happen to the area? Cheap rentals? Slum areas? Where is the vision of Launceston is 20 or 50 years? There is a Council meeting on the 17th September when Councillors will decide whether or not to pass this Application. You don't have to be a home owner/ratepayer to have your say - just someone who cares about Launceston. Please phone or email expressing your concerns to all or any of the Councillors. Thank you. See more

06.01.2022 It has been tough and uncertain for so many people lately, so it is wonderful to see kind people offering help. Yummy homemade soup! If anyone is doing it tough and fancies a bowl of yummy homemade soup, pm Brian Hail.