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Our National Motto for our Children: "Don’t be users, be Producers" Introduction We need construction of this new school to start now. Anything concrete (literally) you can do to help our nation's children become 'producers' will be greatly appreciated. Background It's obvious to all us parents that we can't compete with billion dollar marketing campaigns to ensure our children grow up to be perennial users. The point got driven home once Pete's daughter, Tara, started Kindergarten this year ('08). And the frustrating thing is that there is money around - you see some really Wollongong-esque developments around the area. Especially with the ridiculous Rockdale and Kogarah Council boundaries - if ever 2 council should take the lead of what they are doing in Queensland, it's these two. The boundary is shaped like a long bottle neck. 50 metres from Kogarah station, north, east and west (i.e. not south) you are living in Rockdale Council. This means Mayor Nick Katris' Kogarah Council can build a blatant baroque monument to the Greek clique (previous Mayor Nickolas Varvaris - are these Greek surnames by any chance?!) - the new "Kogarah Town Square" complex - sided with the Greek Orthodox Church at one end facing 100 metres away past the river fountain - the most expensive (just the salary bill alone - talk about over-staffing) local Council Library (considering the low income demographic that uses it, though some aren't too bad off - they run their business from there re the free Internet connection) you will ever see (certainly leaves Rockdale for dead), and on the other sides the new town house complexes - seemingly only occupied by Greeks, as every Sunday morning they come streaming out of the lifts dressed in all opulent black, strolling down the hill 'to be seen' at the church. All the while the bulk of Katris' rate payers are the upper income demographic miles away out at Kogarah Bay, Oatley... - i.e. don't even use the new library facility, but they certainly fund it. And then we have the dangerous main street interection of Kogarah where people get wiped out standing at the bus stop - with the recent death of young and talented Emma Hansen reported on the 6 o'clock News - finally forced to do something - what does Katris do first - starts expensive main street modifications with pretty flower beds down the other end of the shopping centre, first. Yep, you guessed it - the entrance to their Greekarah Town Square. Couldn't just hire some big concrete barricades for people standing at the bus stop straight away. It's been an a case of a serious accident waiting to happen for years - the Council should have done something long ago - Emma's death could have been avoided. Now, how many more people have to be killed before they do a proper upgrade. We should sue the Council for negligence and use the damages awarded to start our school (except we have Buckley's chance of finding a fair dinkum lawyer in Sydney!) (Greekarah Exposé =>) The Prime Minister has got to see this display of pork barrelling for himself. Come on Nick how about getting behind a building construction that will help the other 49 cultures - you've got a "Youth Week 5 April" banner over the library - now is the perfect time (not to mention Harmony Day on 20 March) to come on board and make an announcement. Seriously though, if Kogarah Council chooses deafening silence on this issue, then we really need Premier Morris Iemma to get ICAC in here like they did in Wollongong and sack the whole council. IAE, the commonsense thing to do here is immediately amalgamate Rockdale & Kogarah Councils. Straight off you have a significant saving in personnel cost and duplication - no doubt millions of dollars. And there, my fellow fair dinkum parents, is a big chunk of the funding we need for our new school. And unlike Kogarah Council our investment and staffing would be productive - and it would be a major injection to the local economy. And be a role model for the whole country, internationally even. Step 1 - Government Support The first step is to find out how fair dinkum our government leaders are, at all levels, Federal, State, Local - starting with an open letter to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd sent 13 March '08 - see slap bang at the top of this popular website's homepage - here Now we'll just see if they all sit back and hope the Prime Minister either ignores it or uses a typical politician side-step. So they can too. Or will one of them be fair dinkum enough to step up to the plate on their own. This issue is not going away. And we will make it an issue in all the elections, especially if we get totally ignored. Step 2 - Big Business Support This is not just the responsibility of various government levels - it also requires partnering with the private sector - big business have a social obligation too, especially those that are addicting our kids with their products. Pete will likewise approach the usual suspects in due course. An Opportunity Now apart from some of the other players (would certainly help if Albert Martinez, Editor of the St George Leader gave it some attention!) this is a great opportunity for someone like the flagging Mr 7% Opposition Leader, to jump into the arena and grab the bull by the horns before the Honeymoon PM - the Liberal Party should have an inside running to corporate involvement... Or a good news initiative for embattled Premier Morris Iemma. No Dilly-Dallying This is a no-brainer - it needs to be done. Now. No talking and phoning, but action - plans in writing - words of clear support - and numbers, preferably with a dollar sign in front. With government / corporate seed money, we setup a temporary office somewhere, like in the existing Kogarah Town Centre above the station, enough to pay for setting up a formal organization structure, some initial coordinating staff, phones, computers, etc., and get things rolling. And have a reputable auditing firm put up on their website detailed and regular accounts of every dollar coming in and out. Design Competition With leadership from at least one fair dinkum Australian in a position of influnence we can announce a national competition for the design (a useful PR exercise in itself) and start building construction by the 29th June '08 (the 90th Anniversary of Carlton Public School - 948 students K-6) Future Partial Self-Funding Surely the writing is on the wall, not just at the university level, not even just at the high school level, but all the way down to K-6 Primary level regarding more self-funding and corporate sponsorship. Just as many universities around the world are turning their research faculties into incorporated marketing companies, selling new patents and product ideas - if K-6 students of "BBSPCA Film Production Company" successfully produce films that people want to pay to see or download from the school's website, then that over the long-term is going to go a long way towards supplementing our funding needs. The Scene - A Brisk Canberra Morning: This is the quintessential test of fair dinkumness in our new Prime Minister. If Kevin Rudd does not come to the party - the personal fair dinkum invitation to his office in Canberra, then he won't just have the usual group of media reporters and lobbyists greeting him as he gets out of the fancy chauffeur driven white limo to start another day at Parliament. He will have 5 year old Tara looking up at him, on behalf of her desparate Kindergarten user-addicted generation. Well, keep checking back - if nothing else, this webpage is just gonna keep getting more 'informative'... Peter & Tara Hogan BBPSCA Project Envisioners |
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Links: Our 'Open Letter' to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd 5 yo Tara's video plea to the Prime Minister Greekarah Exposé Fair Dinkum Australian Ratings About Peter Hogan Contact Peter |
A year ago, March '07, the "horror crash in Railway Pde
at Kogarah - in which talented student Emma Hansen was
killed and 11 others were injured..." (Daily Telegraph)
If we can get anything done we will dedicate
the new school to Emma Hansen.