This political sign that appeared in Gero is 💯
We've also been informed that as a CV Full Back, Callum was the recent Fairest and Best recipient.
Gero Police via Twitter:
"Hoping to speak with this person - he maybe able to assist with info regarding numerous frauds - call us"
You can reach the Geraldton Police on 9923 4555
Update: also these
"Know their names? they are likely to able to assist with information regarding Fraud offences. call us pls"
Facebook has started trialling a new feature in the Messenger app called "Messenger Day".
If you're familiar with Snapchat at all, your eyebrows will rise somewhat with how blatantly it copies one of Snapchat's most popular features- the Story.
Essentially you can record a bit of video or take a picture, post it to Messenger Day, and anyone can view said media for 24 hours... or you can send it directly to people.
It's certainly making the Messenger app look cluttered, but with incredible user growth at Snapchat, it seems Facebook is desperate to do what they can to stop people from jumping ship.
The feature is very much like the Instagram (owned by Facebook) Stories feature that rolled out recently. Instagram openly admitted it was copying Snapchat.
The move appears to be part of Facebook's reaction to data that showed people are preferring platforms like Snapchat to share content.
If you have the feature give it a go and let us know what you think.
For the last eight weeks, SMF Projects have been underway doing the renovations works to the Town Towers.
In that time, they are reporting that they have been broken into eight times. The offenders have caused damage to the property, and are adding cost and time to the building process.
SMF Projects are offering a "$500 reward for information that will lead to an arrest."
If you can identify any of the individuals in the images below, please contact Geraldton Police on 9923 4555.
Our recent video on the announcement of Town Towers renovations being underway.
Everything Geraldton received a letter this week from a concerned parent. It essentially stated that a local deli has been selling cigarettes to minors, including their own daughter. The author allegedly sent her daughter in to buy cigarettes to test the deli out, and they them to her. It's been reported to the authorities, who hopefully are investigating.
But the letter reminded me of my own experience working at a servo in Geraldton several years ago. I had the unenviable task of guessing people's age who wanted to purchase tobacco products.
Almost every time someone who looked quite young was asked by myself for their ID, they would get abusive. I have no idea why, but it was almost always women. The guys seemed quite chill about it.
On several occasions, the abusive female would reluctantly show her ID, flabbergasted that anyone could think she was potentially 17, only to show she was barely 18. I would point out how close to 18 she was, nevertheless she would remain offended that I didn't think she looked 25.
One time the woman was 18 by 2 days. 2 DAYS! And STILL she was abusive towards me for daring to ask for her ID.
Fortunately, I had a wonderful boss at the time, who basically said if anyone treats you that way, don't serve them at all. It gave me no end of pleasure to kick them out of the store empty handed. I just wasn't paid enough to deal with their crap.
Another time a young woman who couldn't present her ID and left angry hurling insults at me came back with a man claiming to be her husband. He in turn started abusing me for not selling his wife cigarettes, presented his own ID, and demanded cigarettes. Of course, I kicked them both out.
But I realised then what a difficult job selling tobacco products is. I'll be honest, many people I see selling cigarettes are young, and may not have the strength of character to want to square up with abusive teenagers and young adults all day long, who act incensed that you don't think they look like a retiree.
If ya'll could chill out and just take it as a compliment that you look young or something, that would be great.
Everything Geraldton has received a number of questions from community members somewhat concerned as to whether or not the media hyped "clowns" are in Geraldton. Is there a group of people in Geraldton wandering around trying to scare the daylights out of people dressed as clowns?
First, I agree clowns are quite creepy. Whoever thought they were an appropriate way to entertain children was on some decent acid.
But, Geraldton folk predominantly aren't like our metro counterparts. We go fishing, camping... and hunting.
Can you imagine what a Hilux full of Gero lads would do if they spotted someone lurking around in a clown costume trying to scare people? They certainly wouldn't run away scared. Let me tell you, I'd be more concerned for the wellbeing of the clown. They're more likely to hog tie them and leave them at the cop shop than run away scared (that's if the clown is lucky).
In my opinion, there's very little chance anyone would be willing to risk their life at the moment by going outside in anything resembling a clown costume. Heck, if Maccas had Ronald McDonald visit for the day I'd suggest he get body guards.
Some numbskull thought it would be funny to start a Geraldton clown page, and from this a few people have actually become concerned for their safety.
But if the people who started the page had any idea about how the law actually works, they'd realise their anonymity is far from assured.
If you make a threat to break the law, or do something to cause people to fear for their well being, the Police are within their rights to get a court order for Facebook and your ISP to hand over identifying information. And Facebook are only all too willing to comply.
Some people are treating this like a joke, some think it's a marketing stunt for the new Stephen King "IT" movie coming soon, some think it's serious and they need to hide their kids.
But seriously, if you think you're being funny walking around in a scary clown costume now, you clearly have a death wish.
There are two types of people. Guess which one Gero people are.
Update. Geraldton Police say they've received reports of people driving around dressed as clowns intimidating other drivers.
Renee Ellis was dismissed as a City of Greater Geraldton councillor this week. What follows are the reasons given, and the drama that has transpired since.
To follow the story, it’s important to understand the difference between the following two terms for when a councillor misses a council meeting.
They are “Leave of Absence” and “Apology”.
Leave of Absence: This is when a councillor has sought permission to be away, and permission has been granted by their peers. A motion is put forward at a meeting that the person is requesting a “leave of absence”, and all the councillors vote on it.
Apology: This is when a councillor is simply away from the meeting, but has not formally been granted permission to be away. It’s not unusual, but is not desirable. If a councillor has three apologies at three consecutive meetings against their name, the CEO is required to issue a dismissal notice to that councillor.
Renee Ellis
On Monday of this week, City of Greater Geraldton Councillor Renee Ellis was issued a notice of disqualification by CGG CEO Ken Diehm. Mr Diehm was of the belief that Ms Ellis had three apologies earlier in the year, for the March, April and May meetings, and therefore issued the notice.
But Ms Ellis is claiming that the matter is not as cut and dry as Mr Diehm and the CGG are making out. She did indeed miss all three of those meetings, but argues that at least one of them should have been counted as a “Leave of Absence” and not an “Apology”.
And this is where things get murky.
Ms Ellis did in fact complete an application form for a “Leave of Absence” for the April meeting. And she sent the completed form to the office of the CEO.
That form was never presented to council to vote on.
The reason it wasn’t presented to council was due to the City of Greater Geraldton Guidelines that stipulate that a “leave of absence” must be approved at the meeting prior to the absence; that is to say, you cannot ask for a leave of absence at the meeting you plan on missing. The guideline states: “Any leave of absence approved by Council can only apply to subsequent meetings. Therefore, leave of absence cannot be granted for the ordinary Council meeting at which approval is given.”
But, according to the Local Government Act, you can apply for a leave of absence at the meeting you intend on missing. Thus it appears the CGG guidelines don’t line up with the Act.
Section 2.25 of the act
Part: (3A) Leave is not to be granted in respect of —
(a) a meeting that has concluded; or
(b) the part of a meeting before the granting of leave.
The act seems to imply that a Leave of Absence can be granted for the part of the meeting following the motion for a leave of absence being approved.
Ms Ellis also completed a leave of application dated 25th of May to the 20th of June, while noting she would be an apology for the meeting on the 24th of May. This submission was not dated from the 24th of May due to the advice given Ms Ellis at the time from the CEO's office, based on the CGG Guidelines. It's arguable that had the city's guidelines matched the Act, Ms Ellis may have dated her application as being from the 24th.
Notwithstanding the discrepancy between the CGG guidelines and the legislation, legal advice obtained by CGG CEO Mr Ken Diehm stated that if the motion for a “leave of absence” was never voted on and approved by councillors, then Ms Ellis did not have a “leave of absence”, ergo she has three “apologies” in a row and should be dismissed.
It should be noted that Ms Ellis was also an "apology" for the preceding March meeting.
Extract of March Council meeting minutes.
Unfortunately, it gets even murkier.
Despite Ms Ellis’ application for a “leave of absence” never being presented to council at the April meeting, in the minutes of the meeting Ms Ellis was noted as a “Leave of Absence”, not as an “Apology”.
Extract of April Council meeting minutes.
At the following meeting in May, those minutes were all voted on as a “true and correct record of proceedings”.
Extract of May Council meeting minutes.
So at the time it was not picked up on that Ms Ellis (then Cr Ellis) was an apology for three meetings in a row.
Ms Ellis was an "apology" for the May CGG council meeting.
Extract of May Council minutes.
Fast forward to the September council meeting. Renee Ellis was also an “apology” for this meeting.
At the September meeting a motion was put forward concerning the performance of Cr Ellis. The discussion of the motion was held behind closed doors, so the press and the public were not able to hear what transpired, or even what the motion originally stated. We officially know what the final motion that passed states, although we have had several people inform Everything Geraldton that the motion that passed was somewhat diluted compared to the original motion that was tabled.
The motion that was passed concerning Cr Ellis states as follows:
COUNCIL DECISION
MOVED REYMOND, SECONDED TANTI
That Council by Simple Majority RESOLVES to:
1. EXPRESS that it is losing confidence in Cr Ellis due to her lack of attendance;
2. CALL on Cr Ellis to improve attendance and/or to reconsider her position on Council;
3. MAKES the determination on the following grounds:
a. To ensure ratepayers are represented by Councillors in accordance with community expectations.
The motion passed 10/0, voted for by all who were present:
Mayor Van Styn
Cr Douglas
Cr Bylund
Cr Keemink
Cr Graham
Cr Tanti
Cr Reymond
Cr McIlwaine
Cr Freer
Cr Colliver
As you can see, Cr Michael Reymond moved a motion that expressed that council is “losing” confidence in Cr Ellis for the reasons of ratepayers not getting what they expected.
Note that while the motion is certainly quite serious, it does not call for Cr Ellis to be dismissed.
Following on from this motion, dialogue between Cr Ellis and the CEO’s office opened, looking into Cr Ellis’ absences. This led to the discovery of three “apologies” in a row from March, April and May 2016 and the ensuing dismissal of Renee Ellis.
So while they are indirectly connected, there are two matters that have transpired:
1. A motion of “losing confidence” toward Cr Ellis.
2. The dismissal of Cr Ellis based on three apologies from earlier in the year.
Regarding the issue of her dismissal, Ms Ellis believes she should not have had three strikes against her name, and that at least one of her “apologies” is because of an administrative error on the part of the CEO Ken Diehm.
Regarding the motion of “Losing Confidence”, Ms Ellis is of the strong opinion that the motion was crafted and put forward in an attempt to undermine her for political reasons. This week it was announced at a gathering that Ms Ellis was a Labor candidate for the upper house (Legislative Council) in the upcoming WA state elections.
Unarguably, these are strong claims. So Everything Geraldton spoke with some of the parties involved in order to present their arguments to the wider public. Author comments are in bold, interviewee comments italicised.
Darren West MLC
The meetings in question were six months ago. During that time Renee was struggling with a very difficult time in her life. She sought leave for one meeting. On the second meeting she sought compassionate leave. I thought this might have given a few councillors a clue that something was going on. She was concerned about how she might perform at council meetings, and she sought leave in accordance with the local government act, as amended in 2009. Council guidelines don’t reflect this change in 2009. The council guidelines have not been updated since the changes. But the law’s the law. This administrative bungle lies with the CEO. The CEO did not present that leave request to council on behalf of Councillor Ellis. The act says you can do it, the guidelines say you can’t.
Now it’s hypothetical whether council would have granted it, but I’ve done a search through past minutes. (A leave of absence request) has never been denied, I can’t find an example.
Presuming from that, had the leave request been presented to council, you could make a reasonable assumption that leave would have been granted.
The fault lies with the CEO. Rather than say “I’ve made a mistake and will refer this to SAT for a ruling”, he has served the notice on Councillor Ellis. I believe he has been pressured to take that course of action.
I don’t know, but the week she pops up as Labor’s candidate this happens. The CEO finds himself in an unenviable situation, in a politically charged environment, in my view.
The key words are “if he is of the belief”. I find it bemusing… that the CEO is the person at fault by his inaction to instruct the Mayor to table a leave request to council.
Further, Cr Ellis is listed as “Leave of Absence” in the minutes. Not an “Apology”. That’s significant. Because had she known she was actually an apology for the April meeting, that may have influenced her decision to attend the May meeting.
We are very keen to clear her name, because she has done nothing wrong. The smear on her professional reputation is unwarranted, unfair, an unjust.
She now has to prove herself innocent through the appeals process. She’s guilty until proven innocent, as a result of the CEO’s bungling administration, and she will appeal.
They couldn’t even be gracious in that. It paints Cr Ellis as having done something wrong. It is purely 100% a political smear and a witch hunt.
The Council has become extremely politicised. We believe this never would have happened in years past. It’s a disgrace. It’s outrageous.
A councillor moved a motion of no confidence. The CEO and 5 councillors were absent, and the motion was debated behind closed doors. What’s going on?
Cr Raymond moved the motion, and it was watered down to “losing” confidence, due to lack of attendance. It was supported by all 10 councillors. It’s outrageous that debate was held behind closed doors.
This is the City of Perth all over again. It’s outrageous, unfair, and it lacks common decency. (Ms Ellis) had no voice. She had court (Ms Ellis is a lawyer).
(Debating the motion) without her having the right to respond is gutless. The Mayor, in my view, could have deferred that motion.
I think the council has a problem with women, it’s become a boys club, and it’s very, very conservative and targets those with progressive views.
In 2014 Cr Van Styn (now the Mayor) missed 4 meetings. In 2013 when he ran for parliament he missed 5 meetings. There were no votes of no confidence despite him missing more meetings than Cr Ellis.
But the point is, Cr Ellis has had to deal with a very difficult set of circumstances. She needed support, instead she’s been hung out to dry. And that is very sad.
City of Greater Geraldton CEO, Ken Diehm
The guidelines … have been practiced for many many years. Those guidelines reflect the mood of the council.
The guidelines are more rigid than the legislation. I accept that.
Those guidelines were brought to Renee’s attention.
She acknowledged that it would not be presented to council.
In the future when the leave application is received, I will provide it to council in the next meeting it applies to.
Cr Ellis is well aware that consideration was not recorded in the meetings, (and that the) application was not considered by the council. There was no resolution.
It was an administrative error, I’ll take responsibility for that.
I don’t think so, because she was told it would be considered as an apology.
If Ms Ellis had no understanding of the guidelines, and solely relied on the act I would agree with you. She had confirmed her understanding by email, that it wouldn’t be considered, and she’s had discussions with my office providing the same advice.
Do I think it’s fair? It’s not a matter whether I think it’s fair or not. I have an obligation as CEO (to issue the notice of dismissal). This hasn’t come out of the blue with Renee. I’ve been liaising with Renee for the last few days.
Renee’s options that are open to her are to advise me in writing if she is not disqualified and the reasons why, alternatively she can apply to SAT (State Administrative Tribunal).
My legal advice said I had an obligation (to dismiss Ms Ellis). It was irrelevant with respect to my determination.
I can unequivocally say there’s been no pressure applied on me from any party to take any course of action. While these circumstances are unfortunate, I have no choice.
Renee’s options are to accept, or provide reasons why she believes she was not disqualified, or apply to SAT for a determination.
Council passed a resolution due to her lack of attendance.
As a result of that resolution, my office reviewed her attendance, and discovered she had missed 3 missed meetings in a row, and 5 of the last 7 ordinary council meetings.
Once I was made aware of that, I was legally bound to provide a notice of disqualification of the Act.
I’ll take responsibility for failing to pick that up. We’ll make sure our staff are more vigilant in the future.
In terms of do I think it’s fair? I think it’s totally irrelevant. I'm required to act impartially. The local government Act requires me to act.
It does not allow you any discretion to take into account extenuating circumstances, or Renee’s personal circumstances.
That’s why the matter is best left to SAT should Renee disagree with the notice that has been provided.
To my knowledge, there has not been in recent history (an instance) where a councillor has had to be disqualified for consecutive absences at council meetings.
The whole issue is that when I was asking for their support and advice, “How do I get through this, what do I do?”, they said “Do this form” and that’s basically that, even though I’ve applied for leave 3 weeks before the meeting.
In my time of need, they said "you’re all good Renee". I’ve done everything they’ve said.
I’d been a councillor about three months at that stage.
I said “I take my roll very seriously. I have to go through this process of grief. Can you help me, what can I do?”
They advised me “This is how you do it. And you do it in this way.” If they’d had said, “If you do this now, it will be three apologies” instead of putting it through as a request for leave as they should have... I’ve done everything in accordance with the way I’ve been told. In accordance with the act, they should have put my request in front of council.
I think there’s a grey area there. I think that he knew I had got incorrect advice. Council, even though they haven’t marked me as being on leave, in the minutes they have endorsed it as a true and correct record.
I went on the advice I was given at the time, from the office of the CEO. And the CEO failed to put it to council.
His alternative was to apply to SAT. He didn’t have to disqualify me. He could have gone to SAT.
It’s been recommended that the City (of Greater Geraldton) pay for my legal representation because they’ve made so many errors.
At this stage, Yes.
(There’s been) no fault of my own, and with the mistake of the office of the CEO, I think it’s manifestly unfair.
Whether or not I’m successful, there will be a review of process by SAT, and a policy decision will come out of it. So it won’t be in vain.
And what we’re expecting is that there will be discussions with the Minister about this. There have been discussion with the Shadow Minister and the Dept of Local Government, and I have no doubt that this decision will come under intense scrutiny.
It is an administrative bungle.
I would have had leave appropriately for two meetings, and apologies for three.
In 2013 the mayor had missed as many meetings as me. I think he had leave, but he had a big chunk as well.
When he took leave for federal parliament, that was ok, but when I took leave on compassionate grounds, I get raked over the coals.
They told the councillors that the Mayor had had a one on one. The Mayor never had a one on one with me. A true leader would have pulled me aside and had a discussion with me. But they’ve done it this way. But they didn’t do it to Shane. They did it to Renee, the Labor candidate.
I thought it was quite good. But I’m very disappointed to hear that the Mayor encouraged councillors to vote for the recent motion. I'm very disappointed.
I would be honoured. That’s why I was elected by the people of Willcock.
I stand up for the underdog, and social issues. And I’m one the few that do. The council currently are very conservative. This motion came about, it’s sort of weird and uncanny, the same week I was announced as a labor candidate.
Yes. No doubt.
I can tell you that as soon as that motion became public, within half an hour Paul Brown tweeted it, and the mayor and Paul Brown were together that day.
#Geraldton Councillor Ellis and possible @walabor Ag Region candidate has motion of no confidence against her moved unanimously #wapol pic.twitter.com/bUKIj79LnU
— Paul Brown (@Paul_Brown1) September 30, 2016
(Note: Paul Brown is a current Nationals state upper house member (MLC) and running for the Lower House in the upcoming state election. The tweet incorrectly states the motion was one of "no confidence" when the motion was that of "losing confidence". The tweet appeared approximately 3 hours after the September council meeting minutes were made public.)
They were looking for an opportunity to attack me.
From what I’m told, the council was given incorrect information when they voted on that motion. Had they been given the correct information, it wouldn’t have succeeded.
There were 5 councillors away, it was out in Mullewa. Nobody gave me an opportunity to speak. I wasn’t at the meeting (but) they could have given me a right of reply.
Instead they’ve decided to publicly hang me out to dry. It’s affecting my business, it’s affecting my personal life. I reached out for compassion, and this is how they respond.
Cr Michael Reymond
It was a consensus. There was a feeling that we had to bring the matter to the head.
It was done for me by the council officers.
Myself and the Mayor sat down and put the words together and had it typed up.
Yes. The Mayor approached me. I said I think it’s an excellent idea. When I came back from leave, we discussed it then.
He asked me what I thought about the idea, I said I’d put a motion forward. He updated me on the situation, on approved leave. When I came back to have a chat with him, I was a little bit out of touch. He told me that Cr Ellis had put another apology in. I said I’d support a motion.
He tries to keep a mutual position on things. He tries to manage things. He’s meant to be mutual and unbiased. It’s not appropriate.
It’s not new. Her absences have been a discussion among councillors for so long. She never turned up to the Reconciliation Committee meetings. I had to become chair. It’s a team effort. She gets paid a reasonable allowance. Would she do this if she got elected to state parliament? I don’t know. She needs to prioritise her issues.
No.
It was pretty obvious.
No. That’s conspiracy type stuff.
I’m only worried with the fact she’s not turning up. That’s a fact. Look, she’s got a whole lot of reasons for having leave.
I was surprised, as that was never the intention.
The motion was just to let her know that we we’re not happy with her attendance. We were hoping… the idea of the motion was to encourage her to rectify the issues and get on with business.
The fact that she was dismissed came as a surprise to me. That was never the intention.
The email traffic when we discuss matters with each other… I never see her name come up on email traffic on issues. For example, the sand dune issue.
There’s about 10 emails a day coming out. You know by that correspondence traffic who’s participating and who’s not.
I certainly haven’t been getting any emails from her at all.
I can only conclude that she doesn’t spend a lot of time on matters. I might be wrong. It seems to me she has family, personal, work commitments that are very demanding. You go into this position (knowing what’s involved).
She’s going to pull out anyway if she gets elected (to State Government). Her ambitions seem more for state politics than local politics.
But you need to keep on doing what you’re elected to do.
She was providing a balanced view and an alternative view occasionally. But she has to meet what she was elected for.
I think to turn the blame on the Mayor and other councillors is unfair. Look at the attendance record. She’s the one not turning up to the meetings, we’re just the ones concerned about it.
You can’t say she hasn’t been given natural justice. She knew the rules. It’s like running a stop sign.
It’s inappropriate, and she’s been told many times about the consequences.
It’s a storm in a tea cup, and it will sort itself out.
CGG Mayor Shane Van Styn
Absolutely categorically denying it.
There’s nothing political about counselling a councillor who has failed to show up for 5 of the last 7 meetings.
We have in recent times placed great emphasis on keeping rates down and providing value, and councillors being remunerated around $30,000 a year have to be accountable to the ratepayers they serve.
The city has embarked on staff cuts and efficiency drives, and councillors have to show value for money.
I think councillors have a right to question whether seven and a half thousand dollars a meeting is good value for money. (Mr Van Styn based this on Ms Ellis’ annual remuneration vs meetings attended.)
A number of councillors have approached me and sought advice. A number of councillors asked if we can put forward no confidence. I held them back.
After another apology, the budget meeting where she informed me she was going to be an apology, I contacted her and personally spoke with her. She came into the office, and I spoke with her in the offices, and counselled her on her attendance.
That is utterly outrageous.
I had held off people wanting to move motions of no confidence. Since then Ken (Diehm, CEO) has also has spoken to her.
Since that, not only has she failed to apply for a leave of absence, but failed to provide an apology, and has simply gone absent.
Zero is not the number. More than a couple. A few.
Councillors confide in me directly.
There was no intention. I was completely unaware of the three strikes. That only occurred when she requested the reasons for the absences, and that’s when the three strikes were discovered.
I have seen no official announcement that she’s the endorsed Labor candidate ticket. I’ve heard that claim, but never seen it official. Look on the website, it’s not there.
The CEO is the person who has to disqualify the councillor. It is the CEO’s role.
The motion was carried 10/0. Absolutely unanimous. Moved and seconded. She has missed 5 of the last 7. The last was just a no show, and the second last was an apology the day before.
In terms of the politics of it, I note that by standing for state parliament, I expect she’ll seek leave of absence for January and February to conduct a campaign, and if successful, she’d resign in March.
If there was anything political, it’s why is she choosing to be on council yet not attending, and now challenging her disqualification knowing full well that she may require a leave of absence in January and February and, if successful, resigning from council in March, some 15 months after first being elected to council for a four year term?
That will be a matter for council to determine in the future. It’s been a long standing practice that application for leave is made at the meeting prior to which you seek leave.
Absolutely, and I encourage her to apply to SAT if she wants to remain on council.
It’s not common practice for the Mayor to move motions from the chair.
Absolutely.
She emailed councillors and apologised in writing, and said she’d work to improve it (her attendance). And if she fails to improve it she’ll offer her resignation.
The important thing to note is, the three strikes is set in law.
If the councillor had attended meetings, the motion would not have occurred, simple.
But there were a number of councillors, more than a couple, that have raised concerns.
In an email to councillors Mr Diehm wrote:
"Whilst I have been required by law to issue a Notice of Disqualification to Councillor Ellis, I am not unsympathetic to her circumstances. Since issuing the Notice I have personally contacted Ms Ellis to advise her that I will be referring the matter to the State Administrative Tribunal for final determination. We have agreed to work collaboratively on the submission to ensure that all the facts and circumstances are presented to the Tribunal.
"My obligations under the Act are not negotiable and I would have been breaking the law if I had not issued the Notice of Disqualification. Ms Ellis understands and appreciates the legal obligations that are placed upon me and we both believe that working collaboratively on a submission to the State Administrative Tribunal is the best course of action to bring finality to this matter."
Ken Diehm and Renee Ellis are expected to be meeting today (Thursday, October 6) to discuss the joint submission to SAT.
The Department of Local Government and Communities is the State Government body that overseas the running of local councils. They have issued a statement on the matter.
"All local governments in Western Australia must abide by the provisions of the Local Government Act 1995. There are no penalties or consequences with regard to actions of the City of Greater Geraldton or its staff in this matter.
"Once the CEO issued a notification under this section the Local Government Act gives the elected member 28 days from the date of the CEO’s notification to either satisfy the CEO that they are not disqualified or apply to the State Administrative Tribunal asking for a declaration as to whether or not they are disqualified.
"If the elected member does not respond to the CEO’s notification in the above manner they are taken to be disqualified.
"This is the only way to have the matter resolved."
The department’s statement doesn’t speak to whether or not it was the correct move to issue the dismissal notice, but restates what Ms Ellis’ options are once the notice has been issued.
The statement clearly states that there are no penalties or consequences for any CGG staff in this matter.
The city have acknowledged that they have acted outside of the act, I have acted within the act, and because of that anomaly the city are now funding my legal representation to SAT and we are preparing a joint submission together.
At the time that was the case. It has become clear to anyone in this case that those comments have been vindicated. We feel that councillors have recognised this, and the CEO has made the appropriate change in course. I stand by the comments I made re the notice of disqualification.
The City has had a change of heart. We're happy to work with the City in preparing the brief and evidence for SAT. We’ve asked the City to admit to publicly what they’ve admitted to privately, that the City’s guidelines sit outside the act and Cr Ellis’ submissions sit inside the act.
We’d like a public apology, whether or not we’ll get that remains to be seen. She’s been vindicated in her actions.
We are seeking legal advice regarding the power of the City to change the minutes (for the April meeting).
All the councillors were of the view that they had given her a leave of absence.
But they (the councillors) were all privy to that leave request. And she was noted in the minutes as a leave of absence. Councillors considered her as being absent and not an apology.
And they carried the minutes in the May meeting from the April meeting without amending.
I don’t think the CEO has the capacity to say “those minutes are wrong, I don’t accept those minutes.” Because they’re not the CEO’s minutes, they’re the council’s minutes. I don’t think they can change the minutes without a resolution of council.
The reason it wasn’t considered by council is because of a major bungle by the CEO.
She was endorsed in April. At this time she had some difficult times in her life. A decision was made to hold back publicly announcing her candidacy.
We made a public announcement last week. We’ve announced it but we’re not shouting it at this stage.
Not much. What they do care about is that their city has become highly politicised.
We’re responding to a political smear campaign. We don’t see any other way that we can respond.
I saw it as a concession that they’ve got this wrong, and have created a problem that needs to be fixed.
What I do see as the olive branch is that they’re willing to work with Renee Ellis to prepare an application for SAT, and to fund the costs. But it was going to go to SAT anyway.
Migrants living in Geraldton will now be able to take their citizenship test locally, rather than travelling to the Perth.
Federal MP Melissa Price, Member for Durack, said regarding the change, “Now, prospective citizens can sit the test at their local service centre in Broome, Geraldton, Karratha and South Hedland, making it a far more convenient option.”
“It is good to see the Government delivering increased services for prospective citizens in rural areas.”
The Department of Human Services and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) have worked together to help migrants living in Durack can now take an Australian Citizenship test at their local service centre.
Around 141,000 citizenship tests are taken across Australia each year. Last year more than 12,000 – around 230 per week – were conducted in 33 different regional communities across Australia.
The staff at the service centres can guide prospective citizens through the citizenship test process, including verifying documents, administering and setting up the test.
Previously, migrants in these remote and regional areas had to travel to major cities or wait for DIBP to visit their communities.
Minister for Human Services Alan Tudge said Australian Citizenship is an important step in a person’s migration story.
“This service will make it much more convenient for people in regional communities to take their citizenship test locally, rather than travelling into the city,” Minister Tudge said.
“This is a great partnership between the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Department of Human Services to make it easier for people in rural and regional areas.”
To find out more about becoming an Australian citizen visit citizenship.gov.au.
Ryan Eastough : I use this intersection every day at least 2wice its a shocker , im carefull on both bike and car and havent had an incident but iv seen so many near misses that have really frightened me for those involved , mainly people lacking in driving skills ,but in this day and age we have to protect the stupid as well because " natural selection " is no longer tolerated and licences are hard to take back once given out unless it's drunk driving or hoon laws maybe there should also be an " ur just an unco useless driver , hand ur licence back because ur dangerous clause "
Seeing how there's no transport minister in WA, Mr Blayney can you fix this intersection for us?
Having no signal on the islands will soon be a thing of the past thanks to a team of people in Geraldton and local internet provider Node 1.
The southern group of the Abrolhos Islands now have high speed wireless internet thanks to a number of Geraldton community members and the team at Node 1 Internet.
The wifi signal is an extension of the existing high speed fixed wireless network that Node 1 has around Geraldton. The signal is beamed to the islands from the mainland at Geraldton.
Initial measurements suggested it would not be possible to get the signal to the island, but due to a surprising natural phenomenon, the signal is able to travel across to the islands.
A signal transmitter based on East Wallabi island in the north is currently being tested and hopefully will be fully operational soon.
We spoke with Nick Van Namen from Node 1 about the new service for the islands.
"Guys working on the installation had trouble with the boat, and were stranded. They couldn't get traditional phone coverage, but due to new recently installed free wifi they were able to make a Facebook call and get help."
Everything Geraldton receives some stupid complaints. Believe me.
We usually just shake our heads and hit 'archive'.
But I'll never forget the day we received our first complaint about the Senses cafe sign. It was in May of this year, and Senses, as is their custom, had a little joke for people to enjoy while sipping their coffee. It was a joke about how people say they hate Crocs (the sandals), but seeing the company was worth $2billion, some of you "sonsabitches" must be lying.
I shook my head when I saw the complaint. This is what it read:
"I wanted to have breakfast at Senses this morning but was too taken aback by their kerbside sign displaying profanity! I spoke to the Manager who was patronising and dismissive and told me there was nothing wrong with it and 'each to their own'.
I love a laugh as much as anyone but my kids deserve better than to be over inundated with profanity when the English language is so rich with other more eloquent and expressive options.
I had to make a formal complaint to Centre Management and yet I still doubt it will change anything.
Since when did it become ok to do that? If I went I the shop and said "I would like to order breakfast, b!tches" it wouldn't be acceptable now would it!
Work on your Customer Service Geraldton, it's downright disgraceful"
That's right folks. This person felt the need to go to centre management to complain about a joke about crocs because it had the word "sonsabitches", and then request that EG share the complaint to our tens of thousands of readers.
I get that you probably don't call your daughter a bitch.
But fun fact: Lots of millennials call each other "bitch" in much the same way that a 70 year old man would slap his mate on the back and say "how's it goin' you ol' bastard?!" Does he literally mean "how are you, you who are aged and conceived out of wedlock"? No. Is he using the term "bastard" to convey an insult or slur? No. It's the English language. It evolves. Words have multiple meanings in different contexts.
If you're offended by that, you're the one with the problem, not the 70 year old Vietnam vet talking to his mate.
I often use my wife as a barometer to see if things are over the line, so I showed her the photo with the Crocs joke. She laughed and nodded muttering "so true, so true". Then I read the complaint to her. She was as shocked as I was that someone was so petty that they felt the need to complain about this joke.
I put off responding to the complainer for a few weeks as I knew if I shared her thoughts she'd probably be crucified by our readers anyway.
A few weeks ago I was walking along with my eight year old, and we overheard someone swearing. My son pointed it out to me, knowing it's not behaviour we normally encourage.
I sat him down, and bought him a juice. "Ezra, there's something I need to tell you about swearing," I said.
He looked at me, as though he already knew that swearing was bad, and he didn't need to have it explained further.
"There's nothing technically wrong with swearing. I've taught you not to say certain words, because there are some people who live among us who are upset when they hear those words. But lots of people aren't offended by those words at all, and they don't have a problem using them. And there's nothing wrong with people who swear. You're not better than them if you don't swear. What's more important than whether you swear or not is what's in your heart, and how you treat people."
I gave him an example.
"If you said to your little brother, 'Israel, I think you are a horrible person, you are not smart, you're ugly, and I will be happy when you die,' you haven't technically sworn have you?"
"No," said Ezra.
"But you were horrible to your brother, and you made him feel really bad about himself, didn't you?"
Ezra nodded. He could see where I was going with it.
"But if you walked in and said 'Israel you effing legend, that was effing brilliant!' you've just sworn, haven't you?" He nodded, eyes narrowing. "But you've actually been really nice to him!"
He asked a couple of questions, then explained it back to me. He understood.
I don't care if my son "swears" or not to be honest, I care that he's kind to people. I explained a little about our culture, how you still need to watch the words you choose depending on the company you're in, and he seemed to get it.
And now my eight year old understands the point of not swearing. He hasn't started swearing or anything. But he's not going to grow up with some narrow minded binary idea that specific words are intrinsically bad or good. I'd rather he understood we all have the power to make others feel good or bad with our words. Some words were perhaps originally created to hurt people. But words often get co-opted for a different purpose. And if they're making people happy, who cares?
And that's why I can't understand why someone felt the need to complain about the Senses sign. Clearly, these staff members are going above and beyond the call of duty to make people smile while they sip their lattes. They're putting a little bit of happiness into Geraldton each day through that sign. It's become something people look for. It should probably be heritage listed. That sign added value to the entire Northgate shopping complex.
For Senses to then be attacked by self righteous zealots who are so insulated from the real world that they lack the common decency just to shrug and keep walking if they don't like the joke, is crazy.
I'm sure the person who lodged the complaint with centre management thought that's what Jesus would want them to do.
After complaining about that sign, did they make sure the news agency stopped selling pornography? Then did they make sure centre management stopped Coles from selling the local paper with prostitute ads next to kindergarten enrolment notices? Then did they complain to the fashion stores for all the sexually suggestive posters? Of course not. They knew the most pressing matter they needed to deal with that day was a joke with the word 'bitches' in it.
The problem with this brand of religious zealotry is its inconsistency and hypocrisy.
If the standard for removing something is "I'm offended", then society will never try anything new.
Life would be boring if we only created art and products that were guaranteed never to offend.
Having grown up in churches I know these "offended" people well. They are professionally offended, all the time. If the pastor hasn't offended them by saying something they disagree with, then they're offended that Janice didn't give them enough eye contact on Sunday. They're offended that the new guy sat in their seat at church. They're offended that kids don't play in the street any more. Then they're offended that there are too many kids in their street playing Pokemon Go. They're offended that the local coffee shop didn't have their exact same sense of humour. These people usually need to go and get a job, stop being busy bodies, stop getting their thrills off of killing other people's fun, learn how people in the real world actually live, and stop being shocked that some people see the world differently to them.
If people changed the question they asked themselves from "does that offend me?" to "is that hurting anyone?" maybe we wouldn't be wasting so much time banning signs, debating marriage equality and fighting to remove criminal conviction records for people who were gay in the 70's.
But to Senses Cafe, for all the wonderful signs over the years, thank you.
And here's some funny street art we spotted the other day in town. Please don't be offended.
Over the last year or so I've noticed a proliferation of "share to win" competitions on Facebook.
Everything Geraldton has run a number of "like to win" comps in the past, and they're a nice way for our audience to win a prize.
BUT, it may interest you to know that it's actually against Facebook's terms to make "sharing" or tagging a friend a condition of entry.
Business owners beware: if you post something with "Share this post to win" on your Facebook page, you actually risk Facebook shutting your entire page down.
Here's the link. (Section E 3)
Apart from the fact that very few people want to be constantly spammed with "share to win" posts in their newsfeed, there's a technical reason why you cannot make sharing to win a condition of entry on a Facebook page:
A page owner has no way of knowing who shared a post, unless the sharer has their privacy settings set to public.
Recently a competition appeared in my Facebook news feed. I clicked and had a look, and the post had over 490 shares. But when I clicked on the "shares" link, I am only shown 83 names. So although 490 people think they've entered a competition, really only 83 people have a chance of winning.
Most Facebook users have their privacy settings set to "friends". So when they share a post from a page, the page administrators cannot see their name. When they click the link to see who shared a post, Facebook only shows them the names of people who shared it publicly.
When you enter a competition that asks you to "share", the page admin then checks the names of who shared the post, and picks a winner. The problem is, your name probably isn't even on the list, even though you shared it with all your friends.
Unless you went and deliberately changed your privacy settings to "Public" (which most people do NOT want to do) your name isn't in the draw to win anything, despite you sharing the post.
If people are following the terms of entry, but they're technically not in the running to win because the business cannot see the names of who shared the post, then not only has that business broken Facebook's terms, but there could be legal or ethical implications. It's like obtaining a raffle ticket but your entry never goes in the barrel, it goes in the bin.
Running a competition in Western Australia is covered under the GAMING AND WAGERING COMMISSION ACT 1987, Section 104.
Section 3 states: the permit holder shall ensure that every ticket or chance sold or subscription received is included in the drawing of a standard lottery; ...
Section 11 states: "Records relating to the lottery shall be maintained for a period of twelve months and shall be made available to an authorised officer of the Gaming and Wagering Commission or a Police Officer upon request."
So not only does anyone who has been told they're in the draw HAVE TO BE ACTUALLY IN THE DRAW, but you have to be able to show the Police that this is the case, for the next 12 months.
"Share to win" competitions on Facebook conflict with this section of the Act, because the method of entry is not consistently measurable by the business owner.
Neither did we until a few years ago. But once it was explained it made a lot of sense. We still get a lot of businesses asking Everything Geraldton to run Facebook comps with "sharing" as a condition of entry, and while we acknowledge it's tempting because of the amazing reach those posts get, we don't think it's ethical, and it's a clear breach of Facebook's terms.
We will still run "Like to enter" competitions on Facebook, which are quite popular with many of our followers.
If you run a page, our advice is to make sure you never make "sharing" a condition of entry for a competition. "Like to win" is still ok. Or "visit our website and fill in this form", or whatever you can accurately measure. If whoever manages the social media for your business isn't aware of Facebook's terms, and the laws around Trade Promotions in WA, they could be getting your company into hot water.
If you're just a Facebook user who sees these "share to win" competitions all the time, it's up to you if you want to spam your friends. But you'll need to change your privacy settings to public to even have a chance of winning, which means ANYONE, even people not logged into Facebook, can see your posts.
So have we. We've seen government agencies do it, large media companies, social media professionals, and lots more.
We haven't named or singled out any company in Geraldton doing this, because it's likely they simply didn't know how Facebook's sharing mechanism worked. Social media is still very new and confusing to a lot of us.
In addition to the confusion, few of us read the terms and conditions when we sign up for anything, even a Facebook page.
But we hope that once people understand how sharing and privacy settings work on Facebook, they'll realise "share" is not a suitable way to gather entrants for a competition. "Liking" on Facebook is perfect, though.
Footnote: It may be argued that by "liking" the post as well, people have entered the competition, even if their "share" isn't visible to the page admin. The two arguments against this logic are that 1. it's still a breach of the ACT, and 2. people who "like and share" from a shared post on their friend's page will have their share appear on the original page's list, but NOT their LIKE. In a nutshell: Many people's names will only appear in the list of those who "shared" the post, not those who "liked" it.
Footnote: Another new type of competition is the "Post on your page with this hashtag". While the rules around these are also ambiguous, it's worth noting that, again, unless the person posts with their privacy settings set to Public, their post will never be able to be seen by anyone other than their friends, and they won't be in the draw for anything.
ANZ are warning customers of a scam text that is doing the rounds.
Here's an example of what it looks like.
There are two main types of scams like this that circulate by text.
The first tries to get you to submit personal data for nefarious purposes. Be aware of this.
The second is even more maliscious. This is where hackers can essentially take over your phone just by you clicking a link. It may not be obvious they have done this at first, but they can essentially control the camera, microphone, and see everything you do without your knowledge.
If you are running an old version of Android or iOS (iPhone) your phone can sometimes be hacked with a simple text message. With one particular Android vulnerability, you don't even need to open the message.
Unfortunatly for most Android users, security updates are few and far between. Unless your carrier issues a security update for your phone (which they rarely do) you're pretty vulnerable all of the time. You can root your device and install the latest version of Android yourself, if you don't mind spending a bit of time mucking around.
Apple recently found and fixed a security vulnerability in their iPhone, so if you have the latest software then you're ok.
As a general rule though, don't click on links from unknown sources. And don't forward links you are unsure about.
And keep your iPhone running the latest version of iOS.
The Perth Wildcats are in Geraldton this week. Today they attended a breakfast at the foreshore and challenged a few people from the City to a 3 on 3 shoot out. The Wildcats are playing 2 pre season games, against our Buccs and the Adelaide 36's. They're also putting on some coaching seminars. For game tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/perth-wildcats-vs-sk-electr…
For coaching info head here: http://www.cgg.wa.gov.au/…/…/perth-wildcats-coaching-seminar
An online petition at change.org has been set up protesting a proposed quarry at Oakabella, which is between Geraldton and Northampton.
Tonya Constantine, who set up the petition, stated that:
Oakabella is a part of the Moresby Range and the Local Planning Strategy states "Developments not in keeping with the landscape qualities such as quarries and rural industry should be located outside the Moresby Range if possible"
The quarry proposal is clearly contrary to the Councils (sic) (Shire of Northampton) own Local Planning Strategy.
Quarrying the rock at Oakabella has long been of interest. 108 years ago, the newspaper "The Geraldton Express" ran an article (link) about the Mayor and Town Clerk journeying to Oakabella to find a suitable place to establish a quarry.
This block is over 2000m2
Yeah, we heard in Perth that a large block is 400 m2, that's madness. Anything under 700m2 is tiny. No one blinks at 2000 m2 blocks, which are about half the price of a Perth block. We need somewhere for the shed, the dog, the trampoline, and the veggie patch. So if you notice that all the blocks here are massive, they're actually not. You're just used to living in a cubicle.
With a few exceptions, you can get anywhere in 8 minutes. That means we all arrive at events within 30 seconds of each other. So if you get somewhere 5 minutes early, don't be surprised if you're the only one there.
Get a reverse osmosis water filter or buy bottled water. Or better still, a rain water tank. But don't drink the tap water.
Got a new BMW? Fancy hair cut? Expensive suit? No one cares. Geraldton people are all pretty down to earth. It's hard to tell millionaires and tradies apart tbh. We care more that you're a decent bloke or woman; we don't choose our friends based on their net worth.
It shocks a lot of Perthies when they spend some time here, then realise their perception of Geraldton was completely wrong. You can point it out to us if you really need to. But we already know how great Gero is to call home. That's why we're here!
Only 4 hours north of Perth, but the extra few degrees makes a big difference in winter, and summers are definitely a time of consistent beach/pool action. And we're not quite as far north as the insane troppo weather. Take up a water sport and you won't regret it. Preferably one that benefits from windy conditions, like Kite Boarding.
A bunch of scientists convinced a bunch of bureaucrats to spend billions of dollars to build a massive radio telescope array inland from Geraldton (SKA) so we can find aliens. Somehow that translated into much of Geraldton getting fibre to the premises NBN before most of Perth. On top of that we have a local ISP called Node 1 who built their own wireless network that gets NBN-like speeds. We had this even before the NBN rolled out.
So yeah, Perth may be a bit of a technological backwater. But you can expect to get decent internet speeds throughout most of Geraldton.
If you need any actual advice on moving to or living in Geraldton, click here to check out our "Im new to Geraldton" section.
At 1am WA time Apple presented their new iPhone 7 to a live audience in California, and live streamed around the world.
With smartphones now being our most used personal computers, the latest offerings from Apple are always watched with interest.
Around half of the 40,000 weekly visitors to Everything Geraldton use iPhones or iPads to browse our website.
Here's a rundown on some key features of the new iPhone 7, along with several other announcements Apple made at the event.
The 7, and the 7 plus.
The main differences other than size is the plus gets a much better camera. More on that later.
Apple is also keeping the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus available, along with the iPhone SE.
There's a new colour called Jet Black which is a high gloss black.
The other colours are not high gloss. There's a new mat black, along with Gold, Rose Gold and Silver.
They've added haptic feedback (they call it "taptic") to the home button. Might be a nice feature, but it's the kind of thing you'd need to try to see if it's useful.
Based on many people's real world experience, it seems Apple quietly introduced this feature in the previous model (the 6s and 6s plus) without telling anyone, perhaps to test how effective their water proofing will be. But they're putting it on the box this time. So ideally those accidental toilet drops won't cost you a thousand bucks.
What Apple has achieved with a tiny pocket camera is nothing short of remarkable.
The smaller phone, the 7, now gets optical image stabilisation. Previously one had to purchase the larger "plus" to get that feature. Some other new features include:
While the above may sound rather technical, suffice to say it's notably better than the 6s, which was class leading.
The new 7 plus gets all of the above, and something extra.
It has two cameras. One is a normal wide angle lens. The other is a telephoto lens. This provides a couple of neat features. The first, and most obvious, is you can zoom in more when taking photos. Very handy.
The other feature is the ability to take photos with something of a bokeh effect in a new mode called "portrait". Bokeh refers to the visual quality of the out of focus area behind a subject. Usually you need a high end camera to do this, but using the two cameras, and some neat software tricks that creates a digital depth map, Apple has achieved this feature on a smartphone.
An image taken with the iPhone 7 plus, showing the bokeh effect when using "portrait" mode.
To be clear, Apple executive Phil Schiller explicitly stated you should not throw out your DSLR. But, this camera certainly will be the best camera many people have ever owned.
The software needed to drive the new feature doesn't appear to be ready yet though. Apple have said it will be released as an update for 7 plus users later in the year.
The screen is 25% brighter than the last model, and has a wider colour gamut.
Last year Apple introduced stereo speakers on its iPad Pro line. And I can tell you it's brilliant.
Now they've brought stereo speakers to the iPhone. There's a speaker at the bottom, as usual, and one on the top. I doubt it will sound quite as good as the iPad Pro, as there's simply less space to work with in the iPhone. But for all that video watching we now do on our phones, it will be a useful improvement.
This fact was either leaked by Apple deliberately a long time ago, or was simply the worst kept secret ever.
Yes, Apple has removed the headphone jack completely from the iPhone.
It will ship headphones in the box that use a lightning cable, as well as a free adaptor that allows you to continue to use your existing analogue jack headphones.
"Lightning" is the name of Apple's proprietary charging and connection port on iPhone and iPad.
They gave three reasons for their decision to remove the headphone jack, a technology that has been around for over 100 years now.
1. Apple thinks the lightning headphones are a better connector.
2. They're running out of space inside the phone for other technologies they want to include.
3. Apple's ultimate vision for how audio should work is wireless.
I've been pondering this change for several months now. I often charge my phone while I have headphones plugged in.
And I simply hate bluetooth headphones. They're usually too bulky to use lying on a pillow, and the pairing and un-pairing experience is horrible and unreliable.
Quite simply, unless Apple did something completely new, I was not going to be a happy customer.
But Apple exceeded my expectations with the new wireless Air Pods.
The ear piece is the same style as Apple's ear pods, which I find to be the most comfortable of any in ear headphone on the market. And there are no cables. They look like they belong in the sci fi movie "Her". And they don't use the God-awful standard that is bluetooth.
Apple promises they have a consistent and reliable connection and will only play when you're listening to them as they have sensors that detect when they're in your ear. You can access Siri with a simple double tap, and they detect when you're speaking.
They seem very simple to connect, and the case they come in is a battery. They'll last 5 hours on a charge, or 24 hours combining the case/battery life.
Apple-owned headphone company "Beats" is also coming out with a range of headphones that use Apple's proprietary pairing technology. All of a sudden Apple's purchase of Beats a couple of years ago makes a lot of sense.
Again, Apple failed to have these ready for the iPhone launch. They're promising they'll have them later in the year.
The AirPods will retail for $229.
For the most part, tech specs are pretty meaningless. Real world bench testing is a far better way of knowing how fast your phone will actually be to use. Interestingly, the year old iPhone 6s is still faster than anything else on the market (except this new iPhone 7).
Here's some tech specs for those of you who are interested:
Chip is called A10 fusion chip.
64bit
4 core
2 cores are high performance
40% faster than 6s
Double the speed of the 6
2 cores are high efficiency cores for longer battery life.
Device switches between cores depending on usage.
GPU:
6 core
50% faster than last model (A9)
3 x fast than A 8
Battery life has improved somewhat from the last model. From the 6s to the 7, you'll expect an extra two hours of life. From the 6s Plus to the 7 plus you can expect an extra 1 hour.
The base model phone starts at 32Gb of storage, instead of 16Gb. This will be a godsend for those of you who alway buy the cheapest model.
Up from there is 128Gb, and 256Gb.
It's worth noting the Jet Black only comes in 128Gb and 256Gb.
7
32Gb = $1079
128Gb = $1229
256Gb = $1379
7 plus
32Gb = $1269
128Gb = $1419
256Gb = $1569
Apple will keep available the previous models, iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, as well as the smaller iPhone SE, at lower prices.
Pre orders start at 3:01pm WA time, 9 September 2016. Jump onto Apple.com/au
To be clear, if drivers never made mistakes there'd be no accidents here.
But they don't. Humans make mistakes. Our brains make our bodies do dumb things. Whatever. There's no point trying to make 10,000 drivers magically get better at driving. This intersection needs fixing.
I'm talking about the North West Coastal Highway and Hosken St intersection in Bluff Point.
As I cruised North along NWCH last night, a truck next to me in the left lane turned left into Hosken. A black commodore turning right out of Hosken St decided to pull onto the NWCH despite not having superpowers that allowed them to see through trucks.
I nearly T boned them.
The worst thing is this isn't the first time this has happened to me there.
I probably avoided the accident because I was wary that some idiot would pull out.
And running Everything Geraldton for the last 4 years I've reported way too many car accidents at this intersection for my liking.
To Ian Blayney and Dean Nalder - Please get this intersection improved ASAP.
In the mean time, if you can't see if the road is clear, for the love of God don't pull out.
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