Elizabeth Proust

We don't just need to separate religion from from government, we need to separate business from government. Only a very troubled democracy would have a mass media that actually dignified Australian banker, Elizabeth Proust's expectation that the people of Melbourne should simply walk away from the few remaining rights they have in their fractured, fragmented and amalgamated local councils. If this kind of thing goes ahead, our ability to self-govern will be unilaterally taken from us in order to ram through a Hong Kong style megacity that no doubt would benefit the banks. It has already happened in Brisbane where there is only one huge council - the same one that is responsible for so many new Brisbane homes being built on a flood plain that took lives, health and security in exchange for quick profits from bank-rolled property developers and government friends and clients.

As quoted and described in this Age article, Elizabeth Proust, seems to mistaken citizens in an electorate for a bunch of clients in a bank. Her approach sounds just as aggressive, unfair and disenfranchising as the approach of banks in the way they impose charges for your money, even though they use that money to lend with and the way they unilaterally impose charges for their time, whilst taking your time. It seems to match well with the kind of attitude that has seen global financial institutions rob us all blind and then demand our governments to shake us down for more.

Only a very troubled democracy would have a mass media that actually dignified this woman's ill-conceived bullying attitude with publication. In this way the Age has legitimated a commercial headkicker as a person whom we should listen to, when her words demonstrate ignorance or obfuscation of the origins of the population growth she describes as 'mooted'.

"Ms Proust said there had to be sweeping changes to council numbers to reduce the ''not in my backyard'' phenomenon - residents objecting to developments in their neighbourhoods - and improve long-term strategic planning."

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/call-to-cut-the-number-of-councils-20120320-1vhwq.html#ixzz1pkbByxN3

It is indeed frightening the extent of this newest campaign - from the Property Council of Australia, the mass media, the banks... to deprive Australians even further of rights, with only the Victorian Auditor General daring to speak out apparently. This is what he has said:

"Auditor-General Des Pearson and his colleague Paul O'Connor delivered a scathing assessment of the relationship between the public service and the government in giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into infrastructure projects.

They argued no effective mechanisms were in place to stop hundreds of millions of taxpayers' dollars being tipped into dodgy rail and road projects." http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/auditor-scorns-slack-officials-20120320-1vi0a.html

Of course the 'need' for these stupid and destructive projects is almost entirely driven by governments inviting more and more people to come and live in Australia at the behest of the developers who are laughing all the way to the bank. Perhaps Ms Proust also finds the whole thing a bit of a joke.

See below for extract from the Age article about what Proust said.

"Call to cut the number of councils by Jason Dowling, March 21, 2012

"Elizabeth Proust is calling for sweeping changes to the number of Melbourne councils.

MELBOURNE must slash its number of councils from 31 to one, according to former Melbourne City Council chief executive Elizabeth Proust, who also headed the premier's department soon after the last round of major council amalgamations in the 1990s."

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/call-to-cut-the-number-of-councils-20120320-1vhwq.html#ixzz1pkQNGgP7"