Thank you Mr Premier for visiting our region and giving us the information we are so used to hearing – there’s nothing in the kitty for down here.

I must say that I agree with him on the question of money to help expand WIN Stadium for surely this cannot in these harsh economic times rate as any sort of major priority.

And while this may have shattered the dreams of those hopeful we might be able to get a side into soccer’s national A – League competition this, too, cannot be considered a major priority.

On a brighter note was Nathan Rees suggestion that we might sooner rather than later have a chance to once again elect our own local council.

This will please quite a number of people for no city of any importance is worth two bob if it hasn’t got its own publicly elected governing body.

But otherwise the cupboard remains bare which, as I suggested from the outset, won’t surprise too many locals. It just makes me also wonder what, if any, influence our local Labor politicians have up in Sydney?

Why do we make martyrs out of them?

At long last the Bali bombers have been put away for good and yet if you looked at the headlines of all our newspapers yesterday you would have thought they were martyrs for a cause.

Why do we do this? They were evil people who planned to and took the lives of innocent people, many of whom were Aussies on a holiday to the once famous resort.

They deserved to die and sooner than it took, and they certainly don’t need the type of publicity that followed their departure.

But then again we often hail Ned Kelly as a national hero.

What a day it is

There’s no doubt about it the Melbourne Cup seems to be growing in importance to people of all ages, and judging by the crowds at Kembla Grange and various clubs around the city it can only become bigger.

It appeared to me that just about every girl and/or woman had somehow or other got leave for the day and they were dressed to kill.

Long legs, and short, too, for that matter, and bosoms freely on display seemed to be the order of the day, and even an old bloke like me appreciated their efforts.

And did they really care who won the big race? I doubt it, for fun was in the air and everywhere.

But what about the time question?

And talking of the Melbourne Cup what can we make of the fact that it seems the narrowly beaten runner up ran a faster time than the winner?

It evidently had something to do with the size of the horses, or so the experts would have us believe, but it seems very strange to me how you can run faster than your closest rival and still finish second.

Our interest in Obama

There was no doubting, too, about the interest taken “down under” in the US Presidential elections with most people I know plumping for  Barack Obama, and this is one tip I made last week that got up.

Down at my local club the TV screens were concentrated on the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, but come Wednesday and the screens were bringing us a live coverage of the election and most eyes were glued to them.

There’s no doubt that most people prefer change for how else would Kevin Rudd have ever become our Prime Minister?

Celebrity Kev

And while on the subject of our Prime Minister what about the talk we hear that he will host a Labor Party fund – raiser which is being tipped as one of the largest and most lucrative of its kind in our political history.

There’s no doubt Kevin loves the centre stage, but this is really over the fence.

Here’s a nation in total unease about the economic structure of the world at present and yet we are going to have a big party held in a State where financially things may never have been worse.

If this is not hypocrisy at its worst then I don’t know what is.

More gossip down Dapto way

The word is around that the controversial Fowlers Road bridge project mooted for who knows how many years now is again on the scrap heap.

Seems the Cleveland Road proposal has gathered momentum and now that the bridge over the railway line in that neck of the woods is finally finished it is seen as the way to get traffic into and out of West Dapto.

Only trouble is that there will need to be a second railway bridge built to meet the traffic demands, and many locals are also concerned on what an increase in traffic will mean for the nearby Dapto High School.

But don’t hold you breath waiting for any action!