June 6 marked the 160th anniversary of Queensland breaking away from the colony of New South Wales to become a separate colony. In Townsville the city's fountain built to celebrate the centenary of the important event was not working, its waters turning green once more , rubbish building up . Who exactly is in charge of this city's protocol , making sure everything is shipshape and working for major events ?
You would think that on the day of the 160th anniversary the fountain would be clean , erupting like Mount Etna , the information talking machine working . Nix all round . Perhaps nobody in the media , civic circles and the legion of local mugwumps know it exists, even though it is in the Anzac Memorial Park .
Our learned Shipping Reporter , who constantly exposes the shameful neglect of war memorials in the garrison city , uttered another salty oath when he came across the malfunctioning Queensland breakaway fountain during his tour of the waterfront and took photographs .
Even though he gave the hand on the information speaker a friendly slap , it did not utter a word . Various masonic handshakes- including those of the Oddfellows, Buffs and Druids - failed to produce a voice over. Our reporter said he felt so annoyed , he almost went berserk like Chevy Chase in Caddy Shack . Honestly, Townsville needs a good shake on many fronts . A real newspaper would do wonders for the mental health of the populace.
HMAS Canberra was in port at the time and the audacious Shipping Reporter , the only one north of Tweed Heads , asked the navy if it could send an underwater demolition team along to do a job on the fountain and Walker Street . However, they were busy loading high fat baby formula milk cartons with which to bombard fortified islands in the South China Sea .
