Rust is once more breaking out on the huge anchor from the American aircraft carrier Coral Sea , not far from the Townsville passenger ferry terminal . The anchor memorial , a gift to Townsville from America , also includes plaques supplied by the Townsville Port Authority which were almost illegible , until our Shipping Reporter raised the matter in various quarters, but it took a long time for some remedial action in his relentless campaign to get the city's war memorials properly maintained.
Flashback photo to the badly neglected anchor site with its useless plaques. The rust and graffiti eventually painted over , the plaques were fixed so that the wartime shipping activities could be read . Now , rust, visible for months , is breaking out on top and spreading . Underneath the plaques needs a paint touch up.
Our Shipping Reporter says the surrounds of the nearby empty Townsville Enterprise office needed sprucing up when he inspected the building , broken pieces of mirror near the entrance door , fag ends . In addition, he pointed out ages ago paint peeling from atop the ferry terminal was not a good look for a tourist centre . One small can of paint would erase the sleepy town image . The Townsville Bulletin surprised by recently running a feature about the city's ugly side, which included a view of the ferry terminal . It did not include the constant neglect of the Victory in the Pacific fountain , a short walk from the newspaper office , plus other war memorials.
The neglect of Townsville's war memorials has been drawn to the attention of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, without any apparent solution . Our Shipping Reporter says he is flat out gathering pix and info on many subjects and wonders where the hell are the local reporters .
One story which tickles his fancy is the outbreak of car number plate stealing on Magnetic Island , which the mainland media , stuck in reverse , has not picked up . In the quaint island weekly community news , which runs an oddly written POLICE REPORT , residents have been warned to watch their numberplates. In the vague, as usual , brief info supplied, it says "several number plates " have been taken from four locations . Check your number plates and report anybody acting suspiciously near cars . The same info was run in consecutive editions... no follow up . Run yet again ...no follow up Not picked up by dynamic mainland scribes.
No answer to questions galore that could and should be asked by real reporters. Is it beastly backpackers souveniring plates from topless hire cars ? Is there a number plate stealing gang lurking about the Jewel in the Crown ? If so , why ? Are plates being pinched in Townsville ?
One story which tickles his fancy is the outbreak of car number plate stealing on Magnetic Island , which the mainland media , stuck in reverse , has not picked up . In the quaint island weekly community news , which runs an oddly written POLICE REPORT , residents have been warned to watch their numberplates. In the vague, as usual , brief info supplied, it says "several number plates " have been taken from four locations . Check your number plates and report anybody acting suspiciously near cars . The same info was run in consecutive editions... no follow up . Run yet again ...no follow up Not picked up by dynamic mainland scribes.
No answer to questions galore that could and should be asked by real reporters. Is it beastly backpackers souveniring plates from topless hire cars ? Is there a number plate stealing gang lurking about the Jewel in the Crown ? If so , why ? Are plates being pinched in Townsville ?
