Australia - The Right to Leave.

Our Country - YOU have the right - the right to leave!

After Sydney not wanting to offend other cultures by putting up Christmas lights. After hearing that the State of South Australia changed its opinion and let a Muslim woman have her picture on her driver's license with her face covered.

This prompted the following editorial written by an Australian citizen to be Published in an Australian Newspaper.

IMMIGRANTS MUST ADAPT, NOT AUSTRALIANS.

Take It Or Leave It.

I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.
However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the "politically correct" crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia.

However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand.

This idea of Australia being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!

"In God We Trust" is our National Motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.

If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change. And we really don't
care how you did things where you came from.

This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our National Motto, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom...

"THE RIGHT TO LEAVE".

If you aren't happy here then leave. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted. Pretty easy really, when you think about it.

I figure if we all keep passing this to our friends it will also, sooner or later get back to the complainers, let's all try, please.

Forced Closure of Blokesworld LIVE Expo. The Real Story

Tuesday, 20 September 2005

After the forced closure of Blokesworld LIVE Expo on Saturday, I wish to take this opportunity to clarify what actually took place and what the future of this event holds.

On Friday afternoon, 15 hours before the event was to go live, the Brisbane City Council (BCC) demanded we file for an event permit After having an event contract with the RNA Showgrounds for more than 6-weeks, we were informed as their client that this event permit was not needed under the ‘special exhibition’ category the RNA placed this event in. (Exhibitions do not require an event permit). It is also worth noting that the Queensland Police and Queensland Liquor Licensing granted us the necessary approvals - approvals which would not have been possible if we required such a permit!

Despite the extreme short notice from the BCC, we met the deadline and the fee ($999) and application was delivered to BCC Customer Service Centre at 69 Ann Street in the Brisbane CBD at 4.22pm Friday 16th September. At approximately 7.30pm on Friday night the BCC issued the RNA and Showtime Events with a Summary Closure Order stating that we had not met all the conditions – one that we fought in the supreme court at a cost to us of close to $10,000 on Saturday.

The Supreme Court Judge did not rule on the legal issue or otherwise of the Summary Closure. The BCC failed to raise legal counsel for the hearing and when given the chance to try and get lawyers, the BCC declined the opportunity. The Judge actually made remarks that any other cause of action that Showtime has against the RNA or the BCC was to be heard separately. So, we were struck down on a technicality – but we are fighting on!

It is blatantly obvious that Blokesworld LIVE was issued a Summary Closure Order as a result of political pressure. Due to the "perceived" nature and content of the event, national media attention created debate amongst minority groups including the Young Women's Christian Association. The council could have approved a permit but there was talk-back radio, letters to the editor and emails from individuals applying pressure to authorities and parliamentarians to prevent Blokesworld LIVE from taking place.

The Brisbane City Council has endeavoured to paint a picture that we failed to operate the event within their required procedures. The facts are, not only did we meet all conditions requested; we actually exceeded most of them.

The Brisbane City Council continues to contradict itself in an effort to justify the reasoning for its forced shut-down of the Blokesworld LIVE Expo. The Council has been quoted as saying we were shut down because we did not have adequate public liability insurance, insufficient security, risk management strategies, workplace health and safety and traffic management procedures. These are all false and as such, we are investigating taking legal action against the Brisbane City Council.

To clarify our position, I want to address each of these claims individually as follows...
Public Liability Insurance Showtime Events has more than adequate public liability insurance for Blokesworld LIVE. The policy, which is provide by AON Risk Services is a specialist Exhibition policy endorsed by the Exhibition and Events Association of Australia and Meetings and Events Australia. The policy is underwritten by QBE Insurance. It is also worth noting that the required indemnity amount for this event is $10 million. Our policy provides $20 million indemnity! The issue they had was that THEY were not listed on the policy? Whilst we don't see why they should be.... once they informed us they need to be, we had them added - no questions asked.

Insufficient Security The Security Company we employed is CAP Security, the same security firm used for most major events conducted throughout Brisbane (LIVID, Splendour in the Grass etc.) and are the preferred security company for RNA Showgrounds (including the EKKA) and Suncorp Stadium.

In consultation with the Queensland Police and Liquor Licensing, we employed the required number of security personnel to control an event of this size. We also had Special-Duty Police employed from the Queensland Police Department for peak hours at the event. To say we had insufficient security is just ludicrous!

Risk Management Strategies A comprehensive Risk Management Strategy is employed by our company at every event we operate. Since 1993, the parties involved in the production of Blokesworld LIVE (Showtime Events and John Dunlea Events) have directly operated more than 250 major events without any serious incidents.

John Dunlea is the Event Director for Blokesworld LIVE and has been responsible for the operation of major public festivals and exhibitions including the highly acclaimed National Festival of Beers - an event that serves more than 200 different beers and features a large scale line-up of live music and entertainment.

David Whimpey, a Director of Showtime Events is the former Director of Operations for the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre and currently consults for major Venues in Australia and Overseas on various matters including Risk Management. David was also instrumental in implementing the Risk Management Policy and Workplace Health & Safety procedures for Queensland Government's Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre. I have personally operated 192 major exhibitions without incident. Our combined track record for Risk Management is faultless.

Workplace Health & Safety ALL events organised by Showtime Events comply strictly with WH&S procedures, the venue and supply contractors all have WH&S certification and Blokesworld LIVE received approvals from the necessary authorities. In addition, an independent WH&S officer from Suncorp Stadium inspected the event and confirmed the event and venue had met all necessary WH&S requirements. We even gave the BCC a written undertaking not to breach any WH&S regulations or laws just to absolutely make sure that the BCC could be reasonably satisfied.

Traffic Management As Blokesworld LIVE made no changes to existing traffic structureS in the area (eg. no street closures) traffic Management is the responsibility of the RNA Showgrounds. At a stake holders meeting held at the offices of RNA Showgrounds on Thursday 8th September it was agreed that the RNA Showgrounds would manage all parking on site. Two dedicated areas were to be made available for Exhibitor and Visitor parking. The RNA Showgrounds was to also provide car parking attendants. With this in mind, it was the RNA Showgrounds who closed the parking facilities and prevented Exhibitors from parking on site on Saturday morning.

It is important to understand that the team at Showtime Events including myself has an extensive background in running events. We have worked with major venues of all types and styles. We have operated local, national and international events including one of the nation’s largest international conferences, international mining exhibitions, world championship sporting tournaments and major live music events. With such an impeccable history, why would we jeopardise our credibility, the investments of our exhibitors, safety of our visitors and of course the significant amounts of money we invested into the creation and set-up of Blokesworld LIVE.............. by operating an event without the necessary requirements?

Don't forget, this is the same event that Police and Liquor licensing had already given the green light to.

In the interest of all exhibitors, sponsors and visitors, we went to great lengths to prevent authorities from taking such action. Our lawyers worked throughout the night and on the opening morning of the event, applied to the Supreme Court of Queensland for an injunction against the Notice of Closure.

Even after mediating with and appeasing all requirements presented by the Council, we were refused the injunction after being in court all morning, the court declined to substitute its own decision for a decision made by the council. It is also important to understand that Justice Anthe Philippides ruled against the injunction, not on whether or not the Brisbane City Council acted illegally.

Where to from here?

Blokesworld LIVE has been postponed and it is our intention to operate the event at another venue in the immediate future. Subject to available dates, we hope this will be within the next two to three weeks?

I will keep you informed of our progress. Obviously, we will need your help in resurrecting this show but I’m sure you can see the long-term opportunities presented by this event.

Blokesworld LIVE is without doubt an event that has created immense interest. Given what has taken place over the last couple of days and the incredible amount of media exposure, we are confident that when we open the doors in a few weeks time, we can expect a much larger crowd than originally expected.

Our intention is to ride the wave of media-interest and generate much more curiosity then ever. It wasn't too long ago when Sexpo was first held and created similar controversy. Today, Sexpo is one of the most recognised brands in the country and continually performs as one of the top expos in the nation. And although considerably different to Sexpo (despite many recent incorrect comparisons) we believe Blokesworld LIVE has the same opportunities........ after all, this is the event that the authorities don't want blokes to see?

Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience this outrageous and unjust decision has caused. We will be back in contact with you within the next couple of days.

Regards
John Dunlea
Event Director
Blokesworld LIVE

The 'infamous' Triple J Letter

Tuesday, 20 September 2005

This is the letter read out on national radio by Triple J's Steve Cannane on "The Hack" program, at 5.30 on Monday September 19th, during an interview with the Blokesworld LIVE event Director.............Blokesworld LIVE organisers were unaware of this letter until it was announced during the interview, and have been stunned by the contents........the letter had been sent directly to Triple J on the morning of Monday Sep 19th...........Triple J will not disclose the source other than to say it was stated to be from a BCC employee.

The email reads...................

I work for the Brisbane City Council and the Blokesworld event was cancelled for political reasons only. (being the pressure from the womens organisations). The type of permit the event required was changed then we only told the organisers at 2pm on friday, knowing they would not have a chance of completing it by the end of the day. When they did submit it (to our surprise) we simply rejected it on the basis that we didnt have time to review it. It had nothing to do with security, fire and safety issues or traffic management as these are all dealt with by the RNA showgrounds who held an event their last weekend. The police had given the event the ok as had the liquor licensing authority. The event was never going to take place no matter what they submitted, it came from the top to make sure it never went ahead.