“You’re on the Campbelltown train, you sit next to a man and you talk about the weather and the State of Origin. They’re not trading on the stock market, they’re not reading The Australian Financial Review.”
These words by lawyer Stuart Littlemore in court during a defamation case against the ABC riled our mayor, Paul Hawker, when asked by the Australian Financial Review newspaper to comment.
Our fearless leader didn’t hold back, and while his answer was edited by the paper, here is the full transcript of what Cr Hawker said:
“Stuart Littlemore wouldn’t know what the cost of a rail ticket to Campbelltown was, let alone who he might run into on the trip or what they’d be keen to talk about.
“We’re a university city with international and national students from far and wide, global companies and residents from all walks of life, many of whom have a deep interest in the latest business, finance, investment and political news.
“The AFR would be one of the most read papers across the Macarthur region, and obviously Mr Littlemore knows nothing about Campbelltown or its people to suggest that they aren’t interested in its contents.
“I welcome Mr Littlemore to jump on a train and take a visit to Campbelltown City to get a taste for why it’s the best place in Sydney to live, work, play and invest.”
We humbly submit, Your Honour, that while we agree with most of what Cr Hawker said, we won’t go as far as to say the AFR is one of the most read papers in Campbelltown. It’s read by some, sure, but not by most. Indeed, who reads papers on the train these days?
It’s more likely the man – or woman – from Campbelltown has checked the news on their ipad before downloading a movie to kill the one hour journey to Sydney.
♦ When Campbelltown general manager Lindy Deitz was asked by Cr Paul Lake if she had kept a list of all the promises made by the pollies during the recent federal election, some people attending the council meeting on Tuesday night drew deep breaths. It would have been an even money bet whether she said yes or no, but they should have known better.
Ms Deitz, who is starting to show all the hallmarks of a GM who will make her mark by the time she’s done, was quick to inform the council and Cr Lake that she had in fact kept a record of the promises made by the parties. “And I plan to write to them to remind them about those promises,’’ Ms Deitz said. She also confirmed one of those promises was to spend $50 million on Appin Road.
♦ Still at the council meeting, the last one before the elections on September 10, Labor Councillor George Brticevic congratulated council staff for successfully organising the Western Sydney Wanderers to play one of their premiership matches at Campbelltown Stadium next January.
But Cr Brticevic was as nimble on his feet as the general manager, quickly pointing out what a grand gesture he had made by saying: I’m Sydney FC man.
♦ And still on sport more than 4,000 Western Sydney junior footballers will get to meet their heroes this Saturday when the Wanderers visit grassroots clubs this weekend. Every player in the Hyundai A-League team will be heading to a local club throughout Western Sydney to meet junior players, club officials and association representatives.
For Macarthur area fans, Andrew Redmayne and Bruno Piñatares will be saying hello to about 500 people associated with the Camden Tigers at Ron Dine Fields, Camden South). Not too far away will be Mario Shabow and Lachlan Scott, who will drop in on the Narellan Rangers at Liquidamber Reserve, Narellan Vale. They are also expecting around 500 people to attend.
♦ Former Member for Macarthur Russell Matheson suffered another loss this week, his mobile phone. So no, he hadn’t gone into hiding, he had just broken his phone and is now getting a new one, as his daughter Alana confirmed after the marathon council meeting on Tuesday night.
In a nice touch, Cr Alana Matheson, who will not seek reelection on September 10, congratulated Dr Mike Freelander, the Labor Party candidate who defeated her father at the election. Now that tells you more than anything what a beautiful country we live in – despite the Littlemores of the world.
