He suggested that “it’s got to be looked at very carefully” and that it has to be “an honest history.” Unfortunately he then blows his credibility by adding “the history has got to come properly not that we pinched the land off the Aborigines, not that sort of garbage.”

There is ample evidence that this is exactly what happened, and to fail to report on the first 40 centuries of Aboriginal occupation of the area and just focus on the last two centuries is hardly “an honest history.”

 If we didn’t “pinch” the land of the indigenous people then I wonder how it was acquired.

I hope the Wodonga ratepayers think long and hard about the shameless touting for business by Shine Lawyers for their proposed class action against the Wodonga Council for the mess surrounding the excess fees saga. 

In the scheme of things, $18 million over 10 years for tens of thousands of ratepayers is a relatively small amount of money per person. So do ratepayers really think they'll get a windfall should a class action be successful? I doubt it.

The real winner will be the lawyers.

Ultimately, who is going to foot any legal bill and/or damages ? It's you, the ratepayers because Wodonga Council will need to raise their rates to cover this unnecessary and gratuitous lunge for money. So don't let the pipe dream of a financial windfall suggested to you by hungry lawyers dull your common sense because, paradoxically, you will end up paying for a barristers' banquet. 

Never get between a class action lawyer and a dollar.

Statistics can sometimes convey a misleading impression.

For example in the April 7 edition of The Border Mail, (‘Help high for Island in the Sky’) the spokesman for Alpine Shire quoted a 94 per cent favourable result from responders to a questionaire supporting the “Vision for Mount Buffalo” proposal. The vision suggests a spa hotel and events venue behind the Chalet repurposing the building.

On the other side of the fence it was stated “but 10,000 signatures calling for the Chalet's restoration indicate there would be backlash towards destroying any part of the building”, which would have to happen to accomodate the “vision”. At first glance readers may be led to believe there is somewhat of an equal for and against opinion in existence.

However recent advice from the Alpine Shire spokesman has attested that the number of people that comprised the 94 per cent in favour of the vision figure quoted was in fact 67 in total, and that the meeting was held in Porepunkah in the Alpine Shire.

The petition in favour of uncompromising full original Chalet restoration now exceeds 11,400, and we can find no evidence elsewhere of support for the vision that would come anywhere near to challenging this figure.

 In deference to the truth I believe it it is only fair that these statistics are clarified for the readers.