Gary's Guidance

The Karridale community have been denied any explanation as to why the plan they favoured for development of their location was rejected without official comment from the professional planning team at the Shire of Augusta Margaret River. Gary and his team have given us no insight into what guided their decision making processes.

As far as we can see, based on the information available to us, Augusta and the Leeuwin Ward have been denied their opportunity to experience an economic boost from land development profits, so that two corporations can benefit.

Under the professional guidance of Gary Evershed, and the executive team he leads, the great land lottery, known hereabouts as strategic planning, was won by the outsiders from Sydney, second place was the Pearl Trader Pawluk, and failing to even get a place at the trough was the resident community of Karridale.

Developing two clustered housing estates, one either side of the main Bussell Highway, was never going to impress anyone as a scheme with such flair and vision that it would sell itself. It must have been well marketed. Who could have sold such a vision to our leaders?

On paper these plans look dull, they offer nothing more than subdivision of farm land into blocks. They will remove the profits from land subdivision from the locals to the investors living outside of this shire, many outside of this nation. This is a strategy that has been used throughout this shire, and a strategy that has consistently failed to deliver a wealthy, thriving local economy. So why continue with it?

The two corporations that won the Karridale prize profits came up with no novel and innovative economic stimulus packages that might have swayed the decision makers. Or maybe I should be more precise; no such economic factors have been published or declared openly.

So what was so impressive about the Sydney development team? How did the personalities behind the corporations impress our leaders?

We, the residents, only know what is currently in the public domain. Secret shire files may expand on the information but when we made a Freedom of Information request for the market research data Gary refused to let the secrets out.

His assertion was that letting the public know what the corporations know might have damaged the developer's chance of commercial success.

So, just who are the main identities who impressed our shire to such an extent that the local interests were overruled?

Our first contact was with Michael Hale, who has no contact address on file at the shire. The local residents, and apparently the shire too, have no way of knowing if he is involved with any other NSW property developments. The only way he wanted us to make contact is via Gary Knight, the public relations front man for the Pioneer Spirit venture in Dubbo, NSW.

Gary Knight was allegedly tangled up with the disreputable Jimmy Foo exploits that had tentacles stretching deep into the political parties and relied on the influence of some very powerful players. Michael is/was the main contact man for Juventus Pty Ltd, who use premises in Redfern, NSW for their mail, c/o the Prevelly Development Trust, and so it's probable that Mr Hale has travelled from the Eastern States.

Michael did write to me, back in 2007, and explain that he was involved with the Kalgoorlie Golf Course development, but that was the one that gave Norm Marlborough a difficult time because it was the deal that involved Brian Burke. Norm resigned from the ministry and from Parliament following the release of taped phone calls to disgraced former premier Brian Burke, in which Burke advised Marlborough as to how to answer a question regarding the appointment to a government commission.

Maybe Brian gave Michael some good advice as to how he should present the proposal for Karridale? A good advisor can certainly swing a planning deal in WA.

The other two main Juventus identities, Dr Kevin McIsaac and his wife Catherine Lezer, are much more interesting.

These are colourful characters who add a flamboyant touch to the proceedings. When Kevin's cowboy boots strode into the Council chamber one local observer passed a somewhat acerbic comment regarding footwear. I intervened, made it clear that mere choice of clothing does not necessarily indicate moral values or virtues.

“Never judge a man by his footware,” I said, or something similar.

The guy in the white hat isn't always the good guy, this is real life not fiction.

But then we began to understand more about the Kevin and Catherine show and I had to rethink, maybe I'd been hasty, maybe the boots were intended to convey a strong message. Maybe they were an unconscious symbolic gesture aimed at subordinating the natural reluctance to trust strangers? An extrovert statement that here was a cowboy, made in the hope that we would smile.

Dr Kevin McIsaac doesn’t claim to be a cowboy, he claims a long, and continuing, career in the IT industry.

Kevin is a man who promotes change, he isn’t one to support staying with old and outdated systems and methods. You only have to read the report he put out in February of this year;

http://ibrs.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7501

The conclusion to this article could be reworded as advice to our shire CEO on planning strategies;

Conclusion: For most organisations, especially SME, it’s time to let go of your IT infrastructure. Owning and operating your own hardware was once a necessary part of using IT for a competitive advantage, however it is now an unnecessary burden that reduces agility, creates significant risks and impacts long term sustainability.

It may be time to let go of your planning department. Strategic planning that takes 20 years certainly reduces agility and all it has delivered to the Leeuwin Ward is a proposed development that creates the risk of more retirees and holiday homes, and impacts our long term sustainability, both economic and social.

Kevin’s partner, Catherine Lezer, is a Rich Chick.

Both Kevin and Catherine are seriously rich.

It must be true because Catherine told me this when I met the two of them for coffee. She told me they were both very rich. But I bought my own coffee anyway.

For some reason she didn't tell me that she could make me rich too.

I'm not sure why she didn't tell me that, because she made some of her great wealth from telling women how to become extremely wealthy. She claimed anyone can follow her example. She is one of the few women in this world who, having achieved great wealth herself, wishes to share her financial knowledge with others.

You don't hear of Gina Rinehart holding tutorials for the working classes so that they can share the secrets of how to get rich, but Catherine will let you in to the secrets. For a fee of course.

Still, she didn't offer to explain to the farmers of Karridale how they could get seriously rich without breaking into a sweat. Maybe she knew that some of them might be hard pressed to find the few hours it would take to attend her class, or maybe the fee would be too high, or just maybe their moral compass was set for a different zone and they were too cynical and doubting of the snake oil being peddled.

If she had been prepared to offer the Rich Chicks course one of the first lessons we might have learnt was that it’s all about leverage. Catherine could have helped us there because she could offer us a mortgage, or maybe a few mortgages because that’s how many investors get rich.

http://www.smartline.com.au/find-a-mortgage-broker.html

But of course here in the Leeuwin Ward we don’t have easy access to the Rich Chicks experience. To fully appreciate the ease with which one can achieve great wealth it’s really necessary to attend the seminars and workshops. So having lost out on the postcode lottery that delivers such inspiring wealth generating opportunities to Sydney chicks this old chook has to read a book. Not any old book of course, but Extreme Wealth, by Satyajit Das, chosen because Satyajit was impressive when appearing in the 2010 academy award winning film Inside Job.

If you get the book from the library and turn to page 15 you will read;

‘The speaker pauses and looks carefully at his audience. “Or are you a loser? Do you want to stay a loser?”

.......

World RE Investment Portfolios, Inc., the speaker’s company, is selling seminars, not real estate. At the conclusion of the speech, assistants fan out, buttonholing attendees to sign them up for further seminars to gain in-depth knowledge about the path to riches by the Black Sea, in Dubai and further afield. The cost is $25,000 for a series. If you want personal one-on-one with the ‘Diving One’ then the cost is $50,000 for a two hour audience.

“Best investment I ever made,” a fellow attendee tells me. “I’m signing up for a personal coaching session. Just to ‘fine tune’ what I’ve been doing.” What he has ‘been doing’ turns out to be a portfolio of 200 homes in various countries assembled over the last seven years. He purchased a property next to his house for his aged parents, but they became seriously ill and died before he could move in. The property appreciated in value. He sold it and was left with a profit on his first trade. He reinvested the gain in another property. He now buys property and as soon as the property rises in value he increases the mortgage amount to take out his initial investment and starts the whole thing all over again. “Banks are relaxed about lending these days. They lend you the full amount, no questions asked. You really don’t need any money to start. Not like in the old days.”

He is worth $20 million on paper. “Not bad for a garage mechanic.” It is all tied up in the properties. “I don’t want to sell. There’s so much upside.” If he needs spending money then he borrows it. He has around $180 million in debt. The consistent message is, “Debt is in, debt is good.”

.....

‘Archimedes said: “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” In the modern world, money games are based on a similar principle: “Give me enough debt and I shall make you all the money in the world.”

But of course it’s an illusion that we can all be super rich. The seminar Das was attending occurred before the USA suffered the dreadful subprime mortgage disaster and many working class people lost everything they had worked for.

But let’s not be gloomy, it might not happen here. Maybe in Australia and Asia every chick can get rich, or even super rich by investing in property.

Or selling other superficially appealing dreams, like beauty.

I am old and in need of a face lift, but neither Dr Kevin, the IT specialist, nor Catherine the financial guru were prepared to offer me the stem cell option that could have revitalised my looks.

These two weren't even prepared to share the secrets they have relating to speech. As anyone who knows me will vouch the Estuary English has remained, and I could certainly benefit from their skill in this area. Maybe it was speaking more clearly that gave Juventus the edge over the locals?

Did this multi talented duo offer a complete financial makeover for the Augusta Margaret River Shire?

Was that the deal clincher that saw our shire planners do a complete turn around on the professional advice already stated by the strategic planning officer?

Was Gary and his team advised by this Rich Chick?

Has he shared her secrets of acquiring great wealth?

Will he share them with the local ratepayers?

Are all the shires financial woes now over?

This is such a good story, it’s sad it has to end soon.

I’m not being critical of Kevin and Catherine, they are obviously a pair with aspiration who will sell ice cream to Eskimos if they are given the opportunity. But when they are buying and selling the profits in the land where I live, and the CEO, his team, plus our elected councillors, all support them placing their need for greater wealth and riches over the needs of the local community I feel I have a right to; Ask Why?

Why did Kevin and Catherine win?

What have Kevin and Catherine done to deserve the profits from the land at Karridale?

Does their success at achieving the planning approval they sought prove that Kevin and Catherine truly are a really talented and clever couple who should be rewarded with more riches than say, Kris Welland?

Kris lives in Karridale, he presented the community plan to Council.

He wasn't planning to get rich as a result of the plan, but he and others believed it could provide something worthwhile and, dare I use the term - sustainable.

Does it indicate that Kevin and Catherine’s development proposal was actually the best solution for the local economy?

Are their investors far more deserving of all the profits from development than the sad bunch of losers who live here. The sad bunch who presented a local plan that would leave all the profits in the local community, in this shire. No one individual or corporation was going to get seriously rich under the community plan.

Was that the fatal flaw that condemned the community plan to the waste bin of destiny, the archives of failed ideas?

Was the financial acumen of Kevin and Catherine so much greater?

Was it instrumental in moving development to the eastern side of the highway, reversing the position stated by the strategic planning officer? He condemned development both sides of the highway, stating that it posed a danger to residents and would lead to a MR style need for a bypass in years to come. If his advice had been heeded then the Juventus land would not have been considered for development.

Or did Kevin and Catherine, when faced with apparent defeat look to a local solution?

Maybe they recognised that a Swift intervention was required? Did Michael Swift have some magic solution to the bypass problem? Did he know how to make the Karridale children and old people protected from traffic hazards as they cross the junction?

Local residents may never know the full story from the other side of the fence, but from here the view is that Gary Evershed, his team of professionals, and the elected councillors, all favoured the rich chick. They went for the option with added stem cells, and the speakmoreclearly training; preferring it to the mumbling and wrinkled riff raff who aspired to develop a stable and sustainable plan for their local economy.

Has Gary’s guidance led them to the winning formula for the Leeuwin Ward economy?

We’ll see.

Meantime I really recommend 'Inside Job', it’s a film worth watching that will make you smile, and we all need smiles.