Rocklea trots closes for the last time today

PIC: The last race at Rocklea!

The last race ever at Rocklea was run today.

This is truly the end of an era.

Punters - big and small - had tales to tell of decades of happy punting at the unique Rocklea track.

The big question is:

Can Marburg fill the gap?

PAUL TULLY: paul@tully.org.au

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JB HI-FI upsets customers by skirting around the Trade Practices Act

JB HI-FI sure knows how to upset customers.

Its latest catalogue proudly proclaims on page 2 that customers can get a free Wii Sports Resort by trading in "2 Wii games"*.

That's right. There's a tiny asterisk which takes you to te bottom of the page in even tinier print - which almost needs a magnifying glass to read - which has a list of rules and requirements and at the end it states:

"Some exclusions may apply, for a detailed list go to www.jbhifi.com.au/games/tradeins"

That's fair enough. There must always be some exceptions or exclusions to offers which seem too good to be true because they usually are!

One parent - a long-time large spending JB HI-FI customer - who thought he was doing the right thing this week by his Wii-fanatic son made a 34km round trip into JB HI-FI's Riverlink store in Ipswich to take advantage of the advertised offer.

He was flatly refused because the 2 exchange Wii games were not in their original packaging!

The young boy was in tears thanks to this insidious and deceptive advertising.

This was hardly classifiable in a legal sense as simply an "exclusion". It was apparently a fundamental requirement of the offer to obtain the free Wii device and should have been clearly and specifically mentioned in the body of the actual advertisement.

This is a new derivative of the old "bait and switch" advertising technique in the 1970s - hook 'em in and try to flog them something else when the original offer is unavailable or wrapped up in a myriad of impossible conditions.

So what does the JB HI-FI website say about the conditions of trade?

Again, in tiny tiny print, customers are told they must provide the original case and manual.

There is nothing about this in the main glossy advertisement which has been used to deliberately suck customers into JB HI-FI stores.

It seems the main trade-in requirement has been deliberately left out to induce customers to come to a store to be told the bad news.

The ACCC needs to crack down on this sort of trickery.
Customers who travel in good faith over long distances are being duped by these fine print exclusion clauses.

JB HI-FI has a legal and moral duty to comply with section 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 which outlaws "misleading or deceptive" conduct in trade or commerce.

The ACCC must take legal action against these unscrupulous practices which are constantly conning Australian consumers.

PAUL TULLY: paul@tully.org.au

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Media Release: Government taxi plan backed as Ipswich ripoffs revealed

State Government plans to crack down on rogue taxi operators have been welcomed by Queensland Consumer Watch.

They come in the wake of allegations by an Ipswich taxi driver whistle blower that one of his colleagues charged a woman an extra fee - because she was overweight.

Other allegations revealed in today's Queensland Times include:

• An illegal $10 surcharge on public holidays.

• Passengers being forced to pay for the air-conditioning to be turned on or to use the taxi's GPS system.

Consumer Watch spokesman said another reported incident involved a taxi driver who refused to leave his cab to open a gate for a blind passenger.

"These incidents are appalling and the drivers involved should be booted out of the industry.

"The government should crack down hard on these rogue operators.

"Taxi users should report any incidents to the Transport Department," Paul Tully said.



PAUL TULLY: paul@tully.org.au

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Queensland Police Union says things are not too bad in the Sunshine State!

The CMC bombshell report into police corruption in Queensland has gone over like a damp squib with the Queensland Police Union.

The Police Union says there's only 25 corrupt cops who have been identified in the "Dangerous Liaisons" Report released by the CMC today.

Memo to the Queensland Police Union:

"25 IS 25 TOO MANY".

PAUL TULLY: paul@tully.org.au

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Ipswich claims World Lamington Record

PIC: Seven years' old James
Tully from St Augustine's
College at Augustine Heights
in Ipswich about to savour
the delights of the world's
largest lamington.


It's official.

Ipswich has won the title for the largest lamington in the world.

The monster lamington weighed in this morning at the Ipswich Turf Club at a whopping 1.32 tonnes, eclipsing the previous one tonne record set in Melbourne in 2005.

The super-sized lamington is equivalent to 20,894 standard lamingtons.

The giant lamington, named after Lord Lamington Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901, was made from 230 litres of water, 200 litres of eggs, 535 kg of sponge mix, plus 68kg of desiccated coconut, 75kg of jam, and 150 kg of chocolate lamington mix.

The unveiling of the lamington was witnessed by Lord Lamington's great grandchildren Alex Scrimgeour and Belinda Leigh who had travelled from the UK for the event.

Celebrity chef Ipswich Councillor Paul Tully said the gigantic lamington was a work of art which had taken three days to prepare.

"This record will be difficult to break given the culinary dexterity needed to put this giant lamington together," Cr Tully said.

The creator of the Australian icon Lord Lamington once described them as "those bloody poofy woolly biscuits".


PAUL TULLY: paul@tully.org.au

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Media Release: Ipswich backs new tree and fence laws

New Queensland laws to resolve neighbourhood disputes over dividing fences and nuisance trees have won the backing of Ipswich City Council.

Ipswich Planning spokesman Paul Tully said existing laws were inadequate to deal with complex issues over dividing fences.

Cr Tully said during his 30 years in local government, fights over fences and nuisance trees had escalated in the community.

"Some dodgy developers are now taking advantage of existing laws to force neighbours to pay for new fences required under planning approvals for adjoining land.

"They are making millions out of their developments and are trying to pass the costs onto local residents.

"One resident at Bellbird Park was threatened with legal action by a developer if he didn't agree to pay for an expensive boundary fence for the sole benefit of the developer."

Cr Tully said disputes about overhanging trees, dangerous trees and invasive tree roots were also on the increase.

"Many property owners ignore the problem forcing their neighbours into taking expensive legal action in the Supreme Court.

"Most affected property owners cannot afford this.

"These new laws will solve many community disputes in Queensland's 73 local government areas," Cr Tully said.


PAUL TULLY: paul@tully.org.au

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