Oh, so very Maltese…
It's true - I saw it on Super One
The Times, today
Kevin Rudd e-mail ‘fake’, admits its creator
Godwin Grech, a man of Maltese descent who was the cause of a political furore in Australia which led to calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, has admitted to creating a “fake e-mail”. But he still insists the e-mail was inspired by an original one which has now disappeared.
In the e-mail, Mr Rudd’s economics adviser Andrew Charlton allegedly asked Mr Grech, the Treasury official overseeing a $2 billion government scheme, to assist a Queensland car dealer, John Grant.
This led to the Opposition Leader accusing Mr Rudd of seeking special treatment for the car dealer who was a benefactor of the Australian Labour Party.
Mr Grech admitted to Parliament that he created the fake e-mail but yesterday told The Australian newspaper that he did it to keep a record and was “confident that the sentiment of the exchange was accurate”.
Speaking from a psychiatric ward, the 42-year-old said he made an error of judgment for creating the e-mail and sending it to Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull who later asked Mr Rudd to resign.
Mr Grech is also alleged to have written questions for the Opposition Leader to ask in Parliament about Mr Rudd’s denials that he had not sought special favours for the car dealer.
The Australian government is calling on the Opposition Leader to resign if his allegations are not substantiated, and an auditor’s report due today is expected to clear Mr Rudd of any wrongdoing.
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I wouldn’t have been surprised at all had this happened in Malta!
[Daphne – The faking of emails to screw a politician, you mean? Yes, I agree.]
“Speaking from a psychiatric ward, the 42-year-old said he made an error of judgment for creating the e-mail and sending it to Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull who later asked Mr Rudd to resign.”
If I didn’t know better, Turnbull and Rudd sound like names made up by someone locked in a psychiatric ward.
I just wonder how you didn’t manage to blame this one on Mintoff, Sant or Muscat.
On another matter, why all the fuss about Valletta’s World Heritage Site status? All UNESCO asked is for some clarifications. Valletta is nowhere near losing its WHS status.
[Daphne – The worst of it is that I get the feeling that a couple of ‘patriotic’ individuals driven by a sense of personal grievance and of being left out of the loop are doing their best to stir up trouble. Some people and their egos….it’s just too much. Valletta got its World Heritage Site status in 1980 – after the building of the infamous gate, with the opera house site and ‘Freedom Square’ in the mess they are now, after those absolutely ghastly social housing flats and arcade that are the first thing you see on entering, and when much of it was a shoddy, rundown slum.]
In Edinburgh’s case, for a proposed sore thumb well within the WHS area (see photo in attached press report) UNESCO asked the City Council “to scale back plans”. What is evidently a sore thumb is likely to remain a sore thumb, just slightly smaller.
http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/5204368.article
In the case of Valletta’s WHS status, let’s not make a mountain out of a molehill.
[Daphne – Oh, but J, the leaders of The People want trouble, can’t you see? It would vindicate them, or so they think. And so they are going to do their best to make trouble – and in this it looks like they are going to be aided and abetted by Ray Bondin, who appears to be very cross because he is no longer involved.]
Good to know Icomos Malta support the Piano project.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2009/07/05/t11.html
Incidentally, who are the board members of Icomos Malta? Who appoints them? How are the officials, including the Icomos President, chosen? How many members do they have?
Are Icomos statements discussed in their Council? Are minutes kept of meetings? Have they done anything useful or are they just a front for Bondin to issue statements?
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2008/12/07/t14.html
“Heritage Malta’s Ray Bondin, formerly of the Valletta Rehabilitation Committee, argues that a meaningful regeneration of Valletta can never happen without a comprehensive solution to the problems facing its entrance area. “In my first speech in Parliament in 1987, I stated that the Opera House site should house Parliament,” he recalls. …….. Above all, though, what attracts Ray Bondin to this project is the fact that finally, Valletta will be given the holistic, integrated approach it deserves. “Once you redevelop the Opera House site, you have to do City Gate and Freedom Square together,” he claims, adding that Renzo Piano is the right person for the job. “Piano will bring great prestige to Valletta,” Bondin asserts. “Valletta needs him.”
This is from a Maltatoday article of 8 December 2008 soon after government had announced the appointment of Renzo Piano.
At least on this important project, Bondin spoke sensibly.
And here’s another one. Bath may (and I emphasis may) lose its World Heritage Site status because of “…. a thumping great residential proposal the size of 19 football pitches that will boast 2,200 flats? At the heart of the scheme, set on the site of a derelict gasworks, is a grid of new streets lined with blocks of nine-storey flats, ….”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/apr/06/bath-heritage-architecture
The size of 19 footbal pitches! 2,200 flats! Nine storeys!
And Bondin worries about Valletta’s WHS status because of a couple of penthouse floors along Barbara bastions and blocks of apartments at Tigne across a wide stretch of sea from Valletta.
Ray Bondin is the president of the Malta branch of IcomosMalta. Icomos Malta “lambasted the government for “ignoring” its obligations” – government meaning the Ministry for Culture, the ministry responsible for the World Heritage Site status of Valletta. Ray Bondin is employed by Heritage Malta which falls under the Ministry for Culture.
So Ray Bondin, the Heritage Malta employee, attacks the Ministry which has the political responsibility for whatever Ray Bondin does at his place of work. Is there something illogical in all this or am I just seeing things?
Ray Bondin is not employed by Heritage Malta. He previously headed the Valletta Rehabilitation Project, but no longer does so. Hence his grievance.
I get the feeling that Milone believes that Bondin had some “right” to remain VRC coordinator and that, because of this, his grievance is justified.
No one has any “right” other than that given to him by the people in elections. The people gave the prime minister the “right” to lead the government for five years. MPs were given the “right” to represent the people in parliament. Everyone else, ministers included and Ray Bondin as well, has no “right” to any particular post. They are entrusted with a task which they are duty bound to carry out to the best of their ability.
In my book, a situation to avoid is one where someone thinks he has a “right” to occupy a post. The more a person thinks he has the “right” to occupy a post, the more s/he renders him/herself unsuitable. Another situation to avoid is where a person occupies a post for a very long period of time (say, ten years or more) to the point that that the post becomes synonymous with the person. In these situations, that person ends up focusing on his/her ego to the detriment of everything else. These are the situations most likely to give rise to wastage and abuse.
It is not even a molehill after all.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090817/letters/vallettas-world-heritage-status
Whoever gave the information to the Times for this report got it wrong. The Times should check their sources and not just rely on trust. They owe it to their readers.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090811/local/concerns-on-heritage-status-of-valletta
Here is Kenneth Zammit Tabone’s first attempt at making a (fake) mountain out of a (fake) molehill.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090818/opinion/lawrences-gordian-knot
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090820/opinion/vallettas-protectors-are-us
Ray Bondin willingly admits that , in his opinion, “All these changes together with some other proposed ones, and together with the views towards Valletta, are seriously affecting Valletta’s OUV (outstanding universal value).”
And yet he expects government to send him to the WHC meeting to defend Malta’s position. What did he intend to tell them?! “You are right but please have pity on us!”
Besides, he will also be consulted as president of Icomos Malta. He can hardly give a fair and unbiased opinion to the WHC. If the WHC were to take his advice seriously (which I am sure they will not because of his blatant bias), then the fate of Valletta’s World Heritage Site status is sealed.
Valletta’s WH status is at risk not because of any action or opinion of the WHC but because Bondin has been lobbying for years. One can only speculate as to what he is trying to achieve.
The good thing about Godwin Grech is that no one said he was Maltese. No mention of ethnicity. I have met a few Maltese here, and they do tend to be a bit odd. Grech is a good example. The name is pronounced as spelled in English not as Maltese would say it.
When I said Maltese people here are a bit odd I mean this: a contestant on a quiz show with Maltese surname appears to be a moron. A group of children left to fend for themselves as the father kills the mother and then himself: Maltese. Some poor soul whose wife dies leaving him with young children to rear: Maltese. Someone implicated in a murder of a well known Australian crime family member: Maltese.
It would be nice if Maltese people here in Australia acted normal for a change.
Bondin states: “The facts are clear: Valletta is in breach of the WHC rules.” Sorry, Ray that is your opinion. It is not a fact. It will become a fact if and when the WHC states that Valletta is in breach.
With all his pretentions of expertise, Bondin is unable to distinguish between fact and opinion.
What Bondin wrote (Times 20th August) in response to Alex Torpiano’s letter to the Times (17th August) is really intriguing.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090820/opinion/vallettas-protectors-are-us
Alex Torpiano is more than capable to defend himself but there are some observations that simply must be made. Bondin claims that that Torpiano alleges something “underhand” at the World Heritage Committee. Wrong. The point of Torpiano’s letter is that the Times report of the 11th August was misleading.
Bondin refers to “ a clear insinuation against me” apparently about some unethical action. In Torpiano’s letter, Bondin was never mentioned. So how could he have insinuated anything against Bondin?
If Ray Bondin is unable to read and understand a straightforward letter to the Times, how able is he to make objective and unbiased judgements as to whether developments in Valletta impinge on Valletta’s World Heritage Site status?