Our heads are spinning with political spin
Newsport column
About 25 per cent of statistics are made up.
Just kidding there - but we do seem to be getting a high percentage of spin, spin, spin lately.
There seems to be so much political spin in the world our heads might all start spinning off our necks soon.
Jungle Juice, however, is here to try to cut through some of the smoke and mirrors and help keep us on a straight playing field, weather permitting.
Which brings us to the "most bizarre arrow of the week" segment of the show.
At first glance the downward arrow in this council-budget graphic may lead you to think some cost in the latest figures may have gone down (other than a ratepayers' bank balance).
But a closer read of this cool-looking picture tells a different story.
What the graphic is saying is, your home rates have gone up an average of about $80 this year, but that is less than the about $110 they went up last year.
So, your rates have gone up an incredibly high $190 in two years, but at least they went up less this year than they did last year.
Hence, some behind-the-scenes beancounter has come up with the thought bubble: “I know, let's illustrate this with a downward arrow”.
Jungle Juice is really not sure the council is doing itself any favours by spinning a budget story like Shakira’s hips during half time of the Superbowl.
One online wag even wrote in response to one of Newsport’s budget stories: “What has been done about the audit that found millions were misappropriated. Has that just been swept under the carpet?”
Ouch.
Don’t get me wrong, Jungle Juice thinks Douglas Shire has an unenviable task trying to balance the budget.
With a small population of about 13,000 people and stiff opposition to other revenue streams such as a tourist tax, the question always remains about where the money is going to come from to pay for the type of local projects many people want, such as a bigger ferry and a beautiful lagoon.
Especially with the demise of the local sugar-cane industry and not much on the horizon to replace that.
But, really, do we need downward arrows when the figure is going up so much?
Surely that’s just taking the piss.
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Jungle Juice is a fortnightly column set to get tongues wagging as our scribe seeks out the gossip and topics that make the Douglas Shire tick. If you've got something they should look into - email [email protected]
