I am really getting sick of everyone complaining about what happened over a year ago. Sure, it needs to be dealt with, and hopefully it does get dealt with, but the focus needs to be what's going on now. Over a year after the fires have stopped burning, everyone is focusing on the wrongs which occurred at the time, which means they're ignoring the wrongs going on now. Surely stopping wrongs from happening is more important than whinging about what can't be changed.
The council in control of Kinglake is deliberately hindering the redevelopment of the town, and very clearly stealing the money which was donated by well intentioned people who gave to charity in hope of supporting fire victims. In no way do I condone Nixon's sloth, but what is going on now is even worse. While the suicide rate of our area (we're in between Kinglake and Kinglake West) has jumped massively since the fires, and domestic violence is also massively up due to the pressures people are under after losing homes, jobs, family, being traumatised, etc, the money which was given to help the situation is being stolen by council workers who don't live in or care about the community affected.
After the fires, tourism surged to many times above what we had ever seen before, but the council deliberately prevented businesses from reopening, presumably because they live in nearby towns which would suffer if Kinglake was to prosper and steal their tourists. There are people struggling after what happened, who can not get their businesses off the ground because the council refuses to allow new developments, or even the rebuilding of the businesses which were even there (preventing the locals who need income more than ever from returning to what they previously did).
The council hired a single psychologist to help the traumatised community, but did not advertise the fact, so that psychologist went to regular council meetings, but after sitting around for a year or so without seeing anyone just recently was found by someone who suggested that she advertise in the local media (which would be free and get the word in print into every house/temporary home on the mountain), although even now it probably won't happen because the council seems to prefer wasting money (which is a nice way of saying 'stealing money' by paying their friends to do jobs which aren't needed, or could be done for 2% of the price) and they are desperate to keep the town down.
Seeing it with my own eyes I am amazed that a situation so heavily covered by the media remains so poorly understood by the Australian community outside of the Kinglake ranges, and it is sickening to be a part of it.
If you want something to whinge and complain about, forget Nixon, she has already been exposed. Focus on the bastards continuing to profit from harming Kinglake.