Strong opinions are often formed when we hear only one side of a story, and Graham Foan’s ‘Election time’ letter last week certainly displayed some strong opinions, referring to our Council staff in disapproving terms and freely criticising Council procedures.
Freedom of speech is fine, and here it is being used to the full.
However, Councillors and Council staff normally avoid personal exchanges in the press, and so, in order to be fair and form a balanced opinion, we should seek the other side of the story and try to make a fair and well-informed judgement.
Graham Foan signed a similar letter to the media last September where, amongst other things, he stated “I publicly request that the Mayor and Deputy Mayor resign immediately for misrepresenting and deliberately misleading the communities of this Shire”.
If you Google the name “Graham Foan’ on the internet, it speaks of a resident of Tenterfield by that name who is reported to be a forger of Defence documents, and who has falsely declared that he served in Vietnam with 9 squadron RAAF, and has repeatedly worn service medals he is not entitled to wear. The ‘Australian and New Zealand Military Impostors’ website, which has published this information, states “All information presented here is fact and the truth”.
Obviously we all seek Councillors who will not ‘misrepresent and deliberately mislead the communities of this Shire’, so it would be very helpful if we could hear the other side of this story and clear up this issue before the forthcoming Council elections.
Peter Robinson
Terry O’Sullivan
Tenterfield
