$2.7 million grant for koala research facility reallocated for Steel Taipan construction

[Slick]

3 minutes ago, Dom said:

Dreamworld, by all comparisons, are saints here compared other institutions.

I'm not sure that's the hill you want to die on given the reasons why they're not profitable to begin with.

4 minutes ago, Dom said:

Just because they're profitable now doesn't negate that they previously weren't and required support.

At the most critical point of Dreamworld's recent fiscal history, they had 30 million cash in hand after restructuring the organisation. I think it's important to note that the sum we're talking about specifically is not insignificant, but wasn't the saviour of the business either, not by a long shot. It's just bad optics, regardless of how above board it was. And facing facts here, continually bad optics are a huge reason why attendance hasn't returned and the business isn't profitable.

[joz]

1 minute ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

but now everyone is up in arms that it didn't get built

No, they're not. They're up in arms that government money that was meant to build it went to something else. Have you not been reading the thread?

[Jobe]

1 minute ago, Slick said:

At the most critical point of Dreamworld's recent fiscal history, they had 30 million cash in hand after restructuring the organisation. I think it's important to note that the sum we're talking about specifically is not insignificant, but wasn't the saviour of the business either, not by a long shot. It's just bad optics, regardless of how above board it was. And facing facts here, continually bad optics are a huge reason why attendance hasn't returned and the business isn't profitable.

Hmm. Surely the bad optics is being driven from the sensationalist media articles that are identifying this as a point to drive traffic to their websites? If the sensation was taken out of the headline and an article that just reported on the situation without any hyperbole would somewhat mute those bad optics surely. 

[joz]

3 minutes ago, joz said:

They're up in arms that government money that was meant to build it went to something else

@DaptoFunlandGuyfixed it back.

[Brad2912]

7 minutes ago, Slick said:

And facing facts here, continually bad optics are a huge reason why attendance hasn't returned and the business isn't profitable.

I think the only bad optics that matter to any of the GP when it comes to DW is that people died. I guarantee you less than 5% of the people going apeshit about koalas do not give care in the world, but it’s DW and they killed people…

maybe that’s justified, maybe that is how it should be, but then to use that clearly residual “mud” from TRR to add credence and unjust negativity to subsequent issues 5 years later I think is stupid. 

Edited July 28, 2022 by Brad2912

[New display name]

People will move on as soon as the media gets bored with it. 

[joz]

I mean that's also the truth of it, is the bad publicity for a couple of days worth $2.7million? Probably. If you were to do a cost benefit analysis I'm sure they come out on top.

[Baconjack]

I don’t see how this is even an issue to be honest. DW have sat in the journo’s hot seat for the last six years so inevitably if something comes up about DW they’ll make every effort they can to make it outrageous.

$2.7m is nothing compared to other misuses of public money that I can think of (certain sports rorts come to mind)

DW needed money for ST to bolster patronage, so that’s why they asked the government - and they said yes - because it’s in the public’s best interest for this to happen over a koala exhibit considering how the theme parks make up such a big chunk of the Gold Coast economy.

Edited July 28, 2022 by Baconjack

[Slick]

8 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

Now has. Didn’t then. So no.

if I have a mate doing it tough so shout him a night out, and then 2 years later he has a great job and surplus funds, I don’t expect him to pay me back.
 

 

If your mate said he needed five grand to pay for his mum's surgery and then spent it on personalised license plates, then gets a sick work compo payout and doesn't give you any money back, is he still your mate?

3 minutes ago, Jobe said:

Hmm. Surely the bad optics is being driven from the sensationalist media articles that are identifying this as a point to drive traffic to their websites? If the sensation was taken out of the headline and an article that just reported on the situation without any hyperbole would somewhat mute those bad optics surely. 

 

1 minute ago, Brad2912 said:

I think the only bad optics that matter to any of the GP when it comes to DW is that people died. I guarantee you less than 5% of the people going apeshit about koalas do not give care in the world, but it’s DW and they killed people…

maybe that’s justified, maybe that is how it should be, but then to use that clearly residual “mud” from TRR to add credence and unjust negativity to subsequent issues 5 years later I think it’s stupid. 

Without unpacking a marketing thesis here, I'd argue that the brand continues to suffer because negative consumer perceptions about the brand are being re-enforced at the pre-purchase stage of many potential customer's buying journeys. It's not about whether or not they care about about koalas, it's that they keep hearing bad things in mainstream media about the brand that's ultimately reinforcing previously held assumptions about the brand. Therefore, when many of these customers are at the moment of truth where they make a purchasing decision, they're simply going elsewhere, and that's evident of the massive differences in attendance between organisations at present.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

7 minutes ago, Slick said:

If your mate said he needed five grand to pay for his mum's surgery and then spent it on personalised license plates, then gets a sick work compo payout and doesn't give you any money back, is he still your mate?

Bad faith argument. 

Comparing Taipan - a landmark attraction designed to aid the park's financial recovery to a personalised licence plate is absurd.

A better example would have been 'mate needed money for mum's surgery, but lost his job for 2 years and needed to use the money to pay his electricity instead to keep the lights on'

Damn right he's still my mate. And I'd never have asked him for the money back (and neither would the government - that's not how grants work).

11 minutes ago, Slick said:

It's not about whether or not they care about about koalas, it's that they keep hearing bad things in mainstream media about the brand that's ultimately reinforcing previously held assumptions about the brand.

You wanna hear worse optics than spending koala money on building a rollercoaster? 

Bankruptcy. 

The park is open. And people are going to return to the park because unless they were personally impacted by these negative events (ie: friends or relatives were killed, or are koalas) when it comes time to decide where to go over the school holidays, Dreamworld's giant orange rollercoaster gives a lot of families reason to visit regardless.

[Archer]

If DW couldn’t afford to build a roller coaster with their own money then they should not have bought it.

Ardent Leisure had a very extensive portfolio of businesses 10 years ago and now they have hardly anything left.

Its now only a matter of time before nothing is left and big pocket developers start clearing.

[Slick]

1 minute ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Bad faith argument. 

Comparing Taipan - a landmark attraction designed to aid the park's financial recovery to a personalised licence plate is absurd.

A better example would have been 'mate needed money for mum's surgery, but lost his job for 2 years and needed to use the money to pay his electricity instead to keep the lights on'

Damn right he's still my mate. And I'd never have asked him for the money back (and neither would the government - that's not how grants work).

You wanna hear worse optics than spending koala money on building a rollercoaster? 

Bankruptcy. 

The park is open. And people are going to return to the park because unless they were personally impacted by these negative events (ie: friends or relatives were killed, or are koalas) when it comes time to decide where to go over the school holidays, Dreamworld's giant orange rollercoaster gives a lot of families reason to visit regardless.

Should Qantas fix their customer experience and perception problems if their business is generating revenue?

[Brad2912]

20 minutes ago, Slick said:

If your mate said he needed five grand to pay for his mum's surgery and then spent it on personalised license plates, then gets a sick work compo payout and doesn't give you any money back, is he still your mate?

If he just spent it without running it past me then yeah that wouldn’t go down well, but if I am giving it to him, it’s because I had it to spare, so I wouldn’t expect it back 

[joz]

I mean but to tidy that up and make it reflect reality, it would be mate needed money for mum's surgery. Sat on it for a year, decided not to put it towards the surgery (She still kinda needs it btw but it's probably not life threatening) but asked instead if they could use it to buy a car so they can get to work because they currently use Ubers which means they're going backwards.

 

If it were me, I'd say yes, but I'd also be kinda done with their shit and I'd feel a bit gross.

 

This is also a total sideshow after the fact.

[Brad2912]

7 minutes ago, Archer said:

If DW couldn’t afford to build a roller coaster with their own money then they should not have bought it.

So you feel the same way about half the businesses in Australia that are still afloat due to government handouts and incentives during covid? Yeah? 

[webslave]

Take Dreamworld and roller-coasters out of it for a second; if the Government today announced that money previously earmarked for a stand-alone Koala research facility had been re-allocated to helping restart Queensland's badly affected tourism industry post-Covid would you still have the low-tide brigade on social media bitching about it because "Koalas are cute"?

I'd wager you would.

[Rivals]

i don’t get why people on here are acting like Dreamworld stole money from the government, when it everything they’ve done was all approved and accepted by the government. If it was an actual issue the government would’ve turned it down or asked for the money back, but they didn’t. If y’all want to attack someone attack the government, not the company who received funding from the government.

[New display name]

@webslaveIt happens every week Governments moving money around as things change.

1 minute ago, Rivals said:

i don’t get why people on here are acting like Dreamworld stole money from the government, when it everything they’ve done was all approved and accepted by the government. If it was an actual issue the government would’ve turned it down or asked for the money back, but they didn’t. If y’all want to attack someone attack the government, not the company who received funding from the government.

Some people don't like DW here is why.

 

I rest my case.

Edited July 28, 2022 by New display name

[Guest 239]

7 minutes ago, webslave said:

Take Dreamworld and roller-coasters out of it for a second; if the Government today announced that money previously earmarked for a stand-alone Koala research facility had been re-allocated to helping restart Queensland's badly affected tourism industry post-Covid would you still have the low-tide brigade on social media bitching about it because "Koalas are cute"?

People love a good bit of outrage, despite this amount of money being an ant's fart in the grand scheme of QLD's tourism spending. In their 2022-23 budget they've already allocated $186.1 million over four years JUST for Stadium Queensland day-to-day operations and ongoing maintenance expenses. 

They've also announced an additional $24 million of a separate fund would go directly into protecting koala populations and habitats. 

[Rivals]

23 minutes ago, New display name said:

Some people don't like DW here is why.

 

I rest my case.

couldn’t agree more. If village got funding to finish projects such as The New Atlantis and WoO i expect everyone on here attacking dreamworld now to be as passionate as they are right now.

[New display name]

@RivalsThe QLD Government has helped with these projects already.

 

"Australia’s premier theme park operator, Village Roadshow, has announced a $70 million investment in new attractions for the Gold Coast thanks to support from the Palaszczuk Government".

“The Palaszczuk Government has proudly backed Village Roadshow through the global pandemic with our $25 million Tourism Icons program and $1 billion industry support package, that investment is paying dividends.”

[Guest 239]

6 minutes ago, Rivals said:

couldn’t agree more. If village got funding to finish projects such as The New Atlantis and WoO i expect everyone on here attacking dreamworld now to be as passionate as they are right now.

But they did. 

This was after they were bought out by a private investment firm.

Edited July 28, 2022 by Dom

[joz]

DW got the same deal, that's not what people are talking about. They diverted funds away from Koala Research. That's what we're talking about.

[New display name]

Just now, joz said:

DW got the same deal, that's not what people are talking about. They diverted funds away from Koala Research. That's what we're talking about.

Did they?

Or did the QLD Gov divert the funds when DW said they were no longer building the Future Lab.

 

 

[Brad2912]

In other news, DW really should put a parental warning on this tree before the media accuse them of wilful exposure.