Mungo McCallum writing in The Byron Echo (January 1, 2008) has a telling yarn about the character of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
McCallum wrote, in part:
"The most interesting political story of the holiday break came not from the news pages, where
the election and its aftermath had finally succumbed to the demands of sport, but from the letters column of the Sydney Morning Herald.
Last week a social worker from St Johns Church in Canberra revealed that on the morning of Boxing Day the Prime Minister, unannounced and accompanied only by a security guard, had
arrived to help serve breakfast to the homeless of the national capital, of whom there are rather more than is generally supposed. Kevin Rudd talked to both workers and clients at some length,
and then announced as the most serious of his new year resolutions his intention to do something about the plight of the homeless.
A cynic commented that this would all have been more convincing if he had been engaged in similar activities before becoming Prime Minister – but he had. During the hectic campaign, after the exhausted media retired for the weekend, Rudd regularly visited homeless centres in whichever city he found himself.
As with St Johns the visits took place without any kind of publicity, and the fact that they had taken place only came out after polling day. They were acts of private charity and compassion
which some observers have clearly found surprising and disconcerting in a man who has been seen as a ruthlessly efficient and single minded politician."
To read more about this go to http://www.echo.net.au/archives/22_29/pdf/p10.pdf
Comment: Former PM Howard had neither the guts nor the common decency to do anything such as this during his 11+ years in the post. What more needs to be said, other than good riddance to bad rubbish.
Monday, 31 December 2007
Want a New Year's resolution that you can keep?
Here's one New Year's resolution that will be relatively easy to keep - reduce the amount of palm oil which comes into the house in products you buy.
Palm oil plantations are expanding to Australia's north and causing rapid deforestation with loss of habitiat for the endangered Orangutan.
According to the Palm Oil Action Group at http://www.palmoilaction.org.au/
"Only 3 vegetable oils must be labelled in food products in Australia and New Zealand. Those are peanut oil, sesame oil and soy bean oil. The reason for this is that a percentage of the population suffers allergies to these oils.
All other vegetable oils can be labelled as vegetable oil. However the label must declare the amount of saturated fat in the product. So if the label states vegetable oil and then goes on to state the amount of saturated fat you can count on that vegetable oil being either palm kernel oil, palm oil or coconut oil. This is a way of potentially identifying if a product has palm oil in it as other vegetable oils are not saturated. This is for Australia and New Zealand only. Labelling may be different in other countries.
Also if palm oil is used in cosmetics it must be labelled. No exceptions. However it is usually not labelled as Palm oil. It is labelled as Elaeis guineensis This is the name given to palm oil by the International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredients. (INCI). Misleading labels on cosmetics can lead to action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Association.
So if you want to avoid buying palm oil, when buying food look for the label stating it is vegetable oil. Then look for saturated fat. If only vegetable oil (no animal fat listed) is used and there is saturated fat in the product - you are buying palm kernel oil, palm oil or coconut oil, most probably palm.
"above information provided by primates4primates quoting Australian Government sources"
The image above shows some products this site identifies as containing palm oil. Not forgetting takeaway foods like KFC fried chicken and most soaps.
Ending the year as it began
Popped across to A Clarence Valley Protest a few moments ago and saw this post.
It seems the NSW North coast may be ending the year in much the same way as it began.
Monday, 31 December 2007
Here they come again?
On the last day of 2007 it appears that the National Water Commission wants to blame everyone, but itself and its former political masters, for the continuing lack of an adequate response to long-term drought.
Unfortunately this also means that the Commission is obliquely taking aim at the NSW Northern Rivers region once more.
It seems that damming coastal rivers, such as the Clarence River or one of its tributaries, is still on the minds of both water barons and bureaucrats.
"Mr Matthews also criticised governments for failing to charge the full cost of water supply, and for implementing "policy bans" - positions taken for political reasons, such as the government stance on desalination plants, dams and other infrastructure.
"It is really important that they should all be on the table, they should go through a process of analysis, logic and evidence," he said.
"To have a policy ban at the outset is, in my view, indefensible."
See link:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22988794-643,00.html
The Rudd Government and local Labor MPs Janelle Saffin and Justine Elliot need to remember that the Clarence Valley voted them in on the back of an unequivocal assurance that a Labor federal government would not seek or endorse water diversion from the Clarence River catchment area."
Unfortunately this also means that the Commission is obliquely taking aim at the NSW Northern Rivers region once more.
It seems that damming coastal rivers, such as the Clarence River or one of its tributaries, is still on the minds of both water barons and bureaucrats.
"Mr Matthews also criticised governments for failing to charge the full cost of water supply, and for implementing "policy bans" - positions taken for political reasons, such as the government stance on desalination plants, dams and other infrastructure.
"It is really important that they should all be on the table, they should go through a process of analysis, logic and evidence," he said.
"To have a policy ban at the outset is, in my view, indefensible."
See link:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22988794-643,00.html
The Rudd Government and local Labor MPs Janelle Saffin and Justine Elliot need to remember that the Clarence Valley voted them in on the back of an unequivocal assurance that a Labor federal government would not seek or endorse water diversion from the Clarence River catchment area."
Kevin Rudd will never be a true believer
Kevin Rudd is not one of the true believers of old. Like most modern Labor politicians he is merely a man in a tailored suit following his chosen career path.
However, this same man attained government on a proud Labor history and political pragmatism does not remove him from a place within this history or absolve him from honouring the expectations which voted his party into power.
Therefore in 2008 the Rudd Government needs to remove all Australian military personnel from Iraq and Afghanistan. No half measures are acceptable.
Australia broke international law when it marched into both countries and relies on legal fiction to keep troops there.
Just because Iraq and Afghanistan were barely mentioned in the 2007 federal election campaign doesn't give the Rudd Government a mandate to continue war crimes initiated by the Howard
Government as part of the Coalition of the Willing.
In case you didn't notice, Kevin - people on the NSW North Coast stood on beaches and in fields to literally spell out their opposition to Howard's warmongering.
From the day the Rudd Government was sworn into office it became responsible for every Australian death caused by unrest and fighting in these two countries. The fault now lies with it for every Iraqi and Afghani civilian death.
Under Brendan Nelson the Libs continue to cloak themselves with hypocrisy
"Whilst it is understandable that Mr Hicks thanked those who helped secure his release, the rest of the country will expect nothing less than an unqualified apology for his self-confessed material support for terrorism," the opposition leader said."
The Sydney Morning Herald article on Saturday:
http://news.smh.com.au/hicks-needs-to-apologise-nelson/20071229-1jfs.html
http://news.smh.com.au/hicks-needs-to-apologise-nelson/20071229-1jfs.html
The rest of the country will expect an unqualified apology? Myself, I'll accept the thankyou from Mr. Hicks.
The apology I expect is one from members of the former Howard Government for their complicity in the US rendition program and treatment of all Guantanamo Bay detainees.
If you're not too busy revising history Mr. Nelson, I'd like that apology now.
Sunday, 30 December 2007
North Coast Community Housing Company puts a Yuletide foot firmly in its mouth
I suppose that with the media reporting "A Galaxy survey commissioned by online auction website eBay has found two-thirds of Australians have received at least one unwanted gift.
The survey estimates $985 million was spent on unwanted Christmas gifts, up $35 million on last year." there may be some slight excuse for skewed thinking by one of the most prominent publicly-funded NSW North Coast housing agencies.
The Sydney Morning Herald on Boxing Day:
However, North Coast Community Housing Company had one foot firmly in the mouth when its December newsletter described this company's Christmas greeting to tenants as "truly magnanimous", and one of the authors went on to brag to a clientele struggling to make ends meet that he or she "haven't even started my shopping yet".
Yes, a socially insensitive Yuletide attempt at communication if ever there was one.
Clarence Valley Council admits there is little that can be done for property owners in the face of 'inevitable' coastal erosion
Of course, what Clarence Valley Mayor Ian Tiley told the community is not unexpected, but this would be the first time the inability of local government to offer traditional solutions to future coastal erosion has been so clearly articulated at a NSW North Coast level.
The mayor described rock armouring, sand pumping, beach replenishment, large-scale housing retreat and house buybacks as "Possible remedies have proven beyond the financial reach of councils."
Although the mayoral minute did mention three small vulnerable village areas, it remained silent about the fate of larger coastal towns like Yamba. Perhaps because this town is one of Clarence Valley Council's rate cash cows and it wouldn't do to scare the horses.
Even though parts of the town's ocean front residential land currently have a 1-in-1000 statistical probability of sliding into the ocean after a few days of constant rain combined with high tides and heavy seas.
The minute was also careful to lay bad planning policy on local councillors dead for a generation or more. Thereby neglecting to take responsibility for more recent decisions, especially those made by the former Maclean Shire Council under Mayor Chris Gulaptis.
Looking to state and federal government for a remedial or preventative policy is also totally unrealistic, in the face of what could be widespread erosion and salt water inundation predicted to occur along the Australian east coast due to climate change. There just wouldn't be money enough for what in the end would likely be stopgap measures.
King Canute couldn't hold back the ocean and neither can we on the North Coast.
Clarence Valley Council mayoral minute:
Neither alert nor alarmed - just plain stupid
The Daily Examiner on Saturday ran a small item which said that a rumour was going around that someone from Grafton had joined Al Qaeda and is now working alongside Osama bin Laden.
Sounds a bit like the old rumour that some of the newspaper's letters to the editor were being translated and sent to Al Qaeda to give aid and comfort to the enemy.
Such a load of bulldust! What on earth was the newspaper thinking.
With ASIO spooks and the AFP living on the edge of unreason since 2001, let's hope that The DEXy chicks will be the only ones having their doors broken down if this silly piece of nonsense gains credence among the Canberra mob.
In the final count down to 2008
Well the 2007 festive season is on its last legs and national torpor prevails. Will 2008 bring any solutions to the many problems which confront us as a society and nation?
The Murray-Darling river system gets some relief from recent heavy rains but fundamental problems remain:
Poverty and inequality remain a fact of life for many Australians:
Human rights for the aged or mentally ill demonstrably in doubt across the country:
David Hicks swaps one form of gaol for another and makes a statement to the media:
Failed Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis struggles to find something to keep his name in the media and decides it's elephants:
In the month since the federal election Labor voters are still blindly optimistic:
Liberal Party leader Brendan Nelson battles to control his party's 'message' and deputy leader Julie Bishop signals a desire to obstruct IR reform:
Deputy-Prime Minister Julia Gillard makes a tactical error in retaining Workplace Authority's Barbara Bennett:
Kevin Rudd Sucks battles on, but is anyone listening:
The media continues to enjoy reporting climate change sceptics:
Virtually ignoring 21 state and territory election defeats in a row, the Liberal Party looks for alternative answers because it still can't face the fact that active dislike of the party's underlying neo-con philosophy combined with personal hatred of John Winston Howard and the Federal Coalition's abuse of parliamentary processes were at the bottom of its recent federal election defeat:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22981323-5013946,00.html
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22981323-5013946,00.html
Saturday, 29 December 2007
Damaging Surf Warning for NSW North Coast
IDN28500
Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
NSW
Priority
NSW SEVERE WEATHER WARNING
Damaging Surf
For people in
Northern Rivers
Issued at 5:20 am on Saturday 29 December 2007
Synoptic Situation: 3:00 am EDT Saturday
A developing elongated tropical low with a central pressure of 1000hPa is developing over the Coral Sea about 275km nautical miles east-northeast of Gladstone. The low is expected to move southeast and intensify during the next 24 hours. Persistent easterly winds south of the low will result in increasing easterly swells along the northern New South Wales coast.
Damaging surf conditions are expected on Sunday on the far North Coast between Tweed Heads and Wooli, with waves expected to exceed 5 metres in the surf zone. These waves are likely to cause significant beach erosion. Dangerous surf conditions with waves around 3 metres are expected to affect the Northern Rivers today, and the northern parts of the Mid North Coast on Sunday.
Emergency services advise you check your property regularly for erosion or inundation by sea water, and if necessary, raise goods and electrical items.
Surf Life Saving Australia recommends that you stay out of the water and stay well away from surf-exposed areas.
For emergency help in floods and storms, ring the SES [NSW and ACT] on telephone number 132 500.
The next warning is due to be issued by 11 am Saturday.
This warning is also available through TV and Radio broadcasts; the Bureau's website at www.bom.gov.au or call 1300 659 218. The Bureau and State Emergency Service would appreciate this warning being broadcast regularly.
Bureau of Meteorology:
Sunday, 23 December 2007
Holiday season 2007
North Coast Voices wishes everyone a happy and safe holiday season.
We will not be posting between 24 to 30 December.
Everyone's off to do the family thing, hit the beaches and enjoy the fact that 2007 is almost over.
Forgot to be consistently kind to children and help little old ladies across the road these last ten years? Then the drought's all your fault!
Catch the Fire Ministries demonstrates why secular government is such a good idea.
"A RADICAL Christian group with the ear of prominent politicians has blamed "sinful" Australians for the nation's record drought.
Catch the Fires Ministries, which has links to several prominent politicians including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, has hired Festival Hall so 5000 of its followers can pray for rain on Australia Day.
Leader Danny Nalliah said moral decline, not climate change, was responsible for the drought.
"Australia has turned away from Almighty God ... the sinful condition of mankind has contributed to the stem of rainfall," he said."
Leader Danny Nalliah said moral decline, not climate change, was responsible for the drought.
"Australia has turned away from Almighty God ... the sinful condition of mankind has contributed to the stem of rainfall," he said."
News.com.au full article:
Going without this Christmas
Television is littered with Christmas greetings from station personalities, carols and hymns are aired on radio, shops are decked out in tinsel and baubles; but this facade hides a grim truth for many on the NSW North Coast.
More than a few people are struggling just to meet the rising cost of living. Young families on minimum wage, retirees, the unemployed and pensioners are all in the same boat when it comes to the festive season.
In regional areas with a high seachange/treechange population the problem is compounded by the distance from family. High petrol costs mean that some relatives will not be making that Christmas visit journey.
Christmas can be a depressing time of year when you can't even put together a decent traditional dinner because of rising costs. The only free dinner that I know of is in Yamba and the numbers attending are growing each year.
Australia-wide it appears to be a similar story.
"With one in 10 Victorian families having found themselves without enough money for food at some time in the past year, charities expect more families than ever will be forced to ask for help this Christmas — many for the first time."
The Age today:
So as you raise a glass and Ho, ho, ho, this holiday season - spare a thought for those not as lucky and think about what your own community might do in the coming year about the pockets of quiet desperation in many local streets.
Ex-British PM Tony Blair applies for "Get Out Of Jail For Free' card
Media reports today say that former British PM Tony Blair has converted to Roman Catholicism.
Want to bet one of his first acts as a new convert will be to ask for a remission of his sins for unlawfully invading Afghanistan and Iraq.
Only counts if you mean it, Tony. Really and truly only counts if the people of Afghanistan and Iraq forgive you for their prolonged and unnecessary suffering.
Camden goes crazy, egged on by Rev. Fred Nile MLC
Watching televised footage this week of the Camden public meeting to protest an Islamic school development application was a real eye opener.
Xenophobia was rife, near hysteria evident......and a little something else.
"Mr Nile told the crowd he opposed the school because Islam opposed Christianity."
The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday:
Is it any wonder that the Christian Democratic Party did so badly at the recent federal election when it ran candidates in 44 of the 49 electorates. This party currently has no members in either the House of Representatives or the Senate.
Rev. Nile is a poor advertisement for this political party's so-called Christian values.
Saturday, 22 December 2007
Rudd family in The Lodge for Christmas
Nice to see the Australian Prime Minister's official residence, The Lodge in Canberra, is once more being used for the purpose it was designed.
Nice too to see a family in residence, along with their pets. Gone are the days of sterile emptiness caused by John Howard's erratic tenancy.
Let's hope the new prime minister resists the urge to undertake major renovations - the country cannot afford such luxury given the rather bleak international economic forecasts of late.
Bouquets and brickbats
Bouquets for Federal Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Minister for the Environment and Arts Peter Garrett for achieving a backdown by the Japanese Government over plans to hunt and kill Humpback whales in southern waters.
Floral posies also to Clarence Valley Council who adopted a Humpback male whale last month and Ballina Council who named their adopted whale "Shelly" last week.
The Daily Examiner:
Ballina Shire Council:
Such grassroots support has not gone unnoticed by Japan.
"Machimura said Japan and Australia had cultural differences over whales but that Tokyo hoped to preserve relations with Canberra, where the new Labor government has stepped up pressure against the hunt.
"Australians consider whales to be very affectionate, something I can't really relate to. But apparently they give names to every whale and there's quite strong public sentiment," Machimura said."
The Courier Mail yesterday:
Brickbats to the Japanese Government for continuing to call the intended slaughter of over 900 other whales this season "scientific research".
The great government lie about pensions
Your only income is a full old-age or disability pension? Facing the usual Christmas without any of the trimmings? Well be heartened and start carolling - you are in the money! Or are you?
That old Howard Government lie about how well pensioners fare out of government payments is still out there.
"Improvements to pension indexation have greatly improved the economic status of the elderly and those on disabled and single-parent allowances.
Pensions used to be adjusted according to changes in the cost of living, but now they track average male weekly earnings, which rise more quickly as productivity increases."
The Australian article:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22889379-5014047,00.html
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22889379-5014047,00.html
Any one living on a full pension can tell you that this was a load of codswallop. The Howard Government may have promised to keep pension payments at one quarter of average male weekly earnings but this promise was never fully implemented and resulted in continuing poverty line payments.
During the recent federal election campaign I heard Kevin Rudd himself state that line about guaranteeing pensions would be 25% of average male weekly earnings.
While Jenny Macklin was somewhat more circumspect.
"Jenny Macklin's reply was as follows:
I understand that it can be difficult for many pensioners to meet the rising cost of goods like food, petrol and utilities bills. Federal Labor's plan to help pensioners with the costs of living – Making Ends Meet – was released earlier this month, and includes increases to the Utilities Allowance and the Telephone Allowance for eligible pensioners. We hope that this will go some way to helping pensioners with their cost of living pressures. We have also committed to increasing the pension in line with a new pensioner cost of living index, which would more accurately reflect the wider consumer price index, or in line with increases to the benchmark of 25 per cent of average male weekly earnings, whichever is higher."
I understand that it can be difficult for many pensioners to meet the rising cost of goods like food, petrol and utilities bills. Federal Labor's plan to help pensioners with the costs of living – Making Ends Meet – was released earlier this month, and includes increases to the Utilities Allowance and the Telephone Allowance for eligible pensioners. We hope that this will go some way to helping pensioners with their cost of living pressures. We have also committed to increasing the pension in line with a new pensioner cost of living index, which would more accurately reflect the wider consumer price index, or in line with increases to the benchmark of 25 per cent of average male weekly earnings, whichever is higher."
Now the Australian Bureau of Statistics Key National Indicators show that average weekly earnings for an adult in full-time work at ordinary rates this period last year was $1,058.90.
In the twelve months to August 2007 an increase in the male average weekly earnings of 5.2% was recorded.
This example sounds a lot, but using this calculation criteria will still see pensioners and the disabled scratching to house, feed, clothe and manage their health from a current pension allotment of around $537.70 per fortnight plus $5.80 pharmaceutical allowance or $271.75 per week.
So Prime Minister, what's it going to be? Are Australian pensioners going to continue receiving fortnightly pension payments calculated on CPI or the percentage increase in AMWE (both of which keep them on or below the poverty line) or are they going to receive payments which are set at a more realistic level?
Friday, 21 December 2007
Never mind the quality - feel the width!
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) met yesterday for the first time since the 24 November federal election completed a Labor hat trick across the country.
The communique issued at the meeting's end was optimistic, covered quite a few areas of concern and did seek some restructuring of how COAG operates.
The 20th COAG meeting communique:
However, most recent COAG meetings ended with an upbeat communique running a spin on cooperative effort across many areas of concern. The meeting last year was a good example.
The 19th COAG meeting communique:
The proof of true COAG cooperation will of course be tested further down the track. Right now there is more than a little hype attached and everyone is still visibly overattached to those underwhelming campaign slogans.
One has to wish COAG well and hope that years of entrenched adversarial interaction have not ruled out change for the better.
Wall-to-wall Labor governments are a yet untested combination.
Are all governments control freaks?
When John Howard 'ruled' Australia he had government departments and agencies so cowed that they rarely stepped too far from the right-wing message. Even the CSIRO at times appeared to self-censored itself in order to save some grief. Nobody wanted to place either their promising careers or somewhat pedestrian jobs at risk.
But what the Rudd Government is attempting right now seems to be a new twist.
"A directive was issued this week by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research to about a dozen statutory agencies.
Recipients include the CSIRO, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, the Australian Research Council, the Co-operative Research Centres and Invest Australia. Even the Questacon science museum in Canberra was sent the directive.
It says the Prime Minister's office has instructed that "all strategic media releases which relate to the Government's key messages" must be forwarded to the department which will then submit them to the office of the minister, Kim Carr.
If necessary, Senator Carr would send the release to the Prime Minister's office. The department would contact the agency "regarding required changes".
The directive says releases "of a more pedestrian nature" need not be vetted but anything to do with climate change, industrial relations policy, education and science reform, tax policy, national security and health must be submitted."
The Sydney Morning Herald today:
It makes one wonder if Rudd Government ministers are not being welcomed with open arms by the now highly politicised public service and its agency cousins.
Adding insult to injury
Saw an ad on the tellie last night. It was an attempt to sell the Iemma Government's high-handed plan to begin the basement sale of state-owned electricity assets.
Yup. Really believe you, Morrie. This sale will make everything rosie - high level of service, reasonable costs, customer satisfaction, pensioners and rural Australia safe.
Yup. Just like the sale of Telstra, eh Morrie. Now that one really made everything rosie in the bush didn't it?
Morris Iemma is obviously going to retire before the next NSW state election. Why else would he be pushing the electoral suicide of Country Labor.
Thursday, 20 December 2007
Six new Victorian senators announced
The Australian Electoral Commission has announced that the count for the election of six Senators for Victoria was completed earlier today.
The successful candidates for the six Senate vacancies for Victoria are (in order of their election):
- Jacinta Collins (ALP)
- Mitch Fifield (Liberal)
- Gavin Marshall (ALP)
- Helen Kroger (Liberal)
- Scott Ryan (Liberal)
- David Feeney (ALP)
December 19 media release regarding AWB prosecutions
"07-332 ASIC launches civil penalty action against former officers of AWB
Wednesday 19 December 2007
ASIC has commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria against six former directors and officers of AWB Limited (AWB).
ASIC alleges that the defendants contravened section 180 of the Corporations Act, which requires company officers to act with care and diligence, and section 181, which requires company officers to discharge their duties in good faith and for a proper purpose.
ASIC is asking the Court for declarations that each defendant has breached the law, the imposition of pecuniary penalties (for each breach a maximum of $200,000), and disqualification of each defendant from managing a corporation.
These actions arise out of investigations following Cole Inquiry. The structure of those investigations is as follows:
(a) The AFP and Victoria Police are investigating criminal breaches of both Commonwealth and Victorian law (which investigations continue).
(b) ASIC is responsible for investigations under the ASIC Act, possible civil and criminal breaches of the Corporations Act.
Investigations into civil penalty proceedings was given more priority by ASIC because of the statute of limitation periods which apply to those actions and which do not apply to possible criminal proceedings (which investigations by ASIC continue). Commissioner Cole examined 27 contracts between AWB and the Iraqi Grain Board (IGB). The Corporations Act limits the time for the commencement of civil penalty proceedings to six years. The time limit had expired for 20 of the contracts when the Cole Inquiry concluded in November 2006 and two expired in February and June 2007.
The contracts covered by ASIC's proceedings were entered into between 20 December 2001 and 11 December 2002 and involved the payment of AUD$126.3 million in breach of UN sanctions.
The defendants in the ASIC actions are:
Wednesday 19 December 2007
ASIC has commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria against six former directors and officers of AWB Limited (AWB).
ASIC alleges that the defendants contravened section 180 of the Corporations Act, which requires company officers to act with care and diligence, and section 181, which requires company officers to discharge their duties in good faith and for a proper purpose.
ASIC is asking the Court for declarations that each defendant has breached the law, the imposition of pecuniary penalties (for each breach a maximum of $200,000), and disqualification of each defendant from managing a corporation.
These actions arise out of investigations following Cole Inquiry. The structure of those investigations is as follows:
(a) The AFP and Victoria Police are investigating criminal breaches of both Commonwealth and Victorian law (which investigations continue).
(b) ASIC is responsible for investigations under the ASIC Act, possible civil and criminal breaches of the Corporations Act.
Investigations into civil penalty proceedings was given more priority by ASIC because of the statute of limitation periods which apply to those actions and which do not apply to possible criminal proceedings (which investigations by ASIC continue). Commissioner Cole examined 27 contracts between AWB and the Iraqi Grain Board (IGB). The Corporations Act limits the time for the commencement of civil penalty proceedings to six years. The time limit had expired for 20 of the contracts when the Cole Inquiry concluded in November 2006 and two expired in February and June 2007.
The contracts covered by ASIC's proceedings were entered into between 20 December 2001 and 11 December 2002 and involved the payment of AUD$126.3 million in breach of UN sanctions.
The defendants in the ASIC actions are:
- Andrew Lindberg, the former Managing Director of AWB;
- Trevor Flugge, the former Chairman of AWB;
- Peter Geary, the former Group General Manager Trading of AWB;
- Paul Ingleby, the former Chief Financial Officer of AWB;
- Michael Long, the former General Manager of International Sales and Marketing for AWB (2001-2006); and
- Charles Stott, the former General Manager of International Sales and Marketing for AWB (2000-2001).
ASIC alleges that these officers breached their duties under the Corporations Act in connection with AWB's contracts with the IGB under the United Nations (UN) Oil-for-Food Program, which contained payments for purported inland transportation fees (ITF). The ITF payments were made to Alia, a Jordanian company partly owned by the Iraqi Ministry of Transport.
ASIC alleges that Messrs Long, Geary and Stott were officers of AWB who:
ASIC alleges that Messrs Long, Geary and Stott were officers of AWB who:
- knew of and implemented various AWB contracts that included the purported inland transportation fees;
- were aware or ought to have been aware that the fees were not genuine; and
- knew or ought to have known that the fees were, or were likely to be, contraventions of the UN sanctions upon trade with Iraq.
ASIC alleges that Messrs Lindberg, Flugge and Ingleby:
- knew, or ought to have known, about the AWB contracts that included the purported inland transportation fees;
- had obligations to make reasonable inquiries to ensure that AWB complied with obligations under UN sanctions upon trade with Iraq;
- were aware, or ought to have been aware, that the fees were not genuine; and
- knew, or ought to have known, that the fees were, or were likely to be, contraventions of the UN sanctions.
The regulator further alleges that all defendants caused harm to AWB through their conduct.
ASIC Chairman, Tony D'Aloisio said 'We have commenced these actions as we believe that the conduct of the directors and officers in these circumstances fell short of what the law requires in relation to the management and supervision of corporations'.
ASIC Chairman, Tony D'Aloisio said 'We have commenced these actions as we believe that the conduct of the directors and officers in these circumstances fell short of what the law requires in relation to the management and supervision of corporations'.
Background
ASIC alleges the payment of the inland transportation fees were in breach of UN Sanctions on Trade with Iraq, in particular Resolution 661, which prevented member states from making any payments that resulted in funds being made available to the Government of Iraq.
The regulator also believes Resolution 986 was breached. This resolution required funds from the UN Oil-for-Food program to be used exclusively to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi population. "
Commonwealth Ombudsman's report into Welfare to Work and Centrelink tales
Yesterday the Commonwealth Ombudsman released a report of his office's investigation into the application of penalties under Welfare to Work legislation.
"The report was critical of the practice of stopping a person's welfare payment before a decision was made about whether or not a penalty should apply. Under the Welfare to Work reforms, a jobseeker who does not comply with an activity (such as attending an interview) can face an eight-week non-payment period for a third or subsequent participation failure (or breach) in any 12-month period. Before a decision is made to stop payment, the suspected breaches must be reviewed by a specialist Centrelink officer to check if the person had a reasonable excuse for not completing the activity.
The Ombudsman's investigation queried whether the practice of stopping a payment before a decision is formally made was supported by the social security law. Timeliness in decision making was also raised as an issue.
The practices criticised in the Ombudsman's report could adversely disadvantage Centrelink customers, by depriving them of the following options:
* arranging their financial affairs in anticipation of a penalty being imposed
* applying for a review of Centrelink's decision (because no formal decision had yet been made)
* accessing the Financial Case Management scheme administered by Centrelink, which can assist a customer to meet the costs of essential household and living expenses."
Commonwealth Ombudsman media release 19 December:
What is fascinating in all this is that Centrelink had been acting in breach of legislation for at least a 15 month period and there was apparently no oversight by any federal government department as to how this outsourced service was implementing the Welfare to Work penalty provisions.
Miraculously government bureaucrats and Centrelink management began to develop a conscience after being contacted by the Ombudsman and benefit payment is no longer stopped before the suspected breach is reviewed.
However, I have to wonder if the imminent federal election made them all more amenable to the draft report.
The Howard era of blame-the-victim and all-the-unemployed-are-worthless-bludgers was obviously in full swing up to that point.
Practically everyone on the North Coast has their favourite Centrelink story about a local trying to avoid being 'breached' when on unemployment benefits. This one was relayed to me a few years back by someone living in Iluka, a small town at the mouth of one of the largest rivers on the east coast of Australia.
It goes something like this.
ILUKA: I'm phoning to ask if I can fax in my lodgment papers today instead of attending the office in person, as the town where I live is cut-off by flood water at present.
CENTRELINK: Which office do you usually attend?
ILUKA: I usually drop off at the agency in Maclean, but Grafton is the main office.
CENTRELINK: You can't get into Maclean or Grafton at all?
ILUKA: No, the only road out of town is cut.
CENTRELINK: Yamba has a Centrelink agency and it's close to you, why can't you go there?
ILUKA: Yamba is on the other side of the Clarence River.
CENTRELINK: Can't you take a boat or something across the river and hand in your papers?
ILUKA: You want me to get in a dingy and row across a mile-wide river in full flood just so that I can lodge my papers? There are whole trees whizzing down that river right now. If the flood didn't wash a small boat out to sea, one of those tree trunks smashing into the boat would demolish it and kill anyone onboard.
CENTRELINK: Well OK, but you can only fax your papers this once.
Commonwealth Ombudsman's full December 2007 report:
Heigh-ho heigh-ho, it's off to work we go
Kevin Rudd has recently announced an extra 15 sitting days for the 2008 federal parliamentary year and 14 of these will be Fridays.
This will be a total of 82 sitting days up from an average of 62 days each year under the Howard Government.
Good one, Kev. Time for those regular long-weekends to disappear. Time to make all pollies (specially those beggars now in opposition) work their tails off to address the backlog of unresolved national problems Howard and his mates left us with.
Fourteen Fridays is a good start, but remember that Federal Parliament started its life averaging around 95 sitting days a year.
From what I can gather it also took those earlier pollies around seven times longer to debate the merits of a bill than it does now. Must have been some serious debating back in those days.
Now, Kev - about those taxpayer-funded overseas 'study' tours pollies take when parliament isn't sitting........
Wednesday, 19 December 2007
Rudd Government lives up to its dubious promise regarding NT Intervention land grab
Under the NT Intervention the Howard Government promised a paltry $5 million over 15 years and 25 new houses over 2 years in its grab for pristine and valuable land on Bathurst Island in the Tiwi island group.
The deal struck was contentious and appears to have split the indigenous community.
The Rudd Government has lived up to its election promise to let this 99 year lease agreement on the Nguiu township stand and on 14 December did the necessary amendment to allow the land grab to go forward.
See:
It appears we can change the political colour of federal government, but we can't remove the cheapskate mentality.
Nor can we seem to impress upon the new Rudd Government that any planned measures to improve the lives of indigenous Australians did not require taking control of their lands for the next two generations.
Healthy rewards for unsuccessful NSW North Coast Nationals
Never say that losing at an Australian federal election doesn't have its advantages.
Taxpayers make sure candidates are not seriously out of pocket and in some cases may even award a healthy profit.
With independently wealthy Liberal Malcolm Turnbull rumoured to have partially funded Libs and Nats in marginal seats, one has to wonder if unsuccessful North Coast Nationals will end up making a slight profit on the whole political exercise.
Chris Gulaptis who lost in Page appears to be taking home around $77,317 in AEC authorised payment.
Sue Page who lost in Richmond seems to be receiving about $63,289.
In case you're wondering - that's a bit over $2 for every person who marked them as number one on the ballot paper.
Taxpayers make sure candidates are not seriously out of pocket and in some cases may even award a healthy profit.
With independently wealthy Liberal Malcolm Turnbull rumoured to have partially funded Libs and Nats in marginal seats, one has to wonder if unsuccessful North Coast Nationals will end up making a slight profit on the whole political exercise.
Chris Gulaptis who lost in Page appears to be taking home around $77,317 in AEC authorised payment.
Sue Page who lost in Richmond seems to be receiving about $63,289.
In case you're wondering - that's a bit over $2 for every person who marked them as number one on the ballot paper.
The Australian desperate for a 'bad' Labor story?
Over two weeks ago Deputy-Prime Minister Julia Gillard appeared on Channel Ten's Meet the Press in a panel interview discussing the proposed implementation of changes to industrial relations legislation.
The show's transcript records this exchange between The Australian representative and Ms. Gillard.
"BRAD NORINGTON: Good morning, Ms Gillard. We've heard what Dr Nelson has just had to say about your proposed transition bill to abolish WorkChoices. When will we see your transition bill and what's in it?
JULIA GILLARD: I can very clearly tell you what's in it, Brad. The transition bill, the policy decisions associated with it will go to Cabinet before Christmas. We will have our transition bill for the opening of Parliament next year. And the transition bill is a very simple one - it will end the ability of employers to make Australian Workplace Agreements. Now the choice here for the Liberal Party and for the Leader of the Opposition is very clear - do they want to support Labor's bill and end forever the ability of Australians to have the safety net at work stripped away from them or do they stand for stripping away the safety net from Australians at work? It's a clear choice. Australian Workplace Agreements can strip the safety net away. We want to end that. Does the Leader of the Opposition support ordinary Australians at work being at risk of losing basic conditions?
BRAD NORINGTON: You've been very quite clear, specific - the bill is all about abolishing Australian Workplace Agreements. When will Labor reinstate unfair dismissal laws for all workers? JULIA GILLARD: For anybody who has read our policy plans - and they were comprehensively published many months before the election - people would know the transition bill was always going to be about ending workplace agreements. There of course will be a second substantial piece of legislation which will deliver on the rest of our promises, including that the promise to ensure there's a simple unfair dismissal system. I simply don't believe it's fair or balanced for a worker who has given good service for 5, 10, 15, 20 years to lose their work without reason and have no remedy. Once again, it's a question for the Leader of the Opposition - does he think that's fair, that after 20 years you could be sacked for no reason and have no remedy because that's what WorkChoices provides and that's what we want to get rid of?
BRAD NORINGTON: Will you overturn the Howard Government's unfair dismissal regime and give all workers the right to claim unfair sacking?
JULIA GILLARD: Well, we will do that in our substantive piece of legislation. We will get that in to the Parliament as soon as it can be done. Obviously we want to draft it in a consultative way, including an exposure draft, that will take a number of months. People should anticipate that in the first half of next year.
MARIA HAWTHORNE: You will try and get that through with a hostile Senate? We'd be saying to the National Party and the Liberal Party that the Australian people have spoken and they've asked for a fair and balanced industrial relations system. This wasn't a marginal part of the last election campaign, it was a key part. So we would ask for the will of the Australian people to be honoured and ask the Liberal Party and the National Party, do they stand by awards stripping AWAs, do they stand by good workers being sacked unfairly for no reason and having no remedy?
BRAD NORINGTON: Labor achieved a lot of support from people because of its promise to abolish the Howard Government's WorkChoices. What do you say to people who may have a long wait for the AWAs are abolished and based on what you have just told us, may have to wait many months before they have a right to claim unfair dismissal?
JULIA GILLARD: We've always been crystal clear with the Australian people about this. It's in our published policy and I said it consistently in the run-up to the election - we can't overnight undo all of the harm that the Howard government has done to working Australians through WorkChoices. We need to legislate for change. We want to legislate in a careful and measured way. We want to get the legislation right. The last thing we want to do with the substantial piece of legislation is do what the Howard government did with WorkChoices, which is draft it poorly and then amend it again and again and again. We want to get it right first time. We'll take the time necessary to do that. But from that piece of legislation on, WorkChoices will be over and there will be a fair and balanced system for people in this country. That's what they voted for and they voted for knowing it would take some time to build because we told them that before the election."
Meet the Press transcript for 2 December:
JULIA GILLARD: I can very clearly tell you what's in it, Brad. The transition bill, the policy decisions associated with it will go to Cabinet before Christmas. We will have our transition bill for the opening of Parliament next year. And the transition bill is a very simple one - it will end the ability of employers to make Australian Workplace Agreements. Now the choice here for the Liberal Party and for the Leader of the Opposition is very clear - do they want to support Labor's bill and end forever the ability of Australians to have the safety net at work stripped away from them or do they stand for stripping away the safety net from Australians at work? It's a clear choice. Australian Workplace Agreements can strip the safety net away. We want to end that. Does the Leader of the Opposition support ordinary Australians at work being at risk of losing basic conditions?
BRAD NORINGTON: You've been very quite clear, specific - the bill is all about abolishing Australian Workplace Agreements. When will Labor reinstate unfair dismissal laws for all workers? JULIA GILLARD: For anybody who has read our policy plans - and they were comprehensively published many months before the election - people would know the transition bill was always going to be about ending workplace agreements. There of course will be a second substantial piece of legislation which will deliver on the rest of our promises, including that the promise to ensure there's a simple unfair dismissal system. I simply don't believe it's fair or balanced for a worker who has given good service for 5, 10, 15, 20 years to lose their work without reason and have no remedy. Once again, it's a question for the Leader of the Opposition - does he think that's fair, that after 20 years you could be sacked for no reason and have no remedy because that's what WorkChoices provides and that's what we want to get rid of?
BRAD NORINGTON: Will you overturn the Howard Government's unfair dismissal regime and give all workers the right to claim unfair sacking?
JULIA GILLARD: Well, we will do that in our substantive piece of legislation. We will get that in to the Parliament as soon as it can be done. Obviously we want to draft it in a consultative way, including an exposure draft, that will take a number of months. People should anticipate that in the first half of next year.
MARIA HAWTHORNE: You will try and get that through with a hostile Senate? We'd be saying to the National Party and the Liberal Party that the Australian people have spoken and they've asked for a fair and balanced industrial relations system. This wasn't a marginal part of the last election campaign, it was a key part. So we would ask for the will of the Australian people to be honoured and ask the Liberal Party and the National Party, do they stand by awards stripping AWAs, do they stand by good workers being sacked unfairly for no reason and having no remedy?
BRAD NORINGTON: Labor achieved a lot of support from people because of its promise to abolish the Howard Government's WorkChoices. What do you say to people who may have a long wait for the AWAs are abolished and based on what you have just told us, may have to wait many months before they have a right to claim unfair dismissal?
JULIA GILLARD: We've always been crystal clear with the Australian people about this. It's in our published policy and I said it consistently in the run-up to the election - we can't overnight undo all of the harm that the Howard government has done to working Australians through WorkChoices. We need to legislate for change. We want to legislate in a careful and measured way. We want to get the legislation right. The last thing we want to do with the substantial piece of legislation is do what the Howard government did with WorkChoices, which is draft it poorly and then amend it again and again and again. We want to get it right first time. We'll take the time necessary to do that. But from that piece of legislation on, WorkChoices will be over and there will be a fair and balanced system for people in this country. That's what they voted for and they voted for knowing it would take some time to build because we told them that before the election."
Meet the Press transcript for 2 December:
Now it seems The Australian editor is rather desperate for a 'bad' Rudd Government story and while ignoring the substance of the Meet the Press exchange, this bit of misdirection was all he could come up with after a good boo-ya about unions.
"JULIA Gillard's hopes of dealing quickly with industrial relations and moving on to the federal Government's promised education revolution are looking more optimistic than ever. Cabinet has ticked off on Labor's election promise to scrap Australian Workplace Agreements with a cumbersome but short-lived transitional plan. The more substantial changes being planned by Labor are now less certain and will have a longer gestation than anyone anticipated.----
"While quick action to outlaw new AWAs was expected, even though existing ones can continue until the next term of government, few had anticipated the potential Pandora's Box that Ms Gillard has opened up to deal with the balance of Labor's IR reforms. The first hint that not everything was set in stone came during an interview with Ms Gillard on the Ten Network's Meet The Press two weeks ago. Ms Gillard said that contrary to expectations, Labor's initial IR legislation would not include the reintroduction of unfair dismissal laws for small business. The unfair dismissal provisions would instead be dealt with in a second, comprehensive package of legislation that would involve a period of consultation and be ready some time next year."
The Australian editorial today:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22945635-16741,00.html
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22945635-16741,00.html
Although the related story "Unions in IR threat" tried to turn the issue into a confrontation between the Rudd Government and the union movement over unfair dismissal laws allegedly not coming in until 2010, the truth managed to slip across the page.
According to ACTU President Sharon Burrows; "A major problem with Work Choices was the haste with which it was rushed through parliament," she said.
"Labor won't make this mistake. New IR laws need to be properly drafted and subject to reasonable consultation. The ACTU is not setting a time frame but do want to see the main components in place as soon as practicable."
The Australian article:
What the 2007 federal election is costing taxpayers in little extras
According to a media release yesterday the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has authorised the first payment to political parties and candidates for votes received at the 2007 federal election.
The total of the first payment is $46,536,277.23. Payments have been made to seven parties and 15 independent candidates.
Payment is made in two stages. The first stage is 95 per cent of the amount due based on the number of votes counted as at the 20th day after election day. The second is the remainder due once vote counting is finalised.
Payments are calculated using an indexed sum per first preference vote. At the 2007 federal election, each first preference vote was worth 210.027 cents.
In order to obtain election funding a candidate must obtain at least 4% of the first preference vote.
At the 2004 federal election, the AEC paid out $41,926,158.91 in total to ten Parties and 15 independent candidates. The funding rate for the 2004 federal election was 194.397 cents per vote.
Below is a breakdown of the first payment of election funding for the 2007 federal election
AMOUNT AS AT THE END OF COUNTING ON 14 DECEMBER 2007
Name Amount ($)
Parties
Australian Labor Party 20,922,325.51
Liberal Party of Australia 17,222,359.78
Australian Greens 4,148,615.11
National Party of Australia 3,076,663.58
Pauline's United Australia Party 202,440.72
Northern Territory Country Liberal Party 160 719.91
Family First Party 133 965.51
Independent candidates
Nick Xenophon (Senate, South Australia) 296,627.70
Tony Windsor (New England) 105,217.86
Bob Katter (Kennedy) 64,919.66
Gavin Priestley (Calare) 37,979.71
Tim Horan (Parkes) 34,114.90
Caroline Hutchinson (Fisher) 21,141.74
Gavan O'Connor (Corio) 21,010.05
Noel Brunning (Forrest) 19,800.93
Aaron Buman (Newcastle) 12,655.91
Ben Quin (Lyons) 12,155.10
Cate Molloy (Wide Bay) 11,125.55
Ray McGhee (Boothby) 8 759.18
Rob Bryant (Murray) 8,727.25
Tim Williams (Macquarie) 8,270.34
Jamie Harrison (Lyne) 6,636.23
Total 46,536,277.23
Senate seats for NSW declared today
At 1.30pm today the following candidates at the 2007 federal election will be declared elected as senators for New South Wales:
Mark Arbib (Labor)
Helen Coonan (Liberal)
Doug Cameron (Labor)
John Williams (Nationals)
Marise Payne (Liberal)
Ursula Stephens (Labor)
Party representation at this election was matched with both Labor and the Coalition having three senators each.
Go Whalers!
Tuesday, 18 December 2007
Was the Coalition dishonest when in government?
At the declaration of the poll for the electorate of Page on Monday December 17 the unsuccessful National Party candidate Chris Gulaptis had this to say about the Coalition's loss:
"It's an opportunity for conservatives in opposition to make sure they represent us honestly."
Reading between the lines, one could easily arrive at the conclusion that Gulaptis thought that when the Coalition was in government its representation was something less than honest.
Quite honestly, that's rather easy to believe. Just look at the bundles of tripe the Howard government, and especially a number of its infamous ministers, served up for public consumption.
The Daily Examiner's report on the declaration of the poll is at:
http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3758647&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=
"It's an opportunity for conservatives in opposition to make sure they represent us honestly."
Reading between the lines, one could easily arrive at the conclusion that Gulaptis thought that when the Coalition was in government its representation was something less than honest.
Quite honestly, that's rather easy to believe. Just look at the bundles of tripe the Howard government, and especially a number of its infamous ministers, served up for public consumption.
The Daily Examiner's report on the declaration of the poll is at:
http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3758647&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=
ANZ Bank to use Equator Principles when looking to finance Gunn's contentious pulp mill in Tasmania
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group will be using the Equator Principles to assess any financial involvement with Malcolm Turnbull's 'love child', the Bell Bay pulp mill in northern Tasmania.
Would-be pulp mill owner Gunn's has been a customer of the ANZ since 1995. Not nearly as long as some of the bank's Mum and Dad account holders or other corporate clients.
I'm sure that a good many investors, bank customers and potential customers will be watching this process with interest.
Any attempt to use these principles simply as a PR airbrush is likely to have the opposite result.
ANZ Current Issues page:
"For a number of years, banks working in the project finance sector had been seeking ways to develop a common and coherent set of environmental and social policies and guidelines that could be applied globally and across all industry sectors. In October 2002, a small number of banks convened in London, together with the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation (IFC), to discuss these issues. The Banks present decided jointly to try and develop a banking industry framework for addressing environmental and social risks in project financing. This led to the drafting of the first set of Equator Principles by these banks which were then launched in Washington, DC on June 4 2003. These Principles were ultimately adopted by over forty financial institutions during a three year implementation period. A subsequent updating process took place in 2006 leading to a newly revised set of Equator Principles that were released in July 2006."
The Equator Principles:
Housing affordability on the NSW North Coast
It's good to see Lismore City Council adopting an innovative resolution to spend up to $2.5 million to guarantee the purchase of 50 homes for first home-buyers.
However, this move might help the few lucky families eventually involved but it does little to solve the home affordability issue which has crept out of the large metropolitan areas and is now making home ownership a distant dream for many in low-income areas on the NSW North Coast.
Lismore City Council has also recently approved a homeless shelter in the district.
With private rental costs steadily rising it is time for the Rudd Government to reassess the state of public housing across the nation and move, in partnership with the States, to rebuild these housing stocks to a level which reflects actual need on the ground.
Quixotic gestures make us feel good, but serious and widespread effort is required if Kevin Rudd is to live up to his election campaign rhetoric.
Of course it's early days yet and in rural and regional Australia many hope that 2008 will see a commitment to address public housing shortfalls.
The Northern Rivers Echo last Thursday:
http://www.echonews.com/index.php?page=View%20Article&article=19337&issue=306
However, this move might help the few lucky families eventually involved but it does little to solve the home affordability issue which has crept out of the large metropolitan areas and is now making home ownership a distant dream for many in low-income areas on the NSW North Coast.
Lismore City Council has also recently approved a homeless shelter in the district.
With private rental costs steadily rising it is time for the Rudd Government to reassess the state of public housing across the nation and move, in partnership with the States, to rebuild these housing stocks to a level which reflects actual need on the ground.
Quixotic gestures make us feel good, but serious and widespread effort is required if Kevin Rudd is to live up to his election campaign rhetoric.
Of course it's early days yet and in rural and regional Australia many hope that 2008 will see a commitment to address public housing shortfalls.
The Northern Rivers Echo last Thursday:
http://www.echonews.com/index.php?page=View%20Article&article=19337&issue=306
Few noticed Andrew Bartlett's leaving as Senate forms a new face
In all the blather surrounding the Kyoto conference in Bali there has been little time to notice that the Australian Democrats federal leader and Queensland senator, Andrew Bartlett also lost his seat at the 24 November election and will no longer sit after 30 June 2008.
One of the saddest outcomes of this election has been the demise of the Democrats.
They will be sorely missed on Senate committees.
November 24 delivered us the same old two-horse race in the upper house, with minor parties and independents holding the balance of power.
A list of senators announced as elected so far (final AEC list should be out later today):
Nick Sherry (ALP)
Richard Colbeck (Lib)
Bob Brown (Greens)
Carol Brown (ALP)
David Bushby (Lib)
Catryna Bilyk (ALP)
Don Farrell (ALP)
Cory Bernardi (Lib)
Nick Xenophon (IND)
Penny Wong (ALP)
Simon Birmingham (Lib)
Sarah Hanson-Young (Greens)
Ian Douglas MacDonald (Lib)
John Joseph Hogg (ALP)
Sue Boyce (Lib)
Claire Moore (ALP)
Ron Boswell (Nationals)
Mark Furner (ALP)
Kate Lundy (ALP)
Gary Humphries (Lib)
One of the saddest outcomes of this election has been the demise of the Democrats.
They will be sorely missed on Senate committees.
November 24 delivered us the same old two-horse race in the upper house, with minor parties and independents holding the balance of power.
A list of senators announced as elected so far (final AEC list should be out later today):
Nick Sherry (ALP)
Richard Colbeck (Lib)
Bob Brown (Greens)
Carol Brown (ALP)
David Bushby (Lib)
Catryna Bilyk (ALP)
Don Farrell (ALP)
Cory Bernardi (Lib)
Nick Xenophon (IND)
Penny Wong (ALP)
Simon Birmingham (Lib)
Sarah Hanson-Young (Greens)
Ian Douglas MacDonald (Lib)
John Joseph Hogg (ALP)
Sue Boyce (Lib)
Claire Moore (ALP)
Ron Boswell (Nationals)
Mark Furner (ALP)
Kate Lundy (ALP)
Gary Humphries (Lib)
Monday, 17 December 2007
Howard acolytes scramble for a new place in the sun
"The next group of potential losers comes from those interest groups and lobbyists identified with the Howard government. Every lobbyist in the country is reflecting now on their contacts with the new Government and rethinking their strategies. But those most urgently reflecting are those who campaigned against Labor. Some are even attempting to rewrite the history of their role.
The potential losers include some in the business community. They got preferential treatment from the Howard government in various ways, including the industrial relations reforms, and are now nervous about their future. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry was recognised as the business lobby group closest to the former government. Not surprisingly its chief executive, Peter Hendy, has been under internal pressure since the election to justify his position.
The National Farmers' Federation has also been retreating from its pre-election advocacy. Some of its campaign advertising, though not all, was pro-government and anti-Labor. This was a calculated risk. Since the election, the federation has tried to deny that this was the case."
The Canberra Times last Thursday:
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/opinion/opinion/losers-scramble-for-a-place-in-rudds-new-queue/1104275.html
Of course all these lobbyists and special interest groups will retain access to the Federal Government. However it would be nice to see these rabid little neo-cons fall to the back of the queue for a while at least. A smidgen of poetic justice wouldn't go astray right now.
The potential losers include some in the business community. They got preferential treatment from the Howard government in various ways, including the industrial relations reforms, and are now nervous about their future. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry was recognised as the business lobby group closest to the former government. Not surprisingly its chief executive, Peter Hendy, has been under internal pressure since the election to justify his position.
The National Farmers' Federation has also been retreating from its pre-election advocacy. Some of its campaign advertising, though not all, was pro-government and anti-Labor. This was a calculated risk. Since the election, the federation has tried to deny that this was the case."
The Canberra Times last Thursday:
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/opinion/opinion/losers-scramble-for-a-place-in-rudds-new-queue/1104275.html
Of course all these lobbyists and special interest groups will retain access to the Federal Government. However it would be nice to see these rabid little neo-cons fall to the back of the queue for a while at least. A smidgen of poetic justice wouldn't go astray right now.
Sore loser or clumsy archivist?
This is what came on the screen when I tried to click on to www.chrisgulaptis.com.au to see if unsuccessful Nationals candidate for Page Chris Gulaptis had released a concession speech after 24 November.
Reverse lookup command gone wrong? Or perhaps second thoughts about leaving those campaign bon mots out there for all to see?
Surely not a deliberate attempt to bar North Coast residents from the website.
You are not authorized to view this page
The Web server you are attempting to reach has a list of IP addresses that are not allowed to access the Web site, and the IP address of your browsing computer is on this list.Please try the following:
- Contact the Web site administrator if you believe you should be able to view this directory or page.
HTTP Error 403.6 - Forbidden: IP address of the client has been rejected.
Internet Information Services (IIS)
Big Brother 2007
In the Northern Territory certain Australian citizens can have personal control of money from their own old age pensions taken away, because of how they are thought to be behaving or because of how they just might behave in the future.
Queensland is about to do the same thing to some other citizens.
Other types of welfare payment are also subject to this snatch and grab.
Just how long do you think it will be until every Australian pensioner has to behave as Big Brother orders or lose control of their money?
I'm betting less than three years, if the Rudd Government continues to be led through the nose by a public service so politicised during the Howard years that it is still actively running a right-wing agenda in advice given to government.
Struth, it's so crook that one portfolio within the Deputy-Prime Minister's brief, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, employs some public servants openly lamenting Howard and Hockey's demise. While loudly criticising everything about the new minister from her IQ to her speaking voice, laying bets on when she shall lose this portfolio and vowing to make sure that everything will be steadily moving forward according to their own agenda.
Word in your ear, boys - when you go home for the hols don't discuss the matter in public if you want to keep your little revolt quiet. Oops! Think you've already opened your mouth.
Wasn't it nice to see Bali delegates finally lose patience with America
Well I'm sure that wasn't something the United States was expecting.
Its delegate to the Kyoto conference in Bali loudly booed from the meeting floor, and then tiny Papua New Guinea rising to tell US representatives that if America was not prepared to lead on climate change solutions it should get out of the way.
Of course by then the US had all but wrecked the efforts of over 190 nations to create meaningful greenhouse gas emissions targets for the world to work towards over the next few years.
Maybe by 2009 Kyoto countries will have found the spine to kick the US right out the conference door if it remains as intransigent.
One can almost hear that famous American sphere of influence beginning to shrink, and the more effects of global warming begin to bite, the quicker that influence will disappear.
Sunday, 16 December 2007
Where, oh where, has Caro gone?
Journalist Caroline Overington is becoming harder to find than Wally. I haven't seen a recent article by Overington in The Australian online since, well since just before the 24 November federal election.
Is she on holidays, leave of absence, resigned, been 'let go', busy suing bloggers or what?
If anyone sees Caro drop me a comment - would love to know where she finally roosts at full moon.
How 'fat' is fat and why is it a disease?
"The next time someone, even a health minister, tries to make you feel guilty about carrying a few extra kilos, just say no."
Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon gets a slap on the wrist. And not without a measure of reason.
'How to stop the US sabotaging a global response to climate change' in one easy lesson
Once again we have witnessed the United States impose its will on a reluctant world. The UN December 2007 conference on the Kyoto Protocol and climate change has bowed to American pressure. The Bali 'roadmap' has been watered down until it is simply another signal that it's acceptable to continue to go slowly on any global response to climate change.
Sometimes it seems that US economic might and defence capability leaves us all with no choice but to cave-in when this bully thumps the table to protect what it sees as its own economic 'divine right'. However, concern over global warming is so widespread that ordinary people now have an issue which unites their individual economic power into an international might which could take on the US.
So if you are one of those ordinary little people who want to see global warming tackled before it is too late, use your personal economic power to send a message to America to shape up or ship out. Decide today that you will no longer buy goods, services, products or produce which originate in the US or come from US-owned companies.
Boycott America until it decides to become a responsible global citizen.
Where to start? Look at the labels on groceries stacked on supermarket shelves, make sure you check company and country of origin on those jeans, CDs, stereos, TVs, washing machines etc., that you are thinking of buying. If you own shares, become an ethical investor and dump any that represent US-owned companies.
What better way than to start than with the Fortune 500 at:
If America only views the world through the prism of its own short-term economic bottom line - let us all give it a bottom line to remember in 2008.
Saturday, 15 December 2007
Australia leading from the rear on climate change
Fair dinkum, it's embarrassing. There's the Rudd Government huddled at the bottom of a Bali trench yelling "Charge!" and urging other nations over the top in this latest battle of the War on Global Warming.
While the Rudd Government's loyal opposition, protected by its non-combatant status, hands out white feathers to delegates as they move up to the firing steps.
I know Minister for Climate Change and Water Penny Wong is probably breaking her heart trying to do a good job at the UN conference, but it is disappointing to see a new government (which earlier this year promised Australia that it would have 20% renewable energy by 2020 and committed itself to establishing domestic emission reduction targets) publicly and privately knuckle under to American interests in this way.
It's no way to fight a war. It's no way to tackle climate change. It's no way to protect Australia's future.
Like many others on the North Coast I await dispatches from the front this morning and hope for better news.
Why are greedy tax cheats accorded protected species status?
Adele Horin in The Sydney Morning Herald (December 15), has rightfully pointed out the slanted position taken by authorities when addressing the issue of moneys missing from the public purse.
Horin takes a look at how welfare cheats and tax cheats are treated in Australia.
Welfare cheats are soft targets so they get a hammering but tax cheats, who are a protected species, get easy runs home.
In part, Horin wrote:
If tax cheats were hounded as assiduously as welfare cheats, Australia would be better off. But under the old regime, welfare cheats - so-called - were pursued to the ends of the Earth while tax cheats slid under the radar.
Millions of dollars were poured into detecting welfare fraud while in the last years of the Howard government one-third as much was spent tracking down tax cheats, according to budget papers.
The inequity led Professor John Braithwaite, of the Australian National University, an expert on corporate crime, to remark last year that the DPP had taken "soft, easy cases and they are the frauds of poor people. The frauds of sophisticated rich people who are aggressively defended by the best lawyers money can buy deliver lower success rates [to the DPP]."
The government stood to recoup far more from tax cheats than from welfare cheats. On economic grounds alone, it should have ramped up the fight against tax avoiders. According to budget papers, for every dollar spent chasing tax avoiders, the government would recoup $7.53 compared with only $1.94 from the welfare fraudsters. In the end, fewer than 3500 people are convicted of welfare fraud in a year from a population of 6.5 million social security recipients.
Read the entire article "Tax dodgers laughing as the poor are hounded" at:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/tax-dodgers-laughing-as-the-poor-are-hounded/2007/12/14/1197568262862.html
Unfortunately, Horin didn't include superannuation cheats in her article. Although they didn't get a mention, superannuation cheats are out there in big numbers.
So, you ask, "Who are the superannuation cheats?"
Answer: These cheats are thieving employers who do not make the mandatory super contributions for their employees.
"Who's responsible for ensuring employers do the right thing and meet their responsibilities and pay their employees' super?"
Answer: The Australian Taxation Office.
"If the ATO doesn't address the issue of tax cheats properly how can it be expected to address the problem of super cheats?"
Answer: To use the words of Horin, "more hounding, and more tabloid headlines, would not go astray."
PS:
Memo to all employees - contact your super fund and check to see that your employer has paid your super in full. Unfortunately, many employees are being dudded every pay period. Their pay slips show how much super should be going to their fund BUT their employers are pocketing it for themselves.
Horin takes a look at how welfare cheats and tax cheats are treated in Australia.
Welfare cheats are soft targets so they get a hammering but tax cheats, who are a protected species, get easy runs home.
In part, Horin wrote:
If tax cheats were hounded as assiduously as welfare cheats, Australia would be better off. But under the old regime, welfare cheats - so-called - were pursued to the ends of the Earth while tax cheats slid under the radar.
Millions of dollars were poured into detecting welfare fraud while in the last years of the Howard government one-third as much was spent tracking down tax cheats, according to budget papers.
The inequity led Professor John Braithwaite, of the Australian National University, an expert on corporate crime, to remark last year that the DPP had taken "soft, easy cases and they are the frauds of poor people. The frauds of sophisticated rich people who are aggressively defended by the best lawyers money can buy deliver lower success rates [to the DPP]."
The government stood to recoup far more from tax cheats than from welfare cheats. On economic grounds alone, it should have ramped up the fight against tax avoiders. According to budget papers, for every dollar spent chasing tax avoiders, the government would recoup $7.53 compared with only $1.94 from the welfare fraudsters. In the end, fewer than 3500 people are convicted of welfare fraud in a year from a population of 6.5 million social security recipients.
Read the entire article "Tax dodgers laughing as the poor are hounded" at:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/tax-dodgers-laughing-as-the-poor-are-hounded/2007/12/14/1197568262862.html
Unfortunately, Horin didn't include superannuation cheats in her article. Although they didn't get a mention, superannuation cheats are out there in big numbers.
So, you ask, "Who are the superannuation cheats?"
Answer: These cheats are thieving employers who do not make the mandatory super contributions for their employees.
"Who's responsible for ensuring employers do the right thing and meet their responsibilities and pay their employees' super?"
Answer: The Australian Taxation Office.
"If the ATO doesn't address the issue of tax cheats properly how can it be expected to address the problem of super cheats?"
Answer: To use the words of Horin, "more hounding, and more tabloid headlines, would not go astray."
PS:
Memo to all employees - contact your super fund and check to see that your employer has paid your super in full. Unfortunately, many employees are being dudded every pay period. Their pay slips show how much super should be going to their fund BUT their employers are pocketing it for themselves.
You can change the racing silks but the nag remains a nag and not a thoroughbred
The post-election Liberals yet again showing signs of desperation.
"Queensland Liberal Senator Ian Macdonald, the former Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation, today urged the Nationals to join the Liberals to form a united conservative party.
He said it was a "farce" that the two parties pretend to be different.
It's not the first merger proposal between the two parties, with then prime minister John Howard and Nationals leader Mark Vaile blocking a proposal from Queensland Nationals leader Lawrence Springborg and his Liberal counterpart Bob Quinn in 2006."
The Australian article yesterday:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22924634-12377,00.html
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22924634-12377,00.html
I would have thought that the Nationals only chance to regain ground over the next three years lay in donning their own distinctive colours, distancing themselves from the now discredited Liberal Party parliamentary nags and running candidates against their current coalition partner at the 2010 federal election.
As it now stands the Liberals frequently treat them as an irrelevancy - so why shouldn't voters.
Stakes raised in opposition to Japanese whale hunt
Australia is looking to the Rudd Government to begin active protection of whales in Australian territorial waters.
"The Humane Society International is seeking a Federal Court injunction to stop the Japanese whalers and says the public will expect strong action from the Rudd Government if the group is successful.
"They will be required to stop the hunt," HSI spokeswoman Nicola Beynon said to ABC radio.
"The traditional means for stopping the hunt would be to intercept the ships and forcibly stop the hunt.
"And if the Government's not prepared to do that, the Humane Society International and the Australian public will be expecting them to find some other means of stopping the hunt."
The Coalition squibs it.
"While the Coalition opposes the whale hunt, Dr Nelson – the former defence minister – says the proposal to use the navy to gather evidence on Japan's whalers raises more questions that it answers.
And he is worried it could harm strong security and trade ties with Japan."
News.com.au article yesterday:
Friday, 14 December 2007
A blast from the past
Just for the record, this snap shows Chris Gulaptis (middle), who was the National Party's unsuccessful candidate for Page in the 2007 Federal election, providing 'advice' to the current State MP for Clarence Steve Candsell (left) and the former Federal MP for Page Ian Causley.Whatever Chris said, it wasn't worth a cracker.
Coalition still in terminal post-election spiral?
The Liberal Party has been locked in its own internal blame game at federal level and is tearing itself apart at state level in Western Australia, Queensland and the ACT, with the Liberals ACT leader Bill Sefaniak being the most recent victim to lose his head on the block.
Continuing Federal Liberal leadership speculation indicates the blame game is not about to end anytime soon.
The Age article today:
http://news.theage.com.au/turnbull-denies-leadership-challenge/20071214-1h29.html
Here is an short honour role of the principal blame gamers.
Andrew Robb:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/13/2117529.htm?section=australia
Wilson Tuckey:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/12/2117120.htm?section=justin
Alexander Downer:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22895466-33435,00.html
Brian Loughnane:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22916201-2702,00.html
Malcolm Turnbull:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/libs-blessed-to-have-turnbull-nelson/2007/12/02/1196530481020.html
Peter Costello:
http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/costello_blames_howard_for_election_loss_136671
Tony Abbott:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/libs-turn-on-howard/2007/11/26/1196036812217.html
Christopher Pyne and Nick Minchin:
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/11/26/1196036846690.html
Continuing Federal Liberal leadership speculation indicates the blame game is not about to end anytime soon.
The Age article today:
http://news.theage.com.au/turnbull-denies-leadership-challenge/20071214-1h29.html
Here is an short honour role of the principal blame gamers.
Andrew Robb:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/13/2117529.htm?section=australia
Wilson Tuckey:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/12/2117120.htm?section=justin
Alexander Downer:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22895466-33435,00.html
Brian Loughnane:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22916201-2702,00.html
Malcolm Turnbull:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/libs-blessed-to-have-turnbull-nelson/2007/12/02/1196530481020.html
Peter Costello:
http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/costello_blames_howard_for_election_loss_136671
Tony Abbott:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/libs-turn-on-howard/2007/11/26/1196036812217.html
Christopher Pyne and Nick Minchin:
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/11/26/1196036846690.html
Akerman plays fast and loose with the truth again
Under the guise of an opinion piece, The Daily Telegraph's Piers Akerman misrepresents the history of the David Hick's matter and tries to smear Labor MP Maxine McKew by association using an incredibly long bow.
Given the subject of his blog was the imminent release of Hicks, why on earth was it relevant to mention that Maxine McKew received favourable comment from GetUp! during the election campaign?
It seems poor Piers is still unable to come to terms with his Liberal Party hero's fall from grace and is indulging in a little nasty and misdirected payback.
The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday:
Noel Pearson tries to claw back credibility and influence
Noel Pearson made a real goose of himself during the recent federal election campaign and lost much of his credibility, when he used every opportunity to buttress the Howard Government and uttered statements regarding the Labor Party such as "Understand the heartless snake here. If you harbour any hope that these buggers are going to do anything courageous in relation to Indigenous affairs, then you're living in an illusion."
ABC News Noel Pearson on election eve:
The Australian and Pearson on Kevin Rudd:
The Howard Government's subsequent resounding electoral loss left Noel Pearson out on a limb.
It is sad to see him in the media attempting to use the tragic circumstances of a rape case in order to revive his own political agenda concerning 'passive welfare' and reassert his influence with federal government. It may have been wiser to do a little quiet, behind the scenes fence building with the new Rudd Government instead.
There has been extensive media coverage of the Court's judgment in the Arakun rape case.
The Australian on edited sentencing submission in The Queen v Names Withheld:
The Courier Mail on Indictment No.146 of 2007 Cairns District Court;
Andrew Robb almost admits abuse of Senate power led to Coalition defeat
Did I hear right? Yes I did. On the tellie last night Andrew Robb came close to actually admitting that the Howard Government abused its Senate majority and carried legislation further than was prudent.
This is the first time anyone in the Liberal Party has come close to voicing the underlying cause of its electoral defeat.
Perhaps the Coalition is finally beginning to face the truth about its utter disregard of the wishes of the Australian majority over the last eleven years.
Well, I can hope can't I?
Thursday, 13 December 2007
Who does Robert McClelland think he's fooling when it comes to David Hicks?
Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland has refused to confirm or deny that he has signed the initial papers authorising the imposition of an interim control order on David Hicks.
He tells us all that the Attorney-General only performs "an administrative function" in relation to any control order.
News.com.au today:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22918115-29277,00.html
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22918115-29277,00.html
That's a heap of hot, steaming manure he is shovelling our way. Applications for interim control orders require the consent of the Attorney-General. In 104.3 of the C'wealth Anti-terrorism Act (No 2) 2005 as amended, there is a clear indication that the Attorney-General has choice in signing off on any interim application by the Australian Federal Police. This clause begins "If the Attorney-General consents". This phrase is repeated throughout the Act in relation to control orders.
See:
To put it crudely - the new Attorney-General appears to be running scared and whipped when it comes to a very right-wing Australian Federal Police.
David Hicks broke no Australian law existing at the time of his original capture and detention. His sentence by a US military tribunal showed that this court clearly saw him as being a minimal threat.
Enough is enough Mr. McClelland. Australia deserves better than to have Federal Labor continue to impose John Howard's distorted view of our society and values.
Vote on Rudd's performance at Bali
The Sydney Morning Herald is running an online readers poll today on Kevin Rudd's diplomatic performance at the Kyoto conference at Bali this week.
So far this morning the vote is running heavily in favour of Rudd's performance being statesmanlike.
Voting is at:
I have to say I was pleased that Kevin Rudd's address to the conference further differentiated Australia from the US position on climate change. However, he really needs to go further and stand up to America's attempt to force any mention of target percentages out of the final draft of the Bali declaration.
The Prime Minister would be foolish if he believed placating the Bush Administration will keep the US onside except momentarily.
The US will turn on Australia sometime in the next three years, because the Rudd Government has indicated that it will not play lickspittle and American's have never understood Labor Party philosophy.
With most American's believing in their heart-of-hearts that God is a white American male and that their country dominates by divine right, diplomacy by others is next to useless.
A show of strong leadership by our Prime Minister and a less narrow focus on climate change allegiances it required.
America is no longer a great and powerful friend, rather she is a major impediment to constructive change and international stability.
The Sydney Morning Herald article on Rudd in Bali:
I keep hearing the Nats say that nothing has changed
The new urban myth for NSW North Coast Nationals appears to be that even though the Coalition lost the federal election it doesn't really matter, because Kevin Rudd won't change things much.
A strange way to console themselves for losing at the polling booths on November 24.
WorkChoices is being dismantled, Kyoto was ratified, the Code of Ministerial Responsibility was expanded, reporting of political contributions was returned to pre-Howard criteria, Australian Law Reform Commission recommendations on Commonwealth sedition laws are on the agenda to be revisited, the NT Intervention is to be reviewed, the Australian Government is going to apologise to the Stolen Generation, there is a broad timeline for complete combat troop withdrawal from Iraq and cooperative federalism is the order of the day under a Rudd Labor Government.
Everything the former Howard Government would have hated to see happen.
No matter how you huff and puff, that's big change fellas!
Is Morris Iemma turning into the new John Howard?
Premier Morris Iemma waited, until New South Wales was preoccupied with the federal election and State Parliament had risen for the final time in 2007, to begin putting the building blocks in place to privatise this state's electricity suppliers.
He gave an unworkable guarantee that the sell-off of public assets would not affect ordinary consumers and then ignored regional NSW by promising that sale money would be first spent on giving Sydney a brand new metro rail system.
This tactic was worthy of John Howard at his best. It seems the example of his highhanded approach continues to contaminate politics at all levels.
During the last ten years NSW Labor has moved so far to the right that it makes middle of the road voters like myself seem positively Red.
Morris Iemma should take a good look at all those voters who swung against the Coalition at the recent federal election. They are the same voters who will sweep NSW Labor from government if he keeps this up.
Wednesday, 12 December 2007
Labor Party voters some of the happiest consumers in Australia right now
"CONSUMER confidence has rebounded in December, a survey shows, with Australian Labor Party voters some of the happiest consumers in the nation.
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index, released today, rose 1.8 per cent in December, reversing November's 4.2 per cent decline.
Not surprisingly, the biggest swings in sentiment was based on political affiliation.
Spurred by the party's return to Federal Government, sentiment among Labor voters soared 15.6 per cent in December.
Sentiment among coalition supporters dipped 16.2 per cent after it was condemned to the opposition benches on November 24.
The survey of 1400 people was conducted between December 5-9, following Labor's federal election victory and after the RBA left interest rates on hold."
Not surprisingly, the biggest swings in sentiment was based on political affiliation.
Spurred by the party's return to Federal Government, sentiment among Labor voters soared 15.6 per cent in December.
Sentiment among coalition supporters dipped 16.2 per cent after it was condemned to the opposition benches on November 24.
The survey of 1400 people was conducted between December 5-9, following Labor's federal election victory and after the RBA left interest rates on hold."
News.com.au article today:
Have to admit there are a lot of people on the NSW North Coast who still cannot wipe a silly grin off their face. Even I, who haven't a penny to spare, threw another pack of bikkies into the supermarket trolley to celebrate!
On those UN Kyoto Protocol talks in Bali
Dennis Shanahan of The Australian is on the wrong track in trying to tar Kevin Rudd with the same attitude brush as John Howard when it comes to climate change.
Unlike previous Coalition governments this Labor federal government is not a climate change doubter, but it is between a rock and a hard place in Bali right now.
Due to the Howard decade of denial and lack of any real investigation into the domestic economic impacts of climate change mitigation; Rudd, Swan, Wong and Garrett are at the Bali talks knowing less about potential impacts than many other participating nations who have been part of the Kyoto Protocol process for years.
It may be prudent for Australia not to commit to interim targets before Garnault's investigations are completed mid-2008.
But is it wise to join with the US to insist that no interim or medium term target figures be included in the Bali declaration document?
Years of national inaction have a price and perhaps Australia should pay up and accept the wish of developing nations on the 20-40 per cent greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2020.
After all, this appears to be a combined developed nations target and doesn't bind any one country to individually achieve within this percentage range.
John Howard's blind prejudices will impact on us all for a longtime to come and it may be unfair that the Rudd Government is left to clear up his mess, but the world and Australia don't need more aspirational garbage on climate change - they both need firm target commitments now.
Forget the Liberals election taunts about being a Kyoto negotiations pushover and get on with it, Kevin!
See Shanahan in The Australian today:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22910380-17301,00.html
Michelle Grattan on Bali in The Age today:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/climate-watch/wong-not-one-to-wilt/2007/12/11/1197135463267.html
Unlike previous Coalition governments this Labor federal government is not a climate change doubter, but it is between a rock and a hard place in Bali right now.
Due to the Howard decade of denial and lack of any real investigation into the domestic economic impacts of climate change mitigation; Rudd, Swan, Wong and Garrett are at the Bali talks knowing less about potential impacts than many other participating nations who have been part of the Kyoto Protocol process for years.
It may be prudent for Australia not to commit to interim targets before Garnault's investigations are completed mid-2008.
But is it wise to join with the US to insist that no interim or medium term target figures be included in the Bali declaration document?
Years of national inaction have a price and perhaps Australia should pay up and accept the wish of developing nations on the 20-40 per cent greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2020.
After all, this appears to be a combined developed nations target and doesn't bind any one country to individually achieve within this percentage range.
John Howard's blind prejudices will impact on us all for a longtime to come and it may be unfair that the Rudd Government is left to clear up his mess, but the world and Australia don't need more aspirational garbage on climate change - they both need firm target commitments now.
Forget the Liberals election taunts about being a Kyoto negotiations pushover and get on with it, Kevin!
See Shanahan in The Australian today:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22910380-17301,00.html
Michelle Grattan on Bali in The Age today:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/climate-watch/wong-not-one-to-wilt/2007/12/11/1197135463267.html
Jenny Macklin starts "Sorry" consultations
True to its word the Rudd Government has begun to progress its promise to say "Sorry".
New Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin will consult with indigenous community leaders about the wording for a formal apology to the Stolen Generation.
The Age article today:
This apology is long overdue and it is good to see this election promise being kept by Federal Labor. It won't stop the depressingly high number of funerals for indigenous Australians who died an early death or redress inequality and the imbalance in opportunity, but hopefully it signals a change in government attitude to the needs and aspirations of indigenous people.
Aunty Della would have been pleased.
A red letter day for Australia
It was a red letter day yesterday when a red-haired female demonstrated to the world that Australia was all grown up.
Good on ya, Julia Gillard. You little ripper. Sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister last week and now for the next few days Acting-Prime Minister of Australia.
Roll over Barton.
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
Rodney Tiffen looks at the Murdoch media and those 2007 Clayton's editorial endorsements
While the likes of Pearson, Henderson, Windshuttle, Akerman, Milne, and Switzer turn themselves inside out searching for relevancy in the new Rudd Government era, Professor Rodney Tiffen looks back at the Murdoch media's close relationship with the former Howard Government.
"Two conclusions should not be lost sight of. Labor won this election without any help, and in the face of some hindrance, from News Limited, and so the government owes the company precisely zero. Second, the Murdoch press has exposed itself as being out of touch with public opinion, and with a more limited capacity to influence it than they might have imagined. Its senior ranks are so dominated by conservative ideologues that this colours all their views of politics. This long ago started to damage their professional credibility, but of more interest to their boss may be the fact that now it is also increasingly threatening their commercial performance."
Tiffen article in Australian Policy Online:
http://www.apo.org.au/webboard/comment_results.chtml?filename_num=183199
http://www.apo.org.au/webboard/comment_results.chtml?filename_num=183199
A NSW Northern Coast view of Iemma's love affair with Monsanto and GM crops
With the NSW and Victorian governments announcing the lifting of state-wide bans on genetically modified crop seed planting, Australia now moves closer to becoming a client state of Monsanto and its transnational cronies.
Morris Iemma may expect people in this state to bend over and take it, when his government makes a unilateral decision to interfere with food purity and to limit consumer choice because cross-contamination of produce and product cannot be eliminated.
He may be somewhat surprised when all of us do not blindly follow his lead.
Many on the NSW North Coast are highly suspicious of genetically modified organisms, which are largely untested with regard to human studies, and concerned about effects on plant biodiversity and virility.
Knowing the Iemma Government's lack of moral fibre, I have slowly been adapting my diet to eradicate all produce and products which are likely to currently contain traces of GMOs and likely in the future to contain a percentage of genetically modified material.
So nuts (forgive the pun) to you Mr. Iemma and any NSW farmer who is silly enough to follow your lead. I won't be eating your dodgy food.
The Northern Rivers Echo local views on GM crops last Thursday:
http://www.echonews.com/index.php?page=View%20Article&article=19128&issue=304
Only one week into the new Rudd Government and some questions begin to niggle
In recent years the fact that Labor in Opposition often railed against the Howard Government but voted with it, on measures to restrict civil liberties and human rights, did not go unnoticed.
Now the Rudd Government is installed a number of questions arise.
In the March 2008 High Court legal challenge to provisions of Howard's NT Intervention, will the Commonwealth be registering an interest in the matter or will it be defending this racist legislation?
Now the Rudd Government is installed a number of questions arise.
In the March 2008 High Court legal challenge to provisions of Howard's NT Intervention, will the Commonwealth be registering an interest in the matter or will it be defending this racist legislation?
Will the Rudd Government adopt all the considered and moderate recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission's report on Howard's sedition laws or does it intend to drag its heels and hope we all forget about this sustained assault on our fundamental freedoms?
What is the this new government planning to do about the ludicrous situation which allowed Australian territory to be excised from the Commonwealth for the purpose of refugee status assessment?
Will the Rudd Cabinet have the guts to order a full review of Commonwealth anti- terrorism laws in relation to compliance with constitutional and international law?
I suspect that I am not the only one who would like a few answers.
Those glossy Sunday comics of yore
The older I get the more changes I see. It's the way of the world.
Amongst many other things, those wondrous, glossy coloured comic supplements in the Sunday newspapers of childhood are long gone.
However, in their reduced and anaemic modern equivalent at least some of the same cartoon strips remained to give a brief glimpse back to what always seems a gentler time.
So last week it was sad to see the passing of yet another of the cartoonists who drew Ginger Meggs, James Kemsley.
According to news reports, Jason Chatfield is stepping into the breach to keep Our Ginge alive. Welcome to the world of Aussie childhood memories, Jason.
Monday, 10 December 2007
Aussie professor plays at social engineering
The following has to be one of the most bird-witted ideas ever to come out of the ranks of the Australian medical profession.
"FAMILIES would pay a $5000-plus baby levy at birth and an annual carbon tax of up to $800 a child under a plan flagged in Australia's top medical journal.
Every couple with more than two children would be taxed to pay for enough trees to offset the carbon emissions generated over each child's lifetime.
Perth Assoc Prof Barry Walters outlines his proposal in yesterday's Medical Journal of Australia.
He calls for condoms and greenhouse-friendly services such as sterilisation procedures to earn carbon credits for the user and prescriber."
Herald Sun full article today:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22896354-662,00.html
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22896354-662,00.html
How wonderful. The good doctor proposes both a tax on the reproductive capacity of ordinary Australians and a way to earn carbon credits for himself and his cronies by sterilising the poor.
That's what this amounts to because only high income earners would be able to afford a third child under his crazy, crazy scheme.
Not since Hitler's Germany have I heard of such a bizarre approach to social policy.
If I didn't know better I would think this University of Western Australia associate professor had been nipping at the ether. Time for the Dean to have a quiet word with this gentleman.
The nuclear future we all missed by the skin of our teeth
Because John Howard's scare tactics failed him in 2007 and all his rabbits died of old age, Australia can thankfully look forward to another three years without the threat of commercial nuclear power stations being established in this country.
The NSW North Coast has cause to be particularly grateful as there were persistent rumours that this region was likely to find itself on any list of preferred sites.
This is a taste of what we managed to avoid.
"A GERMAN study has found that young children living near nuclear power plants have a significantly higher risk of developing leukaemia and other forms of cancer, a German newspaper reported today.
"Our study confirmed that in Germany a connection has been observed between the distance of a domicile to the nearest nuclear power plant .... and the risk of developing cancer, such as leukaemia, before the fifth birthday," Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper quoted the report as saying."
News.com.au yesterday:
Mungo MacCallum writes a book, "Poll Dancing: The Story Of The 2007 Election"
Quick-off-the-mark Mungo MacCallum's book "Poll Dancing: The Story Of The 2007 Election" goes onto bookstore shelves today.
If the edited extract below is any indication it should be a good read for all those who still have a smile on their face because Howard lost, lost, lost.
"John Howard clung to a sceptical view of climate change, and the storm of dissent overwhelmed him, writes Mungo MacCallum.
To describe John Howard as a climate-change sceptic, as he and his opponents frequently did, was something of an understatement.
Howard was not sceptical, or even agnostic; for many years he had been a card-carrying atheist, as his actions made clear. He would not ratify the Kyoto agreement; he would not consider carbon trading, let alone a carbon tax; he would not set serious targets for renewable energy, or even for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. From time to time he would politely suggest that the bigger polluters might like to have a look at ways to cut back; if they did, good, and if they didn't, so it went.
As the number of headlines about global warming increased through 2006, Howard remained unconvinced, but he recognised the political usefulness of the issue. If, he mused, there really was a problem (though the jury was still out), then perhaps we should try for cleaner coal; and, of course, any solution had to include nuclear power, because that would wedge the ALP. And would everyone please remember to turn off unwanted lights and put a brick in the cistern, because although Australia was such a small player in the emission stakes that nothing it did by itself could have the slightest effect, individuals could still make a difference, and what do you mean, "Humbug"?
None of this amounted to much, so when Malcolm Turnbull, the newly appointed water and environment supremo, was asked whether the government had a policy on climate change, he was in a sense quite right when he replied that the government had had a policy for 10 years. What he didn't say was that the policy went like this: Climate change probably isn't happening. But if it is happening and there is a problem, then the scientists will fix it. And if they can't fix it, then we'll have to adapt. And if we can't adapt, well, tough. But in any case, it probably isn't happening. This is less a policy than a state of mind, a fatalism of which Mother Teresa might have been proud. It is, however, an unsuitable attitude to take for a government which is meant to prevent rape, rather than invite the prospective victim to lie back and enjoy it.
It was always going to be risky for Howard if the issue suddenly became a significant one, which it duly did at the end of 2006. A wet American political has-been produced a science-fiction movie and a chinless British dilettante came out with a doomsday prophecy, and the bloody mob went mad. Or that's the way it must have looked to Howard: after all, there was nothing really new in either Al Gore's film or Sir Nicholas Stern's report. The scientists had been saying it all for months, if not years, and the lavishly funded critics had successfully held them at bay. Now, suddenly, what had been a scary but far-fetched hypothesis was received truth. The drought probably had something to do with it; even if, as Howard maintained, there was no proven link to climate change, it was a taste of what might be in the not-too-distant future.
There were still sceptics around, and they were getting an inordinate amount of media play. Interestingly, many of them were economists: the pseudo-scientists who delighted in their own warnings of doom and gloom were apparently unwilling to accept the same when it came backed up by hard evidence.
Certainly denial was no longer a tenable position for Howard; the voters demanded action. So they got it - up to a point. They got the Great Big Splash. Announcing it, Howard drew on Crocodile Dundee: Rudd called his education policy a revolution, laughed the prime minister. Well, that wasn't a revolution - this was a revolution. And so it was: a proposal to put $10 billion towards fixing the Murray-Darling Basin, if the states would hand over their water powers to the federal government - which meant to Aquaboy, Malcolm Turnbull. As policy, it presented problems, not least the almost complete lack of detail. But as politics it was Howard at his best, or so it appeared at the time. The government burst back into the game, grabbing the very territory on which it was thought to be weakest. Howard audaciously challenged the traditional federal structure, which Rudd had marked out for reform. He trumped Rudd's water summit and wedged the Labor premiers: in spite of some huffing and puffing, it was really an offer they could not afford to refuse. And of course, the sheer scale of the announcement drove all the other problems off the front pages.
With splendid serendipity the popular environmentalist Tim Flannery was named Australian of the Year. A week earlier this would have been an embarrassment to Howard: Flannery had been a constant critic of the government for its lack of action on global warming, and indeed warned that he would continue to be so. But in the circumstances, the front-page snaps of Howard and Flannery shaking hands seemed to presage a new dawn of environmental concern. You wanted the big picture? They don't come much bigger than this.
The $10 billion figure itself was more than somewhat suspect; it turned out that neither the Treasury nor the Department of Finance had been involved in its preparation. Indeed, neither had done any significant work on the problems associated with global warming and the consequent water shortages.
It quickly became obvious that the figure had simply been plucked out of the air; after all, it was a nice big round number, eminently suitable for a tabloid headline. Detailed costings were simply not available. The National Farmers Federation, which might have been expected to call for a week of thanksgiving at the size of the handout, said it might take a full year to work out the detail, and it wasn't giving the Great Big Splash so much as a tentative tick until the work was done.
But Aquaboy Turnbull was confident. The government's terms would be so generous that farmers would sob with gratitude as they accepted them. So compulsion would not be necessary - except, of course, as a very last resort … This, of course, was precisely what the Nats feared: that this smart-arse little urban playboy was taking over their traditional territory and teaching his grandmother to suck eggs. And it must be said that Turnbull is indeed a courageous choice for the delicate role of salesman-mediator. Turnbull is hugely intelligent, prodigiously energetic and almost insanely ambitious: his macrocephaly is not just physical. And, those who have spent time with him would add, he is an arrogant, abrasive, bumptious little bastard. Irritatingly, he pronounces "nuclear" as "nucular", in the manner of George Bush. Not only that, he has lousy political judgment: at the 1998 Constitutional Convention, Howard played him off a break, manoeuvring him into an unwinnable position which Turnbull was only too eager to take. Anyone with the temerity to try to point this folly out to him was either ignored or, more usually, abused. But defeat at the subsequent republic referendum did not soften the man; he had now brought his messianic temperament into the ministry, this time with Howard's enthusiastic support. His skyrocketing promotion to cabinet, and to a portfolio which was already proving vital in an election year, showed Howard's touching faith in a fellow megalomaniac. When he remembers to use it, Turnbull can exude a certain manic charm; he may be able to woo some of his fellow city-dwellers. But it is a lot harder to imagine him working the suspicious locals in an outback pub.
Even in the Billinudgel Hotel, a place sophisticated enough to serve salt-and-pepper squid on alternate weekends, Turnbull is regarded as just a bit too spivvy. As the No. 1 spruiker for the Great Big Splash, he would have his work cut out - if, indeed, anything remained of the Great Big Splash by the time of the election. A fortnight after its proclamation, its future looked as dubious as that of the rivers it was supposed to save.
Rudd, showing a chutzpah Howard and Turnbull must have found well nigh unbearable, generously offered to help. The issue was so important, he said gravely, that he would roll up his sleeves and get together with the premiers to help allay their misgivings.
Apart from driving Howard to apoplexy, Rudd was driving home the highly relevant point that Howard's Great Big Splash, or at least the trickle that was left of it, was only there to treat a symptom of climate change, not the cause; and on that cause the government seemed as hesitant as ever.
There was a real danger that if it did nothing at all, it would be left hopelessly behind. For instance, Howard had made a political virtue out of declaring the coal industry off-limits: nothing must be done to disturb Australia's comparative advantage as a producer or put at risk the jobs of the miners. And besides, if we didn't sell coal to China, someone else would (the eternal excuse of the arms salesman and the drug dealer). But the industry itself was taking a longer view: its leaders saw that if they ignored the rising tide of public concern, one day it might engulf them.
With great reluctance, Howard - now calling himself a climate-change "realist" - performed another backflip and announced that he would start to initiate the commencement of preparations to consider the theoretical possibility of an inquiry into the desirability of carbon trading. The government, in due course, would act promptly. Trading had been Labor policy for some time, so Rudd and his colleagues could legitimately claim that Howard was just playing catch-up.
It seemed to prove their point when, in reply to a question in Parliament from Rudd, Howard replied that the jury was still out on the link between global warming and man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Several hours later he returned to the House to say that he had misheard the question: he thought Rudd had been referring to the drought, not to man-made emissions, and while he believed the jury was still out over whether the drought was directly linked to climate change, he certainly believed that man-made emissions were, he honestly, truly did.
But, like Howard, Labor regarded the whole issue of coal as basically just too difficult. Rudd made it clear that while he supported all possible efforts to clean the industry up, Labor had no plans to shut it down or even phase it out. However, the Greens, unburdened by the prospect of having to implement their policy decisions, had no such inhibitions.
Bob Brown hit the airwaves to urge the major parties to use the next parliamentary term to come up with a policy aimed at phasing out coal exports - which, in practical terms, meant the industry. Or at least that was what he meant to say; what came out was more ambiguous, and could be taken to mean that the entire industry should be phased out within three years. In a frenzy of anti-Green glee most of the media took it to mean just that, and went on to brand Brown, yet again, as a lunatic zealot, an extremist whose real aim was to destroy industrial society and take humanity back to the caves.
The same tabloids reported a truly demented idea from the US absolutely straight: some deranged (so-called) scientists were proposing to reduce global warming by putting a large number of reflective fragments in orbit around the earth. They admitted cheerfully they weren't really sure what the side effects might be, but hey, it was worth a try. Yeah, and so was the cane toad. In comparison, Brown came across as quite boringly rational."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/blown-away-by-climate-folly/2007/12/07/1196813021293.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Hankering for Howard
I'm getting a little better at navigating the Internet since I started posting on North Coast Voices. Never too old to learn it seems.
Want a good belly laugh? Go to http://iserv.com.au/ and see Lord Watchdog vainly trying to preserve the Howard 'legacy'.
The poor Lord Watchamacallit woke up on Sunday 25 November hoping the election result was all a bad dream.
This site has multiple contributors and Whois.domaintools.com tells us that Brad Leet is the registrant contact name.
Someone using an identical IP apparently likes to use naughty words on Wikipedia.
Yes, I finally discovered Wikiscanner.virgil.gr.
Want a good belly laugh? Go to http://iserv.com.au/ and see Lord Watchdog vainly trying to preserve the Howard 'legacy'.
The poor Lord Watchamacallit woke up on Sunday 25 November hoping the election result was all a bad dream.
This site has multiple contributors and Whois.domaintools.com tells us that Brad Leet is the registrant contact name.
Someone using an identical IP apparently likes to use naughty words on Wikipedia.
Yes, I finally discovered Wikiscanner.virgil.gr.
Sunday, 9 December 2007
No, Andrew - ratifying Kyoto isn't going to automatically cost Australian taxpayers billions
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has ratified the Kyoto Protocol and the Herald Sun's Andrew Bolt is not pleased.
With his typical scaremongering style he trumpets that the Rudd Government has given away Australian taxpayers' money.
"THE instant Kevin Rudd signed the paper on Monday to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, he signed away $150 million of your money.
Or possibly as much as $2.5 billion, if reported leaks from senior government figures are right.
If that's what we lost on just day one of our new Kyoto future, imagine what this will cost us in the years ahead. Apart from our sanity, I mean."
Andrew Bolt's Sun Herald blog last Wednesday:
Andrew is having a lend of his readers on this issue, because Australia cannot be forced to pay over cash or have money fines imposed for any non-compliance with regard to greenhouse gas emission targets set under the Kyoto Protocol up to 2012.
According to compliance provisions of the UN Kyoto Protocol, it will have its targets increased after this if it fails to meet present target commitments.
"In the case of the enforcement branch, each type of non-compliance requires a specific course of action. For instance, where the enforcement branch has determined that the emissions of a Party have exceeded its assigned amount, it must declare that that Party is in non-compliance and require the Party to make up the difference between its emissions and its assigned amount during the second commitment period, plus an additional deduction of 30%. In addition, it shall require the Party to submit a compliance action plan and suspend the eligibility of the Party to make transfers under emissions trading until the Party is reinstated."
If Australia wants to make up the difference in its target shortfall or reduce any penalty target increase for the next commitment period it can of course purchase carbon credits from other member states before 2012.
This would be an entirely voluntary decision.
Andrew Bolt may be the most talked about journalist in Australia according to his home newspaper the Herald Sun, but it is for all the wrong reasons. His work belongs in the penny dreadfuls.
Kyoto Protocol document:
Kyoto Protocol member compliance:
Is there a doctor in the house? This bloke needs one.
There's a little bloke, who's no longer recognised by most Aussies, wearing a name tag that identifies him as 'Johnny Win-some, Lose-a-lot, Rotten-to-the -core, Howard'. This fella, who has emerged on the speakers circuit, is endeavouring to make a name for himself by touting about this, that and other things. The prime 'other things' topic he's on about is how the Liberals can return from their political grave by simply, now get this funny one, behaving themselves.
Johnny Appleseed should stop beating around the bush and start speaking with the lot most responsible for their kamikaze-like performance. For starters, he should take the super dry religious freak David Clarke and his crackpot cronies aside and tell them a few hard facts about life.
Johnny Appleseed should stop beating around the bush and start speaking with the lot most responsible for their kamikaze-like performance. For starters, he should take the super dry religious freak David Clarke and his crackpot cronies aside and tell them a few hard facts about life.
Read more about "Behave yourself and you'll win: Howard to Libs" at:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/behave-yourself-and-youll-win-howard/2007/12/08/1196813083754.htmlAt last. A High Court challenge to NT intervention
A High Court challenge to the Howard Government's Northern Territory 'intervention' is now proceeding.
"THE constitutional challenge that former indigenous affairs minister Mal Brough warned could destroy the emergency intervention in the Northern Territory is expected to go before the full bench of the High Court in March.
Traditional owner Reggie Wurridjal and the Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation will challenge the legality of the Commonwealth's five-year acquisition of land under the intervention and question its ability to seize assets of indigenous corporations.
They will also challenge the scrapping of the permit system, which allows indigenous communities to decide who comes in and out."
The Age yesterday:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/high-court-challenge-to-nt-intervention/2007/12/07/1196813026893.html
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/high-court-challenge-to-nt-intervention/2007/12/07/1196813026893.html
It is noteworthy that this attempt to redress wrongs being done in the name of emergency social intervention is not being undertaken by the new Rudd Government (which has only promised a review of some aspects of the supporting legislation) but by some of the indigenous people most affected.
It is to be hoped that the applicants are able to focus the full attention of the High Court on these matters, for Parliament had certainly lost its wits when these measures were allowed to come into existence.
Pacific solution ends but questions remain
The new Federal Labor Government appears to be moving in the right direction with regard to a more humanitarian stance towards legitimate refugees.
However, I have not heard any mention of changing the status of territories such as Christmas and Cocos Islands which were excised by the Howard Government in its hardline lockout of boat people.
November 24 was about more than WorkChoices, education, health and home affordability. Let's hope that Kevin Rudd remembers this.
Sydney Morning Herald yesterday:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/pacific-solution-ends-but-tough-stance-to-remain/2007/12/07/1196813021259.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/pacific-solution-ends-but-tough-stance-to-remain/2007/12/07/1196813021259.html
The post-election Liberals just can't help themselves
It seems the bloody nose received by the Liberal Party on election night is acting like burley tossed into shark-infested waters.
Shadow-Treasurer Malcolm Turnbull's latest contribution to the violent feeding frenzy is to let it be known that he now disputes the legitimacy of the recent Liberal Party leadership vote.
Once extensive media coverage was achieved he then issued a hair-splitting denial. An unedifying spectacle.
If this internal wrangling continues Brendan Nelson's leadership might be over by mid-2008.
However it will take much longer for the general public to take this political party seriously after all the recent dummy spits.
Saturday, 8 December 2007
Brendan Nelson - a man for all seasons or is he just another political con artist?
It would seem that Brendan Nelson has become the latest fashion accessory on the Australian political scene.
Yes, Brendan can rise to the occasion, whatever the occasion. Want a Labor voter in your midst? Just call on Brendan. He'll be happy to accommodate your needs. Want a Liberal voter? Then don't hestitate, give Brendan a call.
Brendan has the rare capacity possessed only by fair dinkum political chameleons. He can change political colour, no matter what the occasion.
The Australian (December 8) carries a report headed " Nelson admits 'wrong, stupid' lie"
Read it at: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22889501-5014046,00.html
Yes, Brendan can rise to the occasion, whatever the occasion. Want a Labor voter in your midst? Just call on Brendan. He'll be happy to accommodate your needs. Want a Liberal voter? Then don't hestitate, give Brendan a call.
Brendan has the rare capacity possessed only by fair dinkum political chameleons. He can change political colour, no matter what the occasion.
The Australian (December 8) carries a report headed " Nelson admits 'wrong, stupid' lie"
Read it at: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22889501-5014046,00.html
Will John Howard become the 'Guy Fawkes' effigy atop North Coast bonfires in the future?
After almost eleven years of stubborn denial and laggardly response to climate change, the former Howard Government has left Australia in a position where the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics December 2007 report can state that this country's wheat, beef, dairy and sugar commodities "could decline by an estimated 9-10 per cent by 2030 and 13-19 per cent by 2050" due to the effects of climate change.
With our export of key agricultural commodities likely to "decline by 11-63 per cent by 2030 and 15-79 per cent by 2050".
Australia is predicted to be one of the worst hit countries in terms of reductions in agricultural production and export, and because such a lot of our wool, wheat, sugar, beef, veal and lamb goes for export our balance of trade is going to resemble a third world country's economic outlook.
It seems almost inevitable that John Howard's personal attitude to climate change will result in Australia ceasing to be the lucky country within a generation.
It is by no means certain that the new Rudd Government will have the luxury of time to turn this situation around or to make a significant impact on this gloomy scenario.
The NSW North Coast sugar industry would be unable to survive if the percentage decline in production was uniformly distributed, as there would not be a reliable harvest to keep the Broadwater and Harwood mills viable.
It is likely that North Coast residents will see John Howard as the same type of folklore bogeyman as the English Guy Fawkes - stupid and destructive.
His likeness will deserve to burn in effigy whenever a local bonfire is lit.
ABARE December 2007 report - climate change section:
The Australian article on ABARE report:
The new broom in Commonwealth-State health policy
The new Federal Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon, has given the states and territories one week to come back with answers on how they will clear their elective surgery waiting lists so that people are not waiting for surgery beyond a medically acceptable time.
One has to hope that last Friday's meeting between Ms. Roxon and her state counterparts was as productive as reported.
The NSW North Coast also has to hope that specific health funding promised by Labor during the recent federal election campaign flows quickly through to the NSW Dept. of Health and onto the local area health service, so that our district and base hospitals will see the practical results of a much needed catch-up in infrastructure and services.
Will the Cowper electorate see even less of Hartsuyker now?
Nationals MP for Cowper Luke Hartsuyker has just joined the Coalition outer shadow ministry with the portfolio of business development and independent contractors.
The esteemed Mr. Hartsuyker never did live up to his promise to regularly visit areas across his Cowper electorate, and once Yamba was slated to move out of his seat at the 2007 federal election he effectively abandoned this small town.
So it will be interesting to watch how he performs as a North Coast MP holding his federal seat on a reduced margin. Especially as he takes the junior ministry carrot and tries to parley this into a higher profile within the Coalition.
I'm tipping that Cowper will see even less of its MP than before.
The esteemed Mr. Hartsuyker never did live up to his promise to regularly visit areas across his Cowper electorate, and once Yamba was slated to move out of his seat at the 2007 federal election he effectively abandoned this small town.
So it will be interesting to watch how he performs as a North Coast MP holding his federal seat on a reduced margin. Especially as he takes the junior ministry carrot and tries to parley this into a higher profile within the Coalition.
I'm tipping that Cowper will see even less of its MP than before.
Friday, 7 December 2007
Luke Hartsuyker - the Nats' "one true potential star"_ _ _ _ _ ????
One has to wonder how many voters on the north coast of NSW, but especially those who have the privilege of having the National Party's Luke Hartsuyker as their local member, are even faintly aware of his celebrity status.
The Australian's Denis Shanahan wrote on Friday (December 7), "The Nationals’ sorry state and adherence to inflexible seniority has kept the Nationals’ one true potential star, Luke Hartsuyker, in the outer ministry".
Sorry, come again Denis. What's this business about Hartsuyker being the Nationals’ one true potential star?
What evidence does Denis have that causes him to write such stuff? The locals in the electorate of Cowper have every right to know 'cause as sure as eggs they haven't seen any such evidence that would give support to Shanahan's view? Perhaps Luke saves up his best performances for when he's wining and dining with members of the parliamentary press gallery in Canberra.
Read this and other comments about the mob Brendan Nelson selected to make up the numbers in the Opposition's shadow ministry at:
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/dennisshanahan/index.php/theaustralian/comments/shadow_ministry_cast_by_brutal_arithmetic/
The Australian's Denis Shanahan wrote on Friday (December 7), "The Nationals’ sorry state and adherence to inflexible seniority has kept the Nationals’ one true potential star, Luke Hartsuyker, in the outer ministry".
Sorry, come again Denis. What's this business about Hartsuyker being the Nationals’ one true potential star?
What evidence does Denis have that causes him to write such stuff? The locals in the electorate of Cowper have every right to know 'cause as sure as eggs they haven't seen any such evidence that would give support to Shanahan's view? Perhaps Luke saves up his best performances for when he's wining and dining with members of the parliamentary press gallery in Canberra.
Read this and other comments about the mob Brendan Nelson selected to make up the numbers in the Opposition's shadow ministry at:
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/dennisshanahan/index.php/theaustralian/comments/shadow_ministry_cast_by_brutal_arithmetic/
Just how many times did Julie Bishop say, "Mr. Rudd has set this standard"
Well the Rudd Government's new ministerial code of conduct has been announced and it appears that the Liberal Party at least are rather put out by its contents.
I lost count of just how many times Liberal Party Deputy Leader, Julie Bishop, told the ABC's Lateline program last night "But Mr Rudd has set this standard, it's a standard that we'll be holding his ministers to" or words to that effect. Ms. Bishop was showing a rather fixed smile by the time she finished what began to sound like an endless mantra.
While the new Shadow Special Minister for State, Michael Rolandson, was insisting that a part of the new code was just a political stunt.
I get the distinct impression that the Federal Opposition was hoping that this new ministerial code would not surface in the opening week of the Rudd Government, as it was looking forward to using The Australian to run its line that a code of conduct no-show was a broken Labor election campaign promise.
Unfortunately for Brendan Nelson, Julie Bishop and Co., the mere fact that a new code was required so swiftly had less to do with campaign promises and more to do with an immediate need to rectify the mockery of ministerial responsibility John Howard endorsed during his time in government.
The Age yesterday:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/code-sets-rules-for-rudd-team/2007/12/06/1196812922362.html
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/code-sets-rules-for-rudd-team/2007/12/06/1196812922362.html
ABC News today:
Thursday, 6 December 2007
THAT other Kevin
Lost and Found
Not so desperately seeking a not-so-special "Kevin"
"Kevin" is known to answer to the name "Andrews" when his chain is rattled or his feed bin is about to be topped up. He was last sighted in the vicinity of the sinecure of the Victorian electorate of Menzies where blue and purple rinsed darlings gave him their donkey vote. Well, they would, wouldn't they? Yes, Kevin drew the inside gate and appeared at the top of the ballot paper.
However, the very strong word coming from scrutineers in Menzies is that Kevvy's mob directed their second preferences to Life Choices Dr Philip Nitschke. http://www.peacefulpillhandbook.com
Gee, that's terminal! It looks like even Kevvy's best mates can see the writing on the wall.
Kevin's leader, One-Eyed Nelson, reckons he hasn't acquired the mentor status that his colleagues Costello, Downer, Vaile, Ruddock, et al. enjoy.
Consequently, Kevin has to do more hard yards to ensure the electorate is 110% convinced that he's a goose. Heck! That's grossly unfair. Truly, after his contributions in his previous portfolios, Kevvy is right up there with the best/worst of his coalition mates.
Could it be that Kevvy's pecuniary interests associated with family counselling are too much of an impost and he doesn't have the time to mentor his parliamentary colleagues?
Not so desperately seeking a not-so-special "Kevin"
"Kevin" is known to answer to the name "Andrews" when his chain is rattled or his feed bin is about to be topped up. He was last sighted in the vicinity of the sinecure of the Victorian electorate of Menzies where blue and purple rinsed darlings gave him their donkey vote. Well, they would, wouldn't they? Yes, Kevin drew the inside gate and appeared at the top of the ballot paper.
However, the very strong word coming from scrutineers in Menzies is that Kevvy's mob directed their second preferences to Life Choices Dr Philip Nitschke. http://www.peacefulpillhandbook.com
Gee, that's terminal! It looks like even Kevvy's best mates can see the writing on the wall.
Kevin's leader, One-Eyed Nelson, reckons he hasn't acquired the mentor status that his colleagues Costello, Downer, Vaile, Ruddock, et al. enjoy.
Consequently, Kevin has to do more hard yards to ensure the electorate is 110% convinced that he's a goose. Heck! That's grossly unfair. Truly, after his contributions in his previous portfolios, Kevvy is right up there with the best/worst of his coalition mates.
Could it be that Kevvy's pecuniary interests associated with family counselling are too much of an impost and he doesn't have the time to mentor his parliamentary colleagues?
"The Australian" forgets to apologise to all its readers
Last Tuesday The Australian published a formal apology to George Newhouse from Caroline Overington and expressed its own regret. It neglected to apologise to its readers for the unedifying manner in which it allowed a journalist to 'report' the political contest in the seat of Wentworth.
I have to wonder why Ms. Overington has not been sacked by the newspaper. She surely deserves summary dismissal for inserting herself in the political process rather than simply reporting the election campaign.
The Australian published apology.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22865525-5013948,00.html
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22865525-5013948,00.html
Less annoying bumph from your local Federal MP
What a relief. Kevin Rudd has stated that the printing allowance of federal MPs will be cut by $50,000 and their staff numbers reduced by one third.
We may finally see an end to that annoying parade of calendars, fridge magnets and notepads which turn up in our letter boxes, along with those self-aggrandising glossy leaflets short on policy information but packed with photos of the local member.
Prime Minister Rudd is also reported to be intending to reduce ministry and shadow ministry staff to 1996 levels.
These are eminently sensible cost saving measures expected to yield savings of $209 million over the next three years.
Now if somebody would just hide the bulk-mail frank from those eager beaver MPs.
Sydney Morning Herald today:
Time for the Liberal Party to get over it
Bill Kelty in The Age on Sunday telling the post-election Liberal Party a few home truths, of a type which Brendan Nelson and others are yet to take onboard.
"The clear message for the Liberal Party is to get over it. The party will never win elections while it does not have a fair share of nurses, teachers, police and tradespeople voting for it.
The imperative is to reconnect with the two great impulses of its existence — the belief in individual freedom and the willingness to fight for small-l liberal values by opposing apartheid, endorsing multiculturalism, standing up to bureaucratic bullying, welcoming refugees and fighting for liberty.
There have been many champions of these values in the Liberal Party — people such as Malcolm Fraser, Andrew Peacock and, more recently, Petro Georgiou, Judi Moylan, Russell Broadbent and Bruce Baird. As the party distanced itself from them, it has misplaced its own heart and reason for being.
Moreover, as time and political convenience separated it from the great nation and state builders such as Bolte, Court, Playford and Kennett, it lost its claim to being a practical party."
Full Kelty article:
Few are searching for Brendan Nelson or Warren Truss
It seems that the elevation of Liberals Nelson and Nationals Truss to leaders of their parliamentary parties has caused barely a search term ripple in Google Trends.
Does this mean that Australia thinks it knows all it wants to about these two leaders or does it mean that nobody currently cares?
Google Trends result for last 30 days:
http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22kevin+rudd%22%2C+%22brendan+nelson%22%2C+%22warren+truss%22&ctab=0&geo=all&date=mtd&sort=0
http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22kevin+rudd%22%2C+%22brendan+nelson%22%2C+%22warren+truss%22&ctab=0&geo=all&date=mtd&sort=0
It still means that you lost, Chris
I hear that failed Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis is pointing out to any who'll listen that he actually received the most primary votes in Page at the recent federal election. Newsflash, Chris. This still means that the people who didn't want to see you go to Canberra were more numerous than the total number who actually wanted to see you become the local member of parliament.
Did senior US official discuss Iran sanctions with Gillard, Smith and Fitzgibbon?
On Wednesday US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns met with the new Deputy Prime Minister and ministers for defence and foreign affairs.
Did those discussions canvass America's desire to increase sanctions against Iran and did the new Rudd Government signal an agreement in principal with this course of action?
Australia has already been led down the garden path over the supposed threat posed by Iraq, with disastrous results.
Given that US intelligence reports that Iran abandoned its nuclear weapons program four years ago, surely Australia is not eager to continue obliging the Bush Administration's desire to bully the entire globe.
Being a friend to Bush's America is a rather dubious and dangerous state of affairs. It does nothing for Australia's international standing.
One hopes that the Rudd Government will be cautious with regard to any approach by the US relating to the Middle East issues.
The Age article yesterday:http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/US-to-press-for-new-Iran-sanctions/2007/12/05/1196812829798.html
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
Mungo's on the mark - - - yet again!
Mungo McCallum scores another bull's eye when writing in Byron Bay's Echo.
Read the full text of Mungo's column at :
http://www.echo.net.au/pg.php?issues_id=22_26&pg=10&view=gif
Mungo is, as usual, right on the mark. Mungo wrote, in part:
Read the full text of Mungo's column at :
http://www.echo.net.au/pg.php?issues_id=22_26&pg=10&view=gif
Mungo is, as usual, right on the mark. Mungo wrote, in part:
If you have any doubt that the election of a Rudd Labor government has changed the country, consider this: a year ago, did you imagine that the Prime Minister would be sending an openly gay woman of Chinese ancestry to
And the third major symbol will be the long overdue apology to the stolen generation, now being prepared, as it should be, not just by the government, but in consultation with Aboriginal leaders.
Will Australia cease being a rogue state anytime soon?
Now an education revolution is a fine thing for any government to undertake and it is an investment in the future, but if I hear about this Rudd Government priority one more time this week I will scream.
Children's education needs to include other things besides computers and the standard curriculum. Things like an understanding of ethical behaviour and the rights of others. Something they are not going to learn from examining Australian society at present.
For the last seven years Australian governments at both federal and state level have introduced a whole raft of legislation which attacks basic human rights and is often in prima facie breach of international law.
The Commonwealth Criminal Code now enshrines most of these abuses.
Since 2001 the Australian Government on a wink, wink, nudge, nudge, basis has condoned kidnapping, false imprisonment, torture and more.
The former Howard Government marched us all off to two wars which may yet lead to war crimes charges.
Less about computers and more about a review of all Commonwealth legislation to ensure it meets Australia's obligations under UN treaties and instruments, Prime Minister. We have been living in a rogue state for too long.
In The Age yesterday. A short summation of what the Rudd Government needs to urgently address:
Well, we had to do something during all those boring government ads!
Australia's population nudged over the 21 million mark in June this year. For the first time in years the annual birthrate is looking healthy at 1.85 babies per woman in the country.
Now some might say that the baby bonus encouraged a few more pregnancies. But I think that more people switched off the tellie to escape those long and boring federal government ads which ran during the last year of the Howard Government, and found much better things to do with their time than be alert and alarmed.
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
"The Australian" has a nervous breakdown after its horse failed to come in
The Australian gives space to Mark Steyn, a Canadian columnist and film and music critic, who laments the fall of the Howard Government as "A loss for civilisation".
After reading this unmitigated tripe, I was at a loss for words. Pity Steyn wasn't.
Though it was somewhat amusing to see John Howard's name still connected with this sort of clumsy attempt at a xenophobic scare campaign.
The Australian Steyn article yesterday:http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22857673-7583,00.html
Rudd gets no honeymoon from Media With Conscience News - A Site without Borders
Gideon Polya who had for years taken the fight right up to the Howard Government over its participation in the unlawful invasion and occupation of Iraq, now reminds Prime Minister Rudd that leaving any Australian troops in Iraq for another three years will inevitably involve this country in further violations of Articles 55 and 56 of the Geneva Convention.
His editorial states: "Most Australians don't like child-killing, mass murder and war and are overwhelmingly opposed to the Bush Iraq War. We certainly didn't vote for the continuing complicity of Australia in the passive mass murder of Iraqi kids at the rate of 0.1 million every year --"
Polya full editorial on 1 December 2007:
It is my understanding that Mr. Polya's war crimes complaint to the United Nations and The Hague is still extant.
Taxing conundrum
If a fine is a tax for not behaving well and a tax is a fine for doing well - what exactly is the GST?
Time for the Federal Government to revisit how the GST is calculated on some goods on supermarket shelves, in order to iron out anomalies which see the poor sometimes paying up to 11-12% consumption tax on certain items.
Monday, 3 December 2007
Today the Australian Governor-General accepted the formal resignation of outgoing Prime Minister Howard, so there is only one thing left to say...
Image found at http://typingisnotactivism.wordpress.com
Saving Migaloo, the white fella whale
Environment Minister Peter Garrett has stated that when he attends the new federal government's first cabinet meeting today he will be raising Labor's election promise to send the Australian Navy south to monitor the Japanese whaling fleet.
This pseudo-scientific annual kill by Japanese whaling vessels, which in reality is a highly lucrative commercial endeavour, must be stopped.
Diplomacy may have its value, however it is of little use for the Australian Government to be successful at International Whaling Commission meetings on this issue if Japan continues to flout the rules in this manner.
This year for the first time since the moratorium on commercial whaling in southern waters began, the Japanese fleet will also be hunting Humpback as well as Fin and Minke whales.
The highly visible white whale Migaloo will therefore be vulnerable.
The NSW North Coast has a special interest in these whales as their migration path runs close inshore to our coastline each year. They are a unique attraction and are affectionately viewed as a special part of our local environment.
Greenpeace continues to do a splendid job in monitoring the annual southern whale hunt, but the fact remains that the Japanese Government will only respond to our concerns if the Rudd Government gets serious about protecting these gentle giants of the sea.
This first Labor cabinet meeting will also be a test of how seriously other ministers take Peter Garrett's concerns.
At a personal level I intend to take Clarencegirl's advice and boycott all Japanese produce and products from now on.
The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/whale-watch/alp-faces-whale-of-a-decision/2007/12/01/1196394682277.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/whale-watch/alp-faces-whale-of-a-decision/2007/12/01/1196394682277.html
Migaloo information and pictures:
Piers Akerman, the last boy left on the burning deck
One has to hand it to The Daily Telegraph's Piers Akerman. He is nothing if not consistent.
Here is a quote from his latest 'reading' of the political climate.
"Prime minister-elect Kevin Rudd's decision to give his deputy Julia Gillard the responsibility for both industrial relations and education sends the trade union movement a confused message.
After gambling their members' money on an expensive 12-month advertising campaign in support of Rudd Labor, union leaders are concerned that IR has been relegated to a part-time portfolio.
The Howard government's clunky WorkChoices legislation was central to Labor's fear message and it appears to have worked in all parts of Australia except WA, which happens to have the highest number of people employed on the Australian Workplace Agreements the Rudd Government is sworn to outlaw.
Workers on those agreements are now wondering whether they can enlist the support of WA Premier Allan Carpenter to protect them from federal Labor, which they see as driven by power brokers a long way from the realities of their state's minerals boom.
With the nation enjoying its lowest level of industrial unrest in living memory, IR will have to be carefully managed and Gillard will have a lot on her plate driving Rudd's promised education revolution."
Yesterday's Akerman article in The Daily Telegraph:
Akerman ignores the fact that transitional arrangements for changes to WorkChoices were on track at the time he wrote this piece, as well as conveniently forgetting that WA electorates in mining areas generally came out strongly in favour of federal Labor on 24 November.
One has to wonder why if Akerman's worried 'workers' were so numerous as to rate a mention, he didn't include a direct quote and name for at least one.
This Akerman piece is just another reworking of his federal election campaign positions.
Yet another MP predicted to take his bat and ball and go home
I really wonder why some Libs and Nats bothered to stand for re-election this time around.
Liberals Phillip Ruddock is said to have joined the growing band of Coalition MPs who were successfully elected this month but are expected to retire before the parliamentary term has ended. Talk about bad faith! Childish and petulant because their side didn't win the match and now these electorates are to endure by-elections sometime in the next eighteen months to two years.
Sunday, 2 December 2007
Labour MP Janelle Saffin gets positive reception in her new North Coast electorate
"On Saturday night Janelle Saffin made history as the first female elected to represent the electorate of Page.
So I asked her about being a woman in the male-dominated world of politics.
"A lot of people were very warm about it," she said. "There was just one man, at one market, who said 'I never thought I would see the day a woman would go for Parliament'. There were two young men there and they both jumped in and said: 'Isn't it wonderful. It's about time'."
In Grafton she said people would sing out to her in the street: Go Girl!
"I'm 53," she said. "Go Girl is pretty cool. It could have been Go Grandma. I think maybe it says something about my energy too. You need it for this job."
The Northern Rivers Echo full article:
Cowper's very local Local MP is not up to the deputy leadership of the Nats
Citizens in the electorate of Cowper can breathe easy again and start sleeping at night. Their Local MP, Luke Hartsuyker, pulled out of the race for deputy leadership of the Nationals. Mr Hartsuyker said the job would involve spending too much time outside his electorate.
With the very skinny margin that Hartsuyker has in the seat of Cowper you can bet your bottom dollar he will be out and about in the electorate a heck of a lot more than previously. Perhaps he might even fully acquaint himself with the devil in the detail of WorkChoices, a policy he knew precious little about but was always ready to jump up and support. Readers of The Clarence Valley Review have golden memories of Luke's inability to provide answers to questions about WorkChoices that the Review put to him.
Read about Harsuyker's decision at:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22856839-12377,00.html
With the very skinny margin that Hartsuyker has in the seat of Cowper you can bet your bottom dollar he will be out and about in the electorate a heck of a lot more than previously. Perhaps he might even fully acquaint himself with the devil in the detail of WorkChoices, a policy he knew precious little about but was always ready to jump up and support. Readers of The Clarence Valley Review have golden memories of Luke's inability to provide answers to questions about WorkChoices that the Review put to him.
Read about Harsuyker's decision at:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22856839-12377,00.html
Natasha has style
Democrats Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja sent out a press release shortly after Kevin Rudd announced his ministry, praising the inclusion of the highest number of women in senior Cabinet roles since Federation.
After watching her own party get decimated at the polls, she still looked to the positive for Australian society - now that's what I call grace and style.
Never heard a peep from the Liberal's new deputy leader, Julie Bishop.
Ruddock refused to budge on sedition laws - will Rudd be any different?
One of the unsettling features of the recent federal election campaign was its narrow focus. There was barely even lipservice paid to concerns about the extensive anti-terrorism and sedition laws created by the Howard Government over the last seven years.
Every parliamentary committee or independent commission appointed to review Australia's sedition laws recommended major amendments to and sometimes scrapping of much contained in that new legislation covering 'sedition'.
The Howard Government had rushed these laws through parliament on the promise that it would accept the Australian Law Reform Commission review findings and recommendations when these were tabled at a future date. However, then Attorney-General, Phillip Ruddock reneged on full acceptance of the Commission's recommendations and his department has not been overly enthusiastic in its approach to the little which Ruddock did endorse.
The question which now confronts the Australian community is whether Kevin Rudd will rescue our civil liberties and remove these potential impediments to free speech. During the recent election campaign he was quick to promise a change to Freedom of Information legislation and regulations, but was silent on our sedition laws.
Rudd now heads a Labor government with an extremely healthy majority in the House of Representatives. By next July it will have a strong ally in the Senate, the Greens, on matters relating to civil liberties and social justice. So will Rudd move on these flawed sedition laws or have we just exchanged one right-wing philosophy for another?
I hope that Kevin Rudd and Labor will recognise widespread and legitimate concern over sedition law evidenced by submissions, and move quickly to implement all of the recommendations outlined in the Australian Law Reform Commission's report. Legitimate dissent is a vital part of the democratic process and deserves to be protected by law.
'New-look' Libs still flirt with the political dark side according to Clarence Valley media
The new Liberal Party leadership team are not to enjoy a honeymoon period in the Clarence Valley.
Yesterday's editorial in The Daily Examiner took the Liberal Party and Brendan Nelson to task for the continuing refusal to say sorry to indigenous Australians.
Saying of the Liberal Party attitude: "Even though the wealthiest benefactors/supporters of the Liberals, and the Nationals for that matter, had made their fortunes by dispossessing Aboriginal tribes for two centuries, white Australia was not responsible.----they still flirt with the Hansonites on the political dark side."
Many in the Clarence Valley are shocked that this 'new-look' Liberal Party seems to have learnt next to nothing from its recent electoral defeat, and the editor was merely reflecting a growing
disquiet within the community.
Saturday, 1 December 2007
NEWS FLash - John Howard reveals his Christmas destination
Following a conversation with former PM, John Howard, NCV is able to reveal startling "relevations" (sic) [yep! that exactly how JWH put it] about where he will be on Christmas Day.
NCV can confirm that JWH WILL NOT be spending Christmas with the Doug Anthony All Stars.
Avid JWH fans ... watch this space.
NCV can confirm that JWH WILL NOT be spending Christmas with the Doug Anthony All Stars.
Avid JWH fans ... watch this space.
Former PM admits he's been getting his dates mixed up
Exclusive
North Coast Voices has had the luxury of a private viewing of former PM John Howard's diary entries.
JWH said his diary will be heavily used when he appears on the public speaking scene in town and country halls across the country in the New Year. However JWH confided to NCV that he hasn't had any luck in securing the services of an agent who would be prepared to take him under its wing and organise what he is very confident would be a block busting success.
Should he fail to appear on the public speaking scene by Easter, JWH said he would opt for the far more lucrative option of going straight to the big screen and produce and direct a movie about himself.
JWH said he figured a public speaking tour was the very least he should do in order to repay his followers across the breadth of this great nation. In an aside, JWH remarked that he thought the many public appearances he could make would provide him with ideal opportunities to use the blanket appeal strategy and collect any loose coins and folding money his mates had left. "My finances are not what some people say they are. Living off a mere $300,000 pa will be no easy matter. My good wife and I have become accustomed to a life style that we won't be able to throw away lightly. Why else do you reckon I hung in there tooth and nail?"
When asked how 2007 had unfolded for him, JWH exclaimed, "Drats! I thought, sure as eggs, that 2007 was the Chinese Year of the Rat. In fact, I was so sure of myself I would have put good money on it. Not that I'm a gambling man. No sirreee! I'm a Sunday School goer. Mind you, it wouldn't have been my money anyway because, as you all know, I've had my hand in the public purse for so long that I don't even have a wallet I call my own. After all, why would I need one?"
"I've been the nation's prime rodent for over 11 years. Just quietly, some of my best mates reckon I'm the best lying rodent this nation has ever had. And who am I to argue with them?"
When told 2008 was the Year of the Pig, JWH said that made things a whole lot better for him.
"Phew, that's a big help. I'll be able to use that in my speeches. That'll get me off the hook. I'll tell the good folks out there in voter land I had every right to pork barrel because it was the Year of the Pig."
North Coast Voices has had the luxury of a private viewing of former PM John Howard's diary entries.
JWH said his diary will be heavily used when he appears on the public speaking scene in town and country halls across the country in the New Year. However JWH confided to NCV that he hasn't had any luck in securing the services of an agent who would be prepared to take him under its wing and organise what he is very confident would be a block busting success.
Should he fail to appear on the public speaking scene by Easter, JWH said he would opt for the far more lucrative option of going straight to the big screen and produce and direct a movie about himself.
JWH said he figured a public speaking tour was the very least he should do in order to repay his followers across the breadth of this great nation. In an aside, JWH remarked that he thought the many public appearances he could make would provide him with ideal opportunities to use the blanket appeal strategy and collect any loose coins and folding money his mates had left. "My finances are not what some people say they are. Living off a mere $300,000 pa will be no easy matter. My good wife and I have become accustomed to a life style that we won't be able to throw away lightly. Why else do you reckon I hung in there tooth and nail?"
When asked how 2007 had unfolded for him, JWH exclaimed, "Drats! I thought, sure as eggs, that 2007 was the Chinese Year of the Rat. In fact, I was so sure of myself I would have put good money on it. Not that I'm a gambling man. No sirreee! I'm a Sunday School goer. Mind you, it wouldn't have been my money anyway because, as you all know, I've had my hand in the public purse for so long that I don't even have a wallet I call my own. After all, why would I need one?"
"I've been the nation's prime rodent for over 11 years. Just quietly, some of my best mates reckon I'm the best lying rodent this nation has ever had. And who am I to argue with them?"
When told 2008 was the Year of the Pig, JWH said that made things a whole lot better for him.
"Phew, that's a big help. I'll be able to use that in my speeches. That'll get me off the hook. I'll tell the good folks out there in voter land I had every right to pork barrel because it was the Year of the Pig."
Our very last Howard poll
In a mood of rollicking good humour, a liquid lunchtime discussion turned to canvassing the ideal place for John Howard to spend his retirement. Transylvania and Iraq both got a mention, as did locations close to George Bush or Maggie Thatcher.
The final list is now up in the North Coast Voices sidebar as a poll. Tell us what you think!
And the latest news from Bennelong is.....
According to the Australian Electoral Commission's Virtual Tally Room at 6.51pm on Friday 30 November 2007 the vote in Bennelong now stands at:
John Howard 41,159 two-party preferred or 48.75%
Maxine McKew 43,272 two-party preferred or 51.25%
Maxine McKew has rightfully claimed victory, but John Howard is such a wimp that he is waiting for the Electoral Commission to concede defeat on his behalf.
At least on the NSW North Coast all the losers on both sides showed a bit of spine.
No accord in the Liberal camp
There are no harmonious sounds issuing from the Liberal Party these days. They are a sad and sorry lot at present.
John Howard, through Tony Abbot, let us all know that the reason the Coalition lost the 2007 federal election was that Australia just wanted a change. Apparently that Saturday morning we all went to the wardrobe, didn't like what hung there and decided to go out and buy a new summer outfit.
Peter Costello is saying that the lack of new Coalition leadership led to its defeat and obviously wondering where to go from here.
Judith Troeth is blaming Costello's leadership ambitions for the party's electoral trouncing.
The Queensland Libs are now busily tearing the party apart ostensibly on state issues.
West Australian Libs are looking sideways at each other and pointing the finger.
While the accord between Brendan Nelson and Malcolm Turnbull apparently never really began.
"Malcolm Turnbull stormed into the new Liberal leader's parliamentary office within an hour of Thursday's leadership vote, tearing into Brendan Nelson over his "funereal speech" and urging him to toughen up."
The Australian today:
And their Nationals partner is quietly blaming Mark Vaile as well as the Liberal Party for its own poor showing at the ballot box.
Across the board many Coalition MPs are considering whether it is worth the effort to honour their contract with Australia and serve out full terms.
Despite a few brave words for public consumption it seems that a number of those in the Coalition team don't expect to regain federal government in 2010 or even 2013 for that matter.
It is beginning to look as though being the Opposition is not going to suit these former tall poppies.
A message to the Rudds
Now that Kevin Rudd is the Prime Minister of Australia, the Rudd family needs to look back on the Howard era for lessons in how not to proceed.
Lesson 1: Don't make the mistake of keeping Kirribilli House as a principal residence. The cost alone will make ordinary Australians rather annoyed at such indulgence.
Lesson 2: Don't go in for any major refurbishment of either The Lodge or Kirribilli House. Live with the Howard's suspect taste in interior design. Australia didn't elect a Labor government to see money wasted on more expensive furniture, drapery or silverware.
Lesson 3: Remember at all times that the Governor-General is the Australian head of state and act accordingly. Don't show yourselves as ignorant as the Howard's on this matter.
Lesson 4: Australia elected the politician in the family not the life partner. Don't give Australia the impression that Ms. Rein has undue influence on the Prime Minister's political strategy. The country doesn't need or want another 'Mrs. Bucket'.
Lesson 5: Never forget that the Rudd family are ordinary folk and don't attempt to throw your weight around simply because one of the family just happens to hold a powerful position. Despite the Howard years, Australia is still not America and we won't accord you any respect for forgetting this fact.
Now John Laws is gone can Alan Jones be far behind?
John Laws has retired from Australian airwaves at long last. I chiefly remember this glorified disc jockey for the hysteria he whipped up in my callow youth which caused a run on a NSW building society. This building society later went on to become a successful bank. John Laws went on to become a rather rich man.
Alan Jones in his pursuit of ratings did much worse and will forever be remembered for fanning the flames of racial tension just prior to the Cronulla Riots.
In December 2000 & Kevin it's time state and federal politicians reconsidered the level of access given to Jones and began to starve this radio 'personality' of the oxygen which keeps him going.
Alan Jones belongs to a far-right past that Australia is now hopefully shrugging off.
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