Thursday, 16 June 2011
Oh, the gall of the man!
"Legislation to cap public sector wage increases at 2.5 per cent passed the Upper House yesterday and is expected to be finalised in the Lower House this afternoon."
Premier Barry O'Farrell's announced "the cap will also apply to him and all other state MPs."
Yeah, and pigs will take to the air in squadrons.
Does the Grand Poo Bah of the State Coalition Government think that we eejit voters don't realise that an act of Parliament sets NSW MPs basic wage at $500 less than that awarded to Federal MPs and that these two wages rise in tandem.
I'm sure we've not forgotten that the cream in these remuneration packages are in the extra salaries for offices held (along with expense allowances) which in Bazza's case tops up his $136,140 basic parliamentary salary by at least another $189k. And that's without his electoral allowance thrown in.
Just as I'm sure that the average public hospital nurse, teacher, ambulance officer or fireman will be most unimpressed by this hypocritical 'wage restraint' of Bazza's part.
How much does a full-time registered nurse earn again? That's right - around $72k per year. Public school teachers get a bit less.
And a full-time assistant in nursing? Well he or she gets about $45,445 annually.
Somehow I think pegging their wage increases will have more effect on their personal hopes and dreams than Bazza's pretend salary cap on have on his life after politics in the private sector.
Pic from ABC NEWS
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Where's the blinkin' taxi stand at Yamba Fair?
If you happen to shop regularly at the Westlawn Property Trust’s Yamba Fair shopping centre(the only one of its kind in the Lower Clarence)one of the first things you notice is the number of people who arrive at its front door on foot and also the number of people who wait outside for a taxi to take them and their many shopping bags home.
It’s bad enough that over the years Westlawn’s attempts to upgrade the centre has seen verandas installed which neither shade nor shelter and one walkway with such a slope to the parking lot surface that shopping trolleys develop a will of their own and drag older shoppers into the path of moving cars; but what really irks is the lack of a dedicated taxi putdown and pickup space.
Trying to load the family shopping into the boot of a taxi while keeping an eye out for cars impatiently nudging past the stationary cab is one stressor too many on a busy day.
When is Westlawn going to consider the needs of regular Yamba Fair patrons? After all they contribute to the fact that the Trust draws at least $1.9 million in rent annually from the shopping centre.
Anony-mice
Yamba
Coal Seam Gas Exploration in Australia 2011
http://youtu.be/smP9tL_e3U8
Abandoned Metgasco coal seam gas exploration site in June 2011 – waste water storage leaking and overflowing at Dobie’s Bight Road in the Dyraaba area on the NSW North Coast.
From coalseamgasnews:
Update; So two days later they have cleaned this up after me making a complaint, I happened to visit it again while they where there. They just filled it in, covered it all with dirt without removing the water. So I'm not sure how effective that was. Like I said I don't know what was in these ponds, produced water, drilling fluid, rainwater, whatever it was at some point chemicals or toxic water were probably stored in those ponds and even if they pumped it out and what I'm looking at is rainwater, you'd think they'd also remove the contaminated plastic liner when they pumped it out? Instead, now they let it flush out for months and have just buried it. The nearby creek runs into he Richmond River.
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Cracking Telstra's code and speaking to an Aussie Telstra staffer
Hey, let it be known from the outset that this has nothing to do with racism, if that's what readers are starting to think. It's a simple matter of Telstra's very dubious policy of employing cheap, inefficient, unqualified persons who are far removed from the situation and have no idea about fixing a problem that a staff member whose feet are on the ground in Australia can address in a matter of minutes.
Last week I spoke with four persons in the Philippines on three occasions (calls were made to Telstra on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and each was diverted to the Philippines). On Wednesday I was told that Telstra would have my problem remedied within 4 hours. By Thursday, the problem still existed - Telstra said it would now be fixed in 4-12 hours. Friday, still no resolution - Telstra said it would now be fixed within 24 hours.
Clever me says, "I've had enough. Put me through to your supervisor". Supervisor reviews the case notes and admits all three employees (that's a dead-set misnomer, I suspect they're really contractors or sweat shoppers) were wrong. It would take ... wait for this ... five, yes F - I - V - E, 5 working days to have the problem addressed. That was on Friday, so I pointed out to the supervisor that I live in eastern Australia where Monday 13th June was a public holiday. "No worries", says supervisor, "the complaints section works on Monday and I'll make sure your matter is being followed-up by having Telstra ring you on Monday. What's a good time for Telstra to ring you?" I answer, "After 8.30am."
Monday, 4.55pm and still no call from Telstra so this litle black duck rings Telstra and when the computerised answering system asked what my call was about I smartly said "Complaints about Telstra."
Well, knock me down with a feather, because a real live Aussie took my call in far-flung Perth. Yep, you guessed right - Telstra in the eastern states were enjoying their public holiday but it wasn't a holiday in the west. See here for WA's public holidays. WA celebrates the Queen's Birthday on 28th October.
A quick review of my case notes confirmed my worst fears. Yes, my small problem which was entirely of Telstra's doing, would take up to five working days to resolve AND I should have been told that if the first person had logged my complaint correctly and initiated proper action to have it addressed.
Where did my problem begin? Yes, in the Philippines when I spoke with someone at Telstra (in the Philippines, of course) about my phone connection two months ago. When did it come to my attention? When the bill from Telstra arrived via Australia Post and I noticed I was being billed for something I never sought nor wanted.
I still cannot work out the 5 business days bit. Perhaps Telstra uses carrier pigeons to send messages from the Philippines to its workers in Australia who actually do the work and fix up their stuff-ups.
Perhaps we could revisit the good old days when the PMG Department had carriage for all these matters.
The Twitterverse luvs Kev.......and Jools
Australian MP Tweets sez of the 99 Aussie pollies who tweet:
"Note that Kevin Rudd (@KRuddMP) has over 940,000 followers and 220,000 friends, and as such has been excluded from this chart – his significantly higher figures makes it difficult to see the detail for the remaining members."
Rudd's twitterverse popularity comes off a total of only 1,178 tweets.
At around 4pm on 11th June 2011 Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was coming in second to the Foreign Minister with 106,696 followers, Malcolm Turnbull was firmly in third place at 56,038 and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott trailed a poor fourth at 34,762 tweeters interested enough to click the +Follow button.
Click on image to enlarge
Monday, 13 June 2011
McDonald's Yamba's spin machine revs up
Where there's smoke there's fire.
The franchisee of McDonald's Yamba must live in some parallel universe. In today's Daily Examiner the franchisee says the only negative reaction to the restaurant (that's his description of the dump, not mine) since its opening has been damage done to four of the five signs on bus shelters in Yamba that carry its advertising.
“I haven’t had any problems since we opened other than that,” the franchisee told the Examiner.
That's strange because word on the streets of Yamba is the place is doing so poorly Head Office has taken a very keen interest in the figures appearing in the hamburger joint's financial books.
Source: The Daily Examiner, 13/6/11
Severe weather warning for Northern NSW 13 June 2011
Australian Bureau of Meteorology
Issued at 4:25 am EST on Monday 13 June 2011.
Weather Situation
A strong high pressure system west of Tasmania is moving very slowly east extending a ridge across southeastern and northwestern New South Wales and a low pressure trough is deepening off the central and northern coasts.
Heavy rain which may lead to flash flooding is forecast for the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast and the east of the Northern Tablelands forecast districts during today.
Between 9am yesterday morning and 4am this morning, Evans Head received 160 mm of rain, Yamba 126 mm, Coffs Harbour 94 mm and Kempsey 76 mm.
The State Emergency Service advises that people should:
Don't drive, ride or walk through flood water.
Keep clear of creeks and storm drains.
For emergency help in floods and storms, ring your local SES Unit on 132 500.
The next warning will be issued by 11:00 am EST Monday.
Flood Watch – Tweed, Richmond, Wilsons, Brunswick, Clarence, Coffs Harbour, Bellingen, Nambucca, Macleay, Hastings, Camden Haven, Manning and Macintyre regions.
What language is that?
One thing growing older teaches is that change is inevitable and that the language one grew up amongst is no exception to this change.
I’ve accepted that British, Australian and American spelling is now interchangeable and am amused by new words which spread with the speed of lightening thanks to the Internet.
I wince at changes in emphasis which make certain words clumsy on the lip or almost unrecognisable to an aging ear, but which become verbal favourites of news readers everywhere in spite of the guidance contained within the covers of reputable dictionaries.
I am annoyed by the fact that “un” is frequently replacing the “in” of words such as indefensible, indiscoverable and indiscernible.
However, this is not the end of our ability to murder the mother tongue.
This week’s example of written gymnastics at the expense of the English language is “disencouraged”.
Now one can disentangle, disembowel, disenchant, or even disestablish but one can only “discourage” if the writer wants to express disapproval of or dissuade rather than encourage.
Even Microsoft’s Word spelling check rejects “disencouraged”.
Sunday, 12 June 2011
Abbott caught out again by his own words
Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on the subject of ‘toxic’ tax in June 2011:
any move towards a carbon tax or an emission trading scheme would be an economic own goal, it would be an act of economic self harm by Australia."
However, in his 2009 A REALIST'S APPROACH TO CLIMATE CHANGE speech given at the David Davies memorial dinner the attitude was somewhat different:
Front line services on the NSW North Coast get an additional $1.9 million in funding
From a 7 June 2011 media release from the Federal Member for Page on the NSW North Coast:
PAGE MP Janelle Saffin has welcomed the Gillard Government’s investment of an additional $1.9 million over three years to help 12 community organisations in her electorate provide emergency relief services to vulnerable families and individuals.
The Government is also providing ongoing funding for two financial counselling services -- the Lismore & District Financial Counselling Service Incorporated and Grafton-based Anglicare North Coast Incorporated – to assist people in crisis across the North Coast region.
Ms Saffin said this ongoing investment for front line organisations will ensure services in Lismore, Ballina, Casino, Kyogle, Evans Head and Grafton can continue to help people in real need.
“Emergency relief services provide vulnerable families and individuals with life essentials such as food, clothing, pharmacy, transport vouchers and help with accommodation and utility bills,” Ms Saffin said.
“This secure, ongoing funding recognises that demand for emergency relief services remains high across our region.”
The 12 local organisations, and their funding allocations, are:
· Salvation Army, Lismore/Tweed, Goonellabah -- $352,619.
· St Vincent de Paul, Ballina -- $318,024.
· Salvation Army Lismore Community Welfare Centre, Goonellabah -- $184,372.
· Salvation Army Grafton Community Welfare Centre -- $183,970.
· Casino Neighbourhood Centre Incorporated -- $172,110.
· Riverside Care, South Grafton -- $166,052.
· St Vincent de Paul, Lismore -- $148,333.
· St Vincent de Paul, Kyogle -- $132,426.
· Mid-Richmond Neighbourhood Centre, Evans Head -- $114,971.
· Lismore Community Services Centre -- $83,302.
· Bulgarr Ngaru Medical Aboriginal Corporation, Grafton -- $34,392.
· Bunjum Aboriginal Cooperative Limited, Ballina -- $32,251.
Ms Saffin said she was pleased the Government is also continuing to fund the Lismore & District Financial Counselling Service and Anglicare North Coast over the next three years to deliver free, confidential and professional counselling to people experiencing financial difficulties.
The Gillard Government is providing $2.2 million over three years for the 1800 007 007 number so Australians who cannot readily access a face-to-face service can have immediate access to a qualified financial counsellor.
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Unemployment: compared to the rest of the developed world Australia is not doing too badly
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, International Labor Comparisons
In May 2011 the official U.S. unemployment rate was 9.1 per cent, the latest figures available from the U.K. show an unemployment rate of 7.7 per cent (March) and, in New Zealand and Canada the rate stands at 6.6 per cent and 7.6 per cent (April) respectively. Also in April 2011 Japan recorded a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.7 per cent.
How the Australian Bureau of Statistics sees the Australian labour force in its latest release for May 2011:
MAY KEY POINTS
TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)
- Employment increased to 11,444,200.
- Unemployment decreased to 588,400.
- Unemployment rate steady at 4.9%.
- Participation rate steady at 65.6%.
- Aggregate monthly hours worked increased to 1,602.5 million hours.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)
- Employment increased 7,800 (0.1%) to 11,440,500. Full-time employment decreased 22,000 to 8,027,100 and part-time employment increased 29,800 to 3,413,500.
- Unemployment increased 8,900 (1.5%) to 592,800. The number of persons looking for full-time work increased 6,700 to 421,800 and the number of persons looking for part-time work increased 2,200 to 171,100.
- The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.9%. The male unemployment rate decreased 0.2 pts to 4.5% and the female unemployment rate increased 0.4 pts to 5.4%.
- The participation rate remained steady at 65.6%.
- Aggregate monthly hours worked increased 6.4 million hours to 1,601.1 million hours.
LABOUR UNDERUTILISATION (QUARTERLY CHANGE)
- Trend estimates: The labour force underutilisation rate decreased 0.1 pts to 12.0%.
- Seasonally adjusted estimates: The labour force underutilisation rate increased 0.2 pts to 12.2%. The male labour force underutilisation rate increased 0.2 pts to 10.2%. The female labour force underutilisation rate increased 0.2 pts to 14.6%.
UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE (TREND ESTIMATES)
MALES
The trend estimate of the underemployment rate for males fell from 5.6% in May 2001 to 5.2% in August 2002 before rising to 5.4% in May 2003. The trend then generally fell to 4.3% in May 2008 before rising to 6.3% in August 2009. The trend has since fallen to 5.3% in May 2011.
FEMALES
The trend estimate of the underemployment rate for females rose from 9.1% in May 2001 to 9.6% in February 2002. The trend then fell to 9.3% in August 2002 before rising to 9.7% in February 2004. The trend then fell to 7.8% in May 2008 before rising to 9.8% in November 2009. The trend has since fallen to 9.0% in May 2011.
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