Abbott's new Internet Tax

Abbott & Co, fearful of having their own political tactics used against them, have in their joint not-so-confidential party discussions provided the Australian public with a convenient tag for the latest ‘national security’ measure - the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2014.

Coincidentally, after the Internet Tax tag became public the Abbott Government announced that it was deferring a parliamentary vote on the bill until next year.

Australia Government Joint Party Room Submission on the Internet Tax by clarencegirl

Deputy-Premier Troy Grant introduces himself to the NSW North Coast in exactly the wrong way

If there was an issue so big that it is recognised by both government and industry as being close to the hearts of a great many residents and electors living on the NSW North Coast, it is community opposition to coal seam and tight gas exploration and potential production.

So what did the Nationals do on one of Troy Grant’s early visits as Nationals leader and deputy premier of the state – they start a donnybrook that will have people shaking their heads and saying; Told you the Nats were for all for 1,000 well strong gasfields in our paddocks.

Grant needs to keep better control of his troops if he wants the Nationals to hold regional seats in the March 2015 state election and, he needs to recognise that commercial gasfields will ruin the North Coast's clean green image which underpins local economies.

Echo Netdaily 27 October 2014:

Tweed mayor Gary Bagnall has launched a scathing attack on state MP Geoff Provest and deputy premier Troy Grant, accusing the two National Party politicians of trying to gag him over his stand against coal-seam gas (CSG) mining.

The defiant dummy-spit came on the eve of a media event organised by the two MPs yesterday at which they announced funding for a new tourism sign on the highway at the Queensland border.

Despite being snubbed for what he wanted to say, the Tweed mayor went along to the highway-edge announcement.

The row erupted on Friday when Mr Provest emailed council general manager Troy Green to tell him to trash a draft press release on the funding announcement because the mayor had made comments he didn’t like.

Cr Bagnall, who was elected mayor just last month, said his comments for the draft release had welcomed the funding for the sign, adding that Tweed council had taken the initiative to promote tourism by installing new signs ‘explaining the indigenous meaning of some village names, and that the shire also had plans for Gasfield Free signs’.

But Mr Provest saw red when he read the draft and fired off an email to council to say he found the mayor’s comments ‘totally inappropriate’.

‘Commenting about the gas field free signs just shows a lack of integrity and professionalism,’ Mr Provest said, accusing Cr Bagnall of taking an ‘opportunity to have little digs at the state government’.

The Tweed MP then told council it would ‘not be required to make any official comment’.

Cr Bagnall told Echonetdaily he was furious at being ‘snubbed and told to shut up’, saying new deputy premier Mr Grant was a staunch supporter of CSG and would not have liked ‘any mention of CSG”.

‘But I won’t be silenced,’ the mayor said….

Cr Bagnall said Mr Grant was on the record as describing those opposing CSG exploration as ‘scaremongering’.

He said he would always stand up for Tweed residents’ opposition to CSG and unconventional gas exploration.

“The deputy premier is the second most powerful elected NSW politician, but he does not have a right to tell me what to think or say,’ Cr Bagnall said.

‘I stand with our community and oppose harmful coal seam gas mining and I will never be silenced by CSG supporters like the Nationals’ deputy premier or Geoff Provest,’ the mayor said….

A word portrait of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his Cabinet ministers

The ideology-based wrecking ball that is the Abbott Government can possibly be explained thus…………………..

Kruger  and I published a paper that documented how, in many areas of life, incompetent people do not recognize -- scratch that, cannot recognize -- just how incompetent they are, a phenomenon that has come to be known as the Dunning-Kruger effect.  Logic itself almost demands this lack of self-insight:  for poor performers to recognize their ineptitude would require them to possess the very expertise they lack.  To know how skilled or unskilled you are at using the rules of grammar, for instance, you must have a good working knowledge of those rules, an impossibility among the incompetent.  Poor performers -- and we are all poor performers at some things -- fail to see the flaws in their thinking or the answers they lack. 

What's curious is that, in many cases, incompetence does not leave people disoriented, perplexed, or cautious.  Instead the incompetent are often blessed with an inappropriate confidence, buoyed by something that feels to them like knowledge….. [Rabett Run, 24 October 2014]

Successful negotiation of everyday life would seem to require people to possess insight about deficiencies in their intellectual and social skills. However, people tend to be blissfully unaware of their incompetence. This lack of awareness arises because poor performers are doubly cursed: Their lack of skill deprives them not only of the ability to produce correct responses, but also of the expertise necessary to surmise that they are not producing them. People base their perceptions of performance, in part, on their preconceived notions about their skills. Because these notions often do not correlate with objective performance, they can lead people to make judgments about their performance that have little to do with actual accomplishment. [Dunning, David et al, June 2003]

The electorate's response to the Abbott Government post-September 2013 may be explained by this......

Fremdscham (the noun) describes the almost-horror you feel when you notice that somebody is oblivious to how embarrassing they truly are. Fremdscham occurs when someone who should feel embarrassed for themselves simply is not, and you start feeling embarrassment in their place. It is at the heart of beloved "mockumentaries" such as The Office, Modern Family, or Ricky Gervais' Extras. It is also what makes the auditions for American Idol, Britain's got Talent and Deutschland Sucht den Superstar so discomfortingly entertaining…

Besides the emotional response, Fremdscham-inducing events and items (such as this creationist video) also usually cause one to ask this question: "how on earth can these people be unaware of how stupid they are being right now?". [Daniel R. Hawes, 6 June 2010]

Northern Rivers communities welcome new Labor Party policy on Coal Seam Gas which now includes the Clarence Valley

The NSW Labor Party realised that it had blundered in excising the Clarence Valley from its ‘CSG Free’ Northern Rivers policy and, yesterday corrected this new policy to include the valley, its water catchment, bio-diverse environment, vibrant communities and local economy.

MEDIA RELEASE 29^TH OCTOBER 2014

Northern Rivers communities welcome new Labor Party policy on CSG

Community groups in the Northern Rivers have applauded today’s policy announcement from the NSW Labor Party that adds the Clarence LGA to their proposed ban on CSG mining in the Northern Rivers.

“This is a very welcome announcement from the NSW Labor Party and brings the Northern Rivers one step closer to being gasfield free,” said Gasfield Free spokesperson Dean Draper.

“We congratulate John Robertson and the ALP for showing leadership and foresight on this issue and responding to the concerns of communities across the region.”

“We would also like to acknowledge the efforts of Janelle Saffin and Justine Elliot who have put considerable effort into representing the community’s concerns on this issue over the last few years,” he said.

“The communities of the Clarence will be delighted to be added to the proposed protection zone in the Northern Rivers,” said Lynette Eggins of Clarence Alliance Against CSG.

“We are united with other communities in the region in our opposition to unconventional gas extraction and will be joining people from across the region at the big rally in Lismore on Saturday.”

“With both Labor and the Greens supporting protection for our region it is now clear that the National Party are out on a limb.”

“It is high time our local Nationals MP’s took decisive action to support the community and advocate within government for the gas licences across the region to be cancelled,” she said.

Media release courtesy of Gasfield Free Northern Rivers and Yuraygir Coast and Range Alliance.

Echo Netdaily 29 October 2014:

Under the policy, Labor will not allow new CSG exploration licenses, will refuse to grant CSG extraction licenses, reject renewals of existing licenses and refuse any applications to expand existing operations in the Northern Rivers.

Labor leader John Robertson – who copped a stern talking to from Knitting Nannas in Lismore for forgetting the Clarence – said the inclusion of the Clarence Valley local government area brought Labor’s policy in line with the decision of the NSW Labor conference in July this year.

Mr Robertson was joined by Shadow Minister for the North Coast Walt Secord and Labor’s candidate for Clarence Trent Gilbert in Grafton to make the formal announcement.

‘Last month I announced that Labor would ensure that the northern rivers region would be CSG and unconventional gas-free – and now the Clarence Valley will be included,’ Mr Robertson said.

‘The Northern Rivers is a unique region that is underpinned by its reputation as a pristine environment – and the Clarence Valley will now receive the same protections as the rest of the region under Labor.’

The Daily Examiner, 30 October 2014, Page 3:

COALDALE farmer Allan Reardon is not a man you would normally find anywhere near a Labor Party gathering.

But when it's about coal seam gas mining, his passions are ignited

Mr Reardon made the long trip from his farm at Coaldale, north of Grafton, to hear NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson announce the Clarence Valley had been included in the opposition's Gas Free Northern River declaration.

"I'm not a Labor man," was all he said of his political allegiance.

"But I'm pleased to hear the Labor Party is against allowing coal seam gas mining in the area. I would like to see the Nationals and Liberal Party do the same thing.

"The region's landowners are doing it tough enough without the stress of having the threat of gas mining thrust on them."

If it looks like a Lavoisier, walks like a Lavoisier, talks like a Lavoisier - is it a Lavoisier?

Self-made millionaire Maurice Lionel Newman is well-known as one of the founding board members of the neo-con think tank, the Centre For Independent Studies (CIS) and a member of the ultra conservative Mont Pelerin Society (MPS).

However, The Guardian on 28 October 2014 indicates that his views may have veered even further to the right than the CIS and MPS:

Tony Abbott’s top business adviser, Maurice Newman, has lashed out at the UN response to the Ebola outbreak and labelled the world body a “refuge of anti-western authoritarians bent on achieving one-world government”…..

“The IPCC is an advocacy group dedicated to wealth redistribution,” he writes. “Its links to Greenpeace and WWF [World Wildlife Fund] are deep. It panders to gender balance and regional representation, not scientific excellence.”

Newman has chaired the advisory council since the group’s formation in September 2013, just days after the federal election…..

Earlier, in December 2013 The Guardian reported that Newman had:

accused the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of “dishonesty and deceit” as it focuses on “exploiting the masses and extracting more money” in a climate crusade.

While in October 2014 The Sydney Morning Herald 1 October 2014 observed:

Mr Newman questioned the way the bureau adjusts historical data, which he equates to manipulation of Australia's temperature records.

This rhetoric is suspiciously reminiscent of a far-right clutch of domestic nutters, the Lavoisier Group which apparently believe that forces of darkness control the science journals, government departments, public institutes and universities and is rabidly anti-United Nations.

This group was started by Ray Evans, a former Western Mining Corporation executive who before his death this year had been a member of both the CIS and MPS.

It is looking more and more like Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is drawing his advice from individuals and organisations which have parted company with reality.  

Background

The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 July 2024, Maurice Newman, the million-dollar smiler

North Coast Voices, 7 January  2014, So who is this Chairman of the Prime Minister's Business Council?

* Photograph from The Sydney Morning Herald

A not so small gas industry issue that APPEA won't be running to the media about

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association is a very vocal lobbyist on behalf of the gas industry. It frequently seeks to demonise individuals who oppose the growth in unconventional gasfields.

APPEA states; Concern about security of gas supplies in NSW is justified. However, household gas supplies are likely to be unaffected. Most of the impact in terms of physical supply and pricing will be felt by large energy-intensive businesses and Australia’s resources industry is calling on The Greens and the Lock the Gate Alliance to denounce civil disobedience action at work sites across the country before someone is seriously injured. The APPEA and MCA recognise there is legitimate interest among landholders and communities on how resources are produced. Those issues are best addressed through open and transparent dialogue based on facts rather than through fear and threatening behaviour. In recent weeks we’ve witnessed protesters chain themselves to vehicles, dangle from machinery dressed as bats, lie in the path of vehicles and intimidate landholders who are happy to have exploration take place on their properties.

The reality is that wholesale and retail as prices are not increasing due to gas shortages at national, state or even regional level. 

Neither is the fact that domestic LNG gas prices are linked to an international benchmark and, the more expensive wholesale unconventional domestic gas price will be be linked to export market prices, the only reasons business and residential bills will rise.

Unlawful cartel behaviour is also an issue driving up retail gas prices.

On 3 January 2014 the Eastern Australia Domestic Gas Market Study (BREE report) was released which highlighted the difficulties inherent in a pricing model that is opaque because the terms, conditions and pricing agreements of bilateral contracts are confidential. This lack of transparency hampers price discovery when there is a change in the market, as information is not available outside contracting parties, particularly in a timeframe that is relevant to pricing in a dynamic market. 

Crikey observed on 28 February 2014:

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA), the gas industry’s peak body, breezily welcomed the BREE report, particularly the emphasis on removing regulatory impediments to new supply and the rejection of calls for national reservation, and saying it confirmed the “market is indeed working”. APPEA ignored the governance and competition issues raised by BREE, but pointed to nine publicly announced (but confidential) wholesale gas contracts to argue there was already “abundant information” in the market, and it focused instead on the need to quickly bring on new supply. APPEA chief executive David Byeer followed up with an op-ed in The Australian Financial Review.

To date APPEA remains silent on this judgment involving SPEED-E-GAS (NSW) owned by Origin Energy LPG Limited a subsidiary of Origin Energy Limited .......

Excerpts from the 24 October 2014 judgment in AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION v RENEGADE GAS PTY LTD (TRADING AS SUPAGAS NSW) (ACN 074 008 496), SPEED-E-GAS (NSW) PTY LTD (ACN 064 624 915), PAUL BERMAN, COREY JOHN SMITH and JAY RUSSELL WILSON:

* (c) Amount of loss or damage caused

123.  It is not possible to quantify the number of customers denied the opportunity of a price reduction for Forklift Gas in Sydney due to the existence and implementation of the Understanding, or the period of time for which those customers were denied that opportunity.

124.   However, having regard to the facts and matters set out at Section B(1) above (Forklift Gas), [13]-[16] and [18] above and that the number of potential customers that could be affected grew over the Relevant Period, the inference to be drawn is that the existence and implementation of the Understanding resulted in a very large number of customers being denied a competitive offer that otherwise would have been made. The extent of the loss or damage is able to be assessed to a limited extent by the fact that, as Renegade described the position, when a discounted price was offered by one of the two companies to a customer of the other, the customer who was the subject of such competition typically obtained a discount in the order of $7 or 20% (the average effect of such instances of competition - again, relative to original price): see [15] above.

125.  Further, it is important to note that, as described at [16] above, Renegade regularly increased its prices for all, or almost all of its LPG customers in line with increases in an index known as the Saudi Gate Price. Those increases occurred as frequently as monthly when the Saudi Gate Price was rising, but only on one occasion when the Saudi Gate Price was not rising. The Saudi Gate Price fluctuated both up and down from time to time. Except for high volume customers, Renegade did not generally reduce its prices when the Saudi Gate Price reduced. As a result, over time the margin earned by Renegade from each customer would usually increase.

* 1. Corporations

1. The penalties to be imposed on Renegade ($4.8 million over 52 months) and Speed-E-Gas ($3.1 million payable within 30 days) are appropriate. They are equally culpable and responsible.

312.  The difference between the two penalties reflects, among other things, a difference in the discount for Renegade’s belated “plea” before trial and for Speed-E-Gas’ early and substantial cooperation with the ACCC investigation and early “plea”.

* (c) Conclusion

1. The declarations at paragraphs 8 and 9 of Annexure A have utility. In the absence of them, the contravening conduct would not otherwise be clearly identified. There is also public interest to be served in making the declarations. They will serve as a warning to others who may contemplate making or giving effect to contracts, arrangements or understandings between competitors by which they allocate customers between them. Given the seriousness of the conduct and the period over which it occurred, this is a case where the circumstances call for the marking of the Court’s disapproval of the contravening conduct. Speed-E-Gas’ conduct contravened the Act through a deliberate, largely covert, long standing cartel arrangement, which had the potential to adversely affect a high proportion of manufacturing and distribution businesses across Sydney and which likely had an adverse effect on those businesses that were denied the opportunity of receiving a price competitive offer from Speed-E-Gas during the Relevant Period and from 24 July 2009 to July 2011.

* I. PARITY AND TOTALITY OF PENALTIES

310.  The parity of penalties to be imposed upon the respondents must be considered.

1. Corporations

311.  The penalties to be imposed on Renegade ($4.8 million over 52 months) and Speed-E-Gas ($3.1 million payable within 30 days) are appropriate. They are equally culpable and responsible.

312. The difference between the two penalties reflects, among other things, a difference in the discount for Renegade’s belated “plea” before trial and for Speed-E-Gas’ early and substantial cooperation with the ACCC investigation and early “plea”.

2. Natural persons

313.  As noted above, in assessing parity for the natural person respondents it is appropriate to consider both disqualification orders and pecuniary penalties: Kerkhoffs at [17]-[21].

314.  Mr Berman is to pay a pecuniary penalty of $250,000 and be disqualified for 3 years. Mr Smith is to pay a pecuniary penalty of $100,000. Mr Wilson is to pay a pecuniary penalty of $50,000. There is parity in the orders proposed against Mr Berman and the pecuniary penalties proposed to be imposed on Mr Smith and Mr Wilson having regard to Mr Berman’s greater culpability and, on the other side, Mr Smith’s and Mr Wilson’s cooperation with the ACCC.

315. The ACCC submitted (and I accept) that the culpability of both Mr Wilson and Mr Smith is significantly less than that of Mr Berman. Each was subject to the direction of his manager, and for the majority of the Relevant Period, the active collusion underpinning of the Understanding occurred directly between Mr Berman and Mr Hobby with Mr Smith and Mr Wilson responsible for implementing their instructions consequent upon that collusion. In relation to Mr Smith and Mr Wilson, during the Relevant Period, each was broadly equally culpable and responsible for the contravening conduct.

316. Mr Smith is to pay a pecuniary penalty of $100,000 while Mr Wilson is to pay $50,000. Mr Wilson is entitled to a substantial discount because of his cooperation with the ACCC. Mr Smith is entitled to a lesser discount because his cooperation came later. Further, Mr Smith enjoys a much higher income than Mr Wilson and otherwise has a significantly greater capacity to pay. While a penalty of more than $50,000 imposed upon Mr Wilson would be likely to exceed any amount required for specific deterrence, a penalty of that amount imposed upon Mr Smith would be inadequate for that purpose.

317. For those reasons, I accept that there is appropriate parity between the penalties proposed to be imposed upon each of the respondents. [my red bolding]

Abbott joins Howard as second serving prime minister referred to the International Criminal Court by an Australian citizen

International media notices that Anthony John ‘Tony’ Abbott has joined John Winston Howard as serving Australian prime ministers referred to The Hague by one or more citizens.

The Telegraph UK 22 October 2014:

An Australian MP has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate prime minister Tony Abbott for crimes against humanity over his detention of asylum seekers on remote Pacific islands.

Andrew Wilkie, an independent MP, said Mr Abbott’s policy was illegal, severe and had caused “great suffering”.

He has written to the court to request that prosecutors investigate whether Mr Abbott and the members of the federal cabinet have breached the Rome Statute, which deals with crimes against the humanity, or international conventions which deal with the rights of children and refugees.

“It is not illegal to come to Australia and claim asylum, and we have a fundamental obligation to hear those claims and to give those people refuge if those claims are accurate,” Mr Wilkie said.

Mr Abbott was elected last year after pledging to “stop the boats” and to stem the flow of asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat. Many come from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan and arrive in Australia via transit camps in Indonesia.

Mr Abbott’s tough stance has involved intercepting the rickety boats and deporting those aboard to detention centres on the remote Pacific nation of Nauru and an island off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

Human rights groups and the United Nations have denounced the policy and say conditions in the detention centres are inhumane.

Is Opposition Leader John Robertson favouring a political donor by excising the Clarence Valley from Labor's 'CSG Free' Northern Rivers policy?

Letter to the Editor in the Clarence Valley Review, October 2014:

Opposition betrayal

Ed,
On 30 September 2014 NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson announced that if Labor wins government in 2015 it would establish a permanent total ban on coal seam gas exploration and mining within the Northern Rivers region.
He based this decision on the fact that this region has a clean, green reputation, vital water catchments, World Heritage areas, thriving tourism, dairy, beef and sugar cane industries, businesses which participate in the export market and communities opposed to unconventional gas fields. [John Robertson et al media release, 30.09.14]
However, when making this announcement he was careful to excise the southern-most part of the Northern Rivers from inclusion in this ban – the Clarence Valley 10,500 km² local government area.
Like other residents of this valley I know it also has a clean green reputation, the largest coastal river in the state, a vital water catchment supplying both the Clarence Valley and Coffs Harbour, a World Heritage area, a small working harbour, an estuary seafood catch valued at est. $47M annually and, a thriving tourism industry estimated to bring in excess of $65 million to the Valley each year from 922,000 visitors annually [Clarence Valley Economic Profile, 2012].
Forestry, beef, sugar cane and commercial fishing industries make up 87% of the Clarence Valley local economy, which along with 4,000 registered businesses (some of which participate in the export market) form the backbone of a local economy worth $2.4B GRP per annum [Clarence Valley Council Economic Monitor, June 2014].
In addition to which, the Valley has a growing population and communities opposed to unconventional gas fields.
I am not alone in wanting to know why the Opposition betrayed both the 2014 NSW Labor Conference resolution and the Clarence Valley.
Is it because it hasn’t held the Clarence electorate since March 2003? Or is it because the principal shareholder in an activated Metgasco tenement in the valley is ERM Power which donated to its political coffers in the past and, if the planned ban is in place this CSG tenement would be the only one that mining company had left in New South Wales?
Judith Melville, Yamba

UPDATE

On 29 October 2014 NSW Labor announced that it had included the Clarence Valley in its policy permanently banning coal seam gas/tight gas/unconventional gas exploration, mining and production in the Northern Rivers region.

Death of Clarence Valley couple Sue and Jeremy Challacombe

October 28, 2014

Media statement on the death of Sue and Jeremy Challacombe

On behalf of the Clarence Valley Council and residents of the Clarence Valley, I offer my most sincere condolences to the Challacombe family on the loss of Councillor Jeremy Challacombe and his wife Sue.

Jeremy and Sue were enormous assets to our community and worked tirelessly to make it a better place for all residents.

Flags at council facilities will be at half mast for the remainder of the week as a mark of respect.

Our prayers and thoughts are with relatives and friends as they try to come to grips with this sudden and tragic loss.

Richie Williamson,

Mayor,

Clarence Valley Council.

For media inquiries contact: David Bancroft Communications Coordinator 6643 0230

Proposals for reform of the Native Title Act: Australian Law Reform Commission calls for submissions

Media Release

23 October 2014

     Proposals for reform of the Native Title Act: ALRC calls for submissions

The Australian Law Reform Commission has today released a Discussion Paper, Review of the Native Title Act 1993 (DP 82). The paper contains a range of proposals and questions around connection requirements for the recognition and scope of native title rights and interests; authorisation; and joinder provisions. The ALRC is seeking feedback on these proposals.

Professor Lee Godden, Commissioner-in-charge of the Inquiry, said, “The ALRC has relied on more than 100 consultations with Indigenous organisations and individuals, industry, academics, state governments and many other people who are actively involved in the Native Title claims process and we are extremely grateful to everyone who has provided input into our thinking to date. Under the Terms of Reference for the Inquiry, we were to be guided by the Preamble and the Objects of the Native Title Act. In addition, the Inquiry has developed five guiding principles to underlie reforms: acknowledging the importance of the recognition of native title; acknowledging the many interests in the native title system; encouraging timely and just resolution of determinations; consistency with international law; and supporting sustainable futures. Our proposals seek to improve the operation of the Native Title Act within this principled framework.”

ALRC President, Professor Rosalind Croucher, said, “The Native Title Act is a key element in recognising the relationship of Indigenous people to land and waters. Reforms must also consider the impacts upon all participants in the native title system, as native title operates across many sectors in Australian society. In this context, the ALRC has had regard to the complexity of law, procedure and practice and the significant policy and economic context for native title. The challenge is to consider change in the native title system that advances the recognition and protection of native title, while ensuring that reforms support a robust and productive relationship between all participants.”

The ALRC will now undertake a further round of national consultations and will provide its Final Report to the Attorney-General by the end of March 2015. 

The ALRC invites individuals and organisations to make submissions in response to the Discussion Paper by 18 December 2014. Submissions can be made in writing by post or by email or using the ALRC’s online submission form: www.alrc.gov.au/content/native-title-dp82-online-submission

The Discussion Paper is available from the ALRC website in a range of formats, including as an ebook. All ALRC publications are available free of charge at www.alrc.gov.au/publications.

Subscribe to the Native Title Inquiry enews on the ALRC website. 

Media contact Marie-Claire Muir on (02) 8238 6305 or 0466 635 405 or via email at <marie-claire.muir@alrc.gov.au>

Further information on the work of the ALRC can be found at www.alrc.gov.au

Christian terrorist outed online

Honi Soit mocking the Abbott Government’s scare campaign and expansion of Australia’s national security laws:

Local terrorist Rob Wilson is counting his lucky stars this week, after the Federal government once again pledged to focus a majority of its counter terrorism efforts on innocent Muslims and people fleeing Iraq, to the relief of Christian terrorists country over. The father of three and part time extremist says he is actually quite glad a majority of his work goes overlooked as a Christian extremist, as he prefers to let his work speak for itself, and he’s not in it for fame or glory.

Rob says he has been a hobbyist terrorist for some years now, tinkering away in his back shed with various detonators, when not scouring his Bible for new sins, and is always on the look out for more industrial grade manure to ad to his rapidly growing collection. While Rob says his interest is only a weekend job at the current time, he hopes that someday it might become his death.

Despite the government’s support, it’s not all smooth sailing for Rob, with the occasional run in with the authorities inevitable in his line of work. “For a while I was getting really worried that the police had cottoned on to my plans and might shut things down,” says Rob, “there was always this van with tinted windows parked out the front, but in the end it turned out they were just after my Sikh neighbors. Apparently they’d had a whole kitchen drawer full of knives of something, so they were all taken in for questioning under anti-terror laws and nobody’s heard from them since.”…….

Metgasco Limited's future plans for gas exploration on the NSW North Coast dependent on NSW Police acting as its agent?

The Northern Star 22 October 2014:

THE QUESTION of what constitutes effective consultation dominated the final day of Metgasco's Supreme Court hearing in Sydney yesterday.

According to Gasfields Free Northern Rivers spokesman Dean Draper, the government's counsel argued Metgasco should have been more transparent about its future plans if the Rosella gas well was successful.

Mr Draper said the government's legal team read from an email from Peter Henderson to Land and Water Commissioner Jock Laurie, which Mr Draper said informed Mr Laurie the company needed to mobilise its drill rig and "needed some help from the government to engage with the community".

The government's lawyers also quoted from a letter from Peter Henderson to the NSW Premier saying the company needed government and police assistance in order to proceed with its drilling and its gas plans for the region…..

Justice Richard Button asked for extra information to be given to him by close of business Friday. It is understood he is under no time constraints. A decision could take up to a year.

One reader’s online comment under this article:

Is the Abbott Government 'Relocation Assistance to Take Up a Job' program shaping up to be a dud?

The Abbott Government Relocation Assistance to Take Up a Job program commenced on 1 July 2014.

Eligible participants who have been unemployed for at least twelve months can receive financial assistance of up to $3,000 if relocating to a capital city, $6,000 if relocating to a regional area and an extra $3,000 if relocating with dependent children.

By 22 October 2014 only 145 people out of the estimated 745,500 unemployed persons across Australia (ABS 6202.0 Labour Force statistics September 2014) used this program to move from where they were living to take up a job elsewhere.

The Guardian reported that: In each state the majority of those relocating stayed within state borders. The largest number of relocations occurred within Queensland, where 26 of the 43 movers stayed in the state. Data showed that 30 people accessed the program from NSW, 27 from Victoria, 19 from South Australia, nine from Tasmania and six from WA. So far, no one has left the Northern Territory, but 15 people moved there from around Australia.

These 145 jobs are allegedly in accommodation and food services, manufacturing, and agriculture, forestry and fishing.

According to Federal Assistant Minister for Employment and Nationals MP for Cowper Luke Hartsuyker of these 97 men and 48 women, 42 were under 30 years of age and another 42 were between 30-40 years old.

With the national unemployment rate trending at 6% and only 0.019450033534540577% of the registered unemployed participating in this program to date, it is not shaping up to be a resounding success.

The former Federal Labor Government’s relocation incentives which commenced in early 2011 also did not have a high take up rate.

One has to suspect that the level of financial assistance on offer does not come close to meeting real life relocation costs for the majority of long-term unemployed Australians in 2014.

Baird Government pays the price for corruption within its ranks

Image from ABC News 26 October 2014

NSW Labor claimed victory in both the by-election for Newcastle (Crakanthorp) and by-election for Charlestown (Harrison) about two hours after polls closed on Saturday night.

The NSW Electoral Commission recorded that Tim Crakanthorp had received 36.95% of first preference votes as at 12.59 pm and Jodi Harrison 49.39% of first preference votes as at 2.01 pm on Sunday 26 October 2014.

Both seats had been without a sitting member since NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption investigations revealed that the then NSW Liberal MP for Charlestown Andrew Cornwell and then NSW Liberal MP for Newcastle were involved in receipt and use of irregular and/or unlawful political donations.

Operation Spicer and Credo hearings saw a total of thirteen Liberal Party federal, state and local government politicians either resign, move to the cross benches and/or stand aside from parliamentary positions until investigations findings are published.

Knowing that defeat in these by-elections was inevitable the Baird Coalition Government chose not to contest the seats.

However, in a little over five months’ time in March 2013, the NSW Liberal-National Coalition is expected to have candidates stand in these seats at the state general election.

So Crakanthorp and Harrison have only a short time to make their mark on Hunter region voters before they have to fight to keep their newly-won seats in the NSW Legislative Assembly.

'Cancel all CSG licences' March & Rally - 10 am Riverside Park, Lismore, 1 November 2014

Taking it to the streets in Lismore on 1st November 2014 – Cancel all Licences – Rally & March starting at Riverside Park at 10am

http://www.northernstar.com.au/videos/local-farmers-opposing-gasfields/24751/

Yet another telephone scam

A caller rang yesterday and told me that someone at my address had been in a motor vehicle accident in the last three years and ever so kindly said he would do his utmost to assist me in so many ways.

I asked the caller to tell me the name of the organisation that was going out of its way to assist me and the caller said he was from Accident Help Services in Fairfield.

Sadly (for the caller, who was by then my very next best friend), I had to tell him that he was barking up the wrong tree because no one at my address had been in a motor vehicle accident. I didn't mince words when I told him what I though about him and his scam.

The caller must have been very disappointed that he couldn't 'help' me because he very rudely terminated the call.

Cabbage Tree Island and other massacres on the NSW North Coast

ABC North Coast NSW 23 October 2014:

Lois Cook takes on a history detective mission to track down people and documents to find out if her family's oral history is supported by other accounts from the 19th century. With the help of the staff of Ballina Library she discovers commentary by settlers and historians who were compelled to record the brutality against the local Indigenous people.

This video was created by Lois Cook and her family in collaboration with ABC Open in a series of video production workshops.

It is a special project for ABC North Coast's initiative UNTOLD, culminating in a live broadcast from Cabbage Tree Island on October 28 2014.

Babe in the reeds: a story of massacres and resilience from ABC Open North Coast NSW on Vimeo.

A jaw drop or laugh out loud post

Sometimes the Internet demonstrates just how weirdly incorrect some posts can be.

This post flows effortlessly from the pen of a U.K. contributor to the online version of World Coal magazine.

He obviously doesn’t realise that Metgasco Limited’s drill site at Bentley is a tight gas not an oil sands site and, Queensland’s parliament is not home to the federal government:

The actual letter sent to the Member for Nicklin by the Queensland Parliamentary Service, dated 2 October 2014, can be found at

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/lockthegate/pages/1490/attachments/original/1412722100/LTG_event_banned_from_State_Parliament.pdf?1412722100

For their sins this is what some Lock The Gate supporters did:

http://vimeo.com/103762184

HD .MP4 file (1280x720 / 57MB)