STATE OF PLAY: Australian Liberal-Nationals State Governments in 2013

Five out of the eight Australian state and territory governments are part of the Liberal-Nationals political network.

All is not well within that network………

QUEENSLAND

THE resignation of trouble-prone Queensland arts minister Ros Bates has been followed by Campbell Newman's sacking of hand-picked public service boss Michael Caltabiano.

Just hours after Ms Bates resigned - the third minister to go since Mr Newman won office last year - the Premier announced he had given notice to Mr Caltabiano, a friend who he had personally appointed as director-general of the Department of Transport and Main Roads.

Mr Caltabiano, a fellow councillor with Mr Newman at Brisbane's city hall, was stood down as director-general last year over comments he made to an estimates hearing.

He is subject to an ongoing Crime and Misconduct Commission investigation into his department's appointment to a senior role of Benjamin Gommers, son of Ms Bates.

The former Liberal MP and factional powerbroker stepped down when he was referred to the parliamentary ethics committee for allegedly misinforming an estimates hearing about his work history. [The Australian 15 February 2013]

A complaint about former federal treasurer Peter Costello lodged with Queensland's Crime and Misconduct Commission highlights potential conflicts of interest between his job overseeing the future of the state's finances and his ownership of a lobby group representing companies that could benefit from state asset sales. [The Age 7 March 2013]

REDCLIFFE MP Scott Driscoll claims he has received "many calls and the personal support from Premier Campbell Newman" since revelations about links to a community association being probed over alleged financial irregularities were reported in The Courier-Mail.

Mr Driscoll last week wrote to local LNP members assuring them he had the Premier's backing amid what he called a "disgusting and base level campaign".

"We have shared several stories about the similar campaign of lies and slurs he and his family suffered from during the last state election campaign," Mr Driscoll wrote.

A spokesman for the Premier declined to comment on the letter or comment on whether taxpayer funds had been used to pay for the mail-out.

It comes as The Courier-Mail can reveal the premises of the taxpayer-funded Regional Community Association of Moreton Bay, linked to Mr Driscoll and under investigation by federal and state departments, have been provided free to the LNP for political meetings. [The Courier Mail 7 March 2013]

VICTORIA

DENIS Napthine was last night sworn in as Victorian Premier after Ted Baillieu succumbed to the turmoil that has pushed the Coalition government close to collapse.

A tearful Mr Baillieu announced his resignation hours after the shock decision of backbencher Geoff Shaw to quit the parliamentary party and move to the crossbenches.

That decision means that the Coalition government could be ousted from office unless it can win Mr Shaw's support on key legislation, including the budget and any possible vote of no confidence. [The Australian 7 March 2013]

NORTHERN TERRITORY

The leadership of Northern Territory Chief Minister Terry Mills may again be under a cloud, following the resignation of his deputy.

Mr Mills, who came to office last August in a landslide, has been under pressure after his party polled badly in a recent by-election.

There has been criticism of the Country Liberal Party's (CLP) decision to raise power prices by 30 per cent, and to commit to spending cutbacks, which the party said were needed to slash debt.

On Tuesday in a short statement, Robyn Lambley, who is Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer and Education Minister among other portfolios, announced she was resigning her post as deputy. [Yahoo News 5 March 2013]

INDIGENOUS Advancement Minister Alison Anderson has threatened to bring down the Territory Government by taking her four-strong Bush Coalition out of the CLP. [Northern Territory News 7 March2013]


UPDATE: Sky news reported the Country Liberals partyroom voted 11-5 to unseat former leader Terry Mills, who is in Japan and was told by phone. [The Age 13 March 2013]

WEST AUSTRALIA

SECRET Cabinet documents reveal Colin Barnett met James Packer about Perth's $1 billion stadium months before approving the Burswood location - despite the Premier later telling Parliament the meeting "had nothing to do with'' the venue.

In revelations that will focus intense scrutiny on the Premier's dealings with billionaire casino magnate Mr Packer, the June 27, 2011, Cabinet document, in which Burswood is ratified as the preferred site, details how their meeting three months earlier specifically examined the stadium and its relationship to Mr Packer's nearby casino and entertainment complex. [Perth Now 2 February 2013]

The Liberal Party is a minority government, dependent on support from independents and the Nationals (who are not in a formal coalition). [The Australian 7 February 2013]

NEW SOUTH WALES

A PROMINENT Liberal Party figure known for his fund-raising prowess, Nick di Girolamo, was appointed to a $100,000 position on the board of a state-owned corporation by the NSW government last year. [The Sydney Morning Herald 2 March 2013]

Mr Lockley also concluded the $3 million the Obeids paid to Australian Water Holdings, which he said also came from the coal venture, was wrongly recorded in the Obeid accounts as a loan. Mr Lockley said it should have been recorded as an investment.

Nick di Girolamo, head of AWH and an Obeid family friend, has told the Herald the $3 million was a personal loan from Mr Obeid's son Eddie jnr. [The Sydney Morning Herald 6 March 2013]

Australian Water Holdings has extensive connections with the Liberal Party. In the past five years it has donated at least $80,000 to the Coalition, and has used Michael Photios, a member of the NSW Liberal Party's state executive, as a lobbyist.

Mr Di Girolamo said he had also held meetings with other members of the NSW cabinet, including the Water Minister, Greg Pearce, and the Treasurer, Mike Baird.

For a time, a director on the board of the company's Queensland subsidiary was Santo Santoro, a former minister in the Howard government who resigned in disgrace for failing to properly declare his shareholdings.

The company also employs John Wells, a spin doctor with extensive Liberal Party connections.

For almost three years until November last year, the federal senator and former finance director of the Liberal Party, Arthur Sinodinos, was the chairman of Australian Water Holdings.

Last week, Mr Sinodinos said he, too, had 5 per cent of the company as part of his role, and he has recorded a shareholding in the company in his parliamentary pecuniary interest register.

But Mr Sinodinos's name is absent from the company's official share register filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Instead, Mr Sinodinos said, Mr Di Girolamo was holding the shares on his behalf.

Asked why the shares are not publicly registered with the corporate regulator, Mr Sinodinos said: ''Because it was on a gentleman's agreement.''

He said his agreement was that the trigger for the shares to be registered in his name was ''some realisation event''. He also said it would not be inaccurate to say a successful PPP was one such event.

Since 1992, the company has been paid $580 million to roll out infrastructure to new housing estates in Sydney's north-west on behalf of Sydney Water Corporation.

Mr Di Girolamo has already had a significant win since the Coalition took government in March last year.

In January this year, his company and Sydney Water entered a new 25-year exclusive agreement to give it the sole right to project manage the remaining half-a-billion dollars of water infrastructure work in the north-west growth centre. [The Sydney Morning Herald 12 December 2012]

A LEADING Sydney barrister has raised doubts about whether authorities properly investigated what criminal charges could be laid against the former state MP Steve Cansdell.

Greg James, QC, who is a retired Supreme Court judge, believes Mr Cansdell could be charged for making a false statement on oath under the provisions of the Crimes Act for his admission he lied on a statutory declaration to avoid losing his driver's licence.

Mr Cansdell, who was the member for Clarence and parliamentary secretary for police, quit the NSW Parliament shortly after the 2011 election after the admission. He said one of his then staff members, Kath Palmer, was driving when his car was caught by a speed camera in 2005. [The Sydney Morning Herald 28 February 2013]

ICAC investigation into lobbying in New South Wales - have your say on undue influence and corruption

Communities on the NSW North Coast are subject to sustained population pressure and the growing influence of developers both large and small is distorting the democratic process in relation to planning policy and implementation at state and local level.

Here is an opportunity for Northern Rivers residents to have their say on failing processes in formal and informal interactions between government, elected representatives, public servants/local government management and communities.

From the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) website:

The Independent Commission Against Corruption is conducting an investigation into lobbying of public officials and public authorities in NSW and the related procedures and regulatory system.

The Commission is seeking input from individuals and organisations through a call for submissions which must be received at the Commission by 5pm Wednesday 23 June 2010. See the guide for making a submission for more information.

Submissions may respond to the Commission's issues paper on lobbying, the investigation scope and purpose and other relevant issues concerning lobbying in NSW.

Lobbying in NSW - issues paper

Guide for making a submission to the ICAC

Scope and purpose of the investigation

The scope and purpose of the investigation is to examine whether the relationship between lobbyists and public authorities and public officials may allow, encourage or cause the occurrence of corrupt conduct or conduct connected with corrupt conduct and to identify whether any laws governing any public authority or public official need to be changed and whether any methods of work, practices or procedures of any public authority or public official could allow, encourage or cause the occurrence of corrupt conduct and if so, what changes should be made.

Is your local council using this tool?
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has recently released a Development assessment internal audit tool. The ICAC recommends that councils adapt all or part of this tool to address the potential corruption risks within the development assessment process.

Tasmania & South Australia elections: state of play on the night Saturday 20 March 2010 [Links]

Summary of online predictions on the morning of Saturday 20 March 2010; Tasmania will have a hung parliament and South Australia is too close to call.

Online information on the night:

Electoral Commission SA State Election 2010 here, with live election results after 6pm on 20 March.

Tasmanian Electoral Commission 2010 House of Assembly Elections here, first preference results available after 6.30pm on 20 March.

ABC Elections website including:

Live coverage for South Australia here, with information on electorates, candidates, polling booths and results.

Live coverage for Tasmania here, with information on electorates, candidates, polling booths and results.

Adelaide Now online live reports here, with analysis, video.

Country Voice (SA) blog going live on the night here, with special emphasis on country South Australia.

The Advocate (Tasmania) online, up to date reports from 5pm onwards here.

The Mercury (Tasmania) online, live blogging after 5pm here and readers can join in.

Antony Green's Election Blog on the night and on Twitter @ABCElections

Crikey's Election Central blog promises to cover both South Australia and Tasmania on the night.

The Tally Room blog open thread on the night here about both state elections.

A pre-Copenhagen 2009 climate change question for governments of the day

It is widely accepted that (i) there is an increase in global warming due to anthropomorphic activity (principally though greenhouse gas emissions), (ii) this increase in warming is/will result in climate change with a significant deleterious effect on natural environment, infrastructure and society, (iii) there is limited extant legislation and/or binding treaty which seeks to adapt human activities in order to reduce these emissions at the national or international level, and (iv) the continent and territorial waters of the Commonwealth of Australia are/will experience the negative effects of climate change earlier or to a greater degree than some other nations.

What is also beginning to emerge is the possibility that few, if any, national governments are willing to create legitimate policy or enact legislation which seeks to either curb actual greenhouse gas emissions or limit exposure to climate change impacts. To date political rhetoric on climate change has been profuse and relatively worthless.

It is also becoming apparent that with a few exceptions change of government is unlikely to lead to real policy change in relation to how a country deals with global warming and, in Australia, any change of government is just as likely to result in a weakening of structural response.

So when will Australians start to band together and sue one or all of the three tiers of government (under existing common, statute law and/or international treaty) in order to effect climate change mitigation?

An critique: CLIMATE CHANGE LITIGATION IN THE LAND AND ENVIRONMENT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND OTHER COURTS,The Hon. Justice Brian J Preston Chief Judge Land and Environment Court of NSW,August 2009

No two ways about it - this is a political hate crime

Image from Crikey 12th August 2009

This poster is a political hate crime in the making if ever there was one and it looks suspiciously like it was incited by a member of the Victorian arm of the Liberal Party, Federal MP Bruce Billson.
I'd like to say that the man is silly as a two bob watch - except he sounds too much like many other far right acolytes left over from the rabid JW Howard era version of them and us.
What are the Victorian Libs and the Federal Leader of the Liberal Party Malcolm Turnbull going to do about it?
More to the point - what is the Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions, Jeremy Rapke QC, going to do about it?
It seems that the Howard era gave Aussie politicians 'permission' to be as openly racist as some of their constituents and the Rudd Government (along with its state counterparts) is doing little to reign in this ugly xenophobia.

What is particularly offensive about the Billson-led community campaign is that the increase in crime statistics the poster talks about cannot be slated solely to African residents - it's also due to the fact that the police have been more active in making arrests across the board in those areas in 2008-09 (big thanks to clarencegirl for this 2008 media release concerning the Wyndham Police Service Area, this webpage and this 9th August 2009 news story).

Billson's so-called political views are beneath contempt.

Can't get to see your G.P. for a month? Worried about that long wait at accident and emergency? Been on an elective surgery list for a year?

Can't get to see your G.P. for a month? Worried about that long wait at hospital accident and emergency? Overwhelmed by the thought of a day-long trip to see a specialist? Upset by the fact that a family member is hundreds or thousands of kilometres away receiving in-patient treatment? Concerned that you won't survive a life-threatening disease because poorer health outcomes sometimes correlate with life in the regions? Indignant that you can get elective surgery within two months if you have the money to pay but are on a waiting list for twelve months if you are poor? Think your local district hospital won't be there at the end of the year if this area health service cost cutting keeps up?

Well these are pretty common worries for many Australians living in rural and regional areas. But never fear - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is out there clutching his copy of A healthier future for all Australians - Final Report June 2009.

The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission may say that; The health of our people is critical to our national economy, our national security and, arguably, our national identity. Our own health and the health of our families are key determinants of our wellbeing. Health is one of the most important issues for the Australian people, and it is an issue upon which they rightly expect strong leadership from governments.

However don't expect significant federal-state consultation on the report's recommendations before the next federal election.

The Liberals and Nationals won't add anything constructive to consideration of the public health service as they don't want timely consultation because it will take away an election campaign stick that it can use to beat the Rudd Government about the head and, Labor won't be rushing forward either because it will be easier to continue promising golden health reform in the lead-up to polling day than it will be to defend leaks about inevitable federal-state consultation hiccups.

As for those medieval guild relics, the 'gentlemen's' unions covering general practitioners and medical specialists - well they won't be doing more than blowing obstructive hot air until someone promises them that there will be a larger user pays component favouring their pockets in any national health system.

So. Can't get to see your G.P. for a month? Worried about that long wait at hospital accident and emergency? Overwhelmed by the thought of a day-long trip to see a specialist? Upset by the fact that a family member is hundreds or thousands of kilometres away receiving in-patient treatment? Concerned that you won't survive a life-threatening disease because poorer health outcomes sometimes correlate with life in the regions?Indignant that you can get elective surgery within two months if you have the money to pay but are on a waiting list for twelve months if you are poor? Think your local district hospital won't be there at the end of the year if this area health service cost cutting keeps up? Get used to it and hope that you survive until that shining day when Kevin Rudd finally 'fixes' the public health system.

A healthier future for all Australians - Final Report June 2009:

Executive Summary

Recommendations

Australian state government hires spies

Last Friday The Sydney Morning Herald reported on an Australian company which contracts to supply open intelligence to business and government:

David Vaile, executive director of UNSW's Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre, believes SR7 may be acting unethically and said he suspected companies were using dirt gathered from social networking sites as an excuse to fire people due to the challenging economic climate.

He said the practice could backfire when the economy turns around as people would refuse to work for or trust companies that spied on staff.

He said the issue raised questions over where the boundary is between public and private comments.

Here's what the company says about itself:

We provide protection and strategy for brands and reputations.

While one of its published case studies is quite frankly fascinating:

SR7 undertook a comprehensive audit for a leading State Government department to identify on-line risks to the organization and its business units with exposure to social media.
The assessment unearthed a series of online activities by employees and stakeholders, acting as an early warning system for key decision makers.
SR7 provided counsel and advice on mitigation strategies for implementation by the relevant agencies.

So which public servants were being spied on and in what state and which government department was silly enough to contract out this strange work to a company that brags like this?

Possum Comitiatus on the national economy

Possum Comitatus writing in Crikey last Tuesday:

The economy is lukewarm to tepid, but not dead.

For a country supposedly in the middle of an economic crisis so grave that it cannot be described without the obligatory passing mention of the Great Depression, yesterday’s ABS retail turnover figures were hardly the stuff of nightmares.

At worst, the national economy appears to be treading water. At best, the national economy appears to be treading water. We might not actually be going anywhere, but it’s a pretty good outcome when you consider that expectations play a sizeable role when it comes to the willingness of people to open their wallets, and the last 6 months of media coverage framing those expectations has been the equivalent of some nutter standing on the corner banging on about the end of the world being nigh......

Retail turnover data is the least worst measure we have when it comes to the rubber hitting the road of the real economy in terms of how money is flowing out of people’s wallets and into the nation’s cash registers. What it shows at its most basic level is that some States are faring better than others as the financial crisis has increased the spread of retail activity between States, highlighting the disparity in economic activity driven by regional factors across Australia....

If NSW wasn’t such a basket-case, the national figures would be looking quite spiffy all things considered. We don’t so much have an economic crisis as we a NSW crisis.

It will be interesting to see if the Rudd Government's one-off payments to self-funded retirees, pensioners, familes and low-income earners (due in December) will actually lift NSW up to the 0.0 line on the graph.

Single, living alone, no assets, on a full pension and in community housing? Rudd and Rees want to starve you out

It is rather difficult to find Housing Commission accommodation in regional New South Wales these days. I'm told that most subsidised housing in recent years has come online under community housing management so that state government can save a bit on the cost of regional bureaucracy.

I've had a few phone calls in the last couple of days about this community housing.
With pensions and other income assistance not really keeping up with the cost of living and little hope that Kevin Rudd's increased pension 'promise' will come to fruition as anything more than a token, it was a shock for many Northern Rivers community housing tenants already living in straightened circumstances to recently receive a version of the item below.

Community housing rents changed

The government rent policy determining how community housing rents are set has changed.

Community housing rents for new tenants have risen from July 1.

Most of this increase will be offset by an increase in the tenant’s entitlement to Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA).

Existing tenants’ rents will increase following their next scheduled rent review.

The new rents will be calculated based on a combination of 25% of ‘assessable’ household income, 15% of Family Tax Benefit, and 100% of Commonwealth Rent Assistance Entitlements (as long as the new rent is not more than market rent).

The new rent will mean a net increase in housing costs (after taking the increase in CRA into account) for most current tenants.

This will be phased in over a number of years.

While the Federation welcomes the general approach to ensure stronger income streams which will allow associations to provide more housing opportunities for future tenants, we have expressed strong concerns to government about the impact on current tenants.

As far as I can tell, an average single pensioner living alone in community housing will be losing around $31 to $33 dollars minimum a fortnight due to this change in policy.
In practice this would mean at least an extra $23 to $25 dollars less on pension day as community housing already takes 25% of any Commonwealth rent assistance.
Even if the community housing company agrees to stagger this money grab to $20 per fortnight in the first year, this is twenty dollars more than most single pensioners (or for that matter the single unemployed without family) can afford.

NSW Premier Rees and Prime Minister Rudd should be ashamed of themselves - they have quite literally endorsed taking food out of the mouths of the elderly, widowed, disabled and carers.

It's a low dingo act, from two pollies who have forgotten what the Labor Party once stood for.

Both these men had better hope that their next respective election dates do not fall in the second week of the pension payment cycle - voters with empty bellies tend to feel a mite uncharitable when faced with a ballot paper stuffed with well-fed candidates.

Oh, and by the way Rudders, don't think that single pensioners in community housing haven't noticed that you are willing to back Aussie investors, as well as home-grown and foreign banks to the tune of around $600-708 billion while you've agreed to help Rees snatch the food out of the mouths of many of those who wouldn't have more than a dollar in the bank as 'savings'.

Rudd & Rees family pic came from Google Images

Update:

Link to list of Australian and foreign banks/financial institutions whose deposits and certain debts the Rudd Government has pledged to guarantee here.

Liberal Party determined to devour itself

If it wasn't enough that Brendan Nelson was declared leader of the federal parliamentary Liberal Party with a bloody knife visibly sticking out from between his shoulder blades which appeared to encourage the party to indulge in a fresh round of divisive state leadership games, now we have in-fighting at the Victorian state body level which has blood running in the gutters.
First it was discovered that the blog Ted Baillieu Must Go was administered by party members.
At least two staff sackings came out of that and it's rumoured that the party went directly to Google to have this blog snuffed.
Now a state campaign manager has been outed (in what looks suspiciously like internal payback) and forced to resign over an anti-Semitic email sent during the 2007 federal election.
Victorian Lib leader, 'Red' Ted Baillieu, is hitting out at all and sundry by pledging a 'purge', with Melbourne's The Age happy to oblige with publication of any details.
Red Ted's public hissy fit shows just how thin the Baillieu blood runs in the current generation.
Word is out that prominent names at state and federal levels will get an airing before the Victorian Libs stop devouring themselves.

Like just about everyone else I managed to get a look at the ditched blog and the Baillieu montage above comes from that site.

Meanwhile in New South Wales the cracks widen...

Yesterday Crikey reported:
Debnam has resigned from the Opposition’s front bench, paving the way for current Liberal leader Barry O’Farrell to announce a shadow cabinet reshuffle this morning (11.30am).
In an unexpected dummy-spit which has annoyed many of his colleagues, Debnam has sent a private email explaining his action:
I have been opposed to Michael Costa’s electricity privatisation and despite lacking the numbers in Parliament to stop it, I’ve argued for the Coalition to take a strong stand against the privatisation and in favour of clean renewable energy. However, in my view, the conditional acceptance announced late last week by the Coalition effectively surrenders to Costa’s privatisation. Given my strong views, it is untenable for me to continue as the Shadow Minister for Energy and remain on the frontbench simply biting my tongue.
Debnam has given an undertaking to stay in parliament and contest the next election in 2011 as the MP for Vaucluse – so there will be no embarrassing by-election.

Electricity privatisation: NSW Speaker opposes it

The Member for Northern Tablelands and Speaker in the NSW Legislative Assembly, Richard Torbay, has put his cards about the privatisation of electricity on the table.

The Armidale Express reports Torbay said, "I am still opposed to the electricity privatisation and have not heard any arguments to convince me otherwise.

“Short term it will inevitably lead to loss of jobs and poorer services in country areas. But in long term the policy of selling off public assets may be seen as short sighted.

“The debate we should be having is the lack of government investment in public infrastructure over a long period and whether the people would be better served through reversing this position.”

Torbay said the power privatisation debate debased political standards in NSW and both the government and opposition had misled the people.

Although Torbay gave both the Government and Opposition serves for the position they have taken on the power issue, he made a stinging attack on National Party MPs.

According to Torbay, the Nationals had publicly opposed the sell off and told their constituents they were against it, but caved in at the last minute and fell in line with their Coalition partners.

“It’s like dairy deregulation and firearms legislation. The Nationals say one thing in the electorate and then go back to Parliament and vote against it,” he said.

With all its duck shoving, manoeuvring, number crunching and backflipping it has been an exercise in sheer hypocrisy and the worst I’ve seen since entering Parliament,” he said.

“The vital component missing in this debate has been the interests of the people.

“They have been misinformed and misled from start to finish.

“Although it looks as if we have a done deal on the privatisation, very few people in regional NSW have any idea of how it would impact on them or whether it is a sound long term decision. That is the debate we should have had.”

Mr Torbay said the Labor government went to the 2007 election with a commitment not to privatise the state’s public electricity assets and despite internal divisions now seemed set to push it through.

After sitting on the fence throughout the debate, the Liberals and Nationals had given their support this week based on conditions that were simply a face saving device to mask growing political division within the parties.

It's in the bag

Granny Herald told us yesterday that federal and state governments had failed to reach an agreement over the problem of disposable plastic bags.
No national ban or levy, indeed no solution at all, has been decided on.

Which sort of demonstrates the bigger problem really - at every step of the climate change response is someone who will either lose income or someone who will be forced to pay more for goods and services.
So nothing gets done with a coordinated national approach. Instead we get lots of wordy hot air, because every pollie has an industry lobbyist at their elbow or an electorate sensitive to a particular topic.

Kevin Rudd keeps going to the media with his 2020 mantra of a new way forward.
This magical date is just around the corner, but the number of life problems in which it has been held out as a goal increases every time I open the paper or turn on the television.
It seems there is nothing that can't be cured by a judicious application of 2020 twice a day.

If the plastic bag issue is any guide, then 2020 will see us no further forward than we are today and we'll all be in deep in global warming trouble before any solution is actually tried.

It's not easy being green: time for Australian governments to put their investments in order

This month the Australian Conservation Council released its 32 page report Responsible Public Investment in Australia.

 

3 RESPONSIBLE PUBLIC INVESTMENT IN AUSTRALIA

Few of the government funds interviewed for this report appeared to have linked ESG factors with their material influence on returns and the associated risks and opportunities in investment management.

This demonstrates a worrying disconnection between many public sector funds and industry best practice developments.

In many cases government asset managers lack the transparency of private sector asset managers in terms of their investment strategy and portfolio holdings.

However, a small number of asset managers were aware of ESG developments and reported

that the UN PRI was being considered at board level.

Government investments in the energy sector may be undermining stated environmental policy

objectives.

The investment practices of government funds have the potential to support or detract from government policy goals.

Most Australian jurisdictions, for example, have policies and laws that related to climate change and energy.

But investment priorities sometimes appear to undermine stated policy objectives.

The total investment of all State, Territory and Commonwealth funds in the listed energy sector is estimated as follows:

Industry: Holdings ($ million):

Nuclear/uranium $ 559

Fossil fuels $ 5,379

Renewable energy $ 126

There appear to be contradictions between these investment holdings and the stated policy goals of some States and Territories.

In particular:

• NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia all have significant holdings in uranium-related equities, despite legislative or political bans on uranium mining;

• All jurisdictions have very low holdings in the renewable energy sector, despite a stated strong commitment to renewable energy as a critical part of future energy generation; and

• All jurisdictions have significant exposures to fossil fuel industries, despite a range of policy commitments relating to the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The imbalance between investment in fossil fuels and renewable energy sources is striking, given the public commitment of all Australian governments to renewable energy.

 

The report also identifies the Commonwealth Futures Fund as not taking social, environmental and governance issues into consideration when making investment portfolio management decisions.

 

It's time for a whole of government approach to public investment. The Rudd Government needs to lead the way by example on this and then drag the states, kicking and screaming if necessary, into a green investment plan.

How's the form of Federal Opposition MPs?

Today's sitting of the House of Representatives was disrupted and eventually suspended when a number of vocal and rowdy members of the Opposition ignored the calls of the Speaker and later the Deputy Speaker to adhere to their directions.

The Opposition is obviously not happy with new sitting arrangement for the House of Reps which now sits on Fridays but does not have a period of Question Time. It seems the Opposition is not too keen on working a full week, instead they prefer to be part-timers.

During the morning session of parliament a number of Opposition members were called to order by the Speaker, but they elected to do their "own thing" and ignore the Speaker.

Not unexpectedly, the Speaker ordered the Liberal MP Steven Ciobo to leave the house. Ciobo was escorted from the house by the Sergeant-at-Arms.

Later, the Deputy Speaker ordered Nationals MP Luke Hartsuyker from the house after he held up a cut-out of Mr Rudd.

Hartsuyker refused to leave the house and after a period of further dissent and unruly behaviour by Opposition MPs the house was suspended.

What a fine example these MPs are setting! NOT!!!

Read the Sydney Morning Herald's report at: http://news.smh.com.au/parliament-uproar-as-mp-forcibly-removed/20080222-1trt.html

The high price of sea views on the NSW North Coast

The Victorian Government and local media are coming to grips with the projected effects of climate change on coastal towns and villages in that state.

Media on the NSW North Coast is virtually silent on this issue.

 

Unlike Victoria, the NSW Government does not appear to have taken a comprehensive look at its coastline. Preferring instead to do two case studies at Batemans Bay in the south and Wooli Wooli in the north.

 

Clarence Valley Council has a draft Wooli Wooli Estuary Management Plan on exhibition, but this is hardly an adequate whole-of-shire adaptation plan.

 

The NSW Greenhouse Office leaves the NSW North Coast with little more than broad brushstrokes on climate change effects and the final report on coastal erosion case studies.

If it wasn't so serious an issue, State Government and North Coast local government climate change adaptation plans so far would be laughable.

 

By keeping the North Coast in the dark as long as possible, neither tier of government is actually going to stop residents from finally realising that there is a high price to pay for their sea and river views.

They are simply stopping residents from planning an early personal response to property risk due to potential negative climate change impacts.

After all, we all know from the source documents mentioned here that the NSW coastline is likely to experience higher sea-level rises than the predicted global average.

It's time that the Iemma Government and local councils stopped protecting the short-term interests of developers and gave real thought as to how coastal communities are going to cope with global 

warming and coastline retreat.

Morrie does a mass mail-out to bail out his latest privatisation scheme

Morris Iemma has just mailed out a letter to all NSW pensioners giving them an "iron-clad guarantee" that "my Government will continue to provide the $112 annual rebate on electricity bills for all pensioners" after privatisation of the State's electricity supplies.

Well that's settled. I'm vastly reassured. Hold on there a minute?

There's no mention of the fact that Morrie's "my Government" legally only lasts until the next election (John Howard taught us that with his weasel words on the GST).

Neither is there any guarantee that power company service fees and charges will not rise, and rise substantially, in the first three years of the electricity privatisation roll-out.

Missing also is any assurance that the cost to consumers per kilowatt hour will not start a sharp upward spiral within five years.

If other state privatisations are any indication, then the annual pensioner rebate is unlikely to pay for even one quarter's electricity account in the future.

Yes, Morrie my little mate, your fine pensioner rebate promises aren't worth the paper they're printed on.  

NSW North Coast Area Health Service tries 'the cheque is in the mail' routine

CEO Chris Crawford and the North Coast Area Health Service are obviously having problems colouring in between the lines of the recent announcement that some public hospital beds would be withdrawn from daily use and nursing shift numbers would be decreased.

 

"AT 5.10pm yesterday members of the New South Wales Nurses Association were still sitting by their fax machine waiting for an explanation from the North Coast Area Health Service on its plans to reallocate 86 North Coast hospital beds, including 12 from Grafton and Maclean, as surge beds.

They didn't get it.

Nurses Association organiser Susan Pearce said she had been told the Health Service had sent the material electronically about 4.45pm, but it hadn't arrived by the 5pm deadline set by a disputes committee.

"They were going to implement this plan on Tuesday, so I wouldn't have thought it would take them that long to send us the material," she said."

The Daily Examiner article on Saturday:

http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3762539&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=

 

Ms. Pearce is being diplomatic here. This was so obviously local health policy on the run, that I doubt whether anything was in place except the most rudimentary moves to close down beds and reduce shift numbers. 

Morrie wants to sell the farm and Sussex Street gets very nervous

The NSW Labor Government is still pushing ahead with the privatisation of power supplies in the state.

It's rumoured that sitting government MPs are rather irate at the voter flack that Morris Iemma has brought down on their heads.

The Sussex Street party machine is also worried about surviving the next state election, if the voter mood remains the same.

They should all be worried, every man-jack. This has to be the stupidest political move that Iemma and Costa have made, in a growing list of stupid moves.

I hear that the Opposition is down on its knees every night praying that privatisation goes ahead, as they see it delivering votes and cash when they win government.

  

Frank Sartor's name is turning into a swear word on the NSW North Coast

The NSW North Coast has been under sustained population growth and demographic change for decades; as retirees, sea-changers and tree-changers look for their piece of coastal paradise.

Consequently demands on local government infrastructure have been relentlessly growing in relation to how many extra bodies there are per town or square kilometre and, although all groups profess satisfaction with their new lives, within five years they are demanding increased infrastructure and services.

Throughout this period there has been limited NSW Government assistance for local government. 

Indeed there has been considerable cost-shifting onto this lower tier of government at both state and federal level.

Now NSW Labor's Morris Iemma and Frank Sartor are intent on finally bringing the only truly immediate form of government available to us, local government, to its knees by depriving it of reasonable Section 94 developer contributions.

 

Genia McCaffery, President of the Local Government Association of NSW, reflects a widespread dissatisfaction with State Government.

 

"Local government usually negotiates as a first option, so it is a measure of how angry we are with the State Government's high-handed treatment that we are now proposing drastic action. On Wednesday 250 mayors, councillors and general managers from across NSW defied the State Government by vowing to refuse to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars in community funds.

The State Government plans to slash the contributions developers are required to pay to councils - usually an amount per lot known as a Section 94 levy - to help fund the additional infrastructure that is needed to service the new population housed by the development.

Furthermore, the State Government plans to take control of the smaller contribution developers will have to pay rather than passing it on to the local council so that the council can use the money to build new roads, stormwater and drainage facilities, parks and sporting fields or to extend existing facilities such as libraries and community centres.

We argue that developers should not be able to walk away with huge profits from development, leaving councils with the cost of providing infrastructure to meet the needs of new residents. This burden is particularly onerous under the rate-pegging scheme, where our revenue from ratepayers is already restricted.-------

The Government is hiding behind the catchphrase of housing affordability. They argue that slashing contributions will take $50,000 to $60,000 off the price of a new home. In reality, developers contribute just $13,000 to $15,000 per house.

Does anyone really believe that developers will pass the $15,000 in savings on to new home owners? This Government is pandering to the interests of one group - developers, the same interest group that makes large contributions to party election funding."

The Sydney Morning Herald full opinion piece:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/councils-are-nearing-melting-point/2008/01/31/1201714145875.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 

Exactly who did the Northern Rivers Area Health Service consult with before deciding on 'surge' beds?

The NSW North Coast Area Health Service took the region by surprise this week when it announced that it would be withholding some hospital beds from normal use and instituting a policy of 'treatment in the home'.

 

No mention was made of how such home treatment would be implemented by community nursing already stretched by the North Coast's increasing population and changing demographics.

Nor was there any indication of whether it was expected that local GPs and their practice nurses would play a part. Which given the limited number of bulk-billing medical practices in certain areas, would involve patients in additional costs.

 

No consultation with local communities was advertised. I'm left wondering exactly which chronically ill patients the NCAHS chief allegedly consulted with, and whether those consulted happen to fall within a socio-economic band which allows them greater facility to draw on other home assistance which would make home treatment an attractive personal option.

Certainly the frail-aged pensioners of my acquaintance, with no family living close by, would not be clamouring to receive home treatment during episodes of illness normally requiring hospital admission.

It is distressing to see North Coast residents short-changed in this way.

 

According to ABC News yesterday.

"The nurses' association is meeting the North Coast Area Health Service executive this afternoon over a plan to slash bed and nurse numbers across New South Wales north coast hospitals.

The plan would see more than 80 beds at 14 north coast public hospitals converted into 'surge' beds for seriously ill patients at times of high demand.

Less ill patients would be treated at home or at outpatient clinics.

Union organiser Susan Pearce says the initiative was to have come into play today, but is on hold because health management failed to consult nurses.

"We're just amazed that they would seek to introduce such a change today without any consultation with our members whatsoever. It doesn't set us off on a good track for discussion about this particular issue," she said.

The chief executive of the North Coast Area Health Service, Chris Crawford, is defending the surge-bed plan.

He says the strategy is the result of consultations held with medical staff and chronically ill patients.

"Particularly patients have given us feedback that they'd prefer to be treated in their homes if they could be in a familiar environment rather than having to go to hospital," he said.

But the chairman of the Port Macquarie Base Hospital medical staff council says the move has taken it by surprise.

Dr Steven Begbie says it has been working with the area health executive to try and solve the bed crisis at Port Macquarie Base Hospital.

"There is a vision to increase the footprint of the hospital so that we can have more beds, an increase in services, and yet this plan comes out of left field as an option that reduces the beds in our hospital on a day-to-day basis," he said."