How many people have to have their homes destroyed before our leaders accept that climate change is here and now

Flood and Storm Update for NSW In the past four weeks the SES has received over 10, 300 calls for assistance on its assistance line (NSW State Emergency Services February 5, 2011)

Moment of truth as 64 homes lost in fire in West Australia (The Australian February 8, 2011)

Cyclone Yasi destroyed 150 homes and left at least 650 uninhabitable in northern Queensland (ABC Online February 8, 2011)

Queensland floods 5,900 homes damaged by floods in the past month (The Age February 7, 2011)

Floods force evacuations in southern NSW (ABC Online February 7, 2011)

Dozens of Victorian homes inundated by flood waters (News.com.au February 6, 2011)

In the face of dozens of headlines such as these over the last two months and the personal accounts of friends and family, I was amazed to hear the Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Anthony Albanese attempt to deny any direct link between the multiple floods, bushfires and cyclones this country has experienced since the beginning of December 2010 and climate change.

How many homes and family businesses have to be damaged or destroyed before our politicians finally realise there is no more time left to play politics with this immense problem?

Sh#t Happens and Tony Abbott fights to keep control

UPDATE:

On Twitter 8 February 2011:
jodiespeers Jodie Speers
FYI - Abbott's GLARING at Riles actually lasted 1min 10secs. We only had room for 24 secs. It is extraordinary.

The Daily Telegraph 9 February 2011:
A DIGGER'S widow has accepted an apology from Liberal leader Tony Abbott over his comments about conditions facing troops in Afghanistan.

The Sydney Morning Herald 9 February 2011:
Ian MacKinney, the father of the dead soldier, Jared MacKinney, said the Opposition Leader's comments were ''out of line'' and made him ''feel sick''.
''My attitude would be to ignore it, to give it the least amount of credence,'' he said.
He described Mr Abbott as thoughtless, ignorant and uncaring. ''It just shows how good he is, or isn't. I'm not going to let it bother me, but it just shows he's not very thoughtful. He doesn't care too much.''

Proof positive that ethical investment and consumption has a strong influence on business practice?

Walking up and down supermarket aisles looking for food products that guarantee non-GM ingredients or have a low-carbon footprint, flicking though racks of clothes or rows of shoes in search of the now almost mythical Australian-made label and generally trying to avoid purchases from companies known to exploit their workforce or the environment, can leave one feeling that perhaps the attempt to be an ethical consumer is costing one time and money with little effect on the industries involved in producing a wide range goods on display in this country.

Then along comes a letter like this one from the beleaguered Gunns Ltd, linked to online at Tasmanian Politics and Other Stuff, which clearly shows that the combined weight of individuals attempting to act ethically does eventually bring big business closer to the desired outcome:

Looking at the gestation window for a new cyclone?

Tropical cyclones
Tropical cyclones are low pressure systems that form over warm tropical waters and have well defined wind circulations of at least gale force strength (sustained winds of 63 km/h or greater with gusts in excess of 90 km/h).
Technically they are defined as a non-frontal low pressure system of synoptic scale developing over warm waters having organised convection and a maximum mean wind speed of 34 knots or greater extending more than half-way around near the centre and persisting for at least six hours....
The severity of a tropical cyclone is described in terms of categories ranging from 1 to 5 related to the zone of maximum winds.....

La Niña event

Australia continues to feel the effects of one of the strongest La Niña's on record. During La Niña events, tropical cyclone numbers are typically higher than normal during the November to April period, while summer daytime temperatures are often below average, particuarly in areas experiencing excess rainfall.....
Climate indicators of ENSO continue to indicate a strong, mature La Niña, although there are clear signs the event has passed its peak. Pacific Ocean temperatures have increased, especially below the surface, while atmospheric indicators such as the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), trade winds and cloud patterns have eased from their peaks reached about a month ago......
These observations are consistent with long-range forecast models surveyed by the Bureau which show the Pacific gradually warming during the southern autumn. Given that March to June is the ENSO transition period, there is a spread among the model predictions for the middle of 2011. The most likely outcome is for a return to neutral conditions, but there is a chance of La Niña persisting for the rest of the year.

Australian Bureau of Meteorology sea surface temperature mapping on February 3 2011

Exceeding mean temperature probability February-April 2011

TROPICAL CYCLONE IMPACTS ALONG THE AUSTRALIAN EAST COAST FROM NOVEMBER TO APRIL 1858 TO 2000

La Niña - Detailed Australian Analysis

What Keneally's promise to help with electricity charges means to the average worker, pensioner or independent retiree on the NSW North Coast

This is what the NSW Government Industry and Investment website had to say about the Energy Rebate on 5 February 2011:

The Energy Rebate was increased from $130 a year to $145 per year on 1 July 2010. The Rebate will be further increased to $161 from 1 July 2011. These increases reflect the average rise in regulated electricity prices. Also from 1 July 2010, eligibility for the Energy Rebate was expanded to include all customers who hold Health Care Cards.

Am I eligible for the Energy Rebate?

The Energy Rebate is now available to all electricity account holders who hold either a:

· Pensioner Concession Card issued by either Centrelink or the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA)

· Gold Card issued by the Department of Veterans' Affairs marked with either:
-War Widow or War Widower Pension
-Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (TPI)
-Disability Pension

· Health care card issued by Centrelink as a result of receiving one of a number of income support payments from the Commonwealth.

If you hold an eligible card and have not yet registered for the Energy Rebate you should contact your retailer.

Any customer receiving the Energy Rebate prior to 1 July 2010 will continue to receive the Rebate and will automatically receive the increased amount, if they continue to hold a valid and eligible card.

How do I obtain the rebate?

If you think you are eligible for the rebate or would like to ask some more questions, contact your electricity supplier or your local electricity distributor. Contact phone numbers can be found on your electricity bill.

This is what the Keneally Government announced on 6 February 2011 as part of an opening salvo in its re-election campaign:

The Energy Rebate will be increased from $161 to $250 from July 1, while eligibility for the rebate will be extended to households with a combined income of under $150,000.

What this means is that if you have a Health Care Card or equivalent and your quarterly electricity charges came to a frugal $200 in any energy bill received after 1 July 2011, then the new Energy Rebate would reduce your actual payment (with GST added) to around $153 instead of the $181 or so you would pay now.

Families without the Heath Care Card but with a combined income of under $150,000 will be eligible for the Energy Rebate on 1 July 2012.

The worrying issue is the NSW Labor statement that this new scale will mean that families save $1000 in electricity bills over the life of the plan - which indicates that the annual $250 rebate may only be guaranteed for the next four financial years.

Keneally's launch of Fairness for Families can be found here.

"mendacious, ugly, disgraceful and cringeworthy" - and that's just his good points!

I must confess myself astounded that Tony Abbott could be so foolish as to shake people down for a donation to his private cause at the same time as he is attempting to further that cause by threatening to deny funding to repair the damage from the Queensland floods. That he should do so while the most ferocious cyclone in recorded history bore down on the coastline of the same state, well, it was just … words fail me. We waited for the cataclysm to rake over the north of state like the blast front from a gigantic, slow moving nuclear bomb. An eerie, suspended interlude. Until Abbott punctured the moment with his ham-fisted partisan foolishness. [John Birmingham, National Times,3 February 2011]

LaurieOakes

Lib fundraising on back of Qld flood disaster as a devastating cyclone bears down will not earn Tony Abbott any credit. Deeply embarrassing. 11:02 PM Feb 1st via web

Mr Abbott's Odious Opportunism ……Tony's attempt to distance himself from the crass e-mail appeal doesn't impress either. [Sardonic Detachment Therapy,3 February 2011]

And this is what he has to say.
Observe the precision of his judgement, and the exquisite subtlety of his timing. [Still Life With Cat,2 February 2011]

No wonder Tony Abbott's percentages continue to look like this:

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is still preferred as Prime Minister (49%, up 3% since December 8-12, 2010) over Opposition Leader Tony Abbott (36%, down 3%) according to a special telephone Morgan Poll conducted over the last three days (February 1-3, 2011).
More electors approve of the way Julia Gillard is handling her job as Prime Minister (46%, down 3% since December 8-12, 2010) than approve of the way Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is handling his job (39%, down 11%).

Cartoon found at Nicholson Cartoons