Senator Steve Fielding gets personal on the Internet

Australian Senator Steve Fielding from Family First decided to become very personal at the expense of one individual who allegedly has a problem with alcohol.

Fielding mentioned the man by age and home town (mercifully mis-spelling same) on his own political website.
Having dropped any mention of "allegedly" which was contained in the online news article he also linked and pre-empting any court judgment, he sent out a press release which went on to say:
"This man is a disgrace and not only deserves to lose his licence for life, he should also be sent to jail where he can think about the danger he poses to the community."

He then tweeted about the man at senatorsteve so that no corner of the Australian Internet remained uninformed about this particular bloke.

Of course if you were to spend a little computer time on the subject it's possible that you would actually find the full identity of the person being railed about. Especially after Victorian magistrate court lists are published.

I can see Ol' Stevo being slapped with a writ if he keeps this up.

rod3000 sums up the Aussie attitude to Fielding quite well: "I really hope someone has pointed out to @senatorsteve just how much media attention you can get by sailing around the world by yourself"

Causley gets a well-deserved wigging in run up to the federal election

Apparently there were a few surprised faces on the NSW North Coast when the Nationals former Deputy-Speaker and former MP for Page Ian Causley claimed credit for money promised by Kevin Rudd during the 2007 federal election campaign and delivered by the Rudd Government along with further funding to date.

On the strength of a conditional election promise by John Howard in that same election campaign, never delivered because he and his government were not re-elected, Causley claimed credit for $18 million in federal funding in his letter to the editor published in The Daily Examiner on 11 May 2010.

Labor supporter Bill O'Donnell called this ploy in the same newspaper on 17 May:

Preposterous Causley

WHAT an extraordinary letter by Ian Causley trying to claim that the $18 million being spent on Grafton Hospital was his initiative.

Let's look at the facts.

After 11 years in John Howard's government the Nationals had delivered next to nothing in health spending in Page.

In fact, there was a report in the Daily Telegraph by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in 2007 that between 1995/6 and 2005/6 the Federal Government hospital funding decreased from 45 per cent to 41 per cent, while state funding rose from 46 per cent to 51 per cent.

The fact is that after 11 years, John Howard turns up at Grafton Hospital a few weeks before an election he knows he's lost and says I've got $18 million for you.

He knows he doesn't have to deliver because he will be gone.

It was a ploy to try to save Page for the Nationals.

Mind you, that's after 11 years of nothing.

It must be galling for Hartsuyker and Causley to see Janelle Saffin finally delivering the $18 million.

Grafton Hospital upgrade is up and running, with an additional $1.2 million added on.

Fifteen million dollars at Lismore for Lismore Base Hospital for an integrated cancer care centre and $9.1 million for enhanced cancer care service, including second linear accelerator and cancer patient and carer accommodation.

Five million dollars for Grafton Super Clinic.

The list is too long to enumerate, and we're only talking about health spending.

This morning I heard Luke Hartsuyker talking on ABC radio saying he hopes the Federal Budget has money for roads and hospitals.

What hypocrisy.

What did he ever do for hospitals and roads when he was in government?

He cut one billion dollars from hospital funding and in 11 years only spent 1.1billion on the Pacific Highway.

Rudd Labor has promised $3.3 billion after two years in office towards finishing the highway's upgrade.

The fact is that in 11 years in government the Nationals were incapable of delivering anything to the Page and Cowper electorates.

Perhaps they were too busy holed up with Howard, Costello and Abbot planning to abolish the Industrial Relations Commission and to cut workers of their hard-won rights built up over 100 years.

I have a feeling the elephant is still in the room, if they are ever re-elected.

What a breath of fresh air to finally have a hardworking member for Page, with the ability to attract funding to the electorate.

It's a pity Maclean Hospital isn't still in Page because the National Party member for Cowper has shown us his ability to attract funding to his electorate for anything is non-existent.

BILL O'DONNELL, Maclean

"Read my lying lips"

Well Oz Opposition Leader 'Phoney Tony' Abbott certainly made the headlines this week after admissions in an ABC TV 7.30 Report interview.
But don't just believe what the print media says, go to the interview and enjoy being told by Abbott that voters are expected to know when he is not being truthful!

TONY ABBOTT: Well, again, I think that most of us know when we're talking to people or when we're listening to people, I think we know when we can put absolute weight on what's being said and when it's just the give and take of standard conversation.
[From transcript of 7.30 Report interview Abbott quizzed on mixed messages aired on 17th May 2010]
The man's a classic drongo......

Abbott under fire for 'gospel truth' gaffe

ABC Online - Lyndal Curtis

Tony Abbott has come under fire after saying only his 'carefully prepared scripted remarks' could be taken as ...

Don't believe everything I say - Tony Abbott

Herald Sun - Phillip Hudson

TONY Abbott says voters should not believe every pledge he makes unless it is written down, in which case it's the "gospel truth". ...

Only believe me if it is 'scripted': Abbott

The Australian - Samantha Maiden

KERRY'S curse has struck a second political leader venturing into "7:30 report land" with Tony Abbott last night admitting he didn't always tell the "gospel ...

Don't believe all I say, Abbott admits

The Australian - Brendan Nicholson

TONY Abbott has declared to a national television audience that he sometimes promised too much in the heat of a debate and only his formal, scripted remarks ...

Abbott admits you can't always believe him

The Age - Michelle Grattan

TONY Abbott has admitted that what he says in the heat of the political moment can't be taken at face value or believed as a commitment. ...

Read my lying lips: Abbott admits you can't believe everything he says

Sydney Morning Herald - Phillip Coorey

In an extraordinary admission last night, the Opposition Leader said his only utterances that should be regarded as ''gospel truth'' were carefully prepared ...

Own goal for Abbot in election race‎

TVNZ - In a political own goal, conservative leader Tony Abbott, a former university boxer who once trained for the Catholic priesthood, told a television ...

McDonald's versus Yamba: it's one minute to midnight for this small coastal town

It's one minute to midnight for the small NSW North Coast town of Yamba.
Will the town prevail or will the foreign multinational subsidiary McDonald's Australia?

From The Daily Examiner today:

BY THE end of today, the people of the Clarence Valley should know if a McDonald's fast food outlet will be built at Yamba....

Now it is time for the councillors to decide.

This afternoon the seven councillors who have not declared a pecuniary interest will vote on the application....

Councillors yesterday declined to say which way they would vote, saying they would go into this afternoon's meeting with an open mind.

Deputy Mayor, Cr Jim Simmons, said while he had no comment before the meeting, he could see several issues with the development.

"The increased traffic to Treelands Drive is a concern of mine, however, I feel that the opening hours of the business are unjustified," he said.

"The midnight opening hours have the potential to create social problems.

"It will be interesting to listen to the debate and I will be making my decision in the chamber."

The deputations presented at last Tuesday's Environment, Economic and Community Committee meeting changed Cr Craig Howe's opinion on the matter.

"Before last week's meeting, I was sitting on the pro-McDonald's side of the fence," he said.

"The deputations that were presented were very good and drew attention to several potential issues.

"The applicant has done everything correctly. The application was made for a business to be operational in an area that is correctly zoned. We need to make a decision that will be in the public's best interest. That decision is not always popular, but will hopefully be right in the long run."

Councillors Ian Dinham and Pat Comben also declined to give a definite answer, saying that they wanted to hear all of the pros and cons and wanted to consider all of the information before they cast their vote.

Cr Ian Tiley refused to comment, saying he preferred to keep all debate confined to the walls of the chamber.

Councillors Sue Hughes and Margaret McKenna were unavailable for comment as The Daily Examiner was going to print.....

"Play It Again Sam" Maclean 28th & 29th May, 4th & 5th June -Yamba 6th June 2010

Play It Again Sam

Connie De Dassell

presents

A Musical Extravaganza

featuring local artists

and the

Maclean Music Academy Ensemble

performing sets from

Annie

The Music Man

The Sentimental Bloke

Chicago

Oklahoma

West Side Story

My Fair Lady

Sister Act

Performances at:

Maclean Civic Hall - 28th & 29th May and 4th & 5th June 2010 at 1.30pm

Yamba Bowling Club - 6th June 2010 at 1.30pm

Tickets: Carney's Shoe Store Maclean Ph: (02) 6645.2334

Priceline Pharmacy Yamba Ph: (02) 6646.1131

Graphic from Google Images

New political parties seeking registration this month and how you can object

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has advertised the following applications for registration as a non-parliamentary party under the provisions of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (the Electoral Act).
Knock yourself out objecting to any or all of them. Starting with the T(I)CS!

___________________________

Name of Party: Secular Party of Australia
Abbreviation of party name: No abbreviation requested
Proposed registered officer: John August
Address: 12/225 Darlinghurst Road
DARLINGURST NSW 2010

___________________________

Name of Party: Australia First Party (NSW) Incorporated
Abbreviation of party name: Australia First Party
Proposed registered officer: Anthony Pettitt
Address: 165 Garfield Road
RIVERSTONE NSW 2765

___________________________

Name of Party: Building Australia Party
Abbreviation of party name: Building Australia
Proposed registered officer: Raymond Robert Stanton Brown
Address: 5 Windarra Place
CASTLE HILL NSW 2154

___________________________

Name of Party: The Climate Sceptics
Abbreviation of party name: T.C.S
Proposed registered officer: Anthony Kenneth Cox
Address: 51 Lawson Street
HAMILTON NSW 2303

___________________________

"The above applications have been made by the secretary and another 9 members of each party and states that the parties wish to receive election funding."

If you believe that any of these parties should not be registered because, under the Electoral Act:

• the party does not meet the eligibility criteria for registration; or

• the party's application has not been correctly made; or

• the party's name and/or abbreviation are prohibited,

you may lodge an objection. Objections must be received by the Funding and Disclosure Section of the Australian Electoral Commission by 15 June 2010, must be in writing and include your name, street address, signature and the grounds for your objection.

Objections can be sent to the:

Funding and Disclosure Section
Australian Electoral Commission
PO Box 6172
Kingston ACT 2604 or
faxed to (02) 6271 4555 or
scanned and emailed to fad@aec.gov.au

For more detailed information on objecting to an application for the registration of a political party, please consult the AEC website at the following link, or contact the AEC by fax or email as above, or by phone on (02) 6271 4667.

Be afraid.......

Tony Abbott takes us back to the future in his 2010 Budget Reply.

Foreshadowing a return to Work Choices in a Mark III version.

Ever the reckless political gambler he starts his final para with the line
"The die is cast."

So who works for McDonald's in Australia?

Fair Work Australia in its 23 April 2010 decision stated in part that:

The Agreement not only fails to satisfy the no disadvantage test, on various levels it significantly compromises industrial standards that would be expected for agreement-reliant employees.....
I do not believe the employees could be considered to have genuinely agreed to the Agreement. I would dismiss the application for that reason alone....
I propose also to direct that a copy of this decision be forwarded to the Fair Work Ombudsman, given the evidence suggesting the applicant or its licensees, or both, may have been underpaying some employees.

So who exactly are McDonald's 80,000 employees Australia-wide?
They are predominately under 21 years of age, female with an English speaking background, work as casuals in the multinational's 780 fast food stores and most are paid the percentage rates for juniors.
McDonald's opened its first Australian store in 1971.

McDonald's workforce taken from the Fair Work Australia decision:

Male employees: 37,200 (46.5%)

Female employees: 42,800 (53.5%)

Employees from non-English speaking backgrounds: 28,800 (36%)

Employees who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: 2,400 (3%)

Employees with disabilities: 2,400 (3%)

Employees who are not otherwise categorised: 46,400 (58%)

Full-time employees: 7,888 (9.86%)

Part-time employees: 7,656 (9.57%)

Casual employees: 64,456 (80.57%)

Employees under 21 years of age: 65,600 (82%)

Employees aged 21-45 years: 11,200 (14%)

Employees over 45 years of age: 3,200 (4%)

Slug Boy disappears leaving no trail, but a few red faces in his wake?

Those old enough to remember when evening newspapers were still part of the social fabric will fondly recall those rather improbable fillers in the righthand column of the page.

These snippets often recycled urban myths as news for Australian readers, who were still many decades away from the 24 hour news cycle and Internet access which hopefully has led to an increasing sophistication when assessing what the mainstream media has on offer.

However, it seems that urban myths and hoaxes continue to find their way into print.

The latest media report to exhibit signs that journalists have been the victims of a classic Australian leg pull was a report which ran last Wednesday that; The ABC has been told that a 21-year-old caught rat lungworm disease after he ate a slug as a dare some time ago.

On the basis of the original media reports the NSW Health media unit issued this media release on Thursday:

NSW Health is warning people of the dangers of eating raw slugs, which although extremely rare, can cause meningitis.
Animals, including slugs and snails, can carry a range of infections, including bacteria, virus and parasites that may infect people. One parasite (or worm) carried by slugs and snails is Angiostrongylus (also called rat lung worm). The adult form of the worm is found only in rodents, and infected rodents pass larvae in their faeces which snails and slugs can eat, getting infected.
NSW Health understands that there may be a suspected case in NSW of rat lung worm, however as this is not a notifiable disease and for privacy reasons is unable to provide further details.

A spokesperson was also on radio talking about this rare condition which had allegedly seen the young man hospitalised for a month.

By then media was also online asking for more details from the general public; Do you know more? Text 0424 SMS SMH (+61 424 767 764), email us at scoop@smh.com.au or direct message on Twitter @smh_news.

The story was posted on Digg and by Friday was up on Twitter with b3ta_links repeating that: Some Australians Aren't Terribly Bright: Man eats slug for a dare. Now critically ill in hospital.

On Saturday morning it was starting to unravel, as Caroline Overington writing in The Australian suggested that all may not be as it seems because no-one could find the man who was the subject of the original story and NSW Health apparently admitted that it knew nothing more than what journalists had told it; We got calls about it from the media and we responded to that," a spokeswoman said.

If this story is a hoax, I wonder if the mischief maker got his or her inspiration from the ABC's News In Science webpage on 20 October 2003 which also reported a man eating two slugs for a dare and developing the very same medical condition in Man's brain infected by eating slugs:

Whatever the case this story is off and running - Google's search engine had man eats slug indexed over 2,000 times and by Saturday morning most of these references were to the Australian story.

Image from TNT Magazine

Demanding, arrogant, out of touch, superficial, narrow-minded. How many Australians see federal political leaders

Image from ABC's The Drum

With a curious dissonance developing between general support for the policies Labor is taking to the 2010 election and level of support shown for the Prime Minister in recent opinion polls, perhaps it isn't really about policy at this point but more about personality as seen filtered through a media lens.

According to the Essential Research weekly report on 10 May 2010:

There was majority approval of all recent changes to Australia’s taxation.
The most popular proposal was to increase superannuation contributions from 9% to 12% ‐ 74% approved and 17% disapproved.
63% approved increasing taxes on cigarettes and alcohol.
More than half approved cutting company tax rates (54%) and higher taxes on the profits of large mining companies (52%).
78% of Labor voters approved higher taxes on mining company profits (11% disapprove) and 56% of Liberal/National voters disapproved (35% approve).
Increasing superannuation contributions received high support from both Labor (85%) and Liberal/National voters (72%).
61% of both Labor and Liberal/National voters supported cutting company tax rates.
63% of Labor voters and 69% of Liberal/National voters approved increasing taxes on cigarettes and alcohol.

However Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott are not so clearly differentiated on personal attributes in the table below:

Kevin Rudd has only slightly better ratings than Tony Abbott across key positive attributes such as hard‐working (+5%), a capable leader (+5%) and trustworthy (+2%).
The main differences were that Kevin Rudd is perceived as more demanding (69%/52%), less narrow‐minded (43%/53%), more superficial (52%/44%)and more complacent (38%/30%).

Comparison of Leader Attributes

Click on image to enlarge

Next question: Where's Harold Holt?

A couple of correspondents in letters to the editor of The Sydney Morning Herald (Saturday, 15 May) neatly summed up the shocker the Australian Federal Police put in when they contacted Dutch police about the whereabouts of accused war criminal Dragan Vasiljkovic, only to be told the fugitive was still in Australia.

In fact, "Captain Dragan", also known as Daniel Snedden, was wiling away his time at down-town Harwood Island, a satellite suburb of Yamba, "the best town in Australia", in Big River Country (aka Clarence River territory).

Dutch courage

A suspected Serbian war criminal goes AWOL under the very noses of the Australian Federal Police ('' 'Captain Dragan' tried to make a deal'', May 14). What does it do? It asks the Dutch authorities to check its end. Lo and behold they were able to tell our people not only that he was not holed up somewhere in Holland but supplied the address where he was hiding here. Good to know the AFP is on the ball.

Eddie Raggett Mosman

Is it too late for the Australian Federal Police to ask the Dutch police to find Harold Holt?

Glen op den Brouw Liverpool

Source: SMH letters

Young drivers ... victims on our roads

Friday's Daily Examiner (Grafton) carried the following piece which was written in 1967 by John Berrio of Rochester, New Hampshire after a friend of his son died in a motor vehicle accident. It later appeared in the advice column Dear Abby.

Please, God, I'm only 17

The day I died was an ordinary school day. How I wish I had taken the bus! But I was too cool for the bus. I remember how I wheedled the car out of Mom. "Special favor," I pleaded. "All the kids drive." When the 2:50 p.m. bell rang, I threw my books in the locker ... free until tomorrow morning! I ran to the parking lot, excited at the thought of driving a car and being my own boss.

It doesn't matter how the accident happened. I was goofing off ‑ going too fast, taking crazy chances. But I was enjoying my freedom and having fun. The last thing I remember was passing an old lady who seemed to be going awfully slow. I heard a crash and felt a terrific jolt. Glass and steel flew everywhere. My whole body seemed to be turning inside out. I heard myself scream.

Suddenly, I awakened. It was very quiet. A police officer was standing over me. I saw a doctor. My body was mangled. I was saturated with blood. Pieces of jagged glass were sticking out all over. Strange that I couldn't feel anything. Hey, don't pull that sheet over my head. I can't be dead. I'm only 17. I've got a date tonight. I'm supposed to have a wonderful life ahead of me. I haven't lived yet. I can't be dead.

Later I was placed in a drawer. My folks came to identify me. Why did they have to see me like this? Why did I have to look at Mom's eyes when she faced the most terrible ordeal of her life? Dad suddenly looked very old. He told the man in charge, "Yes, he's our son."

The funeral was weird. I saw all my relatives and friends walk toward the casket. They looked at me with the saddest eyes I've ever seen. Some of my buddies were crying. A few of the girls touched my hand and sobbed as they walked by.

Please, somebody ‑ wake me up! Get me out of here. I can't bear to see Mom and Dad in such pain. My grandparents are so weak from grief they can barely walk. My brother and sister are like zombies, yhey move like robots. In a daze. Everybody. No one can believe this. I can't believe it, either.Please, don’t bury me! I'm not dead! I have a lot of living to do! I want to laugh and run again. I want to sing and dance. Please‑don't put me in the ground! I promise if you give me just one more chance, God, I'll be the most careful driver in the whole world. All I want is one more chance. Please, God, I'm only 17.

Read more about the piece here

Australian Censor-In-Chief Conroy wimps out?

Conroy is awesome. He's gone from last minute cancellations on #openinternet debates, to actually stopping the OTHER PARTY from debating.
11:09 PM May 12th via web [from Geordie Guy's tweets]