Click on image to enlarge
Monday 17 October 2011
Nats' candidate for Clarence ... business interests ...???
Click on image to enlarge
Punters left in dark about Nats' Clarence pre-selection processes
Leading up to the Nationals' big event yesterday all the reports were that seven hopefuls would face the starter's gun. However, today's Daily Examiner carries a page 3 report "Nats pick Gulaptis" accompanied by a photo of hopefuls. But one thing is missing from the photo, there's no Jason Cleary.
Local punters are asking, "Was he a late scratching? Was he nobbled?"
In 21st Century Australia the rich get richer and the poor lag behind
The wealthiest 20% of households have increased their average net worth 15% since 2005-06 (CPI adjusted), while the poorest 20% of households saw only a 4% rise, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
These wealthy households had an average net worth of $2.2 million per household, and accounted for around two-thirds of total household wealth. The poorest 20% of households had an average net worth of $32,000 per household, which accounted for 1% of total household wealth.
The average wealth of an Australian household in 2009-10 was $720,000, up 14% (CPI adjusted) since 2005-06.
There were differences in the average levels of wealth between the states and territories. Average net worth in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania were below the national average.
Household wealth was more concentrated in metropolitan areas. The average net worth of households located in capital cities was $772,000 as compared with $629,000 in areas outside of capital cities.
Owner-occupied homes were the main asset held by Australians. Mortgages on them were the main liability, with over two-thirds of Australian households owning their own home either outright or with a mortgage.
For households who owned their home outright (2.7 million households), the average value of the home was $541,000. For those households with a mortgage on their home (3 million households), the average value of the home was $521,000, and the average mortgage outstanding was $188,000, giving a net home equity of $333,000.
One in five households owned property other than their own home, including holiday homes and rental properties.
Superannuation was the main financial asset held by households, with three-quarters of all households having some superannuation assets.
For households with superannuation, the average value of their superannuation was $154,000, but for half of these, the value was less than $60,000.
More information can be found in Household Wealth and Wealth Distribution, Australia, 2005-06 (cat. no. 6554.0).
Media notes:
· When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
Canute Shire Council tries to turn back the sea
Sunday 16 October 2011
Clarence By-election: Nationals make the same mistake a second time
The Sydney Morning Herald 16 October 2011:
This man has the ability to take Clarence from an extremely safe Nationals seat to an almost marginal one in the space of weeks.
All that glitters is not gold for NSW North Coast communities
for the period 1995-96 to 2007-08
It's World Food Day Today, 16 October 2011
It is World Food Day today and it’s no surprise to find that this event is supported by the multinational biotech industry and agricultural sectors which promote GMO crops.
To counteract this I suggest……………………...
Send an email of support to Millions Against Monsanto here.
Sign up for Mothers Against Monsanto weekly newsletter here and join the network here.
Contact your Federal MP and tell him or her that you demand a review of the Australian Government’s position on GMO labelling. Contact details here and here.
Write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper stating how you feel about genetically modified crops and foods.
* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.
Who is Henry Ergas and why did he hop aboard Teh Rabbit's Fright Bus?
Prompted by a tongue-in-cheek Jeremy Sear tweet asking the questions “Where the hell is Henry Ergas pulling this "$1 trillion" figure for the carbon price from? And who is Henry Ergas anyway?” I went looking for answers.
This is Henry:
Pic from The Australian
This is what what Wollongong University has to say about Henry:
This is what Liberal Party hacks have been saying about Henry:
This is what The Prof tells the Murdoch meeja:
“the carbon tax will cost a year's national income: that is, $1 trillion.”
This is what the Liberal Party’s best mate told the Senate Carbon Tax Inquiry on 10th August 2011:
This is the conclusion he drew for the Business Council of Australia:
And this is how good an economist ol’ Henry is:
Extracted from ASIC's database at AEST 20:14:00 on 15/10/2011 |
Name | NETWORK ECONOMICS CONSULTING GROUP PTY LTD |
| ||
ACN |
|
| ||
ABN |
|
| ||
Australian Proprietary Company, Limited By Shares |
| |||
Registration Date | 27/07/1987 |
| ||
Next Review Date | 27/07/2010 |
| ||
Deregistered Date Deregistered 21/10/2009 |
| |||
Locality of Registered Office | not available |
| ||
Australian Securities & Investments Commission |
| |||
Former Name(s) | ERGAS & ASSOCIATES PTY. LTD. |
| ||
WATRON PTY. LTD. |
| |||
Extracted from ASIC's database at AEST 20:41:54 on 15/10/2011 |
| |||
Name | CONCEPT ECONOMICS PTY LTD | |
ACN |
| |
Australian Proprietary Company, Limited By Shares | ||
Registration Date | 03/03/2008 | |
Next Review Date | 03/03/2012 | |
Deregistered Date Deregistered 08/05/2011 | ||
Locality of Registered Office | not available | |
Australian Securities & Investments Commission |
From Bloomberg Business Week:
Network Economics Consulting Group Pty. Ltd. provides economic and strategic advisory services.
Mr. Henry Ergas Managing Director
From Manta:
Henry Issac Simon Ergas Director
Inevitable conclusion – why on earth would I trust the carbon tax sums done by a Menzies House amigo who apparently couldn’t balance the books of two businesses?
Saturday 15 October 2011
Some advice for polluter: sell a couple of racehorses, pay your bills and get your house in order!
Read the full report in today's Daily Examiner here.
Translation: I really don't like the Nationals pre-selection candidate
One of NSW Nationals preselection candidates in the run up to the Clarence by-election gets a vote of no confidence from one local in a letter to the editor in today’s The Daily Examiner:
I HAVE written a letter that I hope can be published and shared among the people of the Clarence Valley.
This letter has to do with the preselection occurring in the area and may very well help the people of the valley to vote right in order to assure the best, most promising candidate is chosen this weekend.
In 2007, Nationals Party MP Ian Causley retired after serving the party for 11 years. It was then that Chris Gulaptis (local man of Maclean at the time) became the new Nationals candidate.
While Mr Gulaptis was putting up a tough campaign, he still faced a difficult contest from his Labor opponent Janelle Saffin throughout the election.
The November 24, 2007, federal election revealed that Janelle Saffin accumulated more votes than Gulaptis from within the communities and was sure to be the better MP out of the two.
This outcome left many National Party members and supporters extremely disappointed.
During the campaign, Mr Gulaptis made himself well known as a friendly, compassionate and dedicated candidate.
When the announcement came through that Ms Saffin had won the seat and defeated Gulaptis, it wasn't too long before the people of the National Party realised there was another side to their "perfect candidate".
It is only expected that after an election is held, win or lose, that the candidate shows some form of appreciation and gratitude towards his/her members and volunteers - normally an after celebration.
Mr Gulaptis provided nothing for his party.
In fact, for a man who loved the party so much, it proved easy for him to decide that working in politics was no longer of interest to him.
He walked from the Nationals and left the Clarence Valley with his tail between his legs.
It is for that reason Gulaptis sounded like a media clown when he commented: "The Nationals on the North Coast are like a second family to me." The former candidate has always claimed that he relocated to Mackay in 2008 for work reasons.
There, in north Queensland, he had found himself a new career at a surveying firm and became responsible for its management.
It was not his decision to leave that left the people of the Valley saddened, but the shock of how soon it happened after the election.
The people of the Clarence Valley should want their chosen candidate to be somebody who is true to themselves and can be trusted; somebody who will show more concern about the people and the community in which he/she lives than themselves and their reputation. If Chris Gulaptis is appointed to the seat, all we can hope for is that the going never gets tough.
THERESE MANNING,
Maclean
Pic from The Daily Examiner
Saturday's Adult LOL
The Movie Rights Group which obviously thought no-one would notice. LOL.
The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia prepares to again walk away from truth in labelling
Friday 14 October 2011
Clarence By-election 2011 date set
GILLARD AND SWAN ARE LYING COMMUNIST TRAITORS !!!!
The crazy Abbott Army at play.............
The Daily Examiner Beyond 'fair comment' 13 October 2011:
Abbott's Army in Action -video
Frank Walker in 2010 - background of an email pest
Biosecurity: a lesson begging to be learned
A Crikey whistle-blower bites the dust?
The Department is facing multi-million dollar lawsuits in which it does not have the capital to cover. Maybe this is the reason for Prime Minister Gillard appointing Dr Parkinson from the Department of Climate Change to the new role of Treasury Secretary to fund the bail-out.
…and sub-contracts training. The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency sub-contracts Price Waterhouse Coopers to manage the Home Insulation Safety and Rectification programs. Price Waterhouse Coopers sub-contract CSR Bradfords and United Group Limited to conduct inspections and rectifications of houses who had insulation installed under the failed pink batts program.
The Department is paying all training costs of CSR Bradfords staff to be trained as Home Insulation Safety Inspectors but not funding any component of United Group Limited contractors to undertake the same training. How much is the training costing the Australian tax payer and why the inequity in funding arrangements favouring one commercial organsiation over another?
And pink batts still cause grief. Almost 12 months after the Department of Climate Change cancelled its failed pink batts program installers are still no closer to finalising their affairs. Some businesses have gone into liquidation, losing everything they have, while others have resorted to other more desperate means by attempting to take their own lives (which the Department is well aware of). Still the Department mismanages the clean-up of this disastrous insulation program. Not that you would know with a number of executives in the Department responsible for the program getting performance bonuses, awards or promotions as a result of their participation.”
There was another mention of the department in Tips and rumours on 10th January 2011.
On 30th January 2011 this public servant lost his job and on 7th June 2011 his dismissal from the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency was confirmed in a decision by Fair Work Australia. On 16th September 2011 an appeal of this decision was dismissed.
Thursday 13 October 2011
O'Farrell Government admits heavy metal contamination in NSW North Coast waterways will last for millions of years.....
The Hon. GREG PEARCE: I have to make an admission: the Government helped the Hon. Jeremy Buckingham with his question. That is why it is comprehensible and I am able to answer it. The Office of Environment and Heritage was notified that stormwater was overflowing from a dam at the Hillgrove mine, east of Armidale, at 11.45 a.m. on Monday 29 August 2011. The mine is currently not operating but is in care-and-maintenance mode. The spill occurred after continued wet weather produced excess stormwater which exceeded the amount of water that could be stored in the dam. When the mine is operating the stormwater normally would have been used for mineral processing.
As a result, staff of the Office of Environment and Heritage in Armidale notified NSW Health, the Premier's regional coordinator and, subsequently, Kempsey Shire Council and appropriate district emergency officers, and began an investigation into the incident. Run-off from goldmines can contain heavy metals. Therefore, both the company Straits (Hillgrove) Gold Pty Ltd and NSW Health undertook water quality monitoring to provide information to inform the appropriate response. I am advised that historic mining from more than 100 years ago and erosion of highly mineralised soils have deposited a plume of material containing heavy metals in the river system from the Hillgrove area to the Pacific Ocean, an area of approximately 200 kilometres. That is quite a plume. I am further advised that the plume will continue to release elevated levels of heavy metals through physical, biological and chemical processes for millennia. [my bolding]
The response from Clarence Valley residents was predicably firm, as evidenced by this opinion piece written by The Daily Examiner editor on 12 October 2011:
“The spill occurred after continued wet weather produced excess stormwater which exceeded the amount of water that could be stored in the dam.”
THE NSW Minister for Finance, Greg Pearce, may have inadvertently rung an enormous alarm bell for Clarence Valley residents with comments last month about the Hillgrove antimony mine, east of Armidale.
Photo of Greg Pearce from NSW Parliament House Full Ministry in Both Houses webpage
This Japanese Minister just told Australia to Get Farked!
Speaking at a news conference after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Kano said a patrol boat of the Fisheries Agency will this time join the whaling vessels. He said research whaling will be conducted with increased protection against obstructions.
In February, Japan suspended whaling in the Antarctic Ocean after repeated disruptions by the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd. 4 whalers had been operating in the Antarctic since December 2010 and were due to continue until April this year.
Kano said Japan aims to resume commercial whaling and that it needs to continue research whaling for that purpose.
He said Japan would appeal for a restart of commercial operations at the International Whaling Commission by continuing accurate monitoring of whale stocks through scientific whaling.”
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Planting carbon price opinions on the Parliament House lawns in October 2011
In the real world....
In the digital world....
When it comes to Tony Abbott - plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
Tuesday 11 October 2011
O'Farrell Government treats people of the NSW North Coast with open contempt
The Hon. GREG PEARCE: Last week I commented upon the member's North Korean controller and the need to translate his questions from Korean to code, then from code to Korean, and then from Korean to English. I said that his questions are garbled. If anyone could make sense of that question, I invite them to answer it for me. I could not follow it at all—I really could not. I invite the member to put the question on notice to get a detailed answer.