Now before you indulge in très grande panic with Dr. No - actually look at the 2011-12 MYEFO

Don't rely on the spin - knock yourself out with a bit of 29th November number crunching!

"The Mid‑Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2011‑12 (MYEFO) has been prepared in accordance with the Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998. The Charter requires that the Government provide a mid‑year budget report which provides updated information to allow the assessment of the Government's fiscal performance against its fiscal strategy."

Mid-year Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2011‑12 1.7 MB

Preliminaries and Foreword 205 KB

Part 1: Overview 147 KB

Part 2: Economic outlook 221 KB

Part 3: Fiscal strategy and outlook 254 KB
Attachment A: Sensitivity of budget estimates to economic developments 122 KB
Attachment B: Tax expenditures 100 KB
Attachment C: Supplementary expenses table and the Contingency Reserve 119 KB
Attachment D: Australia's Federal Relations 406 KB

Appendix A: Policy decisions taken since the 2011‑12 Budget
Revenue Measures  293 KB

Expense Measures 566 KB
Capital Measures 163 KB
Appendix B: Australian Government budget financial statements 296 KB
Appendix C: Statement of risks 218 KB
Appendix D: Historical Australian Government data 182 KB

Laughing at Abbott all the way to 2013

A hat tip to Your Democracy for this item:

Abbott's positively negative

in the words of Mike Carlton …..

Dear Sir/Madam

Congratulations! The moment you've been waiting for is here. It's the once in a lifetime opportunity for your business, workplace or sports club to join Tony Abbott in his fight to say NO to the Brown-Gillard socialist government.

You've seen it on television. Every day, Tony is out there at shops, farms, mines, factories and athletic events around Australia, demonstrating his genuine understanding of real Aussies in every walk of life. It might be making sandwiches, laying bricks, driving a backhoe or even running a marathon: there's nothing he won't try. In Afghanistan recently he even donned an army bomb disposal suit for the cameras.

Now you can be part of this exciting TV campaign. Your place of work or leisure might be an ideal location for Tony to visit. See how many of these boxes you can tick:

❏ Yes, we want to say NO to the Brown- Gillard socialist wreckers.

❏ We would welcome a Tony Abbott TV appearance at our business or sporting event.

❏ We have a hard hat and fluoro safety vest for Tony to wear (or other uniform/protective clothing).

❏ Tony could appear in Speedos, cyclists' Lycra or other sports gear as appropriate.

❏ We have a tractor/forklift/hammer/bicycle/surfboard (or other equipment) for Tony to pose with.

❏ Anyone hostile to Tony can be kept away from the cameras.

❏ We are not connected to any gay, lesbian, feminist, Islamic, refugee, trade union, environmental or other left-wing group.

If this is you, then seize the moment. Say YES to say NO. Contact Tony's office at Parliament House, Canberra, and we'll arrange a visit. And please note, too, that Tony is also available for private lunches or dinners with selected conservative media commentators.

Sincerely,

Brian Inane,

Federal Director (Photo Opportunities)

Liberal Party of Australia

O'Farrell apes K-K-Keneally according to Buckingham

MEDIA RELEASE 24 November 2011
The Greens NSW spokesperson on mining Jeremy Buckingham has condemned the O’Farrell Government’s move to cancel this week’s Private Members Business sitting day as a cynical manoeuvre to avoid a vote on the Coal Seam Gas Moratorium Bill.
The Coal Seam Gas Moratorium Bill was next in the order of business due to be debated on Friday morning, the last sitting day of the year.
“Last year Barry O’Farrell condemned Kristina Keneally for her decision to prorogue Parliament in an attempt to avoid scrutiny on the electricity privatisation, yet now he has canned the last sitting day of the year to avoid a vote on the Coal Seam Gas Moratorium Bill,” said Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham.
“With the ban on fracking expiring on December 31, it will be back to full speed for the coal seam gas industry over summer because the O’Farrell government was too gutless to debate the merits of a moratorium or vote on it.
“Regardless of the government’s procedural tricks, the coal seam gas industry has not earned a social licence to operate and the community will use direct action, such as the Spring Ridge blockade, if they try to roll out.
Contact: Max Phillips – 0419 444 916

Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis has a side step to match that of Reg Gasnier's

A voter in the Clarence electorate asked Chris Gulaptis a question about climate change but the then would-be MP sidestepped it. Now that he's in the big league it behoves the local MP to answer the constituent's question.

C'mon, Chris Gulaptis MP, you're playing politics now, not football. Answer the question!

 
Didn't answer

At the Meet the Candidates meeting (prior to the by-election) I asked the following question of the National Party candidate, Chris Gulaptis.

"The International Energy Agency, a conservative advisory body relied on by the fossil fuel industry for data on emissions and energy, announced last week in London that we now have only five years to avoid dangerous global warming of more than two degrees Celsius. If you are elected, to what extent will you, with the future of our grandchildren in mind, work tirelessly to bring a real sense of urgency about climate change to this State Government and this electorate?"

Chris Gulaptis did not answer the question, merely making brief reference to a past action. This is an important issue to which he should have been able to respond directly.

Stan Mussared, Waterview

Sources:  Letters, The Daily Examiner, 28/11/11

                      Image, The Northern Star

Questions for Steve Cansdell about political greed

Those who thought Cansdellgate would quietly disappear after the recent by-election in Clarence need to think again. 

Questions about when police will charge disgraced former MP for Clarence Steve Cansdell for telling whoppers in a statutory declaration remain unanswered.

Now, a Grafton resident, via the letters columns of The Daily Examiner, seeks answers about the cost of the by-election.

Political greed

I would like to know how much the by-election has cost the taxpayer?

And why shouldn't the person causing the by-election foot the cost of it?

After all, he has allegedly broken the law and not for any other reason but to save his political hide.

There are genuine reasons why by-elections occur and that should be exempt.

But this (by-election) was caused by reasons other than that.

This (by-election) was caused by political ambition and greed, and we as taxpayers have to foot the cost.

I ask again - how much did this by-election cost?

And is there some way of finding out?

Jeffrey Fuller, Grafton

Sources:         Letters, The Daily Examiner, 28/11/11

Image, The Northern Star

Have you seen a black-necked stork?

Ecologist Greg Clancy is interested in hearing about black-necked stork activity in the Clarence over the next few months.

Phone Greg on 02 6649 3153 or email him at gclancy at tpg.com.au [1]

The Black-necked Stork is a distinctive, tall black-and-white waterbird, and the only species of stork found in Australia. It stands about 1.3 m tall, and has a wingspan of around 2 m, and a massive, strong, black bill. The head and neck are black with an iridescent green and purple gloss. The rest of the body is white, but with the folded wings largely black contrasting and covering much of the upperparts. The tail is short and black and the long legs conspicuously orange-red to bright red. Females have a yellow eye, whereas males have a dark-brown eye. Juvenile birds are generally brown with a mottled brown and off-white underbody, and brown eyes and legs.Black-necked Storks are usually seen singly or in twos in NSW, occasionally in loose family groups. In flight, they can intersperse their slow heavy wingbeats with short glides, and they also soar on thermals. They are generally silent. [2]

Credits: 

[1] The Daily Examiner, 28/11/11 

[2] NSW Department of Environment and Conservation

Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Black-necked_Stork.jpg

Poker machines still dominate national gambling scene in Australia 2011

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source,
January 2002 – September 2011 average annual sample n=21,064.

Click on image to enlarge

Roy Morgan Research 25 November 2011:

Australians spent $11.2 billion dollars on poker machines in the 12 months to September 2011, down from $13.1 billion in the twelve months to September 2010 and now below the $11.7 billion spent during the Global Financial Crisis in 2008/09.

Australians are now spending less on gambling overall than they did in 2002 according to the latest Roy Morgan Gambling Monitor. For the 12 months to September 2011, Australians spent $18.5 billion dollars on all forms of gambling, down from $20.2 billion in the 12 months to December 2002.

Expenditure on betting on the races has remained relatively stable at $2.6 billion as of September 2011 ($2.7 billion in December 2002). Sports betting, although still small at $0.8 billion, has increased from $0.4 billion in 2002. The only other gambling activity to show a significant increase was casino table games at $1.4 billion, up from $0.7 billion in December 2002.

Expenditure on lotteries/scratch tickets, at $2.1 billion, has remained relatively steady ($2.0 billion in 2002), as has expenditure on Keno at a club, pub or casino at $0.4 billion ($0.4 billion in 2002).

While the world groans under the weight of 7 billion souls....

Pell cartoon from The Age in 2004

Bl**dy Cardinal George Pell wails about our contraceptive mentality. After his tacit support of paedophile priests and his climate change denialism, this latest effort makes me wonder - is there any more proof needed that the man is fatally rabid? Can we send the dog catcher for him now before he bites again?

Read his latest spiel here.

Hartsuyker forgets his history in headlong rush for media attention in the wake of HoR Speaker Jenkins' resignation

"There would not be a person on Capital Hill here that believes for a moment that Mr Jenkins' resignation was anything other than a political execution by a Prime Minister who has fallen" said the Nationals MP for Cowper Luke Hartsuyker in The Daily Examiner last Saturday. He went on to add that Mr Jenkins had been "a fine Speaker" and had the full support of the Coalition.

This is the same Hartsuyker who so disrespected the Office of Speaker that he refused a lawful direction from the chair to remove himself from the House of Representatives – causing the sitting day to be suspended:

Nationals MP Luke Hartsuyker was later ordered from the chamber after holding up the cut-out of Mr Rudd.

He passed the cardboard Kevin Rudd to opposition house leader Joe Hockey and other opposition frontbenchers, infuriating deputy speaker Anna Burke, who ordered its removal….. Mr Hartsuyker was ejected after he ignored the speaker's request to resume his seat.

He was later "named", a parliamentary move used to suspend unruly MPs from the chamber for 24 hours.

…. Ms Burke ordered Liberal MP Joanna Gash to leave for one hour, but then was forced to suspended the sitting as it descended into chaos.

The very same man who has been sent from the House on numerous occasions since that time, after ignoring warnings given by The Speaker. Who was sitting on the Opposition benches in the House on 31 May this year; the day that Harry Jenkins threatened to resign because a slim majority of MPs present including (Hartsuyker and Oakeshott) had refused to vote in support of the Speaker and expel a fellow Coalition parliamentarian for twenty-four hours.

As The Australian reported the next day:

Mr Jenkins said he would be forced to consider his position at the end of question time after the parliament rejected his decision to name Liberal MP Bob Baldwin -- a precursor to suspending him for 24 hours.

A subsequent Labor motion to eject Mr Baldwin, who had defied an order for silence, was rejected by 71 votes to 70…. The ballot effectively amounted to a vote of no confidence in the Speaker.

One of his own recent suspensions was reported by The Coffs Coast Advocate on 11 June 2011:

COWPER MP Luke Hartsuyker is cooling off in the sin-bin after his suspension from Federal Parliament for 24 hours.

The Opposition frontbencher was hurled out of a rowdy question time and won’t be entitled to re-enter the House of Representatives until 2.50pm on Thursday.

He’s spending time on the sideline after Speaker Harry Jenkins became fed up with his interjections.

It is worth noting that Luke Hartsuyker was also one of the first MPs the new Speaker Peter Slipper sent from the House on his first day in office - or as Annabel Crabb so colourfully tweeted;  Peter Dutton and Luke Hartsuyker get a Slipper to the bum - they're out!

In light of this it is risible for the Member for Cowper on the NSW North Coast to claim any degree of respect for the Office of Speaker or for Mr. Jenkins.

Because Hartsuyker has joined the chorus of Opposition supporter’s shouting about Westminster conventions it is well to remember that, according to House of Representatives Practice ( Fifth Edition), the very first Commonwealth Government elected in 1901 was a minority government formed by the Protectionist Party and its first Speaker was Sir Frederick Holder of the Free Trade Party in Opposition.

As Speaker, Frederick Holder changed parties after that to become a Protectionist MP under an Australian Labor Party Government and then an Anti-Socialist Party MP under successive Free Trade-Protectionist Coalition, Labor Party and Fusion Party governments, before dying as Speaker in 1909.

The second Speaker on the historical record was none other than Charles Carty Salmon of the Liberal Protectionist Party serving the House during a Labor Government. While Labor MP Charles Kennedy McDonald briefly served as Speaker during a Nationalist Government.

So all one can conclude from Luke Hartsuyker’s bluster about "execution" and "respect" is that he cannot or deliberately will not recall either his own personal or Parliament’s history.

Snapshot of Australian Internet Use 2011

Click on graph to enlarge

When the Australian results are compared to those from the 2005 United States ‘Citizenship, Involvement, Democracy’ survey, Australians emerge as being more likely than Americans to build online links with people across different ages, generations and countries. Australians are eight per cent more likely to say that the Internet helps them interact with people from different ages and generations and 33 per cent more likely to say that the Internet helps them interact with people from other countries.

Compared to the US, the Internet has had more positive effects in the formation of bridging forms of social capital in Australia. This may be a result of Australia’s geographic isolation and the fact that a large proportion of Australians have family ties overseas. Americans, however, were more likely than Australians to feel that the Internet helped them interact with groups and people who share the same religious beliefs. [ANUpoll, April 2011, Public opinion on Internet use and civil society]

• At the end of June 2011, there were 10.9 million internet subscribers in Australia (excluding internet connections through mobile handsets). This represents annual growth of 14.8% and an increase of 4.4% since the end of December 2010.
• The phasing out of dial-up internet connections continued with 95% of internet connections being broadband.
• Australians continued to access increasingly faster download speeds, with 87% of access connections offering a download speed of 1.5Mbps or greater.
• Mobile wireless internet (excluding mobile handset) connections (44%) now exceed Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connections (41%) in Australia. Mobile wireless (excluding mobile handset connections) was the fastest growing internet access technology in actual numbers, increasing from 4.2 million in December 2010 to 4.8 million in June 2011. [ABS 8153.0 - Internet Activity, Australia, June 2011]

Households are less likely to be connected to a computer, the internet and/or broadband if they have no children under 15 years; are located in ex-metropolitan areas of Australia; or have lower household incomes. [ABS 8146.0 - Household Use of Information Technology, Australia, 2008-09]

Measure of the man pulling the strings of 'Steve' Gulaptis MP for Clarence?

“THE disgraced former member for Clarence Steve Cansdell told ABC North Coast he would probably never have confessed to his crime if a whistle blower hadn't drawn attention to it.”

{The Daily Examiner, 23^rd November 2011}

Clarence MP Christopher Gulaptis's first day on the job

Extracts from Hansard, NSW Legislative Assembly, Friday 25 November 2011

ELECTORATE DISTRICT OF CLARENCE

Election of Christopher Gulaptis

The SPEAKER: I inform the House that my writ issued on 28 October 2011 in accordance with section 70 of the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912 for the election of a member to serve in the Legislative Assembly for the electoral district of Clarence in place of Steven Rhett Cansdell, resigned, has been returned with a certificate endorsed by the Electoral Commissioner advising of the election of Christopher Gulaptis to serve as the member for the electoral district of Clarence.

PLEDGE OF LOYALTY

Mr Christopher Gulaptis took and subscribed the pledge of loyalty and signed the roll.
 >
>
>
QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

 Mr CHRISTOPHER GULAPTIS: My question is addressed to the Deputy Premier. ...  How has the Government delivered for regional New South Wales this year, and related matters?

 Mr ANDREW STONER: That is ... a very good question—the first of many—from the new member for Clarence. Welcome to New South Wales Parliament.
 >
>
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LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

STATE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Membership

Mr BRAD HAZZARD (Wakehurst—Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, and Minister Assisting the Premier on Infrastructure NSW) [3.19 p.m.]: I move:

That: (1) Christopher Gulaptis be appointed to serve on the Legislative Assembly Committee on Economic Development in place of Andrew Robert Gee, discharged.

Question—That the motion be agreed to—put and resolved in the affirmative.

Motion agreed to.
 

While we were sleeping Norway took a big step towards a sustainable future

Cetaceans

Cetaceans evolved from land mammals approximately 50 million years ago. While thoroughly adapted to sea life, they retain some traces of their evolutionary past. Cetaceans bear live young and feed them milk, investing heavily in the upbringing and development of each offspring. Cetaceans live long, mature late, reproduce slowly and engage in complex social relationships. They are capable advanced activities including echolocation and long-distance communication, which provide them with sophisticated tools to perceive and understand their environment. A complex respiratory system allows them to spend long stretches under water, but they must surface regularly to breath air.

The spectacular leaps of whales and dolphins above the water’s surface, as well as the sounds some species use to communicate and function underwater, fascinate humans. In many communities, there are significant cultural connections between cetaceans and humans. [CMS website]

The 10^th Convention on Migratory Species (COP10) has been meeting in Bergen, Norway between 20-25 November 2011 with little fanfare in the Australian media.

The Migratory Wildlife Network has representatives attending the convention and reports that Norway removed its reservation to the CMS Appendix listing of a number of cetacean and shark species. This whaling nation’s reservation still remain on some cetaceans, but this step forward can only be seen in a positive light.

Background:

Implementation of Resolution 8.22 on Human-Induced Impacts on Cetaceans

Global Programme of Work for Cetaceans

Further Steps to Abate Underwater Noise Pollution for the Protection of Cetaceans and Other Biota

Review of Article IV Agreements already concluded: Pacific Cetaceans 

Photograph found at Google Images

A plumber and an electrician walked into a bar and......

Maud Up the Street sent me this ROFL from The Daily Examiner’s letters to the editor printed on 22^nd November, in which the institution of monogamous state-sanctioned marriage suddenly becomes something of an immutable law of nature. Wonder what the writer would call the practices of polygamy and ritual marriage to a god?

Time to face facts

WITH the ALP Federal Conference due in December, where the definition of marriage is to be considered, it is time to face facts.

Let us consider two trades people - one a plumber, one an electrician. Both are qualified, but their purpose and functions are different. Therefore, a plumber will never call himself an electrician. The end results of the work of these two people are totally foreign to each other. The argument in favour of equal pay for women correctly states when a woman is performing the same functions in her employment as a man she is entitled to the same - that is equal salary status.

Times change, as do dress fashions, entertainment, working conditions and so on, but nature itself keeps some things unchangeable. From time immemorial marriage has been the exclusive union of a man and a woman and for simple basic reasons.

(a) The bodies of the female and the male complement each other, and thus the "fruit" of this complementary is the new life of offspring. That is the nature and function of marriage.

(b) This union between a man and a woman and which is the object of a solemn public vow to live together, for better or for worse, is known as marriage.

(c) So granted, that is what the word marriage means. It is not possible that it means something else because a "friendship" same-sex union is an agreed arrangement between two males or between two females (eg to sleep together, to live together, to share assets and benefits etc). An "arrangement" is all it can be in comparison to the man and woman marital bond. The "comparison" reveals the difference that while marriage and same-sex unions are both ways individuals may choose to live, their natures and outcomes are worlds apart, as are the plumbers and the electricians.

There is no valid objection to same-sex unions being given a title specific to that type of union, but to call it a marriage would contradict the very notion of a word expressing the precise intention of what it means.

That is elementary intelligence. There are none so blind as those who will not see.

By absolute contrast, marriage is that union whereby a man and a woman bind themselves together in a solemn public vow, and is directed to bringing forth a new generation of children.

It is this "end" that differentiates the marital bond from all others. For this reason the term "marriage equality" advocated by the gay community and the Greens, is a contradiction of our human faculty to think, to reason and to recognise the truth of fact.

PETER J YOUNG

Greta

Free at last, free at last! Two faces of a day in the Australian Parliament

Harry Jenkins MP (Australian Labor Party)

on the Government backbenches

shortly after his resignation as

Speaker of the House of Representatives

in the Australian Parliament

Peter Slipper MP (Liberal Party of Australia)

being lead to The Speaker's chair

past the Opposition Leader

after being elected unopposed

on 24 November 2011

Clarence Valley Council votes down a move to politicize the position of mayor

A reminder that sometimes local government councillors will show more than passing common sense and, move to protect residents and ratepayers from the worst excesses of personal political ambition which hamper good governance.

ORDINARY MEETING 15 NOVEMBER 2011

This is Page 185 of the Minutes of the Ordinary Council Meeting of Clarence Valley Council on 15 November 2011.

MOTION

(Crs Williamson/Comben)

That

In accordance with S16 (b) of the Local Government Act 1993, Council conduct a constitutional referendum at the 2012 NSW quadrennial local government election so as to allow the electors of Clarence Valley to determine the basis on which the Mayor attains office that is, by election by the Councillors or by election by the electors.

Voting recorded as follows:

For: Councillors Williamson, Comben, Howe and Hughes

Against: Councillors Tiley, Toms, Simmons, McKenna and Dinham

The motion was LOST

Grafton Regional Gallery inspires the nation on 11.11.11

This is 11:11 11/11/11 from ABC Open Sunraysia on Vimeo.

According to ABC Open on November 21, 2011 Grafton Regional Gallery inspired this:

We had an overwhelming response to the 11.11 project. The results are now in, and you can see them here.

We put out the call and you answered it! Over 1200 images flooded in from around regional Australia, all captured at a moment (well actually two moments) in time - 11.11 am and 11.11 pm on 11.11.2011.

We've selected some for the video above, and you'll be able to see a full gallery of images later in week.

What you've captured is a fantastic snapshot of Australian life in 2011. You showed us the saleyards in Tamworth, a theatre roof in Bundaberg, and the agricultural show in Albany. People all around the country took part. Some took a break from their work day, others got back to work, while we also saw some great shots of people enjoying the great outdoors, including the tennis ladies from Kambah in the ACT. From getting a haircut, to feeding the seagulls, to even getting married - so many stories captured in a single image.

We loved seeing so many groups of people getting into the spirit, especially all the school groups. And we saw some great interpretations of the numbers. I just loved the souvenir spoons.

And we were moved by some of the images of Remembrance Day, old mates catching up, the meeting of generations and this stark image of the cost of war, so poignantly captured by Lois Krake.

Wherever you were, whatever you were doing, thanks for taking part. We hope you had a great time - we know we did - and that you'll share the 11.11 time capsule, the results of your huge group effort, far and wide.

Re-creating Australian websites

Fair dinkum, those Aussie webby blokes are clever! They often take a perfectly respectable website with a loyal following and ‘improve’ it beyond all recognition.

First they decide to give the website an ability to only function at optimum level via one browser. You know, one with only a small percentage of users across the country.

Then they remove some of the original functions they gave the website. Teeny weeny unimportant things like how to contact website administration.

Follow that up by reducing the number of posts on the home page to around a third of what was there before, removing the editor’s recommended read, ditching msm links, taking away the post rating function and sending the blog roll to a separate page - when it’s painfully obvious that most netizens don’t bother to turn the digital page or look for hidden features. Even a big mainstream media site like the ABC (Australia) has over half its readers not moving off the first page they light on, according to Alexa.

So if only about 11% of your home audience gets a really decent view of the new and improved website on their home or work PC monitor and around 80% of your total audience only stay for one page view anyway – just how long will a website’s followers stay loyal and not flitter off to a more attractive digital flower like wayward cyber-butterflies?

Even sturdy old bogong moths like me can feel an immediate urge to take flight once I catch sight of a 'rebuilt' boast.

Will Santa be travelling by flood boat this year?

What with BOM busily predicting minor flooding, rain steadily falling outside and frogs shouting for a water taxi, I’m wondering if poor old Saint Nick will be getting wet feet this Christmas on the NSW North Coast.

Click to enlarge

“The southeast Australian outlook for December 2011 to February 2012 shows the following: a wetter season is more likely across eastern NSW…

A persistently warm Indian Ocean is the main driver behind this outlook, although it is also consistent with the La Niña in the Pacific Ocean.”

Well done, Harry - you made parliamentary democratic processes work in spite of the political pre-schoolers you were obliged to adjudicate

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Harry Jenkins Federal MP for Scullins since 1986, resignation speech to the Australian Parliament as reported by The Australian on 24 November 2011:

'Today marks my 1,382nd day as Speaker of the House of Representatives. I have at all times tried to uphold the fine traditions of Speaker, and to the best of my ability have attempted to carry out my duties in the most independent and non-partisan manner possible.

As members are aware in this the 43rd Parliament, to further avoid controversial party political matters I have divorced myself from involvement with the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party. In this era of minority government I have progressively become frustrated at this stricture. My desire is to be able to participate in policy and parliamentary debate, and this would be incompatible with continuing in the role of Speaker.

As a consequence, when I vacate the Chair at the end of this short statement I will visit the Governor-General to tender my resignation as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

I thank all members for their co-operation which they have dispensed to varying degrees depending upon the individual.

I thank everyone who works for the Department of House of Representatives under the capable leadership of the Clerk Bernard Wright and the Deputy David Elder; they serve us well. My gratitude goes to the diverse range of officers of the Department of Parliamentary Services: from gardeners to guards, technicians and tradies, researchers to reporters, Hansard; they serve us well. To presidents Hogg and Ferguson with whom I served as co-presiding officer, and the members and officers of the other place with whom I had interaction, I thank them for their forbearance. All these people ensure that the Australian Parliament remains an enduring effective institution.

My staff in the Speaker's Office have assisted me and kept me well grounded; I believe that members would agree with me that they carry out their duties with integrity and professionalism.

Finally I acknowledge my eternal indebtedness to my "trouble and strife" Michele and the four generations of my family without whose support I would never have been able to achieve the high office I hold.

Late yesterday I ascertained that the Governor-general is available for my call before 9.30 therefore I must depart. I go placidly with my humour intact. I wish you all well.'

As I post Harry is taking part in a House of Representatives division as a humble backbencher once more. I wish him well.

New South Wales is not the only place struggling with the long-term consequences of mining

New Zealand contamination site centred on local public school in 2011

Click on image to enlarge

The Macleay River on the NSW North Coast is contaminated by antimony mining toxic by-products for millennia to come and, the Nymboida River sub-catchment of the wider Clarence River catchment is at risk from proposed antimony and gold mining accompanied by ore processing.

Yet the NSW Nationals MP for Clarence, ‘Steve’ Gulaptis, the Federal Nationals MP for Cowper, Luke Hartsuyker, and fellow-traveller, Clarence Valley Mayor Richie Williamson, offer nothing but motherhood statements or prate on about a limited number of short-term jobs generated by foreign-owned multinationals unlikely to pay more than a pittance in tax and repatriate significant profits to head offices overseas.

Just to remind our elected representatives in all three tiers of government that mercury and arsenic have consequences, here is a media report from New Zealand this month as one small community struggles with the reality of soil contamination from arsenic laden mine tailings dumped during the last century:

The Ministry of Health advises Moanataiari residents to:
- Take care with personal hygiene (i.e. hand washing after handling soil);
- Make sure children don't eat or play in soil;
- Remove footwear before going indoors to avoid carrying soil dust indoors - particularly for households with very young children;
- Cover soil (e.g. grassing, paving, gravel) to reduce dust and direct access by young children;
- Not to eat home grown fruit and vegetables, especially young children, until further quantification of the contamination is available and the risk can be assessed, unless it is known that the garden soil is clean fill. If you choose to eat home grown fruit and vegetables, then thoroughly wash produce that may be contaminated with soil, and peel the skin off root vegetables;
- Don't be concerned about the drinking water supply, it is separate (and safe);
- As always, if unwell for any reason, see your doctor.

Terror Nullius: From Howard to Gillard

Excerpts from EVIDENCE-FREE POLICY MAKING? THE CASE OF INCOME MANAGEMENT by Eva Cox* in The Journal of Indigenous Policy – Issue 12

The 2007 introduction of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) was the result of an odd amalgamation: an  exposé' on the ABC's Lateline program, prejudice against Aboriginal communities, an upcoming election and the need to look decisive. They had some bureaucrats with outdated proposals for paternalistic control of welfare recipients dating back to the 1990s, when policy changes in the UK and USA undermined the right to welfare entitlements that had been part of the post-war welfare state.

There's not a single action that the Commonwealth has taken so far that … corresponds with a single recommendation. There is no relationship between these emergency powers and what's in our report.'

There are many large gaps between available evidence and the corresponding decisions, and this set of legislative changes exemplified the need in a democracy for those aware of the risks and damage to point out the problems and be heard. Many groups giving evidence to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee9 and participating in the consultations cast doubt on the income management program, but the Government officials had already made up their minds and took notice only of what supported their conclusions. Our review shows how counterevidence was manipulated, ignored and misused, suggesting that decision makers had already decided on their course of action before ‗consultation processes' or evidence taking began.

Given this wealth of information that has not been considered appropriately, this issue of the Journal argues that the Government is failing to meet its own stated standards for use of evidence in policy-making and often ignores its own advisers' views of what is good policy and what works. In this case, there is an additional twist as the income management policy appears to have been used for wider political purposes such as major changes to income support policy.

The (government) press release fails to mention that the government research cited was based on the opinions of individuals rather than on objective data.

We are the co-authors of a study published today in the Medical Journal of Australia, which shows that the federal government's income management policy is not making an impact on tobacco and health food sales in remote community shops in the NT. Smoking and poor diet are responsible for much of the health gap between indigenous and other Australians.

We are concerned that indigenous affairs minister Jenny Macklin has responded to our study by highlighting the results of the government's evaluation. She has told journalists that the government intends to press ahead with plans to roll out income management more broadly, and has appeared to dismiss our findings.

* Eva Cox is a sociologist who has taught research methods at two universities and has twice run her own research consultancy. She has also worked with politicians and in senior public service positions and has engaged in policy making, evaluation, advocacy and bureaucratic implementation of programs. She delivered the 1995 ABC Boyer lectures on A Truly Civil Society. She is currently a Research Fellow at Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning at the University of Technology, Sydney

Terror Nullius 2
Acrylic, oil, ochre and charcoal from the Finke Rivr on wood
560mm x 410mm

Teh Parrot in breach of Australian broadcasting rules

Well who woulda thunk it – Alan Jones found to be spouting inaccurate nonsense over the airwaves.

ACMA Media Release 123/2011 issued on 23rd November 2011:  

Radio 2GB breaches rules on factual accuracy and presentation of significant viewpoints

Sydney radio station 2GB has breached the commercial radio codes of practice by failing to present factual material accurately and by not making reasonable efforts to present significant viewpoints.
The breaches relate to certain segments of The Alan Jones Breakfast Show broadcast in February 2010. During the segments, Mr Jones was highly critical of the operation of native vegetation laws and their administration by the (then) New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change.
The ACMA found that 2GB did not present nor take steps to present more than one significant viewpoint about the operation and administration of native vegetation laws in NSW.
‘The codes require licensees to make reasonable efforts or give reasonable opportunities to present significant viewpoints on controversial issues of public importance,’ said the ACMA Chairman, Mr Chris Chapman. ‘Licensees can do this either within the same program or across similar programs but merely presenting substantially identical viewpoints is not sufficient to satisfy the code.’
The ACMA also found that one of the segments contained a factual error.
The complainant also alleged 2GB breached the code rule against broadcasting material likely to encourage violence for its own sake but the ACMA did not uphold this complaint.
The ACMA is in discussion with 2GB about its response to the breaches.
Investigation Report 2540 can be found on the ACMA website.