Laughing at Tony Abbott's exaggerations

Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s  media release of 23 March 2012:

In exactly 100 days, the world’s biggest carbon tax will commence.

Abbott again on 8 July 2012:

And at the moment this is the world's biggest carbon tax at the worst possible time.

This was KieraGorden’s response in 2013:

Taxing Energy Use: A Graphical Analysis, 28 January 2013: Executive Summary excerpt:

Based on statutory rates in effect on 1 April 2012, overall effective tax rates on energy (Figure 1) range from EUR 0.18 per GJ in Mexico (not taking into account the variable rate component of its fuel excise tax, which has been negative in recent years) to EUR 6.58 per GJ in Luxembourg, with a simple average for all OECD countries of EUR 3.28 per GJ and a weighted average of EUR 1.77 per GJ. Meanwhile, effective tax rates on carbon range from EUR 2.80 per tonne ofCO2 in Mexico to EUR 107.28 per tonne of CO2 in Switzerland, with a simple average for all OECD countries of EUR 52.04 per tonne of CO2 and a weighted average of EUR 27.12 per tonne of CO2.

The highest overall effective tax rates tend to be in European countries, where energy-tax policy is significantly shaped by the 2003 European Union Energy Taxation Directive, which sets minimum tax rates for a variety of energy commodities. Many of the countries with the highest effective tax rates on carbon are countries with explicit carbon taxes (e.g. Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland). Explicit carbon taxes generally exist alongside other taxes on energy products, which are sometimes based on the energy content of different fuels. These countries tend to tax a broad range of energy products and to have more consistency in rates across different fuels and uses, particularly with respect to heating and process use.

Many Central European and Asian OECD member countries (e.g. the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Turkey) tend to have lower effective tax rates on carbon than the countries mentioned above. The lowest effective tax rates on carbon are found in Australia, New Zealand and the Americas (Chile, Canada, Mexico and the United States). These last countries typically only tax fuels used in transport and generally do so at lower rates than the OECD average (an exception being at the provincial level in Canada. [my bolding]

International Energy Agency Energy Prices And Taxes Quarterly Statistics Fourth Quarter 2012:

Real Energy Prices for Households (total energy) in OECD countries, Third Quarter 2012

United Kingdom 136.4

New Zealand 127.1

Germany 126.7

United States 124.6

Japan 115.1

Australia 110.9

Canada 110.6

Real Energy Prices for Households and Industry (total energy) in OECD countries, Third Quarter 2012

United Kingdom 129.1

Germany 128.5

Japan 119.6

New Zealand 118.9

United States 117.4

Australia 117.1

Canada 104.4

Note: The "Real" price index is computed from prices in national currencies and divided by the country specific

 producer price index for the industrial sector and by the consumer price index for the household sector.

** Carbon Pricing came into effect in Australia in the Third Quarter 2012

Nationals candidate Kevin Hogan plays fast and loose with the truth

This was the Nationals candidate in the seat of Page, Kevin Hogan on 4 June 2013:

Ms Saffin is spreading baseless fear and misinformation. She says the Coalition has vowed to wind back this legislation. This is nothing more than a bid to deceive people. Not one of our parliamentarians has said anything of the sort, and there are no plans to touch the water trigger…..

This was Coalition Senator Simon Birmingham speaking in the Australian Senate Hansard (14 May 2013) on the subject of the water trigger being added to the C’wealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act:

Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia) (12:43): I rise to speak on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment Bill 2013, which the government has just rushed into the Senate chamber….

There are also grave concerns about the fact that this legislation targets specific industries. This is a whole new world of activity for the EPBC Act, which traditionally has said that there are broad matters of national environmental significance that should be considered, regardless of what industry is proposing to undertake a development. If this legislation passes, we are putting in place a new area of assessment, but only as it relates to the coal industry or the coal seam gas industry, only as it relates to those sectors….

We have many concerns about this legislation. As I said, though, we understand the concerns of the community as well. We hear those concerns and we are not, by opposing this legislation, going to allow the government to politicise this issue. We will work to fix these issues should we succeed later this year. We want to work to ensure that we get community confidence for this important industry, because it is an important industry. It is generating billions of export dollars and thousands of new jobs and is very important to the economic wellbeing of all states of Australia—to securing, in particular, our future gas supplies.

Mr. Hogan is getting off to a bad start. The election writs still haven't been issued yet he is rolling out those campaign fibs with the best of them.

WIN TV breached by ACMA for immunisation story

ACMA media release 41/2013 – 7 June

WIN Television NSW Pty Ltd (WIN TV) breached two provisions of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice in a news report on WIN News Illawarra about measles vaccination that misled its audience.

The report was broadcast on 16 August 2012 and concerned an outbreak of measles in south-western Sydney.

Included in the story was the following unqualified statement made by a non-expert: ‘All vaccinations, in the medical literature, have been linked with the possibility of causing autism...’

The Australian Communications and Media Authority found that by broadcasting that statement and by conveying a higher level of controversy and uncertainty about immunisation than was justified by the facts, WIN TV had failed to broadcast factual material accurately.

 ‘The story would have misled an ordinary viewer about the level of risk of vaccinating children,’ said ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman.

The ACMA also found that WIN TV did not make reasonable efforts to correct the significant error of fact.

‘While the ACMA has no power to direct the making of an on-air corrective statement, given the circumstances of this case and the important public health issues involved, the ACMA recommended to WIN TV that it make an on-air statement concerning the ACMA’s findings,’ added Mr Chapman.

The licensee has, however, declined to take this opportunity to clarify on air this important public health issue, one which no doubt remains of ongoing concern to its audience and the wider Australian public.  The licensee offered to provide a link on its website to the ACMA’s finding.

A link to investigation report 2883 can be found here.

For more information please contact: Emma Rossi, Media Manager, (02) 9334 7719 and 0434 652 063 or media@acma.gov.au.

And Abbott promises an 'adult' federal government if elected on 14 September 2013? *Warning Offensive Menu*

ABC AM 17 May 2013: Mr Abbott's promising a more adult government with no nasty surprises and no more excuses. 

The Business Spectator reported on the morning of Wednesday 12 June 2013 that: The coalition's most senior female frontbencher has accused Prime Minister Julia Gillard of waging a "false gender war" 

Later that morning it was reported that Liberal National Party candidate for the federal seat of Fisher and former Howard Government minister Mal Brough attended a fundraising dinner in his electorate on 28 March 2013 [@chef09876 ] and, Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey also reportedly attended as a guest speaker.

On the 'alternative' dinner menu was:

Moroccan Quail

Julia Gillard Kentucky Fried Quail – Small Breasts, Huge Thighs & Big Red Box

Moroccan Carrot Salad & Sumac Yoghurt [my red bolding]

Mr. Abbott called that insulting, obscene and sexist description of Australia's Prime Minister the joke that was out of line. 

His candidate Mal Brough says that no harm was meant.

Is it any wonder that many women doubt that the Liberal-National Party Coalition candidates asking for their vote have their best interests at heart?

9 News 14 May 2013: Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has told coalition colleagues they must be "the adults in the room" as members return to parliament, four months out from the federal election.  

Update:

The Telegraph UK reports that the fundraiser was a 20-person dinner. This would appear to make Joe Hockey and Mal Brough's assertions that they never saw the menu improbable at best.

As for the Sky News later report that the menu was never placed on tables or anywhere in the restaurant, well this tweet by an accredited journalist tends to suggest that it was seen by fundraiser guests:

Greens visit Coffs Harbour to campaign against polluting mining practices

Greens visit Coffs Harbour to campaign against polluting mining practices.

Released: June 11

Jeremy Buckingham, Greens MP in the NSW Upper House and Greens Senator Larissa Waters will be visiting Coffs Harbour on Friday, June 14.

The pair will attend a forum 'Giving landholders the right to say No to coal and coal seam gas,' at the Grafton District Services Club, 6.30pm on Thursday, June 13.

The next morning they will travel to the Dundurrabin village to meet with locals concerned about the planned mining of minerals near the Blicks River in the headwaters of the Clarence River and Coff Harbour's water supply. Jeremy and Larissa are very mindful that the mining of minerals also brings arsenic to the surface and that the Macleay River has been polluted by the overflow of holding ponds and mining 'run off' from our extreme rainfall events.

They will then travel to Coffs Harbour Botanic Gardens at 1.15pm, to meet with representatives of local groups opposing mining in the headwaters of the Macleay, Orara and Nambucca Rivers.

Jeremy and Larissa will then launch a sticker calling for the protection of our rivers from mining pollution. You will see it on cars across Cowper within the next few weeks. The sticker will be available at various sites including: Kombu Wholefoods, Bellingen, The Alternative Bookshop, Bellingen, The Happy Frog, Coffs Harbour and The Grafton Environment Centre.

The Greens care for people and the environment. Always have. Always will. 

………………………………………

Media contact: Phone: 0402308231, 66552090

Website: http://candidates.greens.org.au/cowper

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/CarolVernonGreensForCowper?fref=ts

Carol Vernon (Greens4Cowper) on Twitter

Blog: http://mncgreens.blogspot.com.au

E: Cowper@nsw.greens.org.au

Clarence Valley Council's economic management

Clarence Valley Council is preparing to increase farmland, residential and business property rates across much of the local government area, but is quarantining Grafton and South Grafton CBD businesses from these increases for the next four years.

Apparently this particular council is pleading income poverty.

Well if this little tale of the economic management of just one of this council’s own Grafton properties is anything to go by, is it any wonder?

The Daily Examiner 11 May 2012:

TENDERS for Grafton's art gallery cafe closed earlier this week without a single expression of interest being received by Clarence Valley Council.

Council's manager of assets George Kriflik said that the only option would be to readvertise.

The art gallery cafe has been the home to Georgie's Cafe for the past 11 years and has been the subject of lengthy negotiations due to a proposed rate increase by council.

Mr Kriflik said that due to a confidentiality agreement between the parties involved, he was not able to disclose many of the details of the lease or negotiations, but he did confirm the previously quoted figure of a 40 per cent rent increase was an error (The Daily Examiner, April 17), with the original increase being closer to 33 per cent.

"After a re-valuation the rate was reduced to a 14.5 per cent increase," Mr Kriflik said.

However, this too was declined by the lessors and resulted in the current cafe operators deciding to move on.

Suddenly at the end of June 2012 the council has vacant commercial space where it previously had an income which it never denied represented full market value. Still it somewhat optimistically expected The loss of income from the current lessee will be offset by the new lessee under a new lease arrangement [Clarence Valley Council Ordinary Meeting 17 April 2012, Minutes].

By July 2012 Clarence Valley Council did indeed have a new tenant at what was then rumoured to be a bargain basement priced three year lease with renewal options having only CPI rent increases attached - which saw it losing income and the restaurant turning into a daytime only café with limited opening hours.

However, in June 2013 that tenant also departed and was replace by Cr. Jeremy Challacombe’s son Murray and his daughter-in-law who took over the bargain basement lease to run the gallery café.

Three tenants in just under a year and how much money is council down? Possibly those valley residents facing yet another rate hike will never know, but mention of $20,000 per annum is being tossed around some dinner tables.

Few Lower Clarence ratepayers are impressed with the Grafton-centric attitude of council as it is and this is merely the icing on a huge dissatisfaction cake.

A political party in disarray?

One would think from what the mainstream media reports that it is only the Australian Labor Party which is cracking up since the 14 September federal election date was first mentioned.

Yet in would appear that on the NSW North Coast it is the National Party which is quietly tearing itself apart.

This month I received an email, sent in alleged defence of a card carrying National Party member, which was so full of misinformation, unsubstantiated allegation and political game playing that I honestly felt like disinfecting my Inbox.

If Hartsuyker and Hogan suddenly find their internal polling numbers are not looking as optimistic as they had hoped - it may well be their own party members and fellow travellers who are to blame.

To an outsider it looks suspiciously like personality clashes abound and that factional interests at branch, regional and state level are more intent on settling old scores than they are on giving newbie Kevin Hogan a leg up.

While the high-handed intrusion into Page of the Federal Nationals 'team', with Hogan tagging along in its rear, is definitely reflecting badly on him in certain quarters.

Hogan is no hero.

Tony Abbott and his untaxable mates?

Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott with 'mates' Gina Rinehart, Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch, Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest,  James Packer, John Howard, Cardinal George Pell and of course – himself

* Images from The Vine and Google Images

Mining industry and New South Wales: a warning to act before 28 June 2013

Queensland Country Life 7 June 2013:

In a decade’s time, the Queensland centre of Dalby will be unrecognisable as a farming community, according to Darling Downs lawyer Peter Shannon.

Mr Shannon, Shine Lawyers, who hails from Dalby, said the mining industry was taking over the district at such a rate that the scale of agriculture the regions are known for may not survive the next 10 years.

One of the only benefits to be had from this was that NSW producers could hopefully learn from what has happened to Queensland to prevent coal and coal seam gas (CSG) mining taking over their prime agricultural land.

“It’s an inevitability that wherever there is coal in NSW, there is also good farming land,” said Mr Shannon, who was in Moree last week to talk to growers at the Australian Cotton Trade Show.

“The mining industry will eventually take over agriculture if the agricultural industry doesn’t look after itself, and it’s up to the landholders themselves to make sure their industry is looked after.

“Unfortunately you get more consumer protection buying a fridge in Queensland than you do when entering an agreement with a mining company and if the legal fees available to landholders are capped then it will be impossible for those landholders to have a fair fight…..

“Mining is something that’s usually remote to everyone until it’s knocking on their door and while the law states that a landholder is not allowed to be worse off after signing an agreement with a mining company, you can promise the landholder won’t be better off, while the mining company and government are making fortunes.”…..

Cotton Australia mining and CSG policy officer Sahil Prasad said one of the key changes proposed in the review of the NSW Planning system was the need for developments to be “sustainable” rather than “ecologically sustainable” – a move he said which “essentially negates the right to protect the environment and the important agricultural land around a mining project”.

“Submissions for the review of the system are due on June 28 and I strongly suggest landholders take a good look at this and make sure it’s going to work for them.” [my bolding]

This is the document in question: White Paper – A New Planning System for NSW. Exhibition period ends on 28 June 2013. Submissions may be lodged online.

Vision4Change Aboriginal Arts Exhibition, Yamba Museum 8 June-15 July 2013

The prophetic words of deceased Aboriginal Elder Uncle Allan Laurie “Black and White must work together for the benefit of our young people” is embodied in this first time collaborative project between four Clarence Valley museums and the Aboriginal Community.

This exhibition brings to life a number of historic photos which have been borrowed from a number of collections dating from the 1870’s.

The idea for the exhibition is a response to the call by many non-local non-Aboriginal people from the Clarence Valley who want to learn and connect in some meaningful way with local Aboriginal people.

The collaborative project between Yamba, Maclean, Grafton and Lawrence Museums, some members of the Clarence Valley Aboriginal community and four acclaimed Clarence Valley Aboriginal artists is a demonstration of how well we all can work together for the common good if we put our mind to it…..

16 Elders have also had their photos taken with a number of their stories recorded for a short film.

Debrah Novak  

Cansdellgate - a neverending story

The Daily Examiner and other APN websites are featuring another piece about disgraced former Member for Clarence, Steve Cansdell. The report is reproduced below.

DPP yet to act on advice to charge Steve Cansdell with lying

Authorities are "ducking and weaving" when it comes to pursuing criminal charges against disgraced Clarence MP Steve Cansdell, says shadow Attorney-General Paul Lynch.

The Liverpool MP has challenged his political rival, NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith, to respond to the advice of retired senior barrister Bruce James that Mr Cansdell could have been charged with lying under oath. 

The advice followed an independent review of the police investigation into Mr Cansdell, who resigned in 2011 when it was revealed he had lied about not being behind the wheel when his car was snapped by a speeding camera. 

Charges against him were dropped when a former female staffer, who Mr Cansdell originally claimed had been driving, refused to give a statement. 

During parliament question time last week Mr Cansdell asked Mr Smith when the community could expect the DPP to respond to Mr James's advice. 

The official reply, which has since been placed on the record, read: "The advice from Mr James QC was unsolicited advice and, as such, it is a matter for the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions". 

The DPP has confirmed he received the advice but has yet to announce whether he will act on it.

Give yourself a pat on the back if you picked the blooper in the Examiner's piece.

Hint: How can the disgraced former MP get to ask questions in the parliament? Besides, isn't he flat out doing his new job? Then, again, perhaps he has been moonlighting and making casual appearances while his successor, Mr Walker, attends to extra-curricula activities. 

Oops! Delete that last surname and insert 'Gulaptis'. Constituents in the electorate of Clarence can however be excused for thinking their current local MP is a Mr Walker - that's the Phantom's name and it's also synonymous with the very pedestrian performance the local MP is making.

Credit: The Daily Examiner

Kevin Hogan looks for pies in the sky

Clarence Valley Review 29 May 2013:

Nationals candidate for Page Kevin Hogan has called for the Federal Government to push Telstra to decentralise jobs, after the telco locked in a $1.1 billion defence contract with the Commonwealth.
Mr Hogan says since Telstra shut down their Lismore and Grafton call centres and axed 220 jobs, it should be the number one priority of the Federal Government to spread the jobs back to the regions that need it.
The new contract is estimated to create 350 new jobs.
“Telstra says their Defence telecommunications network includes networks at 430 sites in Australia, but it’s as yet unclear where these new jobs will go,” Mr Hogan said.
“I think it’s only fair that the Northern Rivers get a look-in for this work, and I’m calling on the Federal Government to explore all options for returning telecommunications jobs to this region.” 

Oh dear, Kevin Hogan has not thought things through again. 

The 350 new jobs (many for leading IT, network and security experts) will be created for the six-and-half year life of this information communications contract and involve travelling around 430 sites in Australia.

How many of these sites are in the Page electorate?  

Well there appears to be an Army Reserve 41 RNSWR depot in Grafton, another in East Lismore and an RAAF air weapons range at Evans Head. That's it.

I doubt whether upgrading telecommunications for these part-time soldiers and for a training range used by airforce pilots located interstate is going to take long or involve a great many Telstra staff.

Hogan is also yet to explain why he thinks the Australian Government can tell a private corporation how to run its business, eg. spread the jobs back to the regions. 

Especially as the Commonwealth has not had a controlling interest in this telco for years - and its residual 17 per cent shareholding was transferred to the Future Fund in 2007.

Clarence Valley North-South Divide throws up yet another letter

Forced local government amalgamation in the Clarence Valley, followed by an [expletive deleted] administration period from which the council is still recovering, fractured any hope of a united population and the current set of shire councillors is doing its best to further entrench and widen that fracture.

Nowhere is that rift more obvious than in the letters-to-the-editor section of local newspapers.

Here is one of the latest published in The Daily Examiner on 4 June 2013:

It would be nice if the people of Grafton, who have such a down on the Lower Clarence would check their facts. Yes, we do have two swimming pools, but my older children learnt to swim in the old quarry pool before the rock pool was built in about 1967/68. We (the people of Yamba) began to work for a heated community pool only to have a newcomer to town who wanted a hydro pool at the Maclean Hospital, so our efforts went to help her, then Maclean pool was enlarged from 25m to 50m, so we helped again.   Then we went flat out to raise funds for our heated pool and much volunteer labour went into that pool. As regards to our developments having proper footpaths and guttering, well I think Maclean Council had much to do with that. It did not cost $1 million dollars to fix our rock pool, not nearly as much as the South Grafton pool. Please think before your next rave. I have a little knowledge of local government as my late husband was a Maclean councillor for eight and a half years. The extra six months was to fight against amalgamation - but we lost.   Marie Rheinberger, Yamba

Abbott and Asbestos

Hansard 3 June 2013:

Mr ABBOTT (Warringah—Leader of the Opposition) (14:10): My question is to the Prime Minister. I remind her that her government has committed some $50 million to advertising the National Broadband Network. Does the Prime Minister agree that this $50 million could have been better spent ensuring that communities in Western Sydney, Ballarat, Adelaide, Perth and Tasmania were protected from exposure to asbestos resulting from the National Broadband Network rollout?

Coastal Leader 4 June 2013:

Telstra tried to fast-track compensation arrangements for its employees exposed to asbestos but was rebuffed by Tony Abbott's own department back in 2001.

With the opposition on Monday leading a parliamentary attack on the government over its alleged lack of urgency in addressing asbestos discovered in Telstra junction pits being handed over to the NBN, Fairfax Media has learnt the giant telco wanted to create an independent body to accelerate compensation and sought approval from the Department of Workplace Relations.

However, the department, then under the ministerial leadership of Mr Abbott, rejected the plan.

The emergence of Telstra's previous attempt to get on the front foot on the issue comes as the telco agreed to take ''ultimate responsibility'' to deal with asbestos used in its infrastructure.

Background

The Age 17 August 17 2005:

The Federal Government's joint party room has approved the full sale of Telstra, Prime Minister John Howard said today. The sale is expected to take place in 2006.

Hansard  7 February 2006
Mr Andren asked the Minister representing the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, in writing, on 15 September 2005:

(1)   How much asbestos has been purchased by Telstra from James Hardies Industries and how much has been used.

(2)   How many of Telstra’s underground installations and exchanges contain asbestos or products manufactured from asbestos.

(3)   How frequently do Telstra employees or contractors come into contact with asbestos in the course of carrying out maintenance in exchanges or underground installations.

(4)   What safety procedures are in place to protect Telstra’s employees and contractors against exposure to asbestos in the course of carrying out maintenance in exchanges or underground installations.

(5)   How many cases of asbestosis amongst current and former Telstra employees and contractors have been reported to date.

Mr McGauran (Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) —The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has provided the following answer, based on advice provided by Telstra, to the honourable member’s question:

(1)   Telstra and its predecessors, Post Master General and Telecom, have not purchased any asbestos from James Hardies Industries since approximately 1986. Telstra’s predecessors purchased cement pits and pipes containing asbestos (approximately 5-15% asbestos content depending on the type of product) from Hardies from about 1955 until about 1986 when these products were replaced with plastic alternatives. This material was purchased by government tender and Telstra is unable to provide details of the exact quantities purchased or used. Telstra has also noted that it is also likely that the vehicles used by Telstra’s predecessors contained asbestos friction products or brake linings purchased from Hardie Ferodo and Better Brakes, which was part of the James Hardie group of companies, as these were available in the public domain.

(2)   The Telstra network still contains pits made of cement with some asbestos content. These pits and pipes are comprised of asbestos cement with the pits containing approximately 5-15% asbestos bonded in a cement and silica matrix and the pipes containing 15% asbestos bonded in a cement and silica matrix. As this asbestos is bound to the cement and in low concentrations it does not present a hazard, unless friable (where the fibres become loose and airborne). In the case of pits and pipes, (as they are bound in a cement matrix) the asbestos fibres are not likely to become friable unless ground by a powered machine such as an electric grinder. Where exchange buildings contain in situ asbestos, these are documented and managed as per the processes outlined in the response to part (4). This is similar to other public and private buildings where in situ asbestos is present.

(3)   Telstra employees and contractors will come into contact from time to time with material containing asbestos during maintenance of underground installations or buildings. All contact is regulated by the asbestos management processes referred to in the response to part (4).

(4)   Telstra is required to - and does - comply with requirements of the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC) Code of Practice on Asbestos. Compliance is enforced by the Safety and Rehabilitation Commission (SRC) through its operational arm Comcare Australia. Briefly, the processes for the management of asbestos in Telstra involves:

• The maintenance of an Asbestos Register at all exchanges that have asbestos;
• All pits and pipes which are not plastic are treated as containing asbestos;
• The regular inspection, maintenance or removal (if necessary) of the asbestos
• All employees and contractors to observe strict guidelines for working in proximity to, handling or disposing of asbestos (eg. appropriate training and personal protective clothing such as gloves, respirators and disposal clothing are provided to carry out this work); and
• Final disposal to be managed by licensed asbestos removal contractors.

All other contractors are also required to provide evidence of compliance with the relevant State and Federal occupational health and safety legislation and contractors meet regularly with Telstra to review compliance with this legislation.

(5)   Telstra has kept detailed records as to all asbestos related claims nationally from 2000. Since that time there have been 10 claims where asbestosis was alleged to have developed from exposure to asbestos during the employ of Telstra’s predecessors.

The Stars Sing the Blues

Image from Stellar Planet

A hat tip to @upjulie for finding this website where x-ray signals from the stars are turned into music…..

Star Songs: Infusing Noise With Meaning:

http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sed/projects/star_songs/music_audio/signal1.ogg

http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sed/projects/star_songs/music_audio/blues.ogg

Quote of the Week

“You ring Friday nights when only the ill, the old, the loveless, the friendless and mad are at home and, sure, you'll get a Liberal majority.” {Bob Ellis in Granny Herald on phone polling 4^th June 2013} OUCH!

June 2013 Memo to Ethical Investors re ERM Power Limited

Since ERM Power Limited decided to invite itself into the Northern Rivers by way of investment in coal seam gas exploration and mining companies Metgasco, Clarence Morton Resources and Red Sky Energy it has become a company which is willing to override the concerns and wishes of local communities.

ERM is currently in a trading halt as it attempts to raise $60 million by way of placement and SPP in order to reduce debt and create working capital to progress its business plans, which include its interests in NSW North Coast coal seam gas production, reserves and exploration.

Ethical investors are asked to consider what participating in this offer may mean to established regional economies, water security, agriculture, lifestyle and amenity across New South Wales by way of potential adverse impacts associated with creating and operating gas fields.

A grace note from the Twitterverse

Abbott and Murdoch exposed

Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd The Australian 1 June 2013:

A growing number of the nation's estimated five million recreational anglers are furious that laws set to come into effect next year will lock them out of 1.3 million square kilometres of ocean. Some fear the bans could eventually extend to include iconic fishing spots such as Sydney Harbour and Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay.

With a view to the power of the swinging vote, up to 1000 anglers are expected to gather tomorrow at Torquay fishing club, in the heartland of the nation's most marginal seat -- Corangamite in Victoria, held by Labor's Darren Cheeseman by just 0.4 per cent -- to demand change.....

ABC Radio AM 4 June 2013:

GREG HUNT: Well unfortunately this particular process hasn't had genuine consultation and been based on deep science. 

From no_filter_Yamba 4 June 2013:

Hansard 4 June 2013:

Mr BURKE (Watson—Minister for the Arts,

Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water and Population and Communities) (14:45):

On the weekend I saw a big article in The Australian that told me that there were going to be up to 1,000 people rallying in Torquay who were going to be very angry about this process. After The Australian article—and I will table it—there was no media coverage of it at all. Then I discovered the reason must be the funny way 1,000 people was calculated. Those numbers were in some way short—they used the shadow Treasurer to do the figures, clearly. Why would so few people turn up to the rally?

What the shadow minister for the environment did not tell them was that when they were making their speeches from the tinny they were speaking from—they spoke in a tinny, though admittedly it was on land—they did not let people know that if you wanted to go from that rally to an area where you are not allowed to fish, you would have to go out, turn left, go across the Bass Strait and, after 460 kilometres, you would get to the first place where you could not fish, a place where the no-fishing zone was put in place in 2007 when the member for Wentworth was the minister for the environment. The nearest restriction on recreational fishing was put in place by the Howard government when they were in charge.

This is a process where the science it has been based on was commenced under the Howard years. Some of these plans on the inside cover have the happy smiling face of the member for Wentworth and the member for Dawson for science. As for the process of consultation when they say, 'No consultation happened at all,' there were five separate rounds of consultation and three quarters of a million submissions engaged—in a process that works. What we found for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park work which has now come back with restrictions put in place by the Howard government that they now conveniently forget, is that fish stocks do improve. Coral trout numbers are six times what they used to be. Crown of thorns starfish are at a quarter of the levels in the protected zones that they are in the rest of the park. It is a process which for 20 years had had bipartisan support, and which the opposition are hoping will come to nothing tonight... [my red bolding]

The Liberal-Nationals Coalition lost their six motions to disallow the Commonwealth Maritime Reserve Network Management Plans by one vote each time and Northern Rivers readers will recognise the Nationals MP whose name was on these motions as the same John Cobb who (as Assistant Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in 2007) supported in the unsuccessful Howard-Turnbull push to dam and divert east coast rivers - in particular, the Clarence River.

These disalllowance motions may have been unsuccessful, however they offer a window on the attitude an Abbott-led government would have to marine reserves and attempts to ensure sustainable fish stocks in Australian waters. 

Those wonderful folks who taught the Liberal Party's Cory Bernardi how to politik

From ‘To quarterback behind the scenes, third-party efforts’: the tobacco industry and the Tea Party:

Figure 1.

Connections between the tobacco industry, third-party allies and the Tea Party, from the 1980's (top) through 2012 (bottom). The thick black line connects CSE with its direct successor organisations. Online supplementary tables S1 and S2 provide more details on the linkages depicted in this figure.

Conclusion

The tobacco companies have created third-party allies, front groups and used public relations firms to foment the appearance of popular public opposition to tobacco control policies for decades. Tea Party strategy and leadership has important roots in these tobacco industry efforts. AFP and FreedomWorks, national organisers of the Tea Party, grew out of CSE, an organisation with strong ties to the tobacco industry. AFP and FreedomWorks continue to mobilise grassroots opposition to tobacco control policies despite the evidence that Tea Party supporters favour such policies. It is important for policy-makers, the health community and people who support the Tea Party to be aware of these complex and often hard-to-track linkages. Rather than being purely a grassroots movement, the Tea Party has been influenced by decades of astroturfing by tobacco and other corporate interests to develop a grassroots network to support their corporate agendas, even though their members may not support those agendas. Greater transparency of organisation funding is needed so that policymakers and the general public—including people who identify with the Tea Party—can evaluate claims of political support for, and opposition to, health and other public policies. It is important for tobacco control advocates, in the USA and internationally, to anticipate and counter Tea Party opposition to tobacco control policies and to ensure that policy makers, the media and the public understand the longstanding intersection between the tobacco industry and the Tea Party policy agenda.

A brief look at South Australian Liberal Senator and former Parliamentary Secretary to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, Cory Bernardi…..

Herald Sun 19 September 2012:

During a Senate debate yesterday, Senator Bernardi suggested legalising same-sex marriage could lead to demands to legalise bestiality and polygamy.

The Global Mail 21 September 2012:

He’s not just a homophobic, Islamophobic, climate-change denying South Australian senator, he’s an ideological entrepreneur, importing the Tea Party’s ‘astroturf’ techniques and now training others in the faux-grassroots campaigns first cultivated by the American far right….

He's Sarah Palin, without the lipstick. And he's now gone rogue.

News.com.au 28 January 2013:

Senator Bernardi is an international delegate of the American Legislative Exchange Council, an anti-gun control and pro-tobacco group.

The Australian 27 May 2013:

Senator Bernardi is a supporter of Dutch anti-immigration MP Geert Wilders, who toured Australia in February and called for a ban on Muslim migration.