Malcolm Turnbull - rooster to feather duster in one easy lesson

The Shadow Treasurer, Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, goes from one weak media statement to another  these days.

Faced with a Rudd Government determined to live up to its election promise of fiscal responsibility by raising the budget surplus above the projected 1.2 per cent of GDP, this is all Turnbull could come up with.

 

"But Opposition treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull was sceptical about the new plan, saying the previous government was already on track to deliver a big surplus in May.

"Because of the very strong economic management of the Howard Government we've got a very strong economy, very high revenues going into the Commonwealth Treasury, and as a result we've got a big surplus," he said.

"So Mr Rudd, as usual, is just trying to take credit for the hard work of others.

"It is meaningless to set a target that is already going to be met."

 

The business community appears to have a more optimistic view of Kevin Rudd's 5 point plan.

"However, Paul Xiradis from fund manager Ausbil Dexia says investors will welcome the plan.

He says rising inflation and interest rates have been a particular focus for the local share market."

ABC News yesterday:
 http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/21/2142808.htm?section=australia

 

Here's how CNN International views Kevin Rudd's plan.

"Rudd set a new target of maintaining Australia's budget surplus at a minimum of 1.5 percent of GDP -- or about 18 billion Australian dollars (US$16 billion; euro11 billion) -- from the next fiscal year which starts on June 1.

Rudd had previously set a benchmark of 1 percent while the treasury's latest forecast for the next fiscal year was 1.2 percent."

CNN International yesterday:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/01/20/australia.economy.ap/

 

It would appear that the Liberal's Malcolm Turnbull remains somewhat rudderless in the new Australian political climate.

Gone is the swagger and certainty he displayed before his party's electoral defeat.

 

Australia's new federal government is a breath of fresh air

The Rudd Government deserves full marks for holding a federal community cabinet meeting in Canning Vale, Perth last Sunday. Let's hope that this is the first of many. 

Having attended NSW regional state cabinet meetings, I know that ordinary people get great satisfaction from being able to have face-to-face meetings with government ministers that are not filtered through multiple layers of bureaucracy.

Having these regional meetings might also help nobble Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson's rumoured desire to bring on an early election a la the 1970's.

If we all begin to feel closer to this new federal government, why would we then swap it for the known paternalistic approach of the Coalition parties.

 

Server in the Sky? Oh (big) brother!

"THE FBI wants Australia to take part in an international database to be used to hunt down major criminals and terrorists.

A working group called the International Information Consortium has been formed by allies in the war against terror — the US, Australia, UK, Canada and New Zealand — to look into setting up the database.

The program, known as Server in the Sky, would involve the exchange of information about wanted criminals, including their biometric measurements (irises or palm prints) and fingerprints.---

Under the Server in the Sky program, the FBI wants to establish three categories of suspects — internationally recognised terrorists and felons; major felons and suspected terrorists; and those who are the subject of terrorist investigations or criminals with international links.

A pilot project for the program is expected to run later this year."

The Age article yesterday:
 http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/fbi-invites-australia-to-join-crime-database/2008/01/19/1200620280804.html

 

Given that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Central Intelligence Agency, ASIO and the Australian Federal Police appear to be as paranoid now as they were during the Viet Nam War, one wonders just who would end up in the Australian section of such a data base.

Federal Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus should be very wary of accepting any American guidelines if the Rudd Government decides to go with this dubious invitation.

Especially as the FBI appears to see its own information gathering as a way of allowing employers to spy on employees.

 

The British reaction to Server in the Sky.

"The plan will make groups anxious to safeguard personal privacy question how much access to UK databases is granted to foreign law enforcement agencies. There will also be concern over security, particularly after embarrassing data losses within the UK, and accuracy: in one case, an arrest for a terror offence by US investigators used what turned out to be misidentified fingerprint matches.----------Although each participating country would manage and secure its own data, the sharing of personal data between countries is becoming an increasingly controversial area of police practice. There is political concern at Westminster about the public transparency of such cooperation."

The Guardian last week:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/humanrights/story/0,,2241005,00.html

 

Media report on FBI aims and objectives.

"CLARKSBURG, W. Va. -- The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world's largest computer database of peoples' physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad.

Digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems in a climate-controlled, secure basement here. Next month, the FBI intends to award a 10-year contract that would significantly expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives. And in the coming years, law enforcement authorities around the world will be able to rely on iris patterns, face-shape data, scars and perhaps even the unique ways people walk and talk, to solve crimes and identify criminals and terrorists. The FBI will also retain, upon request by employers, the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks so the employers can be notified if employees have brushes with the law.-----------

The FBI's biometric database, which includes criminal history records, communicates with the Terrorist Screening Center's database of suspects and the National Crime Information Center database, which is the FBI's master criminal database of felons, fugitives and terrorism suspects."

The Washington Post December 2007 article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/21/AR2007122102544_pf.html

Receding floods often leave a mosquito heaven behind

It's always nice to see floods receding and a green bloom developing in NSW North Coast paddocks.

However, pools of water and boggy ground depressions last a while and are a boon for mosquitoes.

As Ross River Fever and Barmah Forest Fever occur in the region, it is also a time to be extra careful about being bitten. Slap on that repellent when outdoors and spray the house before you go to bed. 

NSW Health symptoms of Ross River Fever and managing your home environment:

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/cdscu/facts/pdf/rossriver.pdf

National Environmental Health Forum floods and environmental health:

http://enhealth.nphp.gov.au/council/pubs/pdf/floods.pdf

Frank Sartor lets fly with ageist insult

Last Saturday The Daily Examiner outed NSW Planning Minister Frank Sartor for calling building  inspectors "old and fat".

Since when is being old something to be disparaged and why is it now considered a insult?

On the NSW North Coast a great many people are on the grey-haired side of fifty-five and up.

They are also the backbone of many community organisations and vital to the life of coastal towns.

By the same token, carrying a little weight is not the moral failing so obviously implied by this arrogant and prejudiced minister.

Less of the old, Frank. You're no spring chicken either, mate, and your online official portrait shows a distinct double chin.

Oh, and Frank - we oldies are voters too.

Scientific research or commercial slaughter?

Photograph found at httwww.greenpeace.org.uk

This is an image of a Minke whale being flenched on a whaling vessel.
It is a scene which is similar to that which is occurring on the factory
vessel within Japan's Antarctic whaling fleet in 2008.
The Institute for Cetacean Research (IRC) which conducts this alleged
research does not insist that whale dead weight measurements are of
the intact mammal.
Instead it apparently weighs the meat and offal, according to reports
from the International Whaling Commission, making no compensation
for fluid lost in butchering.
But then it's the meat rather than the science that is important to the
Institute and the shadowy shareholders of Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd.