The face of the 21st Century invasion of Australia

http://youtu.be/KA9Doq2283E

Another three views on Prime Minister Action Man

In the Business Spectator on 5 November 2013:

Tony Abbott was a master of the photo-opportunity in the lead up to the 2010 and 2013 elections. In those periods it was hard-hats, fluoro vests, and the constant misrepresentation of the scale and nature of the ‘carbon tax’ impost on the economy. It was smart politics, but tended to swamp and ignore much more important issues.

In government, Abbott should be out there in overalls picking fruit, in a hair-net packing chopped spinach; shaking hands with uni professors and, for a change, praising their efforts to expand their teaching into Asia; sailing an LNG tanker out to sea; and visiting wealth management offices of Australian banks and financial institutions in Bangkok.

In short, using the photo-op for good, not evil. 

The Age on 6 November 2013:

The making of effective foreign policy always looks easier than it is. As a result, new governments tend to underestimate the task. The Howard and Rudd/Gillard governments each made tentative starts on the international stage. The current government's diplomatic initiation has been worse. Even allowing for inexperience, the Abbott government appears to be setting a new standard for diplomatic ineptitude. The Prime Minister in particular has lurched from one mistake to another, with each episode more ham-fisted than the last....

The Age on 6 November 2013:

You can’t thumb your nose at the voters’ right to know and you can’t arrogantly say ‘we’ll let the voters be misinformed and we won’t help journalists get it right'. That’s just a disgusting attitude. 

The respected Channel Nine reporter and political commentator told Fairfax Media that Prime Minister Tony Abbott and senior ministers were breaking their election promise of greater accountability for voters....

Singling out Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, Mr Oakes said arrogance and disregard for truth would ultimately backfire....

From a previous post: Action Man as seen through different sets of eyes...

North Coast Voices now available in perpetuity at the PANDORA Archive

Excerpt from an email received by North Coast Voices on 17 June 2013:

We would like to include the North Coast Voices blog in the PANDORA Archive and are seeking permission from you to grant us a licence under the Copyright Act 1968, to copy your website into the Archive and to provide public online access to it via the Internet. This means that you would grant the Library permission to retain your website in the Archive and to provide public access to it in perpetuity. If you are not the person with authority to give permission, please advise us who is or forward this communication to them.

The State Library of NSW is committed to preserving selected websites of lasting cultural value for long-term access by the Australian community. Only a relatively small number of websites are assessed as being significant enough for PANDORA and we would be grateful if you would allow us to include yours.....

On 31 October 2013 our regional blog was entered into the PANDORA public online archive and can be found at http://pandora.nla.gov.au/tep/114367.

Everyone at North Coast Voices would like to thank all the hardworking library staff involved in what would have been a monumental task, given that our blog has been regularly posting daily for at least 359 days of the year since 9 October 2007.

The Monster Under The Bed in November 2013

Cathy Wilcox

Is Peter Reith splitting hairs in the hope no one will pursue his connection with the gas industry in Australia?

On 7 November 2013 an ABC News article contained these statements:

The Government has been widely criticised for not making public Mr Reith's report, which was commissioned by former premier Ted Baillieu in January. The ABC has learnt that all the taskforce members, except for Mr Reith, represent energy companies or associated industries and lobby groups.

While this interesting exchange turned up on Twitter on 4 November:

Mark Anning ‏1@EarthMedia 4 Nov

@Peter_Reith did you see this? Vested Interest? Reith is a paid lobbyist for Coal Seam Gas Coy's #auspol #csg #nswpol http://nofibs.com.au/2013/11/01/lobbyists-public-commentary-reith-spotlight-mark-anning-1earthmedia-reports/ …

Peter Reith ‏@Peter_Reith 4 Nov

@1EarthMedia you have your facts wrong. Best not to follow people who enjoy conspiracy theories.

Mark Anning ‏@1EarthMedia 4 Nov 9:09 PM - 4 Nov 13 

@Peter_Reith Are you saying you are not a paid lobbyist for Coal Seam Gas? #auspol #csg #nswpol #agchatoz #springst http://nofibs.com.au/2013/11/01/lobbyists-public-commentary-reith-spotlight-mark-anning-1earthmedia-reports/ …

Peter de Voil ‏@skroggitz 5 Nov

@Peter_Reith Which facts are wrong? Working for @thiessgroup, or ALC? #auspol @1EarthMedia

So is former Howard Government minister and active Liberal Party member, Peter Keaston Reith, far removed from any connection with liquefied natural gas and coal seam gas and therefore above suspicion when it comes to the Victorian Premier's Gas Market Taskforce he chaired?

Mr. Reith is still a special counsel at First State Advisors & Consultants Pty Ltd, having joined that 'team' in late 2012.

I am not sure if in his capacity as special counsel he actively lobbies on behalf of Theiss Pty Ltd or the NSW Aboriginal Land Council.

However, as a sole trader he is currently listed as the official lobbyist for Bechtel Management Company Ltd a civil engineering/construction subsidiary of the Bechtel Corporation which has coal, oil and gas interests around the world. Including gas projects in the Pilbara region of West Australia and the Gladstone region in Queensland. 

This subsidiary company appears to be his only client as of 2 July 2013.

The parent company Bechtel Corporation claims its Curtis Island LNG project off the Gladstone coast;  represents the greatest concentration of Bechtel projects anywhere in the world.

In its 2012 annual report Bechtel explained that; On Curtis Island, in eastern Australia, we are building three world-scale plants to process the region’s vast coal seam gas reserves.

Bechtel Corporation though the Bechtel Power Corporation is also a member of the UK Nuclear Industry Association.

So unless Peter Children Overboard Reith suddenly resigned as a lobbyist once the Gas Market Taskforce was established in 2012 but forgot to inform state and federal agencies, he is running true to form and being less than honest with both the twitterverse and mainstream media when discussing his connections with industries associated with energy supply or coal seam gas.

Put your hand in your pocket for this community - every little bit counts

Northern Rivers communities and local government councils have a surfeit of riches compared to some other Australian regions.

Maybe it’s time to put our hands in our pocket for these enterprising young people.

http://youtu.be/zIA1D0qG3tc

Warlpiri Youth Development Corporation:

This ‘campaign’ is simple, but serious. We have no marketing expertise, strategy or budgets. What we do is look after young people. Young Warlpiri people wrote, shot, edited and performed in this film because they want you to know how important our pool is to us.

You’ll see just some of the benefits of the swimming pool in this clip. Royal Life Saving Society NT has called us ‘the best run remote pool in the Territory’ and to top it off here’s some stats from July to December 2012: 

·         Open 83 of a possible 83 days of the season – no closures

·         Record daily average of 95 swimmers per day (total of 7,918 over the season)

·         Yuendumu school use – 48 days including every day of Term 4 (hot months) for  swimming lessons

·         Yuendumu Childcare use – 1 day per week

·         94.3% of swimmers were between 0 and 24 years old

·         7 young people were employed at the pool

·         Increased use by surrounding communities (Nyirrpi, Willowra & Mt Allen)

·         No OH&S incidents

Since the Pool opened in October 2008, some  government support for operational costs has come from the NT government. However, for the last 5 years we have only been able to stay open due to gold mine royalty funds given to us by community members. The mine has now closed. There’s no more money for the pool. We could really use your help.

You can donate online at www.givenow.com.au/mttheo