I don't want the Rudd Government to be fiscally conservative - I want it to save the Murray-Darling rivers

The former Howard Government promised $10 billion and created a new Commonwealth water act supposedly to save the Murray-Darling river system.

Then it sat on its hands and did almost nothing, except plan to rob other catchment areas of freshwater and risk further environmental degradation.

Now there is no more time left for the Murray-Darling. Recent flooding in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales are little more than a mirage when it comes to returning a strong environmental flow to this large river system.

The new Rudd Government has made a start, but I for one don't want to see federal government become so focussed on balancing the budget that it forgets it must act swiftly to make up for the years of inaction.

 

As for the NSW Government. If I remember my map, this state has the highest concentration of irrigators drawing from the Murray-Darling system. Time for Morris Iemma to stop pretending that there is any water to return to irrigators if he doesn't want to see the river dead within a decade.

 

"STRETCHES of the Murray River are turning into the corrosive equivalent of battery acid, in further evidence the devastating drought is causing more harm to the nation's iconic watercourse.

Scientists are warning that acid sulphate soils are turning river banks and billabongs into death traps for fish and birds and hazards for humans.

It is impossible for animals to survive NSW's Bottle Bend lagoon, which now has a pH -- or acidity -- level dropping as low as 1.8 -- equivalent to the sulphuric acid found in car batteries. And it is corrosive to the touch.

The waterway is just one of dozens of sites throughout South Australia, NSW and Victoria which falling water levels have turned into aquatic graveyards."

The Australian article yesterday:

 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23040504-30417,00.html

Rudd Government clears up Social Security anomalies for non-parent principal carers of children

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Dept. of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations appear to have recognised that not all children are cared for by blood or marriage relatives under a Family Court parenting order.

It looks as though from 7 January 2008 all non-parent principal carers of children will be able to apply for a 12 month bloc exemption from participation requirements for parenting payments, youth allowance, newstart and special benefits.

At last some commonsense prevails.

ComLaw:
 http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ComLaw/Legislation/LegislativeInstrument1.nsf/0/BCB69D7BEB03CD8ECA2573CC00036065/$file/ExplanatoryStatement.pdf

But where are all the Christmas Beetles?

This has been a strange summer so far around my garden and that of my near neighbours.

No Christmas Beetles, no blossom-feeding bats, few moths and only a handful of butterflies. Even the native bees don't seem to be out and about. And nary a possum clumping over the roof.

The recent rains seem to have encouraged a few more butterflies and moths (and the ubiquitous mosquitoes), but that's about it.

How's the urban wildlife around your town or village?

 

The Humpback Whale - Australia's line in the sand with Japan's whaling fleet

"Humpback whales are known for their magical songs, which travel for great distances through the world's oceans. These sequences of moans, howls, cries, and other noises are quite complex and often continue for hours on end. Scientists are studying these sounds to decipher their meaning. It is most likely that humpbacks sing to communicate with others and to attract potential mates.These whales are found near coastlines, feeding on tiny shrimp-like krill, plankton, and small fish. Humpbacks migrate annually from summer feeding grounds near the poles to warmer winter breeding waters closer to the equator. Mothers and their young swim close together, often touching one another with their flippers with what appear to be gestures of affection. Females nurse their calves for almost a year, though it takes far longer than that for a humpback whale to reach full adulthood. Calves do not stop growing until they are ten years old. Humpbacks are powerful swimmers, and they use their massive tail fin, called a fluke, to propel themselves through the water and sometimes completely out of it. These whales, like others, regularly leap from the water, landing with a tremendous splash. Scientists aren't sure if this breaching behavior serves some purpose, such as cleaning pests from the whale's skin, or whether whales simply do it for fun."
National Geographic:
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/humpback-whale.html

Some idle thoughts on why the Australian Federal Police Association supported a Labor win?

Within days of the federal election the Australian Federal Police Association was doing the pretty with the still to be sworn in Rudd Government.

 

"Tuesday, 27th November, 2007

The AFPA congratulates the Prime Minister elect Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party on their election victory. The AFPA has developed a close working relationship with Mr Rudd and his shadow ministry and we look forward to working with the new Government. Prior to the election we received a strong commitment from Mr Rudd to work closely with us in our efforts to ensure that the professional and personal interests of our members would be protected. Importantly, the AFPA also had a good working relationship with all major political parties and we will to continue those relationships
There are two immediate issues that impact all Australian Federal Police employees; that being Mr Rudd's commitment to merge the AFP into a larger Government agency called the Office of Homeland Security, and the AFPA's strong opposition to AWA's or any other form of secret remuneration contract in the policing environment. The AFPA has already made it clear to Mr Rudd that the independent office of constable and independent office of Commissioner is paramount within any future Homeland Security model. At a more general level Mr Rudd has formally announced that he will increase Federal Policing resources and abolish WorkChoices in its current form."

Australian Federal Police Association statement & letter to Arch Bevis:

http://www.afpa.org.au/read/322.html

 

Given that the AFPA had been successful in subverting the Howard Government's attempt to bring its members under individual AWAs, one has to wonder if federal police were becoming rather excited at the thought that they might parley the AFP into an expanded and senior role in the mooted Office of Homeland Security.

While the idea of this new all-encompassing entity has not been received with much enthusiasm by the general public, the Rudd Government has not completely hit the idea on the head.

ABC News:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/29/2104943.htm

 

Or could it be that the Australian Federal Police was rather pleased at the thought that it would now have two ministers to approach and is hoping to play one against the other to increase its own power base.

 

It is interesting to note exactly who or what takes responsibility for the biography page of the new Minister for Home Affairs, Bob Debus.

"Date Created: Friday, 30 November 2007
Last Modified: Tuesday, 11 December 2007
Authorised By: Assistant Director, APEC 2007 Security Branch
Maintainer: APEC 2007 Security Branch"
Attorney General's Department:

http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/Ministers_MinisterforHomeAffairs

It's just not cricket

Bad blood between India and Australia continues in the 2008 international test cricket series, with Anil Kumble's repeated suggestion of Australian 'cheating'.

The whole sorry mess can be reduced to one sentence. A plague on both their houses.

'Up yours!': Japan's whalers reply to Australia

Media release

7 January 2008

President of the Japan Whaling Association responds to Australia

On December 19, 2007 Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs the Honourable Stephen Smith issued a joint media release with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Mr. Peter Garrett. The release states that "Australia strongly believes that there is no credible scientific justification for the hunting of whales and is opposed to all commercial and 'scientific' whaling" and notes that "the Australian Government will step up efforts to end this senseless and brutal practice, using a range of diplomatic, legal and monitoring and surveillance initiatives" that "the Government is giving serious consideration to a range of options for international legal action against Japan" and that "the Government will develop its own proposal for improving and modernising the IWC which will include closing the loophole that allows for scientific whaling. "

In the proper context of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) and the International Whaling Commmission (IWC) these comments of the Government of Australia are provocative and absurd. The fact is that the ICRW is about properly managing the whaling industry by regulating catch quotas at levels so that whale stocks will not be diminished. The Convention is not about protecting all whales irrespective of their abundance.

Further, the fact that Australia was a whaling country when it agreed to and signed the ICRW and subsequently changed its postion to anti-whaling following the closure of its industry in the 1970s does not change the Convention. If Australia can no longer agree to the Convention it should withdraw rather than subvert its purpose. Smith and Garrett can ignore these facts but they cannot change them.

Australia together with other anti-whaling members of the IWC have sacrificed the principles of science-based management and sustainable use that are the world standard (and supported by Australia in other international fora and for the management of their own resources) as a political expediency to satisfy the interests of non-government organizations. This has made the IWC dysfunctional and threatens much-needed international cooperation required to properly manage and conserve all marine resources. It is of considerable concern therefore that Australia's stepped up efforts to end commercial and scientific whaling will undermine the work of the current Chairman (William Hogarth of the US) of the IWC to resolve the dysfunctional nature of the organization and return it to its proper functioning as a resource management organization.

Japan's whaling is not "senseless and brutal". Neither is it illegal in any way. The most recent review of Japan's research whaling program in the Antarctic by the IWC's Scientific Committee in December 2006 concluded that "the dataset provides a valuable resource to allow investigation of some aspects of the role of whales within the marine ecosystem and that this has the potential to make an important contribution to the Scientific Committee's work in this regard as well as the work of other relevant bodies such as the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources". The Scientific Committee also agreed to its earlier (1997) conclusion that the results from the research program "have the potential to improve management of minke whales in the Southern Hemisphere".

The suggestion of Smith and Garrett that somehow Japan's whale research program is a violation of international law and that Japan is not acting in accordance with its international treaty obligations is totally without foundation. Article VIII of the ICRW unequivocally provides the right of members of the IWC to kill whales for research purposes and further states that "the killing, taking, and treating of whales in accordance with the provisions of this Article shall be exempt from the operation of this Convention." Conversely, the fact that the Government of Australia has publicly stated that it no longer accepts the terms of the ICRW and yet continues to participate in the IWC is a self indictment that it has failed to meet its legal obligation to interpret and implement its treaty obligations in good faith.

Finally, Smith and Garrett note that "Australia values its extensive and mutually beneficial relationship with Japan" and that "as in any close relationship there are some issues on which we cannot agree". In the face of this disagreement on whaling, Australia's determination "to play a leading role in international efforts to stop Japan's whaling practices" is arrogant and an insult to Japanese people and their culture. A more constructive approach with less media hype is needed.


Keiichi NAKAJIMA
President
Japan Whaling Association


Japan Whaling Association:
http://www.whaling.jp/english/release/080107.html