NO!
That loud enough for you, Mr. Iemma? Get the picture yet?
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
Penny Wong rolls up her sleeves and gets on with the job
The new Federal Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, is doing what the Howard Government failed to do over a decade. She has announced that the Commonwealth has begun a $50 million buy-back of water licenses in the Murray Darling Basin in order to return some environmental flow to this significant river system.
The move doesn't really go far enough but it's a good start.
Australia is going to have to face the fact that it needs to reduce the total number of irrigated farms, in order to ensure future national water security. Even if it means that the next couple of decades will see a reduced variety of vegetables and fruit on offer in the market place while the agricultural sector adjusts.
This new Federal Government can sometimes irritate and disappoint, but it's moments like these when it becomes clear exactly why the Australian electorate preferred Labor over the Coalition.
So Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt can say; "The defining failure of the first 100 days of the Rudd Government has been their inaction on the Murray," but he is patently whistling in the wind.
I just know that the 2020 Summit will bomb - Rudd's invited Tim Costello!
For most of us regional 'mushrooms' the Australia 2020 Summit suddenly appeared on the horizon trailing wisps of the 2001 Australia 2020: Foresight for our Future research paper.
The summit sounded like a good idea when it was first announced, but its obvious elitism was troubling.
The death knell for summit credibility came at the beginning of the week for me, when Kevin Rudd announced the steering committee members who will issue invitations for the 10 topic discussions and also chair the working groups.
Yeah, there he was - Tim Costello of World Vision fame. The meister of self-promotion.
A man renown on the NSW North Coast for his verbosity and ego.
A man who in the early 2000s, acting as co-facilitator at a Maclean community meeting, alternatively insulted and patronised.
A WASP who so dominated the meeting time that he left only 15 minutes for the entire community to put its views and discuss issues.
Then after milking the event for every drop of media coverage he b*ggered off back home, leaving a community asking why it had bothered to spend a night with Tim and Chris.
So strike off 2020 achieving anything except hot air and a plethora of buzz words when it comes to the topic on "strengthening communities, supporting families and social inclusion".
Oh and by the way, our Kev is allowing the unwashed masses 2 pages per topic in any not-so-eagerly-awaited submissions.
Why should we on the NSW North Coast bother? It's obvious we'd be talking to a corporatised brick wall surrounding a set of 'solutions' decided weeks, months or even years ago.
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Kevin Andrews proves just how dumb the Libs are
In The Herald Sun yesterday Kevin Andrews opens his mouth to give us all these pearls in an effort to justify former Howard Government industrial relations law, WorkChoices.
Thereby demonstrating that he is politically out to lunch as well as out of government.
- JOHN Howard wanted to limit unfair dismissal laws to businesses with more than 200 employees and abolish all minimum wage classifications.
- Coalition MPs were also collectively blind to the political danger of a policy that potentially tore away entitlements.
- On the day the package was presented to the joint party room meeting, Mr Andrews received a standing ovation.
- Mr Andrews said he was not trying to blame the former PM. "(In the end) this was a cabinet decision and we discussed WorkChoices I suspect more than any other piece of legislation that I can recall," he said.
- But other senior Liberals said Mr Howard was blind when it came to WorkChoices, and in the last few months of government would "erupt" if anyone tried to suggest there was still a problem.
- Mr Andrews said some members of cabinet were more determined to push as far as possible on WorkChoices than others.
- The revelations by Mr Andrews suggest Senator Minchin was reflecting the view of the cabinet when he apologised to the HR Nicholls society early in 2006 for the government not going far enough.
Share in $1,000 by guessing the number of weeks until Brendan Nelson loses Liberal leadership
The Monthly joins the rest of the media scrum in wondering just how long Brendan Nelson can last as Liberal Party and Opposition leader. It currently has an online guessing competition worth up to $1,000.
"Can you rise to the challenge? The Monthly invites predictions on how long Brendan Nelson's leadership of the Opposition will last, before being ended by any event - such as his elevation to prime minister, his resignation, or a party decision. In the second part of the question, The Monthly asks who you think will be Nelson's successor as leader of the Opposition.
Respondents who correctly forecast the answers to both parts of the question will share in $1000 cash. (A note to those who presume that the public mood can't shift dramatically: consider the unlikely ascensions of Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Howard.)"
Enter the competition here.
Why should there be Higgins and Mayo by-elections this year?
Rumour is going strong (fuelled by comments from Andrew Robb) that the Liberal Party is pressuring Peter Costello and Alexander Downer to resign in the second half of 2008 so that by-elections for their seats can be called.
What a bl**dy hide. The Higgins and Mayo electorates voted these pollies in on a three-year implied contract and now the party machine wants their resignations.
Have a little decency fellas - at least wait until mid next year so we can all pretend that voters still decide federal election outcomes in Australia.
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