Indigenous peoples and climate change

From the Australian Human Rights Commission Native Title Report 2008 - Chapter 5 Indigenous peoples and climate change:

Indigenous peoples have a 'special interest' in climate change issues, not only because through their physical and spiritual relationships with land, water and associated ecosystems, they are particularly vulnerable to climate change; but also because they have a specialised ecological and traditional knowledge relevant to finding the 'best fit' solutions.

How many local government shire and city councils across New South Wales have made serious approaches to traditional owners and the organisations who manage their land holdings?

Tells us what you think invites News Limited. Oh, the temptation!

A rather obscure website called the News Limited Reader Panel came to my attention this week.

Make a difference....Have your say and help shape the future of your newspaper is the invitation on offer.

After News Ltd Ceo John Hartigan's recent foray into newspaper phantasy land, the temptation is almost irresistible!

By Email: support@readerpanel.com.au

By Phone: 1300 736 100

In a galaxy far, far way..........

Sometimes when meandering down the digital highway one comes across the trace of a Google search by another intrepid traveller.

Last week I stumbled upon one lonely soul in Chevy Chase (Washington DC) who in the wee small hours of the morning appeared to be idling wondering if Australian Senator Eric Abetz was a nastie type.

As Senator Abetz was a postwar baby who arrived in Australia at a very young age he can hardly be blamed for the actions of Nazi Germany. So perhaps his demeanor when travelling overseas is so similar to his bullying behaviour during Senate inquiries that it gives rise to this sort of speculation?

Something from the "What were they thinking?" file

Last Wednesday I was emailed this copy of a Queensland Government advertisement concerning state-wide electricity rebates which was published on page 8 in The Daily Examiner that day.

Now this newspaper has a catchment which is some hundreds of kilometres south of the NSW-QLD border and a daily circulation of around 17,000 copies.

So what on earth was the Queensland Government doing spending good money to advertise so far from its intended target population and with so little effect?

Plucky little Bundanoon and the Rees Government to ban bottled water from the premises

At last New South Wales is getting serious about the amount of one-off use, energy intensive, disposable containers for bottled water which are ending up in landfill or too frequently litttering our waterways and streets.

Much of this commerically packaged water is drawn from springs and aquifers already under pressure due to the gradual drying of the southern half of the Australian continent over the last decade.

According to a Radio Australia report it takes two litres of water to manufacture one litre of bottled water.

The small town of Bundanoon in the NSW Southern Highlands and now the NSW State Government are set to ban bottled water, the former from all town shops, cafes etc. and the later from government departments and offices.

Well done, Bundanoon - you are a real trail blazer.

Turnbull's recycled debt truck shows a lack of imagination

A recycled debt truck for heaven's sake!
It's hard to believe that Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull is so desperate at the moment that he would revisit 1995-96 and risk aligning himself with the unpopular ghost of former Australian PM John Howard in this way.

This revamped debt truck is likely to breakdown long before in reaches the Hume Highway.

Turnbull continued to put his foot in it when on his blog on 7 June 2009 he posted the Launch of the Debt Truck and sent the same out on Twitter.

In that particular post he stated Mr Rudd is fond of doing media stunts while wearing hard hats.

This gem is on the very same blog page which shows him wearing a hard hat during his recent visit to West Australia.


Definitely a pot calling the kettle black.
Who looks foolish now?

Local doctor shows a surprising level of intolerance - wonder how full his waiting room is this week?

Lengthy waiting times to see specialists practicing on the NSW North Coast and longer waiting lists for surgery are apparently not the fault of an ailing public health system, it's really the patient who is to blame.

Here are a few quotes from the owner of Iluka's Wellness Centre in How to avoid the long hospital queue:

"Diseases like diabetes, bowel cancer, heart disease and the affects of smoking are illness that are often brought on because people made bad choices,"....

"People are entitled to eat junk food and smoke cigarettes, and sit on their backside and not exercise but if you want really good health I believe you've got to make some contribution yourself.

"And because this is such a lovely place to live we've got a huge influx of people coming here, and the queues to see specialists are getting bigger and bigger.".....

"The other thing important since I graduated is life expectancy. It has probably increased 20 years," ....

"So those people who aren't attending to health issues now aren't going to have a very pleasant last 20 years."....

"If you can afford to smoke and eat sausage rolls and fish and chips, then you can afford private health insurance."

To be fair The Daily Examiner also reports:

Dr Richards said the medical industry in the 20th century promoted dealing with the symptoms instead of preventing the illness in the first place.

He said this was convenient for doctors who were more concerned with 'paying off their mortgages'.

Still, it irks somewhat to find that this Iluka gentleman appears to believe that all would be well with the health system if there were either less people using it or more people paying to use it.

As to his claims about the affordability of health insurance - single aged pensioners in Iluka (with no other assets) who rent their homes for around the current average weekly cost and who get maximum rent assistance will still only have about $142 to $162 left each week to provide themselves with groceries, clothing, footwear, travel, medicines, et cetera even if they manage to keep their utility and telephone accounts at or below the low government subsidy.

Providing themselves with rather basic health insurance is likely to reduce that weekly amount in the pocket by another $15 to $30 per week and would likely see such pensioners have to do without a range of healthy foods or adequate clothing.

It was with some amusment that I noted the absense of alcohol consumption from the doctor's list of unwise lifestyle choices. But then quite a few in his profession are known to like a quiet drink or two.....

Image from Wikimedia