Frontier Economics recycles its submissions to government and turns them into Turnbull's Greener, Cheaper, Smarter ETS? rofl

In September 2008 business consultants Frontier Economics (Australia) made an 18-page formal submission to the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change on the emissions trading scheme Green Paper.
It has previously made a 36-page formal submission to the Garnaut Climate Change Review in April 2008.

Unsurprisingly in August 2008 the consultants also advised on a joint industry response by the National Generators' Forum (which represents 22 major power generators) to the Rudd Government proposed emissions trading scheme.

What all this means is that the Rudd Government had considered Frontier Economics' assessment of ETS models and conclusions before it finalised the government's own proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme(CPRS) legislation.

Now I may be a trifle thick here, but I cannot see how Malcolm Turnbull or the Coalition get any political brownie points for this basic reworking of Frontier Economics earlier positions with a bit of colourful window dressing thrown in to produce the August 2009 Greener, Cheaper, Smarter ETS aka the 102-page graph ridden report The economic impact of the CPRS and modifications to the CPRS:REPORT FOR THE COALITION AND SENATOR XENOPHON.

If Rudd's CPRS is shaping up to be a dud because it gives too much leeway to dirty industries, then Turnbull's ETS is a complete disaster because it appears to give these industries even more (with only a promise of very short-term savings for ordinary Australian households during implementation of this scheme) and without a clear, workable incentive for industry to actually reduce greenhouse gas emission levels.
It seems we are supposed to rely on other countries doing the actual carbon reduction and being ever willing to sell Australian industry what Turnbull fondly supposes will be rather cheap credits.

Conclusion: Malcolm Turnbull will continue to be an embarrassment until his party finally potty trains this political l'enfant terrible.

The underbelly of government emergency financial handouts hinted at by Commonwealth Ombudsman?

The Commonwealth Ombudsman has alerted the media to problems with Federal Government emergency financial handouts and other grants.

ABC News on 5 August 2009:

The Commonwealth Ombudsman has criticised the lack of accountability governing emergency financial handouts and other grants by federal departments.

The grants for schemes such as bushfire aid, drought relief and redundancy benefits are not controlled by legislation.

The ombudsman, Professor John McMillan, says this provides flexibility when money needs to be handed out urgently.
But it has also led to problems such as unpublished closing dates for applications, ambiguous rules for handing out the money and poor decisions by bureaucrats which cannot be corrected.
Prof MacMillan says while executive schemes can be set up quickly, the public can suffer.
He has criticised the lack of accountability governing emergency financial handouts and other grants by federal departments.
He has recommended a series of measures to improve accountability, including the publication of up to date information about the schemes and procedures for complaint handling.

While the Ombudsman cites ambiguous rules for handing out the money and poor decisions by bureaucrats, he fails to mention that this situation also appears to allow for widespread rorting of the emergency payment system in which government coffers rather than the public suffer.

On the NSW North Coast it is an open secret that a number of successful applications for the 2009 one-off $1,000 per flood victim emergency payment (administered through Centrelink) were made by residents who were not living in homes or on land affected by flooding this year.

Indeed one person supposedly made a successful claim while residing in a house which is approximately 41 metres above sea level on land that could never experience river flooding due to its height.

It is understood that government is aware of this far from novel situation and that in past years it had been informed of similar fraud.

Public Meeting on the Shooters Party’s Game and Feral Animal Control Amendment Bill 2009, Lismore 6pm 26 August 2009

A public meeting will be held to discuss the Shooters Party's Game and Feral Animal Control Amendment Bill 2009, which would allow hunting of feral and some native species in national parks and the establishment of private game reserves.

Wednesday 26 August
5.45 for 6-8 pm
Red Dove Hall
upstairs, cnr Keen & Woodlark Sts Lismore

Speakers (may change)

Carol Booth, Invasive Species Council

Sue Higginson, EDO solicitor

Richard Jones, former Democrats MLC

Catherine Cusack, Liberal MLC & Shadow Minister for the Environment

Is an overly optimistic Tony Abbot an indicator of a firming Coalition response to climate change?

An overly optimistic Tony Abbott in his speech A realist's approach to climate change at the David Davies memorial dinner, 27 July 2009:

We can't conclusively say whether man-made carbon dioxide emissions are contributing to climate change. If they are, we don't know whether they are exacerbating or counteracting what might otherwise be happening to global climate. Even if they are adding to climatic extremes, humanity may be able to cope with only modest adjustments. Our ability to live well in cities as climatically different as Ottawa and Singapore and to produce an abundance of food in countries as environmentally diverse as Australia and Canada suggests that humans can adapt even to quite significant changes in global temperatures.

Federal Parliament's return this week should make for interesting viewing as the national emissions trading scheme is once more before MPs and senators.

If Tony Abbott is any indication, there seems to be little hope that the Coalition will be anything other than antagonistic towards any climate change mitigation measures.

Sportingbet odds as Turnbull's 'septem valde horrendus dies' begin and other tales

Seeing that many are predicting that this week will be septem valde horrendus dies for Malcolm Turnbull, I thought I might lead off with a look at how the formal betting is running.

Sportsbet online yesterday afternoon:
Liberal Leader At Next Federal Election 21 Jan 2010 Straight
Malcom Turnbull 1.60
Joe Hockey 3.00
Tony Abbott 6.50
Julie Bishop 21.00
Any Other 13.00
Andrew Robb 9.00
Peter Dutton 21.00

Pic from ABC News

Australia has a brand new federal political party - move over Family First!

Snapshot from the Australian Electoral Commission website

click to make it grow

Yes, your eyes didn't deceive you - it's the Australian S~x Party
Although born in November 2008 with Eros as midwife, it was only registered federally in glorious technicolour on 5th August 2009.
Giving it a comfortable amount of time to gear-up for the next federal election.
I don't know who will have apoplexy first; Family First's Senator Steve Fielding who if he gets re-elected in 2010-11 may find himself sharing his Senate play lunch with an ASP senator defending legal erotica, Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy who is determined to eradicate anything far-right Christianity disapproves of, or Teh DBCDE which must be privately wondering how a political party with such a name will fare if a national Internet filtering scheme comes to pass.

Daily Examiner editor spits the dummy as he grabs his hat and coat

The Daily Examiner, 4 August 2009

Click on image to enlarge

Editor Peter Chapman takes a swipe at the noisy minority as he prepares to leave The Daily Examiner for Queensland's The Fraser Coast Chronicle, after less than 15 months in the Clarence Valley.

Which possibly makes him the shortest-term editor but one The Daily Examiner has ever had in its 150 year history.

In November 2008 Peter gave a talk to Grafton U3A which indicated that he has worked on at least thirteen different print and television media outlets since the early 1970s, as well as for approximately four sporting bodies.

2009 Bangalow Music Festival 14 - 16 August 2009

From Regional Arst NSW August e-Bulletin:

Combining world-class musicians, captivating chamber repertoire, delicious food and a festive atmosphere surrounded by the sub-tropical beauty of this heritage township, the Bangalow Music Festival returns in 2009 with an invigorating line-up.

This year the program takes on a British flavour with music by Benjamin Britten and Edward Elgar, an Australian premiere of Gustav Holst's Quintet for Piano and Winds, plus works by Philip Cannon, Samuel Coleridge Taylor and Benjamin Frankel. Come and experience for yourself why Peter Sculthorpe described this as the finest musical festival outside of a capital city anywhere in the world.

For further information please contact Southern Cross Soloists: Tel 0448 641 835, Email manager@southernxsoloists.com