What goes on behind closed doors should stay there, says Daily Examiner editor

A bouquet for The Daily Examiner editor David Bancroft's Page 10 comment on 26 May 2010:

IN the past week we have seen some parts of the media lurch dangerously towards titillation over substance, highlighted by the "outing" and subsequent resignation of the former transport minister, David Campbell.

Throughout our history, Australians and the Australian media have shied away from intruding into the private lives of politicians, but the treatment of Campbell and, earlier, John Della Bosca suggests the old rules no longer apply.

Della Bosca was forced to resign after the media revealed an affair with a younger woman, and Campbell last week handed in his resignation after Channel Seven secretly filmed him entering a gay night club.

It appears, in Campbell's case in particular, that he was set up.

Despite suggestions in Channel Seven's early report that Campbell had misused his ministerial car he, in fact, committed no crime and no breach of ministerial guidelines.

This was not news.

Channel Seven had no right to first pry and later report what Campbell did in his private life.

Being homosexual is not an offence and did not prevent him from carrying out his ministerial or electorate duties.

It should be a matter for Campbell, his wife of 30 years and his children.

To air his personal life on national television only serves to further erode public confidence in the media.

What politicians do behind closed doors should stay there unless it impacts on their duties or conflicts with moral statements they have made.

I, for one, certainly don't want to know what people like Wilson Tuckey get up to in their bedrooms and I think most Australians would feel the same.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill 2010: when 'we told you so' is hopelessly futile and any penalties imposed on polluters not enough to satisfy

The U.S. Public Broadcasting Service is running a meter calculating the amount of oil now devasting the marine environment, sea creatures both large and small, bird life, foreshore and estuary ecosystems for hundreds of miles along the Gulf of Mexico thanks to British Petroleum and partners.




PBS 'The BP Spill's Impact on Wildlife'
Watch
Listen
Transcript
WARNING: Some images are distressing

UPDATE on 30 May 2010:
There is some talk that BP executives are pressuring the mainstram media and organizations involved in the oil spill clean-up not to give regular accounts of numbers of wildlife killed or rescued and not to give a daily reckoning of the amount of oil still leaking into the Gulf of Mexico.
The fact that PBS paused its meter (above) on 28 May 2010 seems to lend credence to this claim.

Don't do it Swanee! Don't water down the RSPT

Here I was thinking that at last the big bloated mining companies operating in Oz might finally be made to pay a realistic tax on the huge profits they make out of a very finite resource.
Even in the middle of the global financial crisis they were all doing nicely thank you.
I switch on the radio today and find that Swan and Bowen are being tipped to back down and give in to the dishonest media campaign those same big miners are running.
Don't do it fellas - those Aussies battling their way towards retirement and facing less and less in the way of social infrastructure to help in old age are standing squarely behind this tax rearrangement.
Swanee - forget the meeja, ignore the polls, remember the people!

How some of that filthy lucre's adding up:
17 May 2010 Leighton announces third quarter profit of $400m and $37.5bn of work in hand....These are strong results for the nine months which reflect solid performances in mining and infrastructure
26 Feb 2010 ... Perilya announces net profit after tax of $28.5 million in six latest month report.
Rio Tinto's net profit after tax came to $5.43 billion in 2009
Fortescue Metals Group reported net profit after tax for the 12 months to June 30, 2009 of $626.13 million
30 June 2009 On an underlying basis, Centennial returned a record $82.0 million after-tax result.
9 September 2009 Hillgrove Resources Limited (ASX: HGO) is pleased to announce a net profit after tax (NPAT) for the six months ended 31 July 2009 of $53,973,885 (2008 6 months: $2,208,242 loss) after tax expense of $27,170,778
Industrea have announced an adjusted net profit after tax (NPAT) of $41.3 million for the 12 months to 30 June 2008, up 122% from the previous year's result
2008 Alumina Limited's net profit after tax for 2008 was $168 million...AWAC's 2008 net profit after tax was US$592 million compared to US$953 million in 2007
ERA's net profit after tax for the full year ended 31 December 2008 was a record $221.8 million, compared with $76.1 million for the same period in 2007. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were $318.0 million (2007: $108.0 million)

Australian Federal Election 2010: Bowen does Hartsuyker on superannuation

Australian Federal Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law and Minister for Human Services Chris Bowen, speaking of NSW Nationals MP for Cowper Luke Hartsuyker, according to Hansard on 24 May 2010 courtesy of OpenAustralia:

One month ago the shadow minister for superannuation—and, yes, there is one; it is the member for Cowper—gave a speech to the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees.

It was a scripted, written speech.

As far as we know the member for Cowper might have even rehearsed in front of the mirror, so we should have been able to take what he said as the gospel truth.

He said that the opposition in government would allow people over 50 to make concessional top-ups to their superannuation payments.

That was a commitment from the shadow minister for superannuation.
It lasted one month.
On 19 April this was announced as policy by the shadow minister for superannuation.
On 19 May, the shadow minister for finance announced this was no longer opposition policy; it had been discontinued.
It lasted a month. Their commitment to people aged over 50 lasted a month.
How inconsistent can you be?
But the Leader of the Opposition is probably very pleased with this. He is probably pleased with the inconsistency.

We're all in trouble when the Australian coal industry lobby begins an advertisemnt with this graphic

A NewGenCoal online advertising link to its website on 24 May 2010

Not everyone stays on a webpage for the complete advertising slideshow and so might not be aware that the people at NewGenCoal are actually referring to climate change denialism in this graphic - not their own stated position on global warming.

Still, this image does feed the prejudice of some in the Australian energy sector.......

Remember when overseas travel was an Oz rite of passage?

Remember when overseas travel was an Oz rite of passage? When dressed in our best clobber we boarded that ocean liner or hopped on a Qantas or Boeing flight and, with a letter of introduction to Grand-aunt Susan's second cousin once removed in the north of England, we headed overseas on our great adventure? One of the lucky few who had managed to scrape together the money for such a luxury or perhaps one of the very privileged who had received enough money to cover travel costs as a 21st birthday gift. Well times have changed. Today's global travel is inexpensive by comparison and Generation Y is lapping it up.
According to Roy Morgan this month:
"The majority of Generation Y have moved out of home according to a recent study by Roy Morgan Research. In the 12 months to March 2010, only 25% of Gen Y now live with their parents (down from 51% five years ago), with 40% living with a partner, 27% in a shared household and 8% in some other arrangement. Additionally, 27% of Gen Y now have children.
More than half of Generation Y have completed a tertiary qualification or are still studying at a tertiary institution (53%) with 45% of them currently in full time work.
Almost all Gen Y (95%) have accessed the internet in the last 4 weeks, with 80% having accessed a community or messaging site, such as Facebook, and 27% having bought, sold or shopped online in the last 4 weeks. 62% also agree that they 'are always ready to try new and different products' — higher than both Gen Z (58%) and Gen X (57%)." and

"Gen Y * is more likely than other generations to have taken at least one overseas holiday or leisure trip in the last 12 months, according to the latest Roy Morgan Research Single Source data.

In the year ended March 2010, 25.4% of Gen Y had taken at least one overseas holiday or leisure trip in the last 12 months, ahead of Baby Boomers (22.6%), Gen X (17.7%), Pre-Boomers (15.4%) and Gen Z (14.8%).

* Gen Y is defined as Australians born between 1976 - 1990; Gen Z between 1991 - 2009; Gen X between 1961 - 1975; Baby Boomers between 1946 - 1960; and Pre-Boomers 1945 or earlier.

"As Generation Y of Australia age, move through the life stages, and become increasingly wealthy over the next decade they could potentially represent a larger proportion of tourism expenditure in Australia. The challenge is that many of Gen Y are choosing an overseas holiday rather than a domestic one.
"Gen Y have diverse cultural backgrounds, but as a group they are highly educated and career minded. Roy Morgan Research has recently released a report on Gen Y Holiday and Leisure Trends which can assist tourism operators and destination marketers in understanding what motivates Gen Y, how they relate to the world, and how to communicate with them."

Vandals told to take up a sport or start knitting

Haylee Gough, Chloe Duroux, Lily Porra and Tayla Lambeth are Year 6 students at Grafton Public School. They penned the following piece for the local paper, The Daily Examiner.

Stop the vandalism

AS Year 6 students we are all sick and tired of inconsiderate vandals destroying our schools almost every weekend, disturbing our schoolwork, costing us money and forcing someone else to clean it up.

These thoughtless people are disturbing our schoolwork. Children can't work in their classrooms if the general assistant or their teacher is cleaning up the mess or something is being replaced.

Vandalism is costing schools across Australia millions of dollars a year. This money could be better spent on school resources, sports equipment and electronics, like whiteboards and computers.

Someone always has to clean up the mess, whether it is the cleaner, general assistant, teachers or maybe even the students. It is very dangerous to clean up broken glass and burnt property.

In conclusion, we insist that these vandals stop what they're doing NOW! If they're so bored on the weekend, why don't they take up a sport or start knitting.

Source: The Daily Examiner, 25/5/2010