A look back at the lack of Coalition economic theory expertise - as Australia waits for the 2012-13 federal budget to be revealed

Hours out from the 2012-13 federal budget, a look back at 2011....

Gross debt - gross ignorance on Saturday, 12 November 2011:  

Admittedly, the notion of gross and net government debt is a little complex, but when someone speaks authoritatively about gross debt in particular, one would hope they understood the intricacies of the concepts involved and how the government debt market works before they opened their mouth. It is embarrassing and disturbing, therefore, to hear the Shadow Finance Minister Andrew Robb, join with the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Barnaby Joyce and Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott deliver sensational criticisms about the rise in gross debt in Australia.

The views of the Liberal and National Party leaders - the alternative government in other words - highlight a gross misunderstanding of markets, economics and conceptualising what is big and small.

Read the rest here.

Warning: Scamsters using the Tax Office to dud the unsuspecting

An email (copy below) currently doing the rounds and purporting to be from the Australian Tax Office is a scam. Avoid it like the plague.

Dear Australian Taxation Office customer,

After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $250.50 AUD. Please submit the tax refund form and allow us 3-5 business days in order to process it.

A fund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.To access the form for your tax refund, please Click Here (link removed).

Thank you,
Australian Taxation Office Online Department.

Read the ATO's advice about scams here.

The Great Angourie Croc Hunt of 1940

There was a time when the Lower Clarence thought it had its own crocodile, according to The Courier-Mail on  5 January 1940.

Click on image to enlarge

The Hon. Dr. Peter 'Waste of Space' Phelps MLC

Excerpt from Queensland Government pest plant fact sheet for Eragrostis curvula:

A native of southern Africa, this grass was probably first introduced to Australia by accident as a contaminant of pasture seed. Different cultivars of this grass have also been used as a soil stabiliser in erosion-control situations.

African lovegrass has been planted in different locations throughout south-east Queensland and has naturalised in all Australian states in acidic, red and especially sandy soils.

African lovegrass produces vast quantities of seeds, which quickly develop into a large viable seed bank, making the plant very difficult to eradicate. It is extremely competitive with other pasture species and is an aggressive invader, quickly overtaking sparse, overgrazed or poor quality pastures, particularly in sandy soils.

African lovegrass can form dense monocultures up to 1.2 m high. This can create large fuel loads in the dry months, posing a fire hazard and creating competition with native species regeneration.

The NSW Industry and Investments website states that overall carrying capacity is reduced when there is dense African Love Grass infestation.

So what does NSW Legislative Council Government Whip Peter Phelps MLC have to say in the 1 May debate on the Noxious Weeds Amendment Bill 2012 when lovegrass gets a mention? Why he asks; Can you smoke it?

It would appear that NSW Nationals MP for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis, doesn't respect the CSIRO, BOM, NASA or any reputable climate scientist

One of the worst kept secrets on the NSW North Coast is that NSW Nationals MP for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis, is a climate changer denier.

The latest evidence of this is his claim; that no tidal measurements had been taken over time to prove that sea levels were actually rising

The Lower Clarence Valley, which knows this former shire councillor and land developer better than most, would be unsurprised by this claim – given that he is already anecdotally famous for stating words to the effect that removing mature trees from riverbanks would reduce or eliminate erosion of said banks.

What his latest claim about sea levels clearly demonstrates is that Chris Gulaptis either hasn’t bothered to read authoritative reports on the subject, does not understand the science or refuses to respect the science.

To illustrate the political ignorance that is being displayed by the parliamentary representative of an electorate with such a long coastline, here are some quotes.

This is what the Australian CSIRO stated in 2011 about sea level impacts:

Sea level rise will be felt both through changes in mean sea level, and, perhaps more importantly, through changes in extreme sea level events. Even if there are no changes in extreme weather conditions (for example, increases in tropical cyclone intensity), sea level rise will result in extreme sea levels of a given value being exceeded more frequently. This change in the frequency of extreme events has already been observed at many locations. The increase in frequency of extreme events will depend on local conditions, but events that currently occur once every 100 years could occur as frequently as once every few years by 2100.

Global Mean Sea Level increased by 210mm between 1880 and 2009, and is continuing to rise at a fairly steady rate of just over 3mm/year. This rate of rise is undoubtedly contributing to the flooding problems of low-lying island states like Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Maldives.

This is exacerbated in some areas (e.g. Gippsland, Victoria and the Gulf coast of the U.S.) where large-scale land subsidence causes a rate of rise relative to the land which is substantially higher.

Correspondingly, some areas have seen less impact because they are rising. Australia is rising at about 0.3-0.4mm/year due to Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA), but is still starting to feel the effects.

In addition, the continuing rise in mean level causes a corresponding increase in the frequency of extreme events, as detailed on the next page…..

The effect of rising mean sea levels will be felt most profoundly during extreme storm conditions when strong winds and falling pressure bring about a temporary and localised increase in sea level known as a storm surge. Storm surges occurring on higher mean sea levels will enable inundation and damaging waves to penetrate further inland increasing flooding, erosion and the subsequent detrimental impacts on built infrastructure and natural ecosystems. In the tropics storm surges are caused by tropical cyclones while elsewhere mid-latitude storms and their associated cold fronts are the main cause of storm surges.

This is what the Australian Bureau of Meteorology states in its State of the Climate Report 2012:

State of the Climate 2012 also highlights the increase in global sea level and notes sea-level rise around Australia since 1993 is greater than, or equal to, the global average. Our observations show that sea-surface temperatures around Australia have increased faster than the global average.

This is what the United States NASA was saying in 2011 about sea levels:

Like mercury in a thermometer, ocean waters expand as they warm. This, along with melting glaciers and ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, drives sea levels higher over the long term. For the past 18 years, the U.S./French Jason-1, Jason-2 and Topex/Poseidon spacecraft have been monitoring the gradual rise of the world's ocean in response to global warming.

 

This is what NASA’s Chief Scientist states in 2012:

Sea level rise is one of the most readily recognizable manifestations of climate change, because it is directly observable without the aid of instrumentation, with very visible effects. Sea level rise is not as rapidly variable as many of the other indicators of climate change, such as temperature or precipitation. Rather it evolves relatively slowly and presents a clear expression of the integrated elements of our changing climate [ Statement of Dr. Waleed Abdalati, Chief Scientist, National Aeronautics and Space Administration before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources United States Senate,19 April 2012]

A public dental services federal funding boost the NSW North Coast will welcome

The Age 6 May 2012:

HALF a billion dollars will be injected into dental care for the poor, while families with schoolchildren will receive cash payments in two of the few big-spending measures in Tuesday's austerity budget.

The Sunday Age can reveal that 400,000 Australians stuck on the public dental waiting list because they can't afford a private dentist will be targeted for help in a $345 million blitz on the public backlog, starting on January 1.

Another $170 million will be used to lay the groundwork for a national dental scheme, funding more graduate training places and paying dentists to relocate to remote areas.

''Improving our dental health system has been a priority for me since I first became health minister and this package delivers hope to those who have waited too long on public dental lists,'' Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said. ''It will lay the foundation for a new way of providing dental services that will ensure that those most in need will get care when and where they need it.''…..

Hopefully the Gillard Government will so tightly constrain state governments in relation to this funding that they are unable to take this money into their coffers to swell their own budgetary bottom lines and, then stall implementing any real improvements to public dental health services.

"Please don't piss in my pond" by Richard Gates

This is a good news story.

In 2005 a long-running environmental campaign came to a head. A once pristine wetland had become a de facto extension of the Evans Head Sewerage Treatment Plant.
Watch what happens when a massive fish and bird kill galvanises a community to pressure authorities to clean up their crap.

This video was created as part of an ABC Open NSW North Coast workshop for the project "Water Is..."

Watch the video here.

Credit: Thanks, Dr Richard Gates, your local community has much to be very proud about.