Who said what in the current Australian gun crime debate

 

Police Association of NSW 27 February 2013:

 

SYDNEY, Feb 27 AAP - NSW Attorney General Greg Smith says there’s a long way to go until drive-by shootings in western Sydney are brought under control.
Addressing a Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) conference in Sydney, Mr Smith said the problem of drive-by shootings was “smaller now than it was in 2001”.
However, he conceded the coalition government had not yet been able to fully combat it across western Sydney.
“It’s of great concern and we still have a long way to go in bringing it fully under control,” Mr Smith told the conference.
The comments come after a wave of shootings in the city’s west that have forced NSW police to establish Operation Apollo, a special strike force targeting gun crime.

 

The Sydney Morning Herald 7 March 2013:

 

On Sunday, Ms Gillard announced a $64 million ''national anti-gang taskforce''.
Ms Gillard said: ''When we look at the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, we see that, over the past 15 years, shootings in public places have soared.''

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research  Media Release 6 March 2013:

 

The claim by the Prime Minister that shooting offences in public places in NSW have ‘soared’ over the last 15 years is incorrect, according to the head of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

The claim was reportedly made by the Prime Minister last Sunday when announcing various measures to tackle organised crime in NSW and other States.

According to the Director of the Bureau, the total number of non-fatal shooting offences in NSW peaked at a six-month average of over 40 incidents a month in November 2001 and then began to fall.

By December last year the six-monthly average number of non-fatal shooting incidents had dropped to around 25 a month.

‘Only one type of shooting incident has increased over the last two years. The offence of ‘unlawfully discharge firearm into premises’ rose from a six-monthly average of five in February 2010 to a six-monthly average peak of about 11 a month in August 2012.’

‘In the last three months of 2012, however, the incidence of this offence dropped sharply. The six-monthly average in December last year was back down to around 6 to 7 offences a month.’

More serious offences, such as ‘shoot with intent to kill’ have remained fairly low and stable since 1997. Homicide offences involving a firearm have actually fallen across Australia.’

 

National statistics

 

http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/pages/bocsar_mr_20130306

 

NSW Statistics

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/the-merchants-of-death/story-e6frg6z6-1226564559935

Click on graphs to enlarge

 

Found on Twitter.....

Steve Thompson

@stevethompson49

Liberal voter appalled at the prospect of Tony Abbott as PM. Poly-atheist. CF father. I don't suffer fools and I challenge hypocrisy, myths and bullshit.

Sydney, Australia

 

Anthropomorphic Global Warming - two perspectives

http://www.skepticalscience.com

National Party candidate Kevin Hogan's sparse biography

2010 election campaign poster

In 2010 Kevin John Hogan of Beacoms Road, Clunes NSW stood as the National Party candidate in that year’s federal election.

His media biography at that time read:

46 year-old Hogan lives at Clunes, near Lismore. He grew up in country South Australia and worked managing investment portfolios with Colonial in Sydney, also giving daily financial market updates on Sky News. He decided to move to the north coast thirteen years ago and spent seven years teaching at St Mary's High School in Casino before setting up his own superannuation consultancy business.

He expanded on this somewhat during the 2010 election campaign:

Before moving to the North Coast I worked in Sydney for Colonial, where I managed a one billion-dollar investment portfolio...

In 2013 Kevin Hogan is again standing as the Nationals candidate in the Page electorate and his official biography appears almost as terse:

Born and bred in Regional Australia, Kevin lives with his wife Karen and three children on a property near Lismore.

After completing an Economics degree Kevin spent over ten years in Sydney forging a successful career in finance, working for Colonial for many years.

When the time came to raise a family Kevin and Karen moved back to the Northern Rivers and Karen’s home town of Lismore.

Kevin took up teaching, at St Mary’s High School in Casino, teaching Business Studies and serving, for a time, as Deputy Principal.

He operates a small business and runs a cattle property. Karen works as a registered nurse.

Kevin has always been committed to contributing to his local community. He has served on a local council Wastewater Advisory Committee, been Vice President of his local state primary school P&C, president of the local sports club, and coached junior sporting teams.

However, this brief curriculum vitae raises a few questions.

For instance, why is Kevin Hogan silent on his time as Investment Officer for the Australian Catholic Superannuation and Retirement Fund which ended when he resigned in September 2008?

Or why does he not include his time sitting on a Trinity property investment group sub-committee, the Investors Advisory Board (IAB), as a voting member representing the interests of Catholic Super until his resignation from that board in September 2008?

The Global Financial Crisis may explain many of the losses on Catholic Super's books in 2008 and Mr. Hogan may have genuinely decided that he didn’t want the constant commute between Sydney and the NSW North Coast, but the fact remains that he was Investment Officer at a time of decidedly poor investment performance.

Now he is standing for election this September and asking Page voters to trust him to assist in creating national financial policies for the world’s 12^th largest economy and one which survived that same financial crisis with flying colours.

At the very least voters deserve a full account of his employment history to date so that they can cast an informed vote next September.

Brief background

Table from Catholic Super & Retirement Fund (CSRF) Trustee’s Annual Report to Members 30 June 2009:

 

Click on image to enlarge

I&T News Conexus Financial Pty Ltd 26 October 2009:

Investors with $850 million invested in Trinity Funds Management products have appointed KPMG to investigate the governance changes underway at the manager before deciding whether to put their mandates out to tender.

KPMG is preparing to undertake the investigation, which gives Trinity about three months to earn the confidence of the investors before they decide to stay with the manager or terminate their mandates in the wake of the success fee scandal that saw lobbyist Ross Daley earn $1 million for, he claims, helping secure a $100 million mandate from Sunsuper.

David Asplin, general manager – institutional funds management at Trinity, said the manager was working “very co-operatively” with the investors’ representative committee (IRC), “given that they constitute a large percentage of our external investments”.

The IRC, an independent body representing investors in Trinity’s unlisted funds, was formed in late July after the Investors Advisory Board (IAB), a sub-committee within Trinity, dissolved.

The six-member IAB was set up in mid-2008 to represent investors in Trinity funds, and included John Coombe, executive director of JANA; Megan Chan, portfolio manager with Sunsuper; Kevin Hogan, investment officer of Catholic Super; and Craig Stevens, chief executive officer of Austsafe.

It is understood that KPMG was appointed by the IRC to investigate the governance changes taking place at Trinity following the Daley success fee scandal.

Business wiith The Wall Street Journal in The Australian 21 September 2009:

Trinity said it froze the trust because it was "not in the best interests of unitholders" to allow investors to withdraw funds.

"Trinity Property Trust has no mandatory requirement to make a withdrawal offer," the group said. "In accordance with the trust's constitution and (the) Corporations Act, unitholders can only withdraw from the fund if the manager chooses at its discretion to make a withdrawal offer."

Since Sunsuper invested $100m in Trinity the value of the trust has slumped 26 per cent, with the investment -- provided by the group's superannuation holders -- now worth just $74m.

West Australia Votes - 9 March 2013 State Election [links]

The Australian Broadcasting Commission has it covered online:

· ABC News Online is following the WA election with the latest reports throughout the campaign You will find comprehensive coverage, as well as Antony Green's election guide with all the news, information and analysis of the election including seat-by-seat directory of candidates, the ABC's election calculator and a full candidate directory

· ABC News 24 television coverage will be streamed live. On election night, March 9, the geo-block will be lifted for international viewers

· ABC Radio coverage can be streamed online

· If you are on Twitter the hash tag is #wavotes or you can follow @ABC_NewsRadio, @abcnewsWA,@ABCElections, @AntonyGreenABC

· Join the conversation on the 720 ABC Perth Facebook page and follow @720perth on Twitter as we bring you up to the minute updates to your social media feed

Anthony Greens Election Blog

@AntonyGreenABC

Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WAtoday

Pacific Highway Upgrade: Saffin says Hartsuyker and Hogan talking rot

Media Release Tuesday 5 March, 2013

Saffin says Federal Pacific Highway funding is quarantined

Page MP Janelle Saffin today said Australian Government’s funding for the Pacific Highway has been quarantined and is guaranteed, no matter what.

Ms Saffin said the Nationals MP Luke Hartsuyker knows that the Pacific Highway funding is guaranteed and has nothing at all to do with funding for Sydney roads.

“The Member for Cowper is just talking rubbish when he says he’s worried about the Federal Government’s announcement of $1.5 billion for the WestConnex project in Western Sydney.

“And it just shows how politically hapless Kevin Hogan is to follow Luke Hartsuyker, and trot out the same rot.

“I note that they made no comment last October when Tony Abbott announced the $1.5 billion for the WestConnex project last October.

“I find it extraordinary that the Nationals can keep a straight face when they talk about the Pacific Highway, given the poor funding record from 1996-2007 under the Federal Liberal National Coalition Government.

“The Federal Labor Government is already investing a record $4.1 billion into the Pacific Highway and has put an additional $3.56 billion on the table.

“By comparison, the former Howard Government, of which Luke was a member, could only manage to spend $1.3 billion on the Highway during their 12 long years in office – and that’s despite being Australia’s highest ever taxing government.

“As Luke knows, the $2.3 billion for the Pacific Highway remaining from last year’s Budget is guaranteed and just needs the O’Farrell Government to  honour it’s pre-election commitment  to its share of funding for the upgrade.

“Instead of getting stuck into me, if Luke is so concerned, he should direct his energies to getting his State coalition colleagues to honour their commitment to matching the highway funding.

“Last year the NSW Coalition Government ran out of excuses not to put in its share when the State Auditor-General revealed the O’Farrell Government’s $1 billion mistake in its sums.

“State or Federal, the Nationals don’t have a good record of delivering on the Pacific Highway when in Government, although they  make a big noise about the Highway when in opposition.”

Lee DuncanMedia Adviser
Office of Janelle Saffin MP
Federal Member for Page
Ph: 6621.9909   

The mining tax may not be as unpopular as Tony Abbott would have us believe

Australian Opposition leader Tony Abbott on the subject of the Mineral Resources Rent Tax (MRRT) - also known as the mining tax:

2011 we will be opposing this tax in opposition and we will be rescinding it in government should we get the chance

2012 What I can and must say is if we are elected we'll do the right thing by Australia and get rid of this bad tax

2013 We think that this is a bad tax

If one believes Tony Abbott’s media grabs, this super profits tax should be very unpopular with the Australian public.

However, the Essential Report for 4 March 2013 clearly shows that 50 per cent of those surveyed are in favour of retaining this tax and 29 per cent would like to see the tax amended so that it raised more money from the mining industry. Only 28 per cent thought the tax should be removed altogether.

Click on image to enlarge