Australia Take A Bow: SPC baked beans 'n' spaghetti for hungry little human bea-ns will live on

Emma Watkins        ✔ @Emma_Wiggle

Gucci & I are supporting SPC! Buy SPC, &

#SPCsunday @TheWiggles @Anthony_Wiggle 

@Lachy_Wiggle @Simon_Wiggle

9:53 AM - 9 Feb 2014

Joyously supporting Australian farmers and cannery workers.........

Stock and Land 10 February 2014:

CAN-OPENERS clinked into action en masse over the weekend as Australians voted with their feet in support of struggling food processor SPC Ardmona.

'SPC Sunday' echoed throughout the twittersphere and into the Nation's zeitgeist thanks to a conscientious Newcastle consumer Linda Drummond, who tweeted the idea of SPC Sunday to a friend on Thursday night.

The idea quickly snowballed on social media and was trending on Twitter in Melbourne by Friday afternoon.

According to SPCA, sales of their signature products skyrocketed by 50 per cent in major supermarkets over the past week; however the significance of the campaign has not yet been measured.

Photos of Victorian premier Denis Napthine, SPCA Managing Director Peter Kelly and Shepparton mayor Jenny Houlihan were among those posted on social media eating SPC products in support of the company.

"The Shepparton community and our workers have been overwhelmed by this amazing support and have expressed their heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been involved," Mr Kelly said.

"It means a lot to everyone at SPC who are all working so hard to turn things around."....

There are over 7 million households across Australia. If every household brought just one SPC Ardmona product per fortnight - that's more than 182 million product sales to boost the Shepparton cannery’s bottom line annually.

Yesterday the Victorian Government took note of this Aussie social media groundswell and dug deep to come up with a $22 million co-investment grant for SPC Ardmona.*

Well done everyone. Go out this weekend and buy more SPC fruit, beans and sauces to celebrate!

* As for Prime Minister Abbott saying that the news that SPC Ardmona has been rescued by a $22m injection from the Victorian state government proves it did not need a handout from the commonwealth - it proves nothing of the sort. What the renewed commitment of the board of Coca Cola Amatil to Shepparton and the Goulburn Valley proves is that the company responded positively to community support and determined to soldier on.

Kevin Hogan MP is fooling himself, not the electorate

Nationals MP for Page Kevin Hogan appears to be having a bet each way when it comes to the subject of coal seam gas (CSG).

Last year when he wanted to be elected to the Federal Parliament he expressed his concerns about the gas industry and he even went to a rally as the local member in November 2013.

For most of 2014 he had nothing to say publicly about coal seam gas exploration and mining in his electorate and is said to be 'ducking and diving' when approached by the media.

However, he has apparently been sending out emails to some Northern Rivers voters, reminding them of a YouTube clip he has re-labelled the Kevin Hogan Kyogle Rally.

It doesn't count, Kevin, unless you stand up very publicly and push your local communities' interests all through this year on the floor of the House, in party meetings and in the media. 

A private email is a bit like hissing a furtive Pssst! from behind the door.

Hogan is such a craven political coward that he is waiting until after the federal taskforce (which is intending to put pressure on Northern Rivers communities to accept the gas industry) is actually on its way north before he makes his 'gesture' in support of his electorate.

Rural Weekly 10 February 2014:

PAGE MP Kevin Hogan said he is waiting for the announcement of the federal government's CSG taskforce before commenting further on it.

"When the taskforce is formally announced I will use it as an opportunity to express the strong concerns the Page community and I have about coal seam gas in the electorate," he said.

Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane acknowledged last week that he is working on the make-up and role of a taskforce to speed up coal seam gas development projects in New South Wales, despite the fact it is a state government responsibility.

Again Kevin, you are fooling no-one but yourself. Pathetic. An effective local MP would have stopped this taskforce in its tracks before now.

It's not just Twitter noticing Margie's absence from Abbott's side

Will the Prime Minister's wife, Margie Abbott, ever open a Canberra fete or fair? The Abbotts are only fleetingly at The Lodge and don't seem to be a very Canberran couple, do they?

[The Canberra Times,29 January 2014]

The fire that is consuming Australia

The fire next time now.....

Nowhere is the problem of wildfire as pollution more graphically illustrated than in these photographs of coal and coal dust burning at GDF SUEZ Energy International's Hazelwood open-cut coal mine in the La Trobe Valley, Victoria.

"When it gets there it can be very hard to stop," The CFA's James Todd told Ross and John. "It burns a bit like peat burns."

Asthmatics, the very young and the frail aged living within the path of this mine's smoke will be at increased risk.

Increased greenhouse gas emissions are going to be coming off the surface of this open-cut mine long after the fire front has passed.

* Photographs found at 3AW radio and Twitter.

Ballot count numbers as Glasson finally concedes he lost the 2014 Griffith By-election

Two-time loser Bill Glasson concedes defeat on 11 February 2014:

“I congratulate Ms Butler on her victory, and wish her well as she takes on the responsibility of representing the people of Griffith in Federal Parliament,” Dr Glasson said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.

“I would also like to thank my community for their patience and all their support during last year’s general election and the byelection.

“I have been campaigning nearly full time for the past 14 months and have enjoyed every minute of it. It has been a privilege being able to speak to so many people in my community during that time.

“I have now returned to my medical practice and will continue working with disadvantaged people in remote Queensland and overseas.”

Australian Electoral Commission Griffith by-election ballot count on Tuesday, 11 February 2014 at 06:15:10 PM.

Click on image to enlarge

Tony's best friend increased her wealth by a reported $804 million in 2013

News.com.au 30 January 2014:

The who's who of Aussie wealth (in 2013)

Gina Rinehart (mining), $20.3 billion

Anthony Pratt (manufacturing), $8 billion

James Packer (gaming), $7.58 billion

Ivan Glasenberg (mining), $7.2 billion

Andrew Forrest (mining), $5.74 billion

Frank Lowy (shopping centres), $5.3 billion

Harry Triguboff (property) $4.9 billion

John Gandel (shopping centres), $3.7 billion

Paul Ramsay (health care), $3.5 billion

Kerr Neilson (investment), $3.33 billion

Lindsay Fox (transport) $2.5 billion

Kerry Stokes (media/mining) $1.8 billion

Gerry Harvey (retail) $1.4 billion

Solomon Lew (retail) $1.2 billion

Robert Ingham (agribusiness) $1.11 billion

Clive Palmer (mining) $631.8 million

*Source: Forbes Asia; all figures converted to $A

 * My red bolding

Australian Electoral Commission 2012-13 financial year annual returns by political parties, donors and others

The Australian Electoral Commission’s has released the 2012-13 financial year annual returns by political parties, donors and peak industry bodies/unions/political lobbyists.

Some interesting snippets.....

Universities Australia spent $4.75 million on opinion polling and broadcasting, printing, production, publication or distribution of political comment.

GetUp! spent $3.03 million on opinion polling and broadcasting, printing, production, publication or distribution of political comment

Phillip Morris Ltd spent $30,382 on public expression of views on a political party, candidate in an election or member of the Federal Parliament by any means and a further $19,359 on opinion polling and broadcasting, printing, production, publication or distribution of political comment. This company also donated $82,040 to the Liberal Party and $25,000 to the National Party.

Roslyn Packer (widow of Clive Packer) donated $580,400 to the Liberal Party, with the bulk of this money going to the Liberal Party national body and only $400 going to the NSW division. However, the national body only appears to have recorded a donation of $570,000. This would leave a discrepancy of $10,000 between these annual returns.

Lachlan Murdoch donated $22,000 to the Liberal Party.

Gina Rinehart through Hancock Coal Pty Ltd donated $44,880 to the National Party and $55,000 to the Labor Party. While Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd donated $55,000 to the National Party and $8,250 to the Liberal National Party of Queensland. The national body also listed under "Other" an additional $22,000 received from Hancock Coal Pty Ltd (GVK).

International Motors Pty Ltd of Coleshill U.K. donated $76,000 to the Liberal Party of Australia and Impellam Group PLC of Luton U.K. has a little over $12,000 listed under "Other" by the party.

The Sydney Small Business Club (The Warringah Club) - Tony Abbott’s support group – declared $14,000 in gross cash/non-cash benefits received.

.

Associated entities submitting annual returns totalled 185.

Donors declaring numbered 787.

According to The Age on 3 January 2014; the Liberal Party's total revenue was $73.1 million last financial year, compared with $54.7 million for Labor. The Nationals further bolstered the Coalition's haul with $8.3 million. The Greens recorded $8.1 million in revenue.

The Sydney Morning Herald on 5 February 2014 reported; New Liberal MP Angus Taylor has been described as an asset to his party. News reports after his pre-selection for a country NSW seat in 2012 described the then candidate as ''smart'' and ''charming''. Financial disclosure documents reveal Mr Taylor is also an uncommonly valuable – perhaps uniquely valuable – financial asset to his party. The Liberal Party's annual dump of political revenue and donations, records a man named Angus Taylor, at an address in Sydney's Woollahra, who gave the Liberals $155,000 in five separate tranches in 2012-13. A call to Mr Taylor's office revealed the generous giver was the same man. The Woollahra address was an investment property, Mr Taylor said, adding that he had lived in his electorate, near Goulburn, and had been there for a long time. Mr Taylor, who won the safe Coalition seat of Hume at the September election by a margin of 11.5 per cent, concedes much of what he contributed to the party went towards his campaign including a car and petrol to get around the electorate, which is one of the largest in the country....