Tuesday, 19 January 2016

Doogan Report recommends the Federal Coalition Government compensate nine Save the Children Australia workers for expulsion from its Nauru detention centre in 2014


On 26 June 2015 Adj. Prof. Christopher M. Doogan submitted a report, Review Of Recommendation Nine From The Moss Review, to the Abbott Government  which stated at pages 22 and 23:


Given the Moss Report was submitted to the Abbott Government on 6 February 2014, the subsequent Doogan Report was conducted and concluded in a relatively timely fashion.

However, public knowledge of the text this report did not surface until almost seven months later on Friday 17 January 2016 when it was released by government with no ministerial comment.

In effect, those nine Save the Children Australia workers were forced to wait the better part of fifteen months for final vindication.

Even then mainstream media reported that neither Save The Children Australia nor the nine expelled workers have received an apology from either the Abbott or Turnbull federal governments and, none presumably have received any form of compensation.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton and former immigration minister Treasurer Scott Morrison are acting churlishly by not following Recommendation 61 of the Doogan Report.

But what can one expect from a federal government heavily infested with right-wing ideologues, more intent on ensuring the continuation of their own lucrative parliamentary positions rather than in governing the nation effectively and fairly.

More signs Turnbull's political honeymoon is over?


Roy Morgan Research, 13 January 2016:

Roy Morgan Research’s Business Confidence declined by a further 4.2 points in December (down 3.5% to 114.5), following on from the November decline of 0.6 points (down 0.5%). The combined drop of 4.8 points (down 4.0%) over the last two months is a likely indication that the initial burst of confidence following Malcolm Turnbull becoming Prime Minister is beginning to “cool off”, although it still  remains  11.6% above the level prior to his appointment.

These December figures are the results of 1,001 interviews with a cross section of businesses across Australia.

The level of Business Confidence in December is still positive for the economy but the last two months have seen a decline which now puts it below the five-year average (116.9) and is a sign that confidence is very fragile.

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence finished the year on 115.4 (12-13th December), up marginally on the November average of 115.0; but early signs for January (9th and 10th) show that this has also slipped back to 114.1. With both surveys showing signs of weakening, it appears that the initial improvement in outlook among both consumers and businesses following the leadership change is being overtaken by adverse world and local economic events.

Five year graph from December 2010 to December 2015

The Australian, 13 January 2016:

A factional brawl within the Liberal Party risks engulfing Malcolm Turnbull in the lead-up to this year’s election, as his emboldened moderate faction prepares to challenge key supporters of Tony Abbott for preselection.

Right-aligned senator Con­cetta Fierravanti-Wells and Craig Kelly, MP for the Sydney seat of Hughes, are almost certain to face challenges from the moderate faction of the party, while fellow ­Abbott supporter and conser­vative rising star Angus Taylor is also at “serious risk” of losing his seat if moderate convert Russell Matheson launches a challenge.

The factional posturing is also expected to see challenges against Bronwyn Bishop in Mackellar, Philip Ruddock in Berowra and Ann Sudmalis in Gilmore, while veteran senator Bill Heffernan is under pressure to retire and make way for the party’s country vice-president, Hollie Hughes.

With at least half a dozen sitting members facing preselection challenges when nominations open next week, Liberal sources have told The Australian the Prime Minister may need to intervene to prevent a factional blow-up in his home state of NSW…..

The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 January 2016:

Last week, factional battles erupted inside the party as the powerful moderate camp, inspired by the ascension of Mr Turnbull, have moved to unseat conservative MPs.
Angus Taylor, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Bronwyn Bishop, John Alexander and Craig Kelly have all been mentioned as vulnerable incumbents.
Senator Abetz said that this culture cost them the 2010 election, in which the Coalition fell only two seats short of forming government.

The Australian, 18 January 2016:

Forget the weekend storm in a teacup about Malcolm Turnbull attending the Mardi Gras as the Prime Minister, not just the local MP. The event really causing agitation on the Right side of Liberal ranks involves Lucy Turnbull.
She’s planning to have an in-depth conversation “on leadership, cities, communities and social innovation” with the impressively credentialed Melody Barnes, director of the White House domestic policy council and assistant to President Barack Obama between 2009 and 2012 and, earlier, chief counsel to senator Edward M Kennedy, as well as a director of legislative affairs for the US Equal Opportunity Commission. Barnes’s political affiliations have caused some eyebrows to rise. But what’s sparked simmering anger in conservative circles is the host for the event, the decidedly Labor-leaning think-tank Per Capita, founded by dotcom multi-millionaire and former Victorian Labor MP Evan Thornley from a blueprint drawn up by sometime Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan speechwriter Dennis Glover.

So what's happening with the Fair Work Commission's penalty rate review?


By December 2015 the Fair Work Commission’s penalty rates review had generated five days of transcripts and received a large number of submissions from employer groups, unions representing employees and one federal Labor MP, Melissa Price.

This last hearing date in the penalty rates case is scheduled for 15 April 2016.

There will be a good many households in rural and regional Australia where those with paid employment receive penalty rates for working long and/or unsociable hours.

As the two industry groups being targeted are significant employers outside metropolitan areas, perhaps those living in the NSW Northern Rivers region should all be closely watching the Commission at work and the degree to which its final determinations align with the data to which it has access.

The Fair Work Commission in its Changing work patterns report has this to say in December 2015:

5 Conclusion

This report presented data on changes in the labour market, types of work arrangements and preferences, and how people spend their time outside of work.
The analysis showed that the Australian labour market has changed over the last 25 years.
Although the participation rate for males has fallen over time, it has increased for females, while the decline in male full-time employment has been offset by an increase in part-time employment.
Further, employment in the services industries has increased, along with the proportion of Professionals and Community and personal services workers.
Data from the ABS showed that most employed persons worked Monday to Friday, and five days was the most common number of days worked in all jobs per week, with almost one in three employees usually working weekends.
Focusing on the nature of weekend work, data from the HILDA survey also showed that around one in three employed persons usually worked weekends.
Employed persons who usually worked weekends were more likely to have their working days vary and work a rotating shift or irregular schedule.
They were also more likely to work part-time hours, be employed on a casual basis, prefer to work more hours and be currently enrolled in a course of study for a trade certificate, diploma, degree or other education qualification.
Around one in three employed persons who usually worked weekends were employed in Retail trade or Accommodation and food services.
Employed persons in these industries were more likely to prefer working more hours, taking into account how it would affect income. Data on activities outside of work showed that the total number of minutes per day spent on free time activities decreased between 1997 and 2006 and that almost half of those surveyed never attend religious services.

According to the Fair Work Commission as at June 2014 nationally there were 13,212 accommodation businesses, 35,457 cafes and restaurants, 3,583 catering services, 6,067 pubs, taverns and bars, 2,908 hospitality clubs and 24,035 takeaway food services.

The Fair Work Commission also produced an Industry profile— Accommodation and food services in December 2015:

Data for June to November 2015 show that the industry accounted for: over $80 billion of sales and 2.6 per cent of value added to the economy; 7 per cent of employment, almost 6 per cent of actual hours worked per week in all jobs and over 4 per cent of wages;  around 4 per cent of all businesses and 17 per cent of all award-reliant employees; around 1 per cent of investment;  around 16 per cent of total underemployment; and around $6.6 billion in company gross operating profit……

Over half of enterprises in Accommodation and food services used shift work arrangements compared with less than one quarter across all industries. The most common shift work arrangements among enterprises in Accommodation and food services were evening and night shifts, short shifts of four hours or less, afternoon shifts and eight-hour shifts.

When the data is broken down: (i) 10.7 per cent of these businesses open on one or both days on a weekend; and (ii) 44.5 per cent of all businesses supplying accommodation and food services are found in rural and regional Australia.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) business profitability tables show that; in the September Quarter 2012 seasonally adjusted total accommodation & food service industry profit-before-tax was $966 million ($1.2 billion in December Quarter 2012), in the same quarter in 2013 it was $844 million ($744 million in December 2013), in September Quarter 2014 it was $1.1 billion ($1.1 billion in December Quarter 2014 ) and, by September Quarter 2015 total profit was still holding at $1.1 billion.

The Fair Work Commission states as at June 2014 there were 130,000 businesses in the retail trade. The highest individual sector percentage of these was clothing retailers at 8.4 per cent, super markets/grocery stores at 7.3 per cent, other specialized food retailing at 4.2 per cent and, electrical/electronic/gas appliance retailing at 3.6 per cent.

The Fair Work Commission published an Industry profile— Retail trade in December 2015:

The highest proportion of enterprises in Retail trade operated seven days a week, followed by weekdays and Saturday, while across all industries, the highest proportion of enterprises operated weekdays only…..

A lower proportion of enterprises in Retail trade used shift work arrangements compared with all industries. The most common shift work arrangements used in both enterprises in Retail trade and across all industries were set rosters and eight-hour shifts.

When it comes to retail businesses: (i) 39.9 per cent operate on one or both days on a weekend; and (ii) 43.6 per cent of are located in rural and regional Australia.

According to the latest available ABS statistical data relating to business profitability; in the September Quarter 2012 seasonally adjusted total retail industry profit-before-tax was $3.2 billion, in the same quarter in 2013 it was $3.3 billion, in September Quarter 2014 it was $3.8 billion and, by September Quarter 2015 these profits had risen to $3.8 billion. 

Monday, 18 January 2016

Australian Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull's NBN Broadband: Noely tells it like it is


Excerpt from My Broadband v Reality, Punters don’t know any better and that is just the way PM Turnbull likes it, 14 January 2016…….

For those of you who think the NBN has nothing to do with you, think about these scenarios:

How will you feel in years to come when your investment property is not valued as highly as similar properties in the neighbourhood just because punters finally wised up to the fact that they need to rent/buy a property that had fast, stable internet access and sadly due to circumstances beyond your control, you got the Thunderbox version of the NBN instead of the Indoor Throne like the other homes - there goes the extra for your pension?

How will you feel watching your child wait in emergency at the rural hospital for the specialist in the closest capital city to look at the scans and advise the local doctors what to do? Waiting, waiting, waiting... Not because the specialist is not around, but because the scans have failed to send over the line a few times because the weather is really bad? I have been in this scenario and don’t wish it upon any parent, ever!

How will you feel watching your oldest child stress over their final assignment drafts they are trying to email their teacher, that has to be received by said teacher by that particular date or they will lose points on the assignment, but, gee, the net is playing silly buggers and email with attachment (ie the assignment) keeps stalling? It’s only your child’s future at stake?

Your second child has just turned two and you really want to get back into the workforce (and your mortgage needs it), of course jobs are scarce, so you decide, well, Government is offering initiatives to set up home-based business, I’ll do that. Just a bit of a bugger that you didn’t realise you would need decent internet speeds & bandwidth to even access those fancy Government sites telling you of incentives; communicating with your clients online; doing your BAS & tax, the list goes on... Of course when you hit up your provider for better access, they tell you that it will either cost you a squillion – which makes your home business untenable – or sorry lady, just bad luck you live in an area that hasn’t been upgraded, yet, and well, ummm sorry, we don’t have you on our future plan at the moment either, maybe in a few years we can help you?

There are many scenarios like the above, they are real life results of the NBN being decimated. Next time you hear someone say something along the lines of “Who cares about internet access, just so a few youngsters can stream movies”, tell them NO and give them a REAL life scenario to ponder.

Lawrence James "Larry" Anthony : A memory jog for voters in the NSW Northern Rivers federal electorate of Richmond


Now that it appears former Howard Government minister and Nationals MP Larry Anthony may be contemplating a return to politics perhaps it is also time to recall a little of his history.......
Lawrence James “Larry” Anthony 
(aged 54 years)
Professional company director

Photograph from The Guardian 13 September 2015

* Jackeroo between 1979-80.
* Small business and industrial advocate adviser, Sydney Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in 1984-85.
* Stockbroker and investment banker, Potter Warburg and Merrill Lynch, in 1985-91 and 1993-96.
* Manager and director of the Northern Rivers Railroad Company in 1991-93. The company set up by himself, his father and business partners operated a passenger service as well as freighting cement powder and fly ash from Grafton to Casino and Murwillumbah NSW under sub-contract.

* Anthony and partners sold the Northern Rivers Railroad Company to Queensland Rail  in 2002 and all local passenger trains ceased on the Murwillumbah line. This line is was eventually closed by NSW Rail on 16.05.04.

* Federal Member for Richmond NSW of Parliament 1996-2004:
Parliamentary Secretary (Trade) from 21.10.98 to 20.7.99.
Minister for Community Services from 20.7.99 to 26.11.01.
Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from 26.11.01 to 26.10.04.


* Director of Indue Ltd from 17.02.05 and Deputy Chairman from 18.07.08. Retired sometime in the 2012-13 financial year.

* Registered Larry Anthony & Associates Pty Ltd on 09.03.05.

* Non-executive director of Creditlink, a Brisbane-based credit union bank, from March 2005.

* Became a director of Australia’s largest childcare company, ABC Learning Centres Limited, in 2005. Reported to have received annual director’s fee of $65,000 and was paid more than $235,000 to lobby governments on its behalf.  Was a member of ABC Learning's audit committee in 2007. The company went into receivership on 11.11 08 owing an est. $1.6 billion to debtors. The receiver finally wound the company up in 2015.

* Chairman technology company uniDap Solutions Pty Ltd  and a director of CertainEdge Pty Ltd (dates unknown) .

*Non-executive director of Macquarie Media Management (unknown start date). Retired in 2008.

* Moved to Queensland about 2008.

* Decided not to stand at the 2007 federal election.

* Decided not to run at the 2010 federal election giving this explanation:
Anthony said his reason for not wanting to stand was the same one he had when he decided against running in 2007.
"In politics you are a rooster one day and a feather duster the next. It can be pretty ephemeral.
"When I'm on my death bed it will be my children by my bedside, not the people who voted for me."

* Stood for federal presidency of the National Party of Australia in 2010 and was defeated.

* Decided not to stand at the 2013 federal election.

* One of the company spokespeople in SAS Consulting Group’s YouTube Inside Word presentations since August  2014.

* Chair of the ADC Northern Development Summit held in Townsville, Queensland in September 2014. Summit organised by the ADC Forum, a not-for-profit leadership group. 

* Part-owner and director of lobbyist company SAS Consulting Group Pty Ltd along with Jennifer Anne Anthony ATF Anthony Family Trust and others.  Entered in NSW Register of Third Party Lobbyists from 01.10.15 to date and on the Australian Government Register of Lobbyists (start date unknown).
Clients include:
SEQ Catchments - natural resource management organisation
Indue Ltd - financial payment products and settlement services
ERM Power – operates electricity sales and electricity generation businesses
China Telecom Global Limited – multinational communications corporation
Wanda Ridong (Gold Coast) Development Pty Ltd - Chinese Development & entertainment company
Shenhua Watermark (Shenhua Watermark Coal Pty Limited) – multinational mining company based in China holding state and federal approval to develop an est. $1.2 billion coal mine on the Liverpool Plains in north-west NSW. On 16.10.12 and 15.04.13 Anthony met with NSW Dept. of Planning as a representative of Shenhua.


* Federal President of the National Party of Australia from 13.09.15 to date.

* January 2016 rumours begin in media that Larry Anthony will be seeking preselection as Nationals candidate in the Richmond electorate at this year’s federal election. The seat is currently held by Labor’s Justine Elliot.

Sunday, 17 January 2016

Conservative ideologues, bankers and employers determined to have their way on wages, unions & industry not-for-profit super funds


Australian unions, the successful not-for-profit super funds they administer and enterprise agreements are all well and truly in the firing line as Australia enters the 2016 election year.

The Australian, 11 January 2016:

A new clash is looming over rules that can ban millions of workers from choosing their own retirement fund as the government tries to increase choice in the $2 trillion superannuation industry.
Despite fears it will be accused of running an “ideological” campaign against funds that are backed by unions, the Coalition will move to scrap a key part of the industrial relations regime that gives unions and employers the right to limit fund choice for up to 4.7 million workers.
The push sets up a new fight in the Senate after parliament resumes within weeks, but armed with a warning from trade union royal commissioner Dyson Heydon against the “tyranny of the majority” being allowed to dictate where workers put their retirement savings, the government will insist that the choice of fund cannot remain a bargaining chip in workplace deals.
Assistant Treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer will make the issue one of four major changes to the superannuation sector this year in a reform plan that appears certain to deepen the divisions in the fund ­industry while sparking renewed objections from Labor.
Ms O’Dwyer told The Aus­tralian a government analysis indicated that 26 per cent of enterprise bargaining agreements gave workers no choice of super fund and another 5 per cent allowed only limited choice. “We think that everyone should have a choice about where their money goes — after all, it’s their superannuation, it’s their retirement,” she said. “That money should be provided to a fund of their choice.”
At stake is control of tens of billions of dollars that flow into super funds every year from employee pay packets under terms negoti­ated by unions and employers in more than 20,000 enterprise agreements that cover 40 per cent of the nation’s workforce.
The move opens a new front in attempts to overhaul the wider super system after Ms O’Dwyer last month failed to persuade crossbench sen­ators to legislate governance changes that would require all funds to appoint independent directors.
Labor and the unions have claimed the Coalition is seeking to undermine the not-for-profit industry funds set up by employer groups and unions decades ago, and which often have the advantage of being named in EBAs or as the “default” option in industrial awards……

Excerpts from Prime Minster Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, Attorney-General George Brandis and Minister for Employment Michaelia Cash, Joint Media Release - Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption Final Report, 30 December 2015:

Today the Government announces that it will re-introduce legislation to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission in the first sitting week of 2016 and will seek to have it passed by both chambers before the end of March…..

The Government will therefore introduce additional legislation to further strengthen the Registered Organisation Commission [previously rejected by the Senate].

Taskforce Heracles - the existing Federal and State Police Taskforce attached to the Royal Commission - will be funded to continue its work investigating referrals [from the Royal Commission into Union Governance & Corruption].

Seven News, 27 December 2015:

Business groups say a cut to Sunday penalty rates is now inevitable despite a potential backlash at the next federal election.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 December 2015:

National Pharmacies is attempting to cut pharmacists' penalty rates by as much as 50 per cent for certain hours on Saturday shifts. Double-time Sunday rates would remain in place.
The company also wants to lower overtime pay, freeze the wages of existing pharmacists and introduce a two-tiered pay scheme that would slash the wages of new employees, according to the union.
The union, Professional Pharmacists Australia, estimates the proposed cuts could trim new pharmacists' pay cheques by up to $10,000 a year…..
"The company is disappointed that enterprise agreement negotiations have failed to reach agreement,….

Liberal Party member & IPA Deputy Executive Director James Paterson appearing on Sky News on18 December 2015:

https://youtu.be/pjllmNzGoVU

As to be expected, far-right Institute of Public Affairs' propaganda deliberately forgets to mention that 87.6 per cent of public servants have a base salary which is less than $80k, as well as failing to mention that almost half of all public servants receive an employer superannuation contribution below the 15.4 per cent quoted by Paterson. See Australian Public Service Commission's 2014 remuneration survey.

Natural Gas & Coal Seam Gas: A lesson in consequences for Australian federal and state governments


When gas mining went wrong on a large scale in America..........

LA Times, 6 January 2016:

Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday ordered new regulations, including stepped-up inspections and safety measures, for all natural gas storage facilities in California in response to the continuing leak that has displaced thousands of people in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The emergency regulations would require Southern California Gas Co. and other operators of gas storage facilities to conduct daily inspections of wellheads using infrared leak-detection technology, verify the mechanical integrity of wells, measure gas flow and pressure and regularly test safety valves, among other steps.

Each facility would also have to draft a risk management plan that would examine the corrosion potential of pipes and other safety threats.

The requirements are part of a series of orders issued by Brown as he declared a state of emergency stemming from a leaking well at SoCal Gas' storage facility in Aliso Canyon. For more than 10 weeks a damaged well has released large amounts of planet-warming methane and emitted sulfur-like odors that have sickened residents with nosebleeds, headaches and other symptoms.

Brown's action came after weeks of demands by residents, activists and local officials for the governor to intervene. In the proclamation, Brown cited the “prolonged and continuing duration of this natural gas leak and the request by residents and local officials for a declaration of emergency.”

The governor ordered state agencies to “utilize all necessary state personnel, equipment, and facilities to ensure a continuous and thorough response to this incident.” Unlike with most emergency proclamations, however, he did not suspend state laws, cut red tape or commit more resources or public funds to address the leak.

Brown contends that SoCal Gas should bear all related expenses from the leak. He tasked the California Public Utilities Commission with ensuring that the gas company “cover costs related to the natural gas leak and its response, while protecting ratepayers.”

Evan Westrup, a governor's spokesman, noted that the proclamation does allow the governor to waive state laws if necessary in the future.

The new regulations will apply to a dozen natural gas storage fields across nine counties, according to the state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, which will issue the new rules.



When gas mining went wrong on a large scale in Australia……

ABC News, 10 August 2015:

A study commissioned by Queensland's environment department says an experimental plant operated by mining company Linc Energy at Chinchilla, west of Brisbane, is to blame and has already caused "irreversible" damage to strategic cropping land.
The department, which has launched a $6.5 million criminal prosecution of the company, alleges Linc is responsible for "gross interference" to the health and wellbeing of former workers at the plant as well as "serious environmental harm".
The 335-page experts' report, obtained by the ABC, has been disclosed to Linc but not to landholders.
It says gases released by Linc's activities at its underground coal gasification plant at Hopeland have caused the permanent acidification of the soil near the site.
Experts also found concentrations of hydrogen in the soil at explosive levels and abnormal amounts of methane, which they say is being artificially generated underground, over a wide area.
Other documents, released to the ABC by the magistrate in charge of the criminal case, show four departmental investigators were hospitalised with suspected gas poisoning during soil testing at the site in March.
"My nausea lasted for several hours. I was also informed by the treating doctor that my blood tests showed elevated carbon monoxide levels (above what was normal)," one of the investigators said.
High levels of cancer-causing benzene were detected at the site afterwards.
Earlier this year the State Government imposed an "excavation exclusion zone" on 314 square kilometres around the Linc facility where landholders are banned from digging any hole deeper than two metres.

ABC News, 10 June 2015:
The Queensland Government has widened its legal action against resources company Linc Energy over the alleged contamination of the environment by its underground gas plant on the Darling Downs in the state's south-east.
The Government has today filed a fifth charge of wilfully and unlawfully causing serious environmental harm against the company.
An investigation — the largest and most protracted in the history of the Queensland Environment Department — has found that Linc Energy's Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) plant at Hopeland caused irreversible damage "to more than one environmental receptor [which includes the atmosphere, vegetation, water and soil]".
UCG is a so-called "unconventional" means of extracting gas from coal seams that are too deep to mine.
Coal is burned in situ underground and the gas produced is siphoned off through wells.
The ABC has been told that external experts contracted by the department found "scientific evidence of [the plant's] operation above hydrostatic pressure, fracturing the landform, and excursion of contaminants"……
Queensland's Environment Minister Steven Miles is travelling to the western Darling Downs to meet with affected landholders and to explain what the latest charge means.
"This is probably the biggest investigation of its kind in Australian history, we've had upwards of 100 technical officers in Chinchilla monitoring sites and measuring this pollution, it's a very serious matter," he said.
"Our next biggest concern is the impact that this pollution could have on the livelihoods and on the wellbeing of the landholders in the area nearby Linc…..

Chief Executive Administering the Environmental Protection Act 1994 & Anor v Linc Energy Ltd [2015] QCA 197 (16 October 2015) [24%]
(From Supreme Court of Queensland - Court of Appeal; 16 October 2015; 74 KB)