Berejiklian continues Baird privatisation madness

The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 March 2017:

Serious concerns are being raised about the Berejiklian government's land titles registry sell-off, with multiple parties privy to the process claiming it is being rushed and the wrong model is being used.

One source in the data room says the auction of Land and Property Information (LPI) is going too fast and critical details are being missed, while another insider warns the public might be short-changed $3-4 billion.

The well-placed insider questioned why the government was treating LPI as an infrastructure asset when it was a data and technology one. 

"They're using a model that works for ports, toll roads and power stations, but LPI is completely different; it's a technology asset on the cusp of the biggest technological change in 150 years [moving from paper to electronic titles]," he said.

"They should be using the Telstra model and progressively privatising LPI, which will raise capital, create a commercial focus and fund the building of digital technology and services."

The government is leasing LPI for 35 years and hoping to reap $2 billion, which it plans to spend on rebuilding sports stadiums, despite protests from peak bodies for lawyers, developers and surveyors, that say the integrity of the state's world-class land titles system is at stake.

LPI, which enjoys a 70 per cent profit margin, generated $190 million in revenue in 2015-16. Fees for regulated products will rise by CPI each year.

"It's a bargain, and I believe they're under-selling it by $3-4 billion," the insider said.

He says there's confusion as to why the government was rushing the process, especially with an enviable balance sheet. This claim was backed by a potential buyer.

"There's a sense of urgency and it's very end-date driven," he said. "It's been more about getting this done and not about whether it's being done in the right way."

The source revealed there was a small group within government "hell bent" on privatising LPI. He added there was an "unhealthy influence" of the big infrastructure companies.

"There's an unholy alliance of consultants and advisers, all of whom are earning good fees, and there seems to be a pre-destined outcome," he said. "It's a privatisation feeding frenzy."…

Trump's border warriors conduct an internal investigation of ASIO chief

Australian Financial Review, 5 March 2017.

spare a thought for Nick Warner, the Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. You'd think being the top government spy of a staunch US ally – travelling on a diplomatic passport – would spare you the latex welcome, but no. Not even. Warner got the full treatment last month at LAX arrivals, transferring for meetings in the capital (including, you'd safely assume, at Langley, Virginia). Could you imagine the uproar in Washington if John Brennan or Meroe Park copped a solid frisking at Tullamarine? Yeah right – as if they'd even countenance the indignity of flying commercial!

Hey, we can all sleep soundly knowing that not even one of our most decorated public servants and security officials can accidentally pack his nail scissors as carry-on.

Apparently the gentleman was subject to a rectal and genital search as part of his welcome by Trump’s foot soldiers.

PHON and Pauline Hanson attempt a Trump

As West Australians vote on Saturday, keen attention will be on a woman who isn’t a candidate, knows little about local issues, and lives a continent away. She is Pauline Hanson and her week-long campaign on the ground in Western Australia has demonstrated why she has stood for election 10 times since 1998 — six federal polls, two in NSW, two in Queensland — with just one victory. It has been a chronicle of chaos. [News.com.au, 10 March 2017]

A minor political party riddled with conspiracy theorists, climate change deniers and other right-wing ratbags, cursed by bad candidate selection, suspect staffing decisions and erratic leadership, now makes yet another mistake – its leader alienates an entire national media platform by banning ABC journalists from its post-election event in Western Australia.

Apparently failing miserably as a de facto Liberal Party partner at the 11 March 2017 state general election was just not enough for Pauline Hanson and sidekick James Ashby. They decided to take a leaf out of Donald Trump’s crazy political playbook.

Response from the ABC has been restrained but firm.

Australian Broadcasting Commission, ABC media release, 14 March 2017:

Statement from ABC Editorial Director: exclusion of ABC journalists by One Nation officials

The ABC is deeply concerned at the decision by One Nation to single out and exclude ABC reporters from its official election night function in Perth on Saturday night.

I have been in communication with One Nation officials since early Sunday seeking an explanation.

Despite the fact that One Nation has claimed that all media were treated appropriately and obtained material from a pool camera on the night, the facts remain that:

*Other media representatives from a range of organisations attended on the night without any prior arrangements or permission being required.

*Those other media representatives, who included broadcasters, agencies and newspaper reporters from inside and outside Western Australia, were granted immediate access to the event.

*The ABC was denied access, and was treated differently to all other media.

Throughout the Western Australian election campaign, the ABC has provided accurate, impartial and independent political coverage and all political parties have been the subject of appropriate scrutiny and questioning.

If the ABC has been denied normal access to political events for simply doing its job, then that is an attack not just on the public broadcaster but on the fundamental role of the media in a democracy.

We will continue, as we always have, to report without fear or favour.

Alan Sunderland

ABC Editorial Director

ENDS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BACKGROUND - WA GENERAL ELECTION

On 14 March 2017 with 75.92% of Lower House ballot papers counted PHON only had 4.83% of the primary vote with no seat gained and with 67.66% of Upper House ballot papers counted PHON had only 7.95% of the primary vote with one seat gained to date.

Updates can be found at https://www.elections.wa.gov.au/elections/state/sgelection#/sg2017.

Is the NSW Dept. of Industry seeking to significantly expand the Port of Yamba?

This is the poster being distributed on behalf of the Berejiklian Government by the NSW Dept. of Industry – Lands, which is responsible for managing Crown lands in New South Wales.

The Department privately sought comment from other government agencies and industry sometime around September-October 2016, before it came north with a set agenda to conduct a brief workshop which it attempted to limit to a handful of local Clarence Valley commercial “stakeholders” in December 2016.

This is what was supposedly taken away from those private discussions and that workshop:

Yamba is a priority location under the NSW Freight and Ports Strategy, with the NSW Government’s desire to support efficiency, connectivity and growth of the freight transport network.

The Clarence River Way Master Plan developed by the Clarence Valley Council identifies the Council’s desire to promote Yamba as the gateway port to the Clarence.

To achieve this, the Masterplan outlines twelve actions that include the promotion and development of port facilities, maintaining the port as a deepwater anchorage and working port, developing the port for the mini cruise market, expanding the shipbuilding and repair facilities, and the inclusion of mixed use commercial and retail opportunities.

The NSW Government has recently funded and/or identified a number of priority projects including the pontoon at Ford Park, River Street, Yamba Bay boat ramp carpark improvements, the Hickey Island boat ramp carpark upgrade, access improvements for the Clarence River Canoe and Kayak Trail, location for sewage pump-out in the upper Clarence River and Yamba boating access improvements.

The Department of Industry - Lands are currently conducting works on the Clarence River southern breakwater, with works on the catwalks and revetment wall, as well as the Yamba access ways having been completed earlier in 2016.

Iluka is located on the NSW north coast along the Clarence River and is bounded by Queen Street and lluka Bay.

The Clarence River Way Master Plan developed by the Clarence Valley Council identifies Iluka as a river town that is a key tourism and service hub for the Clarence River with an upgrade to the public domain and setting the existing marina, and investigating opportunities for marina development deemed as important.

The NSW Government has recently funded and/or identified a number of priority projects, including the Crown Street Boat Ramp Jetty and the upgrade of the Spencer Street jetty.

Under the Coastal Infrastructure Program, the Department of Industry - Lands repaired the Clarence River Northern Breakwater. Additionally, there are works proposed for the finger jetties and refuelling jetty maintenance. [my highlighting]

Now it is asking for input from the community – presumably to gain some comment it can present as evidence that its entire agenda is supported locally.

This agenda misrepresents the Port of Yamba as "a priority location under the NSW Freight and Ports Strategy". It was only one of six ports and twenty-three coastal harbours included in that 236 page report published in 2013 and only rated a relatively brief mention.

It also misrepresents the 2009 Clarence River Way Master Plan which is heavily focussed on tourism expansion. The plan only allowing for limited expansion of existing industry.

Apart from a two sentence commitment to keep Yamba a "working port" with deepwater achorage it makes no mention of freight activity in any one of its 35 pages.

The former Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight certainly didn't view the port as urgently requiring a new strategic approach, however the new minister in this portfolio Nationals MP for Oxley Melinda Pavey may have a different perspective.

While eight of the nine current Clarence Valley councillors went to the the 2016 local government election stating that they were not in favour of a heavily industrialised mega port and so might in 2017 be reluctant to fully support the Department's future plans for the working port once these are revealed.

I suspect that Yamba has only come to the forefront after Liberal and Nationals politicians and public service mandarins in Farrer Place & Dangar began to look for regions outside of Sydney where an excuse might be created to convert Crown land into private title.

The current Dept. of Industry-Lands agenda includes what appears suspiciously like a fairly softly, softly approach to gain tacit community agreement for future industrialisation of the Clarence River estuary, including the sell-off, lease or transfer of vacant Crown lands for commercial development.

Additionally, the expansion of Goodwood Island port facilities - which was specifically excluded from the Department's workshop discussion - is apparently now on the table because the online survey canvasses opinion on port freight levels. 

This marches in step with the vested interests of a number of professional consultants, financial advisers, investment fund managers, property conveyancing law firms and property developers whose as representatives made appearances at the NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into Crown Land, with one Sydney-based group including a Yamba super port proposal in their wish list.

It is perhaps no accident that this current online consultation finishes early next month - the same month the Berejiklian Government is due to deliver its response to the parliamentary Crown lands inquiry report.

I note that on 8 September 2016 the Audit Office of New South Wales had this to say about the Dept. of Industry-Lands:

Decisions on sale and lease of Crown land are not transparent to the public and the Department has not provided consistent opportunities for the public and interested parties to participate in decisions about Crown land. Between 2012 and 2015, 97 per cent of leases and 50 per cent of sales were negotiated directly between the Department and an individual, without a public expression of interest process. The Department publishes limited information about decision-making processes, policies or plans for future sales and leases.

Proceed with caution if you participate in this online consultation, but do participate.

For the clean, green reputation of the Clarence Coast plays a large part in what attracts tourists to the Lower Clarence, helping keep local businesses open all year round and significantly contributing to our regional economy. 

It is also a healthy, minimally modified natural estuary environment which sustains the local commercial fishing fleet, places home-caught fish on our dinner plates and allows us such an enviable lifestyle. 

Remember, it has always been concerned local residents, community groups and traditional owners who have been at the forefront in protecting the environmental, aesthetic, cultural, social and sustainable economic values of the Clarence River and its estuary.

Comment and participation in the survey can be done at  yourportcrownland.engagementhq.com until 9 April 2017.

Liberal disunity on show in NSW

Echo NetDaily, 10 March 2017:

NSW Premier Gladys Berijiklian is without a parliamentary secretary after the shock resignation of Lennox Head-based Liberal MLC Catherine Cusack.

Divisions within the government are beginning to show, with the premier’s office on Thursday announcing it had accepted Ms Cusack’s resignation after an explosive email was leaked to the media.

The email, sent by Ms Cusack to the premier following a factional meeting on Wednesday night, strongly criticised the makeup of Ms Berejiklian’s new cabinet.

‘If the situation was not already offensive enough, if you ever say again you made these decisions “on merit”, I swear I will resign from the Liberal Party and join the cross bench’, Ms Cusack reportedly wrote.

She also took aim at Energy Minister Don Harwin, whose controversial promotion to cabinet has already ruffled feathers within the party.

ABC News, 10 March 2017:

Outspoken NSW Liberal MP Catherine Cusack has withdrawn her threats to move to the crossbench, but is standing by her criticism of Premier Gladys Berejiklian's Cabinet appointments.

Late on Wednesday night, Ms Cusack sent a furious email to Ms Berejiklian criticising her ministerial line-up, saying it was based on factions rather than merit.

"If you say one more time that the Cabinet is based on merit, I will resign from the Liberal Party," Ms Cusack wrote in the email.

The Upper House MP, who yesterday quit as parliamentary secretary, said she now regretted sending the damning email, calling it a huge error of judgement. But she said she stood by her comments about Don Harwin being selected as the state's new energy minister.

Ms Berejiklian suggested Ms Cusack's fiery email may be a case of sour grapes after being overlooked for a position on the Government's frontbench.

"I don't blame people for being disappointed for not being in Cabinet," she said.

"She is entitled to her opinion, but I don't support her views; all of my colleagues have my full support."

Social Housing Minister Pru Goward rejected Ms Cusack's suggestion that the Cabinet was selected based on factions rather than merit.

Dear Michaelia, About that young man......

In April 2016 an 18 year-old young man suffered a fatal injury while taking part in a Turnbull Government Work for the Dole program in Toowoomba ,Queensland.

He was cleaning up rubbish at the local showgrounds which is owned and operated by the Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland (RASQ).

According to New Matilda in May 2016: On the very same day the young man was killed – in a grim coincidence – a group of unionists, social workers, activists and unemployed workers met in Melbourne. The conference was organised by the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union, and heard testimony from people placed in Work for the Dole programs about the absence of proper safety measures on their sites. Little did they know that at the moment they were discussing these problems, the program claimed what may be its first fatality.

Work for the Dole Letter by BuzzFeedOz on Scribd

Cottoning on to Donald Trump's tweets

Graphic by @gibilisco

Excerpt from A Taxonomy of Trump Tweets interview with cognitive linguist George Lakoff, 13 January 2017:

BROOKE GLADSTONE:  Obviously, you don't think the media are handling these utterances very well. What do you suggest that we do?

GEORGE LAKOFF:  The media is addicted to breaking news, so we have to give the tweet first. That’s the breaking news. Wrong, because that allows him to manipulate you as a reporter and manipulate the truth.

BROOKE GLADSTONE:  So you're saying don't report on the tweet?

GEORGE LAKOFF:  You begin by telling the truth and giving the evidence for that truth, then mention his tweet, point out that that contradicts the truth and then talk about what kind of tweet this is. You know, you say, this is a case of diversion. Here’s what he is diverting, quickly. Don't have a panel discussion about it, you know, [LAUGHS] just do it and go on. Keep going back to substance and the truth.

Also, what is the effect of his tweeting on the truth? He’s trying to say, usually, that this truth is a general truth. And that’s another thing that I should add to this list of the things he does, is to take a specific case and say that it's the general case.

The Guardian, 7 March 2017:

President Donald Trump is the most powerful cornered animal in the world

For all his inconstancy of character, Donald Trump is a master manipulator. He rose to political prominence by slandering Barack Obama. He rode the birther myth as far as it would go – before brazenly jettisoning it with the insistence that it was all the handiwork of Hillary Clinton.

Now once again, he seeks to buoy his political fortunes by attacking Obama. Perhaps what is so striking about the tweets is not their desperation, but their cynicism. In exclaiming “This is McCarthyism!”, Trump said something deeply revealing – only about himself. McCarthyism was never in the first instance about wiretapping. It was about defaming public officials with charges of treason without a shred of evidence. Sounds familiar, no?

Equally revealing was Trump’s tweet: “I’d bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election!” As Trump well knows, a good lawyer can make a case out of anything.

In the 1970s, after the justice department accused the Trump Corporation of racially discriminatory rental policies, Trump hired Roy Cohn. This was a man who, as a young lawyer, had assisted Joseph McCarthy’s red-baiting. On Trump’s behalf, Cohn countersued the government for $100m, a tactic Trump absorbed and has practiced throughout his career: when on the defensive, attack.

Concerned about congressional investigations into contact between his campaign and the Russians? Make a groundless charge of wiretapping against Obama and insist that the allegations be included in the investigations.

Cohn’s countersuit did not prevail, nor will Trump’s charges against Obama stick. But that is not the point. The point is to distract attention away from real allegations by creating a chaos of conflicting claims. And in this regard the strategy is all too effective. If there is something extraordinary about Trump it is how low he is willing to go……

Since his inauguration a scant six weeks ago, Trump has defamed a great newspaper, a federal judge, and a former president. He has attacked whole institutions, pillars of American democracy. He appears willing to hold a great constitutional order hostage to his narcissism and political insecurities.

One wishes to echo the words of Joseph Welch who famously asked of Joe McCarthy: “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”