Labor Party voters some of the happiest consumers in Australia right now

"CONSUMER confidence has rebounded in December, a survey shows, with Australian Labor Party voters some of the happiest consumers in the nation.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index, released today, rose 1.8 per cent in December, reversing November's 4.2 per cent decline.
Not surprisingly, the biggest swings in sentiment was based on political affiliation.
Spurred by the party's return to Federal Government, sentiment among Labor voters soared 15.6 per cent in December.
Sentiment among coalition supporters dipped 16.2 per cent after it was condemned to the opposition benches on November 24.
The survey of 1400 people was conducted between December 5-9, following Labor's federal election victory and after the RBA left interest rates on hold."

News.com.au article today:

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,23636,22911727-31037,00.html

 

Have to admit there are a lot of people on the NSW North Coast who still cannot wipe a silly grin off their face. Even I, who haven't a penny to spare, threw another pack of bikkies into the supermarket trolley to celebrate!

On those UN Kyoto Protocol talks in Bali

Dennis Shanahan of The Australian is on the wrong track in trying to tar Kevin Rudd with the same attitude brush as John Howard when it comes to climate change.
Unlike previous Coalition governments this Labor federal government is not a climate change doubter, but it is between a rock and a hard place in Bali right now.
Due to the Howard decade of denial and lack of any real investigation into the domestic economic impacts of climate change mitigation; Rudd, Swan, Wong and Garrett are at the Bali talks knowing less about potential impacts than many other participating nations who have been part of the Kyoto Protocol process for years.
It may be prudent for Australia not to commit to interim targets before Garnault's investigations are completed mid-2008.
But is it wise to join with the US to insist that no interim or medium term target figures be included in the Bali declaration document?
Years of national inaction have a price and perhaps Australia should pay up and accept the wish of developing nations on the 20-40 per cent greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2020.
After all, this appears to be a combined developed nations target and doesn't bind any one country to individually achieve within this percentage range.
John Howard's blind prejudices will impact on us all for a longtime to come and it may be unfair that the Rudd Government is left to clear up his mess, but the world and Australia don't need more aspirational garbage on climate change - they both need firm target commitments now.
Forget the Liberals election taunts about being a Kyoto negotiations pushover and get on with it, Kevin!
See Shanahan in The Australian today:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22910380-17301,00.html
Michelle Grattan on Bali in The Age today:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/climate-watch/wong-not-one-to-wilt/2007/12/11/1197135463267.html

Jenny Macklin starts "Sorry" consultations

True to its word the Rudd Government has begun to progress its promise to say "Sorry".

New Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin will consult with indigenous community leaders about the wording for a formal apology to the Stolen Generation.

The Age article today:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/talks-on-apology-to-stolen-generation/2007/12/11/1197135463205.html

 

This apology is long overdue and it is good to see this election promise being kept by Federal Labor. It won't stop the depressingly high number of funerals for indigenous Australians who died an early death or redress inequality and the imbalance in opportunity, but hopefully it signals a change in government attitude to the needs and aspirations of indigenous people.

Aunty Della would have been pleased.

A red letter day for Australia

It was a red letter day yesterday when a red-haired female demonstrated to the world that Australia was all grown up.

Good on ya, Julia Gillard. You little ripper. Sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister last week and now for the next few days Acting-Prime Minister of Australia.

Roll over Barton.  

"Moggy Musings" (Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat)

Hi! My name is Boy. I'm a male bi-coloured tabby cat.
Ever since I discovered that Malcolm Turnbull's dogs were allowed to blog, I have been pestering clarencegirl to allow me a small space on North Coast Voices.
My first musing:
John Howard doesn't seem to have a companion animal in his household. No dog, no cat, no budgie - hmm.
Does he secretly give houseroom to a goldfish?
Idle musing:
Caught sight of Alexander Downer on the North Coast and all I could think of was his fishnet stockings. Just wanted to rub against those shapely legs.
Do you think this is just a cat thing?
Indignant musing:
Worst political insult on the Net, "Your cat votes Liberal! He told me."
I was most insulted until clarencgirl assured me that they were probably talking about Bored Cat over at Larvatus Prodeo.
Sympathetic musing:
I hear that Brendan Nelson's dogs Lucy and Snif are belly-to-the-ground with embarrassment after their Minister for Expensive Toys was criticised on the same day by both Media Watch for being gullible and Four Corners for being a prize dill. I say that these terriers are not responsible for their human.
Horrified musing:
I was shocked to find a FaceBook entry which said: "So many cats, so few recipes". Felines of the world unite against sick jokes!
Puzzled musing:
A neighbour cat told me that a dog she knew, who was told by a pooch who knew a mutt, said that a Nationals candidate on the North Coast was going to the November 24 election one step ahead of a scandal. Why am I the last to know?
Amused musing:
I just checked my moggy emails and found a bundle telling me that I had won the lottery in a number of countries. To the senders I say - I'm a cat, you ninnies. I may be able to click a mouse, but I walk on all fours and don't have a surname much less a bank account. Dogs may worry about bank balances or the state of their share portfolios, cats definitely do not!
To Rex the Alsatian - thanks for the inquisitive email.
Proud musing:
Charlie Slim, a 3 year-old Border Collie from Grafton won the Australian Working Dog Championships last week. Front paws all over the Clarence Valley pounded the ground in appreciation of this young dog's fine performance.
Concerned musing:
Kevin Rudd told Rove that the cat and dog attend family conferences at his house. Abby and Jasper - now's your chance to strike a blow for other pets' welfare. Tell Kevin that many pensioners who have dogs, cats or birds to keep isolation and loneliness at bay often have to do without in order to feed their companions or take them to the vet.
Troubled musing:
I'm definitely a very troubled puss. Pensioners have been emailing me about the cost of feeding their animals. A thankyou to J. for pointing out that finding landlords who will allow pets is also a problem for some on the North Coast.
Election Day Weather Warning for all dogs, cats, tweeties, ferrets, and other family pets:
Storm clouds, violent winds and electric atmospherics are expected in the vicinity of your humans tomorrow.
Strongly advise you to grab that squeaky toy, slipper, bone or blanket and hide under the bed until this weather passes.
Skies expected to clear by Sunday.

Email: catlives9@hotmail.com

 

Rodney Tiffen looks at the Murdoch media and those 2007 Clayton's editorial endorsements

While the likes of Pearson, Henderson, Windshuttle, Akerman, Milne, and Switzer turn themselves inside out searching for relevancy in the new Rudd Government era, Professor Rodney Tiffen looks back at the Murdoch media's close relationship with the former Howard Government.

 

"Two conclusions should not be lost sight of. Labor won this election without any help, and in the face of some hindrance, from News Limited, and so the government owes the company precisely zero. Second, the Murdoch press has exposed itself as being out of touch with public opinion, and with a more limited capacity to influence it than they might have imagined. Its senior ranks are so dominated by conservative ideologues that this colours all their views of politics. This long ago started to damage their professional credibility, but of more interest to their boss may be the fact that now it is also increasingly threatening their commercial performance."

Tiffen article in Australian Policy Online:
 http://www.apo.org.au/webboard/comment_results.chtml?filename_num=183199

A NSW Northern Coast view of Iemma's love affair with Monsanto and GM crops

With the NSW and Victorian governments announcing the lifting of state-wide bans on genetically modified crop seed planting, Australia now moves closer to becoming a client state of Monsanto and its transnational cronies.

Morris Iemma may expect people in this state to bend over and take it, when his government makes a unilateral decision to interfere with food purity and to limit consumer choice because cross-contamination of produce and product cannot be eliminated.

He may be somewhat surprised when all of us do not blindly follow his lead. 

Many on the NSW North Coast are highly suspicious of genetically modified organisms, which are largely untested with regard to human studies, and concerned about effects on plant biodiversity and virility.

Knowing the Iemma Government's lack of moral fibre, I have slowly been adapting my diet to eradicate all produce and products which are likely to currently contain traces of GMOs and likely in the future to contain a percentage of genetically modified material.

So nuts (forgive the pun) to you Mr. Iemma and any NSW farmer who is silly enough to follow your lead. I won't be eating your dodgy food.

The Northern Rivers Echo local views on GM crops last Thursday:

 http://www.echonews.com/index.php?page=View%20Article&article=19128&issue=304