It seems that Japan's whalers would even risk appearing ridiculous rather than accept a copy of the Federal Court judgment against them.
Surely, after similar antics when they were formally notified of the International Humane Society's application to the Court, they must realise that they will be considered to have been informed in this instance also.
"Conservation group Humane Society International has hand-delivered last week's
Australian Federal Court order to a Japanese whaling company in Tokyo.
The judgement demands it abandon its whale hunt in Australian waters.
As well as faxing and posting a copy of the Federal Court order, today Nicola
Beynon from the society hand-delivered the document to the head office of the
Japanese whaling company in Tokyo.
"They refused to accept them from us, they said they were aware of the orders
but they weren't accepting them and they handed the package back to us," she said.
"We had to leave the package at their feet and quickly leave the building so they
couldn't throw the package after us, but they told us they would throw the package
away after we had left, which demonstrates their disrespect for Australian law."
ABC News report yesterday:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/23/2144854.htm?section=australia
Thursday 24 January 2008
Jesuits worried that Howard mandarins are capturing new Labor ministers
Last Monday Eureka Street.com.au, an online publication of Jesuit Communications Australia, was airing concerns that Immigration Minister Chris Evans is presenting a "worrying picture of a new minister out of his depth on the sensitive people-smuggling disruption issue, and at risk of policy capture by his department whose present secretary, Andrew Metcalfe, was himself the First Assistant Secretary, Border Control and Compliance Division, in 2000-2001."
The Jesuits apparently fear that John Howard's policy on refugees will continue and so gave space to author Tony Kevin on the issue.
Labor ministers captured? As far as I can tell, most are being led though the nose like Murphy's bull at present and their staffers are not faring much better.
The article is interesting enough for me to do one of my rare links.
Telstra rather sensitive about its Next G
My post on this blog and a letter to the editor regarding problems with CDMA and Next G mobile coverage must have hit a nerve with Telstra.
Yesterday I was telephoned by a rather nice man from this telecommunications company seeking to find out what the problem was.
This was passing strange, as mobile coverage in the Lower Clarence has been patchy for years.
Blaming handsets for problems with Next G network is rather disingenuous though, as in the instances I referred to these were calibrated by Telstra endorsed personnel.
Still he did promise to send someone out to check the local relay station, even if nothing can be done about its bad siting.
Wednesday 23 January 2008
Greenpeace soldiers on in the face of Japan's intransigence
"The Japanese government said Monday that its state-sponsored whaling fleet had stopped hunting after 10 days of harassment by the environmental activist groups Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary near Australia."
Forbes report yesterday:
http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/22/japan-greenpeace-whaling-face-markets-cx_jc_0122autofacescan01.html
"The Greenpeace boat, the Esperanza, has attempted to block the Japanese whaling fleet from refuelling in Antarctic waters.
The fleet's factory ship, the Nisshin Maru, was trying to be refuelled by the Panamanian registered ship, the Oriental Bluebird.
Greenpeace says the refuelling goes against the Antarctic Treaty and that the Oriental Bluebird should not even be there, because it is not part of the Japanese fleet.
Dave Walsh from Greenpeace says after efforts by the Esperanza to get between the two other vessels, the protest became too dangerous.
"They've gone ahead with refuelling now - it was too dangerous for us to continue blocking them because they were pushing their two ships together, which was quite a dangerous manoeuvre with people sitting between on a boat," he said.
"So they are refuelling at this point and if they move on again, we'll be with them and if they try whaling again, we'll be there to stop them."
ABC New yesterday:
While Minoru Morimoto, Director-General of the Institute of Cetacean Research, Tokyo (which carries out Japan's research whaling in the Antarctic and western North Pacific) blasts Australia and New Zealand for their "cuddly" support of whales.
At the same time he runs with a tired old line on lethal research.
"However, since this is the purpose of Japan's research there are some kinds of indispensable data that simply cannot be obtained by non-lethal means. As a result of Japan's research programme, we now know more about the status of whale stocks and whale biology than at any time in history and this knowledge increases each year. One of the conclusions of the IWC Scientific Committee workshop in December 2006 to review the data and results of Japan's research in the Antarctic was "the dataset provides a valuable resource to allow investigation of some aspects of the role of whales within the marine ecosystem."
The New Zealand Herald opinion piece yesterday:
Mr. Morimoto of course neglecting to point out that "the dataset provides a valuable resource to allow investigation of some aspects of the role of whales within the marine ecosystem." is offset by the International Whaling Commission's own admission that "The difficult question then becomes one of whether the answers one obtains using such data are 'essential', 'reliable enough' or 'critical'? This calls for more than purely scientific judgement."
Nor does he mention that the December 2006 workshop dealing primarily with Minke whales (which had Japan with the largest bloc of participants ie., 29 individuals) shows "there was disagreement at the workshop regarding the analyses presented and the interpretation of some of these data."
International Whaling Commission:
Report of the 2006 Intercessional Workshop:
The 2007 final report, which supercedes Mr. Morimoto's quoted December 2006 Intercessional Workshop, is also critical of many aspects of Japan's lethal 'scientific' research.
A fact that North Coast Voices mentioned elsewhere in a January post "Just how 'scientific' is Japan's whale research?"
The last word should go to the International Whaling Commission which states; "In the discussion
of these permits in the Commission, an additional factor raised is that the catches take place within the Southern Ocean Sanctuary declared by the IWC in 1994 (to which Japan lodged an objection with respect to minke whales). If a Sanctuary is in place, it can be argued that information on improving management of whaling in that region is unnecessary. On many occasions, the Commission has (by majority vote) passed a Resolution urging Japan not to issue a permit for these catches."
Elephant in the ASX room
For the last week I have been careful not to mention the elephant in the room - the recent consecutive days of losses on the Australian stock market.
With the market yesterday having its worst one-day fall since 1989 which wiped around $1 billion off the value of local stocks, it appears that the elephant is a bull in musth.
Unpredictable, moody and violent.
But then markets are never thinking beasts. They react to fear, rumour and contagion rather than fact. Individuals and institutions looking only at perceived weakness rather than apparent strengths.
It seems the Australian stock market is determined to talk itself into further losses.
Tuesday 22 January 2008
Senator Penny Wong to face the US over climate change challenge - will she stand or will she fold?
"Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, today said she would participate in the Major Economies' Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii from January 30-31.
The Major Economies Meeting is a forum established by the United States to foster constructive discussion on a global response to climate change and reports to the United Nations."
North Queensland Register article:
http://nqr.farmonline.com.au/news_daily.asp?ag_id=47992
The Rudd Government is just a little older than it was at the 2007 Bali conference on climate change. Hopefully it is also a little wiser.
Climate change is one of the pivotal issues on which the Rudd Government's domestic and international credibility hinges.
I'm sure that many Australians harbour a wish that Senator Wong will finally make it clear to the US that it's time to end American game playing over climate change.
The Major Economies Meeting is a forum established by the United States to foster constructive discussion on a global response to climate change and reports to the United Nations."
North Queensland Register article:
http://nqr.farmonline.com.au/news_daily.asp?ag_id=47992
The Rudd Government is just a little older than it was at the 2007 Bali conference on climate change. Hopefully it is also a little wiser.
Climate change is one of the pivotal issues on which the Rudd Government's domestic and international credibility hinges.
I'm sure that many Australians harbour a wish that Senator Wong will finally make it clear to the US that it's time to end American game playing over climate change.
Commonwealth of Australia. Britain's last colony or 51st state of good ol' US of A?
"One of Australia's largest Defence contractors has been granted an exemption from racial discrimination laws in order to comply with tight US security requirements.
BAE Systems Australia says it needs to be able to prevent employees with dual-nationality of certain "proscribed nations" from working on some top secret Defence projects.
Under US guidelines, citizens of countries such as Iran, Syria, China and Sudan cannot have access to some information.
At South Australia's Equal Opportunity Tribunal, BAE argued that it would have to move its Adelaide headquarters and sack hundreds of workers if its application was not approved.
Today, it was given a three-year exemption under a number of conditions.
BAE must ensure staff do not suffer loss from their exclusion and it can only inform particular managers of a worker's exclusion from a project."
ABC News report yesterday:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/21/2143118.htm?section=australia
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/21/2143118.htm?section=australia
Yes, we live in strange days. BAE Systems PLC the third largest global defence company (registered in England and Wales), through one of its subsidiary companies here in this country, just successfully applied to the South Australian Equal Opportunities Tribunal to have Australia's anti-discrimination laws quashed for three years at its Adelaide works in order to appease the
US Bush Administration.
This is globalisation gone mad.
Malcolm Turnbull - rooster to feather duster in one easy lesson
The Shadow Treasurer, Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, goes from one weak media statement to another these days.
Faced with a Rudd Government determined to live up to its election promise of fiscal responsibility by raising the budget surplus above the projected 1.2 per cent of GDP, this is all Turnbull could come up with.
"But Opposition treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull was sceptical about the new plan, saying the previous government was already on track to deliver a big surplus in May.
"Because of the very strong economic management of the Howard Government we've got a very strong economy, very high revenues going into the Commonwealth Treasury, and as a result we've got a big surplus," he said.
"So Mr Rudd, as usual, is just trying to take credit for the hard work of others.
"It is meaningless to set a target that is already going to be met."
The business community appears to have a more optimistic view of Kevin Rudd's 5 point plan.
"However, Paul Xiradis from fund manager Ausbil Dexia says investors will welcome the plan.
He says rising inflation and interest rates have been a particular focus for the local share market."
ABC News yesterday:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/21/2142808.htm?section=australia
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/21/2142808.htm?section=australia
Here's how CNN International views Kevin Rudd's plan.
"Rudd set a new target of maintaining Australia's budget surplus at a minimum of 1.5 percent of GDP -- or about 18 billion Australian dollars (US$16 billion; euro11 billion) -- from the next fiscal year which starts on June 1.
Rudd had previously set a benchmark of 1 percent while the treasury's latest forecast for the next fiscal year was 1.2 percent."
CNN International yesterday:
It would appear that the Liberal's Malcolm Turnbull remains somewhat rudderless in the new Australian political climate.
Gone is the swagger and certainty he displayed before his party's electoral defeat.
Australia's new federal government is a breath of fresh air
The Rudd Government deserves full marks for holding a federal community cabinet meeting in Canning Vale, Perth last Sunday. Let's hope that this is the first of many.
Having attended NSW regional state cabinet meetings, I know that ordinary people get great satisfaction from being able to have face-to-face meetings with government ministers that are not filtered through multiple layers of bureaucracy.
Having these regional meetings might also help nobble Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson's rumoured desire to bring on an early election a la the 1970's.
If we all begin to feel closer to this new federal government, why would we then swap it for the known paternalistic approach of the Coalition parties.
Monday 21 January 2008
Server in the Sky? Oh (big) brother!
"THE FBI wants Australia to take part in an international database to be used to hunt down major criminals and terrorists.
A working group called the International Information Consortium has been formed by allies in the war against terror — the US, Australia, UK, Canada and New Zealand — to look into setting up the database.
The program, known as Server in the Sky, would involve the exchange of information about wanted criminals, including their biometric measurements (irises or palm prints) and fingerprints.---
Under the Server in the Sky program, the FBI wants to establish three categories of suspects — internationally recognised terrorists and felons; major felons and suspected terrorists; and those who are the subject of terrorist investigations or criminals with international links.
A pilot project for the program is expected to run later this year."
The Age article yesterday:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/fbi-invites-australia-to-join-crime-database/2008/01/19/1200620280804.html
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/fbi-invites-australia-to-join-crime-database/2008/01/19/1200620280804.html
Given that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Central Intelligence Agency, ASIO and the Australian Federal Police appear to be as paranoid now as they were during the Viet Nam War, one wonders just who would end up in the Australian section of such a data base.
Federal Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus should be very wary of accepting any American guidelines if the Rudd Government decides to go with this dubious invitation.
Especially as the FBI appears to see its own information gathering as a way of allowing employers to spy on employees.
The British reaction to Server in the Sky.
"The plan will make groups anxious to safeguard personal privacy question how much access to UK databases is granted to foreign law enforcement agencies. There will also be concern over security, particularly after embarrassing data losses within the UK, and accuracy: in one case, an arrest for a terror offence by US investigators used what turned out to be misidentified fingerprint matches.----------Although each participating country would manage and secure its own data, the sharing of personal data between countries is becoming an increasingly controversial area of police practice. There is political concern at Westminster about the public transparency of such cooperation."
The Guardian last week:
Media report on FBI aims and objectives.
"CLARKSBURG, W. Va. -- The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world's largest computer database of peoples' physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad.
Digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems in a climate-controlled, secure basement here. Next month, the FBI intends to award a 10-year contract that would significantly expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives. And in the coming years, law enforcement authorities around the world will be able to rely on iris patterns, face-shape data, scars and perhaps even the unique ways people walk and talk, to solve crimes and identify criminals and terrorists. The FBI will also retain, upon request by employers, the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks so the employers can be notified if employees have brushes with the law.-----------
The FBI's biometric database, which includes criminal history records, communicates with the Terrorist Screening Center's database of suspects and the National Crime Information Center database, which is the FBI's master criminal database of felons, fugitives and terrorism suspects."
The Washington Post December 2007 article:
Receding floods often leave a mosquito heaven behind
It's always nice to see floods receding and a green bloom developing in NSW North Coast paddocks.
However, pools of water and boggy ground depressions last a while and are a boon for mosquitoes.
As Ross River Fever and Barmah Forest Fever occur in the region, it is also a time to be extra careful about being bitten. Slap on that repellent when outdoors and spray the house before you go to bed.
NSW Health symptoms of Ross River Fever and managing your home environment:
National Environmental Health Forum floods and environmental health:
Frank Sartor lets fly with ageist insult
Last Saturday The Daily Examiner outed NSW Planning Minister Frank Sartor for calling building inspectors "old and fat".
Since when is being old something to be disparaged and why is it now considered a insult?
On the NSW North Coast a great many people are on the grey-haired side of fifty-five and up.
They are also the backbone of many community organisations and vital to the life of coastal towns.
By the same token, carrying a little weight is not the moral failing so obviously implied by this arrogant and prejudiced minister.
Less of the old, Frank. You're no spring chicken either, mate, and your online official portrait shows a distinct double chin.
Oh, and Frank - we oldies are voters too.
Sunday 20 January 2008
Scientific research or commercial slaughter?
Photograph found at httwww.greenpeace.org.uk
This is an image of a Minke whale being flenched on a whaling vessel.
It is a scene which is similar to that which is occurring on the factory
vessel within Japan's Antarctic whaling fleet in 2008.
The Institute for Cetacean Research (IRC) which conducts this alleged
research does not insist that whale dead weight measurements are of
the intact mammal.
Instead it apparently weighs the meat and offal, according to reports
from the International Whaling Commission, making no compensation
for fluid lost in butchering.
But then it's the meat rather than the science that is important to the
Institute and the shadowy shareholders of Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd.
How the mighty are fallen or the would-be memoirs of JW Howard
It appears in the case of John Winston Howard, that when the country turns its back on you it turns it for good.
This was Google Trends' reply when looking for January 2008 Australian searches using the term "john howard" yesterday.
"Your terms - "john howard" - do not have enough search volume to show graphs."
Google Trends result for Howard:
While an all-years Google Trends comparison with another recently retired prime minister, Britain's Tony Blair, shows that the world is losing interest in Howard at a faster rate than with Blair.
Google Trends result for Howard & Blair:
Howard's memoirs may be a no-go as well, which might explain his flirtation with The Washington Speakers Bureau. Perhaps he feels that if he says a thing often enough that will make it historical fact and compensate for his lack of a Churchillian autobiography.
"Richard Walsh, consulting publisher with Australia's biggest independent publishing house, Allen and Unwin, said the prospect of books from any of the three was "not creating a lot of excitement" in the industry.
"I think we'd feel that any memoir by Howard would be too self-serving," Mr Walsh said.-----------
Literary agent Margaret Gee, however, was singularly unimpressed by the idea.
"I don't think they are blockbuster material," she noted drily. "I mean, what would you call their books? Perhaps Peter Costello's could be Bridesmaid Revisited, John Howard's could be The Feather Duster Diaries."
The Age article last week:
Labor's Tony Burke on the right track, but...
Federal Minister for Agriculture Tony Burke recently revealed that a review of the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service ordered by the Howard government found the organisation is failing in many areas to screen for potential problems.
So far so good. Full marks for the appropriate level of concern the new minister expressed.
But, and it's a big 'but', the Minister of Agriculture's immediate response is to order another review.
After a decade of watching how far our strict quarantine laws were watered down by John Howard's desire to alternatively assist his great and powerful friend, the big multinationals and his favourite free trade agreement, it was rather disappointing to read this initial response.
How about implementing whatever recommendations were in the report from the first review, before launching a second round assessment of the service?
I'm sure we would all feel just a bit safer if something practical was done first - foreign insect colonies and exotic diseases are not going to wait on the political niceties of a new government.
Saturday 19 January 2008
Kevin 08: fools rushing in
"The consensus in the intelligence world suggests the greater threat to Australia is from home-grown terrorists rather than foreigners. Arms of government that have never previously had front-line involvement in developing national security policy, such as Treasury and AusAID, have been asked to come up with proposals to be considered by cabinet, most likely next month.
The Government will significantly broaden the definition of national security to include non-conventional threats such as climate change, natural disasters and the economy.
Australia will look to the annual US national security strategy, which encompasses challenges posed to security by the growth of the global economy.-------------
A key figure in this process will be Mr Rudd's US-style national security adviser, who is yet to be appointed."
The Sydney Morning Herald article yesterday:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/rudd-to-shake-up-national-security/2008/01/18/1200620210388.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/rudd-to-shake-up-national-security/2008/01/18/1200620210388.html
You silly, silly, silly sods - is the Rudd Government incapable of learning a lesson from the former Howard Government's slavish aping of the Bush Administration, which resulted (with some active encouragement by senior Coalition politicians) in that federal government being led through the nose by empire-builders and inflated egos in both intelligence and police circles.
To capsicum spray or not to capsicum spray
Is it just my imagination, or is capsicum spray being used more often these days to subdue the fractious.
There was even a case this month of NSW North Coast police letting fly with a spray in the face of one lonely, bellicose drunk.
While the TV this week showed us all that other police patrolling the tennis were using the capsicum repellent like Aeroguard.
Whatever happened to the constables of my youth who could talk almost any situation down a level or two without blasting away.
Too many American crime shows and never-die action heroes for role models these days I guess.
John Winston Howard or Speaker No. 6132 offers to bore the world
John Howard is now on the list of public speakers for hire with The Washington Speakers Bureau.
He is apparently available to speak on such riveting subjects as Leadership in the New Century and The Global Economic Future. Fees on application to the bureau.
No wonder that Australian taxpayers are footing the bill for a personal assistant and possibly one other staffer for The Great Man.
It's going to take a very big shovel to gather the necessary for these speech topics.
Leadership in the New Century
Steering the ship of what is the most prominent Western stronghold in the Asian-Pacific Rim requires visionary and forward-thinking leadership. Australian Prime Minister John Howard approached his responsibilities to his country from a uniquely global viewpoint, providing economic vision and security strategies that raised Australia's profile and impact around the world. Howard discusses the role of world leaders in a new century, detailing steps for handling the growing concerns of globalization and global economics, the environment, and threats to international security.
The Global Economic Future
Providing economic leadership in today's world means re-envisioning old economic models to discover new ones. Prime Minister John Howard did precisely that, and so much more, for Australia: in the face of criticism from many, Howard initiated efforts to broker a free-trade agreement with China, a strategic move that was completely unprecedented and, when ratified, will add further credibility to China's willingness to participate in a free market. Howard candidly discusses his vision for the global economic future, and in what ways, and to what degrees, China, India and the Pacific Rim will participate.
Steering the ship of what is the most prominent Western stronghold in the Asian-Pacific Rim requires visionary and forward-thinking leadership. Australian Prime Minister John Howard approached his responsibilities to his country from a uniquely global viewpoint, providing economic vision and security strategies that raised Australia's profile and impact around the world. Howard discusses the role of world leaders in a new century, detailing steps for handling the growing concerns of globalization and global economics, the environment, and threats to international security.
The Global Economic Future
Providing economic leadership in today's world means re-envisioning old economic models to discover new ones. Prime Minister John Howard did precisely that, and so much more, for Australia: in the face of criticism from many, Howard initiated efforts to broker a free-trade agreement with China, a strategic move that was completely unprecedented and, when ratified, will add further credibility to China's willingness to participate in a free market. Howard candidly discusses his vision for the global economic future, and in what ways, and to what degrees, China, India and the Pacific Rim will participate.
Washington Speakers Bureau:
Friday 18 January 2008
Just how 'scientific' is Japan's whale research?
Just how 'scientific' is the whale research Japan has been conducting for the last 18 years?
It seems that even the International Whaling Commission is of two minds on the subject according to excerpts from the 2007 IWC Report of the Working Group on Scientific Permits.
Japan was represented on the working group. Tucked into this verbose 15 page report is the interesting observations I have highlighted in red.
6.1 JARPA Review
An intersessional meeting to review the results from the JARPA research program was convened in Tokyo in December 2006. Bannister, the chair of the intersessional workshop, summarised SC/59/Rep 1. The SWG noted their appreciation to the Bannister, the Steering Committee for the Workshop, the rapporteurs and the Head of Science for their efforts in organising, convening and preparing the workshop report.
The SWG reviewed the findings and agreements reported in SC/59/Rep 1. Annex D of Rep 1 indicates that considerable data have been collected by the JARPA programme by both lethal and non-lethal methods, although there was disagreement regarding the analysis and interpretation of some of these data. A summary of main results is provided in Appendix 2 of this report.
The SWG then reviewed the recommendations contained in SC/59/Rep 1. A summary is provided in Appendix 3.
Members of the SWG supported all of the recommendations reported in Appendix 3.
It was noted by the Chair that workshop participants agreed that a discussion of the respective merits of lethal and non-lethal methodology was important. However, it was agreed that this issue would be discussed at the Annual Meeting of the Scientific Committee in May 2007 because of time constraints. The Chair noted that discussions regarding this issue were reported inter alia in IWC 2004 and 2006.
SC/59/O2 compared the merits and demerits of lethal and non-lethal research methods based on six biological characteristics of whale populations and on four practical matters related to the planning of whale population research. The author noted that scientific research on large whales was carried out in the Antarctic (JARPA and JARPA II) and the western North Pacific (JARPN and JARPN II) using a combination of both methods, as each method has its own characteristics that must be considered in relation to the research objectives and factors such as whale species, research field, research season, research period, and research cost. They further noted that this paper was prepared in order to provide a road map for the consideration of the issue of application of lethal and non-lethal research methods for JARPA II.
In SC/59/O2 the authors compared the characteristics of both methods on 13 items of practicality and indicated that regarding the JARPA research program lethal methods in general have more merit than non-lethal methods. The authors of SC/59/O2 concluded that the effective combination of both methods was necessary to effectively conduct population research on large whales. Some members agreed with the conclusions reached by the authors of SC/59/O2. Others did not. Clapham and Gales responded to SC/59/O2 and stated that its characterisation of the abilities and limitations of non-lethal methods was highly inaccurate. They noted that, among many errors in O2, it was not true that non-lethal methods were inapplicable to large populations or fast-moving species; nor that they were incapable of obtaining large sample sizes or samples over periods shorter than many years; nor that non-lethal studies could only be conducted in good conditions and on small scales with limited funding. They noted that several large-scale non-lethal projects had gathered far more samples (photo-id and biopsies) in a shorter period of time than the JARPA program, and that the results of one of these studies (the YONAH project in the North Atlantic) had formed the foundation for an IWC Comprehensive Assessment. They noted that non-lethal studies are widely used worldwide, and their ability to repeatedly sample the same individuals over often long periods provided a scientific advantage that was not possible with killed animals. Results of such work have been published in numerous refereed journals; the ability of these projects to address issues of importance to IWC management (including abundance, population structure and biological parameters) had been repeatedly demonstrated and was often in excess of the output of lethal-based programs. Molecular-based research, conducted using biopsy samples, was applicable to even the largest populations through genotyping, and such samples could also be used to study a wide range of issues, including contaminants, diet, health status and potentially also age determination. Clapham and Gales further noted that SC/59/O2 had emphasised the importance of cost recovery as a principal motive for JARPA and other lethal sampling programs, and contended that this requirement potentially compromised the research; they said that this problem is not a factor in non-lethal studies that do not need to use base study design on lethal sampling imperatives or to use considerable amounts of field time in hunting and processing whales.
In response, some members noted that the comments of Clapham and Gales related primarily to research on humpback whales. They added that non-lethal research methods cannot be practically applied to other species at least in some cases. They further noted that data on basic biology of large whales, including length and other measurements; various condition indices (e.g., blubber thickness); tissue samples for contaminant analysis, estimation of age, evaluation of reproductive status (e.g., maturity, corpora counts) and overall health (e.g., pathobiology, presence of parasite); and stomach contents could not be obtained from non-lethal sampling. Clapham responded that non-lethal studies have been used worldwide on virtually every species of large whale for a wide variety of research purposes. Others noted that molecular-based research, conducted using biopsy samples, could be used to study a wide range of issues, including contaminants, diet, health status and potentially also age determination.
Hatanaka noted that many of the points raised by Clapham and Gales were discussed in SC/59/O2 and that further discussion of this issue would only be repetitive. He further noted that the traditional label of "lethal versus nonlethal" sampling used by the SWG has led to simplistic and unproductive discussion. He commented that one of the primary objectives of O2 was to present information to refocus discussions towards a more constructive framework of finding an appropriate combination of lethal and non-lethal research methods for a particular research situation. He encouraged members of the SWG to work constructively to this end.
COMMITTEE DISCUSSION
Discussion regarding this research report focused on the representativeness of samples, as well as the impact on the research of having to terminate the field season prematurely. Childerhouse questioned whether the conclusions of the research would have been different, if the planned sample size for minke whales and complete sampling in Area V-west, had been achieved. Hatanaka responded that one of the objectives of this year's research was to ascertain the composition of I and P stocks in Area V-west. Given that samples were not collected from this area, this question could not be addressed. Childerhouse added that he thought standards used by the Government of Japan to evaluate the success of the JARPA II feasibility study were insufficiently rigorous.
Bass commented that she did not agree with the conclusion for fin whales that sampling was conducted smoothly and successfully, given the reported problem in hauling one of the fin whales onto the research vessel. She further asked whether female and calf minke whales were collected as part of JARPA II. Nishiwaki responded that female-calf pairs have rarely been seen during JARPA II surveys, but that when encountered, efforts are made to biopsy one or both animals. However, mother-calf pairs are not killed and subsequently sampled as part of JARPA II protocol.
Clapham asked, given the interruption in the survey design, where research would be targeted next year. Hatanaka noted that the current plans for next year will be to cover Area 5-west to Area 3-east.
Simmonds asked about the methods used to weigh fin whales and whether these methods were comparable to those used in the 1950s. It was noted that fin whales were weighed in sections and that this methodology was similar to that used in the 1950s. Further, no attempt was made to account for the loss of fluids (either as part of JARPA or JARPA II or in the 1950s).
It was noted by some that a catch of 850 (±10%) minke whales during the 2005/6 and 2006/7 feasibility studies for JARPA II was proposed exclusively to meet Objective 2 of the feasibility study, which was to 'examine the practicability and appropriateness of sampling procedures for the increased sample size of Antarctic minke whales.'(SC/57/O1). These members commented that given that this objective was successfully met by extrapolating the sampling rate of the 505 whales taken in the second feasibility study, that the rationale for a quota of 850 (±10%) for both feasibility studies was questionable and furthermore believed that the catch of 856 whales in the first feasibility study could have been reduced. It response, Hatanaka noted in year one of the JARPA II feasibility study, the target sample size had been achieved according to the study design. While a similar sample size could not be achieved in year two of the feasibility study because the survey was terminated mid-season due to a fire on the Nisshan-Maru, the rate at which minke whales were collected was such that the Government of Japan considered Objective 2 of the feasibility study to have been met. Gales and Childerhouse commented that the majority of the methodological approaches in JARPA II remain effectively unchanged. They further commented that this was surprising in light of the many recommendations reported from the JARPA review (SC/59/Rep 1). Finally, they added that in the absence of appropriate adjustments to the methodological and analytical approaches in programs like JARPA II, there can be little satisfaction in the review process. Hatanaka responded that the research protocol of JARPA II had been improved to reflect recommendations from past Scientific Committee reviews. Although the JARPA review was held after the beginning of JARPA II, he noted that the increase in survey effort and the parallel sighting survey effort in the northern and southern strata was consistent with recommendations in the JARPA review. Others commented that the research foci of JARPA and JARPA II were considerably different and that some of the recommended changes in methodology and analysis of JARPA did not apply to JARPA II.
Nevertheless, it was noted that no change to the original JARPA II research program had been made since the JARPA review in December 2006. Gales commented that, for example: (1) the JARPA review made no recommendations that larger sample sizes to achieve research results were needed and (2) problems identified in the JARPA review associated with population structure and the role of whales in the marine ecosystem were highly relevant to JARPA II, yet no changes were incorporated into the research protocol. Others commented that JARPA and JARPA II have different objectives and that sample sizes and the research design in JARPA II were established according to its own objectives. Gales and others noted that several aspects of the data analysis (e.g., role of whales in the ecosystem, population structure) associated with information collected as part of JARPA II would be improved if the recommendations from the JARPA review were adopted."
Report of the Working Group on Scientific Permits in full:
Hell hath no fury like a federal police force scorned
Dr. Mohamed Haneef may have been cleared of terrorism charges and had the revocation of his work visa declared invalid by Australian courts, but he would be mad to return to Australia.
It will take more than a change in federal government to restore balance and perspective to the Australian Federal Police after a decade under far-right political masters.
It appears that the AFP is still itching to find something, anything, against this Muslim doctor.
"The Australian Federal Police says an investigation into former Gold Coast doctors Mohamed Haneef and Asif Ali is ongoing.
The comment comes after the Federal Government ruled out an appeal against a court decision to reinstate Dr Haneef's working visa."
ABC News yesterday:
Australia, the land of the Fair Go
Federal Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has said a pattern of underspending by government departments is helping him in his task to identify $10 billion in budget savings, and is pledging to cut at least $10 billion from government spending in the next May budget.
I well remember Mr. Tanner talking up the notion of the 'fair go' during the last 12 months.
Let's hope that the Rudd Government's driving desire, to make itself a small target when it faces the Opposition in February, doesn't lead it to go slow on the promised increase in funding for public dental health services or to be tardy in giving Disability Support pensioners that utilities allowance.
There are many people on the NSW North Coast sweating on both these election promises, and let's face it, the combined cost of both is still less than all the middle-class welfare found on the national books.
Thursday 17 January 2008
Labor's Janelle Saffin on the NSW North Coast Next G issue
Federal Labor's Janelle Saffin demonstrates that she is on the ball and up to the job.
"The federal Member for Page, Janelle Saffin, will pressure the Communications Minister to delay shutting down the CDMA network, after complaints about Telstra's new service.
Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is expected to make a decision on a report next week on whether Telstra's Next Generation network is good enough to take over from the old service.
The Senator needs to be satisfied that the new network provides an equivalent or better service before the CDMA network is shut down.
But Ms Saffin says a lot of people on the New South Wales north coast are unhappy with the new service and have complained about bad reception.
"People are saying to me they're not happy with the level of service that they're getting," she said.
"Now to be fair, Telstra has dealt with a lot of them and they've been able to fix them. I've asked the Minister if there's some way that it could be delayed a little bit until all that's sorted out."
Source:
Ms. Saffin is right to ask the new Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy to go slowly.
In the middle of my house in the middle of a middle-sized North Coast town, you can't reliably access Next G. You want any mobile reception - it's a case of go stand out in the middle of the road. Telstra is truly offering a middling service.
Byron Bay locals to put Justine Elliot on the spot over Sea Shepherd incident
"Spokes Person for Byron Whale Action Group and Sea Shepherd member Dean Jefferys said "I will be asking local MP Justine Elliot to intervene and insist that Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd demand Japan releases their Australian and British hostages."
See post this website:
Less than six weeks since the Rudd Government was sworn in and already things are getting interesting for NSW North Coast federal MPs.
Beam me up, Ron L. Hubbard
In Australia most of us might never get to read Andrew Morton's unauthorized biography of American actor Tom Cruise and probably don't much care.
However, this week the Church of Scientology released a 15 page statement in 'rebuttal' of the book's contents and this makes for hilarious reading.
I bet that just about now the church's public affairs director is wishing that everyone had kept as quiet as a mouse and let sleeping dogs etc.,
The statement's florid language alone will ensure increased publicity for Mr. Morton's new book.
TODAYshow.com copy of Church of Scientology statement:
If this church rant hadn't been sent out, here in regional New South Wales we would still be thinking of Tom Cruise in terms of mum's lamb roast and TV re-runs.
APEC's war on The Chaser's War
It seems that the NSW Government just can't forgive ABC TV and The Chaser's War On Everything for the fact that they held both it, the state police and their federal counterparts, up to ridicule during the 2007 APEC Summit.
The court case continues, at least until March.
Long after the original incident we can all still be amused by this legal nonsense.
C'mon Morrie, lighten up. This is Australia - you must have realised that some bright spark would prick that pompous bubble of authoritarian overkill.
Wednesday 16 January 2008
Worth a thousand words....
Photo taken by Greenpeace of Japan's official 'scientific' research.For further details go to:
http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/
Japan's whalers try to hide the corporate body
The International Whaling Commission, of which Australia and Japan are both members, placed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986 and in 1994 endorsed creation of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
The private Japanese company Nihon Kyodo Hogei Co Ltd which owned and operated Japan's whaling fleet appeared to have been composed of a number of other shareholder companies, including Japanese seafood giants Nippon Suisan, Kyokuyo and Maruha. Gorton's of Gloucester and King and Prince Seafoods are alleged to be Nippon Suisan U.S. subsidiaries.
In 1987 the company was dissolved and a new private company Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd was formed, with the seafood giants' shareholdings transferred over to this corporate entity.
In 2006 these shares were sent on or 'sold' to what appears to be a number dummy public interest companies, who became the new shareholders of record in Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha.
This process seems to have included transfer of the entire Japanese whaling fleet at the time.
Presumably this measure was intended to hide the seafood companies continuing involvement in commercial whale hunting.
The presidents of Nippon Suisan and Marhu are reportedly vice-presidents of the Japan Fisheries Association, an umbrella organisation for the entire fishing industry of Japan and one which actively supports whaling.
Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Pty Ltd operates the vessels used by the Institute of Cetacean Research (a government-sponsored body) which conducts the so-called 'scientific' research. Annually killing an estimated 1,000 whales, whose meat finds its way onto the domestic Japanese seafood market.
Interestingly the Institute describes itself as a "nonprofit research organisation whose legal status is authorized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Government of Japan, as a foundational judicial person."
Institute of Cetacean Research:
Japan Fisheries Association newsletter:
If you would like to express a polite objection to annual Japanese whaling in the Antarctic generally or the whale sanctuary area in particular, here are some starting points.
Embassy of Japan
112 Empire Circuit
Yarralumla ACT 2600
Yarralumla ACT 2600
AUSTRALIA
Tel: (02) 6273 3244
Fax: (02) 6273 1848
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan online email form:
Japan Whaling Association
Toyomishinko Building 7F
4-5 Toyomi-cho,
Chuoh-ku, Tokyo 104-0055
Toyomishinko Building 7F
4-5 Toyomi-cho,
Chuoh-ku, Tokyo 104-0055
JAPAN
Email: kujira@whaling.jp
Email: kujira@whaling.jp
Kazuo Yamamura
Chief Executive
Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd.
4-5 Toyomi-cho,
Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0055
JAPAN
Isao Nakasu
Japan Fisheries Association
Sankaido Bldg., 1-9-13, Akasaka,
International Coalition of Fisheries Associations (ICFA)
7918 Jones Branch Drive
Suite 700
McLean, VA 22102
7918 Jones Branch Drive
Suite 700
McLean, VA 22102
USA
703.752.8880
703.752.8880
Email: contact@icfa.net
The Hon Peter Garrett AM MP
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Email: Peter.Garrett.MP@aph.gov.au
Australian court rules against Japan's whalers - Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha P/L failed to show and Japanese Government says 'so what'
How the international media saw the Australia-Japan whaling standoff yesterday.
"SYDNEY, Jan 15 (Reuters) - In a purely symbolic act but one that could inflame bilateral ties, an Australian court ruled on Tuesday that a Japanese whaling company broke environment laws by killing whales in Australia's Antarctic waters.
The Federal Court of Australia ordered Japanese whaler Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd stop killing whales in Australia's Antarctic whale sanctuary, saying that unless it was "restrained" it would continue to kill and injure whales.
But the court has no jurisdiction outside Australia and the Japanese government denied the whalers were doing anything illegal.
"According to the International Whaling Commission, what the Japanese whaling fleet is doing in the South Pacific and Antarctic region is legal," said Tomohiko Taniguchi, a spokesman at Japan's Foreign Ministry.
An official at Japan's Fisheries Ministry declined to comment.
An Australian fisheries ship is searching for the Japanese whaling fleet to gather photographic evidence for an international court case aimed at stopping Japan's annual "scientific" hunt.
Japan plans to hunt almost 1,000 minke and fin whales for research over the Antarctic summer, but has abandoned the cull of 50 humpback whales after international condemnation and a formal diplomatic protest by 31 nations.
Humane Society International (HSI) launched legal action against Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd in 2004, seeking a federal court injunction against harvesting in the Australian Whale Sanctuary."
Reuters yesterday:
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUST271709
The Federal Court of Australia ordered Japanese whaler Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd stop killing whales in Australia's Antarctic whale sanctuary, saying that unless it was "restrained" it would continue to kill and injure whales.
But the court has no jurisdiction outside Australia and the Japanese government denied the whalers were doing anything illegal.
"According to the International Whaling Commission, what the Japanese whaling fleet is doing in the South Pacific and Antarctic region is legal," said Tomohiko Taniguchi, a spokesman at Japan's Foreign Ministry.
An official at Japan's Fisheries Ministry declined to comment.
An Australian fisheries ship is searching for the Japanese whaling fleet to gather photographic evidence for an international court case aimed at stopping Japan's annual "scientific" hunt.
Japan plans to hunt almost 1,000 minke and fin whales for research over the Antarctic summer, but has abandoned the cull of 50 humpback whales after international condemnation and a formal diplomatic protest by 31 nations.
Humane Society International (HSI) launched legal action against Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd in 2004, seeking a federal court injunction against harvesting in the Australian Whale Sanctuary."
Reuters yesterday:
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUST271709
How Australia saw the same situation.
"1. THE COURT DECLARES that the respondent has killed, injured, taken and interfered with Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) and fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and injured, taken and interfered with humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Australian Whale Sanctuary in contravention of sections 229, 229A, 229B and 229C of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), (the "Act"), and has treated and possessed such whales killed or taken in the Australian Whale Sanctuary in contravention of sections 229D and 230 of the Act, without permission or authorisation under sections 231, 232 or 238 of the Act.
2. THE COURT ORDERS that the respondent be restrained from killing, injuring, taking or interfering with any Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis), fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) or humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Australian Whale Sanctuary, or treating or possessing any such whale killed or taken in the Australian Whale Sanctuary, unless permitted or authorised under sections 231, 232 or 238 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth)."
Austlii.edu.au Federal Court of Australia full judgment:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/cth/federal_ct/2008/3.html?query=^whaling
http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/cth/federal_ct/2008/3.html?query=^whaling
New Labor broom sweeps away Australia-India uranium deal
What a relief! Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith announced yesterday that the Rudd Government was calling off the former Howard Government's deal to export uranium to India.
It was always a totally mad idea to send uranium to a country which has resisted signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Tuesday 15 January 2008
Is Yamba being developed to the drowning point?
Here are a few selected quotes from an article in The Daily Telegraph today.
* FOR years it has been a sleepy surfing hamlet but it's about to be violently awoken from its slumber.
* Like many NSW coastal towns Yamba's real estate market has been described as a "sleeping giant ready to explode".
* Because of its location, demographer Bernard Salt has pin-pointed Yamba as the next NSW North Coast "boom town". He said the combination of an upgraded Pacific Highway and sea-changers making the move, cash in hand, had made it a prime target for developers to swoop in.
"Yamba is a place to watch out for - it's the next cab off the rank after Byron Bay," Mr Salt said.
* The iconic Blue Dolphin Holiday Park is also being developed. It is getting a $300 million makeover which will see the $32-a-night family camping holiday destination replaced by four to five star luxury tourist and permanent apartments.
The first stage of 55 strata title apartments will begin in May, with final building expected to be completed in six years.
* "It's a great family place that's got everything - a river and beach - and we'd hate to see the death of the family holiday just so people can make a few bucks," Mrs Apps said. "However I suppose, unfortunately, that is progress."
* He said Clarence Valley Council was working on a development control plan to preserve coastal heritage.
The Daily Telegraph article
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23050802-5006009,00.html
Nowhere in this newspaper article was there any mention of the potential negative impact of climate change on Yamba.
The CSIRO has warned the NSW North Coast of potential problems due to freshwater shortages, increased storm activity, ocean storm surges, and seawater innundation.
This blog has also drawn attention to growing concern amongst coastal residents.
The Clarence Valley's oldest and largest newspaper The Daily Examiner published this worst case map projection on 16 Feburary 2007. It shows barely anything in Yamba left above the maximum high water mark.
Before this stage is reached Yamba might well be subject to natural disaster mass evacuation using the one small bridge out of town which leads to safe inland areas and emergency assistance.
* FOR years it has been a sleepy surfing hamlet but it's about to be violently awoken from its slumber.
* Like many NSW coastal towns Yamba's real estate market has been described as a "sleeping giant ready to explode".
* Because of its location, demographer Bernard Salt has pin-pointed Yamba as the next NSW North Coast "boom town". He said the combination of an upgraded Pacific Highway and sea-changers making the move, cash in hand, had made it a prime target for developers to swoop in.
"Yamba is a place to watch out for - it's the next cab off the rank after Byron Bay," Mr Salt said.
* The iconic Blue Dolphin Holiday Park is also being developed. It is getting a $300 million makeover which will see the $32-a-night family camping holiday destination replaced by four to five star luxury tourist and permanent apartments.
The first stage of 55 strata title apartments will begin in May, with final building expected to be completed in six years.
* "It's a great family place that's got everything - a river and beach - and we'd hate to see the death of the family holiday just so people can make a few bucks," Mrs Apps said. "However I suppose, unfortunately, that is progress."
* He said Clarence Valley Council was working on a development control plan to preserve coastal heritage.
The Daily Telegraph article
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23050802-5006009,00.html
Nowhere in this newspaper article was there any mention of the potential negative impact of climate change on Yamba.
The CSIRO has warned the NSW North Coast of potential problems due to freshwater shortages, increased storm activity, ocean storm surges, and seawater innundation.
This blog has also drawn attention to growing concern amongst coastal residents.
The Clarence Valley's oldest and largest newspaper The Daily Examiner published this worst case map projection on 16 Feburary 2007. It shows barely anything in Yamba left above the maximum high water mark.
Before this stage is reached Yamba might well be subject to natural disaster mass evacuation using the one small bridge out of town which leads to safe inland areas and emergency assistance.
Map from http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/
Mungo MacCallum on the real start to the Rudd Government term in office
"And this, as they say, is where the story really starts. The government is officially back to work preparing to launch itself across the uncharted seas of its election promises.
It is not as if the holiday period has been entirely unproductive; apart from the headline items like Bali and Iraq, there has been a fair amount of activity behind the scenes. Legislation is prepared for the early elimination of AWAs, work is well advanced on an apology to the stolen generation, and a review is under way of the grants system to eliminate the corruption of secret ministerial vetoes and approvals and end the pernicious practice of stopping grants to environmental and charitable organizations that criticise government policy.
A government vessel is on the track of the Japanese whalers in the Antarctic Protection Zone. All the new ministers are receiving a crash-course from their departments (and, it is to be hoped, vice-versa) and in spite of the snide comments of the Murdoch tabloids, it is considered unlikely that our workaholic Prime Minister has spent the entire break with his feet up watching television while drinking beer and eating party pies.
However this is the week where it all starts happening – or at least the week when Kevin Rudd and his merry band start making the hard decisions about exactly what “it” is going to entail, at least for the next couple of years.
As has been made painfully clear, some of the promises, especially those made with the intent of neutralising as much as possible of John Howard’s farewell bribe fest, were, to put it mildly, extravagant. The biggest and meanest of them, the elephant preparing to rampage through an already over-heated economy, is of course the tax cuts. Rudd did not quite match Howard’s bid of $34 billion; he had the decency to pare a bit off the edges. But $31 billion is still a lot of loot, no matter how you spin it.
In a situation where the smart money is on yet another official interest rate rise in February and when the banks are already slotting in unofficial rises to preserve their record profit margins, it must at least be asked whether providing a hefty increase in available spending money is quite the conservative economic management Rudd and his treasurer, Wayne Swan, boasted of during the election campaign.
Obviously, Rudd is anxious to keep faith with the voters; he would seriously hate being accused of carrying on the Howard tradition of core and non-core promises. But keeping faith can be looked at in a broader context than just the tax cuts. Rudd’s overall promise was to reduce the burden on working families; for months we heard it every waking hour and one suspects that Labor members were mouthing it in their sleep. This is what he has pledged to deliver, and he simply can’t deliver it through a bonanza of tax cuts which are promptly eaten up by increases in interest rates, never mind the wider damage that a spending spree would do to the economy.
The clever thing to do, from both a political and an economic point of view, would be to hand the money back to taxpayers, but as superannuation, not as an immediate cut; this would avoid putting any pressure on inflation while returning the cash. But this would involve breaking an election promise, and no amount of Howard-style legalistic weaseling could deny it. In this case honesty is simply not the best policy, and the cabinet will have to make the choice. Welcome to the real world of government, Messrs Rudd and Swan.
And while they’re at it, the ministers might like to consider whether other aspects of the me-tooism they indulged in as strategic electioneering should really be considered immutable. "
Mungo MacCallum at Crikey.com.au:
http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20080114-Mungo-This-is-the-week-where-it-all-starts-happening.html
It is not as if the holiday period has been entirely unproductive; apart from the headline items like Bali and Iraq, there has been a fair amount of activity behind the scenes. Legislation is prepared for the early elimination of AWAs, work is well advanced on an apology to the stolen generation, and a review is under way of the grants system to eliminate the corruption of secret ministerial vetoes and approvals and end the pernicious practice of stopping grants to environmental and charitable organizations that criticise government policy.
A government vessel is on the track of the Japanese whalers in the Antarctic Protection Zone. All the new ministers are receiving a crash-course from their departments (and, it is to be hoped, vice-versa) and in spite of the snide comments of the Murdoch tabloids, it is considered unlikely that our workaholic Prime Minister has spent the entire break with his feet up watching television while drinking beer and eating party pies.
However this is the week where it all starts happening – or at least the week when Kevin Rudd and his merry band start making the hard decisions about exactly what “it” is going to entail, at least for the next couple of years.
As has been made painfully clear, some of the promises, especially those made with the intent of neutralising as much as possible of John Howard’s farewell bribe fest, were, to put it mildly, extravagant. The biggest and meanest of them, the elephant preparing to rampage through an already over-heated economy, is of course the tax cuts. Rudd did not quite match Howard’s bid of $34 billion; he had the decency to pare a bit off the edges. But $31 billion is still a lot of loot, no matter how you spin it.
In a situation where the smart money is on yet another official interest rate rise in February and when the banks are already slotting in unofficial rises to preserve their record profit margins, it must at least be asked whether providing a hefty increase in available spending money is quite the conservative economic management Rudd and his treasurer, Wayne Swan, boasted of during the election campaign.
Obviously, Rudd is anxious to keep faith with the voters; he would seriously hate being accused of carrying on the Howard tradition of core and non-core promises. But keeping faith can be looked at in a broader context than just the tax cuts. Rudd’s overall promise was to reduce the burden on working families; for months we heard it every waking hour and one suspects that Labor members were mouthing it in their sleep. This is what he has pledged to deliver, and he simply can’t deliver it through a bonanza of tax cuts which are promptly eaten up by increases in interest rates, never mind the wider damage that a spending spree would do to the economy.
The clever thing to do, from both a political and an economic point of view, would be to hand the money back to taxpayers, but as superannuation, not as an immediate cut; this would avoid putting any pressure on inflation while returning the cash. But this would involve breaking an election promise, and no amount of Howard-style legalistic weaseling could deny it. In this case honesty is simply not the best policy, and the cabinet will have to make the choice. Welcome to the real world of government, Messrs Rudd and Swan.
And while they’re at it, the ministers might like to consider whether other aspects of the me-tooism they indulged in as strategic electioneering should really be considered immutable. "
Mungo MacCallum at Crikey.com.au:
http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20080114-Mungo-This-is-the-week-where-it-all-starts-happening.html
Federal Shadow Treasurer speaks out of turn
Shadow Treasurer Malcolm Turnbull has been rather busy lately running to the media to criticise Treasurer Wayne Swann.
As a former principal of a merchant bank which seems to have always been a law unto itself, perhaps Malcolm should keep mum on any bank's ability to raise its interest rates or otherwise conduct business.
A reminder to the Rudd Government and all state & coastal local governments
Recent wild weather and high seas have highlighted the vulnerability of Australia's coastline. Time is beginning to run out for the formation and implementation of adequate national, state and local government coordinated planning responses.
This opinion piece in The Age last Friday says it all.
"COASTAL development, rising sea levels, increasing storm surges and a vocal community are a potent political mix. The climate change debate has rightly focused on the critical need to reduce carbon emissions but inadequate attention is being given to what we need to do in terms of adaptation to climate change on the coast.
Our coastal communities face an impending crisis. Continuing development in areas likely to be inundated is foolhardy at best. For a nation skilled at emergency management when it comes to floods and fire, we are remarkably unprepared for when the inevitable storm surge hits a populated coastal area.
Coastal planning is one of those policy areas that doesn't fit neatly into one portfolio or level of government. It covers environment, urban planning and infrastructure provision, including water, housing and indigenous interests and cuts across portfolio responsibilities. With the significant risks of climate change, this now involves the Federal Government and the insurance industry, as well as state and local governments.
The Sea Change Taskforce, comprising coastal council representatives and the Planning Institute of Australia among others, has lobbied government for years on the looming problem for local councils experiencing rapid urban growth and the accompanying servicing requirements.
The Australian coastline is littered with exhausted communities battling to save the character and environment of their townships. As if this weren't enough, climate change predictions of rising sea levels and storm surge have added a potent ingredient to the mix challenging the capacity of land-use planning systems and local councils to respond. Only now have governments started to map seriously the coastal areas likely to be inundated at the scales and resolutions needed to respond effectively to the science produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the CSIRO. But this has been largely the result of individual council or state government initiatives rather than as part of a wider plan."
The Age article by Barbara Norman, past national president of the Planning Institute of Australia:
Cup of tea, a Bex and a good lie down
I am old enough to have lived through the era when over-the-counter analgesics like Bex were used to alleviate stress, aid sleep and act as a pick-me-up.
Renal disease was frequently the result of longterm abuse. There was often an apparent relationship between this abuse and low-income suburbs. From memory I seem to remember that the Newcastle region featured heavily in newspaper articles of the time.
I had thought those days were gone.
Now it seems other analgesics are beginning to find their way into bathrooms, kitchen cupboards, handbags, briefcases, school bags and lives, in an attempt to ease the many problems of associated with modern life. News.com.au reports that Nurofen is now being used in an abusive pattern, causing renal problems, ulcers and organ damage.
"In the latest edition of the Medical Journal of Australia, Dr Martin Dutch of The Angliss Hospital in Melbourne wrote that misuse of Nurofen Plus was a "significant" problem.
"Over a six-month period, two patients presented (themselves) to a community hospital emergency department with perforated gastric ulcers as the result of recreational misuse of over-the-counter ibuprofen–codeine preparations," Dr Dutch said.
"Over a six-month period, two patients presented (themselves) to a community hospital emergency department with perforated gastric ulcers as the result of recreational misuse of over-the-counter ibuprofen–codeine preparations," Dr Dutch said.
"Misuse of these medications appears to be an emerging cause of significant morbidity in patients with codeine addiction."
News.com.au report:
News.com.au report:
Widespread unhappiness and dissatisfaction manifests itself in many ways.
Are we seeing not just addiction, but another canary in the mine telling us that all is not well within our economically stratified society.
Monday 14 January 2008
Would anyone like to sell Senators Conroy and Ludwig a Habour Bridge or Statue of Liberty? They're so obviously in the market
First Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, announced a plan to apply mandatory censorship of the Internet at ISP level.
Now the Minister for Human Services, Joe Ludwig, wants an e-card for all our personal medical information. Which raises worries that this might be the start of the rumoured national identity card backdown.
ZDNet Australia:
Want to bet that the next bout of Rudd Government 'me-too' will be to adopt the former Howard Government's Communications Legislation Amendment (Crime or Terrorism Related Internet Content) Bill 2007. Which can potentially flick the switch on any or all of us.
Parlinfoweb:
None of this sounds like the Australian Labor Party. It looks suspiciously as if these senators are in thrall to a bureaucracy still wedded to Howard's paternalistic agenda. Care for an old copy of George Orwell's 1984 anyone?
Having your cartel cake and eating it too
'THE Federal Government has released a draft bill to criminalise cartel behaviour — which proposes that authorities be banned from using telephone taps to uncover evidence of cartels.
The draft bill, released yesterday by Assistant Treasurer Chris Bowen, proposes penalties of up to five years' jail for anyone who makes or implements an agreement with competitors for cartel behaviour and fines of up to $10 million for corporations.
To make criminal charges stick, however, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission must prove that the person made or carried out the agreement "with the intention of dishonestly obtaining a benefit".
A memorandum of understanding between the ACCC and the Director of Public Prosecutions says the ACCC will focus on "conduct of the type that can cause large-scale or serious economic harm", and "will not ordinarily refer relatively minor cartel conduct to the DPP".'
The Age full article last Saturday:
A rather interesting read. The Rudd Government is all for stopping cartel behaviour, but appears to be contemplating taking the guts out of any investigative power by banning telephone interception warrants in cartel investigations.
It's almost as if the Treasurer would like to catch another Visy and is rather scared that he actually might.
However we have all been given until 29 February 2008 to comment on the Rudd Government's draft bill, which was reportedly lifted holus bolus from that quashed Costello draft.
Knock yourselves out.
Discussion Paper and submission details:
Thankful for small mercies
When Nationals Luke Hartsuyker was voted onto the Federal Opposition benches and his compatriot Chris Gulaptis failed to find a seat, that threat to fund the installation of big brother CCTV monitoring in Grafton, South Grafton, Yamba, and possibly Maclean, thankfully went out the window.
Not a good look for a valley which prides itself on a family friendly atmosphere for the tourism trade.
Let's hope local government noticed the lack of enthusiasm for this idea reflected at the polling booths on 24 November.
More police numbers in the Clarence Valley - yes.
Having a filmed record of me surreptitiously adjusting my jeans as I walk down the street - no.
Sunday 13 January 2008
Greenpeace catches up to whaling fleet
"Greenpeace protest ship the Esperanza located the fleet in the Southern Ocean early this morning and the environmental group has vowed to stop the Japanese fleet from killing any whales."
ABC News story yesterday and video link:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/12/2137204.htm?section=australia
I don't want the Rudd Government to be fiscally conservative - I want it to save the Murray-Darling rivers
The former Howard Government promised $10 billion and created a new Commonwealth water act supposedly to save the Murray-Darling river system.
Then it sat on its hands and did almost nothing, except plan to rob other catchment areas of freshwater and risk further environmental degradation.
Now there is no more time left for the Murray-Darling. Recent flooding in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales are little more than a mirage when it comes to returning a strong environmental flow to this large river system.
The new Rudd Government has made a start, but I for one don't want to see federal government become so focussed on balancing the budget that it forgets it must act swiftly to make up for the years of inaction.
As for the NSW Government. If I remember my map, this state has the highest concentration of irrigators drawing from the Murray-Darling system. Time for Morris Iemma to stop pretending that there is any water to return to irrigators if he doesn't want to see the river dead within a decade.
"STRETCHES of the Murray River are turning into the corrosive equivalent of battery acid, in further evidence the devastating drought is causing more harm to the nation's iconic watercourse.
Scientists are warning that acid sulphate soils are turning river banks and billabongs into death traps for fish and birds and hazards for humans.
It is impossible for animals to survive NSW's Bottle Bend lagoon, which now has a pH -- or acidity -- level dropping as low as 1.8 -- equivalent to the sulphuric acid found in car batteries. And it is corrosive to the touch.
The waterway is just one of dozens of sites throughout South Australia, NSW and Victoria which falling water levels have turned into aquatic graveyards."
The Australian article yesterday:
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