Sunday 13 December 2009
Saturday 12 December 2009
Coalition super-duper accountant's obsession with China
Nats senator and Coalition front bencher Barnaby Joyce has become a trifle obsessed with the ol' yellow peril it seems.
If you believe this former Queensland accountant from St. George we're all in danger of being seriously in hock to China, which is coincidentally one of our more significant export markets.
Small problem for Joyce though - China doesn't figure as anywhere near our biggest creditor because that honour is reserved for the UK and US.
Hong Kong (which is China's only representative on the creditor list) holds around 3% of Australia's total foreign debt, but Britain holds in the vicinity of 24% and America 22% of the $114 billion or so red ink still on the books racked up by federal or state governments, financial institutions and private companies.
Less than a quarter of Australia's foreign debt is contractually long term if this Australian Parliament Library 2009 research paper has a good handle on the subject.
Barnaby mentions China so often that it's almost a nervous stutter.
Here is an abbreviated list of his comments on China over the last three years from Hansard and the media:
This is money that people want back. Most of them are from overseas. How much more money do you want to owe to these people? The biggest one being the Communist People's Republic of China.
Under this massive new tax of the Australian Labor Party, they will be signing us up to an agreement as a result of which we will be borrowing money from China to pay the interest to China to send back to China to develop China.
The Labor Party cannot tell you exactly how this tax is going to do anything to the temperature of the globe by itself. They aspire to grab America and China.
We have this ridiculous proposition that if we pass this bill we are going to be borrowing money from China to send back to China to help develop China. We will be borrowing money from China and from Saudi Arabia to send to African despots.
We have no money. We are in debt up to our eyeballs. We will be borrowing money from countries such as China to send back to China to help China develop, when we thought they were already doing a pretty good job at it.
So we will be borrowing money from China to pay back to China to develop?
It has stacked us up with debt to the eyeballs so that we could go out on some spending spree and have the stimulus of the nation spread across the carpet on Christmas Day with 'made in China' written on the back.
I have clearly stated that I have no problems dealing with China—I have no problems with the trade to China. I have clearly stated that over and over again.
When this legislation came forward, there was only one other nation on earth that had legislation like this, and that was the communist People's Republic of China, which I thought was peculiar.
In fact, I stated that the stimulus would be spread across the carpet on Christmas Day with 'Made in China' written on the back of it and that it was a complete and utter waste of money. Time has proven us correct.
We will develop a plant in China. We will develop another plant in the United States. But we're not going over there, because those people are half crazy.
Do we implicitly, by association in legislation, say that ovaries are now commercial property disassociated from the person and as property can be extracted from prisoners in China or aborted foetuses in Australia?
The Australian Government would never be allowed to buy a mine in China. So why would we allow the Chinese Government to buy and control a strategic asset in our country? Stop the Rudd Government from selling Australia.
Animalia......(5)
A
The Daily Examiner, 9 December 2009
Click on image to enlarge
NASA maps global warming 1880 to 2008
NASA has mapped annual changes in global temperature over a 128 year span.
Dark blue indicates areas of greatest cooling and dark red indicates areas of greatest warming.
1881-1885
2003-2007
NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies animated mapping here and supporting data here.
Friday 11 December 2009
A Christmas Plea: Have you seen our Sam?
Have you seen Sam?
You know it's December 2009 when......
Clarence Valley thunderstorm on 8 December
from The Daily Examiner 10 December 2009
Is this Kristina Keneally for real?
Is this amatuerish Twitter page legitimate or not?
Why is there no link in the first bald tweet announcing the new Keneally Government cabinet?
Who is the "KS" who signed the second tweet?
How on earth did this page acquire 2,757 followers in its first couple of days and only 24 followers since?
And what happened to those two original Keneally tweets which were removed?
Oh, and while I'm at it, if this Twitter account is a government endorsed site for the NSW Premier why were all former Premier Ree's tweets removed? A bent for revisionist history? Spite?
Kristina me gurl, you're not off to a good start on the digital communication front.
Thursday 10 December 2009
Walk Against Warming in all Australian capitial cities, Saturday 12 December 2009
March meeting points on Saturday 12 December 2009:
Can't walk on that day? Sign the petition being sent to Kevin Rudd at Walk Against Warming website.
This is The Greens Senator Christine MiIlne writing from Copenhagen:
Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition wants Rudd Government to scrap current CPRS and start over
Wednesday 9 December 2009
Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009: you've heard the rumours now read leaked Draft Agreement #271109
Hysterical rumour abounds since it was discovered this week that friends and allies amongst the developed nations had put their heads together last September and come up with a wish-list draft of what the COP15 political agreement on climate change should look like.
When one discounts the rumour mill it can clearly be seen that a New World Order is not in the offing and the World Bank is not in charge of the One Ring To Rule Them All.
That the 'big boys' at the United Nations table want to steer outcomes shouldn't come as a shock - it happens at every big UN conference and the smaller countries as a bloc are quite capable of forestalling the more offensive measures proposed as these tensions play out both within the conference and outside for the media's benefit.
Did anyone really expect the biggest emitters, as well as those countries which have historically benefited most from the Industrial Revolution, to not try to pass responsibility onto others while keeping their own national climate change commitments fluid?
Time to remember that this agreement when it comes is not legally binding and, is cynically only for show as business goes on as usual for multinational corporations and global industries.
Here is what the draft actually states about finance:
19. Substantially scaled up financial resources will be needed to address mitigation, adaptation, technology and capacity building. It is essential to strengthen the international financial architecture for assisting the developing countries in dealing with climate change and to improve access to financial support. Resources will derive from multiple sources and flow through multiple bilateral and multilateral channels.
20. The Parties share the view that the strengthened financial architecture should be able to handle gradually scaled up international public support. International public finance support to developing countries [should/shall] reach the order of [X] billion USD in 2020 on the basis of appropriate increases in mitigation and adaptation efforts by developing countries.
21. The Parties confirm climate financing committed under this agreement as new and additional resources that supplement existing international public financial flows otherwise available for developing countries in support of poverty alleviation and the continued progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. In this regard:
- Developed country parties commit to deliver upfront public financing for 2010-201[2] corresponding on average to [10] billion USD annually for early action, capacity building, technology and strengthening adaptation and mitigation readiness in developing countries as set forth in Attachment C;
- From [2013] The Parties commit to regularly review appropriateness of contributions and the circle of contributors against indicators of fairness based on GDP and emissions levels and taking into account the level of development as set forth in Attachment C.
22. Recalling article 4 of the Convention, Parties decide that a Climate Fund be established as an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism of the Convention, which should function under the guidance of and be accountable to the COP as set forth in article 11 of the Convention. The Fund should be operated by a board with balanced representation, which will develop the operational guidelines for the Fund and decide on specific allocation to programmes and projects. The COP will formally elect members of the Fund Board and endorse the operational guidelines and modalities for the Fund. The Fund should complement and maximise global efforts to fight climate change through up-scaled support for climate efforts in the developing countries, including mitigation, adaptation, technology and capacitybuilding. Support from the Fund may be channeled through multilateral institutions or directly to national entities based on agreed criteria. Parties commit to allocate an initial amount of [$x] to the Fund as part of their international public climate support. Medium term funding should be based on a share of no less than [y%] of the overall international public support. Parties decide to operationalise the work of the Fund following the modalities set forth inannex/decision [Y].
23. In the context of the commitment in paragraph [14] Parties commit to global financing contributions from international aviation and international maritime transport generated through instruments developed and implemented by the ICAO and IMO respectively should be channeled through the Climate Fund from [2013], [mainly for adaption purposes], taking into account the principle of common but differentiated responsibility.
24. To enhance transparency and overview The Parties decide to establish an International Climate Financing Board under the UNFCCC to monitor and review international financing for climate action and in this context identify any gaps and imbalances in the international financing for mitigation and adaptation actions that may arise. The Board will consist of [x] representatives from developed countries and [y] representatives from developing countries.
[Z] Representatives from international institutions will participate in the Board as permanent observers. Decision making will be by consensus. [If all efforts to reach a compromise have been exhausted and no agreement has been reached, decisions shall be taken by a two-thirds majority]. The UNFCCC Secretariat will serve as secretariat for the International Climate Financing Board. Parties endorse the further guidelines as set out in attachment D and decision X7/CP.15.
Full text here courtesy of Wikileaks.