South Australia backs down on Internet censorship during state election campaigns

AdelaideNow... had great fun publishing this after the Internet went wild.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Michael Atkinson has made a "humiliating" backdown and announced he will retrospectively repeal his law censoring internet comment on the state election.
After a furious reaction on AdelaideNow to The Advertiser's exclusive report on the new laws, Mr Atkinson at 10pm released this statement: "From the feedback we've received through AdelaideNow, the blogging generation believes that the law supported by all MPs and all political parties is unduly restrictive. I have listened.
"I will immediately after the election move to repeal the law retrospectively."
Mr Atkinson said the law would not be enforced for comments posted on AdelaideNow during the upcoming election campaign, even though it was technically applicable.

Anonymous and Proud
Northern Rivers

Guest Speak is a North Coast Voices segment allowing serious or satirical comment from NSW Northern Rivers residents.
Email ncvguestpeak at live dot com dot au to submit comment for consideration.

Is this the view from your Northern Beaches unit? Mapping predicted seal level rise (6)

Is this the view from your brand new Northern Beaches unit?

This is your immediate neighbourhood

with a 1 metre sea level rise

Is your considerable financial investment safe?

This posts displays a current photograph and Google Earth mapping showing the effects of a 1 metre sea level rise on a residential area of the New South Wales coast, which would see the beach eroded and sea water possibly reaching some of the residential back boundaries during storm surges.The 2009 Federal Government report Climate Change Risks to Australia's Coasts contains a 'worst case' scenario involving a 1.1 metre sea level rise along the NSW coast sometime within the next 90 years.

Apology - due to a clumsy cut and past the wrong information initially appeared below the images. It has now been corrected.

Clarence Valley Woman of the Year 2010 - Julia Young

Clarence electorate Woman of the Year Julia Young at Monday's presentation.

Julia Young lives her life by the mantra 'it is better to give than to receive'. But last night the Lower Clarence mental health advocate's commitment to helping others received the recognition it deserves when she was named the Clarence electorate Woman of the Year. [The Daily Examiner, 2 February 2010]

Congratulations, Julia - you deserve this public recognition from the community.

Did a decade under Howard's thumb finally drive the Liberal Party insane?

"It's an important issue but even if dire predictions are right and average temperatures around the globe rise by four degrees over the century, it's still not the 'great moral challenge' of our time - as Mr Rudd has described it on 14 occasions - let alone the 'greatest' moral challenge of our time - as Mr Rudd has described it at least four times," Mr Abbott said.
"Adapting to changing rainfall patterns, for example, will be hard but it won't supplant the threat of war, injustice, disease and want as the biggest problems with which humanity must grapple."

Well, colour me astounded! Here I was thinking that an increase in global temperature of 4° Celsius would spell disaster for continuity of land tenure, food production and water supplies around the world over the next 100 years and beyond, leading to "war, injustice, disease and want".
Now Opposition Leader Tony Abbott informs me that adapting to climate change is not really one of the "biggest problems with which humanity must grapple".
The man is seriously alarming. I know it's been said before, but is the Liberal Party descending into an intractable psychosis from which it will never recover?
Or did John Howard's leadership up to 2007 merely paper over the madness?

Anon
Sawtell

Guest Speak is a North Coast Voices segment allowing serious or satirical comment from NSW Northern Rivers residents. Email ncvguestpeak at live dot com dot au to submit comment for consideration.