Will you help these humpback whales in August 2010?

Arne Fleisher's photograph of Humpback Whale from Greenland.com

A copy of the International Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society email set out below was sent to me yesterday.

These whales may be in distant waters to their Southern Ocean cousins, but their plight still deserves equal consideration by all of us here in the Northern Rivers and across the rest of Australia:

Please protest and help us stop Greenland's humpback hunt.

Greenland's whalers could begin to kill humpback whales at any moment – please help us stop them.

In June the IWC agreed to allow Greenland to kill nine humpback whales a year and according to IWC rules, the hunt would start in mid-October. But WDCS has learnt that Greenland's government has given in to the whalers and will allow them to start much sooner, before the whales leave Greenland's shores to migrate to the warm waters of the Caribbean to breed.

Please will you write to Greenland's Prime Minister to protest? Our e-protest will only take you a few seconds.

A lottery system was used to decide which whalers could go out and kill these charismatic and intelligent animals - treating their lives like prizes in a raffle.

The two whaling boats that won this bloody prize-draw plan to set sail any day. If they kill any humpbacks before October 13th they will violate the IWC's rules, but their government is asking other countries for 'understanding'.

We don't want them to kill these animals at all; we don't believe that Greenland has demonstrated a genuine subsistence need to do so and we are horrified that now they plan to flaunt the agreement and go out hunting early.

WDCS recently went undercover in Greenland and found that so-called subsistence whalers are hunting 'to order' for a commercial processing company and selling whale meat to up market restaurants and tourist hotels. It's heartbreaking that these whales, who are worth far more alive to Greenland's growing tourism industry, may instead soon be found vacuum-sealed and frozen on supermarket shelves.

Please will you write to Greenland's Prime Minister to protest?.

If you are on Facebook, you can post a polite message to the Greenland prime minister's wall. Just click on this link to go to his page, then 'Like' him (this will enable you to post). Then post the following, or words to this effect:

Even though the International Whaling Commission has decided to allow Greenland to hunt humpback whales, we urge you not to permit the hunt to start. These amazing animals are vital to Greenland's growing whale watching industry and its economy as a whole, and are worth far more alive than dead. Please do not permit the hunt to start.

Thank you.

Sue Fisher

WDCS anti-whaling campaign manager

That's not democracy!

Now let me get this straight. Four independent candidates I never had the remotest opportunity to cast a vote for and who never presented policy or promises to the people in the national federal election campaign (except in their own electorates), now want to dictate who will form government and the way in which the Australian Parliament will operate from now on.
Fark me dead! Someone's having a lend of themselves.
That's not democracy - that's oligarchy.
And that's not on as far as I'm concerned.
Turn those braying asses back into their stalls, reprint the ballot papers and send us all to the polls once again.

Media wrap & latest vote tally on Wednesday morning, 25 August 2010

AEC Virtual Tally Room
Click on image to enlarge

Across Australia 14,088,260 electors enrolled to vote.
Currently 78.76% of the primary vote has been counted representing 11,000,292 electors.
The two party preferred count is 75.85% complete.
A total of 1,935,933 declation votes were issued, including postal, prepoll and absentee ballots.
619,905 informal votes were recorded.

This morning's reports on the scramble for a minority government, with Tony Abbott using the media to push his cause:

Independents set for long haul Sydney Morning Herald‎
'If they were good for the bush, I'm a Martian astronaut.'... Bob Katter said that during their 12 years in power the Coalition had done little for rural voters. Photo: Nicolas Walker THE three independents holding the key to who will govern the nation...
Greens will control ALP, says Abbott The Australian ‎
Independents Bob Katter, left, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott meet in Parliament House. Picture: Gary Ramage Source: The Australian TONY Abbott has warned that the Australian Greens would virtually control a minority Labor government...
Abbott's plea to independent MPs The Age ‎
With three seats still in doubt nationally, all eyes are on Hasluck for a result that may decide which party can form government. TONY Abbott, a renowned parliamentary head kicker, has promised a ''kinder, gentler polity'' if he becomes prime minister...
Abbott to drive gentle bargain to kingmakers ABC News
An Abbott government would be prepared to introduce a new, backbench-only Question Time and expose more of its ministers - even Tony Abbott himself - to the rough-and-tumble of the budget estimates process, the Coalition will tell crossbench MPs this week...
Rural MPs may finally meet leaders News.com.au
THREE rural independents who could decide Australia's next prime minister are formulating a roadmap to power which they'll present to both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott...
Gillard has the real call, not Bryce‎ The Australian
Power to incumbent if count tied: Fraser The Australian
Oakeshott pushes unity government vision The Australian ‎

Provisional voters reminded to provide their evidence of identity to AEC by Friday 27 August 2010 to make their vote count

From Australian Electoral Commission media release 24 August 2010:

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is reminding all voters who cast a provisional vote on election day Saturday 21 August and didn't provide evidence of identity on the day, that they have until Friday 27 August to fulfil this requirement.

Electoral Commissioner, Ed Killesteyn said that voters may have cast a provisional vote on election day because their name or address could not be found on the list of voters or it appeared their name had already been marked off.

"The AEC must receive evidence of identity from provisional voters by 5pm on Friday 27 August 2010 or their vote cannot be counted," said Mr Killesteyn.

On election day a 'voter advice document' was provided to each voter who cast a provisional vote without providing an accepted form of identity. The document informed them of their obligation to provide evidence of their identity by this Friday.

These voters can visit an AEC office to show an accepted evidence of identity document or they can mail a photocopy of the document, provided it has been sighted and signed by an authorised person, to an AEC office.

Please note this requirement only applies to voters who cast a provisional vote on election day and did not provide evidence of identity on the day – and does not apply to any other voter.

Provisional votes are only counted after a careful check of enrolment records are made to confirm the provisional voter's eligibility.

For the addresses of AEC divisional offices, visit the Contact the AEC page or call the AEC on 13 23 26.

First Dog articulates our common fear.....

First Dog on the Moon reminds us that it will all inevitably happen again -AAAARRRRGGGHHH!

A bit about First Dog

Click on cartoon to enlarge

It's begun. Liberals attempt to smear Australian Governor-General in hope that state governor will have to decide next federal government

Media Statement 23 August 2010

Click to enlarge

Saturday's federal election vote count was not even finished for the night when the first whispered attempts to discredit Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce began in an effort to have her stand aside, presumably in favour of NSW Governor Marie Bashir (current holder of dormant commission as Administrator of the Commonwealth), in the event of a hung parliament being confirmed by the Australian Electoral Commission.

Though why the Coalition appears to believe that Governor Bashir would be more amenable to inviting Abbott to form a government is unclear at this point. Perhaps the ease with which she was spooked by tabloid newspaper The Daily Telegraph earlier this year has fostered some hope in Liberal breasts that she might cave under pressure.

While Tony Abbott is keeping his head below the parapet for now, yesterday the art of the sly smear was being practiced by Liberal Party donor and mining magnate Clive Palmer:

MINING magnate and government critic Clive Palmer has questioned the role of Governor-General Quentin Bryce in determining whether Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott is allowed to form a government.
Ms Bryce's daughter Chloe Bryce is married to ALP powerbroker Bill Shorten, who was instrumental in Ms Gillard toppling Kevin Rudd for the prime ministership.
''We need to make sure that the Governor-General is totally impartial,'' Mr Palmer told The Age. ''If the Governor-General finds she can't be impartial, she should stand down and they should get someone else to fulfil that role.''

In response to this and other speculation in the media Government House released this brief statement:

The Governor-General is seeking advice on concerns raised about her personal position in the current political circumstances.

It's almost a given that sometime in the next three weeks Abbott will be at the Court of Disputed Returns and the Federal Court trying to claw back as many seats as he can in order to form government in his own right; but what is also highly probable is that should either Bryce or Bashir issue that all important invitation to Julia Gillard instead of to him, Abbott will go straight to the High Court asking that the decision be overturned and then a constitutional crisis really will be upon us all.

It wouldn't surprise me if Abbott is rather relying on a national cringe at the thought of a prolonged Coalition dummy spit of this kind (argumented by motions of no confidence and 2008-style disruptive antics in the House once Parliament begins another term) when he argues that the return of a Gillard Government would destabilize the political landscape.

Hogan no hero in Page

The Northern Star 23 August 2010:

KEVIN HOGAN'S eyes were red-rimmed and his movements terse as he watched results pour in from across the Page electorate.

The people had spoken and it took Mr Hogan and his Page Nationals colleagues less than two hours to work out what they had said: "We want Janelle Saffin."

After nearly 10 months of hard campaigning by Mr Hogan, his wife Karen, and even their children, it was a difficult message to hear, but he said he would do it all again in a flash.

Speaking after his 8pm call conceding defeat to his Labor opponent, Mr Hogan said running in the campaign had been a 'great personal experience'.