The beauty of ephemeral art

From the studio of Anna-Wili Highfield
these sensitive paper sculptures of Australian wildlife.

Seahorse

Barn Owl

Brown Warbler

Australia's Clean Energy Legislation Public Consultation, 28 July – 22 August 2011

Federal Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency:

The submission period is open from Thursday, 28 July – Monday, 22 August 2011. Submissions are invited from all interested stakeholders.

The purpose of this public engagement process is to confirm that the draft bills implement the announced policy and that they do not, as drafted, create any uncertainties, ambiguities or risks of unintended consequences. The Government has also released draft commentaries on the bills, and seeks views as to whether they clearly explain the content of the bills.

How to make a submission

Complete a submission cover sheet (DOC 99 KB)
Prepare your submission. Preferred format is Adobe PDF
Email your cover sheet and submission to cleanenergybills@climatechange.gov.au
Alternatively, post your submission to:
Carbon Price Legislation Branch
Carbon Strategy and Markets Division
Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
GPO Box 854
CANBERRA ACT 2601

Draft legislation**

Clean Energy Bill 2011
Clean Energy (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011
Clean Energy Regulator Bill 2011
Climate Change Authority Bill 2011
Clean Energy (Unit Shortfall charge—General) Bill 2011
Clean Energy (Unit Issue Charge—General) Bill 2011
Clean Energy (Charges—Excise) Bill 2011
Clean Energy (International Unit Surrender Charge) Bill 2011
Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Manufacture Levy) Amendment Bill 2011
Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Import Levy) Amendment Bill 2011
Fuel Tax Legislation Amendment (Clean Energy) Bill 2011
Excise Tariff Legislation Amendment (Clean Energy) Bill 2011
Customs Tariff Amendment (Clean Energy) Bill 2011
Note: The legislation to implement household assistance in relation to the carbon price will not be exposed in draft.

**At the time of posting not all secondary DCC&EE links were functioning. Hopefully that will be rectified soon.

How low did Lamo go?

Sometime around 21 May 2010 self-identified hacker Adrian Lamo and Bradley Manning began a series of private online conversations. These chats Lamo reported to the FBI , then allegedly sent a full log of these conversations to WIRED and subsequently gave numerous media interviews embellishing his storyline.

Two entries in a three-day transcript from the alleged full log titled Manning’s alleged chat logs diff at CablegateSearch:

(10:23:34 AM) info@adrianlamo.com: I’m a journalist and a minister. You can pick either, and treat this as a confession or an interview (never to be published) & enjoy a modicum of legal protection.
(1:55:10 PM) info@adrianlamo.com: i told you, none of this is for print.

In a much earlier interview on 1 December 2001 Lamo answered the question What is your real name?:

Adrian Lamo. . if you want to be technical, its the Doctor Reverend Adrian A. Lamo, Ph.D . . Doctor of Divinity and minister through the Universal Life Church, the grandma of all diploma mills everywhere. . .i don’t take those seriously, and don’t expect anyone else to, but i put them on my resume and my business cards to make a point of my disdain for the certification and educational process.

Earlier yet in 2003 he allegedly admits to drug abuse.

To date I can find no evidence that he was a bona fide journalist.

This is Salon commentator Glenn Greenwald’s opinion on 14 July 2011:

In sum, the full chat logs -- in particular the parts Wired concealed for over a year -- prove that Adrian Lamo is a serial liar whose claims are inherently unreliable. But Wired's selective editing prevented this from being proven -- served to shield from critical scrutiny the person the BBC accurately described as Poulsen's "long-time associate" -- and thus enabled Lamo to run around for a full year masquerading as a reliable source, making claims that were fabrications and driving much of the reporting about the Manning and WikiLeaks investigations. Enabling false claims to be disseminated to the public on a vital news story -- by withholding plainly relevant information that proves those claims false -- is the opposite of the purpose of journalism, as is needlessly withholding key context to the events one is purporting to describe; yet that's exactly what Wired did here, and continued to do despite growing calls for the release of this information.

Saffin welcomes $154,000 boost for Page electorate tourism

 

Federal Member for Page Janelle Saffin today announced TQUAL Grants totalling $154,000 for two quality tourism projects in Ballina Shire and the Clarence Valley.

Ms Saffin said Alstonville’s House With No Steps will receive $110,000 for its Farm Gate Tractor Tour, and Clarence Valley Council $44,000 for its Clarence BOOST project.

“The $110,000 will go towards constructing a 30-minute tractor ride tour over the House With No Steps’ 172-acre property – the first of its kind for our region,” Ms Saffin said.

“This tour, with signage educating tourists about local history, farming and Northern Rivers food, is set to become a major tourist drawcard.

“The House With No Steps employs up to 90 people with disabilities, and the Farm Gate Tractor Tour will further enhance this iconic tourist attraction and the great work it does.”

Ms Saffin congratulated Clarence Valley Council on its Clarence BOOST project which aims to show tourism operators how to compete in an experience-driven world.

“The council’s TQUAL grant will pay for consulting services to develop skills and capacity building at Clarence BOOST,” Ms Saffin said.

“Clarence BOOST is a boot camp for the Valley’s tourism community – operators, stakeholders, agencies and local residents.

“The project aims to help the Clarence tourism community to play its part in building a sustainable regional tourism future.”

Ms Saffin said the projects were among 117 to receive a total of $8.5 million in Australian Government funding in the latest round of TQUAL Grants.

With dollar-for-dollar matching investment from tourism operators, this funding round represents at least $17 million in new tourism investment nationwide.

Details of grant recipients and the competitive selection process is at www.ret.gov.au/tqual

[Media Release from the Office of Janelle Saffin MP, Page Electorate, Tuesday, July 26, 2011]