Correction: Gulaptis DID speak in the debate, but ...

This corrrespondent has a confession to make. Just after 5.20pm yesterday the phone rang at my place and my attention was diverted away from the parliamentary webcast of proceedings in the NSW Legislative Chamber where the Road Transport Legislation Amendment (Offender Nomination) Bill was up for debate.

Consequently, the contributions made to the debate by two north coast National Party MPs, Geoff Provest (Tweed) and Chris Gulaptis (Clarence), were broadcast to an empty room at my place.

Hansard shows Provest spoke at 5.24pm followed by Gulaptis at 5.34pm and then Tony Issa (Liberal MP for Granville) at 5.42pm.

What was interesting about the contributions Provest and Gulaptis made to the debate wasn't their support for the bill (that was a given) but a couple of other things.

Provest:
I mentioned that Sextons Hill is a number one black spot. Yesterday the new southbound lanes were opened. There has been argument about this issue but I will set the record straight. That project is about to be finished, at a total cost of $359 million. The Federal Government contributed $349 million and the New South Wales Government contributed $10 million. That verifies previous arrangements.

Gulaptis:
If companies do the right thing and nominate the offending driver, they will avoid facing additional penalties. These legislative measures are directed at companies that do not do the right thing, and we know who they are.

While Provest came clean in relation to funding for the Sextons Hill project, Gulaptis left a void that could easily have been filled. Why didn't the Member for Clarence name and shame the companies he knows that are not doing the right thing?

Will Clarence MP speak up?

Yesterday in the NSW Legislative Assembly the Road Transport Legislation Amendment (Offender Nomination) Bill had another airing. The Bill is designed primarily to get companies to reveal the identity of persons driving their vehicles when they are guilty of road camera offences.

Proceedings in the chamber made for interesting viewing via the parliamentary webcast.

However, this viewer was disappointed one local MP, Chris Gulaptis, Member for Clarence didn't push himself forward and remind the house that his very presence in that place was due to a parallel act of skulduggery committed by his predecessor, the disgraced former Member for Clarence, Steve Cansdell.

Government members queued to speak and support the bill, but Mark Coure, the Liberal Member for Oatley, said it all by remarking that companies had to stop implementing the deliberate ploy of shielding their offending drivers by not nominating them and having them take responsibility for the offences.

Perhaps, if he had the chance to do it all over again, Cansdell could have obtained an ABN and used a company car whenever he risked going within lens reach of those !@#! road cameras.

Coal Seam Gas in Australia: Is the CSIRO helping the mining industry 'manage' the debate?

If it the issue wasn’t so serious for the NSW North Coast it would have been amusing to see this in The Daily Examiner state on 28 March 2012:

We asked the Australian Science Media Centre if it could provide us with information not coloured by vested interests and it provided us with a briefing by Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance director Dr Peter Stone, University of Newcastle coal geologist and sedimentary petrologist Dr Judy Bailey and CSIRO petroleum and geothermal portfolio director Dr Edson Nakagawa.

Not coloured by vested interests is a big claim to make considering that the CSIRO is no longer the dependable, disinterested source it used to be given the number of commercial relationships it has developed over the years.

The CSIRO itself is very open about its wealth creation aims:

So let us start with the Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance.

This is ABC Rural on 13 July 2011:

A commonwealth scientific body and a coal seam gas company have today announced a $14 million dollar joint research venture.

The Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance or GISERA is between the CSIRO and Australia Pacific LNG.

CSIRO's deputy chief of Ecosystem Sciences Dr Peter Stone says it'll draw scientific contributions from all across the country.

He says he hopes more of the industry's companies will come on board.

Australia Pacific LNG is a coal seam gas producer and GISERA appears to act as a R&D agent for the oil and gas industry, which may eventually lead to a widespread public perception that it is riddled with conflicts of interest.

Where does Dr Peter Stone fit into this scenario?

Dr. Stone has a background in crop and food research and an interest in land management. One has to hope that he has no vested interest in relation to mining. However, at best he appears ambivilant.

This article High risk demands stronger regulation of mining projects in The Australian on 26 November 2011 does not reassure as it begins:

WHEN CSIRO scientist Peter Stone briefed federal MPs and staff on coal-seam gas earlier this month, those in the room with some understanding of the likely effects were taken aback by his low-risk characterisation of the mammoth CSG projects that involved 40,000 production wells in southeast Queensland.

What about Dr Judy Bailey?

Well, her University of Newcastle profile shows minimum involvement with mining companies – except for the Orica Australia "Mineral sequestration in the Great Serpentine Belt, NSW" 2008 $6,500 funding grant – so it is easier to see her as an independent voice.

As for Dr Edson Nakagawa?

Dr. Edson is apparently a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and prior to joining the CSIRO apparently spent twenty years working for Petrobas in Brazil, starting in 1980. Petrobas has shown an interest in Australia and, also appears to use CSIRO technology in its operations overseas.

His current role is focussed on the development and deployment of tools, technology and knowledge to advanced petroleum exploration, conventional and unconventional gas production, alternative transport fuels and the demonstration of geothermal energy in Australia according to the introduction to December 2011 Australian Science Media Centre briefing.
A profile which does not inspire confidence in his objectivity.

The Daily Examiner attempted a balanced article. It was unfortunate that it wasn't alert to problems with its less than discriminating referral source, the Australian Science Media Centre. At least the newspaper ended the article with links (originally inert):

For a full transcript of the briefing, go to aussmc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/coal-seam-gas-briefing-1-transcript.pdf or to hear the presentation, go to aussmc.org/2011/12/background-briefing-getting-your-head-around-coal-seam-gas.

So you can judge the views of these individuals for yourselves and, whether you think they are likely to say one thing to regional journalists and another to government decision makers.
Whether any GISERA formal report will have a predestined pro-mining conclusion irrespective of what the science is actually saying.

Oopps! Another banana skin for the unwary Australian politician

All around the world pollies past and present are looking investor embarrassment in the face, including U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney who has  mountain of moolah earning interest over at Goldman Sachs in its many manifestations.

But none more so than Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, Australia’s Federal Opposition Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband.

He of course was Chairman and Managing Director of Goldman Sachs Australia from 1997 to 2001 and a Partner in Goldman Sachs and Co from 1998 to 2001. In 2012 he still has money invested with Goldman Sachs private equity funds, probably including GS Capital Partners V1.

Which means he was well and truly in the frame when Goldman Sachs (through its private equity fund GS Capital Partners III) purchased a 16% share in Backpage.com in 2000.

Village Voice Media Holdings now owns Backpage and Goldman Sachs is selling its share because this website has just been outed as a forum abetting the sex-trafficking of underage girls.

Goldman Sachs has all but admitted that it knew in 2010 what the website was being used for – long before the New York Times report on 31^st March this year.

This letter lists a number of U.S. sex trafficking and child prostitution court cases in which Backpage features and mention of cases involving adults or children going back to 2009-10 can be found on the Internet – including this video.

Chris Gulaptis votes against IR fairness

It has long been known in the Clarence electorate that its new NSW Nationals MP ‘Steve’ Gulaptis was an ardent supporter of Work Choices.

In fact, when he was a Clarence Valley Shire councillor he wanted to introduce some of its worst features into local government conditions of employment. As a member of the O’Farrell Government he maintains his desire to make life difficult for ordinary workers.

On 2 April 2012 he voted for the Retail Trading Amendment Bill 2012 which in practice will allow a wider numbers of employers in New South Wales to pressure full-time, part-time and/or casual staff to work on a restricted trading day, Boxing Day, and in certain circumstances possibly have to work on Christmas Day when the business is not open to customers.

Brickbats to this out of touch MP who once declared "Northern Rivers residents moved to the region accepting they would be paid lower wages as part of the trade-off for living in one of the most desirable parts of Australia".

Abbott the Boastful forgets his own Medicare safety net history

The Daily Telegraph reported on 1 April 2012 that: Senior Gillard government ministers have confirmed that while "no final decisions have been made" the government is considering a nip and tuck to the generous Medicare safety net that has faced multi-million-dollar cost blowouts.

Also on 1 April Opposition leader Tony Abbott told 9 News:  "The Medicate safety net was put in place by me. I have the copyright on the Medicare safety net. It is very, very good policy and it should not be further damaged by this government."

This is a typically inaccurate statement by Abbott. There was a safety net written into the Australian Medicare universal health care scheme before he became Federal Minister for Health and Ageing in the Howard Coalition Government. A position he held from 7 October 2003 until 3 December 2007.

In 2003 the existing safety net thresholds were $306.90 for concession card holders and other low income families, and $716.10 for all other families and individuals, indexed annually.

In November 2003 the Extended Medicare Safety Net was proposed. It came into effect in March 2004 and, provided for safety net thresholds of $300 for concession card holders and low income families and $700 for all other individuals and families. In other words, after thresholds had been reached Medicare paid for 80% of any future out-of-pocket costs for out-of-hospital Medicare services for the remainder of the calendar year.

In the lead up to the October 2004 federal election Health Minister Abbott was interviewed by ABC TV Four Corners on 6 September and gave a guarantee that the safety net threshold would not be changed:

TICKY FULLERTON: Will this Government commit to keeping the Medicare-plus-safety-net as it is now in place after the election?
TONY ABBOTT: Yes.
TICKY FULLERTON: That's a cast-iron commitment?
TONY ABBOTT: Cast-iron commitment. Absolutely.
TICKY FULLERTON, REPORTER: 80 per cent of out-of-pocket expenses rebatable over $300, over $700?
TONY ABBOTT: That is an absolutely rock solid, ironclad commitment.

However, just six months later in April 2005 the Howard Government was announcing that Medicare Safety Net threshold levels would increase from $306.90 to $500 for concession card holders and other low income families, and from $716.10 to $1000 for all other families and individuals from 1 January 2006.

In that same month the Howard Government provided figures showing a further increase in projected Safety Net expenditure and the Prime Minister told ABC radio that if the current threshold levels were maintained, the cost of the Safety Net would be $1.65 billion over the next four years (to 30 June 2009)—almost four times the original projections.

By 1 January 2007 Tony Abbott had again raised the safety net thresholds to $358.90 (from $345.50) for the Original Safety Net category and $519.50 (from $500.00) for the lower Extended Safety Net category and $1,039.00 (from $1,000.00) for the upper category.

All of which can hardly be characterized as Howard or Abbott being fiscally responsible in relation to health care policy and doesn’t support Abbott’s present boastful tone.

For the record. Under the Gillard Labor Government Medicare benefits for out-of-hospital services are usually 80-85 per cent of the schedule fee, except for GP consultations where the Medicare rebate is 100 per cent of the schedule fee.

In 2012 the Original Safety Net threshold for all Medicare card holders is $413.50 and the Extended Medicare Safety Net threshold for concession cardholders and people who receive Family Tax Benefits (Part A) is $562.90. For all other singles and families the annual threshold is $1,198.

Two good reasons why you should stop buying chocolate, icecream, frozen desserts, biscuits, crisps or soap and shampoo products made with palm oil

According to Barbi this Orangutan mother was captured stealing fruit for her undernourished infant.
You can feel proud the next time you put a chocolate bar, ice cream cone, slice of cheescake, sweet biscuit or handful of crisps in your mouth, shower with a soap bar or shampoo your hair from the usual range of toiletry products.