Quote of the Week

For my part, I’ve never met a national politician as ill informed, as deceptive, as evasive and as vacuous as Trump. He’s not normal. 

[Journalist Nicholas Kristof writing in The New York Times, 15 September 2016]

The United Nations clearly recognises that Coalition prime ministers may have changed but the Australian Government continues to be a bad international citizen

Then……

Australian Prime Minister John Anthony "Tony" Abbott

69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, 25 September 2014

Speaking to a near empty hall

Now……

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Bligh Turnbull

71^st Session of United Nations General Assembly in New York, 22 September 2016

Speaking to a near empty hall

South Australian motorists are wondering why their NSW cousins have a workable Fuel Check and they do not

One of North Coast Voices South Australian readers alerted us to this.

CHRISTMAS 2015…..

ABC News, 24 December 2015:

Motorists will soon have access to the same petrol price information as retailers, under a deal brokered by the competition watchdog.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has reached agreement with petrol price information service Informed Sources and four major petrol retailers to make almost real-time data available to motorists.

Currently, the retailers have exclusive access to information about petrol price moves within 15-30 minutes of when they occur through Informed Sources.

Under the deal, Informed Sources will make the same information available to consumers for free and to third parties on commercial terms.

The ACCC's chairman Rod Sims told ABC News that this will facilitate improved competition amongst petrol retailers.

"Consumers will have the information to shop and get the best deal, that will improve competition on the ground," he argued.

"Secondly, ourselves and motoring organisations and others will be able to see exactly what's going on, who's leading prices up, who's leading prices down."

See: Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), Petrol price information sharing proceedings resolved

IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA JUST ON 9 MONTHS LATER……

RAA, media release, 17 September 2016:

Site specific fuel prices will no longer be available via RAA’s website due to a deal struck by the ACCC, and it could cost motorists up to $24 a tank when filling up. 

RAA Senior Manager Mobility & Automotive Policy Mark Borlace said the agreement comes into effect from today. 

“At the moment we receive site specific fuel prices for Adelaide twice a day, and we share that information with motorists via our website,” said Mr Borlace. 

“We also use the data to monitor price trends day-to-day, which allows us to notify motorists when a price spike is imminent, just as we did this week when prices spiked +27cpl. 

“As of today, we are only able to provide a daily average price for fuel in Adelaide, which is significantly inferior to what motorists have benefited from via our website for more than a decade.” 

Using RAA’s website, on occasion Adelaide petrol motorists could spot as much as a 40cpl variation in prices between the best and worst sites. 

“Using this information, Adelaide motorists would have saved anywhere between $12 and $24 per 60L tank over the past year,” said Mr Borlace. 

“If motorists are left to rely on street price boards, they won’t be able to see the ‘bigger picture’ to decide which route to take on any given day to get the best deal on fuel.” 

RAA is disappointed that motorists will not be able to get reliable site-specific fuel price information online as a consequence of the ACCC’s deal with the fuel industry, and has called on the State Government to take action. 

“Earlier this year, New South Wales introduced legislation that compels every fuel retailer to report their fuel prices in real-time to a government agency who provides this to the public free of charge without any restrictions,” said Mr Borlace. 

“Not only would an initiative like this allow motorists to find the cheapest prices, it also means we could continue to scrutinise the fuel industry and enhance competition amongst retailers who have to compete with a good price to attract customers.” 

RAA will continue to investigate all avenues to cater for motorists’ needs when it comes to purchasing fuel. 

“Limited pricing information is available via a number of smartphone apps but these offerings do not reliably tell motorists where to find the cheapest fuel,” said Mr Borlace. 

“We’re also concerned that by only providing fuel prices in one format, it disadvantages over half of our members who don’t use smartphone apps. These people are generally the most sensitive to fuel price movements and would benefit most from knowing where to find the cheapest prices. 

“In reality, most motorists will be left in the dark when it comes to fuel prices due to the ACCC’s agreement with the fuel industry.” 

SA Fuel price information is available at raa.com.au/fuel

South Australia’s Deputy Premier John Rau has allegedly told the RAA that it would be too expensive to change the law to make releasing the petrol price information legal.

What's in a name?

What do Michael Nicholas Felson formerly known as Nikytas Nicholas Petroulias and United Land Councils Pty Limited have in common?

They have both used this address in New Zealand - 1173 Motueka Valley Highway, Motueka 7196, New Zealand - as their residential or business address.

Motueka River Lodge

1173 Motueka Valley Highway, Motueka, New Zealand

What do these individuals have in common besides the name "Nicholas" and why are people asking that question?

Nicholas Peterson and Michael Nicholas Felson, formerly Nikytas Nicholas Petroulias.

Perhaps a North Coast Voices reader has the answer to this particular little mystery and will enlighten us all. 

Looking back on the Abbott-Heydon politically motivated fizzer

Professor John Quiggin writing at johnquiggin.com, 10 September 2016:

When Dyson Heydon delivered the report of the Royal Commissioner into Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, he claimed that his findings represented “the tip of the iceberg”. At the time, I commented that, given nearly $50 million of public money and lengthy hearings with the exceptional powers of a Royal Commission, the Australian public was entitled to expect the whole iceberg.

It turns out that I was too charitable. In the months since the Commission reported, a string of the charges he recommended have been thrown out or withdrawn In fact, six months later, there has only been one conviction, resulting in a suspended sentence. The only big fish to be caught since the establishment of Heydon’s star chamber has been the Commission’s own star witness, Kathy Jackson.

And the bills keep coming in. The last budget allocated $6 million more for the AFP-Victorian Police taskforce, which currently has outstanding cases against a grand total of six unionists. By contrast, taskforce Argo in Queensland, focused on child exploitation, has a budget of $3 million.

For another contrast, here are a few of the cases of alleged wage fraud, misappropriation of worker entitlements and so on that have emerged since Heydon’s Commission was launched: 7-11 ( million underpayment), Queensland Nickel, Pizza Hut, Myers and Spotless, and lots of small employers in the agricultural sector. That’s on top of the general run of sharp practice, environmental vandalism, market rigging, and dubious practices of all kinds.

It would be absurd to deny the existence of corrupt union officials and, though it is much rarer, systemic corruption, as in the case of the Health Services Union. But the continued failure of a massively expensive, politically motivated inquisition to turn up more than a handful of cases suggests that the problems are isolated, and that the real drive is to attack unions for doing the job of representing workers.

Some thoughts on the Clarence Valley Council mayoral election on 27 September 2016

The Daily Examiner, Letter to the Editor, 19 September 2016, p.11:

Heal the distrust

Well the results of the Clarence Valley local government election have been announced and while congratulating each of the nine councillors, I feel that some facts should be noted.

Firstly, only two of the councillors seeking re-election this September increased their first preference vote tally over that received in the 2012 council election. These were Karen Toms and Jim Simmons.

Of course one re-elected councillor had no yardstick with which to measure performance, as he was elected unopposed in a 2015 by-election and this was the first time he had to face the Clarence Valley electorate.

If those underperforming re-elected councillors are genuinely seeking to adequately represent residents and ratepayers over the next four years, they need to lift their game - and a good way to start would be to avoid attempting to explain away a demonstrable level of unpopularity by erroneously blaming "scare" campaigns or a difficult election campaign.

Most Clarence Valley voters are not fools, and underperformance along with a growing lack of connection with the electorate had been noticed for years, not just during the election campaign.

Secondly, in addition to the reduced incumbent vote, the large candidate field and the successful election of three new faces appears to indicate a desire on the part of the valley electorate for a change of style and approach.

As all nine councillors will soon be meeting to vote in the mayor and deputy mayor, I would hope that at least four councillors will nominate for each position so that there is a genuine choice to be considered.

This month offers a chance for councillors to elect a mayor and deputy who are perceived to carry no excess baggage and who might begin to heal the mounting distrust of local government. I would further hope that those who had either been mayor or deputy mayor previously would give local government renewal a chance and not nominate this time round.

By the same token, the candidate elected on preferences in the last count round who chose to absent himself for the entire length of the election campaign and on polling day - never bothering to offer the electorate any information concerning his stance on current issues and community concerns - should seriously consider refraining from nominating or accepting nomination.

Clarence Valley Council has the great good fortune to govern an area which contains individuals, groups and communities which go the extra mile to ensure that our natural environment, local economies and lifestyle are protected from adverse winds and who willingly support the council's better efforts in that regard.

I sincerely hope that this new council will not squander that goodwill.

Judith M. Melville

Yamba