Friday 14 December 2007
Akerman plays fast and loose with the truth again
Noel Pearson tries to claw back credibility and influence
Andrew Robb almost admits abuse of Senate power led to Coalition defeat
Thursday 13 December 2007
Who does Robert McClelland think he's fooling when it comes to David Hicks?
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22918115-29277,00.html
Vote on Rudd's performance at Bali
I keep hearing the Nats say that nothing has changed
Is Morris Iemma turning into the new John Howard?
Wednesday 12 December 2007
Labor Party voters some of the happiest consumers in Australia right now
Not surprisingly, the biggest swings in sentiment was based on political affiliation.
Spurred by the party's return to Federal Government, sentiment among Labor voters soared 15.6 per cent in December.
Sentiment among coalition supporters dipped 16.2 per cent after it was condemned to the opposition benches on November 24.
The survey of 1400 people was conducted between December 5-9, following Labor's federal election victory and after the RBA left interest rates on hold."
On those UN Kyoto Protocol talks in Bali
Unlike previous Coalition governments this Labor federal government is not a climate change doubter, but it is between a rock and a hard place in Bali right now.
Due to the Howard decade of denial and lack of any real investigation into the domestic economic impacts of climate change mitigation; Rudd, Swan, Wong and Garrett are at the Bali talks knowing less about potential impacts than many other participating nations who have been part of the Kyoto Protocol process for years.
It may be prudent for Australia not to commit to interim targets before Garnault's investigations are completed mid-2008.
But is it wise to join with the US to insist that no interim or medium term target figures be included in the Bali declaration document?
Years of national inaction have a price and perhaps Australia should pay up and accept the wish of developing nations on the 20-40 per cent greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2020.
After all, this appears to be a combined developed nations target and doesn't bind any one country to individually achieve within this percentage range.
John Howard's blind prejudices will impact on us all for a longtime to come and it may be unfair that the Rudd Government is left to clear up his mess, but the world and Australia don't need more aspirational garbage on climate change - they both need firm target commitments now.
Forget the Liberals election taunts about being a Kyoto negotiations pushover and get on with it, Kevin!
See Shanahan in The Australian today:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22910380-17301,00.html
Michelle Grattan on Bali in The Age today:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/climate-watch/wong-not-one-to-wilt/2007/12/11/1197135463267.html
Jenny Macklin starts "Sorry" consultations
A red letter day for Australia
"Moggy Musings" (Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat)
Ever since I discovered that Malcolm Turnbull's dogs were allowed to blog, I have been pestering clarencegirl to allow me a small space on North Coast Voices.
My first musing:
John Howard doesn't seem to have a companion animal in his household. No dog, no cat, no budgie - hmm.
Does he secretly give houseroom to a goldfish?
Idle musing:
Caught sight of Alexander Downer on the North Coast and all I could think of was his fishnet stockings. Just wanted to rub against those shapely legs.
Do you think this is just a cat thing?
Indignant musing:
Worst political insult on the Net, "Your cat votes Liberal! He told me."
I was most insulted until clarencgirl assured me that they were probably talking about Bored Cat over at Larvatus Prodeo.
Sympathetic musing:
I hear that Brendan Nelson's dogs Lucy and Snif are belly-to-the-ground with embarrassment after their Minister for Expensive Toys was criticised on the same day by both Media Watch for being gullible and Four Corners for being a prize dill. I say that these terriers are not responsible for their human.
Horrified musing:
I was shocked to find a FaceBook entry which said: "So many cats, so few recipes". Felines of the world unite against sick jokes!
Puzzled musing:
A neighbour cat told me that a dog she knew, who was told by a pooch who knew a mutt, said that a Nationals candidate on the North Coast was going to the November 24 election one step ahead of a scandal. Why am I the last to know?
Amused musing:
I just checked my moggy emails and found a bundle telling me that I had won the lottery in a number of countries. To the senders I say - I'm a cat, you ninnies. I may be able to click a mouse, but I walk on all fours and don't have a surname much less a bank account. Dogs may worry about bank balances or the state of their share portfolios, cats definitely do not!
To Rex the Alsatian - thanks for the inquisitive email.
Proud musing:
Charlie Slim, a 3 year-old Border Collie from Grafton won the Australian Working Dog Championships last week. Front paws all over the Clarence Valley pounded the ground in appreciation of this young dog's fine performance.
Concerned musing:
Kevin Rudd told Rove that the cat and dog attend family conferences at his house. Abby and Jasper - now's your chance to strike a blow for other pets' welfare. Tell Kevin that many pensioners who have dogs, cats or birds to keep isolation and loneliness at bay often have to do without in order to feed their companions or take them to the vet.
Troubled musing:
I'm definitely a very troubled puss. Pensioners have been emailing me about the cost of feeding their animals. A thankyou to J. for pointing out that finding landlords who will allow pets is also a problem for some on the North Coast.
Election Day Weather Warning for all dogs, cats, tweeties, ferrets, and other family pets:
Storm clouds, violent winds and electric atmospherics are expected in the vicinity of your humans tomorrow.
Strongly advise you to grab that squeaky toy, slipper, bone or blanket and hide under the bed until this weather passes.
Skies expected to clear by Sunday.
Email: catlives9@hotmail.com
Tuesday 11 December 2007
Rodney Tiffen looks at the Murdoch media and those 2007 Clayton's editorial endorsements
http://www.apo.org.au/webboard/comment_results.chtml?filename_num=183199
A NSW Northern Coast view of Iemma's love affair with Monsanto and GM crops
Only one week into the new Rudd Government and some questions begin to niggle
Now the Rudd Government is installed a number of questions arise.
In the March 2008 High Court legal challenge to provisions of Howard's NT Intervention, will the Commonwealth be registering an interest in the matter or will it be defending this racist legislation?
Will the Rudd Government adopt all the considered and moderate recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission's report on Howard's sedition laws or does it intend to drag its heels and hope we all forget about this sustained assault on our fundamental freedoms?
What is the this new government planning to do about the ludicrous situation which allowed Australian territory to be excised from the Commonwealth for the purpose of refugee status assessment?
Will the Rudd Cabinet have the guts to order a full review of Commonwealth anti- terrorism laws in relation to compliance with constitutional and international law?
I suspect that I am not the only one who would like a few answers.
Those glossy Sunday comics of yore
Monday 10 December 2007
Aussie professor plays at social engineering
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22896354-662,00.html
The nuclear future we all missed by the skin of our teeth
Mungo MacCallum writes a book, "Poll Dancing: The Story Of The 2007 Election"
Howard was not sceptical, or even agnostic; for many years he had been a card-carrying atheist, as his actions made clear. He would not ratify the Kyoto agreement; he would not consider carbon trading, let alone a carbon tax; he would not set serious targets for renewable energy, or even for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. From time to time he would politely suggest that the bigger polluters might like to have a look at ways to cut back; if they did, good, and if they didn't, so it went.
As the number of headlines about global warming increased through 2006, Howard remained unconvinced, but he recognised the political usefulness of the issue. If, he mused, there really was a problem (though the jury was still out), then perhaps we should try for cleaner coal; and, of course, any solution had to include nuclear power, because that would wedge the ALP. And would everyone please remember to turn off unwanted lights and put a brick in the cistern, because although Australia was such a small player in the emission stakes that nothing it did by itself could have the slightest effect, individuals could still make a difference, and what do you mean, "Humbug"?
None of this amounted to much, so when Malcolm Turnbull, the newly appointed water and environment supremo, was asked whether the government had a policy on climate change, he was in a sense quite right when he replied that the government had had a policy for 10 years. What he didn't say was that the policy went like this: Climate change probably isn't happening. But if it is happening and there is a problem, then the scientists will fix it. And if they can't fix it, then we'll have to adapt. And if we can't adapt, well, tough. But in any case, it probably isn't happening. This is less a policy than a state of mind, a fatalism of which Mother Teresa might have been proud. It is, however, an unsuitable attitude to take for a government which is meant to prevent rape, rather than invite the prospective victim to lie back and enjoy it.
It was always going to be risky for Howard if the issue suddenly became a significant one, which it duly did at the end of 2006. A wet American political has-been produced a science-fiction movie and a chinless British dilettante came out with a doomsday prophecy, and the bloody mob went mad. Or that's the way it must have looked to Howard: after all, there was nothing really new in either Al Gore's film or Sir Nicholas Stern's report. The scientists had been saying it all for months, if not years, and the lavishly funded critics had successfully held them at bay. Now, suddenly, what had been a scary but far-fetched hypothesis was received truth. The drought probably had something to do with it; even if, as Howard maintained, there was no proven link to climate change, it was a taste of what might be in the not-too-distant future.
There were still sceptics around, and they were getting an inordinate amount of media play. Interestingly, many of them were economists: the pseudo-scientists who delighted in their own warnings of doom and gloom were apparently unwilling to accept the same when it came backed up by hard evidence.
Certainly denial was no longer a tenable position for Howard; the voters demanded action. So they got it - up to a point. They got the Great Big Splash. Announcing it, Howard drew on Crocodile Dundee: Rudd called his education policy a revolution, laughed the prime minister. Well, that wasn't a revolution - this was a revolution. And so it was: a proposal to put $10 billion towards fixing the Murray-Darling Basin, if the states would hand over their water powers to the federal government - which meant to Aquaboy, Malcolm Turnbull. As policy, it presented problems, not least the almost complete lack of detail. But as politics it was Howard at his best, or so it appeared at the time. The government burst back into the game, grabbing the very territory on which it was thought to be weakest. Howard audaciously challenged the traditional federal structure, which Rudd had marked out for reform. He trumped Rudd's water summit and wedged the Labor premiers: in spite of some huffing and puffing, it was really an offer they could not afford to refuse. And of course, the sheer scale of the announcement drove all the other problems off the front pages.
With splendid serendipity the popular environmentalist Tim Flannery was named Australian of the Year. A week earlier this would have been an embarrassment to Howard: Flannery had been a constant critic of the government for its lack of action on global warming, and indeed warned that he would continue to be so. But in the circumstances, the front-page snaps of Howard and Flannery shaking hands seemed to presage a new dawn of environmental concern. You wanted the big picture? They don't come much bigger than this.
The $10 billion figure itself was more than somewhat suspect; it turned out that neither the Treasury nor the Department of Finance had been involved in its preparation. Indeed, neither had done any significant work on the problems associated with global warming and the consequent water shortages.
It quickly became obvious that the figure had simply been plucked out of the air; after all, it was a nice big round number, eminently suitable for a tabloid headline. Detailed costings were simply not available. The National Farmers Federation, which might have been expected to call for a week of thanksgiving at the size of the handout, said it might take a full year to work out the detail, and it wasn't giving the Great Big Splash so much as a tentative tick until the work was done.
But Aquaboy Turnbull was confident. The government's terms would be so generous that farmers would sob with gratitude as they accepted them. So compulsion would not be necessary - except, of course, as a very last resort … This, of course, was precisely what the Nats feared: that this smart-arse little urban playboy was taking over their traditional territory and teaching his grandmother to suck eggs. And it must be said that Turnbull is indeed a courageous choice for the delicate role of salesman-mediator. Turnbull is hugely intelligent, prodigiously energetic and almost insanely ambitious: his macrocephaly is not just physical. And, those who have spent time with him would add, he is an arrogant, abrasive, bumptious little bastard. Irritatingly, he pronounces "nuclear" as "nucular", in the manner of George Bush. Not only that, he has lousy political judgment: at the 1998 Constitutional Convention, Howard played him off a break, manoeuvring him into an unwinnable position which Turnbull was only too eager to take. Anyone with the temerity to try to point this folly out to him was either ignored or, more usually, abused. But defeat at the subsequent republic referendum did not soften the man; he had now brought his messianic temperament into the ministry, this time with Howard's enthusiastic support. His skyrocketing promotion to cabinet, and to a portfolio which was already proving vital in an election year, showed Howard's touching faith in a fellow megalomaniac. When he remembers to use it, Turnbull can exude a certain manic charm; he may be able to woo some of his fellow city-dwellers. But it is a lot harder to imagine him working the suspicious locals in an outback pub.
Even in the Billinudgel Hotel, a place sophisticated enough to serve salt-and-pepper squid on alternate weekends, Turnbull is regarded as just a bit too spivvy. As the No. 1 spruiker for the Great Big Splash, he would have his work cut out - if, indeed, anything remained of the Great Big Splash by the time of the election. A fortnight after its proclamation, its future looked as dubious as that of the rivers it was supposed to save.
Rudd, showing a chutzpah Howard and Turnbull must have found well nigh unbearable, generously offered to help. The issue was so important, he said gravely, that he would roll up his sleeves and get together with the premiers to help allay their misgivings.
Apart from driving Howard to apoplexy, Rudd was driving home the highly relevant point that Howard's Great Big Splash, or at least the trickle that was left of it, was only there to treat a symptom of climate change, not the cause; and on that cause the government seemed as hesitant as ever.
There was a real danger that if it did nothing at all, it would be left hopelessly behind. For instance, Howard had made a political virtue out of declaring the coal industry off-limits: nothing must be done to disturb Australia's comparative advantage as a producer or put at risk the jobs of the miners. And besides, if we didn't sell coal to China, someone else would (the eternal excuse of the arms salesman and the drug dealer). But the industry itself was taking a longer view: its leaders saw that if they ignored the rising tide of public concern, one day it might engulf them.
With great reluctance, Howard - now calling himself a climate-change "realist" - performed another backflip and announced that he would start to initiate the commencement of preparations to consider the theoretical possibility of an inquiry into the desirability of carbon trading. The government, in due course, would act promptly. Trading had been Labor policy for some time, so Rudd and his colleagues could legitimately claim that Howard was just playing catch-up.
It seemed to prove their point when, in reply to a question in Parliament from Rudd, Howard replied that the jury was still out on the link between global warming and man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Several hours later he returned to the House to say that he had misheard the question: he thought Rudd had been referring to the drought, not to man-made emissions, and while he believed the jury was still out over whether the drought was directly linked to climate change, he certainly believed that man-made emissions were, he honestly, truly did.
But, like Howard, Labor regarded the whole issue of coal as basically just too difficult. Rudd made it clear that while he supported all possible efforts to clean the industry up, Labor had no plans to shut it down or even phase it out. However, the Greens, unburdened by the prospect of having to implement their policy decisions, had no such inhibitions.
Bob Brown hit the airwaves to urge the major parties to use the next parliamentary term to come up with a policy aimed at phasing out coal exports - which, in practical terms, meant the industry. Or at least that was what he meant to say; what came out was more ambiguous, and could be taken to mean that the entire industry should be phased out within three years. In a frenzy of anti-Green glee most of the media took it to mean just that, and went on to brand Brown, yet again, as a lunatic zealot, an extremist whose real aim was to destroy industrial society and take humanity back to the caves.
The same tabloids reported a truly demented idea from the US absolutely straight: some deranged (so-called) scientists were proposing to reduce global warming by putting a large number of reflective fragments in orbit around the earth. They admitted cheerfully they weren't really sure what the side effects might be, but hey, it was worth a try. Yeah, and so was the cane toad. In comparison, Brown came across as quite boringly rational."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/blown-away-by-climate-folly/2007/12/07/1196813021293.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Hankering for Howard
Want a good belly laugh? Go to http://iserv.com.au/ and see Lord Watchdog vainly trying to preserve the Howard 'legacy'.
The poor Lord Watchamacallit woke up on Sunday 25 November hoping the election result was all a bad dream.
This site has multiple contributors and Whois.domaintools.com tells us that Brad Leet is the registrant contact name.
Someone using an identical IP apparently likes to use naughty words on Wikipedia.
Yes, I finally discovered Wikiscanner.virgil.gr.
Sunday 9 December 2007
No, Andrew - ratifying Kyoto isn't going to automatically cost Australian taxpayers billions
Is there a doctor in the house? This bloke needs one.
Johnny Appleseed should stop beating around the bush and start speaking with the lot most responsible for their kamikaze-like performance. For starters, he should take the super dry religious freak David Clarke and his crackpot cronies aside and tell them a few hard facts about life.
Read more about "Behave yourself and you'll win: Howard to Libs" at:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/behave-yourself-and-youll-win-howard/2007/12/08/1196813083754.htmlAt last. A High Court challenge to NT intervention
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/high-court-challenge-to-nt-intervention/2007/12/07/1196813026893.html
Pacific solution ends but questions remain
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/pacific-solution-ends-but-tough-stance-to-remain/2007/12/07/1196813021259.html
The post-election Liberals just can't help themselves
Saturday 8 December 2007
Brendan Nelson - a man for all seasons or is he just another political con artist?
Yes, Brendan can rise to the occasion, whatever the occasion. Want a Labor voter in your midst? Just call on Brendan. He'll be happy to accommodate your needs. Want a Liberal voter? Then don't hestitate, give Brendan a call.
Brendan has the rare capacity possessed only by fair dinkum political chameleons. He can change political colour, no matter what the occasion.
The Australian (December 8) carries a report headed " Nelson admits 'wrong, stupid' lie"
Read it at: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22889501-5014046,00.html
Will John Howard become the 'Guy Fawkes' effigy atop North Coast bonfires in the future?
The new broom in Commonwealth-State health policy
Will the Cowper electorate see even less of Hartsuyker now?
The esteemed Mr. Hartsuyker never did live up to his promise to regularly visit areas across his Cowper electorate, and once Yamba was slated to move out of his seat at the 2007 federal election he effectively abandoned this small town.
So it will be interesting to watch how he performs as a North Coast MP holding his federal seat on a reduced margin. Especially as he takes the junior ministry carrot and tries to parley this into a higher profile within the Coalition.
I'm tipping that Cowper will see even less of its MP than before.
Friday 7 December 2007
Luke Hartsuyker - the Nats' "one true potential star"_ _ _ _ _ ????
The Australian's Denis Shanahan wrote on Friday (December 7), "The Nationals’ sorry state and adherence to inflexible seniority has kept the Nationals’ one true potential star, Luke Hartsuyker, in the outer ministry".
Sorry, come again Denis. What's this business about Hartsuyker being the Nationals’ one true potential star?
What evidence does Denis have that causes him to write such stuff? The locals in the electorate of Cowper have every right to know 'cause as sure as eggs they haven't seen any such evidence that would give support to Shanahan's view? Perhaps Luke saves up his best performances for when he's wining and dining with members of the parliamentary press gallery in Canberra.
Read this and other comments about the mob Brendan Nelson selected to make up the numbers in the Opposition's shadow ministry at:
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/dennisshanahan/index.php/theaustralian/comments/shadow_ministry_cast_by_brutal_arithmetic/
Just how many times did Julie Bishop say, "Mr. Rudd has set this standard"
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/code-sets-rules-for-rudd-team/2007/12/06/1196812922362.html
Thursday 6 December 2007
THAT other Kevin
Not so desperately seeking a not-so-special "Kevin"
"Kevin" is known to answer to the name "Andrews" when his chain is rattled or his feed bin is about to be topped up. He was last sighted in the vicinity of the sinecure of the Victorian electorate of Menzies where blue and purple rinsed darlings gave him their donkey vote. Well, they would, wouldn't they? Yes, Kevin drew the inside gate and appeared at the top of the ballot paper.
However, the very strong word coming from scrutineers in Menzies is that Kevvy's mob directed their second preferences to Life Choices Dr Philip Nitschke. http://www.peacefulpillhandbook.com
Gee, that's terminal! It looks like even Kevvy's best mates can see the writing on the wall.
Kevin's leader, One-Eyed Nelson, reckons he hasn't acquired the mentor status that his colleagues Costello, Downer, Vaile, Ruddock, et al. enjoy.
Consequently, Kevin has to do more hard yards to ensure the electorate is 110% convinced that he's a goose. Heck! That's grossly unfair. Truly, after his contributions in his previous portfolios, Kevvy is right up there with the best/worst of his coalition mates.
Could it be that Kevvy's pecuniary interests associated with family counselling are too much of an impost and he doesn't have the time to mentor his parliamentary colleagues?
"The Australian" forgets to apologise to all its readers
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22865525-5013948,00.html
Less annoying bumph from your local Federal MP
Time for the Liberal Party to get over it
Bill Kelty in The Age on Sunday telling the post-election Liberal Party a few home truths, of a type which Brendan Nelson and others are yet to take onboard.
Few are searching for Brendan Nelson or Warren Truss
http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22kevin+rudd%22%2C+%22brendan+nelson%22%2C+%22warren+truss%22&ctab=0&geo=all&date=mtd&sort=0
It still means that you lost, Chris
Did senior US official discuss Iran sanctions with Gillard, Smith and Fitzgibbon?
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/US-to-press-for-new-Iran-sanctions/2007/12/05/1196812829798.html
Wednesday 5 December 2007
Mungo's on the mark - - - yet again!
Read the full text of Mungo's column at :
http://www.echo.net.au/pg.php?issues_id=22_26&pg=10&view=gif
Mungo is, as usual, right on the mark. Mungo wrote, in part:
If you have any doubt that the election of a Rudd Labor government has changed the country, consider this: a year ago, did you imagine that the Prime Minister would be sending an openly gay woman of Chinese ancestry to
And the third major symbol will be the long overdue apology to the stolen generation, now being prepared, as it should be, not just by the government, but in consultation with Aboriginal leaders.
Will Australia cease being a rogue state anytime soon?
Well, we had to do something during all those boring government ads!
Tuesday 4 December 2007
"The Australian" has a nervous breakdown after its horse failed to come in
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22857673-7583,00.html
Rudd gets no honeymoon from Media With Conscience News - A Site without Borders
Taxing conundrum
Monday 3 December 2007
Saving Migaloo, the white fella whale
http://www.smh.com.au/news/whale-watch/alp-faces-whale-of-a-decision/2007/12/01/1196394682277.html
Piers Akerman, the last boy left on the burning deck
Yet another MP predicted to take his bat and ball and go home
Sunday 2 December 2007
Labour MP Janelle Saffin gets positive reception in her new North Coast electorate
Cowper's very local Local MP is not up to the deputy leadership of the Nats
With the very skinny margin that Hartsuyker has in the seat of Cowper you can bet your bottom dollar he will be out and about in the electorate a heck of a lot more than previously. Perhaps he might even fully acquaint himself with the devil in the detail of WorkChoices, a policy he knew precious little about but was always ready to jump up and support. Readers of The Clarence Valley Review have golden memories of Luke's inability to provide answers to questions about WorkChoices that the Review put to him.
Read about Harsuyker's decision at:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22856839-12377,00.html