The Body Politic

Death of Democracy - Indeed - but the Murderers were the ones who were disrupting Parliament

2011-10-12T20:57:00.002+11:00

Today - the protestors in Parliament were protesting the so-called "death of democracy".

Indeed.

But the Murderers of Democracy were the very people proclaiming the Death of Democracy - themselves!

They were the ones who were disrupting Parliament.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-12/protesters-disrupt-question-time/3553864

Is that too harsh?

Just ask yourself, what would the Conservative side of politics and the Far Right supporters of the Nationals and Tony Abbot and the Climate-Change Deniers say if the Parliament had been disrupted by so-called "long-haired hippies", OR Lesbians and Gays protesting inaction on Gay Marriage, or any other Left Wing cause?

Alan Jones, Ray Hadley and other demagogues would probably be screaming "Shame, Shame, Shame", from their microphones.

But will they denounce these disruptive practices in the Media tonight and tomorrow? We shall hear, tomorrow morning.

Is that the sound of silence I hear?

I note the involvement of the previous "Convoy of No Confidence" organiser (which rally had the support of Alan Jones).

This is part of what The Australian's website tells us:

"About 80 protesters chanted 'democracy is dead' and 'no mandate'.
"They included Peter Madden, who helped organise the anti-carbon tax Convoy of No Confidence in August.There were two teams of protesters, seated on each side of the lower house chamber.They stood up one group at a time to disrupt Ms Gillard as she attempted to answer a question from a Liberal MP.
The protesters were escorted from the chamber by security guards but could still be heard as they left the public area."

My only comment to the protestors today - look in your own mirror!
You and only you distrupted the Parliament of Australia.

Comments authorised by Denis Wilson
Robertson NSW 2577

Enrolled voter in the electorate of Throsby.

I am posting a link to this page on Stephen Jones's Facebook page. He is the Member for Throsby.

Poking holes in the Pokies bullshit Debate.

2011-09-27T17:17:00.000+10:00

Personal declaration:
I HATE POKER MACHINES AND THE GAMBLING ADDICTION THEY FOSTER.

Consequently, I gagged when Virginia Trioli failed to interrogate Helen Coonan last night on QandA, when she weighed in to the Poker Machine Debate without declaring her obvious conflict of interest - as a person who has accepted a recent offer to join the Board of James Packer's Crown Ltd, owners of the Melbourne's Crown Casino.

I do hope Jonathan Holmes takes Virginia Trioli to task for that screamingly obvious lapse of standards - next week on Media Watch

Today I am pleased to note that Crikey has put together a list of many more such omissions of declarations of conflict of interest. In honour of Stephen Mayne's excellent work on this subject, I am quoting it, our of respect.

1. The conflicts of interest muddying the anti-pokies campaign

Stephen Mayne writes:

Jenny Macklin, the federal minister responsible for implementing the pokies deal with Andrew Wilkie, is complaining that the industry is refusing to offer up any venues that will trial a mandatory pre-commitment system with $1 maximum bets.
Jenny, ask your own party in Canberra. The Canberra Labor Club operates about 500 machines in the ACT and it represents the single largest investment asset owned directly by an ALP branch.
Labor’s role as the only major political party in the world that fundraises through operating gambling venues is just one of many conflicts of interest which dominate the pokies reform debate.
Here are a few other favourites:

Jeff Kennett: As The Australian reported today, the outgoing Hawthorn president is obviously conflicted in defending AFL clubs operating several thousand machines given his chairmanship of Beyond Blue and the known connection between depression and problem gambling. Kennett is further conflicted by his paid gig as chairman of Amtek, a private company aiming to becoming one of the biggest service providers to Victorian pokies venues after Tabcorp and Tattersall’s are kicked out of the system in August next year.
Colin Carter: The Geelong president has come out supporting the Wilkie reform package, even though he is seemingly conflicted as a Wesfarmers director given the retailing giant operates close to 2000 machines across Australia.
Richard Goyder: The Wesfarmers CEO is in a similar position after it was announced yesterday he would join the AFL Commission in November just as Andrew Demetriou was inaccurately claiming the proposed federal reforms would see AFL club gaming revenue fall by between 20% and 40%. This excludes the windfall gains Colin Carter has pointed to courtesy of many clubs picking up 10 years entitlements for a pittance in the Brumby’s government’s botched pokies auction.
News Ltd: Heavily conflicted given that it relies on pokies at NRL club venues to try and stem future losses on its 50% investment in the NRL which has so far cost it more than $500 million with little prospect of any recovery, save for the profits enjoyed on the NRL broadcasting side of the equation through Fox Sports and Foxtel.
Eddie McGuire: Conflicted through his brother Frank being a Victorian Labor MP and also from his history as the man who took Collingwood heavily into the pokies. Eddie also has a history as a gambling entrepreneur through a failed footy tipping joint venture with Tattersall’s 10 years ago which was sanctioned by the Bracks Labor government in Victoria. Also paid millions each year by Channel Nine, which is the rights holder for the NRL and open to pressure from Clubs Australia.
Roger Corbett: The Fairfax Media chairman is conflicted as it was his controversial decision to take Australia's biggest retailer into the joint venture with Bruce Mathieson which made it the biggest pokies operator in Australia with about 12,000 machines. It is also the biggest manager of venues for AFL clubs through secret management agreements . Corbett is involved in other non-pokies ventures with Mathieson and retains an interest in Woolworths shares. However, anyone who read The Australian Financial Review’s strong editorial endorsement of pokies reform today should be comforted that the Fairfax tradition of directors not influencing editorial remains in place.
Andrew Bolt: News Ltd’s most widely read and powerful columnist was the man who kicked off the bogus line about the AFL joining the anti-pokies campaign in this September 21 column in the Herald Sun. He is clearly conflicted courtesy of being on the payroll of MTR owner John Singleton, the pokies venue owner who came up with the "licence to punt" advertising campaign for Clubs Australia as we explained here and here.
Helen Coonan: The recently retired Liberal Senator Helen Coonan was conflicted on Q&A last night as she expressed doubts over whether mandatory pre-commitment would work while failing to state that she last month accepted an offer to join the board of James Packer’s Crown Ltd on a package worth more than $100,000 a year. This will involve attending seven board meetings a year, plus some additional committee work.
Karl Bitar: Coonan’s colleague at Crown was appointed head of government relations in May on a generous six figure salary sanctioned directly by billionaire James Packer. Bitar is calling in favours from various NSW federal Labor MPs that he supported through pre-selection in his previous roles at the top of the NSW and federal ALP machines. Bitar showed off his pulling power with various right wing Labor heavyweights in a piece published by The AFR in June.
Daryl Melham: The federal Labor MP for Banks is chairman of the Revesby Workers Club which operates more than 500 pokies and has bankrolled and provided resources for numerous Labor candidates across all tiers of government, according to The Australian today.

As with any public debate, the challenge here will be getting participants to put all their cards on the table and declare these conflicts as they arise.
So far, such declarations have been few and far between.

******

Right on, Stephen.
Denis Wilson

Babcock and Brown - SOME WINNERS - most are losers

2011-09-20T16:20:00.000+10:00

This post is in honour of the nameless Robertson resident who was once a Director of Babcock and Brown.

There will be a few happy faces this morning after the settlement of liquidator Deloitte's $160 million damages action against the directors and auditor of Babcock & Brown, the whizz-bang financier that collapsed in 2008, wiping out $12 billion of creditors' and shareholders' funds.
Happiest of all will be B&B's co-founder Phil Green, who won't have to dig into his pocket to pay any of the estimated $25 million to $30 million damages awarded in the confidential settlement.

Read more of that story here.

In case you cannot be induced to visit that site - here are the punch line(s)

Those who have less reason to be cheerful include B&B's noteholders, the key remaining creditors, who are still owed $620 million. They'll be lucky to get 2 cents in the dollar, if our calculations are right.

And there's still the small matter of the other $11.38 billion that B&B managed to vaporize. Plus, whatever happened to ASIC's investigation?

Ain't it marvellous how some people can keep on tip-toeing all the way, just ahead of the disaster and pain they cause to others?

Thanks to Paul Barry and his new e-publication The Power Index.

Fwd: Can you believe this Pretentious Git?

2011-05-29T22:00:00.002+10:00

Can you believe this Pretentious Git?

This was forwarded to me by the PR staff of Greg Combet.
Why?

Who gives a shit about Danny Morgan being "wired for sound".
I didn't email him.
I don't care what he thinks.

Who is trying to impress whom?

Greg Combet ought sack the staffer responsible for this stuff-up.

Denis Wilson

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <climatepublic@climatechange.gov.au>
Date: Fri, May 27, 2011 at 5:36 PM
Subject: [Climatepublic] I heard your email
To: climatepublic@climatechange.gov.au

www.DriveSafe.ly read it to me.I will get back to you soon.
Sent from Danny's Blackberry
Kind Regards

Danny Morgan
Managing Director
Enact Energy Pty Limited
Suite 407, 15 Lime Street
King Street Wharf
Sydney NSW 2000

T: +61 (2) 8239 8861
M: +61 434 270 226
F: +61 (2) 9279 1378

www.enactenergy.com.au

______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________

Denis Wilson
"The Nature of Robertson"
www.peonyden.blogspot.com

chief executive of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Rob Freeman, has resigned.

2011-05-12T14:28:00.000+10:00

Newsflash from ABC News

"The chief executive of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Rob Freeman, has resigned.

Federal Water Minister Tony Burke says Mr Freeman will finish in the job on June 1 and become commissioner of the National Water Commission.

He will be replaced at the authority by Rhondda Dickson, the current deputy secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/12/3215027.htm

My personal opinion is that:

everyone who opposed Craig Knowles' "Crash through or crash" approach is getting the hell out of there.
Looks more and more likely that there will be a Irrigator Appeasement Policy in the MDBA, following the massive publicity they attracted to the Draft Plan.
Good bye Ramsar Wetlands, etc.
Tony Burke will be happy, as at least he will have "A Plan" - the fact that it will probably return to just a trickle for the River Red Gums and Wetlands is not important to him, for River Red Gums and Wetlands do not burn books on Television.

*********************

I sent that notice out privately, and got a request from my Blogging collaborator, Miss Eagle that I post it here.

Her comment is as follows:

Please put this on The Body Politic.
I was surprised that Freeman had not gone earlier. Perhaps remained to provide continuity after Mike leaving. Perhaps because he is a public servant.
Why is he going to the National Water Commission? Is this a backhanded exit, needed to do some good while at the same time allowing Knowles a personal appointment. It need not mean an actual clash with Knowles - it could just mean that Knowles wants his own person in there. So what is special then about Dickson?

Brigid aka "Miss Eagle"
The Network: http://misseaglesnetwork.blogspot.com

Osama's execution illegal and bad policy

2011-05-04T10:58:00.001+10:00

I have already stated my opinions on this troublesome issue - the manner of the killing of Osama bin Laden, and the disposal of the "corpse" (without verification of the true identity of the person killed).

Now some others have joined the chorus of disapproval.
Geoffrey Robertson, no less, has come out today to say much of the same, and far more eloquently than I managed.

"Bin Laden's summary execution maketh the man, martyr and myth"
Geoffrey Robertson
May 4, 2011
I urge you to read the full article.

Robertson says:

"The US resembles the land of the munchkins as it celebrates the death of the wicked witch of the East. The joy is understandable but, to many outsiders, unattractive. It endorses what looks increasingly like a cold-blooded assassination ordered by a president who, as a former law professor, knows the absurdity of his statement that "justice was done".
"Amoral diplomats and triumphant politicians join in applauding the summary execution of Osama bin Laden because they claim that real justice - arrest, trial and sentence - would have been too difficult in the case of public enemy No. 1. But should it not at least have been attempted?"

Robertson argues:

"Bin Laden could not have been tried for the attacks on the twin towers at the International Criminal Court, since its jurisdiction only came into existence nine months later. But the United Nations Security Council could have set up an ad hoc tribunal in The Hague, with international judges (including Muslim jurists), to provide a fair trial and a reasoned verdict that would have convinced the Arab street of his guilt.
"This would have been the best way of demystifying this man, debunking his cause and de-brainwashing his followers. In the dock he would have been reduced in stature - never more to be remembered as the tall, soulful figure on the mountain, but as a hateful and hate-filled old man."

and follows on with this interesting comment:

"When the time came to consider the fate of men more steeped in wickedness than bin Laden - the Nazi leaders - the British government wanted them hanged within six hours of capture. The president Harry Truman demurred, citing the conclusion of Justice Robert Jackson that summary execution "would not sit easily on the American conscience or be remembered by our children with pride … the only course is to determine the innocence or guilt of the accused after a hearing as dispassionate as the times will permit and upon a record that will leave our reasons and motives clear".
"He insisted upon judgment at Nuremberg, which has confounded Holocaust-deniers ever since. Killing bin Laden instead of capturing him was a missed opportunity to prove this charismatic leader was a vicious criminal, who deserved to die in prison, not as a martyr to his inhuman cause."

Thanks to Brigid for pointing me to this article.

There were two links I added in yesterday to two sites, both American and both Christian, which expressed disgust at the way America was celebrating the death.

http://interruptingthesilence.com/2011/05/02/the-works-of-my-hands-thoughts-on-the-death-of-osama-bin-laden/

And even better is this one:

Whose Death Does God Cheer?by Jimmy Spencer Jr. Monday, May 2nd, 2011

This story has a long way to run.
Already the Americans have contradicted early reports of cooperation of the Palkistan Government.
And what of the "wife" who was reported to have been present in the room?
She was supposedly used as a shield by the "coward Osama".
Wrong.
She was supposedly killed. Wrong.
If not killed, then was she captured? Where is she now - is she a prisoner of the Americans? If so, where?
She might not even have been a woman.

The longer the Americans take to "get their story straight" the worse this whole debacle looks for them.

And here is a Leunig cartoon which perfectly sums up the situation.
From circulation on Facebook.
Not sure about Copyright issues - please forgive me, Michael.

Murder of Osama bin Laden

2011-05-02T23:40:00.002+10:00

Lets not kid around with "soft words" - Osama bin Laden has apparently been murdered by the Americans.
Their President has said so.

While in no sense do I propose to "stick up for" (support) Osama bin Laden - was his murder justified?

I mean that in a legal sense - was it "just" - as in the meaning of the word "justice".

*****

Firstly, it was a foreign intrusion into the sovereign territory of Pakistan.

Was that authorised? Probably not.

Do the Americans care about such niceties? Probably not.

How do we know for sure that the person killed was Osama bin Laden, not some tall bearded person of Arabian style and breeding?

Make no mistake the Americans are perfectly capable of killing a "look alike" person of Arabic features, to justify their actions - for their political advantage.

The Americans claim that he has been identified by DNA analysis, comparing the "victims" DNA with a sample of the blood of a female relative of ObL apparenly living in the USA.

The body has apparently been buried at sea.

I can see lots of reasons for not holding him as a prisoner, nor for holding his body, lest it become a reason for pilgrimage, or adulation.

However, a burial at sea, is awfully convenient - simply because the story is unverifiable.

*****

Personally, I have believed for some time that ObL was very likely killed in the Tora Bora caves, years ago, in a huge American bombardment.

In my view it suited the Americans to keep the myth of ObL alive - to give them a reason to progress the "War on Terror".

Then the Americans discovered that Aljazeera was being used very successfully by the Islamists to perpetuate the "myth" of ObL's leadership.

Eventually the Americans had to get rid of him, and they have done so now (apparently) in a manner both illegal and immoral.

Worse it is unverifiable.

*****

If we condemn Israel for unauthorised assassination of their enemies (as we do), how does this differ - in any legal sense?

If we condemn terrorism, how does this action differ, in any legal sense?

And, on a cultural basis, how does brutal hysterical rejoicing (on the streets of America) at the news of the killing differ from the kind of uncivilised behaviour people attribute to uncivilised societies?

Is the celebration of this murder going to convince any Islamists that everything they have been told about "The Great Satan" (America) is wrong?

Edit

In case you think that everybody is shouting and cheering, in America, I am pleased to say that not everybody there is totally mad.

http://interruptingthesilence.com/2011/05/02/the-works-of-my-hands-thoughts-on-the-death-of-osama-bin-laden/

And even better is this one:

Whose Death Does God Cheer?by Jimmy Spencer Jr. Monday, May 2nd, 2011

Thanks to Brigid for those links.

Pauline Hanson left out in the cold

2011-04-12T15:20:00.000+10:00

Well, it was a close thing, but Pauline Hanson didn't quite make it into the NSW Upper House.

Now, predicatably, she is having a whinge.
And here is the ABC report.

Diddums Pauline.

See you in 4 years time, and I'll still not vote for you.

The ALP clean-out needs to start today.

2011-03-28T15:47:00.000+11:00

The ALP clean-out needs to start today - but it probably will not.

Already the Media is pointing out that John Robertson IS part of the PROBLEM, not part of the SOLUTION. I agree.

What about this comment, from Crikey today?

"The arrogance of Iguana-gate was far from unusual in NSW Labor, he said -- recalling one senior frontbencher, still in the Legislative Council, who entered a restaurant late at night and ordered staff to re-open the kitchen just so he and his team could have a meal. Senior Labor figures, he added, regularly spoke with utter disdain about the working-class people they were supposed to represent.
"He had sailed too deep into NSW Labor's heart of darkness. Now he campaigns for the Liberals.
"Pat's tale is a personal one -- yet it is also the story of the election. Over the past four years, many Labor loyalists in NSW decided the party no longer represented their interests or their values. The ALP was seen not as a light on a hill but as a patronage machine interested above all in perpetuating its own power."

As I have said before, the ALP needs to resurrect Ben Chifley. Trouble is the poor old Labor Train Driver now lies buried in an Alien Territory (Bathurst). The Boys from Sussex Street would need to apply for a Visa to get there.

And their applications would be rejected - stamped "Suspected Terrorist".

Its all too late.

Bid Bitar Bye-Bye!

2011-03-16T22:52:00.000+11:00

Today's Crikey says: "Bitar's reign of mayhem comes to an end too late for NSW and Fed Labor"

Ain't that the truth.

Bye Bye Bitter Bitar (Source ALP website)

Today's SMH reports this: ''I am extremely optimistic about the Party's future and absolutely confident that the Government under Prime Minister Gillard will go from strength to strength in the coming months and be in a strong position for a decisive win at the next election,'' he said in a statement today." Read more here:

Now all we have to do is get rid of Mark Arbib.

For that we will probably need the permission of his "controllers" over at Moonah Place, Yarralumla, ACT 2600. But history shows once he has outlived his usefulness, as a "protected source" he will be discarded.

Well, not all, but that's be a great start to bringing the Labor Party back to its true beliefs and principles and values.

Ben Chifley

"I try to think of the Labour movement, not as putting an extra sixpence into somebody's pocket, or making somebody Prime Minister or Premier, but as a movement bringing something better to the people, better standards of living, greater happiness to the mass of the people. We have a great objective - the light on the hill - which we aim to reach by working for the betterment of mankind not only here but anywhere we may give a helping hand". Source: Chifley Research Centre

Well, that is unless we can dig up Ben Chifley - from his grave in Bathurst?

"If an idea is worth fighting for, no matter the penalty, fight for the right, and truth and justice will prevail."

That's my favourite quote from Ben Chifley.

Pauline Hanson running in NSW election

2011-03-09T00:12:00.004+11:00

God. Just when you thought it was safe to go out into public affairs in NSW - it is no longer.

Pauline Hansen is trying to come back.

Read the SMH article here
The ABC has run the story, but they made a fundamental mistake, saying she is running for the Upper House (which is correct), and say: "She is standing for the locality of Corlette on the state's north coast, and is running in the March 26 poll as part of a group of 16 independents." The NSW Upper House is based on State-wide voting, not with "Wards" or Zones or regions.

Ms Hansen is living in Corlette, but she cannot be "standing for the locality of Corlette". The ABC Radio News (Midnight News 8 March (9 March from 0001 hours) just carried the same wrong statement (read exactly from the same script). How stupid are they? I hope Media Watch tears them to shreds for that basic error.

Legislative Council - The Legislative Council (Upper House) does not have separate electoral boundaries, Members being elected on a proportional basis across the whole state, as though the state were a single electoral district.
Source: http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/ResourcesSystemElectingtheParliament

Anyway, lets hope Pauline is rejected by the public, as she has been before.

But in view of the loose talk about the Tea Party on Q and A on Monday night, perhaps she will feed on that sentiment.

If so, God Help us All.

Coal and Gas forum in Wollongong - breaches of Caretaker Conventions

2011-02-24T23:16:00.002+11:00

Today there was a Department of Planning Coal and Gas forum in Wollongong. The event was billed as a "consultative meeting" by the NSW Dept of Planning.

They didn't want to hear what we said (despite statements to the contrary). They simply wanted us to hear what their message was (of course).
What a farce!

Public Servants were put through their paces, to make the Minister (or the Government generally) look good.

Their answers were a mixture of bluster and sycophancy. Long on rhetoric, but short on detail. They certainly gave wrong answers about the draining of the Woronora Reservoir, and failed to understand carefully worded questions about removal of radio-nucleotides from contaminated groundwater, as a result of drilling.

They certainly did not satisfy that half of the audience who were clearly "environmentally conscious". Nikki Williams and her supporters from the NSW Minerals Council, and the guys from the CFMEU might have been pleased, though.

To start with, the largest landholder in the region, the Sydney Catchment Authority, was not invited to attend, either as a participant (it is a Government agency after all, and it is meant to be a "whole of Government process" as the Minister, Tony Kelly, told us), or as "victim" of the Dept of Planning's appalling Mining Approvals procedures.

It is a nonsense for the Labor Government to pretend that they are calling for detailed Submissions, (due in mid April, after the election), when the Government is 5 weeks out from a State election.

Worse, today they put themselves in breach of the long-established Caretaker Conventions The opinions expressed on Caretaker Conventions in the linked article are from the ALP's own favourite policy advisers - Hawker Britton . I haven't made that advice up - but it accords entirely with my own personal understanding.

And anyway, what's the point of the Government going through this elaborate charade? If the current opposition gets in, they will drop the whole idea, as "tainted" by having Labor's fingerprints all over it. And rightly so, too.

As a former Federal Public Servant, one from the days when Public Servants were trained to give "free and frank advice" *** I was both fascinated and appalled to watch the reality of the political process in action in NSW today.

How can senior DoP officials possibly be expected to give straight answers to honest questions from the public when the Minister, and the local Member are sitting in the room watching them "perform"? That is a clear abuse of the neutrality of the Public Service.

Democracy? I don't think the NSW Government understands the meaning of the word.

*****

After several hours of "stewing" over what we were put through, today, I have come to the following conclusion:- What we witnessed today was clearly a joint job application for positions in the Mining Industry, in anticipation of the defeat of their current employer, the NSW ALP Government.

Today's meeting was held in the "Diggers Club" in Wollongong, the centre of BHP's empire, in Australia. I thought (in advance) that the choice of venue was simply a large RSL meeting room. But to watch the performance of the Dept of Planning "boys", the penny has now dropped. It was a collective Job Application. They were so totally "pro-mining", the choice of venue was appropriate.
The name "Diggers Club" takes on a whole new meaning.

Denis Wilson

Robertson NSW 2577

Chairman, Australian Water Campaigners
(The foregoing is my personal opinion.)

*** Caretaker Conventions.
http://www.hawkerbritton.com/hawker-britton-media/public-affairs/nsw-government-caretaker-conventions.htm

The Caretaker Period

The formal period during which the caretaker conventions operate dates from the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly until the election result is clear, or, in the event of a change of Government, until the new Government is appointed.
The NSW Government assumes a ‘caretaker’ role during the period immediately before an election to ensure:

decisions are not taken which would bind an incoming Government and limit its freedom of action;
important decisions are not made by Ministers who cannot be held accountable once the Legislative Assembly has been dissolved;
the neutrality of the public service is protected; and
state resources are not being used in election campaigns, or to advance the aims of a particular party.

*** Free and frank advice

It is the responsibility of public servants to provide honest, impartial and comprehensive advice to ministers and to alert ministers to the possible consequences of following particular policies, whether or not such advice accords with Ministers’ views.

Finally, the media realises BHP is not Australian

2011-02-19T21:14:00.000+11:00

"BHP was once famously called “the Big Australian”; its CEO Marius Kloppers evidently prefers “nominal Australian” for himself, at least when talking to US diplomats. As this nominal Australian smirked his way through the announcement this week of a record profit — putting BHP-Billiton on track, according to one British newspaper, to record “the biggest profit ever made by a British company”"
Bernard Keane - in Crikey.

At last, someone is calling it like it is. Someone else, that is, other than me and my friend David Young.

The Big Australian?
Hardly.
It might be British funds backing it these days, but it is Australian Coal and Australian Iron Ore on which they make their gazillions.
Even more annoyingly, it is run by a cartel of "Suth Afrikens", and other international citizens (and Caroline Hewson, for a bit of local colour and experience).
Watch this: http://www.bhpbilliton.com/bbContentRepository/docs/podcast.xml
And weep.

Lance Armstrong's "bag of gold"

2011-01-25T11:38:00.002+11:00

My friend, Leo, from Canada is a keen cyclist - a "cycling nut" one could say. He keeps me updated with stories about cycling and cycling's "heroes".

Sometimes, the issues are harsh, such as rumours of drug taking (professional cyclists? Really?). Of course, in the world of professional athletes it is called blood doping. It is a war between the chemists working for the specialist "sports physicians" and pharmaceutical companies and the anti-doping bureaucrats caught up in an endless game of "catch-up". The other issue for Leo and fellow cycling purists, about Armstrong, is the question of "sponsorship".

Lance Armstrong is not immune from suspicion.

Leo's recent email was entitled: "Is this guy nuts?" (referring to SA Premier Mike Rann). His only comment is: "You got a winner, there - Leo"

*****

Leo sent me a link to the following story of which this is a small extract:

"The Texan (Armstrong) was presented with a thank you gift from South Australian Premier Mike Rann who credited Armstrong with drawing crowds of nearly 800,000 and raising AUS$40 million for the local economy this year alone.
Rann said he hoped a pair of locally-made RM Williams boots, an iconic Australian manufacturer, would be worn by Armstrong the next time he visited the race. To that Armstrong excitedly replied after inspection: "I'll wear them tonight."

"This is amazing and to start and finish in this city and to be all around the area, all over South Australia, to be treated like kings when we often are not, I should say, sometimes, it's been a real pleasure," Armstrong told the crowd at the presentation.
I congratulate you all on building an unbelievable event ... we travel all over the world and you do not see crowds or an atmosphere like this in many places.
This rivals the Tour [de France], the Giro [d'Italia]and all the big races.
"Thanks for a great couple of years, a great few years. Not just from myself but from all of us in the peloton."

Armstrong made a quick getaway from the presentation and did not take any questions from the waiting media."
To see the full story visit the source:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/armstrong-era-corrupt-says-ex-mechanic

******

I would love to see the statistical evidence for Mr Rann's claimed "cost-benefits" he attributes to Armstrong's participation in the "Tour Down Under". What we do know is that Armstrong earned a huge amount from the South Australian Government for agreeing to participate in the Tour, simply because of his "name". All he had to do was turn up, and go for a ride. He didn't have to try hard. Just as well. In this year's "Tour Down Under", he came in 67th position.

We also know that South Australian Premier Mike Rann was the "pimp" who acted as an intermediary to get Armstrong to agree to appear in the "Tour Down Under" - by flying to Dublin to meet with Armstrong "privately". Ah, the thrills of the jet-setting life of the South Australian Premier. And the "cost"? Well, Micheal Turtur, the TDU Director, was coy about that.

However, Tourism Minister Jane Lomax-Smith and TDU director Mike Turtur were very coy about when the deal to bring Armstrong back for next year’s event was finalised.
Mr Turtur said the final aspects of the deal were negotiated in recent days but clinched only because the Premier flew to Dublin for a face-to-face meeting with the cycling superstar. This is despite Armstrong appearing at this year’s event, when he and the Premier became close friends and Twitter buddies.When asked what the sticking point was and why it required the Premier’s personal intervention, Mr Turter said “you’ll have to ask the Premier”.
Mr Turtur, Dr Lomax-Smith and Mr Rann are refusing to reveal how much South Australia is paying in an appearance fee for Armstrong, although they did not deny it was at least $2 million.
Mr Rann went into a tweeting frenzy on the social network website Twitter after he announced Armstrong would return for next year’s event, which comes just eight weeks before the next state election. Armstrong introduced Rann to Twitter.

There's how to get an Australian State Premier excited - jet-setting, private meetings with sports celebrities, Twitter-buddy him up, and of course, bags and bags of sponsorship money, in secret deals.

Lance Armstrong was reportedly "so excited", he could hardly wait to wear the free RM Williams boots - the most recent of the numerous and valuable gifts he has received from Mike Rann over the last four years. Why do I get the feeling that Lance Armstrong's idea for wearing the gifted boots was in a manner, or circumstances, which dear old RMW would never have dreamed of. That's the mark of a Superstar, Lance!

If you look at this article, it is no wonder Armstrong left the final Press Conference, without waiting for any questions from the Press.

Another breach of Caretaker Conventions likely.

2011-01-10T16:27:00.001+11:00

According to the SMH today, Premier Keneally is preparing to sign an agreement with the Federal Government, in the person of Minister Albanese, re the Epping to Parramatta railway line, which the NSW Libs are vowing to not build.

It is precisely that sort of "binding commitment" which is ruled out under the Caretaker Convention as outlined in the Hawker Britton advice.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/pm-defends-sydney-rail-link-commitment-20110110-19kmp.html

Kristina Keneally ducks for cover

2010-12-23T20:50:00.007+11:00

Well, well, well. Kristina Keneally has ducked for cover. But she might just have given away her last vestiges of power and position - just when she needs them.

She has called on the Governor to Prorogue the NSW Parliament.

On my reading - and I stress I am NOT a Constitutional Lawyer - that means Kristina Keneally is now the Caretaker Premier.

"The Caretaker Period
The formal period during which the caretaker conventions operate dates from the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly until the election result is clear, or, in the event of a change of Government, until the new Government is appointed."
Source: http://www.hawkerbritton.com/hawker-britton-media/public-affairs/nsw-government-caretaker-conventions.htm

In keeping with the style of this Labor Government, I am fully confident that they will ignore the Caretaker Conventions:

about NOT making major appointments,
NOT making major Policy Announcements

As Richard Farmer put it in Crikey today:

"Just when you might have thought, with the holidays looming, that things could not get worse with the New South Wales government, along comes a decision to try and muzzle a Legislative Council committee enquiring into the circumstances of the late-night signing of agreements to raise billions from electricity assets.
"All this ham-fisted attempt to avoid public scrutiny will do is further reinforce the appalling reputation of this state Labor government."

This Blog pledges to monitor the actions and announcements of Kristina Keneally and her Ministers over the next 3 months until the Election on 26 March 2011 to note any and all breaches of convention, especially gross breaches which might call into question the legality of new appointments and the binding nature of "commitments made".

For what Kristina Keneally has effectively done is reduce her power from being Premier of NSW to being a candidate for re-election. So the most she can do (legally) from now on, is make "election promises".

In my opinion, she has no idea of the full implications of what she has done.

Who really won the "popular vote"?

2010-09-14T14:25:00.001+10:00

The "Born-to-Rule" mob in Australian Politics (The Liberal and National Parties) came close to winning this recent election.

Closer than they deserved - for the offered few real policies - just repeated mantras of carping criticism, born out of prejudice and hatred of the Labor Party, of women in power, and of anyone with a Greenish tinge to their political views.

They came closer than any self-respecting democratically inclined voter could feel happy with.

Since the results became clear - that Labor would be able to negotiate an alliance, a co-alition, with the non-conservative Members (and Senators), the "born-to-rule" mob have been claiming (falsely) that they ought be the Government as they got 500,00 more votes than Labor.

Lets look at the facts.

This was buried in side Crikey today - in the "Cock-ups and Corrections" bit.

The Australian's election coverage:

Michael R. James writes: Re. "Mungo: hey innumerates, look at the scoreboard" (yesterday, item 14). Mungo MacCallum, regarding the Coalition losing the election, wrote: "just look at the scoreboard, read about it in the newspapers". The problem is that 70% of the print media is News Ltd and political editor Dennis Shanahan wrote that Labor "failed to win the popular vote, the primary vote or more seats than the Coalition".

Though this result is still not final it was predicted last week by Peter Brent on his Mumble blog at News Ltd:

Primary Votes: AEC DATA 13 September 2010 1:46:46pm
ALP	4,711,406	37.8%
ALP + Greens	6,170,553	49.8%
ALP+Greens+3xInd	6,280,724	50.6%
LP	3,777,317	30.5%
Lib + LNQ + NP	5,370,228	43.3%
Lib+LNQ+NP+2xInd	5,431,944	43.8%

So, whichever way one cuts it, the ruling government alliance represents a majority of voters; 50.1% of 2PP or 50.6% of primary votes, compared to the potential alliance that could have put Abbott into power: 49.92% 2PP or only 43.8% of primary vote.

According to Abbott, Pyne, Brandis and their media proxies, especially Shanahan, this 43.8% of the primary vote would have had legitimacy but the governing alliance's 50.6% would be illegitimate.

Depending on how your count it, the governing alliance has 910,000 more primary votes than the Coalition or 848,000 more votes than the LNP potential (now defunct) alliance with two independents.

With both Tony Crook* and Bob Katter* now on the "unaligned" cross benches, the seat count is Labor and Coalition dead heat on 72 seats each; on votes of no confidence and money bills it is Labor alliance 76 or 77 (incl. Katter*) and Coalition 72; and one unaligned (Crook). (*Michelle Grattan wrote "Despite his support for the Coalition, Mr Katter indicated he would be reluctant to use his vote to bring down the government. 'I most certainly would see a moral responsibility to look at the issue of stability' he said.'' Phil Coorey in The Sydney Morning Herald wrote "Tony Crook, who on Monday pledged to help Mr Abbott form a minority government, withdrew that pledge after the result was known yesterday and will sit on the crossbench, unaligned.")

Clive Palmer and Warren Truss were at it again on ABC's Q&A last night, irresponsibly implying that the government is illegitimate.

LNP Senator George Brandis is a QC and so he should either bring a court challenge or shut up.

"End of Michael R James Comment" in Crikey.

Thank you, Mr James.

Denis Wilson

Greens statement re Agreement with Labor Party.

2010-09-03T11:25:00.003+10:00

I have just received this statement from Senator Bob Brown, Leader of the Australian Greens. It is self-explanatory.

Dear Denis,

On Election Day, more than one in ten Australians voted for the Greens. Each and every vote for the Greens was powerful and here's why:

Yesterday, on behalf of the Australian Greens, I signed an agreement with Prime Minister Julia Gillard to work with the Australian Labor Party to ensure stability if it is returned to Government.

(ABC News: Damien Larkins)

The Labor party will work with the Greens to improve Parliamentary processes, like making sure private member's bills are voted on and properly debated. This means important Greens bills to introduce equal marriage, end offshore processing of asylum seekers, or to abolish junk food advertising during children's TV viewing hours can't be swept under the carpet by the Labor and Liberal parties.

For the first time, the Greens will be able to submit policies to Treasury for costing.

The Labor Party will also work with the Greens on a range of issues including:

better dental health funding,
truth in political advertising,
a referendum to recognise Indigenous Australians in the constitution, and
a new Climate Change Committee to work towards a price on carbon.

In return, the Greens will ensure supply and oppose motions of no-confidence in the Labor Government from other parties.

You can read the full agreement here.

It is the responsibility of all newly elected Parliamentarians to deliver stable, productive Government. That is the Greens' primary aim in the agreement signed yesterday.

Regardless of which party forms Government, the Greens in the balance of power in the Senate and our newly-elected Lower House MP Adam Bandt remain the voters' backstop for accountability, scrutiny and progressive policies in our national Parliament. The Greens have always been your voice in the halls of Parliament and that voice has been strengthened thanks to the work of tens of thousands of supporters like you.

The agreement is not a coalition with Labor, but is a constructive contribution toward stable government.

We will continue to work to propose innovative new ideas in Parliament and improve the legislation of whoever is in Government.

Yours sincerely,

Bob Brown

If you received this from a friend and want to sign up to campaign emails from the Australian Greens click here.

Authorised by Derek Schild, 8-10 Hobart Place. Canberra
www.greens.org.au

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ref: 137485

An Act of Spite by Fairfax Media.

2010-08-23T17:12:00.004+10:00

The Fairfax media (through "The Age") has run a mischievous piece of rubbish.

There may be some truth that some people are already framing a betting market about a change of Leader in the Labor Party.

But the real (and unstated) purpose of the story is not about betting, its purpose can only be to destabilise the Labor Government.

It is an act of spite, by a Newspaper which has been totally negative all the way through the Election campaign.

The story starts off saying:

"Bill Shorten, the former union boss who orchestrated the execution of Kevin Rudd from the Labor leadership, has been backed by punters to lead the party to the next election.
"While hundreds of punters sweat on the final election outcome, Mr Shorten, the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, has been installed as the clear favourite with bookies to topple Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is fighting to form a minority government."

What a bastard act, to run such a story, now, when Julia Gillard is negotiating with the various independents about which party will form a minority Government.

I refuse to give a link to the story (as internet protocol would normally dictate) as that might encourage you to read the story.

Please do not read it.

Please cancel your subscription to "The Age" (if you have one). I have just done that.

ALP Blame Game has started - too late!

2010-08-23T08:55:00.007+10:00

The knives are out for Karl Bitar and Mark Arbib - NSW-based Labor Party powerbrokers.

Karl Bitar - ALP National Secretary.

To me, as something of an outsider in the murky world of Labor Politics, all I can say is:

It isn't surprising
Its too late!

Mark Arbib
Senator and NSW "backroom boy".

These people have presided over a Labor Party machine which has selected candidates who either are "part of the club" - their own preferred factional allies; and they have also persuaded the leaders to only speak about things which are favourable to big business.

In that latter case, I give you the example of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. When Kevin Rudd abandoned his plan to address the "greatest moral challenge facing our generation" he lost all credibility with persons concerned about the environment.

What did Labor believe in?

Being soft on the Mining Industry.

Why?

Because of a string of Labor seats in Illawarra and the Hunter regions.

But the cost of not believing in anything is now being counted (and will be for several weeks). If the increased Green vote had stayed with Labor, they would not be in this position.

The Labor Party's "experts" - the guys who run the party's private polling, and feed that information to the Leadership, no longer believe in Ben Chifley's "light on the hill". The True Believers have long since left the building.

Morris Iemma, who was dumped because of back-room manoeuvering by Karl Bitar, is now calling for Bitar to resign. Hardly surprising.

Picture: Dean Marzolla Source: The Daily Telegraph

This is what the Daily Telegraph ( a truly awful paper, by the way) says today: "FORMER NSW Labor premier Morris Iemma publicly called for Labor's party boss Karl Bitar to be sacked following what he claimed was the most disastrous campaign in the party's history.

He also called for factional boss and powerbroker Senator Mark Arbib to be dumped, claiming the pair had effectively destroyed the Labor Party."
Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/election/morris-iemmas-call-for-karl-bitar-end/story-fn5zm695-1225908580928

Mr Iemma lost his position as NSW Premier because these two guys shifted their support away from him. So, in fairness, it ought be recorded that Iemma has some scores to settle with them both.

I do not.
I have been a Labor voter for many years, and I personally know a number of senior Labor Party people (as one tends to do if you have lived in Canberra most of of your life, as I have done).

I have been going on for ages about the loss of true Labor Party values.
Nobody has listened to me - naturally enough.

Will they listen to the voice of the Australian People?
That's doubtful.

The late edition of the Sydney Morning Herald has now (belatedly) joined in with the story.
"Calls for Bitar's head after 'inept' campaign"

A Well-hung Parliament - a psephologist's "wet dream"

2010-08-21T23:44:00.000+10:00

If the last numbers from tonight's election count turn out to be accurate (or are not whittled down by the Scrutineers) then Australia will have a "Hung Parliament".

That means a balance between the major parties, where neither has a majority, and needs to negotiate (now there's an novel idea) with the block of three Independents who have been in the Parliament before, and with Adam Bandt and possibly Andrew Wilkie.

But the main impression I have from tonight's chaotic election broadcast is that there is no one more happy in Australia tonight than Antony Green, the ABC's resident psephologist. The fact that the results of this election might not be known for two weeks (thanks to our antiquated rules on postal votes, which are a hang-over from the days when mail carried by "Cobb and Co Coaches" around the country by horse and buggy).

So this prolonged electoral counting, and re-counting, and then, eventually the rounds of distribution of preferences must seem to Antony Green like a psephologist's "wet dream".

At least somebody is happy with the result.

Andrew Wilkie has been a hero of mine since he "Blew the Whistle" on the Weapons of Mass Destruction issue (in Iraq) when working for the Office of National Assessments. I personally would feel secure if he holds the Balance of Power in the next Parliament. What was it he said he hoped for an ethical Government.

What's that?

2010-08-19T17:24:00.004+10:00

My brother Brian sent me a cartoon he has drawn

The ABC Local Radio in Canberra (666 - the Radio with the Devil's Call Sign) has a "Fierce Quill" cartoon competition running at the moment.

No National Rail Network in Australia

2010-08-15T17:33:00.002+10:00

Blank

I am amazed that in the run-up to a Federal Election, we have heard not a peep out of anyone about this.

I first heard of it, when it was reported in The Age on 9 August 2010.

We have buses between Albury and Melbourne.

Buses!

That means changing over at Albury.

Small seats; double handling of luggage, etc

This is a 3rd world situation.

CountryLink website confirms this (downloaded this morning) with the following advice:

Sunday 8 August- until further notice

Southern Region - Due to delays as a result of substantial speed restrictions being applied by both the Australian Rail Track Corporation and the independent regulator on ARTC track in Victoria, CountryLink advises that all services between Albury and Melbourne will be replaced by road coaches commencing from Sunday 8 August 2010 until further notice. CountryLink apologises for any inconvenience.

6 August - 15 August 2010

Southern region - Due to amended timetables all Sydney - Melbourne - Sydney XPT services will experience delays of 20 - 40 minutes.

Please visit the Trackwork for more details. (From Sunday 8 August 2010 until further notice the XPT service will be replaced by a road coach service Albury - Melbourne - Albury).

Source: http://www.countrylink.info/service_status/service_changes

The explanation contained in The Age's report (below) blames Victoria for laying tracks in the middle of a drought and seemingly not allowing for wet conditions (reactive clay soils swell when wet).

The Age's report from 9 August.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victoriansw-train-travel-suspended-countrylink-20100809-11tc6.html

Victoria-NSW train travel suspended: CountryLink

August 9, 2010 - 2:57PM

Train travel from NSW to Victoria has been suspended because of safety concerns.

The decision was made yesterday afternoon after the NSW-based CountryLink transport service became worried about safety on rail lines between Albury and Melbourne.

Regional centres such as Albury-Wodonga and Wagga Wagga along with smaller towns including Wangaratta, Cootamundra and Yass will be affected by the decision.

Speed limits on the lines, normally above 100km/h, have been reduced to 80km/h.

"This arrangement will continue until further notice," CountryLink said in a statement.

Safety has been jeopardised by the decision to lay concrete sleepers during a time of drought and not allow for rains, sources familiar with the issue told AAP.

One person said the safety worries would soon affect NSW tracks from Macarthur, on the southern outskirts of Sydney, through to Albury."

*****
This is a 3rd world situation, which is unbelievable in 2010.

And in the context of a Federal Election, we have heard not a peep out of any politicians on this issue. Nothing!

TONY ABBOTT IS RIGHT

2010-08-14T23:22:00.004+10:00

OK the heading is satirical.

There is a hot new website (launched by the Labor Party of course) where you can design you're own Tony Abbott poster.

This is mine:If you want to try your own hand, go to:

http://www.tonyabbottisright.com/createposter.aspx

Dear Julia = Please consider the Environment.

2010-08-13T17:16:00.001+10:00

I have sent a message to Julia Gillard, via a message system organised by the Wilderness Society

https://secure.wilderness.org.au/cyberactivist/cyberactions/10_08_leadership-cyberaction.php?

Hi Julia
Please take a moment to consider the environment.

Coal mining is destroying NSW and Queensland (Darling Downs and all the way up to Bowen Basin), and Coal Seam Gas is likely to be as dangerous.

Many Labor voters are concerned about the Environment.
If you don't include a message (and a policy) for us, we will be forced in to the waiting arms of the Greens. You don't want that to happen.

Do not just listen to the Back room boys.
They are out of touch with the real voters.

Australia needs you to show national leadership on the environment

As Australia's most influential politicians, you personally have a critical role to play in securing and sustaining our nation's wild places and natural resources.

I am therefore looking to you for leadership on the challenges threatening Australia's environment and our future.

I urge you to demonstrate that you understand the problems we face by:

Protecting the forests of Southern Australia
Safeguarding our marine environments
Caring for the future of Northern Australia's lands and waters
Managing rivers and water
Developing Indigenous Conservation opportunities
Securing and managing nature's carbon stores - the savannahs, woodlands and forests
Stopping new uranium mines and phasing out existing uranium mines

I am looking for national leaders that won't go missing in action when it comes to these and other important National Environment Policies.

Our environment is our future, and the party that offers the best policies and leadership will gain my support.

I will stand up for the environment this election.

Yours sincerely,

Denis Wilson

Electorate of Throsby

www.peonyden.blogspot.com

An Average Politician - Tony Abbott MP

2010-08-12T15:35:00.003+10:00

I quote from Annabel Crabb's post on "The Drum".

On ABC's Lateline in November last year, with Tony Jones, Mr Abbott.... "when asked about his direct knowledge of the climate change issue, Mr Abbott told Jones that he had not read the IPCC report on global warming, and that he had started but not finished Ian Plimer's famous book on the subject.
"No, I don't claim to have immersed myself deeply in those subjects," he told Jones.
"I'm a politician. I have to rely on briefings - I have to rely on what I pick up through the secondary sources. But look, I think I am as well-versed on these matters as your average politician needs to be."

Quote of the year, I think.

Mr Abbott is just that - an average politician.

Australia needs better than that.

As Annabel Crabb says:

"But Tony Abbott is - through his change of heart on this issue and his subsequent annexing of Coalition policy, which until his dislodging of Malcolm Turnbull had been to support a compromise ETS - personally responsible for the fact that Australia does not have a carbon trading scheme.
"When the consequences of personal decisions are so profound, these decisions demand deeper research."

Australia also needs better than average "Broadband speeds", Mr Abbott.

Broadband policies are night and day

2010-08-11T16:27:00.003+10:00

ADELE FERGUSON writing in "The Age" Business Day tells it like it really is, on the Broadband "debate" (or "non-debate" from Tony Abbott)

August 11, 2010

Source: http://www.theage.com.au/business/telco-policies-are-night-and-day-but-just-one-has-a-bright-future-20100810-11y8m.html

The Coalition's proposal to spend $750 million fixing the problems on the copper network is seven times more than it proposed to spend on the network when it was last in government.

This is throwing good money after bad because the copper doesn't need fixing - it needs replacing.

The two telecommunications policies are as different as night and day.

The Labor Party's $43 billion policy is extremely expensive but is all about building a network that will be the backbone of Australia for the next 50 years,

much like the copper-wire network was for the past 100 years. It is also about creating a level playing field for competitors by busting up Telstra's monopoly over the network.

The endgame is to create high-speed broadband to drive a service-based economy for the future.

The Coalition's policy is about tarting up what we have and making promises that its network will be capable of what the Gillard government's policy guarantees - speeds at 100 megabits per second.

This is nigh on impossible.

If you didn't see Tony's abysmal performance on the 7:30 Report, check it out here .

He kept repeating "I'm no Tech head".

Really, Tony?

You surprise me.

Its not that hard. Even to the mathematically challenged,. 100 units is bigger (faster) than 12 units, whether they be Megabits per second, or whatever.

For those not frightened of fast speed talk, check out this analysis on "Good Gear Guide"

Greens Preferences.

2010-08-10T15:35:00.005+10:00

In case you were wondering, if you vote for the Greens in NSW, this year, and Lee Rhiannon does not quite get a quota, then this is how your vote would be re-distributed. Obviously, if she gets a quota, then she gets elected (end of the question), but it is far from a sure thing. Kerrie Nettle was the last candidate eliminated in the 2007 election, with 11.02% of the vote (after preferences were distributed in 28 "counts"). She started with 8.43% of first preference votes.

THE GREENS (1 - 6)
GROUP AB 7, 8
GROUP AE (CHERYL KERNOT + RUNNING MATE) 9, 10
SECULAR PARTY OF AUSTRALIA 11.12
SOCIALIST ALLIANCE 13, 14
COMMUNIST 15, 16
AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS 17, 18
AUSTRALIAN SEX PARTY 19, 20, 21
CARERS ALLIANCE 22, 23
GROUP K 24, 25
GROUP X 26, 27
SENATOR ON-LINE 28, 29
GROUP T 30, 31
LABOR 32 - 37
UNGROUPED - SCOTT IRVING 38
GROUP C 39, 40
SOCIALIST EQUALITY PARTY 41, 42
UNGROUPED CANDIDATES, 43, 44, 45, 46
LIBERAL/NATIONALS 47 - 52
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS (LDP) 53,54, 55
GROUP B 56. 57
GROUP H 58, 59
GROUP L 60, 61
BUILDING AUSTRALIA 62, 63
DEMOCRATIC LABOR PARTY (DLP) OF AUSTRALIA 64, 65
FAMILY FIRST 66. 67
NON-CUSTODIAL PARENTS PARTY (EQUAL PARENTING) 68, 69
CITIZENS ELECTORAL COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA 70, 71
THE CLIMATE SCEPTICS 72,73
SHOOTERS AND FISHERS 74, 75
CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY (FRED NILE GROUP) 76,77, 78
GROUP D 79, 80
GROUP R 81, 82
ONE NATION 83, 84

Electoral rules state that: "In Senate elections, a system called proportional representation voting secures the election of a number of candidates, each of whom has obtained a required quota or proportion of votes necessary for election. The quota is worked out by dividing the total number of formal votes in the election by one more than the number of places available for election."

There are 6 Senate Candidates to be elected.
So, the quota is total formal votes divided by 6 + 1 = 7.
Once that number is achieved, it is not possible for another candidate to pass the line, that's how it is worked out. Saves them having to go all the way down the list, but usually they do anyway.

So, back to the Green Preferences, it is almost certain that the Greens will come 3rd, probably with something about 11% (or if they do very well), maybe 14% of the vote.

Preferences will most likely give the first 4 seats to Labor and the Coalition (2 seats each). Then the race is on for 5th and 6 positions. As Labor is "On the Nose" in NSW I anticipate that the 5th position will go to to the 3rd Liberal/National Coalition candidate (Fiona Nash), so the Labor Party No 3 person (Steve Hutchins) will fight it out with Lee Rhiannon.

If she is finally eliminated, all the preferences for minor Parties and Groups and ungrouped candidates would be nullified, as only "live" candidates can receive any preferences, so the key thing to note is that Greens preferences go to Labor ahead of Liberals.

So, despite all the "fuss" about preference deals, etc, that is where her effective preferences would go.

The bit which puzzles me most is, why most of these 84 candidates bother?

Time Warp - with Tony the Mad Monk

2010-08-10T14:10:00.000+10:00

Electoral Boundaries changes in Southern Highlands

2010-08-06T18:14:00.005+10:00

If you live in the Southern Highlands, you might have thought you were in the seat of Hume. You used be.

Now you are part of the seat of Throsby (at least, unless you live south from Exeter). The new boundary is between Exeter and Bundanoon.

This map is from Google's Federal Election 2010 site
It is based on data from the
Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

If you wish to see a more precise map, please go to the following AEC map of the Division of Throsby.

Rangas for Climate Action

2010-08-05T19:09:00.005+10:00

How ironic is this?
As a nearly bald (post chemotherapy-follicle damage) male I have been invited to join the Facebook site of Rangas for Climate Action.

Its doubly ironic as I was castigated by my blogging colleague, Miss Eagle, for commenting upon the Ranga-status of our new Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Now, several weeks later, Miss Eagle has embraced the idea of utilising her own Ranga-status to campaign in favour of action on Climate Change.
See her "Network" website entry on this topic.

That's what has persuaded me to join this group (as an honourary "Ranga").

Drink driver let off for living in an area with no Public Transport

2010-08-04T12:08:00.001+10:00

This is an amazing decision which could only be made by someone with no idea of what life is like in the "bush", and who knows nothing of the dangers of driving on country roads.

Why does the RTA target speeding on country roads and drink-driving on country roads in its ads?

Why do the Police bother with crack-downs on Long Weekends in particular, on country roads?

Because it is bloody dangerous driving on bad country roads - that's why.

Denis Wilson

Drink driver let off for being over the city limit

http://www.news.com.au/national/drink-driver-jasmin-henley-let-off-for-being-over-the-city-limit/story-e6frfkvr-1225901008748

Jasmin Henley admits she was lucky to be acquitted of a drink driving charge because she lives in an area where there is no public transport. Pictures: Lloyd Justin Source: The Daily Telegraph

Ms Henley's nearest train station from her home near Windsor in Sydney's west is at least a 20 minute drive away. Source: The Daily Telegraph

Drink driving charge dismissed without conviction

Woman "didn't live in area with public transport"
Driver says charge was her first offence

IT used to be a blood-alcohol reading that determined whether a person was convicted of drink driving - now, it's a postcode.

Sydney woman Jasmin Clair Henley, 27, escaped punishment for driving under the influence yesterday because she lives in an area with no public transport.

In a decision that could set a dangerous precedent - and put people who live in remote areas above the law - a magistrate dismissed the charges against Ms Henley, finding she had no viable alternative to get back to her home at Cattai, north of Windsor, in Sydney's west, after attending a work dinner in the Eastern Suburbs.

"If she lived in any other suburb around Sydney . . . like Paddington . . . there's no way on earth I would consider dismissing the charge," magistrate Brian Maloney said.

Ms Henley recorded a blood-alcohol reading of 0.067 after police stopped her on the Cahill Expressway last month.

Facing the magistrate in the Downing Centre Local Court yesterday, Ms Henley had her low-range drink driving charge dismissed without conviction.

Mr Maloney said he would treat the case as if he was passing sentence in a country court, because there were not enough public transport options open to people living in the northwest corridor.

"It's not like she could jump on a 333 bus to Bondi," he said.

He said the former North Sydney TAFE student ought to move closer to the city if she wanted to have a few drinks over dinner, where she could travel home without risking her own safety and that of other drivers.

"Drinking and driving causes fatalities," he said.

He also quipped that as a past employee of Riverside Oaks Golf Course, Ms Henley would've seen first-hand the ill effects of alcohol on many a drunken golfer.

The magistrate noted that Ms Henley claimed to have only had two drinks at the work function, held at the London Hotel, but he warned that alcohol could be "biased" in effecting women more than men due to their generally smaller body mass.

Ms Henley told The Daily Telegraph she was relieved to have kept her licence because she would not able to get to and from her workplace in the Eastern Suburbs by public transport.

She said she was in danger of having her licence suspended for a minimum of three months if Mr Maloney had not taken her remote address into account.

"I really need my licence, especially living out here.

"It would be too hard to get anywhere. There are no buses at all that come past my house and the nearest train station is Mulgrave, at least 20 minutes away."

Ms Henley said she has never caught a taxi home to Cattai because the fare, about $175, is too costly.

"I've never been in trouble before. This is my first offence. I know I'm really lucky."

Lionel Rattenbury, a partner at Armstrong Legal who was not involved in the case, said the sentence was not manifestly inadequate and within the acceptable range for low-end drink driving offences.

Most offenders in the low-range are fined and have their licenses suspended for three to six months, he said.

Citing the Court of Criminal Appeal, he said the significant effect of license disqualification on a person's ability to earn income and function appropriately in the community should be factored in when applying sentences.

Mr Rattenbury also believed the decision wouldn't affect any future drink driving cases.

"The judgment of one magistrate has very little effect upon the judgments of others," he said.

"The law is clear and set out in the guideline judgment."

- With Larissa Cummings and Nathan Klein at The Daily Telegraph.

Baleful influence of "NSW Right" on ALP

2010-08-03T10:50:00.004+10:00

Bernard Keane in Crikey has hit the nail on the head today (in Crikey's Morning Election Update).
He says:

"Getting rid of the baleful influence of NSW Labor on her campaign style might turn out to be a smart play by Gillard, but it’ll only be of any use if she goes all the way and removes the likes of Mark Arbib and Karl Bitar from the government’s policy process as well. That’s where the real damage has been done."

Dead right.
NSW at the State level is addicted to coal mining revenues.
The Union Movement in NSW is addicted to Coal Miners.
The NSW ALP is addicted to the belief that the coal miners keep the Newcastle and Hunter Valley seats in their "safe" hands.

Senator Mark Arbib -
"close adviser to the (former) Prime Minister (Rudd)
and his link to the New South Wales branch of the ALP.

Karl Bitar
National Secretary of the ALP

These backroom boys persuaded Kevin Rudd to abandon any serious response to Global Warming.
The rest is history.

Rudd is history.
Gillard will not touch Global Warming, as evidenced by her ridiculous proposal to randomly select 150 unqualified persons to advise the Government.
It remains to be seen if the Labor Government is history.

The role of Gall Bladders in Australian Politics

2010-07-31T01:18:00.004+10:00

My brother, knows a thing or two about Gall Bladder surgery, has just sent me a cryptic message: "Leaking gall bladders spread bile through the system and cause stomach cramps."

I was pondering this very point this afternoon, when I heard that Kevin Rudd had been taken off to hospital for urgent surgery - for removal of his Gall Bladder. The connection between Gall Bladders and bile is very direct, clear and not at all "symbolic". Or is it?

And I was reminded earlier in the day of the link between bile, gall stones and pancreatitis, the condition which famously ended the career of the former Labor Leader Mark Latham. It ended his career, but not the flow of bile.

It all makes one wonder about the health risks of being a Labor Party Politician.

Are you interested in what people think?

2010-07-29T21:20:00.004+10:00

Today's edition of The Age has a story on the expansion of the city boundaries of Melbourne.

There are 309 comments, (before The Age Closed down the "Comments" function). That's huge.

And you should read the tone of what they good people of Melbourne are saying:
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/green-land-cut-back-as-melbourne-grows-much-bigger-20100729-10wvi.html?comments=210#comments

In a week when Melbourne has suffered a calamitous rail system failure, the good citizens are thoroughly pissed off.

What's happening to the world, when you cannot trust "Hackers" not to sell you out?

2010-07-28T15:09:00.003+10:00

Hackers turning Leakers in to the Authorities.

What's the world coming to?

"Suspicion has fallen on to a 22-year-old army intelligence officer, Bradley Manning, who is in custody charged with passing to WikiLeaks a classified military video of a US helicopter gunning down civilians in Iraq in 2007.
"Adrian Lamo, the hacker who turned Private Manning in to the authorities in May, said on Good Morning America that he suspected the officer was the source of the Afghanistan documents. But he did not think Private Manning had the technical expertise to pull off such a large removal of documents by himself."

Source: http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/intelligence-officer-under-suspicion-20100727-10uau.html

Gillard's pathetic stance on Climate Change

2010-07-23T14:58:00.001+10:00

Crikey's Bernard Keane has said it all for me, this morning:

"It's hard to describe just how truly wretched Labor's new climate change policy is. It makes the CPRS, its dog of an emissions trading scheme, look like a model of best practice. It is a spectacular failure of leadership.

"Julia Gillard's "citizens' assembly" has effectively outsourced responsibility for climate policy to "ordinary Australians", on whose "skills, capacity, decency and plain common sense" Gillard will rely to tell her about the community consensus on climate change. In effect it institutionalises what is already apparent -- this is a Government controlled by focus group reactions.

"Labor has been playing politics with climate change for three years and it hasn't stopped. But whereas for most of that time it used climate change to damage the Coalition, now it is having to defend itself against the issue. It will only be with the political cover afforded by this nonsensical Assembly that the Government will take any action on a carbon price.

"Rarely has so much goodwill and political capital been wasted on such an important issue."

To read the article in full, please go to this site:

http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/07/23/citizen-gillard-abandons-basic-leadership-on-climate-change/

Madness of automated replies

2010-07-21T17:00:00.007+10:00

Wonderful news - Tony Abbott has "replied" to my emailed version of the previous posting.

This what "his" reply says:
Thank you for your email to the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon Tony Abbott MP

Thank you for your recent email to the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott.

As you may be aware, the Prime Minister has called a federal election.

Unfortunately, from Opposition, we do not have the resources to respond to your email in detail during the campaign period, but your concerns will be brought to Tony’s attention and that of the Coalition Team.

After three years of Labor Government failures, Australians now have a choice.

Broken promises, increased cost of living pressures, massive debt, a Budget deficit, waste and mismanagement and new taxes are all placing unnecessary pressures on Australians. Further, Labor have removed a Prime Minister quickly and ruthlessly, ignoring the wishes of Australian voters. But it is the same government with the same problems creating the same mess.

I hope you will get behind Tony in the weeks ahead as he seeks to stand up for Australia and take real action to end the waste, repay the debt, stop the taxes and ease the cost of living pressures on families.

If you would like to read more detailed policy information please go to www.liberal.org.au.

Clearly it is an automated reply, developed by a staffer, so that they do not have to actually read what people such as me - VOTERS - are trying to tell Tony Abbott.

Isn't it great that people actually get paid to produce this rubbish?

If Tony loses the Election, and I sincerely hope he does, he ought start out by sacking his staff who do not read his correspondence, do not "sense" that I am not really a supporter (how hard was that to detect?), and who are so stupid as to try to promote the Liberal Party website off the back of my Website?

People who perform so badly do their bosses a total disservice. They have managed to lower my opinion of him. I didn't think it was possible.

I do really hope (but do not believe) that Mr Abbott's Staff will follow their word, and that my "concerns will be brought to Tony’s attention and that of the Coalition Team".

Presumably they mean, after the election. I should imagine that the Liberal Party leadership team, and the rest of the Coalition Team will have a "think" about my idea that, ages ago, they had backed the wrong horse, and should have gone begging to Malcolm Turnbull.

Imagine the Liberal Party heavies using the hardest of all political sentences to speak: "WE WERE WRONG".

The real Election we ought have had.

2010-07-19T22:52:00.009+10:00

The Liberal Party has lost its best chance of returning to Government.

If it had not rejected Malcolm Turnbull, when it did, what a head-to-head contest we might have had.

Gillard Versus Turnbull?
That would have been a genuine choice

Whatever one might think of Mr Turnbull, his credibility on Climate Change is far greater than Tony Abbott's or Julia Gillard's.

Strange to think that all of those of us who believe that "Climate Change" and in particular, carbon emissions, ought be serious issues in this election, have no serious candidate to consider in this Election.

If the Liberals were to abandon Tony Abbott immediately and select Malcolm Turnbull (yes I know it will not happen with a 5 week campaign already underway) but what an election choice we might have had.

Having been raised in Melbourne, under the shadow of Dr Mannix, and B A Santamaria, his right-hand man, I could not possibly vote to return to those dark days.

So, what is my genuine political option, this election?
To me, my choice appears to be between a
"Union Hack" and a clone of B.A. Santamaria.

Such appalling poverty of choice is a dreadful indictment of the state of Politics in Australia.

The Australian Body Politic is once again seriously ill.

Coal-fired power stations are death factories. Close them.

2010-07-10T18:36:00.000+10:00

This story says much of what the people of the Hunter Valley in NSW have been saying for ages.

Coal mining towns have poor health records.

Although this fact is not mentioned in the attached report, some studies indicate that the kids in mining towns have lower IQs than their peers in non-mining towns.

As the coal mining industry is a major user of water (especially groundwater) and as the coal-fired electricity stations are huge users of water, this issue is perfectly well related to the water theme of the Australian Water Network.

So too is the point made about the coal industry competing with the food supply industry. We need water to produce food, and there is direct competition between the two, now and into the future, which we simply cannot ignore.

The heat is on for change: coal

Article republished from The Australian July 10, 2010 12:00AM

OPINION: David Shearman (see below for his qualifications and contact details)

JAMES Hansen, the respected NASA scientist, said: "Coal-fired power stations are death factories. Close them." The medical profession has failed to address this serious health message. An urgent transition from coal to renewable energy will provide important health and economic benefits.

Research in the US has shown coal pollutants affect all body organ systems and contribute to four of the five leading causes of mortality in the US: heart disease, cancer, stroke and chronic respiratory disease.

Each step of the coal life cycle -- mining, transportation, washing, combustion and disposing of post-combustion wastes -- affects human health. In Australia, research is lacking but there is no reason to believe similar effects are not occurring in coal communities here. To deny it would be akin to holding smoking causes lung cancer in the US but doesn't in Australia.

The health burden of coal in Australia is estimated conservatively at $2.6 billion a year. There are also economic losses due to land pollution and degradation and the open mining of good agricultural land in the face of the projected world food crisis.

Morbidity and mortality are increasing in the developing world as the effects of climate change take hold of the environment. As the world's fourth largest producer of hard coal and the world's biggest exporter, from which we garner $20bn each year, our contribution to this pollution is far greater than our culpability as the world's greatest domestic per capita producer of greenhouse emissions.

Let us approach this as a medical problem. The climate change moral challenge referred to by former prime minister Kevin Rudd is even more compelling for the medical implications. For a wealthy country to fail to take necessary measures and to wait for others to do so can be seen as amoral. Communities in many mining regions are worried about pollution. They write to us expressing concern about their children's asthma.

There are a number of pollutants released from fossil fuel combustion. These include nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide, and fine particles measuring 2.5 micrometres or less, which penetrate more deeply into lung tissue than larger particles and are considered particularly hazardous to health.

In the US, exposure to these particles has been shown to reduce life expectancy. Their monitoring in Australia, especially in the areas where pollution is generated, is patchy or non-existent.

Environmental injustice can be defined as the disproportionate exposure of socially vulnerable groups to pollution and its associated effects on health and the environment, as well as the unequal environmental protection provided through laws, regulations and their enforcement. However, incomes in some coal and electricity generation townships are higher than the national average and the injustice relates not to poverty but to health inequality caused by government inaction.

For state governments to disregard pleas for action by parents whose children are suffering from pollution is a denial of their fundamental obligations to public welfare. Many in the medical profession have expressed support for the federal government's intent to improve and reorganise medical services.

The government has extolled preventive health and taken action on smoking. Pollution is an area of abject failure that government can attack. It is one of injustice and neglect, with state governments and corporations reaping the economic benefits of coal production and export.

Where states have failed to deliver on improved standards and delivery, federal intervention is needed.

The Upper Hunter region in NSW has been identified as an area where residents, civil society and local government groups struggle with corporations and state government over the burden of ill-health caused by air pollution. There is ample evidence of inaction by state authorities. There is regulatory inertia and denial of public requested air monitoring, which has extended to mines where air pollution is of concern to local communities.

At one such site, an air quality panel is finally being established after many years.

Mines cannot be closed precipitously, for unemployment has personal and family health impacts. However, Doctors for the Environment Australia, in its energy policy (available at www.dea.org.au; click on Policy on main menu) opposes any new mines, particularly those ravaging good food-producing land.

For existing mines we recognise the inevitable in terms of our future national and international commitments, and urge planning for the rapid introduction of renewable energy industries into coal mining regions.

Renewable energy industries create more jobs than coalmining; they are generally safer and much healthier for workers and communities. They will offer sustainable economic development in an area where Australia already trails other developed nations. The federal government's proposed resource super-profits tax -- now recast and rebadged as the minerals resource rent tax -- will aid this transition.

We ask why, in a wealthy, developed country like Australia, which reaps billions of dollars from the export of coal, are we neglecting the health and wellbeing of entire mining communities? Where are the health impact studies?

This is environmental injustice, with inhabitants being disproportionately exposed to pollution and its associated effects on health and their environment.

David Shearman is emeritus professor of medicine, a practising physician and honorary secretary of Doctors for the Environment Australia.

www.dea.org.au

Get Up's Ad is in appalling taste

2010-07-09T16:59:00.003+10:00

You may have heard of the GetUp ad, or even seen it on the News last evening.
They are circulating it for "a Friday afternoon laugh".
Well, I for one am not laughing.

I have sent the following message to GetUp Media Manager:

I thoroughly disapprove of your "Spoof Election Video". I know it is going viral and is on the News, but that is a bad thing, not a good thing.
I jknow why you are trying to do this - to help get young people to enrol, so they can vote.
But this "Spoof Ad" legitimises gun violence, and worse, takes it out of the world of "fantasy" and introduces gun violence into the real world of the Australian Political Forum.

Please stop that Video immediately.

Denis Wilson
Robertson NSW 2577

Dear Readers, if you don't know of what I speak, you may look at it on their website.

If you object, as I do, kindly let them know.
http://www.getup.org.au/about/contact/

GetUp, who "live by the sword" of the media, ought respond to media criticism.
Let's hope so.

What would GetUp say if in the forthcoming election, someone attempted to assassinate any Politician?
They ought all resign.
Already people are throwing eggs.
And GetUP thinks this Ad is "a Friday Laugh"?
I strongly disagree.

Is Julia the answer?

2010-06-25T17:21:00.003+10:00

Well, it obviously depends on what is the question.
The Age on-line poll does not look good for Julia and the ALP. (Go to the bottom of Michelle Grattan's report (see link above).

Poll: Are you more likely to vote Labor with Julia Gillard as leader?

Yes: 41%
No: 59%

Total votes: 102966.

Poll closes in 3 days.

Disclaimer:

These polls are not scientific and reflect the opinion only of visitors who have chosen to participate.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Well, these self-initiated polls attract Nutters like myself, however, 102966 is a lot of people for such an on-line poll.

And so it really looks as if Julia might not be the answer at all.

Our Prime Minister is not a "Sheila" and not a "Ranga"

2010-06-24T15:57:00.001+10:00

Our new Prime Minister is a person, and a female person - to boot.

She ought not be characterised as a "sheila" and not as a "ranga".

I will leave my original post there (below), so you can see how easily the average Aussie bloke can slip into silly errors.
It was not meant to be offensive, and I apologise that it was.

Our Prime Minister is not a Sheila and not a "Ranga"

2010-06-24T11:56:00.009+10:00

Our new Prime Minister is a person, and a female person - to boot.

She ought not be characterised as a "sheila" and not as a "ranga".

I will leave my original post there, so you can see how easily the average Aussie bloke can slip into silly errors.
It was not meant to be offensive, and I apologise that it was.

***** ***** *****

Blank

A week is a long time in Politics. (attributed to British PM Harold Wilson, circa 1964)

Too true.

In Kevin Rudd's case, a day and a half was too long. Without support, he wilted in the sun, like a cut lettuce. He was not even prepared to call for a show of hands in Caucus.

Some say this was to limit damage to the Party. Maybe. But it shows he was not made of the same stuff as Paul Keating was.

I sent this message to my friend Leo, in Canada on Tuesday.

Hi Leo

This is the most imaginative Ad I have seen from the Liberals in ages.

http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/06/22/olemon/?source=cmailer

Kevin's election slogan nick-name in 2007 was "Kevin 07"

Shame it is "resonating with the public" because it might be quite effective in an election year.

Don't be misled, however, the bastards behind this are still the same bastards they always were, under John Howard.

Forget ethics, morality, etc.
But credit where credit is due - to the Advertising agency.

Today I have had to update Leo with the new developments (the selection of Julia Gillard by the ALP caucus as Prime Minister).

Hi Leo

That "lemon" Ad I sent you has had a remarkable effect.

It only ran for a few days, and guess what? The Labor Party back-room boys shat themselves.

We now have our (former ) Deputy PM, a woman, and a "ranga" - a red-head to boot, as Prime Minister designate. Likely to be sworn in today. http://www.smh.com.au/national/gillard--to-become-australias-first-female-prime-minister-as-rudd-stands-aside-20100624-yzvw.html

Amazing stuff. It remains to be seen if the strategy will work.

CAUTION: LANGUAGE WARNING ON THE "URBAN DICTIONARY" LINK.
For the Urban dictionary definition of "ranga" look here. It is amazingly frank. Be prepared to laugh a bit. Aussie humour at its best (worst).

***** ***** *****
A somewhat quizzical look on Julia's face - matching the story of
an unkind attack on her character by Senator Bill Heffernan.
She is made of sterner stuff than Bill Heffernan counted upon.

Photo: Penny Stephens, courtesy of "The Age" May 2, 2007

For a more restrained and balanced view of today's events (well, a self-professed feminist view, anyway) visit my friend Brigid's Blog "The Network".

Well, I consider myself to have been rebuked (indirectly) by Brigid in her latest posting, objecting to the use of the term "ranga".
Fair enough.

***** ***** *****

Post Script:
When I met Brigid she did not appear to have red hair, and so I was not anticipating causing her offence.
However, offence is obviously taken by not just her, but all (or any of) our red-haired colleagues.
Someone ought start stereotyping us blond-haired, blue eyed, over-weight blokes - then I might know to be more careful with my wording..

The Intelligence² Debate - Stephen Fry

2010-02-15T23:25:00.005+11:00

The Intelligence² Debate - Stephen Fry

Topic: "That the Catholic Church is (or is not) a force for good in the world."

This was the theme addressed by Stephen Fry, actor and writer, in the "Intelligence² Debate".

He speaks beautifully on a subject which is clearly has troubled him for a long time.

I recommend that you watch this video.

The full video runs for approximately 20 minutes, but I believe it is well worth the time.

There are two series of Questions and Answers in furtherance of the debate.

Australia Day Council takes note of my warning

2010-01-26T23:55:00.001+11:00

OK, the header is a little tongue in cheek.
But I welcome the announcement of someone other than Jon Dee as Australian of the Year.
"It is Professor Patrick McGorry, a leading international researcher, clinician and advocate for the youth mental health reform agenda.
He is Executive Director of Orygen Youth Health (OYH), a world-renowned mental health organisation for young people that has put Australia at the forefront of innovation in the prevention and treatment of mental illness."
Source: Australian of the Year Awards

Lets not make A Day into Dee Day

2010-01-25T11:24:00.005+11:00

The Australia Day Council has already made some bad decisions (their posters, their Chinese made flags and other apparel).

Lets hope they do not compound it by naming Jon Dee as 2010 Australian of the Year. He has been nominated by the NSW Sub-Committee.

Based upon the insignificant outcomes of the "Bundy on Tap" campaign, and his failure to cooperate with other environmental groups in his various "high profile" but low outcome campaigns, I fear his nomination (if it should occur), could be a retrograde step for Australia Day.

Lets not make Australia Day into Dee Day.

A Stalinst themed Australia Day?

2010-01-15T22:52:00.006+11:00

My friend Dion has sparked a controversy by writing to the Australia Day Council Secretariat to object to the Stalinist-style imagery used in their advertisement for this coming Australia Day.
What do you think?

Tam Johnston, National Program Director, National Australia Day Council briefly considered Dion's comments, but did not agree with him. I think she did not understand the reference to the tradition of Stalinist Poster Art.

Have a look at these three sample images:

The use in the Australia Day advertisement of the iconic symbols:

of muscular arms bent,

eyes locked with a forward view on the horizon

are derivative of (or alternatively a tribute to) Soviet Poster Art of the Stalinist era.

That was the point which Dion originally alluded to in his original email - although he did not spell it out.

Clearly he did not think it necessary.
The reference to "Stalinist" style in his email ought have been enough. Sadly that was not the case, apparently.

Ms Johnston replied that the Australia Day advertising: "is designed to be a somewhat whimsical reference to Australia’s own World War II advertising."
In my opinion, that reply is is simplistic and ill-informed.

Australian WW2 posters were not at all in that style.

I am sure that if the Australia Day Secretariat had bothered to consult the Art experts at the Australian War Memorial they would confirm this impression.

Here are some examples of real Australian World War Two advertisements, courtesy of the National Archives of Australia.

"Ringed with Menace"

And this aggressive advertisement
"He's on the Job"
An Aussie "Digger" chasing a diminutive enemy figure in a "Top Hat".

These are real advertisements from Australia's WW11 period. Not whatever fantasy images the Australia Day Secretariat, or its artist, imagines were used. Ultra-realism, not stylised symbolic images looking to the "future".

I was sufficiently annoyed by the apparent ignorance of the Australia Day Secretariat staff, that I have tonight written back to Ms Johnston pointing out that the symbolism of the imagery in their advertisement is completely off the mark.

Furthermore, as Dion pointed out in his original email comments to the Australia Day Council, the use of meat, including pork chops in the advertisement is divisive, within the modern Australian Community.
Ms Johnston did not address those points in her facile reply.

So tonight, with regard to the Australia Day advertising, I have asked her specifically, what about vegetarians and Vegans?
What about observers of Islamic and Judaic dietary codes?
Surely these advertisements are non-inclusive, if not downright divisive.

I have suggested that the Australia Day Council withdraw this advertisement.

What do you think?

Fw: Open Letter to the NSW Premier, Ms Keneally.

2010-01-10T19:48:00.002+11:00

The following is the text of a letter I sent on 6 January 2010 to Premier Keneally regarding the need to abandon the Tillegra Dam proposal.

Denis Wilson

Dear Premier Keneally

I wish to encourage you to take the opportunity to distance yourself from the murky past of the Labor Party in NSW, particularly in the Hunter Valley.

I refer of course to the well known fact that the announcement of the Tillegra Dam, on the Williams River - a major tributary of the Hunter River, was announced as a distraction from the sordid troubles of the former NSW Minister Milton Orkopolous. Nathan Rees, Water Minister at the time, had been his senior staff member, after all. The announcement had the stench of a "political fix" from the word go.

If you wish to show your integrity, please stand up and make us all proud of you.

Distance yourself from the scandals of the past.

Abandon the nonsense of the proposed Tillegra Dam.

The NSW Auditor General has now publicly called for Hunter Water to produce a "sound business case" for the Tillegra Dam. How can it have got this far without such a "sound business case"?

You are the Premier.

Surely you need to be satisfied that the Dam is warranted - both economically and environmentally.

It is simply not necessary.

Hunter Water has exaggerated the "case for" the Dam in their carefully commissioned Environment Assessment Report which is fundamentally biased in favour of the dam, and does not give due consideration to the "down side" of the issues. The EAR is not an independent document - it is the result of selective use of statistics and analysis, to tell the case which the commissioning Agency (Hunter Water) wanted to tell the Government.

The reduction in flow of the Williams River which would result from building of the proposed Tillegra Dam would threaten important Ramsar listed wetlands in the lower Hunter River. The proposed Tillegra Dam would damage the environment.

Yours sincerely

Denis Wilson

Chairman

Save Water Alliance

Missingham Pde

Robertson

Postal address:

PO Box 3158

Robertson NSW 2577

Enrolled voter in the NSW electorate of Kiama.

When are the attacks on Indians going to be called for what they are?

2010-01-09T14:02:00.005+11:00

The Victorian Police object to being called "racists".
I simply ask, when are they going to start acknowledging that attacks on Indians in Melbourne are something other than "random acts of violence"?
That commentary was sparked after the killing of an Indian worker living in Melbourne. He was not robbed - just stabbed.

The cartoon appeared in the 5 January
edition of Delhi's "Mail Today".

The diplomatic spin has become a whirlwind.

"Acting Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that Mail Today’s cartoon and its Ku Klux Klan reference are unacceptable and “deeply offensive.”
"Bharat Bhushan, editor of the Mail Today newspaper, stood up for the cartoon, saying ”We perceive the Melbourne police to be a racist organization simply because it seems it is not acting fast enough, or seriously enough, on the attacks on Indian students.”
"Mr Bhushan also argued that Indians were overrepresented in crime statistics – with Indian students making up only 1 out of a 1000 living in Melbourne but accounting for 1 in every 20 attacks."
Source: Des Pardes 8 January 2010

Read this article in "The Age" by Sam Varghese, a subeditor with "The Age online". He knows of what he speaks - he is an Indian.

And today the ABC news reports that yet again another attack on an Indian has been deemed a "non-racial attack". Are the Victorian Police living in dreamland?

This represents a trend in policing to "politicise" the reporting of crime - by attempting to "de-politicise it". In other words, the statements by the Police have become "spin", lies, and twisted truths. Who are they protecting, by twisting the truth? Themselves, or the Victorian Government?

Whoever they are trying to protect, they are not protecting the Indian residents of Melbourne - at least not adequately.

Ageing of the Australian Population - implications for health and pension budgets.

2009-12-30T22:03:00.001+11:00

Ageing of the Australian Population - implications for health and pension budgets.

For the record, I was involved (in a junior capacity) in drafting a report to the Federal Government in 1980, while working in the Federal Dept of Health, Policy and Planning Branch, Research Section.

The report was entitled "Health Care in the year 2000", and it was a planning document with a 20 year lead time.

Now 30 years later, an academic has "discovered" that this is about to happen in 12 months time.

Suddenly it is "News"!

Spare me from sloppy journalistic standards.

Peter Martin is a serious Economics Correspondent and columnist for the SMH, and a regular Economics commentator on the ABC.

He should be able to do better than this.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/national/first-flush-of-boomers-line-up-for-pensions-20091229-lirg.html
First flush of boomers line up for pensions

PETER MARTIN ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT

December 31, 2009 (published Dec 30, 2009, by the way!!!)

THE first wave of Australia's baby boomers - those born from 1946 - become eligible for the pension from next week.

Official projections suggest up to 107,000 baby boomer women will reach the female pension age of 64 next year.

A year later 100,000 baby boomer men will reach the male pension age of 65 and a further 120,000 women will reach pension age.

''The bulge will expand for 15 years,'' said David Knox, an actuary and worldwide partner at Mercer Consulting. ''And these boomers will be living longer than did earlier pensioners.''

Dr Knox was behind a campaign to gradually raise the pension age to 67, a decision implemented in the federal budget in May with the first increase to 65 years and six months due in 2017, and the final increase in 2023.

''I think we'll need more,'' he told the Herald. ''I would like the pension age to keep increasing as life expectancy increases, not on a one-for-one basis, but by six months for every year that lives lengthen, so that the costs are shared.''

The rapid ageing*** of the population brought on by the steady march of boomers into their upper 60s and early 70s will be a focus of both the Henry review of taxation and the Treasury's third Intergenerational Report, to be released early in the new year.

Current projections suggest that by the middle of the century almost one in four Australians will be 65 or older, roughly double the present 13 per cent. The proportion aged 85 or older will triple from 1.7 per cent to 5 per cent.

In an early insight into the content of the third report, the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, told the Australian Institute on Population Ageing Research in September it would find that Australia's population would be larger and somewhat younger than had been believed. That was being driven by an unexpected jump in the birth rate and greater than expected immigration.

The challenge would be to encourage older people to continue to contribute to the community, as carers, volunteers and workers.

The budget eased the income test on pensions in order to make continued part-time work more attractive.

But Dr Knox said most Australians actually retired well before the pension age. Retirement at 58 or 59 was typical, although there were signs that age was increasing to 61.

''The global financial crisis has eaten into nest eggs, forcing some people to postpone their retirement plans. And the recovery is going to encourage employers to hang on to their workers as they become scarce,'' he said.

The Henry review has considered recommending that the superannuation preservation age be slowly raised to 67, to bring it into line with the higher pension age from 2023, in effect making it impossible to get a retirement income before 67 without working or living off the income from investments.

rapid ageing***

Note my introductory comments above.

This has been subject of formal advice to Government since 1980, that I am aware of.

Hardly "rapid ageing" - the "ageing" is not suddenly changing - it is just that the Baby Boomers population "peak" has hit, or is about to hit, the "trigger point" of 65 - pensionable age, and also a statistical cut-off point used to divide the population into "statistical units" for health care planning purposes.

Denis Wilson

Airport security shake-up.

2009-12-29T20:05:00.002+11:00

Remember the brawl at Kingsford Smith Airport?

This would appear to be the response.

I am so glad we now have a "decisive" Government (attempted irony!)

See these two extracts from the Sydney Morning Herald "story" (I cannot bring myself to call it a "report").

"The Australian Federal Police will take control of security at the nation's 11 busiest airports within three to five years under a plan to prevent under-staffing at terminals and duplication of services by state and federal agencies.

"The decision to hand control of airport security to federal police was made before the botched attack on the Northwest Airlines flight and followed an independent audit of the agency by a former senior public servant, Roger Beale."

Read the full, and very badly written report in the Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/federal-police-to-take-over-airports-20091228-lhbd.html

The journalist (???) seemed to think this had something to do with the Nigerian guy flying to Detroit from Holland. It doesn't as even a quick scan of this story reveals.

What has happened to "journalism" in Australia? Is it too much to hope for internal consistency within even a small story?

Is it a problem with sub-editors mixing two stories (one of which they had previously "spiked"?)

Give me strength!

Post-Copenhagen Blues

2009-12-23T19:34:00.007+11:00

Good things happen at the height of summer.
In Robertson, it usually means we turn off our heaters (in my case, I did that last week).

That is good for Global Warming, as my heater not only gently warms (and dries) my bedroom; but by using electricity, it has meant unnecessary generation of power, by coal being burnt somewhere else in the State of NSW.

Wallerawang Power Station, near Lithgow, NSW
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia - Photo "Amitch")

In these Post-Copenhagen Days of Apocalypse, it means I was (until I turned off my little heater last week) killing the Planet faster than it will otherwise die. The world will die of natural causes - by converting itself to a "Red Giant", but "experts" predict we have 5 Billion years.

You can see that I am "Over" Copenhagen.

I have read every Press Release and the transcript of every interview and "doorstop interview" which Senator Penny Wong has given on the subject. I am totally disillusioned with this Government's pathetic attempt to justify propping up the largest polluting industries (including the so-called "Trade Exposed Industries", notably the coal miners, cement producers and the Aluminium industry (the majority of which are overseas owned or controlled anyway).

I ask (naively) - whatever happened to Socialism, Social Responsibility and Environmental Values?

Big polluters ought be stopped in their tracks!
They cause the problem; I say - let them pay the cost of the clean-up.
The last thing we ought do is reward them, with cash bonuses, let alone huge cash bonuses, even if dressed up as "incentives".

This Government has no corporate memory.
It does not understand how huge Multinationals will bully Governments, promise them everything, then do nothing whatsoever.

I remember the deals Bob Hawke did with Kodak to keep open a processing plant in Coburg - in his electorate of Wills. What happened - he gave them huge incentives to stay open- they accepted the handouts, and closed the plant several years later.

I was in Scotland in 1975 when Harold Wilson was British PM. (Yes, dear reader, I am very old, but, I was once a "bright young thing". :-))
So, unlike most modern Politicians, I have a long political memory.

Harold Wilson was worried about votes in Scotland, and so did a "deal" with Chrysler (remember them?) to keep open the British Leyland (remember them?) car plants in Linwood, Scotland (close to Glasgow). He threw millions of British Pounds at Chrysler; they accepted; Wilson resigned prior to the next election, and handed over to James Callaghan (remember him?) and Chrysler closed down the plants anyway. That was during the British "Winter of Discontent" which led to Margaret Thatcher's rise to power. (Who can forget her?)

What is the moral of this little history lesson?

Big companies do not need to stand for re=election, and they know they can outlast Politicians (who do). That holds true for Kevin Rudd and even Senator Wong.

Politicians come and politicians go.

But huge corporations and industries keep on going - even if they change their names.

Do a brief search on any of these names: Broken Hill Pty Ltd> BHP>Western Mining (WMC)> BHP-Billiton>Rio Tinto>Chinalco.

Counting "Carbon emissions"

The whole fallacy of the Climate Change debate has its seeds in the Rio "Earth Summit" (1992) (remember Ros Kelly *** "saving the world for her children"?), which led to the Kyoto Protocol (1997) and then the Bali Conference (2007).

The basic flaw is that countries are allowed to calculate the amount of Carbon Dioxide (or equivalents) they emit. "Emit" is taken to mean burning coal (or equivalents) which results in carbon dioxide being formed and released. These are the so-called "Greenhouse Gases", and the calculation is of the man-made (anthropogenic) component of those gases in the atmosphere.

Fine, I understand why that is counted that way.

But that simplistic division of responsibility for pollution allows the Australian Government to campaign for a reduction in CO2 emissions, while, simultaneously, the Government has its senior (ex-Union) Ministers planning to double the coal exporting facilities and the railways to bring coal from the mines in the Hunter Valley and Liverpool Plains, in NSW, and the Bowen Basin in Queensland.

You cannot burn coal if you keep it locked away in the ground. We should count the coal we produce, not count the "carbon emissions" in the countries to which we sell our coal.

We have no problem recognising why Asbestos ought be kept in the ground. Why not coal?
Coal is vastly more polluting, and highly toxic.
Don't believe me?
Read this brief report of Dr van Steenis's recent findings in NSW.

We have a Federal Government which is either schizophrenic or hypocritical.

I cannot tell you which it is. You ought make up your own mind (or if you are like the Federal Government (minds). (That's a hint!)

***** ***** *****

I accept responsibility for any political commentary in this post.
Denis Wilson, (enrolled voter)
Robertson, NSW, 2577

Blank

*** These days Ros Kelly is living in seemingly quiet seclusion in Kangaloon, in the Southern Highlands of NSW. She is therefore a 'local' as far as my Blog is concerned.

Dirty Secrets - Coal Industry and the NSW Government.

2009-12-17T23:05:00.003+11:00

DJW Notes:
The following document is republished on this site.

The source and references are listed below, or linked in the text of the document.

Original work is by Dr. van Steenis, whose visit to the Hunter Valley region recently was sponsored by concerned local medical practitioners and community representatives.

In particular, I wish to draw your attention to the hidden costs of diseases caused by the use of coal mining, and the use of that product for industry and power generation. As this paper reports: "the costs from health damage from coal in USA is five times the value of the coal."
This is compounded in Australia because we deliberately do not measure the ultra-fine dust particles (PM2.5 and PM1) which are acknowledged as causing the most health impacts. These hidden costs are regarded as "externalities" and are not costed back to the sourtce of the problem - the coal industry. As such, the Coal Mining Industry (including the Unions) and Government (State and Federal) are all complicit in a huge lie, telling us the "benefits" of coal mining, without even assessing the true costs of the "downside"of the coal industry and the coal-fired power generation industry.

DJW
************************************
Urgent Reform of Coal Industry operating standards required

“I am appalled at the very dated health standards causing much unnecessary death and disease in the Hunter” stated UK Industrial air pollution expert, Dr Dick van Steenis, when he toured the Hunter region last week. He noted some parts had death rates as much as 37% above the national average and was positive the poorly regulated coal mining and power generation industries are to blame.

Compounding the problems from coal is the temptation to use power stations and bulldozers as defacto hazardous waste disposal units reducing the cost to coal companies but causing enormous escalation of health damage.

Dr van Steenis visited coal communities and lectured in Gloucester, Liverpool Plains, Singleton, Muswellbrook, Newcastle and ending at the Environmental Defenders Office in Sydney. The following is a synthesis of his observations and recommendations.

Dust problems, PM10 and PM2.5 – SIZE IS IMPORTANT

Open cut mining produces dust particles at several stages in production. Both the size of the particle and the content are critical to causing health damage.

For dust to enter lung tissue it must be less than 3microns in diameter. Larger coarse particles breathed in will get caught in the hairs and mucous of the nose and bronchi.

The convention is to describe coarse dust particles between the size of 10microns and 4 microns as PM10. Fine dust particles are conventionally measured as PM2.5.
(A human hair is about 100microns in diameter). Whilst even much smaller ultra fine particles are produced in large numbers they are probably too small to cause major health effects.

It is PM2.5 and PM1 particles that are the critical ones for human
health. PM10 particles cause nuisance effects of dirtying all surfaces and if they get into the water supply such as rainwater tanks their toxins will be dissolved and can then produce health effects. The processes that produce PM2.5 tend to be different to the processes that produce PM10 and their levels bear no relation to one another.

This fact is critical to understanding the deadly uselessness of the Australian dust monitoring system which is all built around measuring PM10 levels – there is no standard for PM2.5, and it is not measured or reported.

World-wide PM2.5 legislation

USA commenced legislation for PM2.5 levels in 1997 and they have noted a 6% reduction in mortality rates and a reduction in the associated health bill. Canada, Japan and France have followed suit. In contrast, in other polluting countries such as Australia the mortality rates and health expenses are rising.

---

OPEN CUT MINING DUST PRODUCTION

---

The mechanical processes of mining produces some PM2.5 but the majority of the dust is at least PM10.

PM2.5 is produced in greatest numbers by processes that involve burning. At an open cut mine it is primarily the bulldozers and blasting which are the culprits plus any burning that may occur of a coal seam. Each large bulldozer can emit the same number of fine particles as 900,000 Volvo P70 petrol cars.

Even a small open cut mine is likely to have at least five of these heavy mining vehicles operating and large mines many more. Typically a bulldozer does not have a particle trap on the exhaust and the hot exhaust fumes are thrown into the air, rise and travel several kilometers. The cooling of the night air causes the particles to fall leading to coughing and asthma in children and young animals at night. (Most of a cars exhaust fumes have fallen to the ground within 100metres).

If the diesel fuel is a low grade or mixed with oil refinery waste it causes the particles to reduce to PM1 size and will contain many more toxins.

Blasting usually only occurs about once per week but the gases produced are very toxic. Blast gases are not normally monitored despite their toxicity.

The processing, stockpiling, loading and transport of coal from over 30 mines to Newcastle and the loading onto ships are processes that cause coal to rub against hard surfaces and produce more dust. Water suppresses only coarse particles and dries out on long journeys so that the quantity of emissions from the uncovered coal rail wagons does not reduce even after several hundred kilometers.

Every community beside the rail line is at risk as are the Newcastle suburbs within 3 kilometers of the coal loaders. (Wheat carried by rail and coal carried by road is covered. Why not oblige coal rail wagons to be covered?)

Water contamination from Open Cut Mining

Coal is washed in the processing plant and this requires about 200litres for every ton of coal. The dirty slurry is usually diverted to a dam which would need to be lined by 17 feet of clay to absorb all the toxins and not leak them into the ground water. We know of nowhere that this has been done. Dirty water from Gunnedah area mines drains into the Murray-Darling system contaminating an enormous food bowl area.
We are told areas of land at Ravensworth are still unsafe for stock 30 years after rehabilitation..

---

POWER STATION DUST PRODUCTION

---

When pure coal is burned most of the particles are PM5 and do not enter the lungs, however about 20% of the particles are smaller and can enter the lungs. If impurities are added the particles are reduced to PM2.5 and PM1.

Several people informed us hazardous waste including medical hazardous waste is being added to the coal at Liddell Power Station making it function as an incinerator even though the operating temperature is far too low for the waste to be properly broken down to safe basic particles. Mercury is just one toxin released by such plants.

Dr van Steenis stated this is the most dangerous operation he encountered in his tour and in his opinion should be closed down. (If a power station is to operate as an incinerator as well it needs to be by the plasma gasification process which Dr van Steenis suggested should be built at Liddell since this process needs electric power and hazardous waste will continue to be widely produced and needs to be eliminated.)

Much of the coal in the Hunter Region is high in sulphur content and this will make particles acid and increase their toxicity. More than 200 different substances can be emitted so Power Stations need extensive emission control devices. Older power stations such as those in our valley are usually missing much of the controls which could make them safe. Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FDG) is usually absent in older power stations as is means of elimination of very toxic nitrogen oxide gases. The bag filters which these older power stations have do not capture the smaller most deadly PM1 particles which are typically present when toxic waste is being added.

The haze, which greeted us as we travelled south from the Liverpool Plains into the Hunter, is comprised of PM2.5 and the density of haze has been demonstrated to be directly proportional to asthma increased mortality rates in the USA.

The high smoke stacks cause the dust particles to fall more further than with bulldozers. Every 100feet of the smoke stack distances the point that the fallout occurs a further 10km, with maximum levels again at night as the air cools. Thus both Singleton and Muswellbrook townships are in the drop zone of Liddell, Bayswater and Redbank Power stations.

Prevailing winds tend to be up and down the valley and just a few hours of PM2.5 fallout can trigger heart attacks and asthma. Hunter Valley horse studs around Scone fear the dust is affecting their foals.

Damage from Power plants is detailed in a report “Death, Disease and Dirty Power” available on the web. (Click on that "hotlink")

---

HEALTH DAMAGE FROM PM2.5 COAL PARTICLES

---

When a fine dust particle lodges in the lung the body's immune system mounts a defence. Macrophages transport bits of coal to the lymph nodes but most of the particle is walled off with fibrous tissue whilst the T lymphocytes neutralize some of the toxins. The body has a limited supply of these immune cells so that numbers drop throughout the rest of the body leading to increased susceptibility to infections and vaccines.

Respiratory system effects

Just a few hours exposure to acidic particles will trigger a further attack of asthma in the predisposed. Children living 1.5km from a mine have a 33% risk of asthma, at 3km the risk is 22% and at 5km it is 12%.

Particularly nasty toxins called Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) and dioxins can damage the genes causing mutations which will produce new proteins that in turn lead to new cases of asthma. The fibrosis leads to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD – Australia's fourth
biggest killer) with evidence of permanent damage in children as young as 12 years old in areas with high PM2.5 rates. Lung cancer increases in these same areas due to gene damage.

In Singleton Dr Tuan Au has commenced testing the lung function of children and has already tested nearly 700 children with the aim of following them for five years.

Cardiovascular system effects

The platelets and other blood components become more viscous leading to clots in arteries whose walls have been roughened. Lipids are changed resulting in more fatty deposits in the vessel wall. Heavy metals in the coal such as nickel affect the electrical conductivity of the heart and cadmium attacks the elastic lining of vessels leading to aneurysm formation. The net effect is an increase in deaths from heart attacks and strokes. Blood vessels in the placenta are damaged leading to low birth weight babies.

Neurological system effects

Mercury breaks down the blood-brain and blood-bowel barriers letting in other toxins such as PAH which lead to a reduction in intelligence and an increase in autism and other damage which releases challenging (antisocial) behaviours.

Lead from coal and released from the roofs by acid rain running into rural rainwater tanks leads to brain damage. Arsenic is also found in coal.

The chemical toxins cause lethargy and depression with clusters of increased suicide noted downwind of one incinerator. Rare neurological syndromes occur in clusters such as a group of people with Motor Neurone disease presenting in one street in Muswellbrook. Immune disease such as Multiple Sclerosis increase.

Metabolic and other effects

Thyroid function is often suppressed and combined with the lethargy arising from chemical toxins this can result in over-eating and excessive weight gain. Diabetes 2 rates increase. Eye diseases and skin rashes and infections all increase.

All the above damage to physical health is compounded by the psychological stress and depression arising from enforced changes to life plans, loss of quality of life, grief at the changed landscape, perceived powerlessness etc.

Noise impairs concentration and sleep. Low frequency machinery noise (28Hz) may resonate in body cavities and people's rooms and interfere with nerve conduction.

More detailed descriptions of all the above are found in Dr Dick van Steenis's papers such as “Coal opencasting and health” and in the recent report from Physicians for Social Responsibility titled “Coal's assault on human health”. This latter document notes that in 51 metropolitan areas in USA where legislation forced the reduction of PM2.5 levels there were significant increases in life expectancy. A detailed reference list of 370 scientific papers supporting the above is available on request.

---

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

---

Professor Mike Hendryx has shown the costs from health damage from coal in USA is five times the value of the coal. In Australia a recent CSIRO report by Tom Biegler et al titled “The Hidden Costs of Electricity” similarly highlights the enormous burden coal imposes on this country's economy.

The NSW Government is currently having difficulty paying its health bills, one of the contributory factors is likely to be a consequence of ignoring for years the hard evidence that exists about PM2.5 levels and health damage.

Dr van Steenis frequently made the point that long term unpolluted water availability, sustainable food production and good health should be our Government's priority.

What analysis is done (during the planning assessment process) to assess the future cost of health care that will be required to address the consequences of allowing PM2.5 dust to fall on residential subdivisions?

Where does the health of the people of NSW rank vs economic considerations during the planning assessment process for open cut coal mines?

---

LEGAL ASPECTS

---

Tim Robertson, a barrister specializing in environmental law, noted at the EDO that with the escalation in open cut coal mining in the Upper Hunter, dust levels are now apparently frequently exceeding existing mandated levels (PM10 levels which are decades out of date); that this is a serious problem, and that something needs to be done. He indicated that Air Pollution is more difficult to assign responsibility for than water or land pollution because it is more difficult to prove the source of the
pollution.(Note that biopsies of lung tissue for dust samples for analysis may assist in overcoming this difficulty as coal has area specific levels of constituents ie sulphur.)
He stated that the laws relating to Air Pollution in NSW can be difficult to understand; one aspect is that it is only a crime if the process producing it has been demonstrated to be inefficient.

A law professor who also spoke at the EDO indicated that any potential class action would be greatly assisted by data of lung function in a group of children (or horses for that matter) prior to damage from coal dust (the establishment of baseline data).

Any person believing they have been damaged by coal dust should investigate the possibility of registering their case with The Dust Diseases Tribunal in order to be suitably compensated. There may be potentially 50,000+ such people. One successful case may lead to a flood; note that in the UK claims for damage from breathing coal dust (COPD) were expected to be 600 million pounds. The total ended up at 4.1 billion pounds.

---

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO REDUCE THE DAMAGE?

---

1) Call a moratorium on any new development until a plan involving the following points is enacted.
2) Conduct a Health Study in already affected areas investigating mortality rates, low birth weight incidence, genetic malformations, post mortem lung damage. Document asthma, heart attack, stroke and cancer rates in coal communities.
3) Require a Health Study as part of any application to mine. By not assessing the health risks associated with mining activities, there is potential legal exposure that could prove costly to the taxpayer – aside from being hazardous to their health.
4) Extend baseline lung function measurement in children beyond the study commenced in Singleton.
5) Legislate buffer zones, particularly downwind of any new development. Note asthma incidence in studies in the UK reveal that at 4.8km from open cut coal mines the rate is 13%.
6) Legislate for PM2.5 levels to be the monitoring standard in future. There seems little point in monitoring dust particles that are less dangerous, while ignoring the dust particles that are more dangerous. The technology to do so is freely available. Where the mandatory levels are breached, appropriate action needs to be taken immediately. In the USA, plants can be shut within an hour for this reason; in Australia it is self assessment, with no local compliance officers in the Upper Hunter.
7) Purchase PM2.5 Beta Attenuated Monitors that are accurate to 1% and that are factory calibrated and sealed. If this is not done by the State, it should be done at a community level. Place monitors in all affected school yards as well as upwind and downwind of sources. Continuous monitoring needs to be done with results posted on the web. This needs to be done to get an accurate picture of the levels of PM2.5 dust that are currently being generated, and this dust can be sent for analysis. In this way the facts become apparent as to the level of dust being generated as well as its source.
This monitoring needs to be done independently from the source of contamination.
8) Ensure heavy mining vehicles use high grade diesel fuel with no additions and their exhaust have particle traps fitted
9) Monitor Blast gases. CSIRO research reveals toxic gases with known adverse health effects from this source only become equivalent to background levels at 5km from the blast site.
10) Cover Coal Rail Wagons

11) For existing at risk families, purchase HEPA air filters for all houses at risk. These cost $500 each retail for the best filters which should be placed in schools and close to the bedroom of any affected child.
12) Check all affected rain water tanks for contamination. Advise accordingly.
13) Recommend that affected adult individuals (subject to approval from their healthcare practitioner) take Selenium 200 microgram for one month and then 100microgram daily (dosage to be confirmed by healthcare practitioner).
This boosts T lymphocyte production and lowers heavy metal contaminants.
Subject to individual medical advice take 1gram daily of Vitamin C which reduces mutations. Consider also taking Vitamin E.

In addition, where power stations are present:

14) Tighten hazardous waste surveillance.
15) Close power stations such as Liddell which are burning hazardous waste and replace them with a plasma gasification plant.
16) Ensure all power stations have the maximum emission protection devices

***********************

Dr Steve Robinson email

Murray Pakes

On behalf of the consortium of community groups organizing Dr van Steenis visit to the Hunter.

Hang down your head, Copenhagen, in shame!

2009-12-14T15:34:00.004+11:00

I am prepared to make a personal contribution to reducing carbon pollution, if it will help reduce the looming global crisis.

But I object to the much vaunted "Copenhagen" conference being used as a cosmetic exercise by the Rudd Government.

The words "Sham", "Scam", "Fraud" have been used by people much better placed than me, to describe what they understand the Government is up to inside the conference room and dark, private negotiating rooms in Copenhagen.

Today's Sydney Morning Herald tells the full story. I urge you to read it , and get mad as hell, as I did.

Here are some brief extracts:

"The row comes as latest figures show that Australia's greenhouse gas emissions have soared 82 per cent since 1990.
The overall jump - reported to the United Nations in September -
has been caused by a blow-out of 657 per cent in Australian land use emissions between 1990 and 2007.
.....

"But in an effort to unlock the huge potential for ''carbon sinks''
in agricultural and grazing lands as part of any new Copenhagen climate deal, Australia has driven controversial rule changes that would exclude the impact of ''extraordinary events or circumstances'' such as bushfires and drought.

This would then make it easier for developed countries to claim offsets or carbon credits from agricultural and grazing lands."
.....

"Paul Winn from Greenpeace International, who has closely followed negotiations over ''Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry'' at recent climate negotiations, said the push to get the land use rule changes
into a new deal might mean the ''greenwashing of Copenhagen''.

"These are basically accounting frauds, they're shuffling the cards …
it's just a changing of the figures and the atmosphere doesn't see any difference to the emissions or removals that occur."

"Dr Payal Parekh, a climate scientist for International Rivers, said: "The effect that these loopholes will have on the targets is that it will water them down.

"It essentially means that developed countries including Australia could actually increase their emissions in the next few years … it is a total scam. It appears as if something is [being] done,
but it is not. The best way to sum it up is that it is a get-out-of-jail- free card."
*****

"This source said there were huge problems trying to account for carbon in rural landscapes.
"This is all about paper shuffling. It's not about reducing emissions.
It's about being seen to be complying [with targets] for political reasons.

"Whatever the outcome, I would not be confident it will be effective in doing what it's meant to do - cutting emissions".

*****************

DJW comments.

One thing the expert commentators have not picked up on is that bushfires and droughts have been excluded on the basis that they are "extraordinary events".
They are not.
They are part of the reality of Australia's new climate.

The people who have drafted that exemption are cynical bureaucrats and politicians with no understanding of the reality of Australia's natural environment.

Yes, the Black Tuesday bushfires in Victoria were bad, but they were not unprecedented. Nor were they unable to be predicted, much less, not able to be anticipated. Such events are entirely to be expected.

So the idea of "sequestering carbon" (for the purposes of gaining "carbon credits") in a Victorian Eucalypt plantation or a western districts grassland environment is a total absurdity - for it will burn - over the span of a human lifetime. There is nothing surer. So the sequestration is only a temporary holding of carbon, at best.

This is an exercise in Environmental hypocrisy.

I repudiate the work of the Rudd Government in this regard, and in particular, Senator Wong, who I have always held in high regard, personally.

Signed - in regret:

Denis Wilson

Keep your nerve, Mr Turnbull

2009-11-27T23:58:00.001+11:00

Dear Mr Turnbull

You are entirely right to stick to your guns and not cave in.

The Liberal Party needs to have a policy on Climate Change.

In all seriousness, how could it not?

As Chairman of the Save Water Alliance in the Southern Highlands, I still recall with great respect your decision to declare the Upper Nepean (Kangaloon Aquifer) Borefield proposal by the Sydney Catchment Authority a "Controlled Action" under the EPBC Act.

Indeed it is that which has prompted me to write to you on this other matter, as many of the local "movers and shakers" (who personally lobbied you on our behalf re the Kangaloon Aquifer) speak very highly of you.

You did well then, and I am convinced you are on the right track now.

You supported us then, and for what it is worth, I am supporting you now.

*****

After all, as "Crikey" pointed out today, the policy you are defending now is pretty much that which you took to the last election, and which was developed under the Howard Government.

So what really were your opponents thinking, several years ago, when that policy was developed?

I conclude that they were not prepared to oppose Mr Howard (on anything).

Therefore, it is clearly not a matter of principle with them at all - but political point scoring pure and simple.

The Liberal Party cannot surely face the people without a policy on Climate Change?

Yours sincerely

Denis Wilson

Robertson, NSW 2577

www.peonyden.blogspot.com

2009-10-27T09:16:00.002+11:00

I AM REPUBLISHING A NOTICE FROM THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY
OF WA.

You will see from my previous posts that I welcome some serious attention political to this oil spill.

THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY WA

Tell the oil and gas industry:

'Never Again - Protection not Pollution!'

On August 21 2009, an oil/gas well being drilled from the West Atlas oil rig off Australia’s north west Kimberley coast blew out, uncontrollably spewing oil into the ocean. Since then the oil has spread through an area known as a marine wildlife super-highway, now covering thousands of square kilometres of turtle, whale, dolphin and fish habitat.

This an environmental disaster in a pristine area, and the oil and gas industry must be held to account.
Join us this Friday 30th November as we say "Never Again - Protection not Pollution".
Visit www.wilderness.org.au/oilspill for more information.

Flash mob: To set the scene we will have volunteers covered in oil, standing in barrels, representing the plethora of marine life affected by the spill. Dress in black & join us to protest against the oil spill and campaign for greater protection of our Kimberley marine life!

Where: APPEA (Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association) offices
190 St Georges Tce (cnr of Mill St)

When: 11am, Friday 30th November

Speakers: Dr Jill StJohn, The Wilderness Society and Piers Verstegen, The Conservation Council of WA

RSVP: We need to be able to cater for numbers at the location, so please let us know if you're coming!

For more information about the oil spill visit www.wilderness.org.au/oilspill

Don't live in Perth? You can take part in this action regardless of where you live.

We're asking everyone who is as outraged as we are, but doesn't live in Perth - to email the oil and gas industry's representatives APPEA and our Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.

Thank you

Renae Williams
Community Campaigner
The Wilderness Society WA

0433 295 385
renae.williams@wilderness.org.au

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The Wilderness Society (WA) Inc

City West Lotteries House, 2 Delhi Street, West Perth, WA, 6005 Australia
Phone: (08) 9420 7255 | Fax: (08) 9226 0994 | Email: wa@wilderness.org.au

Oil Spill in the Timor Sea - Update - little change.

2009-10-24T00:25:00.005+11:00

You may recall that I posted a blog about this scandalous environmental disaster, ages ago.

Well, I am disgusted to say that the leak is still going strong, despite numerous attempts to pump thick mud into the well, supposedly to block the leak.

Peter Garrett is wringing his hands, but doing little else.

The company concerned is either unable or unwilling to fix the problem.

I propose that PTTEP, be banned from further exploration in Australian Territories as obviously they are unable to control the problems which their drilling has unleashed.

Furthermore, the Government ought be looking to recover from this company costs for the clean up. And that ought happen before the company can re-arrange its affairs to shelter behind its Grand Cayman tax shelter.

Is Peter Garrett even aware of this as a possibility? Or the Minister for Resources and Energy? Or the Attorney-General? Or the Minister for Foreign Affairs?
In all four cases, I doubt that they have even considered the possibility.
Why not?

Are they incompetent?

Time will answer that question.

Oil Spill in the Timor Sea

2009-08-22T14:12:00.002+10:00

This is cross-posted with Miss Eagle's "Network".

OIL SPILL OFF THE W.A. COAST

This report is extracted from several ABC News stories.

There are some interesting things to note about these reports (of course). Denis Wilson offers to guide you through these murky waters.

Oil Spill Emergency off WA Coast

(Updated Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:19pm AEST)

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/21/2663062.htm

In a statement this afternoon, a spokesman for the owner of the unit, PTTEP Australasia, said the leak is continuing, however, the scale of the leak remains unknown.

"PTTEP has notified authorities as part of its emergency response," spokesman Mike Groves said.

"The Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre (AMOSC) is mobilising aircraft and dispersant to be in Darwin tonight and on-site in the Timor Sea tomorrow to begin aerial spraying of the spill.

"The size of the spill is not known.

"Approximately 40 barrels of oil were discharged from the wellhead in the initial incident - some of it into the sea.

"Since then, condensate has been discharged at pressure dispersed in the gas stream.

"It is not known how much condensate is in the gas."

It is still not clear whether the spill will impact on the Ashmore Reef or the Kimberley coastline.

The Australian Marine Oil Centre, based in Victoria, is flying truckloads of chemicals to the spill site to help break up the oil.

(Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/21/2663062.htm )

WA oil rig: Worker expects huge spill

Updated 3 hours 11 minutes ago (as of 1:00pm 22 August)

An employee on the rig that is spewing oil into seas off the coast of Western Australia says the spill may cover eight kilometres of ocean. ......

Crude oil began spilling from the rig about 4:00am (AEST) yesterday.

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) says it is investigating the incident and is unsure of how extensive the problem is. .....

Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman Tracey Jiggins says a search and rescue plane with an environmental specialist on board is assessing the size of the spill and the environmental situation.

She says a Hercules aircraft on loan from Singapore is expected to arrive in Darwin this morning, which will be used to spray chemicals to disperse the oil. ......

"Obviously we're concerned about the oil spill and about any onshore oil, so that's why we're getting the dispersements ready and hopefully that will affect the situation."

Mining company PTTEP Australasia said last night that there were no injuries among those evacuated.

PTTEP says the spill is likely to be carried away from the Australian coast by south-westerly winds.

Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre general manager Ivan Skibinski said aerial spraying will start at the site this morning.

"Oil in the water disperses naturally. With a bit of wind and choppy water the oil breaks up into smaller globules and droplets," he said.

"Chemical dispersant just aids that activity. You spray it on the oil and it helps pull the oil apart into smaller globules."

DENIS'S COMMENTS.

Did you get all that?

Its OK for the oil to disperse by itself in the water. Ask the Whale Sharks (a "protected species" under the EPBC Act). Ask the Trepang which the Indonesian Macassan fishermen have been fishing for hundreds of years - the first recorded trade with Aboriginal peoples.
As long as the oil doesn't come onto the shore - the Australian shore, that is - presumably because the media would take photos
If it gets carried north-west (as it will) it becomes Indonesia's problem.
Australia's oil-spill response unit is based in Victoria - a very long way from the north-west shelf and the Timor Sea.
We have to hire planes and equipment from Singapore. How long have we been drilling oil in the Timor Sea? Isn't it time we were better prepared for accidents like this?
What does Peter Garrett think? That would be interesting to know, especially in view of the recent fiasco in China when Martin Ferguson signed up a 20 year deal for gas production off the North-west Shelf, without Garrett having yet approved the deal to go ahead off Barrow Island. Check out Martin's "What's New" page - it is blank! What a "goose" that man is!
PTTEP is a company based in Thailand. If you investigate their chain of companies, the very first one Andaman Transportation has its office in the Cayman Islands. That's encouraging - a "Tax Haven".
Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre (AMOSC)

The establishment in 1991 of the Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre (AMOSC) in Geelong, Victoria, at a cost of ten million dollars represents a major commitment by the Australian oil industry to safeguard the Australian coastline in the event of a major oil spill. The Centre is financed by nine participating oil companies and other subcriber companies. These companies carry out the vast majority of the oil and gas production, offshore pipeline, terminal operations and tanker movements around the Australian coast.

Aren't you glad that everything is under control?

UPDATE:
The ABC news at 2:00pm AEST has just carried a report that the Australian Maritime Safety Authority is now investigating this incident. That is a delay of more than 36 hours since the incident occurred. But don't worry they have lots of "plans" you can read on their website.

Rudd vs Turnbull

2009-08-08T00:08:00.003+10:00

Am I the only person in Australia who thinks Rudd is being short-sighted in persisting in chasing Turnbull over the Auscar fiasco?

Surely if Rudd pushes too hard on Turnbull, it is more likely that the libs will panic and dump Turnbull.

Short -term victory for Rudd might sound attractive, but lets not forget that Costello has not yet left Parliament. Rudd's strategy could play into Cossie's hand - sitting there, sulking, and just waiting to be "drafted" by the party which refused to go begging to him before.

With the prospect of drafting Andrew Robb being seriously considered (apparently), then the prospect of drafting Costello must surely be a better alternative (for them).

Costello would give Rudd a much closer run (if not be a walk-up start for victory) than Turnbull.

So, in my opinion, Rudd is better served by leaving a weakened Turnbull sitting there, than pushing the Libs so hard that they panic and dump Turnbull and go begging to Costello.

The desire to rub Turnbull's nose in the ignomy of an abject apology is understandable. But Rudd risks over-playing his hand.

How Democracy works in NSW - if you run a Pub

2009-07-03T20:35:00.001+10:00

How Democracy works in NSW - if you run a Pub, anyway.

This is an extract from Crikey.com.au

12 . Pubs get lucky with Nathan Rees

Alex Mitchell writes:

After an intense lobbying campaign by the NSW pub industry, Premier Nathan Rees is reportedly ready to ease his crackdown on alcohol-fuelled brawling and anti-social behaviour at "hot spot" hotels.

Soon after taking the premiership Rees named and shamed 40 pubs which had a statistically high incidence of drunken misbehaviour and ordered Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione to step up anti-booze patrols.

This infuriated publicans who have given millions of dollars to the ALP's war chest in return for a free ride, or at least a non-interference policy, from the Labor Government.

With more than $12 million in the bank, and having just spent $6 million on new headquarters in Macquarie Street, the Australian Hotels Association is in no mood to be rolled by the weak and unpopular Rees Government.

It has used all its lobbying influence to cut a better deal for its members, especially rolling back the drift to restrict trading hours and to increase fines and sanctions for licensing offences.

It has valuable allies within the government, including Rees's chief of staff Graeme Wedderburn, senior policy adviser Jeremy Anderson, a former consultant to the AHA, and treasurer Eric Roozendaal, the former ALP general secretary who helped establish publicans as pre-eminent donors to the Labor electoral machine.

NSW's poker machine tax remains the lowest in Australia and was not reviewed in the recent June Budget. With the State's revenue base collapsing, the hotel industry couldn't believe its luck.

Having escaped a tax hike, the top end publicans now want to get the Office of Liquor and Gaming and the police force off their case.

They believe that shaping the regulatory system in their favour is a right and an entitlement, and that they have special rights not enjoyed by other businesses or citizens.

The government's imminent backdown will be an open admission of the power of the pubs in public policy in NSW. What about Her Majesty's Opposition? Is it capable of telling the AHA to take a running jump? No, not really.

Beware the Media in a "Feeding Frenzy".

2009-06-23T13:25:00.007+10:00

How quickly they forget - the Media, I mean.

I am sure that you will recall, that Dr David Kelly, a British Weapons Expert, got caught up in a Media interview about the so-called Weapons of Mass Destruction which were supposed to be in Iraq. He subsequently was grilled in Parliament, in a hearing which resembled in style the grilling handed out to Godwin Grech last week in Canberra.

The substance of the David Kelly matter was much more serious:
... "David Christopher Kelly CMG (May 14, 1944 – July 17, 2003) was an employee of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD), an expert in biological warfare and a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq.

... "Kelly's discussion with Today Programme journalist Andrew Gilligan about the British government's dossier on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq inadvertently caused a major political scandal.
... "He was found dead days after appearing before the Parliamentary committee charged with investigating the scandal."
... Source: Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kelly_(weapons_expert)

The matter at hand the other day relates to a supposedly fake email, purporting to have come from the Prime Minister's Office. The subject matter is by all reasonable assessment - trivial - supposed assistance to a car dealer in getting finance.

However, the manner of the Media's treatment of the poor guy at the centre of this "Storm in a Tea Cup" is far from trivial. He was grilled last Friday in a Senate Estimates Committee hearing, for about two hours. His immediate supervisor and the Minister presiding over the hearing both sought to prevent him from answering questions. By all accounts they "monstered him".

There is a possible alternative interpretation that they were trying to protect him from himself. Why?
Perhaps they already knew - what I believe - that this guy is too honest for his own good. He cannot bring himself to lie. If so, then I fear for him.

This morning's media reports that Godwin Grech's house was "egged" last night. That is hardly life threatening - unless one is already of a fragile psychological disposition.
By all accounts this guy is very quiet, very private.
Thanks to the Media exposure, any hooligan with a political motive knows where he lives and can go and harrass the poor guy.

Let us not forget the tragic outcome of the David Kelly case.

Before it is too late, the Media ought back off Godwin Grech's case.

I have deliberately not linked to any Media stories. If you have not heard of this story, I would be amazed. But I do not wish to add to the feeding frenzy, by posting any links.

If it transpires that someone with a political motive deliberately set up Godwin Grech, by sending the fake email to him - because they know he is so "straight" that he would not imagine it to be a hoax - then I hope that the full power of the law descends upon that person (and his or her fellow conspirators).

UPDATE: WEDNESDAY 24 JUNE
Well, I am glad that I gave Godwin the benefit of the doubt. But it now appears he might not have deserved it.
Today's papers say he has been a "Liberal Party Mole" for years - providing leaked information from Treasury to them.
If that is true, then the bureaucracy will deal with him.
And so they should.

As an old Public Servant I have known such people, and I despise them. Standards of service need to be upheld.
Traitors deserve to be punished - and the bureaucracy has a million ways of doing that.

Or else, he could do the decent thing, and resign. But then he would probably end up a Liberal Party hero.
Better that the Bureaucracy bury him in a room with no window, no in-tray, no out-tray, and especially no telephone or computer.
They can do that, you know!

DJW

Arms sales "build relationships"

2009-06-18T18:34:00.001+10:00

This came from crikey.com.au today

Meanwhile in the real world ... number 452 in an occasional series.

U.S. government-to-government arms sales are growing fast and will likely exceed the bullish estimate of $40 billion for 2009, the Pentagon's top arms sales official said on Wednesday at the Paris Air Show.

Vice Admiral Jeffrey Wieringa, head of the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, told Reuters it was unclear if arms sales would keep rising, but noted that was possible since several large weapons competitions were underway, and many countries had aging equipment to replace.

Arms sales were at a "pretty unprecedented level" after averaging $8 billion to $13 billion per year in the early 2000s, Wieringa said in an interview.

Sales in the first half reached $27 billion, some 60 percent of the year's expected total, making it likely the actual 2009 total would top $40 billion, he said.

Wieringa said the Obama administration was committed to building international partnerships, and arms sales were an important instrument of that policy.

"We sell stuff to build relationships," he said.

Boom times for irony too.

Indeed - it is almost as good as that old "Hippy" era Anti-War slogan:

"Fighting for Peace is like Fu*cking for Virginity".

Who thought that the Obama Presidency would make a difference?

With people like Admiral Wieringa in charge, think again.

Denis

Peter Costello - the Man who never was.

2009-06-15T21:15:00.004+10:00

This man's dream is over.Peter Costello, young student activist as a student at Monash; pushy Lawyer who won the Dollar Sweets case and the Mudginberri abbatoir case against the meat Workers Union; young Parliamentarian; Treasurer of this country for an interminable period; "Leader in waiting" for most of that time - has finally realised he never was as good as he liked to think he was.

That is something which many of us have known for a very long time.

Go away, Peter.

*************************
*************************

EDITOR'S NOTE:

I ought thank Bernard Keane for plagiarising my title.
Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. I published at 9:15 pm last night. This item came out in Crikey at 1:49 pm today.

1 . The man who never was: Peter Costello closes the door

Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane writes:

Oh well, at least the rest of his article is his own work.

Denis

Submission to the Human Rights Consultation Panel

2009-06-14T13:34:00.003+10:00

Today I have forwarded to the Human Rights Consultation panel the following submission.

humanrightssubmission@ag.gov.au

Just a reminder that your one and only chance to make your own submission closes at 5:00pm tomorrow.

Denis Wilson

Human Rights Consultation

My proposals are submitted for your consideration - as below.

They are also attached in Word Document format.

Kindly acknowledge receipt of my submission, and that its contents will be considered.

I would be prepared to make a personal presentation of my views in support of this Submission.

I agree to have my submission published - with name and suburb - but not my personal contact details.

Denis Wilson

Citizen of Australia

Robertson NSW 2577

14 June 2009

Contact details: (NOT for publication on HR Consultation website).

PO Box 3158

Robertson, NSW 2577

Body of my Submission

I wish to make a submission in support of a Bill of Rights being introduced in Australia.

My concern is prompted especially by the rapid erosion of human rights seen during the period of the Howard Government, especially in the abominable treatment of Ms Cornelia Rau and Vivian Solon, and of Dr Haneef. These cases demonstrated the way in which a Government can operate without concern for the most basic of human rights of the individual.

I also believe that we need to assert our basic Human Rights against the intrusive powers the Government has granted to itself under the "Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 2005 (Revised)".

In particular:

"Preventive detention": potential for detention for named individuals: without evidence; and without criminal involvement; the detainee may be interrogated by Australian Security Intelligence Organisation; disclosing that an individual has been so detained or interrogated is, in almost all circumstances, a crime.

"Control orders": Potential for almost unlimited restrictions on named individuals: freedom of movement; freedom of association (including one's lawyer); banning the performing of named actions and owning named items, including actions and things necessary to earn a living; unlimited requirements to be, or not to be, at specified places at any or all times of the day and week; wear a tracking device; and including encouragement to submit to re-education. These restrictions are referred to as "control orders", and may be granted for a period of one year before review.

Although these events took place under the Howard Government, the Rudd Government has not acted in a way to give me any confidence that it believes or understands the need for basic Human Rights in Australia.

Therefore, I believe we need a Bill of Rights to be introduced into Australia.

Australia was responsible for introducing economic and social rights into the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But unlike all other progressive Nations, it has taken no national measures to ensure the effective recognition of these universal rights by passing them into law – in other words, by legislating a bill of rights. After sixty years of delay, the time has come to make amends.

The bill of rights should therefore accurately reflect the spirit and substance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which reads :

Article 1.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4.

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5.

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6.

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7.

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8.

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10.

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11.

(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.

(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14.

(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15.

(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16.

(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17.

(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18.

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19.

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21.

(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.

(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22.

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23.

(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24.

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25.

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26.

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27.

(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28.

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29.

(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30.

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

There is another specific "right" which I would like to see introduced as well - the "Right to Water as a basic human right". As the "Right to Water" is perhaps regarded as a "novel idea" (to the Panel) I wish to explain something of the background to this part of my submission.

This is based upon a draft of Article 31 which has already been scheduled for deliberation by the UN General Assembly.

"Everyone has the right to clean and accessible water, adequate for the health and well-being of the individual and family, and no one shall be deprived of such access or quality of water due to individual economic circumstance."

RATIONALE FOR INCLUSION OF REFERENCE TO THE "RIGHT TO WATER"
WITHIN A PROPOSED BILL OF RIGHTS.
The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its 22 May, 2009 report expressed concern about the negative impact of climate change on the right to an adequate standard of living, including on the right to water, affecting in particular indigenous peoples, in spite of the State Party's recognition of the challenges imposed by climate change. "It needs to the recognised that sooner or later the Federal government will need to (or be forced to) take on the role of conservator and distributor of water without fear of favour. Corrupt and parochial state and local governments can have no part in such undertakings and neither can cash up private companies who have shown an inclination to feed corruption for their own ends". (Bruce Haig and Kellie Tranter. Courtesy ABC Online, May 27, 2009)

"National Water Plans and Senate Inquiries offer little hope of prescribing the empirical rethink that is manifestly required. The implications of "getting it wrong" are quite simply too momentous to leave the task in the hands of those who happen to be charged with governmental responsibility at this time" (Ian Douglas, Fair Water Use (Australia):
courtesy ABC Online, Sept 16, 2008) In his concluding notes on the Right to a Pristine
Environment, (Statute of Liberty pp 205/6, Geoffrey Robertson says,' there are repeated references in international treaties and resolutions to the human right to a healthy environment. It has been recognised in the South African Constitution and by the Supreme Court of Canada. Australians proudly sing "our land abounds in nature's gifts in beauty rich and rare", so why not provide nature's gifts with a measure of legal protection against being given away.' This must include the essential right to water as a global
commons. (Article 31, United Nations, Maude Barlow Blue Gold /Blue Covenant)

PROPOSED TEXT

The Right to Water and a Healthy Environment.
The Federal Government of Australia will use its vested powers to ensure that its citizens are vouchsafed the fundamental human right to water for sustenance and all reasonable use. The governance of the nation's water, including determination of "reasonable use", will fall under the sole jurisdiction of a fully independent body accountable, via federal parliament, to the Australian people. The structure and independence of this water authority will be analogous to that of the Reserve Bank of Australia. The right to water will be declared an essential human right as a global commons. Under this definition, the right to water will be given precedence and advantage, in international and local law, over any other interests. Access to water will not be subject to market forces or to
private or corporate interests. The precautionary principle of ecosystem protection must take precedence over commercial demands on water.

The carriage of this right will always be within the public domain. Any dilution of this right or interference in its carriage will be declared an offence under Australian Federal law. These fundamental rights are contained within, and hold self-evident, provisions pertaining to the right to a pristine and healthy environment, namely:
- The right:
  (i) to an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing of citizens;
  (ii) to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that:
  (a) prevent pollution and ecological degradation;
  (b) promote conservation; and protect native flora and fauna, and areas necessary to maintain biological diversity and ecosystems;
  (c) secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development;
  (d) to establish a planning system that ensures encroachments upon areas of natural beauty or heritage value and species and ecological communities of National Environmental Significance are not approved unless by fair, transparent and non-corrupt process, which takes that value into account.
  (iii) to timely and adequate assistance in the event of fire, flood, cyclone or other natural disaster or catastrophe.

Furthermore, I would like to see several guiding principles introduced into the proposed Bill of Rights as well. Although expressed here as "rights" I see them as being "guiding principles" relating to the implementation of the other more basic Human Rights outlined above.

RIGHT TO CORPORATE AND PRIVATE ACCOUNTABILITY:

Citizens and residents have the right to hold corporations, private actors, agencies, agents and instrumentalities and similar persons and entities accountable for ecological (inclusive of human social) degradation and despoliation impacting on the rights described here.
Citizens and residents have the right to hold corporations, private actors, agencies, agents and instrumentalities and similar persons and entities accountable for cruel animal welfare practices and unsustainable environmental practices in the supply of food.

RIGHT OF INTERACTIVE CONSULTATION AND DIALOGUE WITH GOVERNMENTS AND CORPORATIONS:

Citizens and residents have the right to interactive consultation and dialogue – as individuals, groups or organisations - with governments, their agencies, agents and instrumentalities and corporations, whether public or private, which affect their interests.
A code of conduct will be drawn up by governments and corporations with widespread and representative community input to ensure a high standard of interactive consultation and dialogue. Such interactive consultation and dialogue will be based upon freedom of information with the same rights of discovery as exist judicially. This will be known as the Consultation and Dialogue (CaD) process.
All major environmental applications will be subject to the Consultation and Dialogue (CaD) process.

Denis Wilson

14 June 2009

Re: Its Now or Never - for water as a human right.

2009-06-09T20:48:00.001+10:00

The opportunity to comment on water as part of a Bill of Rights in Australia will CLOSE NEXT WEEK. (15 June).

The "World Water Forum" sounds wonderful, but it is of course, the collective of all the leading multinational food groups and water pumpers (water thieves). They advocate "Full Cost Recovery". It is a mantra which they repeat at every opportunity, and conservative, neo-liberal Governments (including the Rudd Government) love to talk in those terms.

By contrast, the Global Water Justice Movement has a very different view. One which is closer to my heart:

"The global water justice movement advocates for community-led solutions to the water crisis. We uphold water as the basic element of all life on the planet and as a fundamental and inalienable human right."

To find out what Australians can do to rectify the situation see Brigid's post on the Human Rights Consultation.

http://groups.google.com/group/australian-water-network/web/water-as-a-human-right?hl=en

It may be the only opportunity we have in our lifetimes to make the case for water as a Human Right. The Government may well ignore our views, but I for one, could not live with myself if I did not try.

Individuals are able to make even very simple submissions - it need not be a very long, submission in "legalese".

Just the words: "I want to have my right to water recognised in a Bill of Rights" would qualify as a legitimate submission.

Go to this site to find out more:

http://www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au./www/nhrcc/nhrcc.nsf/Page/Haveyoursay_Haveyoursay

You can make an on-line submission (limit 20,000 characters) or attach a more detailed submission. There is a phone line for inquiries listed on that site.

In the on-line form there is a list of suggested topics to click about what your submission is about.

You need to click the bottom one "Other" and insert the words "Right to Water".

Denis Wilson

Group Se*x incident(s)

2009-05-18T16:16:00.004+10:00

I am appalled that so many people want to "get behind Matty Johns". I would have thought that six or eight or ten Rugby League players standing in line behind him to take their turn to have se*x with a young woman would have been enough?
Apparently not.

A Facebook Page has been opened, with a staggering number of people joining up. The Page says:

"Following the incident, the players involved told police that a group of them participated in sex with the teenager and that it was consensual.
"This may have been immoral but in no way was it illegal, and in reality he should only be accountable to his wife for his indiscretions. Matthew John's himself has come out following the revelations across many forms of media and has apologised and accepted the weight of his actions.
"We must remember that everybody is human and Channel 9’s seemingly snap reaction far outweighs the ‘crime’.
"We would like to invite you all to join us and get behind Matty Johns."

My questions are simple:

The first is an ethical question: Does Johns not have to answer to himself, first and foremost? Has he no conscience, or no sense of common decency?
The second is an aesthetic question - addressed to the nameless other players who stood in line (some apparently amused themselves by masturbating while waiting their turn). And my question is this? What is the attraction in standing in a queue, to be the second, third, fourth, or fifth or sixth or seventh or eighth, or ninth or tenth or eleventh guy to add your sperm to that primordial soup of ejaculant inside the body of that young woman?

The encounter cannot have been a meaningful encounter for any of these people, surely? It is likely that there was no "response" from the young woman's body to the numerous later "players" in the "Ga*ng Ba*ng". They may as well have been been playing with a rubber doll. And that would have been far preferable from the point of view of avoiding emotional harm to the woman they were having se*x with.

Above all, this reveals a grubby, mindless approach to the act of coition, which I for one think is demeaning to all concerned.
No wonder they don't want to come forward and be named.

And, by the way, the only male bonding going on here is that of cowardice - hiding behind that old mantra of "What happens on tour stays on tour".

Pathetic.

The Cronulla Club Board ought all stand down, if they do not vow, publicly to promote a code of ethics for their players, which brings an end to such gross behaviour.

why the Refugee boat might have been scuttled.

2009-04-28T04:13:00.002+10:00

According to crikey.com.au of 27 April 2009, "The real boat people story is that the Navy tried to turn the boat around using prescribed tactical manoeuvres. The illegals then doused the deck of their vessel with fuel and proceeded to ignite the deck of the vessel so that the Navy would be forced to evacuate them giving them safe haven. Navy continued to observe, there was an explosion ... the rest is known."

Crikey -Tips and rumours.

The Minster for Home Affairs, the Hon. Bob Debus

I do know that "Bob Devious" said on Lateline last week that the Admiral in charge of the Border Protection service told him that the boat people had been told they were to be towed to Christmas Island - because that is what the protocol said the Navy was to do.

Earlier the same evening I saw a Navy officer on the news say that they had not told the refugees anything about where they were being towed.

Previous practice (under the Howard Government) was indeed to tow refugee boats back into Indonesian waters. It is hardly surprising they might have scuttled their boat, rather than allow that to happen.

Here is how Tony Jones put this to "Bob Devious".
(ABC Lateline Transcript extract- 20. April 2009).

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2008/s2547971.htm

TONY JONES: Well let's go through one of the procedural issues, because Rear Admiral Du Toit originally said the asylum seekers were told they were going to Christmas Island, which made the suggestion that they'd be worried they were not redundant. On Friday, the Commander of the Albany came out at said they were not told where they were going. So which of those gentlemen is correct, first of all? Because that is a major procedural issue.

BOB DEBUS: Well, the first conclusion I draw from that particular situation is that it is indeed important that we discover the precise detail of what went on by way of the police inquiry, the coronial inquiry that's going on ...

TONY JONES: But you don't need a police inquiry to work that out.

BOB DEBUS: Just one moment. We do know that Admiral Du Toit was relying on what our standard operating procedures and it is my belief, subject only to what might come out in the inquiry - it is my belief that he was acting on the essential assumption that these people had been told that they would be processed in an Australian territory. Now, that's what matters more than the exact place at which they were to be processed.

TONY JONES: But the fundamental problem here is if the Commander of the Albany says they were not told where they were going, that would've created tremendous anxiety on board the vessel.

BOB DEBUS: Admiral Du Toit made his remark after a few hours - after the incident had actually taken place. He did it in consequence of communication that was flying back and forth between the control centre in Darwin and two boats in a very remote part of the Arafura Sea. It is not at all surprising that there can be some variation in the precise detail of what is understood to have happened in a situation like that.

TONY JONES: That's a fundamental difference, though, isn't it? They were either told or they were not told.

BOB DEBUS: And that is exactly - it is exactly the reason why we need the kind of detailed inquiry we're talking about. However, both what the Admiral said and what the boat's captain said are consistent, I believe, with the proposition that the people were told that they were going to be processed on the mainland.

TONY JONES: How can that be true?

BOB DEBUS: Either way - either way, I personally cannot answer the question about which of those people was right - although Admiral Du Toit has told me that he would, indeed, always concede to the man on the spot.

TONY JONES: But isn't that abrogating your own responsibility as Minister? Because if it were the case that they were ...

BOB DEBUS: Standard operating - standard operating procedures exist.

TONY JONES: If it were the case that they were not told, and they should've been told, that is a fundamental breach.

BOB DEBUS: Well, we must wait until we have a clear account of what was happened.

TONY JONES: Let's go back to what you've actually learnt from the fatal incident, because more boats, as we said, are probably on their way or could be very soon. Have you learnt, for example, that there's an urgent need for the Navy to have access to skilled interpreters to deal with any misunderstandings with people on board these kind of vessels?

BOB DEBUS: It's certainly the case that we need to have the capacity to speak to people on the boats. It may be that we have to increase the number of interpreters. But I am also told, and I believe this is confirmed by everyone who has mentioned these particular facts, that there were people on the boat who could speak English, and it has been generally said that there was good communication between the patrol boats and the asylum seekers for some hours before the terrible events occurred.

TONY JONES: And yet, if - once again, going back to the original point: if the Commander of the Albany says they were not told where they were going, it wouldn't matter if the person spoke English or otherwise on the boat, because they weren't getting the correct information.

BOB DEBUS: Well, here we have a incident in a remote part of the sea involving what was in the end a moment of terrible confusion. It is impossible for the person in my position - the person in the public - to know for sure what all the details of those events were until there is a systematic forensic reconstruction of them.

That interview was a disgraceful performance of attempted padding, filibustering and deviousness, by Minister Debus.

Mascot Airport Security Fiasco

2009-03-24T01:21:00.006+11:00

Where is Max the Axe?

The news last night said that the Security Cameras at Mascot were not compatible with the Police video equipment? What? Can that be true? Personally, I doubt it.

When the Howard and Ruddock team were running the Security scare in Australia, they were throwing around buckets of money to upgrade security. Where, especially? Australia's airports, first of all.

How come the Airport Security was apparently non-existent at Mascot when this apparent murder occurred there?

Apparently the fight had begun on a flight into Sydney. Isn't that an offence under strict security laws upgraded by Ruddock? Where were the "Flight wardens" who are supposedly flying covertly on airlines?

If the fight had started on the plane, then surely the entire Airport Security system, from the flight officers down to the ground security had the chance to alert people to the problem, long before the man was killed, apparently in the public concourse.

How come these people had had not triggered the metal detectors?

Do you remember the Schapelle Corby Drug case?
Remember how it was alleged that the baggage handlers had the power (ability) to control where the security cameras point?

Consider now the supposed links between Biker groups and drug sales.

Is it not more likely that the real reason the security camera are not able to be read by the Police is that the Security cameras were either not turned on, or were facing the wall, instead of scanning the concourse.

If so, then this incident clearly is much more than just a few thugs running around an airport, and killing the brother of a member of a Biker Gang.

As I said at the beginning, where is Max Moore-Wilton? He is still the chairman of the body which runs Mascot Airport. How can he so simply put up the shutters when an outrage occurs in his cabbage patch, and even the ABC has not knocked on his door? Is Macquarie Bank above the Law? Not as far as I know.

Where is Phillip Ruddock MP, who supposedly spent millions of dollars, following the Glasgow Airport incident, in upgrading security? I even agree with NSW Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan (for once) about this point. "It doesn't say much for the millions of dollars we have spent on airport security," Senator Heffernan said on ABC radio.

There are far more questions here than have even been hinted at yet, by the Press.