The ALP clean-out needs to start today.

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!

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

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

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

"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"

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.

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