Australian Politics
Thursday, December 09, 2021
The Northern Territory is giving Australia a bad name
Articles such as the one below have appeared on many sites in America. It is never mentioned that the NT is not typical of Australia as a whole. It is also not mentioned that the harsh measures were designed to deal with the Territory's large and unco-operative Aboriginal population
UPDATE of 10 Dec: The Northern Territory will scrap its border restrictions on December 20, its government has announced.
Since the first cases of COVID were discovered in every country, the ruling class of each has tried to orchestrate different levels of control.
The worst global pandemic in a century is bad enough. However, corrupt leaders have used it as an exercise in power. Lockdowns have destroyed economies, including the personal lives of people everywhere. Indirect consequences caused by lockdowns have been devastating.
Mask mandates have done nothing to help curb surges, but stolen personal freedoms. Vaccine mandates are now an increasingly used way of trying to force people to conform. However, possibly one of the most startling acts of authoritarian control is happening in Australia.
In one of the freest democracies outside the United States of America, Australians are being punished for opposing any COVID order leveled by the government. Despite a higher percentage of vaccinated people getting sick again, the unvaccinated are being punished.
In America, Joe Biden continues to falsely insist that any new surge in COVID cases is the fault of anyone who is unvaccinated. This completely ignores a wealth of data suggesting natural immunity after recovering from COVID may reduce second infection chances to virtually zero.
These authoritarian government mandates and tyrannical orders are not about the pandemic. Each and every order is about power and control. Governments are using the misfortune caused by a deadly virus to force people into conformity.
In Australia, the unvaccinated are being shipped off to internment camps. Not since the horrific acts of the Nazis have we witnessed such an abuse of humanity. Video footage from one of these internment camps has been leaked.
The video shows boundary lines that these imprisoned Australians must stay within. They are restricted to when and where they can even do laundry. The audio portion of the video mentions explicitly that if an imprisoned person crosses a particular line, they will be fined $5,000.
The woman questioning a creepy medical-gowned Gestapo-like guard was informed the reason “doesn’t have to make sense.” As with the underlying principle behind mandates, such as those imposed by Joe Biden and liberal-run U.S. states, people should shut up and do as they’re instructed.
Do not ask questions. We must follow orders and just conform. Increasingly, videos are leaking out of these Australian detention camps through social media. Images clearly resemble wartime prisons used to hold people against their will.
One Australian woman broke silence over her ordeal. Hayley Hodgson moved away from Melbourne to get away from the continuous lockdowns there. Living in Darwin, she thought she was free to make her own choices. She was not.
The spiral of circumstances that led to Hodgson being imprisoned against her will started when a friend tested positive for COVID. Authorities showed up at her front door. Investigators had run the license plate number of Hodgson’s scooter.
They informed her she had been recorded as having had “close contact” with her now COVID infected friend. She was asked if she had recently taken a COVID case. Believing this private information was none of their business, she lied.
That exercise in personal medical freedom eventually landed Hodgson in a COVID internment camp. As she was hauled away, all she was told is that the orders came from “higher ups”. Hodgson was tossed in a rented fan and hauled away to Howard Springs.
There she remained for the full 14-days, regardless that she tested negative multiple times. Obviously, her time detained was not about being a health threat, but about resisting government authority. Remember, this happened in Australia, not Russia.
These were healthcare professionals and law enforcement personnel in a democratic republic. The liberals in America will use the same tactics if they are not stopped. Joe Biden’s unconstitutional vaccine mandates will fling open a door to government intrusiveness that we will never get closed.
The videos of what is going on in Australia are startling. They prove to what lengths the ruling class elite will go to exercise power. Americans must not rest on their laurels. This could bleed into our country in an instant. It already has. The left wants to seize permanent control of power.
They want control of educating our children. The left wants full federal control over elections. They’re pushing for a socialist welfare state in America. Now they want control over our medical decisions.
These leaked videos clearly show internment camps in an otherwise free nation. This is not a joke. Americans must take these assaults on personal freedom seriously. If not, we will soon find ourselves living in a country that looks nothing like the free republic we all cherish.
******************************************
Victorian Big Battery switched on
The biggest battery in the southern hemisphere is operating in Victoria.
Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio on Wednesday officially launched the $84 million Big Battery, located at Moorabool near Geelong.
Owned and operated by French renewable energy giant Neoen, the battery has the capacity of 300 megawatts and 450 megawatt-hours - making it more than double the size of billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla big battery built in South Australia in 2017.
Labor touts business support for emissions target
The Victorian battery also uses the Telsa technology and made global headlines when it caught fire during testing in July.
An investigation found the blaze, which went for four days, was most likely sparked by a coolant leak causing short-circuits. It prompted Tesla to upgrade its global fleet of Megapack batteries.
Ms D'Ambrosio said the battery would safeguard the state's energy supply in the summer, reduce energy prices and support the government's emissions reduction plan.
"The Victorian Big Battery will deliver cleaner, cheaper and more reliable power and help us reach our ambitious target of halving emissions by 2030," she said.
************************************************
A pessimistic view of omicron
A top medical expert has issued a dire warning about the newest Covid variant on The Project – leaving host Waleed Aly “petrified.”
A top US epidemiologist has issued a dire warning to those unconcerned about the new Omicron Covid variant rapidly spreading across the globe, describing the notion that it’s a milder version of the disease as a “sweet little lie”.
Appearing on Monday’s episode of The Project, epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding’s worrying predictions clearly rattled host Waleed Aly
Feigl-Ding told The Project hosts that, with a new variant circulating, Australians should be vaccinating children “as soon as possible”.
“There’s been a lot of misinformation last year that kids can’t be infected, kids are immune – that’s not true. If anything, the Delta variant is much more severe in children, hospitalisation rates are much higher, and that’s before Omicron,” he said.
“Kids do get sick, kids do get hospitalised and they do die. Please protect them against Omicron – vaccinating them is of the highest urgency.”
Feigl-Ding described early evidence out of South Africa, where the Omicron variant was first reported, as “very alarming”.
Over the weekend, government adviser Waasila Jassat told reporters in the Johannesburg area, where the virus is spreading widely, there has been “quite a sharp increase” in hospital admissions “across all age groups but particularly in the under-fives”.
“Hospitalisations are absolutely soaring,” said Feigl-Ding.
“Hospitalisations in children are about sixfold higher than previous waves. Omicron is not mild in any way … It’s already outpacing the previous waves, even despite higher vaccination rates. The data is very bad, and we have to not try to want to believe in the sweet little lies that we hear that it’s mild – it’s not.”
Project panellist Peter Helliar asked where we might be in the life of this pandemic, prompting a dispiriting answer from Feigl-Ding, who says the pandemic is “far from over,” pointing to what he called a “vaccine apartheid” in regions like southern Africa, where new variants are able to emerge in populations with low vaccination rates.
“We’re eventually going to shoot ourselves in the foot, because another variant like omicron – or worse – will arise, and it will restart the whole pandemic system,” he said.
Feigl-Ding noted that World Health Organisation had already announced they may switch to using stars and constellations if they run out of Greek letters to name Covid variants
Not all medical experts share Feigl-Ding’s views on Omicron – one leading voice even believes Omicron could, counterintuitively, spell “the end of Covid”.
“I actually think there is a silver lining here, and this may signal the end of Covid-19, with it attenuating itself to such an extent that it is highly contagious but does not cause severe disease. That’s what happened with Spanish flu,” said Dr Richard Friedland, CEO of the Netcare Group, which operates more than 50 hospitals in South Afric
********************************************
COVID to have ‘life-long impact on population’ as fertility crashes to record low
Uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to Australia’s fertility rate falling to its lowest level on record with warnings it may never recover, leaving the nation with a recession-sized hole in its population make-up.
Through 2020, 294,369 births were registered across the country, a 3.7 per cent or 11,500 fall on 2019. The fertility rate dropped almost 5 per cent to an all-time low of 1.58 births per woman, a fall larger than Australia experienced during the darkest years of the Great Depression.
It was the lowest number of births registered in the country since 2007 and down by 6.6 per cent on the peak number of births recorded in 2018.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the biggest falls were in Victoria, where there were 3846 fewer births, a 4.9 per cent drop, and in South Australia where births also fell by 4.9 per cent or 952.
Across NSW, there was 3.4 per cent fall, or 3330 babies. Tasmania defied the trend, up by 1 per cent or 54 births.
Demographer Liz Allen from the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods said the nation’s fertility rate had been falling for the past 50 years, but a range of factors were now making it even more difficult for prospective parents to start a family.
She said the financial insecurity caused by the COVID recession now overlaid ongoing issues including the high cost of housing, which required both parents to work to raise enough money to buy a home, anxiety over climate change and growing gender equality.
COVID would weigh on the nation’s population profile forever.
“Potential parents are being hammered on all sides, and struggling to survive in a climate that directly translates into missing children,” she said.
“Potential parents’ active choices to start a family or the size of that family is slipping away from them and that will have long-term repercussions for them and for the country.
“People have postponed having children and we could see a lift next year, but I suspect that what we have seen is a life-long impact on our population.”
The lowest fertility rate in NSW is across Sydney’s CBD and inner south. It has fallen by 24 per cent to less than one over the past decade. While the number of people living in the area has climbed by more than 92,500 since 2010, the number of babies born to local residents has fallen by 328.
It’s a similar story in the city’s west. While Parramatta’s population has swelled by 100,569 over the past 10 years, the number of babies born has fallen by 134.
The largest fall in fertility nationally has occurred in Melbourne’s inner city, down almost 28 per cent since 2010. The fertility rate is a national-low of 0.91. Across Melbourne’s inner suburbs there have been falls in fertility of more than 20 per cent over the past decade.
All these areas, however, have recorded large population increases over the period, driven by internal and overseas migration.
Not one part of Melbourne now has a fertility rate above 2, with falls in growing areas such as the south-east and western suburbs.
Across Australia only one region – the north-west of Western Australia, which has a large Indigenous population – has recorded an increase in fertility rates since 2010.
Debt, deficit and grey haired: COVID-19 upends economic future
The bureau’s demography director, Beidar Cho, said the fall in fertility could be attributed to COVID-19 disruptions.
She said not only had the fertility rate fallen, but the median age of mothers had lifted to a high of 31.6 years. The highest median age is 32.4 years in the ACT while the youngest mothers are in the Northern Territory at 30.3 years.
“The long-term decline in fertility of younger mums as well as the continued increase in fertility of older mums reflects a shift towards later childbearing,” she said.
************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
***************************************
Wednesday, December 08, 2021
Craig Kelly: MP banned from Facebook but appointed to parliament’s social media inquiry
This would appear to be a recognition that what Kelly says is not far out. What he says has strong academic authority. It is just not mainstream. But the mainstream changes so that is no discredit to Kelly. He just keeps a badly needed debate alive
The federal MP Craig Kelly – who has been permanently banned from Facebook and criticised for the online distribution of “seriously misleading” information about Covid-19 vaccines – has been appointed to a parliamentary committee looking into social media and online safety.
The appointment has raised eyebrows among other members of the committee after the former Liberal, turned Palmer United party MP, was banned from Facebook and Instagram in April this year over posts promoting hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin and questioning the effectiveness of masks.
In September, the Therapeutic Goods Administration also issued a statement saying its lawyers had written to Kelly over text messages the party had sent to millions of Australians. The TGA alleged the party had breached copyright and demanded it stop distributing “incomplete extracts” of adverse event reports relating to Covid vaccines which the TGA believed could be “seriously misleading”.
Kelly has since called for the social media companies to be reined in, and argued Facebook’s move was in contempt of parliament and amounted to improper interference.
The then Speaker Tony Smith dismissed that claim, stating there was no evidence that the ban was targeted at Kelly in his capacity as a member of parliament.
Since Kelly joined the United Australia party, YouTube’s parent company Google has also faced pressure to remove the party’s account. Labor’s national secretary, Paul Erickson, wrote to Google in September raising concerns that the UAP was using its platform to undermine confidence in Australia’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, citing videos in which Kelly questioned the safety of Covid vaccines and promoted ivermectin.
The party has spent close to $3m on ads on YouTube since August, far more than any other political party in Australia over the same period.
The parliamentary inquiry was announced by Scott Morrison this week as part of the government’s ongoing focus on large tech companies. The committee will be chaired by the Liberal MP Lucy Wicks, and report back in February, before the next federal election.
The terms of reference for the committee are broad. It will review “the range of online harms that may be faced by Australians on social media and other online platforms, including harmful content or harmful conduct”, what impact algorithms have, identity verification and age verification policies, online safety for children, and data collection.
The committee consists of eight members, with five from the government, and three from the opposition or crossbench.
On Thursday, Kelly along with the Labor MPs Tim Watts and Sharon Claydon were added to the committee in a motion in the House of Representatives by the assistant minister to the deputy prime minister, Kevin Hogan.
The crossbench ultimately decides which of its members are put up on committees, meaning it was not a decision of government members to appoint Kelly to the committee.
***********************************************
Hidden connections of Australia's power elites
Many people, like me, are starting to wake up to the fact that things are not what they seem in Australia. For years now, we have all been fed the line that Australia is a democratic ‘meritocracy’ where those who reach the top, do so as a product of their own gifts, talent, intelligence or hard work – none of which is even remotely true.
Most people operating at the top of Australia’s elite circle of power are part of a far more nepotistic and insidious system altogether – one where hard work and talent matters much less than who are connected to, or even who your father, mother, or sibling was, or who you are married to.
Take Boris Johnson in the UK, whose father, Stanley Johnson, was an influential Conservative Party politician and later, a member of the European Parliament, European Commission and World Bank. Justin Trudeau’s father, Pierre Trudeau, was of course the famous Prime Minister of Canada, whose two administrations bridged the 1960, 1970s and 1980s.
Jacinda Ardern is the daughter of Ross Ardern, a NZ High Commissioner to Cook Islands and more recently, Administrator of Tokelau. His brother, Ian, is Head of the Mormon Church in New Zealand and Pacific region.
Scott Morrison’s Great Aunt was Mary Gilmore, who once founded a utopian socialist colony in Paraguay with the socialist William Lane.
Morrison’s older brother, Alan, serves as Chair of AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) Committee on Paramedicine and Chair of the government’s Health Services Working Group.
Then there is Jane Halton, who Morrison appointed as head of the government’s National Covid-19 Co-ordination Commission. Jane is the daughter of Charles Halton, a British Military Scientist brought to Australia in 1973 by Gough Whitlam to overhaul the country’s transport system, and who served as Secretary of Defence and Secretary of the Department of Communications under Hawke and Keating.
Daughter Jane is now the CHAIR OF CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations), set up and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust and World Economic Forum in 2015. Jane was part of Event 201, a pandemic exercise organised and funded by John Hopkins, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations and the World Economic Forum in October 2019.
Jane’s husband is Trevor Sutton, Deputy of the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Chair of the Governing Council of Statistics for the Asian and Pacific region. Trevor heads the Statistical Business Transformation Group which received a $256 million investment program to radically transform how ABS collects, processes and disseminates information, data and statistics.
In 2016, ABS data collection and survey systems were awarded to Accenture, a partner of ID2020 and GAVI. Trevor is a Member of the Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation of which Jane Halton is also a Board Member, and which receives funding from the Gates Foundation and WHO.
Trevor Sutton’s brother is Dr Brett Sutton. Dr Sutton is the Chief Health Officer of Victoria, who advises Dan Andrews Government on public health and pandemic response measures. Interestingly, Jane Halton also has a brother, Philip Halton, who is Deputy Commissioner of QBCC, Queensland’s building and construction regulator.
These are just a few examples but there are many more – some are well-known, while others are tightly guarded secrets.
https://www.kickstartqueensland.com.au/news/hidden-connections-of-power-elites/
********************************************Moorooka State School parents in fight to keep principal Jordan Burke
One hopes the bureaucratic shitheads take notice of this. A popular principal is a treasure
A Brisbane school community has launched an eleventh-hour campaign to keep their “beloved” principal, the school’s third in two years, after they received notice he would not be receiving a new contract for 2022.
According to a petition launched by a concerned Moorooka State School parent, the community was recently “blindsided by the bureaucratically motivated removal of its beloved principal,” Jordan Burke.
“The school’s third principal in two years, Mr Burke dedicated himself to our school over the last 12 months in a way that was appreciably over and above what was required in his job description,” the petition said.
“In return, he has been justifiably popular with students and parents alike.
“The Department of Education has undertaken to remove Mr Burke on the basis that our school has grown and he is no longer the best person for the job.
“We say otherwise.
“Our kids are upset and confused about the removal of their principal, and we as parents are angry that the department has not given any weight at all to the benefits of consistency in our kids’ educational environment, and concerned that our voice has not been accurately represented in the recruitment process for our principal.”
An Education Queensland representative confirmed that the decision to move on from Mr Burke was driven by the school’s recent growth from 349 students in 2018 to 435 this year.
“Moorooka State School has grown rapidly over the past few years and has recently been reclassified by the department into a higher classification level,” the representative said.
“In Term 4 of this year the department ran a merit recruitment and selection process as required by policy.
“A principal from another school was identified as the most suitable applicant from that process and will commence the role in Term 1 next year.
“These are operational matters and the Minister for Education has no role in the selection or appointment of principals.”
A current Moorooka State School parent told the Southern Star Mr Burke brought “stability” to the school after four principals in five years, three of them in the past two years.
“Our understanding was that principal Burke was to be our principal long-term,” she said. “Principal Burke’s sense of community and excitement for the school’s future was always evident, and we were looking forward to 2022 (and beyond) with him leading the school, and finally getting the chance to implement new ideas.
“The frequent turnover of principals, and more recently vice-principals, means this diverse school community has had to cope with multiple changes (on top of Covid-19), and the associated uncertainty and loss of momentum as each new principal takes time to get to know the school staff, teachers, students and school community before implementing any plans.”
A petition to keep Mr Burke on as principal has garnered 439 signatures at the time of publication.
*********************************************
Researchers to put successful schools under the microscope
They will discover that the best schools are the most orderly
A team of university researchers will study the state’s best schools to work out the secrets of their success, so others can learn from them.
The NSW Department of Education and three universities - NSW, Canberra and Charles Sturt - have established The Ambassador Schools Research Centre, in a project believed to be among the first of its kind in the world.
The department has revealed six ambassador schools, and more will follow. They include Fairvale and Macarthur Girls’ High Schools, and Auburn North, Millthorpe, Bonnyrigg Heights and Huntington Public Schools.
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said each had an x-factor that made them an outstanding school, and distilling that would help others.
“This research will provide us with an understanding of how we spread this success across the state, helping teachers improve their classroom practices and lifting student outcomes,” she said.
UNSW Professor Kim Beswick said the universities involved had a wide range of experience, from Indigenous and regional education to professional development of teachers and early childhood learning.
“We’ve got pretty much all the important bases covered, and lots of experience of working with schools and trying to find out what works,” she said.
“We’ve suggested really rigorous approaches, but a key feature of this research is that it’s going to be co-designed with the department … but also with the principals of the ambassador schools.
“They’ll get a say in the sorts of data they would like to see collected. They’ll be able to inform us of their context and what they think is working.”
By 2023, the researchers expect to have an idea of the most effective approaches in those schools, and hope to help other schools implement them in 2024.
************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
***************************************
Tuesday, December 07, 2021
Labor sets up a clash with the Greens on climate change
Labor has set up a clash with the Greens on climate change in a bid to assure voters it will not change its 43 per cent target to cut greenhouse gas emissions if it wins the election, insisting the Parliament would have to pass the goal or vote it down.
Anxious to quash a scare campaign about a higher target, Labor climate spokesman Chris Bowen ruled out a negotiation with the Greens on the figure in the event of a hung Parliament despite Coalition claims he would have to overhaul his policy.
Mr Bowen also rebuffed calls from the Greens to close coal-fired power stations and phase out coal exports by arguing nothing in the Labor policy would bring forward closures or hurt exporters who were exposed to competition from overseas.
The Labor pledge is to introduce a bill to Parliament that specifies the 43 per cent cut in emissions by 2030 on the levels of 2005 and to refuse to accept changes by the Greens, with the lower house rejecting amendments to the target in the Senate.
The Labor stance seeks to avoid repeating the party’s deal with the Greens in 2010, when the Gillard government legislated a price on carbon after ruling out a carbon tax before the election, and challenges the Greens to avoid a repeat of a pivotal vote in 2009 when the minor party vetoed an emissions trading scheme because it wanted a more ambitious policy.
Asked if Labor would negotiate on the target to secure support from the Greens, Mr Bowen said: “No.”
Labor is promising to make its target a formal commitment to the United Nations if it wins power, saying it is willing to legislate the goal while the Coalition could not do the same because conservatives would block a bill that cemented increasing the government’s 26 to 28 per cent target to its forecast 35 per cent emissions reduction by 2030.
But with Greens leader Adam Bandt calling for a 75 per cent cut in emissions by that year, Prime Minister Scott Morrison claimed a Labor government would have to give in to the Greens on climate.
“For Labor to legislate if they were to form government they would have to do that with the support of the Greens,” he said, while campaigning in the seat of Wentworth in eastern Sydney.
“So 43 per cent is just the opening bid for Labor. And you know what the Greens’ target is, it’s 75 per cent. So vote Labor, you vote Greens and you vote for the Greens targets.”
Mr Morrison was reminded of the disagreements within his backbench, however, when a journalist asked if he backed a call from Dave Sharma, the Liberal member for Wentworth, to cut emissions by 40 to 45 per cent by 2035.
“That’s not the government’s policy. I respect Dave’s commitment to this area,” Mr Morrison said.
In the first lengthy explanation of the Labor plan since it was announced last Friday, Mr Bowen said the modelling for the policy assumed the government could only achieve a 30 per cent reduction by 2030 and the additional Labor measures would take the figure to 43 per cent and no further.
Mr Bowen rejected speculation the Labor target would rise to 48 per cent in the event the government was able to reach the upper range of its stated 30 to 35 per cent forecast.
While Greenpeace and the Greens have dismissed the goal as too low, Australian National University professor Mark Howden said the number was in line with the agreement at the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow last month to cut emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 on the levels of 2010.
Professor Howden, the director of the ANU Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions, said the 43 per cent reduction against the 2005 numbers meant a total reduction of 267.84 million tonnes since 2005. The UN goal meant a total reduction of 269.59 million tonnes from 2010.
“So the amount of reduction in emissions in absolute terms that these two policies/goals require is almost identical, and so it is fair to say that the Labor Party emission reduction policy is in accord with the Glasgow Pact of 45 per cent reductions against 2010 emissions by 2030,” he said.
The modelling for the Labor policy, conducted by economics firm RepuTex, says the policy would create 64,000 direct and 540,000 indirect jobs by 2030 and triggered a claim from former ACTU president Jennie George in The Australian that the figure was “so high as to make it unbelievable” because the multiplier effect was too great.
Mr Bowen rejected that complaint and said the modelling applied a multiplier in each sector of the economy rather than across the board.
“There’s direct jobs, there’s indirect jobs and of course there’s job impacts from just the improved energy supply,” he said. “But that modelling stands up to scrutiny from anyone.”
Asked how many jobs would be lost, Mr Bowen said the modelling showed a total gain.
“As a result of Labor’s policies, not one,” he said. “The modelling makes clear Labor’s policies create jobs. The modelling also accepts the government’s modelling that global decarbonisation is going to have an impact on Australia.”
Energy Minister Angus Taylor said the difference in the two goals, from the government’s 35 per cent forecast to Labor’s 43 per cent target, required “very significant” policies including a carbon tax on industry. Labor has ruled out a carbon tax.
***********************************************
Australian farm production tipped to break records this financial year
Another step away from the food shortages that Greenies are always predicting
Australian farmers will break records this year as the value and volume of their food and fibre climbs to historic highs, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES).
With the price of grain climbing and unprecedented prices being paid at livestock sales all year, ABARES analysts have raised their forecast for total farm production to $78 billion this financial year.
Exports are also tipped to hit a record-breaking $61 billion.
The increased value of production is being driven in large part by the poor seasonal conditions experienced by competitors like Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, Argentina, and the United States.
Those conditions have dented the supply of wheat, barley and canola, driving prices up.
The substantial volumes of production have not been badly affected by the recent heavy rain and floods in New South Wales and Queensland.
The main impact of the wet weather will be to downgrade the quality of the crop, from human to animal-grade feed.
The La Niña conditions on the east coast will set farmers up for another good year in 2022, filling the soil with moisture, keeping irrigation water costs low and ensuring there is plenty of feed growing for livestock.
But farmers will face higher prices to grow their crops with prices for fuel, fertiliser, and farm chemicals all rising.
Despite this, ABARES tips farm cash income to hit a record $30.6 billion, off the back of the larger volumes of food and fibre produced in 2021-2022.
In a separate analysis, Rabobank predicts the rising cost of key farming inputs will constrain production next year.
The specialist food and agribusiness bank warned this would add to the inflation of food prices and could lead to social unrest.
**********************************************
Federal district launches interest-free loans for electric cars to boost uptake
Drivers in the Australian Capital Territory can now apply for zero-interest loans designed to boost the uptake of electric vehicles, as industry groups call for similar programs to be adopted across the country.
The loans will be available under the ACT government’s sustainable household scheme, which offers interest-free loans for solar panels, battery storage technology and other sustainable equipment. Electric vehicles were added to the program on Monday.
Anyone who holds a valid ACT driving licence or owns a home in the territory can apply for 10-year zero-interest loans of up to $15,000. This in addition to other benefits such as a stamp duty exemption for new electric vehicle purchases.
Shane Rattenbury, the ACT minister for water, energy and emissions reduction, said the territory wanted to send a strong signal it was embracing the transition to electric cars, both domestically and to carmakers abroad.
“The key message here for the external audience is for automakers to say – look at Canberra, get the vehicles into the ACT,” he said.
“We’ve got a keen market here. We know people want to purchase these vehicles. We need to see more models at lower prices.”
Rattenbury, who drives an electric vehicle, said the federal government “has not been strong supporters of EVs” so it was important for state and territory governments to make their intentions clear.
“Nationally, we do have a problem,” Rattenbury. “When you talk to the automakers, they’re hesitant to bring vehicles to Australia because they’re unclear about government policy.”
The program is being organised in a staged process with a small number of electric vehicle suppliers participating initially. More will be added over time.
Dr Jake Whitehead, head of policy at the Electric Vehicle Council, welcomed the development, saying it could save drivers thousands of dollars in interest payments and improve access to electric cars.
“If you own an EV long enough, it’s a cheaper option over time,” he said.
“What this loan facility enables you to do is get those savings up front.”
Energy company AGL calculated the cost of running an electric vehicle and found it was $1,346 cheaper than running a petrol car, although this result can change depending on location and whether solar panels are used to charge.
Whitehead called for interest-free loans to be rolled out across Australia, but said additional policies must also be introduced as well to supercharge uptake.
*******************************************
Absurd Climate of fear
The wonderful thing about Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese promising to propel the nation towards a net zero emissions target at a point in time somewhere over the rainbow is that neither of them are going to be around when these magical years are finally upon us.
In the finest traditions of the political art they can promise whatever they want, safe in the knowledge that it’s a fanciful figure plucked from the air and designed to shimmer like a distant mirage for the duration of the election campaign.
Climate change has become political capital and Labor and the Coalition are now both fixated upon being seen to be doing something – anything – to save the nation from the apocalypse that we are assured, thanks to computer modelling, threatens it.
The Climate Council’s Tim Flannery knows a thing or two about computer modelling, having confidently predicted that drought conditions would become permanent in eastern Australia.
“Water is going to be in short supply across the eastern states,” he warned. “One morning in the not-too-distant future in one of the major cities, taps will be turned on and instead of water, there will only be a whistling in the pipes. Not a drop. Totally dry,” he announced.
I turned on the taps at our place last week as the rain pelted down and indeed there was a whistle. It turned out to be the kettle.
Next year, and the PM and the Opposition Leader must hope that it will occur before polling day to vindicate their shining net zero targets, the Arctic ice cap will disappear.
We know this because back in 2005, Mr Flannery peered into his computer screen and announced that within 15 years, the ice cap would melt.
It stubbornly refused to do so last year, covering an area of 14 million square kilometres, so if our man Flannery is right then apart from whistling taps, 2022 is going to be the year of the Big Melt.
The Royal Scottish Geographical Society was unfazed by the dogged refusal of the Arctic ice to disappear and recently gave Mr Flannery a medal for his “dogged determination” to communicate the critical science of climate change. Well done, sir!
************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
***************************************
Monday, December 06, 2021
’Ticking time bomb of inequality’ to put owning a home beyond the reach of children born today
Rubbish! This galah has rightly noted the big increase in house prices but is oblivious that home unit prices have not followed suit. Home unit prices have increased much less. And the way apartment towers keep popping up there should soon be downward pressure on unit prices. Home unit prices should remain affordable even when house prices do not. Home unit living can be perfectly congenial
Australian kids born in major capitals today face a “ticking time bomb of inequality” that could force them to rent for life as homeownership becomes an inherited luxury.
That’s the prediction from a leading futurist, who has warned the government may need to level the playing field as the bank of mum and dad drives entrenched wealth between Australians and their homeownership dreams.
It comes as newborn babies can take their first steps on the property ladder before they can walk, with fractional property investment now open to minors via BrickX.
Global futurist at the Thinque think tank Anders Sorman-Nilsson said while Australia’s cultural affinity with homeownership was driving markets like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane today, it would price out more and more residents in the coming decades.
“You may (in the future) only be able to afford your own home in Sydney and Melbourne if your mum and dad are taking out some of the equity in their own home to help,” Mr Sorman-Nilsson said.
“This could be a ticking time bomb of inequality. So there will have to be something done to ensure that this Australian dream will remain.”
Affordability issues already mean large parts of Sydney are out of reach for many buyers.
He noted some countries had implemented wealth and inheritance taxes to stem the impact of intergenerational gifts such as the hundreds of thousands of dollars some parents offered to help their kids into a home.
Price growth might be alleviated as greater “digital democracy” made knowledge-based jobs more accessible in regional areas, but it was still likely many kids born today will never own a home.
“You will see new European-style housing arrangements, with people who rent for life or rentvest – buying an investment property, but renting where they want to live,” he said.
Proptrack (realestate.com.au’s research division) economic research director Cameron Kusher said price growth over the past 30 years was unlikely to repeat in the coming decades as it had been buoyed by falling interest rates, which were more likely to now rise.
But Mr Kusher said even a conservative estimate would put home price growth ahead of inflation, which typically rises as wages do, meaning today’s prices could still be doubled in 30 years time when newborns would be looking to buy.
“Most parents will help via their property increasing in price,” Mr Kusher said. “But unfortunately homeownership has been falling, so not everyone will be able to do that.”
He said parents might consider shares or fractional property purchases to help their kids
*****************************************
NSW government overturns decision to block coal mine expansion
The New South Wales government has been accused of being “captured” by the coal industry after it overturned a planning commission decision to block a mine expansion that it found could cause irreversible damage to drinking water and release significant heat-trapping gas.
The deputy premier, Paul Toole, and planning minister, Rob Stokes, declared on Saturday the Dendrobium mine expansion near Wollongong – proposed by BHP spin-off South32 – was “state significant infrastructure” due to its role providing coal for the Port Kembla steelworks.
It reversed a planning commission decision in February to reject the proposal, which would have allowed the company to extract an extra 78m tonnes of coal from two areas near the Avon and Cordeaux dams. The dams supply water to metropolitan Sydney and the Macarthur, Illawarra and Wollondilly regions.
The state government did not mention the water supply or emissions in its statement about the mine expansion. Toole said Dendrobium was a critical source of coking coal for the Port Kembla steelworks and declaring it significant infrastructure would “provide thousands of workers with greater certainty on the future of their jobs”. He said the mine contributed $1.9bn to the state’s economy each year.
The NSW government also confirmed it had ruled out future coal exploration in the Hawkins and Rumker areas in the state’s central west, a step flagged by Guardian Australia last month.
South32 said it welcomed the government’s decision. A company spokesperson said it “marks an important step” and would allow a submission for an alternate mine plan to that rejected by the planning commission.
“We continue to consider our options to determine the best path forward for Illawarra Metallurgical Coal, to continue to supply metallurgical coal for local steel production and support local jobs and investment,” it said.
The Dendrobium declaration means South32 can submit an environmental impact statement for community feedback and assessment by the planning department. The department previously recommended the independent planning commission approve the project as its benefits would “significantly outweigh its residual costs, and that it is in the public interest”.
It has been supported by Bluescope Steel, which claimed “green steel” – made using hydrogen and renewable energy – was decades away and it wanted to use an existing blend of coking coal until 2048.
Dan Gocher, director of climate and environment at shareholder activist organisation the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, said the Dendrobium decision “reeks of state capture”
*******************************************
Australia’s Omicron travel ban is ‘discrimination’, South African diplomat says
The ban does sound like closing the door after the horse has bolted. What does it achieve?
South Africa’s high commissioner to Australia, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, said the ban needed to be overturned due to large numbers of Omicron cases being detected in other continents and not just in parts of Africa.
“We believe it is discrimination, because the only difference is these countries [on the travel ban list] are on the African continent,” he told ABC Radio on Monday. “The ban is unfair, there is no evidence the ban works, the World Health Organization confirms that.”
The travel ban to nine southern African nations was announced in the wake of the Omicron variant being detected. It also led to a two-week delay to the entry of visa holders without a medical exemption, which is now set to take place from 15 December.
Despite the pause on international arrivals, 250 fully vaccinated students will arrive on Monday in Sydney as part of a New South Wales government pilot program. The arrivals will still need to isolate in student accommodation for three days.
There have been 15 cases of Omicron detected in NSW, while two have been identified in the Australian Capital Territory and one in the Northern Territory.
The finance minister, Simon Birmingham, said while the government had been cautious about the arrival of Omicron, the steps were necessary to assess the situation.
“It seems that plenty of advisers are indicating that vaccines continue to provide strong levels of protection, and it is why people should get vaccinated if they haven’t done so already,” Birmingham told ABC TV.
“We’re now at the point where we’re one of the most highly vaccinated countries in the world.”
**********************************************
Scholarship program fails to attract NSW teachers as staff prepare to strike for first time in a decade
Until they bite the bullet of bringing back effective discipline in classes, government schoolrooms will remain a workplace environment that attracts only the desperate
A New South Wales government program aimed at convincing professionals to become maths teachers attracted only six people last year, five of whom dropped out before their scholarships were complete.
As the state’s public school teachers prepare for their first strike in almost a decade on Tuesday, new figures have cast doubt on the success of the government’s attempts to address teacher shortages in NSW without significantly increasing pay.
In 2019, the state government announced the Teach.Maths NOW scholarship to lure current undergraduates and industry professionals with a background in pure or applied mathematics to become teachers.
But the program has struggled to attract and retain applicants. Despite funding for 160 placements, the program was only offered to 53 people in its first two years. Now, new figures obtained by the Guardian show the program has also failed to keep many of the industry professionals who did apply.
According to the government, only six industry professionals were among the intake for the Teach.Maths NOW scholarship in 2020. Of those, all but one dropped out of the program “citing a number of reasons including changes in circumstances during the Covid-19 pandemic”, the government said.
The government said it had made substantial changes to the program, and in 2021, 13 of the 17 industry professionals who signed up for the scholarship remained, but the struggle to attract and keep teachers through Teach.Maths NOW underscores a larger problem.
The NSW Department of Education has warned that a significant shortage of teachers – particularly in subjects such as maths and science – is affecting the quality of students’ learning. But the state government has rejected the claim of the teachers’ union that inadequate salaries are leading to declining enrolments in education degrees and an increase in the number of teachers leaving the profession.
That’s set the stage for the first teachers’ strike in almost a decade on Tuesday. Staff will defy an order from the Industrial Relations Commission and walk off the job as part of a campaign to see wages increase by 5% with an extra 2.5% to recognise experience.
The government has offered a 2.5% pay increase in line with its longstanding cap on wages for public servants and has rejected the argument that the department’s staff issues are related to pay.
The education minister, Sarah Mitchell, said: “It is unfortunate but not surprising the [NSW Teachers] Federation continues to attack a staffing strategy, informed by credible research, which seeks to build a sustainable pipeline of quality teachers through various initiatives including increasing pay and financial incentives.”
“At no point has the federation engaged in any proactive conversations on how to improve staffing in hard-to-staff regional areas.
“Arguing that the only way to attract more people to teaching is a pay increase wilfully ignores the complexities of the modern profession and genuine independent research on the issue.”
************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
***************************************
Sunday, December 05, 2021
Australian Woman Recounts Harrowing Experience of Being Held in COVID-19 Quarantine Camp
The official description of these jails is here:
https://coronavirus.nt.gov.au/travel/quarantine/mandatory-supervised-quarantine
It appears that everyone entering the NT has to undergo imprisonment in them. A good reason to stay away from the NTHayley Hodgson, a 26-year-old Australian woman, recounted her two-week confinement in a COVID-19 quarantine camp in an interview Thursday.
Hodgson told UnHerd that she was ordered to quarantine at the Centres for National Resilience in Howard Springs, Darwin, after one of her friends tested positive for COVID-19.
“Police officers blocked my driveway,” she said. “I walked out and I said, ‘What’s going on? Are you guys testing me for COVID? What’s happening?’ They said, ‘No, you’re getting taken away. And you have no choice. You’re going to Howard Springs.’”
Hodgson said the officers told her that they had received orders from “higher up” to take her to the facility and that she was not permitted to “self-isolate” at home.
The officers told Hodgson that if she didn’t voluntarily go with them, they’d put her “in the back of the [police] van,” she said.
Once she arrived at the facility, Hodgson was told she would have to stay there for two weeks, according to Unherd. She was reportedly tested three times throughout her confinement, and each time she tested negative for the virus.
While inside the facility, Hodgson said she had very little contact with others and was treated poorly by the staff.
“They don’t come and say anything. They don’t check up; they don’t do anything. You get delivered your meals once a day. And you are just left,” she said.
At one point, staff reportedly offered to sedate Hodgson with Valium to calm her down after she complained about the camp’s conditions. Hodgson said she lost her job during her stay and was never informed of any rights she had or put in contact with a lawyer.
Howard Springs is one of two “mandatory supervised quarantine facilities” in the Northern Territory, according to a government website.
While in quarantine, a person must “stay in the person’s allocated room, including on any veranda space allocated to the room, unless permitted by an [authorized] officer,” according to the website.
There is another report on these camps here:
https://www.westernjournal.com/three-covid-detainees-escape-quarantine-camp-arrested-foot-chase/
*************************************************Huge changes to school start and finish times could come to Australia
Radical changes could be made to the average school day in New South Wales as part of an effort from the state government to support working parents and reduce traffic congestion.
The overhaul would mean principals can offer options to parents other than the standard 9am-3pm school day.
During a speech at the annual Bradfield Oration, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet suggested school times should be changed to better suit the lives of working families.
'Despite the progress we have made, so many public services are still designed around government, not around the people we are here to serve,' he said on Thursday.
'Education should be designed around our children, not simply around the schools themselves.'
He used the speech to declare his plans to bring NSW into the '21st Century' by leading a modern government that 'doesn't accept the status quo'.
At one point the Premier directly challenged Education Minister Sarah Mitchell, asking if the existing school day was fit for working parents. 'Why does the school day run from 9am to 3pm — and does it still suit the lives of busy working families?' asked Mr Perrottet.
His speech has reignited debate over whether the traditional 9am-3pm school day should be overhauled to provide flexibility for families.
In June, the government staggered the start and finish times of public schools as part of a push to modernise the traditional school day and reduce traffic congestion.
The bold plan allowed schools to participate in trials where principals could offer parents options that differed from the standard 9am to 3pm school day.
Alternatives include a 7am to 1pm day, or extended after-school care.
NSW Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos previously claimed most schools across the state already offered varied school hours.
'The majority of schools do not operate between nine and three [o'clock], there's all sorts of variations,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
'There are schools with nine-day fortnights, or four-day weeks. But these matters are not straightforward and require significant consultation to achieve a consensus across a broad parent body and staff body, all of whom are impacted.'
Merrylands East Public in the city's west already operates an 8am to 1.15pm school day.
The scheme could also see an ease of pressure on Sydney's heavily-congested roads by staggering when students are picked up and dropped off from school.
The cost of Sydney's traffic congestion to the state economy is estimated to reach $13.1billion by 2031, according to the NSW Productivity Commission.
*****************************************
Albo's economic REVOLUTION: Labor leader launches 'most comprehensive climate policy EVER' - claiming he'll create 600,000 jobs and slash the price of power - so is it too good to be true?
Anthony Albanese has announced Labor's climate change policy which he will take to the Australian public at next year's election.
His plan will create 604,000 jobs and slash average household energy prices by $275 a year by 2025 and $378 by 2035, according to Labor-commissioned modelling.
The policies will reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, a slightly less ambitious target than Bill Shorten's 45 per cent aim which Mr Albanese called a 'mistake' earlier this year.
The Coalition's target is to reduce emissions by 26-28 per cent below 2005 levels, although latest projections show the nation is on track for a 30-35 per cent reduction.
Labor's plan involves a $20billion upgrade of the electricity grid to improve transmission, rolling out 85 solar banks and 400 community batteries around the nation and investing in 10,000 'new energy apprentices' alongside a $10million New Energy Skills Program.
A future Labor government would also spend $3billion on renewables manufacturing and deploying low-emissions technologies and remove taxes on electric cars to make them cheaper.
Mr Albanese said five out of every six new jobs created under the plan will be in regional Australia. Some 64,000 are direct jobs while 540,000 are indirect jobs created as a side-effect of the policies.
The plan will not negatively impact traditional fossil fuel jobs and will not bring forward power station closures, Mr Albanese said. But it will increase the share of renewables in the National Electricity Market to 82 per cent by 2030.
The Labor leader said the Coalition had failed to take action on climate change for eight years. 'This is the Government that is frozen in time while the world warms around it,' he said.
Labor's policy document says it will spend $100million to deliver an initial 85 solar banks around Australia.
That will mean some 25,000 households that are unable to install rooftop solar can access solar energy.
'The success of this initiative will spark additional private investment to deliver solar to even more homes,' the document says.
The plan also says 400 new community batteries costing a total of $200million will provide shared power storage for up to 100,000 households.
Labor will also introduce a tradeable carbon credits policy for 215 of the biggest emitting facilities in Australia to incentivise them to reduce their emissions.
****************************************
Dire teacher shortages rattle Qld schools
Desperate Queensland principals have turned to social media in a bid to plug dire staff shortages to ensure school kids have teachers in the classroom next year.
Education insiders have told The Courier-Mail that principal stress about staff shortages, particularly in Queensland’s rural and remote schools, has been exacerbated by the state government’s “last minute” implementation of a Covid-19 vaccine mandate.
Questions have been raised about the timing of this week’s announcement of the mandate, which has ordered teachers and staff to be double-dose vaccinated by January 23 – the day before term 1 begins.
One school leader told The Courier-Mail while the mandate was not “completely unexpected”, the timing less than two weeks before the end of the state school year had made planning for 2022 “a challenge”.
Another leader, based in a regional Queensland state high school, said they had been “left scrambling” after being unclear about the vaccination status of “three to four” senior teachers, a week before the end of term 4.
The Courier-Mail understands state and Catholic school sector bodies emailed staff this week to request they register their “intent to vaccinate status” as soon as possible, in an attempt to plan for anticipated teaching shortfalls.
Complicating matters was that many Queensland private schools, who also fall under the vaccination mandate, have already finished for the year.
A Department of Education spokesman confirmed the measure, and said in order to “enable compliance with the direction, the (department) is undertaking ongoing communication with all school-based staff including surveying staff”.
But some schools are already reportedly facing staff walkouts, with others in race against time to find staff for term 1.
************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
***************************************
Friday, December 03, 2021
Police search for missing campers over after remains found
This episode really grieves me. For two elderly people to have found love for one another is wonderful. And their discretion in not hurting their families with knowledge of it is also praiseworthy. But it cost them their lives at the hands of a brute. Two elderly people would have been no match for him when they were attacked
Victorian Police say they have finished searching an area of bushland in relation to missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay.
The hunt, which saw officers uncover human remains earlier this week, was conducted north of Dargo, almost 400km east of Melbourne, but has now wrapped up.
"Victoria Police has now concluded the search in bushland north of Dargo," Victoria Police said in a statement.
"As this matter is before the courts, we will not be facilitating any interviews in relation to the investigation."
Locals helped police bring a large excavator and a bobcat to the remote search site, which is about 15km north of Dargo in Victoria's alpine region.
Mr Hill, 74, and Ms Clay, 73, have been missing since they vanished while camping in the Wonnangatta Valley on March 20 last year.
Pilot Greg Lynn, 55, was charged with two counts of murder last week. He's been remanded in custody and will face court in May next year.
*******************************************
Racism in Queensland
However you look at it, it is excluding people on the basis of their race
Aborigine group have today been granted exclusive use to parts of one of Queensland’s most renowned group of tropical islands.
Traditional owners will gain exclusive access to live and hunt on parts of the Keppel Islands under a landmark Native Title determination over the tropical northern Queensland area.
Federal Court of Australia Justice Rangiah on Friday recognised the Woppaburra People as Native Title Holders over 567 sqkm of land and water off the eastern coast of Queensland – which comprises the Great Keppel and North Keppel Islands.
The determination will give the Woppaburra People the ability to enjoy parts of the area to the exclusion of all others, and the non-exclusive rights to hunt, fish and gather from the area, take natural resources for personal domestic and non-commercial communal purposes.
Great Keppel Island sits about 15km off the coast of Yeppoon in the southern Great Barrier Reef.
********************************************
South Australian environment minister says he wants to quit because he's sick of dealing with 'crazy lefty activists' and 'Greta Thunbergs' who spout 'myths and nonsense'
I sympathize. The total lack of reality contact among the Green/Left gets very wearing
The South Australian environment minister wants out of his portfolio because he's sick of dealing with 'crazy leftie activists' and 'Greta Thunbergs'.
David Speirs told a private Liberal Party fundraiser on Monday night that he liked his portfolio but needed a 'refresh' because he was worn down by climate activists.
The 36-year-old lost a deputy leadership vote last week but asked those attending the fundraiser to 'lobby' Premier Steven Marshall on his behalf for another post.
'The crazy leftie activists, they do wear you down after a while so I think every few years you need to see a bit of a refresh because there's only so many times you can deal with the Greta Thunbergs of South Australia,' he said, according to the Adelaide Advertiser.
He said the SA Government was doing positive, concrete work on climate change such as moving to renewable energy, but activists tended to spout 'nonsense'.
'I think there's a lot of noise and crap around climate change because all the ills of the world are put in the climate change basket by the left of politics. There are a lot of myths and nonsense,' he said.
He said while countries like India and China needed to vastly reduce their emissions, Australia - which emits comparatively little pollution - could still show leadership in practical ways.
Shadow environment minister Susan Close said Mr Speirs comments were unfit for someone running the environment portfolio and his 'disparaging comments proves' he should not be minister.
Mr Speirs responded in parliament on Tuesday when questioned about the fundraiser speech. 'I may have said something like that, absolutely,' he said.
'But I believe I was making a comparison between the practical response to the great challenges of climate change and the poster-waving activism which doesn't lead to outcomes, such as gluing oneself to Flinders Street.'
In October, eight Extinction Rebellion protesters were arrested after gluing themselves to Adelaide CBD streets during peak hour.
'I'm not sure you get your message across when you disrupt and inconvenience so many people who potentially support your cause,' SA police commissioner Grant Stevens said of the protest
********************************************
Education Qld whistleblower claims bullying, nepotism, classroom torture
Allegations of nepotism, bullying and cover-ups within the Education Department have been aired in Queensland Parliament.
Opposition education spokesman Christian Rowan has also revealed claims that school students were forced to squat in a corner as punishment for talking.
Dr Rowan has called on Education Minister Grace Grace and her director-general to investigate the matters immediately, saying he was “deeply shocked” and “gravely concerned”.
Dr Rowan told Parliament the alleged incidents, understood to have happened from 2018-20, had been raised with him by a former employee of the department and another public servant who is currently on sick leave within the department.
The allegations relate to the department but specifically its Integrity and Employee Relations Unit.
Dr Rowan said the complainants had sought whistleblower protection through him.
“Allegations from the two complainants included workplace bullying, maladministration, nepotism, and cover-ups within the Department of Education specifically related to complaints about teachers that were effectively dismissed without due process and investigation,” he said.
“I am very concerned about the specific allegations of alleged criminal conduct, including the fabrication of evidence, hacking, and reprisal action against public servants.”
Dr Rowan said one claim that shocked him, and would “equally shock all Queensland parents” involved a teacher allegedly committing a “heinous act against several students”.
“The teacher allegedly admitted to forcing children into inappropriate physical acts including forcing students to squat in a corner as a punishment for simply talking,” he said.
Dr Rowan said the public servant spoke to the Office of the Human Rights Commission and that it was confirmed the alleged actions of the teacher “were an act of torture, and should be addressed accordingly”.
“It was reported to me that no reprisal action was taken against the teacher by the Department of Education, and when the investigator pursued the issue, he was put on a performance management plan, and reprisal action commenced against this public servant,” he said.
Dr Rowan said the complainants had referenced to him documented examples of bullying and provided evidence of departmental procedures not being followed.
“On the basis of the information that has been provided to the Liberal National Party Opposition, and in view of countless other reported failings, it is absolutely clear that the Queensland State Labor Government is failing to deliver the world-class education system that Queenslanders deserve,” he said.
Dr Rowan said the matters needed to be investigated as soon as possible.
**********************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
***************************************
Thursday, December 02, 2021
An interesting email
Melanie Ryan [sweetkitty05@gmail.com] wrote:
I’ve had 7 police officers from Brisbane drive 5 hours to warn me not to put this into the media
Palaszczuk was caught having sex with 2 Queensland police officers on minister Tom Barton’s desk before she became premier & it was proven by a CMC investigation which fully substantiated the complaint of commissioned officer superintendent Dominic McHugh who made the complaint so Palaszczuk is guilty of salary fraud criminal charges plus she used taxpayers money to buy the champagne for her to get inebriated on in her drunken sex orgy with 2 Queensland police officers who were allowed to resign.
Covid treatment that could be a lifesaver for thousands of Australians is FINALLY approved
Medical regulators have approved a new antibody treatment for COVID-19 as the prime minister urged for calm over the Omicron variant.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration granted approval for the use of tocilizumab, a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19 who require oxygen.
It's the fourth treatment for the virus given the green light for use by the administration.
The treatment has been shown to reduce inflammation by blocking receptors and slowing the effects of the virus.
'Tocilizumab has been shown to decrease duration of hospitalisation, risk of being placed on medical ventilation and risk of death for those with severe COVID-19,' the administration said in a statement.
'Tocilizumab is not intended to be used as a substitute for vaccination against COVID-19.'
The treatment had previously been approved for use to treat inflammatory conditions and types of arthritis.
*******************************************
Crooked corruption watchdog in Queensland
MacSporran must go
A Queensland parliamentary committee has called for a commission of inquiry into the structure of the state's anti-corruption watchdog after finding it breached its duty to remain independent and impartial.
The Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee (PCCC) also found the Crime and Corruption Commission's (CCC) discretion to charge eight Logan City councillors with fraud in 2019 miscarried "because all material considerations and evidence were not taken into account and weighed".
The bipartisan committee — which oversees the CCC — has been examining the watchdog's investigation and decision to charge the group of councillors with fraud relating to former council chief executive Sharon Kelsey's dismissal.
The fraud charges, which prompted the entire council's dismissal, were discontinued in a Brisbane court in April, almost two years later.
In a damning report, tabled in state parliament on Thursday, the committee also found that CCC chair Alan MacSporran did not ensure the watchdog acted independently and impartially, a "serious" failing that reflected "poorly" on the CCC.
In final submissions in October, counsel assisting had suggested the possibility of recommending parliament terminate Mr MacSporran's appointment.
PCCC chair Jon Krause told the house they did not proceed with that recommendation and said they were of the view "this report speaks for itself".
"This report outlines serious findings, and related recommendations, that speak to these issues, including by making findings about where the CCC has failed in the role entrusted to it by this parliament, on behalf of all Queenslanders," he said.
"The committee makes these findings in full awareness of their gravity, but cognisant also of the need to ensure that where things have gone awry in the past, findings are made in seeking to prevent similar occurrences in the future."
'Acted outside its specific powers'
The parliamentary inquiry was launched earlier this year in response to a complaint by the CEO of the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ), alleging the CCC had inappropriately interfered in civil proceedings concerning Ms Kelsey's termination, and inappropriately used its powers to charge the then-councillors with fraud.
The CCC had alleged the councillors acted together to sack Ms Kelsey, who had reported allegations of possible misconduct about the then-mayor to the watchdog.
But earlier this year, the fraud charges were dropped and Ms Kelsey also lost her unfair dismissal case in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.
Among the PCCC's 14 findings were that the CCC "acted outside its specific powers in the Crime and Corruption Act" by assisting Ms Kelsey as a public interest discloser within the civil proceedings process of the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.
"The committee finds that the totality of the steps taken by the Crime and Corruption Commission to assist Ms Kelsey in her Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) proceeding, including with respect to her desire for reinstatement, breached its duty to act, at all times, independently and impartially pursuant to section 57 of the Crime and Corruption Act 2001," the report said.
It also found the watchdog involved itself in the QIRC proceeding and sought to make documents it had obtained under compulsion available to her in that proceeding. "The inference may be drawn that this was done for the purpose of Ms Kelsey's reinstatement as chief executive officer," the report said.
The committee also found the CCC's discretion to charge the seven Logan City councillors and mayor with fraud was "affected by a desire to assist Ms Kelsey" and that discretion "miscarried" because all material considerations and evidence were not taken into account and weighed.
The PCCC noted the conduct of Detective Sergeant Andrew Francis to be "an example of and symptomatic" of the culture of the CCC.
The committee detailed a number of recommendations, including that the state government appoint a senior counsel to head a commission of inquiry — or similar — to review the structure of the CCC.
Other recommendations included that the CCC "engage in reform of culture" and the state government consider a requirement that the CCC obtain the recommendation of the Director of Public Prosecutions, or a senior independent legal adviser, before charging serious criminal offences regarding corruption.
Local Government Association renews call for resignation
Mr Krause told parliament that Queensland needs an "effective, independent, impartial watchdog on public sector corruption and major crime".
He also spoke about how a number of people had "cautioned" him about "pushing too hard" in inquiring into the CCC. "It was put across that this could have consequences," he said.
"The fact that these matters are even raised with me, are in the consciousness of people who are interested in these matters, and that they would say such things is highly concerning in itself."
In a statement, LGAQ president Mark Jamieson described the report's findings as "sobering reading for all Queenslanders."
"The Crime and Corruption Commission heralds great power in this state. Queenslanders need its actions to always be objective, independent and beyond reproach," he said.
"We therefore call on the CCC chair to act in the interests of the future of this important institution and stand down
******************************************
Labor party to dump fuel emissions plan in next step on climate
Labor will dump a contentious plan to set new fuel standards for millions of motorists in a bid to neutralise a growing political attack from Prime Minister Scott Morrison ahead of a bigger fight on climate change.
The vehicle emission standard will be formally dropped when Labor leader Anthony Albanese signs off on the party’s climate policy with shadow ministers, as they prepare for a caucus briefing this Friday on the coming election campaign.
Mr Albanese will launch Labor’s bid for power at a campaign rally in Sydney this weekend to start a blitz through marginal electorates before Christmas, readying the party for the official election contest early next year.
The climate policy, including Labor’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, is being restricted to a small group of shadow cabinet members before climate spokesman Chris Bowen speaks at the National Press Club on Monday.
While some caucus members are pressing for a target that trumps Mr Morrison’s forecast to cut emissions by 35 per cent by 2030 on 2005 levels, others warn against an ambitious goal that exposes the party to attack over the impact on household costs.
The Labor policy on fuel standards was part of a package in the 2019 election campaign to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles so they would make up 50 per cent of new car sales by 2030, a target that triggered a war of words with Mr Morrison.
The Prime Minister claimed at the time the Labor policy sought to “end the weekend” and said last month the policy tried to “force” customers to switch to electric vehicles, misrepresenting the plan, which set only an aspirational target.
Mr Morrison said on November 11 Labor wanted to “put up your petrol prices” although the policy only called for consultation on changes and did not name a timetable for the new standard.
Even so, Labor will drop this element of its policy package to blunt the Coalition scare campaign.
While the most recent Resolve Political Monitor in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age found Labor’s primary vote was 32 per cent, slightly down from 33.3 per cent at the last election, the party’s internal polling suggests it is doing much better.
************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
***************************************
Wednesday, December 01, 2021
Child murderers and serial killers could be denied parole for decades under new Queensland laws
Child murderers and serial killers serving life sentences could be denied any bid for parole for potentially decades under new laws passed in Queensland.
The laws will give the president of Parole Board Queensland the power to make a "restricted prisoner declaration", blocking certain inmates from obtaining parole for up to 10 years, with no limit on the number of bans made.
State parliament passed the legislation on Tuesday evening despite concerns from the legal community the parole board sat "behind closed doors" and the powers "should only be vested in a court".
Described as the "toughest" parole laws in the nation, the state government said the measures were designed to limit unnecessary trauma for victims' families and the community caused by regular parole applications.
Under the new framework, the president of the board, an independent body, will have the discretion to declare that specific inmates – those sentenced to life for multiple murders or for murdering a child – must not be considered for parole for up to 10 years.
In a statement, Police Minister Mark Ryan said the government had carefully considered the rights of everyone concerned and it made no apology for taking this course of action.
The legislation was tabled in September amid the latest parole application by convicted murderer Barrie John Watts, who killed 12-year-old Sian Kingi in 1987. His bid was ultimately refused in October.
LNP Member for Ninderry, Dan Purdie — a former police officer —tabled in parliament earlier this year a petition with more than 70,000 signatures calling for Watts to be kept behind bars.
"This legislation is the direct legacy of that journey," he said. "The Kingis' pain and suffering will never go away, nor will the Morcombes be spared the trauma of losing their son Daniel at the evil hands of Brett Cowan.
"At least now these two Sunshine Coast families, and indeed families of victims all over Queensland, can be assured that there will be a legislative pathway to keep convicted killers and multiple murderers from ever menacing the community again."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-01/qld-prison-parole-laws-passed-queensland/100662520
******************************************Australian Ministers back vaccination rate to cushion consumer confidence
NSW Jobs and Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres has insisted the emergence of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant should not dash hopes of a strong summer of trade.
As the state imposed tougher compliance measures for overseas arrivals on Tuesday, Treasurer Matt Kean said NSW remained committed to easing restrictions on December 15 in addition to a precautionary approach to handling the new variant threat.
The hospitality sector says patrons are not yet spooked by the news of the Omicron variant.
The hospitality sector says patrons are not yet spooked by the news of the Omicron variant.CREDIT:SAM MOOY
“We need to reopen as quickly and as safely as possible. I am confident that we can continue to bounce back better from the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
The comments were echoed by Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello, who said the state’s world-leading vaccination rates and digital infrastructure gave NSW room to deal with new variants.
“It may be that QR codes are with us longer, if necessary, but that’s the beauty of being a contemporary society,” he said.
“We do have more levers at our disposal to combat variants ... and we’re a lot more advanced than we were with Delta.”
Among NSW residents aged 16 and over, 92.4 per cent are fully vaccinated, while 76.5 per cent of 12- to 15-year-olds have had both jabs.
Across the hospitality sector, businesses hoping for a Christmas boom period say the government’s calls for calm appeared to be reaching consumers, with no evidence of mass cancellations.
Wes Lambert, chief executive officer of peak body Restaurant & Catering Australia, said neither operators nor patrons were expected to give up on newly regained freedoms until directed to by the government. “As far as the industry can tell, patrons aren’t spooked by the news of the Omicron variant at this time and we haven’t heard of any mass cancellations just yet.”
Mr Lambert said the federal government’s decision to delay the arrival of more than 200,000 visa holders, including around 160,000 international students and 50,000 skilled workers, was “deeply troubling” given the skills shortage weighing on the hospitality sector. There are currently about 100,000 job vacancies in the sector Australia-wide.
“This perfect storm of high consumer demand and low staff will lead to more restaurants and cafés being shut down over the Christmas period due to the lack of staff,” Mr Lambert said.
Mr Ayres said the two-week delay to the arrival of international students and workers was an appropriate precautionary decision by the federal government, but acknowledged the pressure it would place on small businesses.
“We know there will be constraints in the workforce for many months and finding workers will continue to be a challenge. So, the sooner we can re-engage with the global economy, the better.”
He said it was too soon to start thinking about additional restrictions. “But absolutely our approach should be different to the Delta outbreak. We have high rates of vaccination, and a lot more resilience in our communities,” Mr Ayres said.
******************************************
Government could intervene in wharf disputes ahead of Christmas
Australia’s ports face significant government intervention to end industrial action that could see goods and food imports locked up on docks ahead of Christmas if an agreement isn’t reached.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison also foreshadowed a Productivity Commission inquiry into the efficient running of Australia’s ports, warning “inefficient ports are a tax on all of us”.
The Prime Minister said the government was keeping a close watch on the industrial action at Patrick Terminals, which has been paused until at least December 10, noting it had the potential to disrupt economic activity in addition to COVID-19 related pressures globally, with global shipping costs remaining high.
“We encourage the parties to this dispute to negotiate in good faith to resolve their issues. At the same time, I can assure you that the government will take action, if needed, to protect the Australian economy from serious harm,” Mr Morrison said. If the strikes restart in December the government would likely join Patrick to apply to the Fair Work Commission to bring an end to the dispute before Christmas.
The Maritime Union of Australia has been negotiating with Patrick, which is the largest port stevedoring firm in the country, on a new pay deal for almost a year. The process has seen repeated waves of legal industrial action that have contributed to periodic delays at its facilities.
Patrick has accused the union of trying to retain and build on clauses that effectively require the company to get workers’ agreement for new hires at some facilities while the union argues it is trying to maintain decent working conditions and job security for its members.
In late October Patrick asked the Fair Work Commission to tear up the enterprise agreement altogether on the basis it was unsustainable for its business. While it has committed to retaining some pay and holiday provisions on an interim basis, that would give Patrick a decisive upper hand in negotiations.
At the time, the union’s national secretary Paddy Crumlin said it was an intimidatory, bullying attack on the union. “It is being done in such a way as to try to defame the workforce in a most disgraceful fashion by distorting public perceptions of a legally sanctioned bargaining process,” Mr Crumlin said.
“The disagreements between the two parties are easily resolved and have been achieved within the industry with other stevedoring companies without them resorting to this type of character assassination.”
In early November the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released a major report showing that extremely restrictive deals between port operators and the union were cutting into productivity along with the union’s industrial campaign, damaging other businesses further down the supply chain.
Mr Morrison said that, in light of the report, the government was examining broader issues associated with the relative productivity of Australian ports.
“Ports are the gateway for our economy. Inefficient ports are a tax on all of us. Coalition governments ... have always understood this, and have always been prepared to take action to ensure our ports can serve our economy as best as they possibly can,” he said.
********************************************
Yippee! Power crisis forces China to buy Aussie coal for first time in a YEAR
Crippling power shortages in China have forced the communist regime to back down from their ban on Australian coal.
Beijing blocked the commodity in November last to punish Canberra for suggesting and international inquiry should be held into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Chinese campaign of economic coercion - which also saw similar bans on key export sectors like barley, wine, cotton, seafood, timbre and copper - was meant to punish Australia for speaking out.
But the economic threat spectacularly back-fired on the authoritarian nation leaving China with widespread blackouts heading into winter, as it generates more than half of it's electricity through coal.
Tough-talking Wolf Warrior diplomats quietly softened their stance with tens-of-millions shivering and in the dark - allowing in 2.8 million tonnes of Australian coal in last month.
Commonwealth Bank Global Markets Research analyst Vivek Dhar on Tuesday said it 'looks to be a pragmatic move by Chinese policymakers'.
'Australian coal that was sitting at port stockpiles were cleared by Chinese customs last month to address an acute shortage in China's coal and power sector,' he said.
As well as being a concern for residents, financial firm Goldman Sachs estimated about 44 per cent of industrial activity was affected by power shortages.
The Chinese economy was hit with a perfect storm that compounded the energy crisis after it blocked dozens of coal ship from entering Chinese ports, leaving sailors stranded for months.
President Xi Jinping recently imposed price caps and restrictions on energy suppliers just before the cost of coal skyrocketed.
Metallurgical coal jumped from about $100 a tonne when the ban was introduced to $274 a tonne in October.
'Every million tonnes of coal has recently been costing China's steel mills more than US$400 million, compared with around US$250 million paid by steel mills everywhere else,' David Uren wrote last month in a paper for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
'The difference is entirely explained by China's embargo on Australian coal.
'Since China's mills use almost two million tonnes of coal every day, the premium it pays above coal costs in the rest of the world adds up to about US$2 billion a week.'
************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
***************************************
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Evelyn Rae, a conservative Australian political commentator
Margo Robbie -- a beautiful australian
My son Joe at ANU
One of the happiest pictures ever -- Cleo Smith, aged 4
