ZEG

In his latest offering, conservative Australian cartoonist ZEG has a word on the statue wars





Experts blame migrants for dramatically rising house prices

How the Devil could it be otherwise?  Australia is bringing in around 200,000 migrants a year but house building is heavily constrained by State and local regulations so nothing like 200,000 new houses are built each year -- leading to a shortage.  And where there is a shortage prices will rise.  At the very least, local councils need to be leant on to release more land for housing

Young people will struggle to break into the property market for the next 40 years, as housing prices in Australia's capital cities continue to surge out of reach.

A new report by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) says the great Australian dream of owning a home is over for many people.

The report, released on Tuesday, claims the federal government urgently needs to build 20,000 new homes to accommodate for low-income people each year.

It also says housing demand in Sydney and Melbourne has been put under a huge strain by an influx in migration resulting in population growth.

'What the CEDA report highlights is that ... the issue is far more complex and without changes now, could have longer-run consequences,' CEDA chairman Rodney Maddock says in the report.

The report finds a decline in interest rates and the end of credit rationing has caused housing prices to surge worldwide, leaving the poorest to struggle finding homes.

The committee's report also suggests long-term housing affordability issues will mean more people enter retirement without owning a home.

'In the long term, this could have budget implications for governments as more people become reliant on government assistance,' Professor Maddock says.

'The shift to a service economy has contributed to a larger population living in our cities and coupled with overall population growth through migration, has impacted housing demand, especially in Sydney and Melbourne,' Professor Maddock says.

'With most Australians choosing to live in our major cities, it is likely the trend of more people living in apartments and more long term renters will become permanent.'

'In addition, we also need to ensure better transport and infrastructure to accommodate increased inner city density and to connect outer suburban developments to employment hubs.

SOURCE





Big floods nothing new

The recent hurricane in Texas has revived the Greenie claim that global warming has increased the incidence of floods.  But if that's a global effect then it should have recently been seen in Australia too.  But it has not been.  The following academic journal article says of floods affecting the East coast of Australia: "Some of the most extreme events identified occurred in the 19th century and early-to-mid 20th century."


Major coastal flooding in southeastern Australia 1860–2012, associated deaths and weather systems

Jeff Callaghan and Scott B. Power

A new historical database describing major floods and associated weather systems that occurred in coastal catchments, from Brisbane in southeastern Australia to Eden approximately 1500 km further south, is described. In order to produce a homogeneous record of major flood and weather-type frequency we restrict attention to the period 1860–2012, when the region (i) is extensively populated, (ii) has an extensive coverage of meteorological stations, (iii) is extensively connected by telecommunication, and (iv) when there is busy coastal shipping offshore. A total of 253 major floods over this period are identified. A flood is considered here to be ‘major’ if it causes inundation of a river within approximately 50 km of the coast or if there is non-riverine flooding over land near the coast, extending 20 km or more along the coast. All major floods are associated with either (a) East Coast Lows (ECLs) or (b) Tropical Interactions (TIs). Three types of TIs are identified and described. ECLs triggered more major floods than TIs (57 per cent versus 43 per cent), but TIs caused more deaths from freshwater flooding (62 per cent versus 38 per cent) and they tended to cause over twice as many deaths per event (3.6 versus 1.7 deaths/event on average). Some of the most extreme events identified occurred in the 19th century and early-to-mid 20th century. If such events were to occur today they would have catastrophic impacts due to the massive increase in urban development in the study region since that time.

SOURCE




Senator Jacqui Lambie clashes with Aborginal musician over the date of Australia Day

What's this rubbish about white settlement in Australia being genocide for Aborigines?  On most estimates there are now more Aborigines than ever in Australia

A fired-up Jacqui Lambie has slammed indigenous singer Dan Sultan over his calls for the date of Australia Day to be changed.

The Tasmanian senator's passionate defence of the current date came after Sultan had described it as 'racist' and a 'day of mourning' for indigenous people.

During the heated exchange Ms Lambie said the date of Australia Day should not be moved from January 26, and called for unity instead.  'Everyone needs to put their difference aside,' she said on the ABC's Q&A.

'You know what? Someone else will pick another day, and then someone, they'll be a minority group come up and say "We don't like that day." When's this going to stop?  'When are we going to stop fighting and arguing and [have] unity?' she asked.

'When we start talking about it, when we come together,' replied the musician.

'We have been talking about it, mate, we've been talking about it for years, it's like reconciliation, and I don't agree with you,' the senator responded.

While she was speaking Sultan said: 'January 26 is the wrong date,' and 'It's not a matter of opinion, it's fact.'

'That is the Australia Day, that's the way it goes, just because it doesn't suit a minority the rest of us should not have to pay the price,' Ms Lambie continued.

'It's history, it's not an opinion,' countered the Aboriginal artist.

Host Tony Jones then interjected and ended the exchange, saying: 'Sorry, we've had this experience before of people talking over each other so we'll try not to let that happen.'

The last time Ms Lambie appeared on the Q&A panel she was involved in a fiery debate about sharia law with Muslim activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied.

The clash between Sultan and Ms Lambie came after the singer had replied to a question asking whether there should be a national day at all.

Sultan said he believed it is important to have an Australia Day, but January 26 'started the ongoing genocide of our people'.  He said the current day excluded indigenous Australians and anyone with 'sympathy or empathy towards our story'.

The singer-songwriter also called the date 'racist' saying it has always been that way, and referred to it as a 'day of mourning'.

Later in the program Sultan praised the senator and said he had a lot of respect for her.  'Although I don't always agree with you, with her, I think she's great, the way she goes about it,' he said. 'I think most of the time she's got a very good heart and I think she wears it on her sleeve.'

Ms Lambie showed a softer tone later in the panel also, saying she would support an additional plaque be added to the Captain Cook statue in Sydney's Hyde Park.

SOURCE






Same sex marriage: Network Ten fake news

Network Ten has admitted to digitally doctoring footage for a news item on the alleged spitefulness of the same sex marriage debate, digitally superimposing a homophobic image sourced online onto a stock image of a random bus stop.

A poster with the phrase “Stop the Fags”, allegedly spotted in Melbourne’s Heffernan Lane earlier this month, was seized upon by marriage equality supporters as evidence that those opposed to changing the Marriage Act were willing to resort to hateful lies and scaremongering to win the debate.

Originally uploaded on Twitter on August 19 by a childcare worker Dan Leach-McGill, the image of the poster soon went viral, sparking extensive news coverage and commentary on both social media as well as in the mainstream press. Even Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition leader Bill Shorten weighed in, condemning the image and its message.

Yet when a Channel Ten news crew visited the alleged site on August 22, there was no sign of the offending poster.

And with a member of a global online forum for fascists claiming credit for the artwork, which has allegedly appeared on flyers across the US in recent months, and Mr Leach-McGill conceding that he had not personally viewed it, doubts have emerged over its existence.

“The poster in question had been taken down when our film crew visited the laneway in question so we were forced to source a copy online,” a spokesman for the network said yesterday.

“Unfortunately, an oversight in briefing our graphics department interstate may have created a false impression about its size and location.

“This was not a deliberate attempt to mislead our audience, but a creative error which we regret.”

The poster in question, which claimed that children of LGBTI parents were likely to be abused and of poor health, appears to derive from the US, with a member of the online fascist forum Ironmarch.org claiming credit.

Similar posters have emerged recently in various neighbourhoods in Minnesota in the US, according to anti-fascist website It’s Going Down.

Coalition for Marriage, which is campaigning for the No vote and was forced to deny any connections to the poster last week, has expressed disappointment that a major television news program relied upon a photoshopped image as evidence of “hateful” campaigning ahead of the postal plebiscite.

“After an unsubstantiated allegation that anti-LGBTI posters were displayed in Melbourne, Network Ten – instead of doing its job to investigate the facts and report on them – used manufactured images in its broadcast,” coalition spokeswoman Sophie York said.

“Other news outlets, while not as brazen to use manipulated images, still ran with the story without testing the veracity of the claims.

“There is a lot at stake when it comes to changing the laws on marriage. Instead of accurately and fairly presenting the ‘no’ case, including the very real consequences for ordinary Australians if the law is changed, media outlets have instead used manufactured stories to favour the Yes case.”

SOURCE

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).    For a daily critique of Leftist activities,  see DISSECTING LEFTISM.  To keep up with attacks on free speech see Tongue Tied. Also, don't forget your daily roundup  of pro-environment but anti-Greenie  news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH .  Email me  here